Chapter 169
Chapter 169
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 169
Chapter Title: Ghost City (4)
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The inn was tucked away in a secluded corner of the village.
Perhaps because outsiders rarely passed through, it seemed like they hadn’t had guests in ages. The air carried more of the scent of old dust than any human presence.
“Uh, w-welcome!”
The innkeeper was a very young woman. As if greeting guests was something she hadn’t done in forever, she jumped up in a fluster and welcomed us.
We paid a week’s worth of room fees upfront and headed upstairs. The thought of eating a meal prepared by someone else for once and taking a bath had me surprisingly excited.
There were three rooms upstairs in total, but one was being used as a storage room now, so we rented the other two. As usual, Lloyd and I took the larger room, while El and Ayla shared the smaller one.
“Guests, the water’s all ready!”
“Yes, thank you.”
I grabbed my bath salts, herbs, and an old book, then headed to the bath. Inside the wooden bathhouse, where hot stones were piled on one side, a fresh birch scent wafted through the air. The innkeeper poured water over the hot stones to fill the room with steam, then left. I dissolved the salts and herbs in the wooden tub before slipping in.
‘I’ll have to ask questions tomorrow.’
The innkeeper seemed glad to see us, but not entirely. She’d accepted our generous payment with joy, but her anxious gaze lingered as she watched us enter our rooms—enough to fuel my suspicions.
‘...Well, with things as they are, I should just rest well tonight.’
Soaking in the hot water melted away my worries. I pushed the horrific image of that man from the burned mansion to the back of my mind and opened the old book. New entries had filled the previously blank pages.
‘I’m... level 48 now.’
So much had happened in Dehid that my level had risen quite a bit. Thanks to that, I’d gained two new skills.
[Call of the Forest], which I could learn at level 46, and [Forest Giant] at level 48. Both were incredibly useful.
[Call of the Forest] was a skill that summoned the guardian of any forest—the forest’s ‘spirit.’
The type varied depending on the forest, but every forest had spirits. They weren’t like fairies. If anything, they were akin to mountain gods? They oversaw the forest’s vital energy and its flows, with forms and powers differing by forest type.
Using this skill didn’t make the forest spirit my subordinate. It merely became my ally and wouldn’t assist if the forest itself was threatened. There were some tricky conditions like that...
But used in the right situations, it would be a huge help. Monster subjugations and the like.
The one downside? Being forest spirits, they could only be called in actual forests.
This skill would come in handy later in monster extermination zones.
[Forest Giant] didn’t borrow power from spirits or fairies—it drew directly from the ‘trees’ themselves. From oaks to pines, firs, any tree at all—once awakened with this skill, it became a ‘giant.’ It could walk the earth using roots pulled from the soil as legs and attack enemies with branches or trunks. It wasn’t as nimble or versatile as beasts or spirits, but its overwhelming size and sturdiness made up for it. Use it on a redwood growing about 100 meters tall, and it could probably take on an orc army.
The downside? Once the skill ended, it reverted to a normal tree and replanted its roots. So, be careful not to let it end in an awkward spot.
It worked on small plants too, letting them move...
But that was inefficient, so pass. This skill was clearly for combat. And the mana cost would vary wildly by tree.
‘Alright, let’s try [Call of the Forest] first.’
I closed my eyes and focused my mind. If there was a forest nearby, a spirit should respond to the skill.
“......”
Why wasn’t it working?
I kept trying until the bathwater cooled to lukewarm, but nothing appeared. Was it a bug? Just as I was about to give up—
-Ziiing...
The bathwater vibrated faintly, then began emitting a soft blue-green glow. I felt Pipi, who’d been dozing on top of my head, jolt awake and fly off.
-Whisk!
Soon, a refreshing breeze blew in. The skill had worked. Opening my eyes, I saw a pale green orb floating there, scattering light.
‘It’s not strong enough to take a solid form yet.’
Was there some issue with the nearby forest? I placed the round pale green light on my fingertip and spun it around. It made a whistling sound, bouncing softly upward before settling back on my finger, over and over.
“Good, friend. Nice to meet you.”
-Ping!
“Could you do me one favor?”
-Pinggle!
“Make the wind blow. Until all the fog blanketing this village clears.”
-Pinggrrrrr!
The pale green light spun rapidly on my fingertip before shooting into the air and vanishing. Pipi flew after it, only to smack into the ceiling and plop into the tub.
“Whoa, whoa, Pipi. You’ve been aggressive lately?”
I fished out Pipi, who was sinking with a gurgle, and placed it back on my head. While it preened its wet feathers, I sank into thought.
The path to this village had been all forest. Yet it had taken so long for the forest spirit to appear here, which suggested something might be interfering with the village. An unnaturally deep darkness, or thick fog.
‘Once that’s driven away, the village’s truth might come into sharper focus.’
The water had cooled completely, so I got up, tidied the bath area, and returned to the room. Lloyd was staring out the window, still fully armed.
“Not sleeping?”
“......Somehow, tonight doesn’t feel right for it.”
“Something’s off about this village, isn’t there.”
Lloyd nodded silently. He felt it too—that something unnatural was happening here.
“Rest. You must be tired from all the travel. I’ll keep watch tonight.”
I had the Sand Olapunt Magic Stone Necklace, after all. I didn’t need sleep. I pulled out jerky, dried fruit, and nuts for a midnight snack and nodded toward the bed.
“I’ll wake you if anything happens.”
“......Alright.”
Lloyd returned to bed without another word, and I dragged a chair over to sit by the window. A birdcage hung there, with a legless crow sleeping soundly on the bottom. I checked its condition, then gazed outside.
The street was dead silent, as if every mouse had died. It was night, so that was normal, but after the mansion incident, the atmosphere felt especially eerie. Not even the usual drunkard or two in sight.
-Crunch, crunch.
I chewed on almonds while watching the empty night street.
How much time passed like that?
Normally, I’d gauge the hour by the stars, but the fog was too thick. Nothing to do but wait for dawn.
“......!”
I’d grown bored of the unchanging view when—
I spotted something streaking down the street and shot to my feet. Glimmering silver fur like it was catching moonlight, perked-up ears and a fluffy tail, bounding along without a sound, swift as the wind...
“A-Ayla...?”
That’s right.
It was Ayla.
She was zipping around the streets in high spirits, spinning in circles and leaping into the air, playing pranks as she dashed through the village. It almost looked like a game of tag. After a while of that, she vanished into an alley, chasing something.
‘What’s going on?’
Ayla had never acted alone like this, not once. Sneaking out in the middle of the night to frolic in the streets? I hadn’t raised her that way!
Should I use [Submission] to connect mentally and see what she was up to?
“......”
But one thing nagged at me. Ayla was acting like she wasn’t alone—like she was playing with someone. Had she fallen victim to some illusion magic? No, that couldn’t be...
‘Then, does that mean Ayla can see something invisible to me?’
Like the superstition that dogs and cats see ghosts—maybe Ayla was seeing something unseen?
‘I need to follow her.’
I threw on my cloak and quietly opened the window. Going out through the downstairs door might make the innkeeper suspicious, so I planned a quick trip out and back this way.
‘Hopefully Ayla doesn’t notice me.’
The cloak from the Cat Lord ceremony should help. Damn, if only I could use the passive skill [Cat's Eye] I got back then, but there wasn’t a single cat—or even a mouse—in this village...
I crept silently into the alley where Ayla had disappeared, suppressing my presence.
‘...Only one set of footprints.’
That’s right. The tracks in the alley were Ayla’s alone. I followed them quietly. Dawn was still far off, it seemed. Pushing through the fog, winding deeper into the alleys, until at the end...
“......!”
There stood the mansion, acrid smoke still rising faintly. The heavy iron gate, once firmly shut, now hung half-open.
‘...Don’t tell me she went inside.’
The footprints led into the mansion. Damn it, Ayla! Suppressing the urge to tan her hide, I cautiously slipped through the gate. The eerie aura still lingered inside, where...
-Creeeak.
As if waiting for me, the mansion door stood wide open.