"I wanted to have a talk with Sears, but the conversation with Marquis ended up being too long."
"It can happen next time."
"Then I will prepare some good tea and wait for you."
Archbishop Sephira finished his greetings and returned to his group.
"It is getting late. You should all have a good night's sleep, and we'll meet again."
"Sleep well, grandpa."
"Haha, sleep well, my Jamie."
"Good night."
"Right. You worked hard today, Sears. Get a good night's rest."
Marquis Bell headed to his bedroom.
Sears hugged Sarah who was sleeping close to her, and kissed Jamie on his forehead.
"See you tomorrow, my son."
"Good night."
Sears went to her room.
Confirming that everyone had gone to their rooms, Jamie entered his room, and Venna, who was there, asked.
"Are you leaving soon?"
"Where's the dummy?"
"Here."
As Venna pulled on the blanket, Jamie was sleeping soundly.
Jamie nodded in satisfaction.
Although Venna had no talent for magic, she could use transformation magic of a reasonably high level.
She wasn't in the squirrel shape right now, so she had enough mana to spare.
"Tell me if you are running out of mana."
"Yes."
Jamie opened the window of his room.
Summer was nearing the end, and the night breeze was turning chilly.
He looked outside.
"Sable?"
"What?"
Venna poked her head out.
Her chest pressed against Jamie's head.
Jamie, who was shorter than her now, couldn't push her away.
"Move away, idiot!"
"What?"
"You are heavy!"
"Ah!"
Only then did Venna realize it, and then she moved away from the window.
And then covered her chest with both hands.
"I transformed back."
"Just die."
Jamie shook his head and looked out the window.
Sable was leading the soldiers somewhere.
His expression looked dark. Did something happen again?
'Did [Daemon] appear?'
He couldn't think of anything other than that.
Jamie who thought that stepped out of the window.
"Come out."
"Okay!"
Venna struggled to get out of the window.
Both the soldiers and Sable disappeared, so no one saw them.
Jamie took Venna's hand and soared high.
"Woa-"
"Shut it. What are you going to do if someone hears you?"
"I just never did this."
"A magician who can't even fly."
Jamie said that, but he too couldn't fly until a couple months back, and took the help of Black.
"I'm speeding up."
"Wow!"
With the speeding up, Venna exclaimed happily.
Jamie did tell her to be quiet, but she didn't hear it. It was only after he let go of one of her hands did she stop.
"Huk! Huk! Huk!"
Late at night, a man was running away from something.
He turned around the corner and entered an alley.
In an effort to keep away from what was following him, the man constantly moved.
Still, the beast-like entity could be heard behind him.
'No! I don't want to die!'
He heard the rumors that the ghost of [Daemon] appeared in the city, but this man didn't believe it.
He thought that it was just some crazy theory to hide the actual murderer.
He said that he would knock out the ghost if it appeared before him.
But he was wrong and delusional.
The man learned that it wasn't some crazy manic murderer chasing after him.
This looked human but wasn't human.
'It really is the ghost of [Daemon]!'
If caught, his heart would be pulled out.
Suddenly, the nape of his neck felt cold. In instinct, he bowed his head.
Swoosh!
A creepy sound cutting through the wind.
"Eik!"
The man started to run, somehow correcting his falling figure, and continued running.
Not even looking back. Because that pause could make him lose his life.
'Damn it! Damn it!'
His breath was hitting his face.
His thigh muscles were aching.
All muscles in his body turned hot.
As if his body had reached the limit, he saw a dimly lit lamp appear in the distance.
'God hasn't forsaken me yet!'
The man, drenched in overflowing emotions, felt glad.
His lungs were out of breath, still he didn't worry about it.
"Save me!"
His lungs were ripped apart.
It was impossible to run anymore as his lungs reached the limit.
Suddenly, at that moment, the soldiers with lanterns found the man.
A smile of relief was drawn on the man's face.
"Thank god…"
But the smile didn't last long.
The soldiers didn't move and just watched.
They just stood still and didn't even move.
It was then that the man realized that something was wrong.
Puck!
It was too late.
A black hand pierced his chest.
The man saw the black hand pull out something from his chest.
It was definitely his own heart beating and slowly stopping.
"We got hit again."
A soldier with a serious face reported to Sable, the aide and the one in charge of the case.
There was a hole in the chest of the man who was now a corpse.
This time, only the heart was removed.
"The warmth is still here. It hasn't been that long."
"Seal this neighbourhood, set up a tracking team and scour the entire city. The culprit may not have gone far."
"Alright."
The soldiers moved to fulfill their objective.
Sable squatted down and examined the corpse
.
The criminal left no traces other than taking away the heart.
"This is strange. There were sentries guarding this place. And they said they didn't hear anything. It makes no sense at all."
Revos, an assistant and a sentry, told Sable and another sentry.
"An insider job? It doesn't make sense. It is impossible to get this far without being noticed."
"You are right. Everyone is thinking the same. This is clearly the work of someone inside."
"Stop."
Sable stopped him.
"Don't be suspicious of your colleagues. That is the first thing we shouldn't do when we are in trouble, and we aren't in a corner yet, we still have a chance to solve it."
"But…"
"I understand. It isn't that I didn't think that either. But the more this happens, the more we are needed to stay united."
"… alright."
"Be careful."
The two looked uncomfortable, but the command of the superior was absolute. Moreover, what Sable said wasn't wrong.
So they left to fulfill their duties.
Now alone, Sable closed the eyes of the victim which were still open.
And then, the monster appeared.
"Stupid beings."
A monster, whose body was covered with hideous scars, was holding the heart of Revos.
While waiting for him, the ghost waited until he came out for a mission and then attacked him.
"Keep looking for me. We'll see if you can catch me. Kkukkuk!"
It truly felt nice to feel the heart slowly beat.
And he put the heart in a cloth bag. The night is long. And he could surely harvest three or more hearts before he returned.
Startle!
It was then.
The monster felt a strong presence right behind him. And the unknown scent of flowers drifted around.
The monster turned his head and laughed out loud.
"Kuahaha!"
There, Sable with a sword in his hand was glaring at the monster.
The sound of leaves rustling in the night breeze.
The forest at night was so dark that nothing could be seen.
Even the noise of grasshoppers which wouldn't bother people usually was scary now.
Especially in this place.
Just the sight was gloomy, and no one would have the strength to do anything here.
A forest that felt this bad made people want to turn away even if they were prepared to enter.
"It's unnamed."
Jamie smiled as he stood at the entrance of Mirinae forest.
Upon visiting, he was convinced that this was the dark forest that Pyro spoke of.
Although this is where the Ariazad Great forest ended, this was still a forest.
And standing at the entrance, he felt like this was forbidden and made him nervous.
'What about Venna?'
If it was Venna who was timid and cowardly, she might even want to head back saying she was scared.
He looked back to find a pathetic figure.
"Are you fine?"
"What do you mean, master?"
Jamie was taken aback.
This was different from what he expected.
"V-venna?"
"Something, overwhelming power is overflowing!"
Veena's huge eyes were shining.
Her pink hair was shiny and her skin improved a bit, overall she seemed extremely bright.
"What is this? I feel refreshed as if I slept for 12 hours and woke up."
She too didn't understand why she was feeling so energetic.
Jamie looked at her with a bewildered expression until he remembered a trait of Valkyrie which he had forgotten.
'Wait, the Valkyries were a race in the forest.'
The Valkyries depended on the spirit of the forest more than the elves.
In other words, the Valkyries outside a forest will have a decrease in their strength.
And now Venna had entered the forest and could draw out her full abilities.
"Not bad."
"What?"
"Nothing. Let's enter."
"Yes!"
Venna answered cheerfully.
Her voice seemed to be louder than usual.
Or maybe the stress Sarah put on her was relieved.
The two went into the forest.
Mirinae Forest was so dark that it was impossible to see without a light.
"The further we go, the darker it gets."
"Isn't this gloomy? But I feel better for some reason."
That was right, she was a Valkyrie.
Jamie didn't neglect his surroundings. A monster could pop out at any time.
'This is called the Loser's Realm. And we are still on the outskirts of the forest, so it will be fine, however, there is a chance for a dangerous monster to be lurking around.'
If he ignored it, thinking that it was a defeated and weak monster because it was staying here, he could be hurt.
Fighting for territory with monsters wasn't a good thing. Even if the monsters were pushed into this place, they would have established their own territories here.
And as expected.
Shhhhh!
The trees on the left began to move lightly at a bizarre cry.
A huge object appeared in the air.
No, the transparent appearance was returning back to its original state.
Could a monster use invisibility?
It was quite a shock to Jamie too, but he wasn't too shocked.
"Something like a monster."
Jamie's eyes turned purple.
Black mana rose on his fingertips. He wants to erase it from this world.
It was when Jamie, who was determined, smiled and tried to use dark magic.
Pik!
Black mana scattered.
And his purple eyes returned back to emerald color.
Jamie froze at the sudden situation.
At that moment, the monster reached right in front of them.
The moment when he thought that he was being hit, something like a lightning bolt flashed!
"Master, what are you doing?!"
Pak!
Jumping, Venna thrust her fist into the monster's face.
The monster's jaw was twisted weirdly.
Venna didn't stop there and then used her legs.
And when her foot touched the head, the monster's eyeballs popped out.
Kwang!
The monster, which was thrown to the ground, wriggled, unable to get up.
"Phew-"
Venna dusted her skirt.
And then spoke to Jamie.
"Why were you staying still? Something bad could have happened."
"S-sorry."
With that, Jamie looked at his hand.
He tried to raise black mana again, but nothing happened, and this time he couldn't feel his eyes change.
Venna sensed that something was wrong from Jamie's bewildered expression.
"What is it?"
"Black mana, I can't use it."
"What do…?"
Venna tried to pull out black mana, but it was the same for her.
Her black mana and Jamie's black mana were different. And if they both couldn't use it, then there was just one reason.
"This forest doesn't welcome dark magicians."
Jamie frowned as he said it.
And looked forward.
In the darkness, he saw the eyes of monsters glistening.
Things were going to get a little cumbersome.
