IDDYD 20

Chapter 20

“Going into the forest again?”

At Aiden’s question, Alice nodded and continued.

“I couldn’t properly check it earlier, so this time I need to search thoroughly. I need to gather as much information about the culprit as possible so I can report back to the duke later.”

“Alright, then…”

“You stay here.”

Alice stopped Aiden as he tried to follow her.

“The culprit might come back to the village. Someone needs to protect it.”

“So you’re going to search the forest alone?”

The forest was far too large for her to search alone. But Alice reassured him with a calm tone.

“The main search will be handled by the investigation team arriving at the village soon. I’ll focus on the places where people were found unconscious and around the core of the magical beast.”

By investigating the areas where the demonic energy was strongest, she might find a clue. Alice looked into Amy’s eyes and asked.

“Amy, can you tell me what the man you saw looked like?”

“Well… he was tall, thin, and seemed weak, almost like a ghost. Like he was about to collapse.”

“I see. Was there anything unusual about his face?”

“I couldn’t see his face clearly. He was wearing black clothes that covered his entire body.”

“That’s him. The guest who stayed at our inn!”

Emma was startled upon hearing Amy’s words, and Alice nodded.

The culprit was almost certainly this outsider; now they just needed to figure out his identity and purpose.

“Then I’ll head out right away…”

“Wait, Alice.”

Aiden called out to Alice, who was about to depart. He pointed to Cherry, who was stretching on the ground.

“Take this one with you, too.”

“Oh…”

Alice realized she had momentarily forgotten about Cherry. She hesitated, wondering if she should take the magical beast with her. Aiden spoke.

“You should. Having it with you will make things easier.”

“Meow.”

Cherry responded to his words, approaching Alice and meowing. She wondered why the magical beast liked her so much. Even though it looked like a cat, it was still a magical beast.

From the moment she first met Cherry, Alice had felt that it was oddly affectionate toward her.

“Meow…”

“Alright, I’ll take you.”

She felt strange for being so easily swayed by its cute appearance, letting the magical beast get away with such behavior. But what could she do? The water was already spilled.

Alice sighed and picked up Cherry.

“And…”

Aiden pulled a scroll from his ring and held it toward Alice. Then, taking the hand she wasn’t holding the scroll with, he lightly pressed his lips to it.

Alice froze and stammered.

“W-what are you doing…!”

“First aid.”

Aiden said with his characteristic gentle smile.

“You were exposed to the demonic energy for a long time, so I thought you might need to recover. Sorry if it startled you. To give first aid, my lips need to touch you…”

“It’s fine. It’s not my first time receiving this.”

Alice had received hand kisses from other noble escorts before. Aiden’s was no different.

Honestly, it didn’t feel bad at all—just a little surprising.

Blushing slightly, Alice avoided his gaze and said,

“Thank you. I’ll be back.”

She tore the scroll. Light poured out, enveloping Alice, and she disappeared along with it.

“We’ve arrived safely.”

Alice looked around. Opening and closing her eyes, she found herself in the middle of Saint Forest, in front of the cave where the missing people had collapsed.

It was a good thing she had enchanted the scroll with teleportation magic in advance.

“But Aiden… isn’t he embarrassed? Always acting so casually…”

She thought again about how Aiden seemed to have no sense of personal space. He constantly breached the boundaries she set, and she found herself accepting it.

It was strange. She wasn’t someone who easily let others in.

Alice shook her head quickly. Thoughts of Aiden aside, she needed to focus on the investigation.

She set Cherry down on the ground.

“Stay close.”

“Meow…”

Cherry blinked at her, staring intently. Alice, softening despite herself, avoided its gaze and said,

“…You can’t stare at me with those bright eyes. I can’t investigate while holding you.”

“Meow…”

Cherry seemed to understand and nodded. Alice didn’t even notice that she was now conversing with a magical beast as she moved forward.

The area where the people had been collapsed was covered only with dirt. Nothing seemed unusual at first glance.

“How did they gather the people here?”

Alice crouched, touching the ground with her palm. The ordinary dirt trickled through her fingers.

She moved further inside, arriving in front of the crystal rock that contained the magical beast’s core.

The crystal, once blackened, now shone clean and transparent. The core inside remained in its place.

“Wait. This is slightly different.”

Alice examined the core closely. A long, visible crack ran through it.

“This part… wasn’t it smooth before? When did it get a crack…!”

Muttering to herself, Alice sensed movement outside and stepped out of the cave. She threw her body to the right as an arrow flew past, embedding itself into the log wall near the entrance.

‘Were they aiming at me?’

Alice swallowed. If she hadn’t moved, the arrow could have pierced her heart.

Another arrow flew at her. She swung her hand, channeling magic into it. The arrow split in two and fell limply to the ground.

Alice quickly hid in the bushes before more arrows could come.

‘They’re shooting from over there.’

Considering the direction and speed of the arrows, the shooter seemed to be hiding in a tree on the opposite side, concealed among the leaves.

Alice called out softly to Cherry, who was nearby.

“Cherry, circle around to that tree… wait, where did you go?”

Alice looked around but Cherry had vanished.

While searching for Cherry, another arrow struck a tree. It seemed they were trying to threaten her since they didn’t know her exact position.

However, Alice felt no real threat from the attack. Instead, it helped her pinpoint the archer’s location. She noticed the leaves move when the arrows flew.

Alice extended her hand toward the tree where the archer was hiding. She planned to bring him down with a single spell.

“Kweh-ek…”

“Huh?”

Then, a loud, screaming cry echoed through the forest. It wasn’t human.

‘Could it be…!’

As far as Alice knew, there was only one creature in the world capable of producing such a sound.

‘There’s still a magical beast here? Even though I eliminated the demonic energy?’

Alice focused her hearing on the sound. Thudding noises came from near the trees. She peered through the leaves.

“What is that?”

A creature she had never imagined ran past her.

It walked slowly on two legs like a human but had no focus in its eyes and horns growing all over its body. It was clearly not human.

In other words, it was a human-shaped magical beast.

A human-shaped magical beast? She had heard of demons, but never a magical beast taking human form.

‘Well, there were magical beasts like the one in the Saint Mountains and Cherry… so it’s not entirely impossible to see a new one…’

Only then did Alice notice its clothing. So it was a magical beast… and yet it was wearing clothes.