Ankoku Kishi Monogatari ~Yuusha wo Taosu Tameni Maou ni Shoukansaremashita~

Chapter 141: Forest of Lament

◆Dark Knight; Kuroki

After parting ways with Kuna and the others, I entered Ruvania.

There was a barrier that could detect intruders erected around Ruvania.

Though it was possible to slip through the barrier unnoticed with Kuna’s butterfly, such a method wouldn’t work for a great number of people.

Thus, we could only send the minimum number of people.

In addition, there was magic placed inside the barrier that sealed teleportation magic, thus making it harder for the intruder to escape with it.

On this occasion, I was accompanied by Tibel, the dark fairy, and Clown, the doll with a soul.

We hurriedly headed toward the capital of death, Modegal, the residence of Zarxis.

We were using the land route since it would be much easier for the other party to find us if we fly instead.

Thus, running on land was the fastest way to reach Modegal.

Fortunately, Ruvania was much smaller than Gypseal.

At this rate, I might reach Modegal in a bit.

The road I was running on still had ssnow piled up.

Ruvania’s land was located near the sea of ice in the northern part of the continent.

It wasn’t a big deal since the current season was the season of wind, alas, things would be very difficult if this was the season of snow.

In addition, the pile of snow was thicker inland, close to the mountains, than in the area around the shoreline.

That’s why even during the season of wind, the season after the one of snow, it wasn’t rare for spile of snow to remain inland.

「Are you alright, Tibel?」

I asked Tibel who hid in my pocket.

The dark fairy usually lived in the lush green forest that was rich in vitality.

And Ruvania was a land filled with dark miasma, the opposite of vitality. Should I tell Tibel to leave since this land was obviously too much for her?

「I-I’m okay, Kuroki-sama~. I can resist the miasma as long as I’m near Kuroki-sama who has a lot of vitality.」

Said Tibel cheerfully.

What did she mean by she was alright by my side?

But, I guess I had nothing to say as long as she was happy.

「Maste~r, I can at least handle thi~s. Let’s try to find living humans fi~rst. There should be living creatures around this place~. The area ahead of us is pretty dangerous after a~ll.」

Explained Clown with his usual eerie laugh.

Surely, I did see human settlements every now and then along the way.

I was really surprised to see that there were humans in the land ruled by the Reaper.

「Indeed, never expected to see humans living in this land.」

「They’re livestock. They’re raised for the nobles of de~ath」

「Eh, is that so?」

That was a surprise.

Honestly, I hesitated at this point whether to save them or not.

Alas, we were currently on an infiltration mission, I couldn’t afford to save them and risk failing this mission.

Living in Ruvania was tough, this land’s environment was not suitable for living creatures either.

In the north of Ruvania was Aremania, the land directly facing the sea; there were a few human kingdoms in that land.

According to Clown’s explanation, the place we passed by was a village called Sanshos, its feudal lord was a vampire.

His explanation was down to the details.

Seriously, just how in the world did this Clown know all of that information?

Not to mention that his magical power was really high for a mere doll.

He was by no means your average doll.

Who in the world was capable of making this kind of doll?

The first person that cto my mind was Heqat.

An archwitch like Heqat should be able to make a doll with her own will.

Did that mean she gave this doll to Kuna, her disciple?

Let’s try to ask her after I return from this mission.

「Well then, ahead is the Forest of Lament. We will be alright since I’m with you guys, but just in case, Tibel-kun, prepare a concealment spell.」

「Humph. Already did that ages ago, Clown.」

Said Tibel as she stuck her tongue out toward Clown.

Tibel the dark fairy could use teleportation magic when residing in a sealed space, like Kuna’s butterfly, she was also using her concealment spell on us.

In regard to her residing in a sealed space, it was only required for teleportation magic.

The one thing that leftpuzzled though was the reason behind Clown’s confidence, why did he know that it was alright since he was with us?

As I was pondering about such a thing while running, the forest that gavea chill just from one glance finally entered our sight.

The trees of the forest had no leaves, they were bizarrely twisted, dead trees.

Definitely not the kind of forest you want to enter.

「Behold, the Forest of Lament, nihihihihi. Don’t let your guard down, otherwise, the trees in that forest will snatch your so~ul.」

Clown explained with an eerie laugh.

Tibel, who hid in my pocket, looked really displeased.

I knew why she felt that way though.

Couldn’t Heqat at least make him have a slightly decent personality?

I really wished for her to do that right now.

Alas, no use in crying over spilled milk, we had to go through this forest.

The Forest of Lament was made of twisted trees without any leaves on their branches. Yet, the branches seemed to be growing very well, twining each other upward in a complex pattern, making the forest darker than the outside.

The death capital Modegal was somewhere inside this forest. I had no choice but to go through this forest since I used the land route.

「This forest is creepy~」

Tibel shuddered upon seeing the forest.

I agree with her, this forest was creepy.

Eerie voices echoed inside the forest from tto time.

It might be the sound of the wind as it passed through the gaps between the branches, which also produced a groaning-like voice.

Maybe this echo was the reason behind the nof this forest.

Honestly, I wanted to leave this eerie forest as soon as possible.

「Ooops! No go~od. The forest will attack you if you leave my side, maste~r. Kekeke.」

Said Clown when I tried to increase my walking pace.

「What do you mean by the forest will attack me?」

「Literally, maste~r.」

Honestly, I had yet to understand fully.

I looked at the trees again.

Those trees were simply creepy. There were various bumps on the trunk of those trees.

Sof those bumps even look like human faces.

「Eh?!」

I unintentionally raised my voice.

That’s because one of the bumps which resembled a human face suddenly moved on its own.

Its eyes moved, and then it opened its mouth.

I approached that bump.

No doubt about it, it was a human face.

Its eyes were vacant and it sometimes raised a loud voice.

In short, the groaning voices I had heard since a while ago weren’t the sound of the wind.

「What… In the world is this?」

「Fufufu, master. These are mere shadows of those whose souls got sucked up by these tre~es.」

「What do you mean by mere shadows?」

「This forest doesn’t allow any living creature to get in. Someone who gets close to the forest will get their soul sucked out of their body. Take a look, master. That must be his body. Hyahahaha.」

Clown was pointing at the corpse of a human that had gotten entwined by the branches of the trees.

The corpse had already been dried up.

Since it was armed, it seems like the corpse was a warrior when he was still alive.

According to Clown’s explanation, everyone who wasn’t the kin of death would be attacked by the trees if they tried to enter the forest.

「Looking at his armament, it seems to be someone from the north of Aremenia. Is he by any chance… An idiot who tried to kill the kin of death? How can he cnonchalantly when the road looks way too easy?」

Said Clown while poking at the skin of the dried-up corpse.

Something about his remark caught my attention.

「The road, looks too easy?」

「Yes. If they really feel like it, they can make Ruvania inaccessible to humans. And yet, they don’t do tha~t.」

Sure enough, he was right.

Someone like Zarxis should be able to erect a barrier to prevent normal humans from entering.

And yet, he didn’t do that.

Upon a closer look, I saw a few corpses of human warriors every now and then.

Those corpses might be the corpses of the people who tried to hunt down the kin of death.

「What’s the reason for doing that?」

「To torment Elios’ kin, of course, ~~, Nihahahaha.」

「For that? Is there a way to save their soul?」

「There is. Burning the trees should be able to free the captured souls. But we will be noticed if we do that now, so let’s not invite trouble to our direction.」

Yeah, Clown was absolutely right.

Zarxis would definitely find out about us if we burn this forest.

「Understood. Let’s do as you say.」

「Thank you. It’s good to know that you understand the situatio~n.」

Said Clown as he slowly lowered the corpse from the tree.

The tree let go of the corpse so easily as if they had no interest in the corpse anymore.

The clown then took the corpse’s hand and danced in joy.

「O great hero of Aremania♪

We will go to defeat the king of death♪

Surpass the army of dea~th♪

Heading towards the Forest of Lament♪

The warrior is aiming for the capital of death♪

Yet he got tripped by the tree branches♪

What happens later is just as you imagined♪

The branch twined around his body♪

Turning the warrior into a part of the forest♪

Why did I cto this forest♪

The warrior laments everyday♪」

The lamenting voice matched the voice of Clown.

I knew that Tibel was trembling.

It wasn’t the kind of song that I wanted to hear.

「Stop it, Clown. Let’s just walk forward. We’re about to arrive at the capital of death right?」

「Ye~s. I understand. Well then Warrior-kun, let’s get going.」

Clown gently laid down the corpse of the warrior on the trunk of the tree where his face was.

I felt something unpleasant from this Clown.

Yet at the stime, he was our helper.

That’s why I had no choice but to pretend that I didn’t see his action just now.

Let’s pass this forest quickly.

Thus, we headed toward Modegal.