The Mysterious Child: An Adventure Tale Beginning with Numerology

Elenora and Punisuke disappeared.

Right after stepping into the Lunera Great Forest, they vanished without a trace or warning.

I immediately took out the "Sheep Doll" and activated its spell formula.

This wool doll can roughly indicate the direction and distance to Elenora herself.

The mini sheep hanging from the string suddenly raised its face and pointed its right hand forward.

Mererosu exclaimed in surprise.

"Wow, it moved. What's that?"

"It's a mystic device I made. It can tell us Elenora's location... Straight north, about 100 kilometers ahead?"

Judging from the angle of the arm, they were quite far away.

How did they get that far in an instant?

Elenora was at the rear. It's unlikely there was a teleportation trap, and it's strange if someone kidnapped her. I can't say for sure since I wasn't looking back, but if it was for kidnapping, it's too unnatural to go deep into the forest.

"Ruruk-kun, the Elven village is about that distance straight ahead from here."

"...Is there a magician who can teleport to the Elven village?"

"That's forbidden magic, you know? It's impossible."

Hmm, I don't understand.

But well, if they've arrived at the Elven village first, there's no need to panic.

They probably know we're coming, so I hope they think of it as being invited to an advance screening.

If by any chance they're in danger, worst case scenario the Elven village might disappear, so I really hope both Elenora and whoever took her stay put...

"Ruruk-kun, are you thinking something dangerous?"

"Not at all. I'm just so worried about Elenora."

Not about Elenora, but about what Elenora might do, though.

"You don't look that worried, but I guess it is concerning."

"Well, Elenora will probably be fine. She's stronger than me."

"Eh... that's surely a joke, right?"

"By the way, Elenora dealt the final blow to all the demons we defeated."

Come to think of it, that's true.

If by any chance we're caught by the demon police, I can say it: Elenora did it all!

That's why I'm not worried. Elenora is level-headed and good at handling trouble. Though she's quite bad at talking.

"So, let's head to the Elven village without rushing."

"I see. You really trust Elenora-chan, don't you Ruruk-kun?"

"Well, she's been my partner for a long time."

"...That's nice."

Saaya mumbled softly, though I'm not sure what she was referring to.

After that, we steadily progressed through the Lunera Great Forest.

The trunks of the magical trees are ridiculously thick and tall, with even the lowest branches at a height you have to look up to see. The Great Forest is constantly dim and damp. The ground is covered with moss instead of grass, and many poisonous-looking mushrooms grow at the base of the trees.

As a result, there were few monsters, making the journey consistently safe. However, there was no beaten path, so we almost slipped on the moss several times.

Elenora seemed to be staying in basically the same place. As we progressed, the distance to her shrank. It's reassuring that she's waiting quietly.

If there's one complaint about the Lunera Great Forest, it's that the scenery doesn't change at all. Walking through a dim forest of giant trees from morning to night can make you lose your sense of direction and time. Next time, I'm definitely going to set an [Anchor] and teleport. Anyone who says moving is the best part of traveling deserves a spanking.

"Ah, there's a Rukana mushroom over there. I'll go pick it real quick."

Mererosu occasionally finds and picks mushrooms.

Most of them look flashy and poisonous, but many are edible and become our food. We have plenty of meat and vegetables in our Item Box, so we don't really need to eat mushrooms... but this is the true essence of traveling. When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Because the forest has poor visibility, we didn't use teleportation much and walked quickly through the forest for four days.

Suddenly, the sky cleared... no. The magical trees ended.

There was a hole in the Great Forest.

Well, not an actual hole. Instead of trees that reached the sky, there was an ordinary forest. The magical trees formed a wall in a circle with a radius of about ten kilometers, and there were incomparably more diverse sounds than before.

The cries of birds and beasts, the sound of wind, the sound of water.

And the rustling of trees.

It was like a paradise overflowing with life.

"This is the 'Sacred Tree Forest'. The Elven village is just ahead, so hang in there a bit longer."

"Oh, so this is the famous..."

Among the many stories that flood this world, the Elven village is a popular standard spot.

Beyond the 'Magical Tree Forest' lies the beautiful 'Sacred Tree Forest'. In its center is the mysterious settlement that is the Elven village.

This is how it's typically described in stories.

It really is a beautiful forest.

Maybe it feels even more so because we were in a dim forest until just now.

"Inhale, exhale. Yeah, the air is clean too."

"I want to take a bath."

Saaya pouts after taking a deep breath like me.

We've been trudging through a damp forest for four days, after all. I understand the feeling.

"Hey, Mererosu-san. Are there hot springs in the Elven village?"

"There are no hot springs, but the bathing spots are beautiful and recommended. The women's bath has various flowers floating in it and smells nice, so everyone comes to bathe before dates."

"Yes! I want to go!"

"Hahaha. Okay, let's go after we meet up with Elenora-chan."

"I'm looking forward to it~"

A bathing spot with colorful flowers floating in it.

And it's filled with only Elven women...

"Damn, why didn't I learn the 'Gender Change' replacement method...!"

"Ruruk. I'll be angry if you peek, okay?"

Saaya, who would usually joke "If you're going to peek, only peek at me!", glares at me with a serious look.

T-This is for real...

I'll have to seal my [Fictitious Vision] for a while after we reach the Elven village. I feel like my social standing would be over if I peeked.

As we were walking and chatting, I faintly sensed the presence of someone.

The forest is still noisy, but mixed in with the natural sounds are very slight rustles of clothes, footsteps, and suppressed presences.

This is it. The [Adversity Breakthrough] skill that enhances the senses during numerical disadvantage in combat seems to have activated. The other side probably all have presence concealment skills, but it's not a problem if I've noticed them first.

We haven't entered the Elven village yet, so I'll use [Fictitious Vision] before sealing it.

In the trees, in the shadows of the grass, near animals, under fallen leaves... one, two, three, four... a total of 17 Elves are hiding and surrounding us.

And they have hostility. We're tourists, you know?

I like Elves, but... well, let's intimidate them a bit.

I generate 17 tiny air bullets on my palm. I've grasped all their coordinates, so if I make them burst near their ears, it should startle them. I've heard that Elves as a race can use mystic arts, so they'll probably realize I attacked, but they're the ones trying to make a move.

I don't know the circumstances, but this much should be allowed.

"Wait a moment, Ruruk-kun. I'll handle this... or rather, I'd like you to stand by because it would be pitiful if you did it."

Mererosu, who noticed our surroundings from my movements, smiled wryly and patted my head. *pat pat*

Hmm. I'll forgive you Elves this time, for the sake of Mererosu's head patting action.

"Well then, please wait a bit."

Saying that, Mererosu suddenly leaped straight up without any warning.

She's fast.

In terms of pure speed, Saaya or I would probably be much faster. But Mererosu had almost no preliminary movements.

Or rather, it might be better to say she hid her preliminary movements within her daily movements. She performed the process of moving - crouching, kicking off the ground - to jump up without letting the opponent notice.

Technical speed.

This isn't something you can imitate easily.

Indeed, the Elves surrounding us seem to have lost sight of Mererosu. Clearly agitated presences are leaking out.

Taking advantage of this opening, Mererosu jumped from branch to branch while readying the bow on her back, and shot an arrow into the chest of the male Elf who was on the highest tree. The arrow has a rounded tip, used for capturing animals. As expected of a hunter, she's well-prepared.

The shot Elf was surprised by the pain and fell, but he managed to right himself in mid-air and skillfully landed on another branch - but Mererosu, who had gotten there first, grabbed him and threw him to the ground.

"Gah!"

The man hit his back hard and lost consciousness.

As the man lost consciousness, Mererosu was already throwing a stone at the female hunter on the next highest perch. The female hunter simultaneously shot an arrow at Mererosu, which was coated with a paralyzing agent.

"Too naive."

Mererosu swiftly cut down the arrow with her short sword, and as the female hunter avoided the slowly thrown feint stone, Mererosu quickly threw the tip of the paralyzing arrow she had acquired.

Caught off guard by the time lag, the female hunter was hit by the paralyzing arrow and fell from the tree. A comrade below caught her... but this was also within Mererosu's calculations.

Mererosu, who had started running the moment she threw the paralyzing arrow, approached the Elf carrying his comrade and--

"Prepare yourself!"

"Take this!"

Suddenly, twin-like boy swordsmen with identical faces jumped out from left and right. By the way, they're both 109 years old. Boys, huh.

Without panicking, Mererosu approached the boy on the right with a body slam. It was probably a judgment based on the fact that the boy on the left was slightly slower. Mererosu rolled together with the boy on the right, but she had already moved out of range of the boy on the left.

Mererosu, who had initiated the roll herself, was the first to regain her stance.

The boy, who thought he had caught her off guard but ended up being caught off guard himself and rolled, was easily knocked unconscious by Mererosu's upward kick to the chin before he could stand up.

The boy on the left caught up to Mererosu and raised his sword to slash her back, but there was a rope at his feet.

"Eh-- Waaah!"

The rope, which Mererosu had set up at some point, suddenly tightened as she pulled her arm, sweeping the boy's feet.

As he had just raised his sword, the boy swordsman face-planted into the ground. Ouch.

As Mererosu was about to follow up on the boy, who was bleeding from his nose but still able to move, three arrows were approaching from behind her. She quickly rotated her body to avoid two and deflected the remaining one with her short sword. But those three were decoys. Behind them, a compressed water bullet was approaching and--

"'Water Ball'"

Mererosu canceled her chant and merely floated a small water sphere - a beginner-level magic - in front of her eyes.

However, when the water bullet hit this water sphere, it burst, losing its killing power and only ended up wetting Mererosu's body.

The female Elf who had cast the magic was momentarily thrown off balance, and Mererosu didn't miss this opening, rushing towards her while crawling on the ground. The female Elf, perhaps a pure magic user, had almost no time to resist in close combat and lost consciousness after being punched in the stomach.

"Amazing," Saaya exclaimed in admiration.

Mererosu dealt with both defense and attack with minimal movements. Even against fellow Elf warriors, her skillful fighting style didn't let her feel overwhelmed despite being greatly outnumbered.

That's to be expected.

Mererosu is a B-rank adventurer working solo. Her abilities are different from your average B-rank adventurer.

Normally, adventurers form parties. The average number is five people. Defeating B-rank monsters with that is the average for B-rank adventurers.

However, Mererosu does this alone on a regular basis. She apparently sometimes forms parties, but for light reasons like getting along with people, not for tactical purposes.

Solo strength at B-rank. She's probably more capable than the average A-rank adventurer.

As if to prove this, Mererosu quickly reduced the number of Elf warriors, who were supposed to be 17, to a number you could count on one hand.

"Why can't we win?!"

"That's why I told you! It's pointless to attack Mererosu with numbers!"

"Damn it! If only Distania were here..."

"Is it okay to end this soon? Hey, Karmarike."

The person Mererosu addressed was a petite blonde girl with a bob cut, quite small for an adult Elf. She looks much younger than Mererosu, but she's actually the same generation at 140 years old.

Karmarike glared at Mererosu.

"Don't be stupid! If we, the 'Forest Guardians', back down, who will protect the forest?!"

"In the first place, why are the guardians attacking us? Can I hear the reason?"

"Shut up! Bringing trouble again at a time like this... Don't get cocky just because you were the former squad leader!"

Karmarike is like a yapping puppy.

However, we're just tourists. And it seems unlikely for the usual Elves to attack even Mererosu who has come back to her hometown.

"Did something happen? I'd be happy to help if I can."

"It's too late for that, don't act like a good person, you traitor! Bringing humans with you... I won't be fooled!"

"Sigh. This is going nowhere."

Mererosu shrugged her shoulders in exasperation.

It seems there's some circumstances we don't know about.

Well, we're not going to turn back just because we're not welcome. Elenora is waiting ahead. Of course, Mererosu thinks the same.

"If you won't let us through, I'll have to put all of you remaining ones to sleep, okay?"

"S-Shut up! Stop acting like a boss--"

"Mererosu-chan!"

An Elf came running, knocking aside the barking Karmarike.

It was a beautiful woman who looked similar to Mererosu, with fluffy blonde hair down to her waist.

"Well, well! You've come back. I've been waiting!"

"...Big sister."

The woman - Mererosu's older sister - who didn't seem to care at all about tackling Karmarike, took Mererosu's hand with a frown and smiled warmly.

"I'm sorry. Things are a bit difficult in the village right now. But, but, Mererosu-chan will be fine. The guardian kids just got ahead of themselves, so don't mind them~"

"Sis, did something happen? It must be pretty serious to attack even fellow Elves."

"We'll talk about that later. More importantly, Mererosu-chan, your big sister came to welcome you, don't you have anything to say?"

"...I'm home. Thanks."

"Yes! Well done~"

The older sister patted Mererosu with a fluffy expression. Somehow, I feel an overwhelming sense of respect...

Well, Mererosu herself doesn't seem to like it though.

"So, so, what about those kids behind you? Did you buy some slaves?"

"Wha... T-They're my adventurer friends. There were things I wanted to buy, so I just brought them along for sightseeing."

"Hmm? They're adventurers, huh."

She stares intently at Saaya and me.

I activate my usual noble skill.

"Nice to meet you, beautiful lady. I'm an adventurer named Ruruk. I've boldly accompanied Mererosu-san on her return home. Although I'm still young, I'm confident in my skills as an adventurer, so please take care of me... sister-in-law."

I call her sister without hesitation.

This is the strategy of filling in the moat from the first meeting, making myself a family member before they know it!

I'm impressed by my own perfect plan - but as I'm self-praising, the fluffy older sister somehow approaches right in front of me, slowly raises her hand to my face... or rather, grips it? Huh? Isn't her grip strength too strong? This is what they call an iron claw, isn't it...

"Huh? Who's your sister, you idiot. Don't get close to my cute Mererosu, you little shit."

I was threatened in a menacing voice.

She's glaring at me intensely.

Eh, where's the fluffiness? Where's the respectability?

"Sis, stop it."

"Oh my~ I'm sorry, Mererosu-chan. Your big sister just tends to forget herself when it comes to Mererosu-chan."

"Sigh. I'm sorry, Ruruk-kun. My sister is weird."

"No..."

Thanks to Mererosu, I was released, but she clicked her tongue as she let go.

The older sister is scary.

"So, sis. I want to bring Ruruk-kun and the girl behind him - Saaya-chan - into the village, can you have the guardian unit stand down?"

"Of course. Come on, everyone, go home, go home."

As the older sister waved her hand, the guardians who had been watching silently dispersed obediently. Though Karmarike looked extremely dissatisfied.

Who is this older sister? Someone with authority?

"For now, Mererosu-chan, you'll go greet Papa and Mama. And you, you're a girl so you can stay in Mererosu-chan's room. ...You, shitty brat, sleep in the horse stable covered in horse dung. If you understand, go wash that stinking face."

Scary.

What's with this dual-personality older sister? Is she really Mererosu's sister?

Well, I have no intention of talking back here.

After the older sister returned to the village first, Mererosu let out a big sigh.

"Hah. Don't worry, Ruruk-kun will stay in my room during your stay too. And you can ignore what my sister says."

"Yes."

"...Your sister is quite unique."

Saaya squeezed out the most complimentary words she could.

Well, how should I put it, yeah.

I could feel the image of Elves crumbling with an audible sound.