Chapter 8: Magic Stone(2)

“Are you ready, Avalli?”
“I put it on like you said, but…”

In Bern’s yard, Avalli frowned, fiddling with the faintly fishy-smelling cloak.
The old, worn cloak had frayed edges and holes here and there, making her think she’d be completely soaked if it rained.

“Is this really useful?”
“You’ve never seen a demonic beast before, have you, Avalli?”
“W…Well?”

Avalli lied.

‘…I’ve seen a terrifying number of them.’

Avalli had battled demonic beasts for nearly two weeks.
Some were manageable for her to handle alone, but…in the place where she first landed, all she could do was run.

Simply put, Avalli had survived and escaped from the depths of the Eastern Great Forest on her own.
There were only a handful of beings on the entire continent capable of such a feat.

“Demonic beasts possess something called miasma. It’s a kind of poison.”
“Poison.”
“Unlike ordinary poison, miasma gradually contaminates the surrounding environment. Areas where demonic beasts linger for a long time become distorted in some way.”

Distorted.
Avalli immediately grasped the meaning behind that subtle word choice.

‘…It certainly was strange.’

The swamp where the same space kept repeating.
The cave emitting bone-chilling cold.
The clearing where all living things were frozen, trapped in hallucinations.

Those treacherous locations that had been incomprehensible to Avalli were the domains of demonic beasts.

‘…I somehow managed to survive there.’

And she hadn’t even been affected by that ‘miasma’.
Avalli once again offered her deep gratitude to the friend who had recommended easy mode.

“And the source of that miasma is the core inside the demonic beast, the magic stone.”

Bern, now fully prepared, emerged from his house.

‘…Wow.’

Black gloves reaching up to his shoulders, covered in fine fur.
A veil-like material was attached to the helmet covering his face.
He was also wrapped in leather that emitted a similar smell to the cloak Avalli was wearing.
Various menacing tools hung from the belt around his waist.

‘He looks like a beekeeper.’

Except for the long spear on his back, the resemblance was quite striking.

“So, Bern, what does that have to do with this cloak?”
“This cloak is enchanted with magic that blocks miasma. I received it from the mage I’m contracted with.”

Avalli waddled along, following behind Bern.
Bern was heading towards the back of her own house.

She wondered why he was going that way when the village entrance was to the west—

“…There’s a door here?”
“I secretly made one.”

Avalli narrowed her eyes and looked up at Bern.

“It couldn’t be helped. Dragging demonic beast corpses through the main entrance would create a gruesome atmosphere, and some villagers might get sick from the untreated miasma.”
“Still, doing this secretly…”
“Arsene knows. And this isn’t entirely for my benefit. This year’s harvest looks promising, but it’s been mostly a failure until now. The money I earned by supplying magic stones has barely kept the village afloat during winters.”
“…You’re incredibly kind, Bern.”

Hearing Avalli’s words, Bern stopped in his tracks.
Because his face was covered by the veil-like material, it was difficult to discern his expression.

“Kind, my foot…, I’m just trying to make a living.”

Muttering in a clearly exhausted voice, Bern opened the door and stepped outside the village.

The two walked in silence, crossing the river east of the village and traversing the forest for a long time.
Just how long had they been walking?

“Here it is. Bern!”

Finally reaching their destination, Avalli exclaimed, puffing out her chest.

As Avalli remembered, the place where Arsene had rescued her was filled with demonic beast corpses.
Most were decayed and decomposed, leaving only bones and hides, but even those remnants were of an immense scale.

“…What in the world.”

Bern was stunned, staring at the mountain of bones before him.

The title “Demonic Beast Hunter” sounded grand, but the reality was closer to a scavenger.
Most of the time, they collected the corpses of demonic beasts defeated in battles amongst themselves.
The only actual hunting they did was spearing small demonic beasts caught in traps with their long spears.

For Bern, this sight of dozens, hundreds of demonic beast corpses piled up was incomprehensible.

‘…What kind of being could have hunted so many demonic beasts?’

Perhaps a legendary Greater Demonic Beast had appeared.
If so, the recent sharp decline in the demonic beast population near the village made sense.

‘But if that Greater Demonic Beast attacks the village…’

Asha Village would surely be wiped out without a trace.
Just as that terrifying possibility was growing in Bern’s mind—

“Bern.”

That mysterious Greater Demonic Beast, or rather, Avalli, spoke to Bern.

“With so many corpses, there should be at least a few magic stones, right?”
“…Probably. You wait here for a bit. Be careful not to breathe too deeply. Even with the cloak, the miasma will be incredibly dense with this many corpses.”
Bern said so and took out several small potion bottles from his bag.
Only after thoroughly applying the liquid inside to his entire body did he cautiously approach the mountain of corpses.

Avalli watched him nervously.

‘From what I’ve heard, this miasma seems similar to radiation.’

In that case, Bern was crossing a very dangerous bridge.
Avalli thought she would use ‘magic’ to rescue him if necessary—

“…This is unbelievable.”

Bern, who had been rummaging through the pile of bones for a while, uttered in a bewildered voice.

“What’s wrong, Bern?”

At Avalli’s question, Bern removed the helmet covering his head.
Avalli’s heart skipped a beat at his sudden action, but Bern, drenched in sweat, seemed relatively fine.

“I can’t feel any miasma.”
“…Really?”

If that was true, it was finally time to take off this smelly cloak.
Avalli neatly folded the old cloak and placed it at her feet, then walked towards Bern.

“Did you find any magic stones?”
“…No miasma means no magic stones. The magic stone within a demonic beast is the source of the miasma.”
“Didn’t it disappear after they died?”
“Magic stones don’t disappear so easily. They have to be purified, processed into magical catalysts, or absorbed by other demonic beasts…”

Bern’s expression grew increasingly serious as he suddenly realized something.

“…It must have been Sir Kyle.”
“The Paladin?”

Since she had already shared that information within the village, Avalli nodded.

“…I wondered why Arsene suddenly brought a Paladin here. It must have been to purify this miasma. Damn… They could have called me too. With this many demonic beast corpses, even if I had just taken a few magic stones, the village finances—”

Bern kicked a demonic beast bone and grumbled, having reached his own conclusion.

‘…I don’t know the details, but something doesn’t seem right.’

Still, with this, Avalli had taken as much responsibility as she could for what she had done.
Whether Kyle had purified the miasma or not, that was the Paladin’s action.
There was no need for her to worry about it.

“It’s really over now.”
“Bern…”
“Yeah, it’s over. That’s my life, I guess. Thanks for your concern, Avalli. You must be tired, yet you guided me all the way here.”

There was no need for her to be concerned, but…
Seeing him so despondent and despairing made her feel sympathy for him.

Was there any way she could help him?

“…Ah.”

After a moment of thought, Avalli came up with a plausible solution.
She didn’t have to take on such a bothersome task, but Bern was a fellow villager.
And above all, she needed to repay the favor of the peach honey preserve.

“Let’s head back, Bern.”
“…Alright. Come visit sometime when you’re free. I’ll pack my things beforehand and give you anything useful.”

Bern, despairing over his impending doom, said in a listless voice.

“Cheer up. Every dog has its day.”
“…What does that even mean?”
“Just what it literally means.”

Bern, who couldn’t possibly understand the idiom from another world…, didn’t even have the energy to ask further.

“By the way, Bern.”
“Yes?”
“Do you happen to have a lot of that honey preserve left?”
“…That was the last of it.”

‘Too bad.’
Hearing Bern’s words, Avalli smacked her lips quietly.

Due to the stench clinging to her, Avalli washed up thoroughly in the river before returning home.
Before going back to her room after dinner, Avalli spoke to Envel, who was clearing the dishes.

“Unnie, when did the Chief say he was coming back?”
“In three days. He said he has a lot to do this time.”

Three days.
Then there was time.

Arsene had sharp ears and often woke up even at night, but Envel wouldn’t budge an inch once she fell asleep until dawn.

‘And tomorrow is the full moon.’

The full moon.
The night when Avalli’s magic control faltered, and she reverted to her original form.
Since she planned to be outside the village anyway, she could kill time during the long night—

‘—and get revenge for Hans.’

It was time to go hunting.