Chapter 259
Chapter 259
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 259
Chapter Title: The Black Mage of the Elf Forest -1
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Somewhere in the Great Elf Forest.
A young man and a single crow were walking along a forest path.
The Great Forest wasn't even remotely friendly to humans. The undergrowth was so dense it made every step a struggle, crawling with all manner of venomous creatures.
Take three steps, and a viper lunges at you. Cunning beasts stalk you from behind. Glance down, and leeches carrying plagues are clinging to your skin. A natural hell.
Even a seasoned adventurer wouldn't survive a day if they set foot in the Great Forest.
"Tsk, what a pain."
The fact that they were strolling through such a brutal place without a care proved just how unusual they were.
The ominous crow with its scarlet eyes opened its beak.
"Bennett, water scent from the 11 o'clock direction. Mammalian milk smell too—the kind unique to their young. If intelligent life dwells in this forest... we'll soon make contact with their civilization."
"...Can't you just speak plainly?"
"Where's the beauty without rhetoric? Show some appreciation for aesthetics, Bennett. It's the greatest legacy of any intelligent being."
"I'm gonna hurl."
The young man called Bennett let out a sigh at the crow's long-winded chatter.
This talking crow had once been a human known as the "Mad Wizard," who claimed he'd taken this avian form due to some "unspeakable reason."
Bennett's guess? A curse for blaspheming the goddess.
His final act as a human had been trying to deceive her into halting the Divine Punishment. Plenty of plausibility there. In that light... ending up as a mere crow was probably a blessing.
The crow Mima seemed to have kept his intelligence. He could even cast basic illusion magic, albeit greatly weakened. Aside from his suspiciously flowery speech, nothing much had changed.
"Seeds are calling to me for lunch today. Sunflower seeds would be ideal. If we find some, you'll shell them for me, of course?"
"......"
Sometimes Bennett wondered if the guy actually believed he was a crow...
According to him, there was a way to revert. For now, they'd ignore it. They had a more pressing goal: escape the Great Forest.
Find the exit to this damnably vast woodland and return to the Holy City.
It wouldn't be easy. They'd been lost in here for three days already. Mima had flown high for recon, but no sign of human territory.
Seemed they'd teleported deep into the heart of it.
How long would it take? As Bennett wiped sweat from his cheek with the back of his hand...
"Hold up, Bennett."
The crow snapped its beak with a sharp warning clack.
"...Spot something?"
"Yes. Hair snagged on a branch. Body hair, looks like. Blonde. Judging by thickness and tensile strength, probably humanoid. Nutrition seems solid."
"All that from one strand?"
"Basic wizard's toolkit. Skip the praise, Bennett. Two days back, we deduced this was the Great Elf Forest. Meaning the one who left this trail is most likely—"
Whizz—thunk!
An arrow buried itself in a tree trunk.
Bennett didn't flinch. He calmly looked up toward the shot's origin. He'd clocked it as a warning shot.
High on a branch, a backlit silhouette nocked another arrow.
It was an elf.
Wearing a natural ghillie suit woven from leaves and twigs—perfect camouflage. Unless you stared hard, you'd never guess a person was there.
Only on close inspection did the pointed ears and glimpses of pale skin stand out.
The elf archer menaced them with an arrow drawn taut.
"...Human. How did you invade this sacred forest?"
"Oh, fair maiden who mirrors nature herself, race that sings the whispers of the woods. We come with no malice or wicked schemes. Our presence here stems from one thing alone: accident."
"A talking... crow...?"
As the elf faltered at the crow's banter, Bennett crossed his arms and stated his case flatly.
"We... got caught in a botched magic experiment and teleported here against our will. All I want is one thing: get out and back to the human world. Point me the way, and I'll walk out on my own two feet."
"Can't trust it. Did humans send you to scout for invasion? That's what you are, right?!"
"If you're set on misunderstanding, I've got no proof. But it's the truth."
"...No way. You're too suspicious! If you're really innocent, come with me to the outpost. Pass the mind scan clean, and you're free."
The elf's eyes brimmed with suspicion.
Wild elves were known to be highly xenophobic, but this prickly? Bennett and Mima exchanged a glance, then agreed to her proposal.
Better than aimless wandering.
"Fine."
"...One funny move, and I shoot!"
"Oh, miss. Why the hostility? Bennett here's unarmed, and I'm just a talking crow."
"You say it and don't find that suspicious?"
Really?
Bennett turned to check his reflection in a nearby puddle.
A youth with ash-gray hair, one forelock draped to hide a facial scar. Sword sheath, no blade. Crow perched on his right shoulder.
...Yeah, it looked pretty shady.
The crow cackled.
"Aha. We look just like a black magic swordsman, Bennett. Squint your eyes, and it'd be perfect."
"Your fault."
"Not entirely, Bennett. I add to the vibe, sure—but you're plenty shady solo. Don't believe me? Ask the elf miss!"
"...Shut your beak and follow quietly!"
Bennett sighed and trailed after the wild elf.
Three hours of walking later, Bennett arrived at a wild elf habitat hidden amid dense trees.
Hammocks strung between trunks, roofs of stitched leaves—more akin to nature than civilization. Almost no artificial traces; at a glance, no one would peg it as a village.
"...Closer than I thought. And better hidden."
"No wonder aerial recon missed it."
There was good reason Mima hadn't spotted it from the sky.
Elves darted between branches and gaps in the canopy. Clad in leaf garb—virtually naked.
"......"
They showed no shame in their semi-nudity. Just wariness toward outsiders.
The crow spoke up.
"Bennett, do you know the difference between wild elves and civilized ones?"
"Not really. No interest."
"From Defense Bureau intel, wild elves' minds are bound through the World Tree. They read each other's thoughts transparently, living like an ant colony."
"...Minds linked?"
The crow clacked its beak as if to say, intriguing, right? The divide came down to that bond.
Calling them "wild" was a human-centric put-down.
Tight-knit from mutual mind-reading, but fiercely exclusive to "unreadable" outsiders. Savage, no external dealings—like wild beasts.
"They're probably peering into your mind via the World Tree's power. To check for ill intent."
"Then it's perfect. No mix-ups, smooth exit."
"You think?"
"......?"
Humm.
Mana stirred subtly in Mima's body—an exquisitely precise manipulation even Bennett could barely sense.
It manifested as a whisper only he could hear.
-Observe discreetly. Second tree left from straight ahead, elf on the branch. See her?
He did.
Flowing blonde hair, smaller frame than the others. Leaves barely covering her lower half. Eyes... glazed.
Nothing alarming on its own. What was the crow getting at?
-Look closer. Focus on muscle twitches. Breathing too. Odd, isn't it? Almost amusingly so.
Breathing.
He gauged her tempo from the rise and fall of her chest. Bennett sensed the wrongness.
Her breaths came slow, like deep sleep.
Muscles rippled visibly under skin. Each shift to balance on the swaying branch caused bizarre swelling and contraction.
Once noticed, it was blatantly off. Even without his honed senses, anyone watching would feel the creep factor...
Disease? Curse?
-No. She's asleep—and her whole body's being puppeteered. I know a black mage with this trick...
Faceless. Redburn clan assassin, hijacking bodies at will.
Mima had sniffed out her trail.
Had she gotten swept up in the goddess's Forced Exile too, landing amid these elves by chance? What scheme via one possessed wild elf? No clue.
But the methods and motives? Pure evil.
-Well, Bennett?
What?
-Turn a blind eye and head for the Holy City? Or stop her? Your call.
"......"
Bennett wasn't some justice freak. He'd only ever fought to protect what mattered to him. Return was urgent—no need to stir trouble.
Besides, the black mage wore elf skin. Accuse her, and the rest would scoff at the nonsense. Arrows would follow.
But.
She wouldn't ignore a wild card like them.
Would a black mage really let sudden outsiders slide?
So this was... preemptive defense.
Bennett silently signaled Mima: disrupt the plot. The crow cawed gleefully, pleased.
And then.
"...You, outsider human! Perverted scum, where're you staring?!"
"What?"
"You've been ogling Lira nonstop. Lecher!"
The wild elf spat the words with utter disgust.
They felt no shame in their traditional garb—but base emotions? Sure. Bennett gawking at the girl looked lewd as hell.
"...Misunderstanding."
"We'll see. Impure thoughts, and your junk becomes fertilizer! To that tree—now!"
-Told you to be discreet. No subtlety.
"......"
Thus, Bennett underwent the mind scan.
The wild elves peered into his head via a World Tree sapling. Confirmed: no malice, just filled with thoughts of Tara, Niore, and his little sister.
They welcomed him as a guest.
"Welcome! Human guests are rare—stay the night!"
"...Weren't you aiming a bow at me minutes ago?"
"Stranger then, guest now."
Post-scan, their attitude flipped 180 degrees, all friendly. His steadfast purity amid the near-nudity? Hard not to approve.
"So how'd a warm welcome turn into elf rangers chasing us?"
"Stole half their sacred relic."
"...Half?"