A few days away from Monroy…

Currently, we’re becoming closer to the Demon Zone.

We may arrive in the Demon Zone by tomorrow.

[Welcome back.]

Washing clothes at a river, Seras looks up.

Just a while ago, I was shopping in the nearest village.

Currently, we’re camping lightly inside a forest.

[I’m sorry, Touka-dono. I’ve left all the resupplying up to you.]

Basically, I’m in charge of procuring supplies.

[Well, it’s because my face isn’t identified by anyone. If I just say I’m a traveler, no one would suspect anything.]

Wringing out the water out of the clothes, Seras smiles.

[Well, I’m not as good at acting as you.]

[I’m just good at removing my presence and slipping into crowds.]

Were-leopards and Dark Elves would surely stand out.

Seras certainly have that ability to change her appearance.

However, her beauty would still attract the attention of others.

Her ability to change her appearance isn’t omnipotent.

She couldn’t significantly change her appearance.

She couldn’t alter her age and gender.

She also couldn’t change the physical features of everything below her head.

She said that she focuses most of her ability on altering the shape of ears, so she could change the other aspects that much.

I gave the things I’ve bought to Seras.

[Once we enter the Demon Zone, you won’t have to use the power of altering your appearance. You should be able to sleep normally without depending on my <Sleep>.]

It seems that Seras doesn’t have any compensations left that she had to pay.

If she were to use the power of the spirits, she won’t be able to sleep for a while.

However, she could sleep if I were to use my <Sleep>.

If you were to think about cheating, this should be considered one.

However, the spirits haven’t made any complaints even now.

[Where’s Eve and Liz?]

[They’re taking care of the horses over there.]

Together with Seras, we went towards where the two of them were.

[You’ve returned, Touka.]

[Touka-sama, welcome back.]

It seems that Eve and Liz reached a point where they could pause what they’re doing.

[Pinniii~♪]

This time, Pigimaru is house sitting again.

Pigimaru is currently being held in the embrace of Liz.

It looks like they’ve become close friends,

Now then…

[How about we start eating?]

The sun is about to set and the sky is about to turn dark.

The weather has been favorable these past few days.

It was quite sunny today too.

The temperature is quite moderate and we passed our time peacefully.

We sat down in a circle.

Today’s dinner is as follows.

Broiled meat.

Some fruits.

And the main dish, stew.

We decided to use the ingredients that won’t last long today.

As for seasoning this stew, I entrusted it to Liz.

[It would be great if it’s palatable…]

I sip some of the soup.

Delicious.

[I guess I could leave food preparation to Liz from now on.]

[Ah… Thank you very much.]

[Pimumuu~♪]

Apparently, it also suits Pigimaru’s tastes.

However, it was quite a curious sight for me to see the soup being consumed in his body.

The color just disappears without mixing into his body.

Crouching down, Liz gently pets Pigimaru.

[Fufu… Thank you, Pigimaru-chan…]

[Pii~♪]

I called out to Seras who had begun cleaning up with haste.

[Seras.]

[Yes.]

[I’ll clean that up, so help Liz change her clothes.]

I bought some clothes and equipment for Liz today.

I can’t rent someone else’s because of the difference in size.

Liz has been wearing the same clothes until now.

Most of all, we will soon be entering the Demon Zone.

Liz can’t just enter into that area unprotected.

She would need armor to protect herself in case of emergency.

[Though I said that… This is the only thing that fits Liz’s physique.]

There are hardly any options I could pick when it comes to armor for children.

By the way, I simply measured Liz’s size along the way.

[It seems that some noble from somewhere has made her daughter wear this once, but it ended up being thrown away. It was supposed to be a gift for her, but she didn’t like it.]

And, he said that noble has just thrown it at the village where he passed  by at that time.

Seras is closely checking the equipment.

[It feels like it’s already a complete set of equipment. It looks like it puts heavy emphasis on its appearance, but the protection it gives itself is quite good.]

This would protect Liz’s body more than the current clothes she’s wearing.

I looked towards Liz.

[…Is that armor fine with you, Liz?]

[O- Of course! Thank you very much, Touka-sama!]

[…If you don’t like it, you don’t have to force yourself, you know?]

[T- That’s not the case at all. Rather, Touka-sama had to go out of his way just to buy this clothes for me… I’m actually quite glad.]

She’s too meek…

[Seras.]

[What is it?]

[That complete set of equipment, you could take away some of the parts based on your judgement and replace them with cloth.]

Seras giggled.

[Understood.]

For the me right now, I can’t do anything but bear a grudge towards that noble with a detestable hobby.

▽

Our journey to the Demon Zone has been fairly smooth.

It must be because we were able to travel almost out of the sight of others.

Before, Eve and Liz said that they have travelled together.

They’ve also travelled while trying to hide from the eyes of the public.

That’s why they’re already used to travelling like this.

Seras Ashrain was a fugitive.

She also has been keeping her travels hidden from the eyes of the public.

I’ve also been travelling while hiding my identity.

The point is that everyone knows how to travel away from the eyes of the public.

Eve’s ears that could keenly detect sounds.

Eve’s night vision that gives her visibility even in the dark.

These two had also played a role in our smooth travel.

[It’s a bit roundabout, but it seems we’ve finally arrived before the Demon Zone.]

Eve looked at the distant gentle hill.

If we were to follow the road and descend down from that hill, we would be able to enter the Demon Zone.

We’ve made some detours because we’ve been avoiding castles and forts scattered about in the area.

The people in those castles and forts were the ones hunting monsters that have come out of the Demon Zone.

There are not many instances of that happening, but there were still some rare chances that monsters would appear.

Even though that’s the case, they also haven’t covered up the whole area.

There are also some places where they were scarce.

Therefore, there are some cases where some monsters get past.

In fact, we have encountered some golden-eyed monsters before we arrived here.

Well, I hardly had the chance to make my move though.

Incidentally, we’ve released the horses in the forest before we arrived in front of the Demon Zone.

We can’t bring them along in the Demon Zone.

That was Eve’s decision.

Currently, we’ve kept our luggages to the bare minimum.

I stood next to Eve.

[It looks like a sea of trees.]

This is the scenery I could see from the top of the hill.

There was complete darkness spreading out in a forest.

I couldn’t see the other side of the forest at all.

There was certainly a curtain of mist in the distant forest but…

From the scope of the area I could see in, it currently reflects the silence of the Demon Zone.

[That is?]

I could see a really large tree in the distance.

Obviously, it’s the only oddly gigantic tree in the forest.

[That’s the Corrupted Tree.]

Eve answered.

[Corrupted Tree?]

[It is said that it was originally a holy tree. Currently, it may have become the symbol of the Demon Zone.]

[The other name for the Golden Demon Zone was the “Great Ruins, right?]

[Umu.]

There used to be a civilization in the past there huh.

You could say that there were ruins all around the world….

Did this world already got destroyed once?

▽

We decided to take some rest before we entered the Demon Zone.

We will depart tomorrow morning.

As expected, we would need to be in tiptop shape.

After we finished setting up our camp, we took some rest.

[By the way, Eve, do you remember to find the whereabouts of the Witch?]

[I don’t.]

[Hmm? Ah, so you have a map to go there huh.]

[No, I don’t have such a thing.]

Wait a minute.

[———————-]

No, it would be alright.

Eve definitely knows where the witch is.

We’ve confirmed it through Seras’ lie detector.

[Don’t worry, Touka.]

Eve stands up.

Looking down on me, she held out her hand.

[Stand up. And then, fill it into me.]

I stand up.

[What am I going to fill in?]

[Your magic energy.]

[In your arm?]

[To be exact, into my right hand.]

[…I understand.]

Eve’s voice is filled with confidence.

This may be some kind of special way to show the whereabouts of the witch.

I held unto Eve’s hand.

Her claws kind of feels like those of a beast.

However, her hand feels just like normal human skin.

[Should I really inject magic energy into your hand?]

[Umu. Just like Elves, us were-leopards weren’t good at kneading magic energy. It takes time for us. But if you’re a human who’s knowledgeable with magic, you should be able to do it quickly.]

No, I’m not that knowledgeable about magic though.

However, that’s the case huh…

I could read the mechanism of how this works.

[I’m going to start.]

[Umu.]

I started injecting my magic energy.

I remembered that time.

That door in the Disposal Ruins that opens and closes when I injected my magic energy.

My hand started to shine in a bluish-white hue.

The faint light started moving into Eve’s palm.

[Nhnn… Mhmm… The feeling of being injected with magic energy feels strange…]

[Oh?]

From Eve’s palm, an emblem started floating out into midair.

It started floating until it hovered in front of my eyes.

It looks like a holographic image.

There’s also that.

It kind of feels similar to the Status display…

Seras and Liz’s mouth were wide open.

Even Pigimaru looks quite impressed…

[Pumii~]

–as he cried out.

The emblem’s shape started changing.

[This… looks like a simple map, doesn’t it?]

That’s the first thing I thought it resembles.

[Umu. This glowing green dot over here is probably our location.]

I could also see another glowing dot on the map.

It’s situated north of the green dot.

[That is to say, this red dot in the north is—]

[It’s probably where the Witch of Taboos is. My father told me that.]

[I see, so that’s how it works huh…]

[It’s because we can’t make a map of the Demon Zone. But with this, we just need to move knowing that we would make these two glowing dots closer to each other.]

[Is it the witch that taught him how to make this emblem that turned into a map?]

[That’s what I heard.]

[Hmm? Does that mean you’ve never met the witch?]

[I haven’t.]

I heard that the inheritance of this emblem has been restricted.

It was only inherited by the tribe chiefs and their children.

Eve explained so.

Then, Eve must be the daughter of a tribal chief huh…

Well, I won’t intrude into topics like that.

The whereabouts of the Witch of Taboos.

That means the path we have to venture has become clear.

That’s enough for now.

Although we’re still resting right now, the Forbidden Curses are steadily getting closer to my grasp.

[Alright, we’ll be taking some rest today.]

I turn my back on the Demon Zone.

[And tomorrow, we would finally enter the Demon Zone.]