Chapter 17

I couldn't help but sigh.

I had hoped there might be some useful information this time, but as expected, there wasn't.

The Outer God engraving these words must surely be a deficient-looking one made of green and white patches.

"Mr. Tanton!"

As I was looking at the words and trying to suppress my anger, Muyeon ran over and rubbed my body with something like paper she took out from her chest.

"M-Ms. Muyeon?"

"I-I told you not to look... I told you...!"

Muyeon spoke with eyes full of tears as she looked at me.

Even if she didn't know I wasn't affected, was it something to cry about?

"Um... What is this?"

"It's a p-protective talisman. It blocks interference from Outer Gods to some extent."

What, a protective talisman?

To think there was such an item that blocks interference from Outer Gods!

Although it didn't affect my mind, the talisman seemed to be working as its edges were gradually turning to powder and falling off.

"If it's that important, you should have given me one when you gave me supplies."

"...This is hard to make, so it's precious. And common sense dictates that no one reads what the Recorder writes."

Still, she uses it when needed, huh.

...To worry this much about someone she's only just met, and a criminal at that.

I could directly experience why Muyeon was so well-regarded in the community.

I felt a tightness in my nose and my heart warming.

"Don't read the writing on the walls again. Dealing with the aftermath... it's harder than killing you..."

Until I heard the last part.

So you were worried about yourself, afraid of killing people, not about me?

And casually talking about killing someone right in front of them, what's that about?!

Take responsibility for my heart that was genuinely moved until just now!

"..."

"Ah, no! I mean, this... ugh... Anyway, you shouldn't look carelessly! Be careful, or I'll have to suppress you next time."

After saying everything you wanted to say, it's hard to clean up, isn't it?

Well, when a criminal doesn't listen and acts recklessly, trying to do something worse than suicide, who wouldn't get angry?

I might have kicked them first too, if it were me.

"I'm sorry. I'm used to reading such inscriptions from before, so..."

"You're used to reading them...? Do you mean you can understand what this says?"

As Muyeon asked in confusion, I nodded.

"A m-mystic scholar? There's nothing like that in your record... If that's the case, I can understand being able to read the text and that abnormal sexual preference."

Uh...

Well, I guess mystic scholar is better than lunatic.

But what on earth did these mystic scholars do to make her understand?

...They seem to be more difficult than I imagined.

Should I just let her misunderstand that I'm a mystic scholar?

Muyeon doesn't seem to have the amazing ability to smell lies like the Hunter does.

"Um... ahem, I can read the text."

"I-I see. So that's how you were able to defeat the Observer."

"Is the Observer such a dangerous Outer God?"

"...Yes, that's right. There's a hierarchy of Outer Gods set by the knight order, and according to measurements, the Observer is Greater Outer God class. As a mystic scholar, you probably know that the Recorder who wrote this also belongs to that class.

You go mad the moment you understand that language."

Greater Outer God, huh.

I knew there were ranks among Outer Gods, including Lesser Outer Gods, but this is the first time that term has been directly mentioned.

"That's why the Imperial Princess highly valued the fact that you defeated the Observer."

As expected of an early game unfair boss, the Observer was indeed the highest rank.

It was proven by the fact that even the Hunter couldn't overcome it.

"And the Gardener we're going to defeat... It only occupies the forest area and doesn't cause distortion phenomena, so it's evaluated as low-ranking among Average Outer Gods."

"Then why hasn't it been dealt with?"

"Uh, can I say this? Hmm... At this point... Rondan is where the largest hearth is, so there's a lot of Outer God interference, which means it's lower priority compared to other Outer Gods. If the Knight Commander had come, it would have been dealt with quickly."

Muyeon expressed regret, saying the Knight Commander was too busy to participate in such trivial matters.

The Knight Commander, huh.

It seemed like they weren't welcomed in the community.

Does he have skills worthy of his name, unlike the evaluation?

"If it's such a low-ranking Outer God, can we handle it just the two of us?"

"Um... Basically, we work in pairs of two, but that's just a precaution. There are knights who can handle it alone, so we should be fine."

Hmm.

Then it should be okay.

It's not very reliable since it's just hearsay, but it's something we have to do anyway.

"Ah, right... Anyway, are you really okay?"

"Yes, well. For now, at least."

Watching Muyeon mutter "As expected of a mystic scholar..." made me feel a bit guilty, but I had to keep quiet because I didn't want to be called an Outer God-fucker or a lunatic.

"Then... shall we go in now?"

As Muyeon approached the main gate, unlocked the padlock that was preventing the door from opening, and opened it, a creaking sound echoed loudly, probably because no one had entered for a long time.

As we tried to enter, it looked difficult to pass through due to the densely packed tree trunks.

"Wait a moment, please."

Muyeon gripped her axe with both hands and started swinging it around to cut down those trees.

But.

Is that right?

Every time she swung, something like a shockwave followed the path and completely eliminated all the trees.

...It seemed that while it looked like a toy, its physical power remained intact.

After swinging for a while, Muyeon turned back, breathing heavily.

"Phew, it's done... Shall we go in now?"

"Yes."

Is this the true strength of a knight order member that was mentioned in the community?

...I spontaneously thought that I shouldn't show off if I can help it.

Muyeon took the lead, and as I followed her in, beautiful flowers were in full bloom everywhere.

I didn't know what kind of flowers they were, but the fresh scent made me think it was quite a beautiful place for somewhere with an Outer God.

It was a pretty flower bed, fitting for the alias "Gardener".

As I was looking at the flowers and then turned to Muyeon, I saw she was terrified.

"...Hee, heek."

Ah, I was sure these must have been substituted by the Chicken Mod.

"Ms. Muyeon...?"

"C-corpses... everywhere..."

W-wait.

What did you say?

Are you saying all these beautiful flowers are corpses?

If there hadn't been an explanation, I would have been the one making strange noises alone.

No, no matter what, it should change to something a little related, changing to flowers is too random.

"Ah, ah. Yes. It's such a shocking scene, I was momentarily stunned..."

For now, I pretended to have seen corpses naturally, looking around with a dejected expression.

Only then did Muyeon's suspicious expression fade.

"But why are there so many corpses here?"

"Judging by their clothes, they're Candles. Ugh."

"Candles?"

"D-don't you know? You must know that the hearth blocks the snowstorms caused by the Outer God in the snowy mountains, and the humans living outside of that are called Candles.

They're groups barely surviving day by day, placing firewood in inhospitable places outside of Rondan.

They're traitors who steal firewood from the hearth. Sometimes there are those who use mouse holes like this.

Of course..."

Muyeon pointed at the flowers and said:

"They took the wrong path and died miserably..."

Seeing the large number of flowers, it must mean there are that many corpses.

Although they were said to be people trying to steal, they were still dead people, so I prayed for their souls.

May they become happy people who can live without doing such things in their next life.

"...Ugh, urgh, no. I can do it. I can do it."

The sight of her giving herself a pep talk was truly pitiful.

If these flowers all looked like corpses to me, I might be showing an even worse reaction than Muyeon.

But fortunately, they don't look like corpses, so well.

"Shall we go in for now?"

"W-wait a moment!"

Are you going to stall forever?

The faster we finish and return, the less scary things will be, you know.

"I can't run away, I can't run away, I can't run away..."

Is she finally trying to move? I walked in first, leaving Muyeon behind as she started giving herself a pep talk.

Maybe these so-called Outer Gods weren't such dangerous beings if you could just communicate with them.

Even the words written down were just ridiculous things, and even the Observer was happy and panting when I played with it a bit.

Plus, the Lesser Outer God in my pocket even followed me because it liked me.

I looked around to find the Gardener.

To avoid stepping on the flowers as much as possible, I walked forward on the areas that were open like paths.

"Are you here?"

"N-no! If you shout so loudly...!"

Geez.

We need to call it out first to be able to do anything, whether it's beating it to death or talking.

And they said we could go back outside if it's dangerous.

The words written on the wall didn't give wrong information even before the Observer, so I could trust them.

But no matter how much I walked around and called out, nothing jumped out or reacted.

I was wary of something jumping out from the thick bushes, but most of the time it ended up being meaningless.

As I went deeper and deeper inside, I asked Muyeon:

"Is it really here?"

But Muyeon behind me said nothing.

"Ms. Muyeon?"

I asked once more, but no answer came back.

Thinking she wouldn't not answer no matter how scared she was, I turned my head to look back, but Muyeon, who I thought had been following me, had disappeared without a trace at some point.

Huh?