The Mysterious Child: An Adventure Tale Beginning with Numerology

The forests in the northern part of the Kingdom of Restamia are often covered in thick fog during this season.

With the border wall on the Dragon Duchy of Bargia side and mountain ranges to the south, people rarely visit these forests. Even if someone were to wander in, they would likely fall prey to the dense fog and monsters fleeing from the Dragon King's domain.

Since the sheep-folk village was destroyed four years ago, it seems only the rabbit-folk remain hidden in this forest. According to Roze, the number of hidden beast-folk villages is decreasing worldwide year by year.

The rabbit-folk remaining here are timid and have extremely high crisis detection abilities, making them difficult to catch even for Roze. Their settlements are built in the treetops, and ordinary humans wouldn't be able to find them even if they approached.

Well, I've explained all this, but since there's no reason to go meet them, we'll be skipping it this time. Tch.

I would have liked to see a bunny-eared girl. Wild bunny girls are better than farm-raised ones, right? Well, I've never actually seen a bunny girl, though.

Feeling a bit disappointed, we continued straight west through the fog-shrouded forest.

After three days of steadily progressing while hunting magical beasts and monsters for meat and materials, we came to a clearing with a large canyon - a cliff with significant elevation differences.

This canyon apparently corresponds to the downstream of the river in southern Stoania where Marcosias had made his nest four years ago. If you follow the river south from here, it seems you'd traverse the entire Kingdom of Restamia.

Ah, the nostalgic Marcosias-kun.

Marcosias-kun, who also appeared as a floor boss in the latter half of the dungeon. Poor Marcosias-kun, who Elen beat up to vent her grudges and repeatedly used as a stress relief target.

Anyway.

"So, how do we cross this?"

"By teleportation, of course."

"Of course..."

If we fail, we'd plummet straight to the bottom of the valley.

The canyon is about as high as the bungee jumping facilities I once saw on TV. Death would be unavoidable.

While I was thinking about this, Roze had already teleported alone to the other side. I guess for an immortal, this is no different from stepping over a roadside ditch.

Trying not to look down as it made my stomach lurch, I held Elen's hand and activated "Relative Transfer."

There was no miscalculation that left us in mid-air - both feet were firmly on the ground.

Phew, that was scary.

Maybe I should develop a levitation or flight formula for times like this.

I wonder if there's anything so convenient in magic.

"Gravity-related magic is of the darkness attribute. Elenora might eventually be able to learn it up to the forbidden magic level, but understanding of reasoning arts becomes quite important from the intermediate level of darkness attribute, so I think it's a bit early for her to learn it."

"You heard her, Elen. It'll be a while."

"Mm. It's fine."

Elen seemed fine with heights. I'm envious.

By the way, once we crossed the canyon, we had entered the Kingdom of Mataisa.

Of course, this natural border can't be crossed without teleportation. Naturally, there are no walls, guards, or watchers.

"Come on, our destination town is close. We'll arrive today."

"Okay~"

"Mm."

We started moving slightly northward.

Our destination is Earl Ketaaru's domain in southern Mataisa Kingdom.

I feel like I've heard that name somewhere before... What was it?

□ □ □ □ □

After emerging from the forest onto the grasslands, we spent several hours repeatedly teleporting.

It was getting late for lunch, but the sun was still high. The town we arrived at was bustling with activity.

The town was large with impressive outer walls, about the same size as Muuteran. The town's name is Shaboom. Apparently, it's named after the Shaboom mountain range in the north.

"Well, I'll go gather information as usual. ...Oh, right, Elenora. Come with me, I'm going to do some shopping too."

"Mm."

"Have a safe trip. I'll go to the Adventurers' Guild as usual."

The women headed off to the shopping district.

Of course, I have no intention of volunteering to be a boring baggage carrier, so I quickly head to the Adventurers' Guild. It's still early afternoon, so there should be time to accept a quest.

I hope there's a rare monster subjugation or something.

Thinking this, I head towards the center of town. The Adventurers' Guild is usually near the center, so once I get close enough, I can just ask someone in town.

As I was walking leisurely with this in mind, I noticed something odd at the edge of my vision.

The main street was crowded with people coming and going. Stalls were set up here and there, making the flow of people quite complex.

It was mere chance that I noticed the unnatural movement.

A young girl, seemingly younger than me, darted into a back alley alone.

I don't have good memories of back alleys.

The time I nearly died confronting kidnappers is a bitter memory. Even though I was only 5 years old, it doesn't change the fact that I recklessly challenged them. If I had handled it better then, I might have been able to save Lilith more safely.

"Well... I guess I have no choice."

I'm not compassionate enough to risk danger for an unrelated person.

But I couldn't help seeing my sister's shadow in that girl's back.

I decided to follow her into the alley.

In any town, when you leave the main street, you end up in narrow, dimly lit alleys.

The smell of sewage wafts from somewhere, and you often see rats. It's not very hygienic, so I'd rather avoid troublesome situations.

Looking in the direction the girl ran, I could see her figure moving away, though it wasn't completely deserted as it was a residential road. She's gone further than I thought. She's quite fast for her age.

But she's running as if she's fleeing from something.

If it's just a game of tag or something, that would be fine, but what concerned me was her clothing.

The design was simple, like what commoners wear, but the material looked quite expensive. It's a bit out of place for commoner games... probably a noble's daughter.

That's why I couldn't leave her alone as she ran into this back alley.

"Oh, bingo."

Men entered the alley from another road, as if chasing the girl.

Probably private soldiers. Their clothes weren't uniform, but their equipment was the same.

There are very few commoners who would hire private soldiers, so it must be nobility-related. I don't see any kidnappers... but I shouldn't jump to conclusions.

Either way, it's troublesome.

No matter how fast she is, the difference between adults and children is significant. She's likely to be caught by the kidnappers(?) soon.

For now, let's try to hear the situation a bit.

"'Relative Transfer'"

I teleported to the roof of the tallest building in the direction the girl ran.

Standing confidently on the edge of the roof, I survey the scene below.

There they are. The fleeing girl and the men chasing her.

"Alright."

I kick off the wall of the house and descend to the ground.

Immediately after, as expected, the girl came running around the corner.

Behind me is a wall. It's a dead end.

I had grasped the layout of this area from above earlier, but it seemed houses were built haphazardly, creating many dead ends. The fact that she's running this way without knowing that means she's not familiar with these roads.

"Oh no!"

The girl who ran up to me turned pale when she realized it was a dead end.

"Y-You there, mister! Do you know a place to hide!?"

"Hm? Miss, I don't recognize you around here. Who might you be?"

I give a response like a local.

Then I take a good look at the girl from the front...

Huh!?

This is bad, I was a bit mesmerized.

Although she was only about 10 years old, her face was extremely well-formed. Round eyes and a straight, slender nose. Well-balanced mouth corners and cheeks tinged with a slight vermilion.

Her hair is black, which is rare in this world, but her eyes are a bright grey. She doesn't look as Japanese as my master, but she has a very similar cuteness. Her black hair is tied into twintails with red ribbons on both sides.

She's not yet my preferred age, but she was so incredibly cute that I lost my vocabulary, thinking that didn't matter. She'll surely become a peerless beauty someday.

In about 5 years, she'll be well within my strike zone. Should I ask for her contact information? Does she use LINE?

Wait. Calm down, my ulterior motives...!

"N-Never mind that, just tell me! Or hide me!"

I'm not sure if she's just a bit strong-willed or just panicking, but she glares at me while flustered.

The footsteps of the pursuing men are close, so let's keep the jokes to a minimum.

There doesn't seem to be time to hear the circumstances, so there's no choice.

I offer my hand.

"Then, please lend me your hand."

"Eh... O-Okay!"

As the girl takes my hand with a suspicious look, I activate "Threshold Compilation" on both of us.

"Mystic arts!?"

"Shh, be quiet."

I instruct the girl, who raised her voice in surprise, to be quiet.

Just then, the private soldiers who had been chasing her appeared.

The girl tensed up beside me, but as the soldiers approached us, they said:

"Hey you, did a girl pass by here? About this tall."

"Hmm. I don't remember seeing anyone."

"Are you sure?"

"I might not have noticed, but as you can see, this is a dead end. There's nowhere to hide, so maybe she went that way?"

"...I see. Thank you."

The private soldiers left after saying that.

They didn't even notice the girl standing boldly holding my hand.

As they moved away, I let go of the girl's hand.

The girl slumped down on the spot.

"You'll get dirty if you sit there, young lady."

It'd be a shame to soil such fine clothes.

I slipped my hand under her arm and lifted her up, as if soothing a little sister.

The girl's face turned red and she struggled.

"Eek! Don't touch me, you pervert!"

"Ah, I'm sorry. You reminded me of my sister, so I acted without thinking."

"I-If that's the case... then I guess it's okay."

The girl turned away with a huff.

But then, as if remembering something, she turned back.

"More importantly, what about earlier! What did you do? That was mystic arts, wasn't it?"

"You understood well. Can you see spiritual essence?"

Of course, I had noticed too. Only fellow mystic art users can recognize mystic arts at a glance.

The girl was taken aback by the question, but decided there was no need to hide it.

"Yes, that's right. I can use mystic arts too. So, mister, what was that just now? What kind of technique?"

"It's a type of substitution method. It's called 'Threshold Compilation', an advanced formula that overwrites arbitrary information onto the target to interfere with perception. Just now, I overwrote the information 'A single adult man is standing' onto the two of us, so to them, it looked like only a man was standing there."

"Amazing!"

The girl's eyes sparkled.

"You're amazing! So young, yet far more impressive than my home tutor!"

Being called young by a 10-year-old...

Well, I suppose objectively speaking, 13 is indeed young.

"Hey, what do you usually do? Since you're a mystic art user, are you a researcher?"

"I'm an adventurer. Here's my proof."

"B-rank! How old are you? You're not an adult yet, right?"

"I'm 13. In my case, the master who taught me is far more incredible than I am."

"Wow... There are such amazing mystic art users out there. I'd love to meet them."

The girl had a dreamy expression.

But more importantly.

"Young lady, what circumstances brought you here? Who were those people just now?"

"......"

When I thought it was about time to ask, she frowned and looked away.

It was a sudden change from her friendly attitude just moments ago.

Girls her age are difficult to deal with.

"It's fine if you don't want to talk about it. I only helped out of goodwill. But you never know what might happen in back alleys, so I recommend you return to the main street immediately. Well then, I'll be taking my leave. Goodbye."

"W-Wait!"

As I was about to leave abruptly, the girl stopped me.

She began to speak, seeming to have difficulty with her words.

"I-I'm Saaya. Thank you for helping me... And, I have a request... Um, mister..."

"My name is Ruruk, Saaya-san."

"Ruruk, I see. Well, Ruruk... um, if it's okay... could you hide me somewhere for a while?"

Hmm.

So she's asking me to take this small beauty to a place out of sight (lewd face).

Well, I'm joking, of course.

...It is a joke, right?