Chapter 1-5 : The Girl, The Cat, And The Black Devil (part 1)
After about a two-hour walk from Mortiz’s house, Elle could finally see the village.
Before proceeding any further, she took a wooden basket and some magic stones from her magic bag, and then put the magic stones in the basket. After that, she hid her face with the hood of her cloak and walked toward the village.
There were houses with thatched roofs and a large well near the entrance to the village.
This village had large fields but the harvest seemed to be poor since it rarely rained this year.
The villagers couldn’t use the water from the nearby river either because it was kind of murky for some reason.
As Elle walked through the entrance to the village, she could see the thin, skinny cows grazing on withered grass and dead cats, dogs, and chickens by the side of the road.
「Those poor animals… This is horrible…」(Elle)
「Seems like they were abandoned by the villagers who don’t seem to have enough food even for themselves.」(Yoyo)
「You may be right… Let’s see if we can find someone here.」(Elle)
While trying not to look at the poor dead animals, Elle continued walking deeper into the village.
This village was like a ghost town. Elle could feel people’s presence inside the houses, but no one was outside until she found a girl doing laundry in a yard.
She seemed to be around eleven or twelve years old. She was rubbing the dirty clothes against the worn-out wooden washboard with her bright red hands.
Of course, the water she was using to wash the clothes was not clear water.
Elle thought that the little girl would be able to wash the clothes much faster and easier if she had a water magic stone and a wind magic stone, though she didn’t think that she had the money to buy them.
Thinking about giving the stones for free, Elle approached the girl.
「Hello there.」(Elle)
「ーHiiiyy!!」(girl)
However, the girl let out a short shriek and ran away as soon as she saw Elle.
「W-Wait! …She’s gone… Why did she run away?」(Elle)
「Maybe she was scared of outsiders?」(Yoyo)
「Is that so? But I just wanted to help her…」(Elle)
Feeling confused, Elle sighed and proceeded further.
When she got to the village plaza, she could see a few people talking to each other there.
However, they then scattered in all directions like a group of flies who were interrupted during their meals as if they were afraid of Elle.
「Everyone is avoiding me… What is going on here…?」(Elle)
「Elle, you should be careful. This village is obviously weird. I think this is a closed village that doesn’t welcome any outsiders.」(Yoyo)
「I see…」(Elle)
There were no shops or inns in this village. It seemed that even merchants had never visited this place.
In that case, Elle thought no one would buy her magic stones since everyone here didn’t seem to have money.
While thinking, Elle saw a woman about forty years old tending to the small vegetable field behind her house.
The vegetables didn’t look great at all, but Elle thought of exchanging her magic stones with some of them.
Although she was skinny and looked kind of weak, that woman had gentle eyes. Elle thought she was a kind woman who would listen to her, so she approached her.
「Umm, excuse me, Ma’am. Would you like toー」(Elle)
「ー*Gasp*!!」(woman)
However, her kind-looking face suddenly turned into a frightened face as soon as she saw Elle just like the other villagers.
She was looking at Elle as if she was looking at a monster or something.
「W, Who are you!?」(woman)
「Ma’am, please calm down. I just want toー」(Elle)
「ーNo, I know you! You must be the minion of the ‘Monster Eater’ who lives in the forest, aren’t you!?」(woman)
「Eh…? What are you talking about?」(Elle)
As the name suggests, a Monster Eater is someone who eats monsters.
Unlike animals, monsters have a lot of mana in their bodies. Eating them will give you great power.
However, eating monsters is taboo because ingesting a large amount of mana can kill the person themself. The people who broke that taboo are usually evil magicians who have stronger bodies than normal humans due to curses or something else.
Apparently, the villagers thought that Moritz was a Monster Eater. That’s why he persistently told Elle not to go to this village when he was still alive.
「Stop pretending like you have no idea! What the hell are you doing in this village!?」(woman)
「I, I came to sell some magic stones.」(Elle)
Saying that, Elle took a well-made fire magic stone from her basket and showed it to the woman.
However, the woman immediately slapped Elle’s hand, knocking the magic stone off her hand.
「I don’t need the rubbish magic stone made by that Monster Eater!」(woman)
After yelling like that, the woman ran into her house and closed the door.
Elle was shocked. She could only look at the red magic stone on the ground without moving an inch.
「Elle, we’re not welcome here. We should go home.」(Yoyo)
「…Yeah… you’re right…」(Elle)
Elle took the magic stone, put it in the basket, and walked toward the village entrance with Yoyo.
She ended up making all those magic stones for nothing.
Moritz and Hugo were right. Elle shouldn’t have come to this village.
Regretting her decision, Elle decided not to visit this village ever again.
While walking down the street, Elle saw a middle-aged man walking unsteadily. She thought he was probably drunk, but as they passed each other, she noticed that he wasn’t drunk, but sick.
「That mark… If I’m not mistaken, that is…」(Elle)
「Elle, what’s wrong?」(Yoyo)
「I saw a black mark on that man’s face.」(Elle)
「It must be a mole or something.」(Yoyo)
「No, a mole won’t be that big. Not only that, he also has a lump on his neck. I think I know those symptoms…」(Elle)
Elle once read a medical book about diseases in Moritz’s library.
She remembered she had read about the disease with the symptoms that matched that middle-aged man’s, and she knew that he would die soon because of that disease.
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