The Mysterious Child: An Adventure Tale Beginning with Numerology

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Author Notes:

  [Today's two updates. 1/2

  The second update is planned for 12 noon.]

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We departed from the town of Lask in the early afternoon.

Apparently, if we travel by carriage for about 5 days from here, we'll reach the northwestern-most town of the Kingdom of Mataisa.

From there, if we continue straight north, we'll enter the Kingdom of Stoania.

This route doesn't involve crossing any mountains, so it's a leisurely road used by merchants traveling to the Kingdom of Stoania. As a result, the shared carriage was fairly full. Most of the passengers were merchants, but there were also a few adventurers.

The elf lady I met at the Adventurers' Guild this morning - Mererosu - was riding along as a guard, having accepted a quest to protect the carriage.

Mererosu was a B-rank adventurer who had parted ways with the party she had been working with for a long time, and was on her way back to her hometown in the Great Lunera Forest from the southernmost country of the continent.

"The Great Lunera Forest, is that the natural fortress that spans east to west across this continent?"

"You know a lot. The great forest is a dangerous realm, and only those who are kin to the forest can safely pass through. Among other races, only dragon-kind can reliably cross the great forest."

"So dragons really do exist, huh?"

"It's rare to see them though. I've never seen one myself."

It seems Mererosu's natural first-person pronoun is "atashi."

She's a slender beauty, but quite androgynous, with a straightforward way of speaking for an elf.

She wasn't like the elf I had imagined, but this was fine too. Is it because she's my type of beauty that anything goes? Yeah, got a problem with that?

"By the way, is it true that the north side of the great forest is demon territory?"

"That's right. There are lots of demons living there, so if you get close, you'll be eaten up~"

Mererosu said this in a playful, scary voice as if trying to frighten a child.

I chuckled a bit, and behind me, Elenora, who had been quietly listening until now, shrank back and grabbed my clothes as if frightened.

"Elenora, are you scared of demons?"

"Mm... demons are bad people. If found, eaten."

"Is that true, Mererosu -san?"

"Well, to tell you the truth, I've never seen a demon either. Even we elves don't approach demon territory on purpose. But all adults teach children, 'If you misbehave, you'll be eaten by demons~'. It's an elven folk tale."

"I'd love to hear more details about that!"

They're treated like the Namahage, huh.

I got a bit excited at the unexpected opportunity to hear one of this other world's folk traditions.

Actually, there's a similar story in the Kingdom of Mataisa, about the "Dark City" at the southernmost tip of the continent.

Apparently, there's a city encased in a pitch-black sphere, and once you enter, you can never leave. They say they scare misbehaving children by threatening, "I'll take you to the 'Dark City'." Even Lilith was frightened by that story a few times.

Anyway, when I eagerly pressed for more, Mererosu looked a bit surprised.

Her gaze was strangely perplexed.

"Is something wrong?"

"...No, it's nothing."

The strange atmosphere around her suddenly disappeared.

I wonder what that was about. It's a bit concerning, but she might have some unpleasant memories related to demons, so I'll stop pressing the issue.

We continued with idle chatter after that, leisurely deepening our friendship until we reached the campsite.

□ □ □ □ □

The traveling group reached the first night's campsite without any particular trouble.

While the coachman, merchants, and adventurers efficiently prepared the camp, Elenora and I sat on a rock drinking warm tea.

Since it was our first time camping, we wanted to help out with various tasks, but the adults all said in unison, "Children should just watch," so we decided to behave and stay put.

It's a shame. Being in a child's body has its pros and cons.

Roze, one of the adults, disappeared somewhere as soon as we reached the campsite.

The others didn't seem to pay any attention to her if they didn't try to interact with her since the journey began. This must also be due to her perception inhibition technique. Roze's robe has a double layer of perception inhibition, which makes people not even notice her existence. It's a feat I can't imitate.

I need to increase my proficiency with the "Threshold Compilation" technique as well.

As the merchants were preparing dinner, suddenly several adventurers stood up and glared towards the forest.

Mererosu also had a stern expression and reached for the bow on her back.

"Did something happen?"

"There's a bit of a commotion in the forest. Probably something nearby."

Could it be monsters?

When I asked Elenora next to me, she nodded and said, "Mm, probably." I can't sense anything at all... Whether it's due to experience or my lack of animal instincts, either way, I'm useless.

Still, we're a fairly large group of travelers. Even a small number of monsters should avoid us...

I decide to stay alert just in case.

We waited for a while, but in the end, no monsters came out of the forest.

The commotion seemed to have settled down, and everyone resumed their camp preparations.

The merchants prepared a simple soup and the familiar black bread. It wasn't particularly delicious, but we were grateful that they provided meals for free.

I later learned that many merchants who join shared carriages volunteer to be in charge of meals. Apparently, it's customary for adventurers to help with guarding and merchants to take care of chores like meals, cooperating to make the journey easier. If you don't actively take on some role, the guards might not protect you in case of an emergency.

Traveling in another world is tough, huh.

"By the way, what happened to your guardian? They're not even here for dinner... I don't think they've been attacked by beasts deep in the forest, but..."

Mererosu sat down next to us and asked while sipping her soup.

She seemed concerned, but I don't think there's much danger for that cheat beauty. She's immortal and invulnerable even to magical attacks.

"I'm not sure, but I think they're fine."

"Mm. Roze will be okay."

Since both Elenora and I seemed completely unconcerned, Mererosu didn't pursue the matter further.

There was something more concerning than our master's safety.

"Mererosu-san, you seem to be on guard. Is something wrong?"

"Eh, you can tell? I was trying to hide it..."

Indeed, Mererosu had been acting as if nothing was wrong, but since earlier, I've noticed spirit element aggregates - proto-spirits - flying around the campsite as if protecting it. If you can see spirit elements, it's obvious, but there's no need to explain why I noticed.

"You got me. I didn't want to worry everyone too much... but I guess it would be strange to keep quiet about it now."

Mererosu lowered her voice so only Elenora and I could hear.

"Actually, I heard a rumor that some monsters have settled in an abandoned mine deep in this forest. Apparently, there are many of them and they're troublesome, so much so that even the bandits who used to use this area as their base have moved elsewhere."

"Is that so? Is that why you're on guard?"

"Yeah. The presence we felt earlier was probably those monsters. I don't know if they didn't notice us or if they noticed us but chose not to attack, but it doesn't hurt to be cautious."

"I see."

"Ah, but don't tell everyone else yet. The other adventurers are already on guard anyway, and there's no need to unnecessarily worry the merchants we're supposed to protect. Besides, it's already night, so we can't move anyway."

Understanding Mererosu's words, I decided to keep quiet as well.

As the sun set and it got dark, the merchants started to turn in for the night after some small talk. Since the adult adventurers would take turns keeping watch, Elenora and I decided to sleep close to the campfire.

We were jolted awake from our deep sleep when monsters attacked in the middle of the night.