Chapter 17: Townsman A Confronts an Evil Spirit

I thought I’d finally made a landing in a human village, but it turned out to be the Elven Village—a place hidden deep within the Forest of Bewilderment.

How did it even come to this?

Since I looked like a total trespasser, I decided the best course of action was to obey the elves' instructions. They promptly escorted me to a large house.

"Excuse me, but… you’re Elves, right?"

"Yeah. Obviously. You can tell just by looking, can’t you?"

I tried asking one of the men pointing a bow at me, but his response was curt.

The interior of the house was a dead ringer for the Queen’s residence I’d seen in the game. And there, sitting upon the throne, was the same beautiful Queen from the screen.

"You are a human, I take it?"

"Yes. My name is Allen."

"Well then, Allen-san. What brings you to our village?"

The Queen’s interrogation began.

"I’m sorry. I just wandered in by mistake. I was actually trying to reach a different human village."

"Don’t lie to us!" one of the guards barked.

"Peace," the Queen said, silencing him. "However, our village is protected by the power of spirits. Neither humans nor monsters should be able to navigate that forest. How exactly did you get here?"

"I came from the sky."

"The sky? Do you mean to say you possess enough magical power to fly over the forest canopy and maintain your altitude?"

"Er, yes. I suppose that’s one way to put it."

"How could this be…"

The Queen looked genuinely shocked.

"Your Majesty, that’s impossible," an aide-like man interjected, desperately trying to discredit me. "I can’t sense that kind of magical power from this person at all."

I didn’t recall a character like him being in the game, but he was certainly laying it on thick.

"True, I do not sense a vast well of mana, but… wait. Allen-san, do you happen to possess a Divine Protection?"

Should I tell her? Well, she isn't human, and the Elves in the game were established as human-haters anyway, so it probably wouldn't cause much trouble.

"For now, let's just say I’ve received the Divine Protection of the 【Wind God】."

The Queen stood up, her eyes wide with surprise. "I-Is that true!?"

"Technically, yes."

I deactivated the concealment on the 【Wind God】 blessing I’d been hiding with 【Stealth】 and showed her the status screen on my Guild Card.

"Ah… the God has not abandoned us after all!"

She was acting quite melodramatic, but I had no idea what was going on.

"Um, Queen? I’m completely failing to follow the plot here…"

"Ah, forgive me. My apologies. Allen-san—no, Allen-sama. Please, you must save our village."

"Excuse me?"

Why is a quest event starting now? The monster that demands a sacrifice shouldn't even be appearing yet.

"In truth, an evil spirit has begun to haunt the Forest of Bewilderment. At first, it only roamed the woods, but lately, it has begun approaching the village itself."

This was an event I knew absolutely nothing about. Was there an evil spirit phase before the monsters arrived? Talk about one disaster after another.

While I maintained a somewhat detached perspective on the situation, I decided to play along for the moment.

"Did it actually do something to you?"

"That evil spirit relentlessly chases us and the spirits. Fortunately, its movements are incredibly sluggish, so no one has been harmed yet. However, if this continues, it’s only a matter of time before someone is hurt, and we may lose our ability to protect the forest and the village."

"So, in short: an evil spirit is attacking, and you want me to repel it?"

"Precisely. I believe that someone who has received the Divine Protection of the God of Wind would surely be capable of such a feat."

"Isn't this more in the domain of the clergy?"

"We wish to keep the number of humans invited into this village to an absolute minimum. There is a… troubled history between humans and elves, you see."

I see. The game never went into detail, but I guess that’s a factor in this world.

"Mother! There’s no need to rely on some human man! I’ll go exterminate it myself!"

A cute girl who looked about fifteen years old interrupted us. I knew this girl. She was the one who requested the monster extermination in the game. If memory served, she was the princess of the village, and despite her youthful appearance, she was actually in her mid-twenties.

"Sherilralra! I am speaking with a guest. Step back."

"But—!"

"The evil spirit is here!"

Right as they were arguing, the spirit apparently made its entrance.

"I'm going to take care of it!"

"Sherry! Wait! Sherry!"

Sherilralra-san sprinted off, followed by several elven guards.

"Allen-sama…?"

"Uh… do I really have to go? Sigh. I guess so. But look, I’m only going to go take a look, okay? Don't go getting your hopes up."

The Queen was staring at me with such immense expectation that I felt incredibly uncomfortable, so I decided to go check out the situation for the time being.

---

We arrived at the plaza, but the scene was… bizarre.

A man who looked every bit the stereotypical wizard had both hands raised toward the sky. He was moving as if he were chasing something slow—like a butterfly or something of that nature—reaching out into thin air.

His movements, however, were painfully sluggish.

Furthermore, the man looked completely gaunt—cadaverous, even. His wizard robes were in tatters.

Yeah, there was no mistaking it. This guy was a total suspicious person.

"Kh! You’ve shown yourself, evil spirit! Take this!"

Sherilralra-san loosed an arrow. However, the projectile—which should have hit the suspicious person dead-on—suddenly veered off course right before impact.

"Queen, is that the evil spirit?"

"It is. Can you not see that black, ominous mist chasing the spirit?"

"A spirit? And black mist? To me, it just looks like a single drugged-out creep chasing something invisible."

"Allen-sama… can you see the true form of that mist?"

"Wait, can you not see him?"

"…"

An awkward silence stretched between me and the Queen.

Meanwhile, Sherilralra-san and the rest of the villagers were spiraling into a panic. Every time the suspicious person drifted closer, the elves shuddered in terror, burst into tears, or fled in all directions. Some were even firing arrows in a semi-frenzied state or launching spells.

However, neither the arrows nor the magic could touch the suspicious person.

"Allen-sama, I shall lend you my strength so that you may temporarily see the spirits."

The Queen placed her hand on my head, and I felt a strange sensation flow into my body.

"How is it now?"

I looked back at the suspicious person. This time, I could clearly see a small light ahead of him. Looking closer, it looked like a tiny girl.

"Ah, you're right. He looked like a suspicious person before, but now he looks like a highly problematic suspicious person."

"If that is the case, then please…"

Don't look at me with those praying eyes.

"F-For now, I'll try talking to him, okay?"

Leaving the Queen behind, I walked up to the suspicious person.

"Hey, old wizard guy? I'm pretty sure chasing a little girl around in that outfit is a crime, you know."

The moment I spoke, the suspicious person froze with a visible twitch.