115 – The Dog-like Mercenary and the Witch of the Forest
“Ahahahahaha!!”
A black-haired woman bursting into laughter before her eyes.
Looking at the woman, Leos, a silver rank mercenary, was impressed by her.
“Hey, how long do you plan on smiling?”
“Aha…Yeah…But this…Ahahahahah!!”
Now my voice is breaking from laughing.
“It’s going to turn…”
Leos cursed under his breath.
Now that things are like this, I have no choice but to wait until the laughter calms down.
…This is why I didn’t want to take off my helmet.
Thinking like that, Leos thought about what happened when he came here.
A nomination request given to Leos by the alliance.
And the fact that the client who nominated Leos is the ‘Witch of the Forest’, which is equivalent to an indigenous folktale of this land.
Well, there were many stories from the elders saying that horses actually existed, but it was also true that it was unexpected.
“Is she really the witch of the forest?”
“Well, I’m not sure. She accepted her request through her familiar, not herself.”
If that’s the case, it’s possible that she’s someone else who calls herself a forest witch.
“So, Mr. Leos, what do you do?”
“Anyway, I have to listen to the story.”
Once a nomination request has arrived, the rule is to at least listen to the story about the request.
If you ignore the story without even listening to it, there may be disadvantages.
Anyway, you are free to listen to the request in detail and decide whether to reject it or not.
“Where is the client?”
“The request said to come to me. The location is…”
So, in the forest a little away from Seren.
It is a forest where quite a few strong monsters live, but for Leos, who has been active around Seren, it is almost like a front yard.
…Even so, this is almost my first time on this road.
“They say she’s a forest witch, does she live in a place like this?”
The deeper I entered the forest, the more I felt strangely uneasy.
One of the reasons may be that as the forest deepens, less light comes into the surrounding area.
And above all…
‘…There is no trace of the monster at all.’
As this is a forest inhabited by monsters, traces are created as they pass by, whether they are monsters or beasts.
For example, there was no trace of grass being pressed down or hair caught on a branch.
It’s as if no monsters come near this area.
Leos intuitively realized that he had reached his destination.
And it soon proved to be true.
“……”
A small cabin in front of you.
Really, it feels like a bad witch from a fairy tale would live somewhere.
It looks like everything is falling down, but it still has the atmosphere of everything it needs.
I came according to the map drawn on the request, so this is probably the right place.
“Are you there?”
I knock on the door, but there is no answer from inside.
Did I not hear it, or was it bad timing that no one was there?
The moment when Leos is about to knock on the door again.
Squeak.
The worn-out door opened with an even more worn-out sound.
There was no one beyond the door.
Is it magic?
Leos entered the house thinking that it was indeed a house where a witch lived.
The inside of the hut was more spacious than it looked from the outside.
I passed through the dark hallway, ignoring all the closed doors around me.
The destination is the light seen at the end of this dark hallway.
When I finally reached that light, a completely different scenery came into view.
A neat room with bright light that doesn’t fit into an old cabin.
But there were books rolling around and piled up here and there in the room, and I saw a lot of devices I had never seen before.
And, a strange smell filling up the room.
It didn’t take long to realize that it was the smell of something like a potion or demon-repelling medicine frequently used by mercenaries.
“Welcome.”
As Leos looked around the room for a moment, a voice reached his ears.
…Surprisingly, it is the voice of a young woman.
When she turned her head towards the direction from which the voice was heard, she saw a figure writing something on paper among the piles of books.
This is the back view, with long black hair hanging down haphazardly.
I don’t know if that person is the forest witch who requested it or not, but for now, she is the only person here.
As I approached that direction, the person spoke again.
“Sorry, I’m so busy every day that I’m not fully prepared to serve as a customer.”
Saying that, he turned towards Leos.
Leos saw the person’s face for the first time.
Black and long hair like the one from the back. I guess he’s in his early to mid 20s?
As a forest witch, I thought she had the appearance of a devilish grandmother or a middle-aged woman, but surprisingly, she was a beauty with an exotic appearance.
Perhaps because she didn’t decorate herself at all, she gave off a bit of a simple feel, but wouldn’t she be able to make half the men in the village look away with just a little bit of decoration?
“Hmm, are you that Wild Fang?”
“…For now.”
“You’re making an impression worthy of the nickname, especially that helmet.”
Wild Fang, a nickname I got while working at Seren for many years.
A wild fighting method that starts with a sword, fists, claws as a beastman, and even removes the bottom of the helmet and uses fangs.
It was a nickname given to him by his mercenary colleagues after seeing that.
In addition to the rank of Silver Rank, Leos was also called that by Seren and those around him.
…For Leos, it feels a little itchy.
“Well, since I’m a guest, at least this.”
As she said that, she held out a cup, warm steam rising to every inch of her.
She took the cup, and Leos was slightly impressed by the unique scent.
“It’s my first time smelling this.”
“I brewed it myself using herbs from this forest, so that’s right, right?”
“It’s a nice scent. Drink it well.”
As she said that, she removed the bottom of her helmet and revealed the lower part of her face, which resembled the snout of an animal.
And Leos pouring a little bit of her tea into his mouth.
The woman looked at that scene blankly.
“…Why are you doing that?”
“No, uh…I know I shouldn’t say this, but I was wondering if you could lick it with your tongue.”
“…It’s more convenient, but isn’t it a bit awkward to drink like that in front of other people?”
At Leos’ words, the woman nodded her head.
Putting down the teacup, the bottom of the helmet falling, Leos opened her mouth.
“So, are you the forest witch who requested this?”
“First of all, my name is Cheyney. You can call me that.”
“…You should know that you named me, but I’m Leos. Call me that.”
Cheney said with a faint smile at Leos’ words.
“Okay, then can we talk about the request right away?”
“Okay. Let’s listen to the story first.”
After saying that, Chaney looked around her and said.
“As you can see, I am currently conducting experiments to develop a very important magic.”
“…Yeah, it looks that way.”
“So, I’m slowly entering the final stage…”
Cheyney said with a smile on her face.
“I need experiment materials?”
“……”
Leos takes a step back without realizing it.
Chaney was slightly impressed by that appearance.
“Wait a minute, aren’t you just thinking something strange?”
“…If you’re going to conduct an experiment on me, that’s a no-no.”
Hearing those words, Cheyney crumples his expression as if he is dumbfounded.
“Is that possible? I’m simply asking you to cooperate to collect materials!”
“…I refuse to commit criminal acts such as kidnapping.”
“What on earth are you talking about me…Huh, that’s enough. I understand.”
Anyway, the value of the name ‘Witch of the Forest’ and the past folk tales coincided, and Leos’ thoughts were going in that direction.
“Let me tell you before you are misunderstood, I am a different person from the forest witch who was infamous in the past.”
“…Really?”
“Really. I killed the witch herself. Is that possible?”
At that moment, the atmosphere stiffened slightly.
“What now?”
“So, I killed the real forest witch. It must have been almost 5 years?”
In other words, Chaney said that she had stopped by this forest in the past to collect materials for experiments, and for some reason a middle-aged woman spoke to her.
She hit it off with a middle-aged woman with considerable magic knowledge and was even invited to her house…
But for some reason, she said that the middle-aged woman was a notorious forest witch who had lived for over a hundred years, and that she had invited herself to her home and tried to kill her to use her as experiment material.
So, she said, her Cheyney counterattacked her and tried to kill her, and because she needed a good base, she just robbed her house and shut it down.
“…”
“What, why are you looking at me like that?”
Even under her helmet, Chaney instinctively sensed that she was looking at him strangely, and so grunted.
“Anyway, now I need materials for a rather dangerous monster. I can’t do it on my own, so I want to hire mercenaries.”
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“…So that’s it. But if that’s the case, aren’t there some stronger mercenaries of higher rank?”
At Leos’ words, Cheyney nodded her head.
“It’s true. But we needed someone to come quickly, and since we have a veteran like you, there’s no need to go that far, right?”
“Is that so?”
Leos felt slightly better after hearing her words that slightly lifted him up.
“And since I have magic, it’s actually enough to just defend from the front.”
“…I see.”
Of course, my good mood immediately crashed to the ground after the next words.
“If that’s the case, that’s fine. The contract details…”
“It’s a long-term contract. The deadline is until all materials are collected. The compensation is…”
That is how the contract was decided.
Originally, he was going to part ways there and join his client, Cheyney, in Seren later.
But Cheyney caught Leos and told him to go eat.
… Leos was also hungry at that time, so he had no reason to refuse.
“…It’s delicious.”
Leos thought as he ate the food Cheney prepared.
It was full of food I had never seen before.
But the taste was quite good, and there were several delicious dishes that made you want to eat them again later.
…Although it was a bit salty and spicy.
Seeing Leos eating like that, Cheney, who was sitting across from him, said.
“But, do you always eat like that with your helmet on? It’s not like you have any enemies, so you just take it off and eat it?”
“…No, I just don’t want to take off my helmet.”
“…Is that so?”
Cheney speaks in a slightly dissatisfied voice at Leos’ words.
No, not just slightly, but an extremely dissatisfied tone of voice.
“Hmm…I’m curious…”
Furthermore, the tone of voice is strange.
Leos, who noticed Cheyney’s discomfort, looked at her face in front of her.
…Slightly red.
“…Have you been drinking?”
“Umm…Jojoum…?”
It smells a little like alcohol, so it looks like he’s definitely been drinking.
…Well, I guess he drank it because he could handle it.
Thinking like that, Leos tried to concentrate on his meal.
It was that time.
“Eight.”
“?!”
Chaney pointed her finger at Leos, then lifted her finger upward.
Then, the helmet Leos was wearing soared into the sky.
Yes, leave Leos’ head intact.
“What…?! Magic?!”
“Now, let’s take a look at your face~”
Chaney said that and looked at Leos’ bare face.
When Cheyney saw her face, her eyes widened.
“Foot…Aha…! Ahahahaha!!”
“…”
“Yeah…You might want to cover it up…! Ahahahaha!!”
Leos reaches for the helmet floating in the air.
But he was floating so high that he couldn’t reach it.
Leos eventually gives up on retrieval and sits back down.
I can only wait for her to put down her helmet.
“Hey, how long do you plan on smiling?”
“Aha…Yeah…But this…Ahahahahah!!”
Leos made an impression, but he was not much of a threat to Chaney.
The face of Leos, the wolf beast.
If I were to be specific, that face didn’t look like a wolf, but rather like a cute puppy.