Chapter 10

This is also a story added later. There are no changes to the main plot.

◆Traveling Merchant Raus

"Damn it, for me, Raus, to end up like this... We're almost at the Kingdom of Ptea."

Raus had encountered goblins while walking on the road for business and barely managed to escape into the forest.

He felt like he had to complain.

"What are the knights of Ptea doing?"

Knights were supposed to guard the roads and areas outside the city walls. For such monsters to appear was a sign of negligence.

However, no matter how angry he got, it wouldn't change anything.

"Where am I? I don't think I'm that far from the road..."

The forest was the domain of monsters.

He might be attacked by more goblins or other monsters like the ones he had just encountered.

He needed to get back to the road as soon as possible. More monsters would come out at night.

He had to get inside a walled city before then.

He continued walking.

But he couldn't find his way back to the road.

"My throat is so dry..."

His throat was parched from running at full speed to escape the goblins.

"Still, why did they suddenly stop chasing me?"

Goblins were surprisingly fast for their short legs. He never thought he could outrun them, being a chubby man over forty.

But he thought it was fine. He was alive, and right now, his throat was more important.

"Song...?"

He heard a song as he walked.

He followed the sound into the forest and found a large spring. In the middle of the spring, a naked woman with her lower body in the water was singing.

The song seemed to be coming from her.

She was beautiful, and he couldn't help but be captivated.

He approached her without thinking and accidentally stepped on a branch, making a noise.

"Is someone there?"

The beautiful woman turned to look at him, having heard the noise.

"Ah, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to peek! I just heard such a beautiful song..."

He hurriedly tried to explain.

"No, it's my fault for bathing in such a place. How about it, would you like to join me?"

The woman smiled without covering herself.

Her smile made his head feel foggy, and he couldn't think clearly.

"No, no, I couldn't possibly bathe with someone as beautiful as you! I just need some water to drink..."

He approached the spring.

"Of course, this spring belongs to no one. Please feel free to drink."

"Thank you, I will."

Since the woman had invited him, he thought it was fine.

Besides, he was only thirsty. It wasn't because of any lewd intentions. He tried to convince himself of that.

The woman was smiling.

He bent down at the edge of the spring, but his eyes couldn't leave the woman.

He cupped the water in his hands and took a sip. The water tasted sweet, perhaps because the woman was in it.

He was about to take another sip when he felt something strange in his body.

"My body..."

His body was numb, and his hands wouldn't move. He finally looked into the spring.

"What...?!"

There was a huge beast's face in the spring, staring at him.

The moment he saw the beast's eyes, the fog in his head cleared.

Of course, why would such a beautiful woman be in a place like this, in a forest full of monsters?

Why hadn't he noticed anything strange?

He forced his paralyzed body to look at the woman's face.

The woman was smiling happily.

The beast's head emerged from the spring and opened its large mouth.

"Aah..."

There was nothing he could do.

The beast's head came toward him.

And then everything went dark.

◆Dark Knight Croki

"Ah, I couldn't get in again today..."

It was the fourth day since leaving Nargol.

He hadn't been allowed into the city he had just visited.

He continued his journey to the Holy Republic of Renaria, where Rayji and the others were.

The distance from Nargol to the Holy Republic of Renaria was considerable, but he could move faster than a horse in this world, so he had already covered more than two-thirds of the distance in just four days.

He must have been traveling at over 200 kilometers per hour.

He was a superhuman in this world.

Since the people in this world also moved superhumanly in the videos, he thought that if people from his world came to this world, they would become superhumans.

During his travels, he observed how the people in this world lived.

The people in this world lived based on points rather than areas.

There were countless city-states, much like ancient Greece.

Outside the cities, it was not a human world but a realm of many monsters.

Humans lived within the walls of the cities and their surroundings.

The cities were connected by roads.

City-states ranged from small villages to large ones with satellite cities.

The political systems varied, with some being monarchies and others republics.

In other words, the difference was whether the mayor was hereditary or elected.

In some monarchies, not only the mayor but also the deputy and section chiefs were hereditary nobles, while in others, only the mayor was hereditary.

Of course, there were also republics with nobles.

The religion was, as expected, the gods of Elyos.

According to Natt, there were people who did not believe in the gods of Elyos in the border regions, but they were called barbarians.

Incidentally, the city he had just visited was the Kingdom of Ptea, a city-state with a population of about 20,000.

However, that was only the number of citizens, and the population would be larger if those without citizenship were included.

Citizens were nationals of the city-state, while non-citizens were foreigners.

Therefore, it was not easy for non-citizens to enter the city.

So, how did they manage trade? They signed treaties with other countries to allow free entry for citizens of each other's countries. By signing multiple such treaties, they ensured free movement of people.

Of course, there were also completely self-sufficient, closed countries that did not sign treaties with anyone.

Incidentally, since he did not have citizenship of any country, he could not enter any city-state officially.

So, how had he managed to eat and drink so far?

First, the forest was rich in food, and there were plenty of fruits like pomegranates.

There were many other fruits as well. If not for the monsters, ordinary humans could have lived here.

When he wanted cooked food, he had to enter the city.

He used the flying magic to sneak in, apologized to the shop owner, and stole a skewer of meat to eat.

If he had money, it would have been easier, but Modest did not have the currency used in the human world.

Instead, he received a gem from Nargol, but neither he nor Natt knew how to exchange it, so it was useless.

"Well, what should we do today, Natt?"

He asked Natt, his travel companion.

"Should we sneak in with the Cloak of Shadows?"

He couldn't enter through the front gate, but he could sneak in using the magical item, the Cloak of Shadows, given by Modest.

The Cloak of Shadows, a hooded cloak, could make the wearer invisible by completely hiding their face, just like the Invisibility spell.

The Invisibility spell made the person's presence disappear, and people wouldn't notice them.

However, it didn't work against those with detection abilities or detection spells, and once recognized, the spell would be broken.

The same applied to the Cloak of Shadows.

"No, let's skip it this time. Most of the information about Rayji and the others is the same."

His goal was to gather information about Rayji and the others, so he was traveling through the cities they had visited on his way to the Holy Republic of Renaria.

The stories about Rayji and the others were mostly the same.

They had defeated many monsters and saved people, and were greatly appreciated by many.

However, some people feared them due to their superhuman strength.

There were also those who had been harmed by Rayji and the others.

Therefore, he thought that even if he entered the Kingdom of Ptea, the information about Rayji and the others wouldn't be much different, and since he had no money, he couldn't stay at an inn, so there was no point in entering the Kingdom of Ptea.

"Natt, let's camp nearby tonight."

"Then we'll look for a place to sleep and food."

"Sure."

It was almost evening, so it was time to rest.

Fortunately, the nearby forest was abundant, and they wouldn't lack for food.

He could set up a magical barrier to keep out most monsters.

They walked through the forest in search of food and water.

After a while, they heard a song from deep in the forest.

"Song..."

He tilted his head.

It was unusual for someone to be singing in a forest full of monsters.

"Beautiful voice, isn't it?"

Natt said dreamily, not questioning it at all.

"Lord Dihart, should we go see?"

Natt suggested, eager to go in the direction of the voice.

Natt's state seemed odd, probably due to the song.

"Alright, let's go."

He also wanted to see the singer.

After walking for a while, they found a large spring in an open area of the forest.

In the middle of the spring, a naked woman with her lower body in the water was singing.

"Who's there?"

The woman turned to look at them.

"Ah, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to interrupt your singing. I was just curious about who was singing."

He bowed. He was glad he came to see something unusual.

"It's fine. How about it, would you like to join me in the bath?"

"No, thank you. We'll be on our way. Please continue singing."

He tried to leave.

"Lord Dihart, there's beautiful water here. Why don't we spend the night here?"

Natt suggested, wanting to stay.

"Natt, you can't drink this water. It's poisonous."

"Poisonous?!"

Natt was surprised.

The spring water was poisoned with a magical poison, probably something that paralyzed the body.

"Such poison... Why don't you stay a little longer?"

The woman said.

Her words were slightly unpleasant.

She saw them as prey.

Since coming to this world, he had become sensitive to hostility and harmful intentions.

Even from dozens of meters away, he could sense if someone was hostile. According to Rugar, it was a detection ability, but being exposed to unpleasant gazes wasn't a good feeling.

Moreover, the woman had been using a charm spell on them.

That was also unpleasant. The song probably had a similar effect, which was why Natt had become strange.

The woman was likely a monster, and seeing her naked didn't affect him.

She was a monster that lured prey with her song and human-like appearance and then ate them.

Of course, he had no intention of being eaten.

However, he didn't want to fight the monster.

He wanted to leave peacefully. He tried to intimidate her to prevent further hostility.

He had often been targeted by monsters on his journey, but intimidating them usually made them flee.

However, the woman-monster became even more hostile.

"You!!"

The woman's face twisted in anger, and suddenly, six large beast heads emerged from the spring, stretching their necks to attack.

He had misjudged; she hadn't given up on eating him. Moreover, she was faster than expected.

"Ha!!"

He drew his sword, dodged the beast heads, and cut one off.

"Grrr! A mere human!!"

The woman's face contorted in agony, losing the elegance it once had.

"Take this!!"

The spring water formed a large mass in the air.

"Water Bubble Burst!"

The monster shouted, and the large mass of water shattered, heading toward him.

"Magic Shield!"

He shouted, and a circular shield of light appeared in front of him, blocking the water shards.

The water shards stopped, and the monster came out of the spring.

The monster's lower body, hidden by the spring, was revealed. Her upper body was human-like, but her lower body had six large beast heads and multiple tentacles.

Her appearance was grotesque.

The monster tried to approach him.

She wasn't very fast, probably unable to move quickly on land.

"Natt, are you okay?"

"I'm fine... but I feel dizzy..."

Natt seemed overwhelmed by the sudden turn of events.

"Natt, stay back."

He put Natt down, and Natt moved to the back.

"You dare to cut off one of my heads!!"

The monster glared at him with anger. Black blood dripped from where the head had been cut off, and the ground where the blood fell emitted white smoke, withering the surrounding plants. The monster's blood was poisonous.

He could escape, but he felt the monster would pursue them relentlessly.

It would be troublesome. Besides, he could probably win in a fight.

"A mere human!!"

The monster approached him, moving slowly.

The beast heads and tentacles attacked.

He spun his body, cutting off two beast heads and a tentacle, then jumped up.

"Fool!!"

The monster's surprised voice.

He landed behind the monster after slicing through her upper body.

"Y-You fool...!!"

The monster collapsed.

She tilted her head back and looked at him.

"S-So... you are a god... I thought you were human... and underestimated... a mistake..."

The monster said, then collapsed.

"I'm not a god..."

But he didn't feel like correcting her.

The monster shrank and emitted white smoke. It seemed he had defeated her.

"Lord Dihart, are you okay?"

Natt ran over, bypassing the monster.

"I've never seen a monster like this before, and it's a formidable opponent."

He had only seen orcs and goblins on his journey, never a monster like this.

"Me neither... I've never seen a monster like this."

Even Natt had never seen it, which was surprising. It must be a rare monster.

He should ask someone else about this monster.

He looked into the forest.

Someone was watching them, but he didn't sense any hostility. It wasn't a goblin or orc, but who was it?

"Is someone there?"

He called out.

A girl appeared from the shadows of the trees.

She was about his age or a bit younger, with fair skin and blue hair, a beautiful girl.

Why was such a girl in a place like this? Was she a monster like the one before?

However, he didn't sense any hostility from her, and her gaze wasn't unpleasant like the monster's.

"Lord Dihart, she's an elf."

Her ears were long, as he had been told about elves.

According to Rugar, elves were a long-lived race, consisting only of females. All elves could use spirit magic and were much stronger than the average human, allowing them to live in the forest without relying on city walls.

They also sometimes fell in love with young humans and kidnapped them.

He looked at her. If he were kidnapped by her, he wouldn't mind. But that was irrelevant to him.

What did this elf want from him?

"Um... Are you gods?"

The elf girl asked timidly.

"No, I think we're humans."

He answered with a question.

He had been wondering if the people in this world were the same as those in his world.

He was much more powerful than the people in this world, and so were Rayji and the others. They might be a different race despite their similar appearance.

"Lie, a human can't defeat a Scylla. We can't even defeat them. Are you really not gods?"

The monster he had defeated was apparently a Scylla.

"No, I'm definitely not a god..."

He wasn't a great being to be called a god.

"Really?"

The girl approached him and looked him up and down.

"Hmm, who are you? Why are you here...?"

Her face came close to his.

Her eyes reflected him, and he instinctively looked away. He had never been this close to a girl other than Shirone in his original world, so his heart raced.

"I-I'm just a traveler. I'm looking for a place to sleep."

He stammered.

"Can't you enter a human settlement?"

She was referring to the walled cities. He nodded at her question.

"Yes... I have my reasons..."

"Hmm, so you have nowhere to go. Hey, why don't you come to my house?"

"Wh-What!?"

He was surprised. He had heard that elves were not particularly friendly to humans, even though they