Chapter 18: Pursuit
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 18: Pursuit
The red-haired woman introduced herself as Elesis.
“You seem to be a skilled hunter.”
“Not really…”
“Even after catching this many monsters?”
“Well, there is that, but…”
Only then did I realize how deeply suspicious she was. Hadn’t she said she was a merchant’s daughter? A merchant’s daughter shouldn’t be asking questions like she’s conducting an interrogation.
While even the merchant and the village chief, who was acquainted with him, were walking on eggshells around Elesis, it wasn’t strange for me to be wary of her unusually friendly approach.
“So, uh, how much can you give me?”
“Ah! I forgot about the payment! If you would, please.”
Elesis casually handed my backpack to the merchant standing behind her. Her attitude was that of someone dealing with a subordinate.
As someone raised in a culture that values courtesy, I couldn’t help but frown at the sight. Is there no such thing as etiquette in this world? That couldn’t be it. Considering how the villagers usually treated the chief…
This meant the woman before me was the exception—and the fact that no one took issue with her behavior meant she was someone special.
‘The merchant guild head’s daughter… doesn’t seem like it. Not a noble, either.’
She had tried to cover up with thick clothes, but the forearm and calf muscles that occasionally showed through her garments revealed a body that was considerably toned.
For a woman, she had a solid build. As if she were filled with stones…
A trained body despite being a woman, her aggressive, interrogative manner, the flustered merchant and village chief—with just this much information, it wasn’t hard to figure out who she was.
‘A knight… but there’s no reason for a knight to be in a place like this, so a Holy Knight.’
I recalled the Holy Knight I had seen in the city. The one who had smiled so brightly while killing people he’d labeled as witch followers.
Was this woman the same type? I couldn’t tell. What was certain… was that I was now in a very dangerous situation.
“Excuse me, did you say your name was Charles?”
“…It’s Yohan.”
“Ah! Mr. Yohan. Are you a hunter?”
“Something like that.”
“Heeh, so you’re a hunter…”
Her eyes scanned my entire body, focusing mainly on my palms. Naturally, they lacked the calluses that a trained hunter or knight would have.
And Elesis pointed that out.
“But how are your hands so clean? I’m jealous… I try to take care of mine, but they still get all rough like this…”
As she spoke, she naturally reached out and took my hand. The moment she grabbed it, a sharp jolt flowed up from my palm.
Startled, I pulled my hand away. She tilted her head and asked what was wrong.
“…No, it’s just—static electricity.”
“Oh my. The weather must be very dry.”
She said that, but I knew she had pulled some kind of trick. What was it? In this world of magic, I had no idea what kind of ploys Holy Knights were capable of.
Fortunately, however, after our palms touched, Elesis seemed to lose interest in me and gradually paid me less attention.
‘What in the world…?’
While I was on guard, wondering what she had done, the merchant who had finished calculating the value of the items in my backpack approached with a money pouch.
“H-Here you go. Your payment.”
“Ah, thank you.”
“Is there anything you need? Our merchant group has quite a few useful things…”
“No, I’m fine.”
Wanting to get out of there immediately, I took the money pouch, quickly turned my back, and left their side.
I swiftly moved out of the village, beyond their line of sight, and then broke into a run.
I had to tell my teacher about this as soon as possible.
After Yohan left the village, Elesis gazed at his retreating back and then looked down at her own palm.
‘The divine power definitely went through…’
The divine power she had channeled had flowed through Yohan’s hand. If Yohan had been a witch disguised as a man, or a witch’s familiar, the disguise would have broken and his true form would have been revealed.
But Yohan hadn’t changed. That meant he was neither a witch nor a familiar.
‘Even after he caught so many monsters?’
Still, she couldn’t shake her suspicion. The high-quality monster corpses, each with a single small hole pierced through it—this was not the work of an ordinary hunter.
It was a level of skill one might see from the captain of a kingdom’s royal guard, or perhaps an archbishop-level Holy Knight of the Church.
She couldn’t imagine someone with that kind of skill would be out here catching monsters.
‘Most importantly, they look just like the corpses the village chief showed me… I’m sure he’s the one who caught these, too.’
Convinced, Elesis decided to follow Yohan and summoned her subordinates who were waiting at the foot of the mountain valley.
When the lightly armed soldiers stormed into the village, the chief ran up to her, asking what was going on.
“W-We haven’t done anything wrong…!”
“It’s fine. My business isn’t with this village.”
Of course, if it turned out Yohan was a follower or an associate of a witch, this village would have to be annihilated as well. But not yet.
Hiding this fact, Elesis reassured the chief and then asked about Yohan’s destination.
“Tell me where that man went. Right now.”
“Y-You mean Yohan?”
“Yes.”
The chief immediately told her where Yohan had gone. That there was a cabin in the middle of the forest, and that he lived there.
Hearing that he lived alone in the forest instead of the village, Elesis’s suspicion grew even stronger as she entered the woods.
Following Yohan’s freshly made footprints…
“Master-emon! We’re in big trouble!”
“Ah, Yohan. You’re back. What is it?”
I ran to my teacher, throwing out an Earth-style joke. Although she didn’t understand what it meant, she played along perfectly.
I clung to my teacher as she stroked my head, explaining what I had seen in the village—the incredibly suspicious merchant’s daughter and her questionable actions.
Evangeline, who had been listening quietly, hardened her expression and asked me.
“…Yohan.”
“Yes, Teacher.”
“That daughter and me. Who’s prettier?”
“…Teacher, this isn’t the time for jokes. If she’s really a Holy Knight, we’re in serious trouble.”
“Serious trouble, you say?”
Hearing that, Evangeline chuckled. Margaret, who had been eavesdropping from the side to see what all the fuss was about, burst out laughing as well.
Confused, I tilted my head, and my teacher gave me a wide grin as she patted my head.
“You underestimate your teacher too much, Yohan.”
“…Wait, aren’t you hiding in a forest like this because you’re afraid of fighting the Holy Knights?”
“Afraid? What are you talking about? Yohan, do you avoid shit because you’re scared of it? No, you avoid it because it’s filthy. Those bastards are just like cockroaches.”
Shit, cockroaches. Hearing that, if nothing else, I understood that my teacher had a truly terrible history with the Holy Knights and the Church.
But even seeing her so confident, I couldn’t feel at ease.
“…Even if you can escape somehow because you’re a witch, I can’t.”
Compared to two witches who wielded magic that was second to none, I was just an ordinary person whose magic had awakened. I wasn’t confident I could even win a fight against a Holy Knight who couldn’t use magic.
Magic didn’t make me Superman, and I was less capable than Captain America—how was I supposed to beat knights, who were considered human weapons even on Earth, in a fantasy world?
“Yohan.”
“…Yes, Teacher.”
“Even if I were to be captured by the Church and burned at the stake, I would never let you die.”
“…Teacher.”
“Besides, she’s here for situations just like this, isn’t she?”
She said, pointing at Margaret, who had been watching quietly from the side. Startled at being singled out, Margaret flinched for a moment before nodding and shouting that I could count on her.
Indeed, as long as the two witches were here, it seemed I didn’t have to worry about dying.
“…But what if they followed me here?”
“Don’t worry about that either. Do you know the name of this forest, Yohan?”
“No, what is it?”
Piquing my curiosity, my teacher revealed the forest’s secret.
“The Forest of Monsters.”
The territory of the Wolf King, Fenrir.
A land of monsters, forbidden to humans.
Elesis, leading her soldiers in pursuit of Yohan, frowned as she spotted monsters roaming the forest as if it were their own home.
‘He just walked in here?’
Since they were an army, their chances of being detected by monsters were much higher than someone entering the forest alone. Even so, the frequency of monster encounters was far too high.
A monster appeared for every ten steps they took. Elesis had no idea how Yohan had managed to pass through this forest. The result alone was enough to make her suspect he was connected to a witch.
“Block them! Don’t let them get close!”
An army was not a group well-suited for operating in a place like this. A group of several dozen people wasn’t afraid of one or two monsters. Even if a dozen attacked at once, they could eventually win.
But after dealing with the monsters, there were always injuries. In a situation like this, where they were chasing someone, it meant that hindrances kept appearing one after another.
All the while, the monsters continued to attack relentlessly. In terms of the exchange ratio, it was an incredible achievement, but ultimately, it only forced them into a one-sided war of attrition.
‘Was this… a mistake?’
She’d heard he lived in a cabin in the forest, but she never imagined there would be this many monsters. It was too late to turn back now. Too many soldiers were wounded.
Elesis keenly felt that her judgment had been wrong, and she sensed death approaching.
“S-Sir Elesis!”
Hearing a soldier’s cry, Elesis looked up ahead. A wolf the size of a house had appeared.
It was a monster that even an army couldn’t easily face. Realizing this, Elesis spoke to her adjutant.
“…I’ll hold it off here. You all escape.”
“What!? What are you…”
“The faster you run, the higher the chance that at least one of you will survive.”
Muttering this, Elesis drew her sword and stepped forward.
So be it. She would buy enough time for her soldiers to escape.
“I am a Holy Knight. Do you think I would lose to a mere monster?”
“…In that case, please, stay alive!”
Watching her adjutant retreat toward the village with the soldiers, Elesis charged toward the monster.
“…Fenrir, who is this person?”
[She suddenly attacked me, so I swatted her with my paw, and she passed out…]
I let out a hollow laugh as I looked at Elesis, who Fenrir had brought back in his mouth. See, I knew she was a Holy Knight.
It didn’t feel right to just leave an unconscious person lying around, so I picked Elesis up and carried her inside the cabin.