Chapter 92
Selbez Forest
That morning, Sergio left to arrange for their supplies, leaving the Bernardo and Andre to keep an eye on the Hero.
The two Watchmen had more or less an amicable friendship with the party aside from the Hero. It was one of respect, if not of fondness. Bernardo even saw Seine as more or less a daughter. Which was why it came to his surprise that while his back was turned, a powerful and furry arm went around his neck and choked him.
Bernardo fought back, his neck muscle hardening as he declared his skill, Steel Body. His muscles and skin hardened to the level that Seine was unable to do it any longer. However, just as he was about to punish her, a Sleep spell was cast upon him by Leida. She had started the chant while he was struggling.
After making sure that the 2 were unconscious, Yuuji came out of his room. He led his women to the stable where he took the horses and Seine’s pet wolves and rode the horses out of the city.
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Selbez Forest was a forest located about 30 Kilometers Southwest of Courandhel, on the way to Brennie. The 4 horses galloped at normal speed while 5 wolves ran alongside them. The horses have lived with the wolves for months now and were used to them, so they were not agitated by their presence.
Once they arrived, after almost an hour, Yuuji and his party found themselves riding inside the Selbez Forest.
The four of them could not help but to be stunned by the beauty of the forest in Fall. Vorzenny mostly only had pine trees; but here, the trees were of varying natures. Tall and proud ones that rose to the sky; short ones that bent from weight and age. Golden leaves fell from their branches, blown by the cold wind; dancing ephemerally in the air, briefly, before falling to the ground, covering the forest floor in a carpet of red and gold.
The chill of the wind also gave rise to a feeling of peace.
As Yuuji sucked in the cold air, it cooled down the heat of passion and expectation in his heart, and he slowed the pace of his horse down to a slow trot.
“Stop,” Seine said. She got down from her horse and began sniffing the air and checking the ground. Her wolves also followed her lead and put their noses on the ground.
The path cutting through the forest had largely been unused, except for a few horse tracks, partly covered by the leaves. She removed the leaves with her paws and nodded to herself. “Four horses.”
One of the wolves, the biggest one with bright and wise eyes growled and Seine quickly came to its side and checked the tracks. They headed off of the path and into the forest.
Seine’s eyes narrowed, her expression tense. “I found it. This is the smell of that Cornelia girl,” Seine looked at the tracks and took a few extra sniffs. “Also, that drunkard from the Guild. There is also a smell I couldn’t make sense of. It smelled like cinnamon and some kind of plants?” the girl’s ears twitched when he found a strawberry coloured fur. She took a whiff and she growled. “And….a Beastfolk. Young…younger than me.”
“Yes. That’s them. We are on the right track,” Yuuji said as he descended from the horse. “We are continuing on foot.”
“A Beastfolk,” Kamiya groaned. “Is there still a possibility of ambushing them?”
“Yeah. Not everyone’s as good as me, you know!”
“I know. You are the best, Seine” Leida gave her a pat on the head and a smile.
“Hehe…!”
“Let’s tie the horses a bit deeper inside,” Kamiya offered.
With that agreed, they had their horses tied to a nearby tree and entered the heart of the forest with Seine leading them.
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While following her, they found the horses most likely used by their target, tied to a tree not far from the main path. Knowing that it most likely was the right way, Yuuji nodded at Kamiya and then urged Seine to quicken the pace.
There were also signs of battle, quick ones that left only small splatters of blood and the occasional cut on the trees. “Monster blood. Dispatched quickly,” Seine said. “Maybe that’s why we haven’t seen many monsters around.”
Kamiya glanced briefly at the blood as they walked. Not to be underestimated. She thought.
As they ventured deeper into the forest, Seine suddenly stopped.
“Wait.”
The wolves let out a questioning growl.
“Ssh…!” Seine silenced them.
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After a few moments of silence, all they could hear were the chirping of birds. But then they heard it. A voice lurking in the background.
“A man’s fancy…is a woman’s…happiness.”
“This voice. It’s them!” Yuuji cried out. “Let’s go!”
“Y-Yuuji! Wait for us!” Leida pleaded, but it fell on deaf ears as Yuuji led them to follow the voice.
“How does she do this?” Seine asked. “Is she using a magic tool or something?”
“Probably,” Kamiya said succinctly. “Don’t fall behind.”
“Like a flower…aching for the sun,” it continued.
Leida was a Wizard, but she was also a learned woman. This style of poem she had never heard before, especially not this style of drawing out the syllables, as if singing them.
“My heart…goes with you.”
Seine frowned, not understanding what the voice was talking about.
“Yet…your eyes…never see me.”
A drop of tear fell from the corner of Leida’s eyes. For some reason the poem caused her chest to ache, yet she did not know why.
Kamiya glanced at the complicated expression of her fellow companion and sighed. “Young…so young.”
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Not long after the final verse of the poem was heard, the Hero of Vorzenny and his party members finally reached the source of the voice. They were momentarily blinded by the sunlight after relying only on sparse light peeking from the trees.
When they opened their eyes, they saw a small clearing that was recently made where the ground was almost completely dominated by golden leaves. The sun peeked through the leaves still on the trees, swaying from the breeze.
Yuuji saw his target sitting on a tree branch; one leg dangling from the it and her back resting on the trunk. She was playing leisurely with a purple-colored blob on her palm.
“Mistress, they’ve come,” the boy said. His angelic smile betrayed no fear.
Martell was sitting on a fresh stump with the wooden box the Red Prince gave him on his lap. He hugged the large box and walked to Kasheem’s side; the latter standing motionlessly with arms folded, his posture as straight as a pillar.
Kasheem, who towered over everyone else, eyed him and his party with disdain.
“That man is…the aide of the Red Prince?” Leida said in surprise. “Why is he here?”
“Need you ask? Your Hero dared to assault Maziri Sooyoung. To wash this dishonor, I will send you to Sud-Gazid!” Kasheem said resolutely.
“Looks like everyone wants a piece of you, O Hero of Vorzenny,” Nick stood up from where he was sitting and brought his shield out of his Item Ring and slammed its bottom down on the ground. “Took you long enough. I am getting cramps sitting on my butt all day long.”
Yuuji’s eyes darted to see the drunk man he saw at the Guild. Unlike what he saw then, the man looked dangerous in his thick armor and large shield.
"Come, Chen."
Connie slid off lazily from the tree branch and landed on top of the leafy carpet of red and gold below, the tip of her toe first. There was no crackle of dried leaves beneath her feet. It was as if she was a ghost. Kamiya narrowed her eyes upon seeing this. Such mastery of the body was rare in most Masters, especially not in one so young. Is this really a low-leveled Hunter?
The purple slime slid off the branch following its owner and bounced happily a few times.
Martell glanced at his Mistress before taking a step forward while slinging his large wooden box across his back.
“On behalf of my Mistress, I bid you welcome. Kurosaki Yuuji, and members of the Windstorm Blade, to Selbez Forest,” the boy said with an exaggerated bow and a perfect scrape of the ground. “And to the end of your journey.”
The bluntness of the sentence caught the Hero of Vorzenny’s party off-guard.
“It seems our opponents have little smarts between them,” Martell taunted.
Yuuji put a hand on Seine, whose wolves were ready to rip and tear from the provocation. And from such a weak-looking Beastfolk too. The Beastfolk girl cannot wait to tear him apart. “Let me.”
“Cornelia? I think we got off from the wrong start. I’m sure we can talk this out,” he began. He was sure that he could sway her with his Skill, but seeing her now, there was a part of him that was unsure anymore.
Today Connie was dressed differently than the last time he saw her. She had her hair tied to a ponytail and there was no short skirt with thin armors. She was dressed in a white robe with black centipede motifs, giving her a sinister look.
Seine crinkled her nose. For some reason she, smelled something off about her. This was not the easygoing girl they met back at the party. Nor is she that awkward girl who was teased by her party member. And the way she looked at them. Her gaze spoke only of death.
“I’ve had enough of you, you piece of excrement,” Connie said. “I know about your Charm Gaze.”
“…” Yuuji had an inkling, but he refused to accept it. Now, however, it was made clear.
“Was it…” he eyed Kasheem. “The Hero of Al-Khemiya? But how? Why?!”
Facing this man who had made mockery of love, she held no qualms.
“…you wonder why I know you will not ignore the call,” the girl said. “You wondered why I am immune to your little Charm,” Connie tapped the side of her head slowly and deliberately with her left forefinger.
Connie turned her body around. “I know…because I know what you are. A privileged little thug who knows only to think with his loin. A mere rapist with no worth. And how can I, Connie Asterium Steelheart fall to such a lowly rapist?”
The gestures were small; nuanced with arrogance. The young girl merely put her hands down, palms facing them. Her head tilted to the left. Slowly and deliberately, punctuating the ill intent. It was a simple gesture. But that very action caused Kamiya to grip her swords tight.
“I’ve been using this sparingly because it’s too strong. The first time I used this, I broke the woman I used it on. But now - ” Yuuji cried out. “Charm Gaze! Maximum power!”
“Guh! Argh!” Connie could feel a wave of powerful will, much stronger than the one in the guild, invaded her mind.
“Mistress!”
“Milady!”
“Maziri Steelheart!”
Connie could feel her Dao Symbol fighting the invading enemy. Its many facets drawing in and grinding them to dust. Still, she could not deny that it hurt her head quite a bit.
“Aah….aaah. I see. This is how it feels for the women who fell to your Skill. This filthy, disgusting feeling. Their mind violated and rewritten against their will so that they will love you. Disgusting. Utterly, completely disgusting!!”
“AHAHAAHAH!!” Connie laughed as she tilted her head to the right and gazing at Yuuji with loathing.
“What?! No! Impossible! You did not fall for my Skill?!”
“Yuuji! We have no choice! We cannot let her escape! Otherwise, it will turn into a fight between two countries!!”
“But - !”
“Women are wonderful, aren’t they? They are soft, cushy, and warm,” she spoke, a small laugh escaping her beautiful lips. “But these women with you…these are no longer people. They are nothing but puppets. So, I will free them from your yoke.”
Connie raised both her arms and brought them both down in an exaggerated manner, and voiced a simple order.
“Kill.”
At that moment, the purple slime by her side instantly ballooned to the size of a large boulder and hundreds of tendril shot out towards the Hero’s party.
“Watch out!!”
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!
Everything they touched; rocks, trees, ground, began to emit unpleasant smells of rot.
From behind the resulting cloud of splinters, dried leaves, and dirt, they could hear her mocking voice.
“Today, Selbez Forest will be your graves.”