A sigh escaped me naturally.

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

The person who carved this inscription was certainly a dim-witted one, likely with splotches of green and white.

“Tanton!”

As I was suppressing my anger while looking at the words, Muyun rushed over, using a piece of paper she pulled from her sleeve to wipe my body.

“Mu, Muyun?”

“I told you not to look! I did say it…!”

With tears welling up in her eyes, Muyun spoke to me.

I thought, can she really not know that I wouldn’t be affected? Is it really worthy of tears?

“Um… what is this?”

“It’s, um, a protection charm. It prevents a certain degree of interference from Outsiders.”

A protection charm, huh?

So such an item existed that could block interference from Outsiders?

Though it didn’t affect my mind, the end of the charm was crumbling and dropping into fine powder.

“If it’s that important, why didn’t you give me one when you handed out supplies?”

“…This is something difficult to make, so it’s precious. And generally-speaking, no one reads what the Record Keeper has written.”

Still, she’d use it when it was needed.

…It was impressive to see her worry about someone like me, who was both a criminal and a fraud.

I could see why Muyun was so highly rated in the community.

My heart tinged with emotions, feeling warmer.

“Don’t read the writing on the wall again. Dealing with the aftermath of that is… more difficult than, um, killing someone…”

Before I heard the latter part of her statement.

Was she worried about herself, who seemed more afraid of killing someone than me?

And what kind of attitude was it to casually mention killing when the person in question was right in front of her?!

Take responsibility for my heart, which was just touched a moment ago!

“…”

“Ah, no! What I mean is… uh, you can’t just recklessly look at it! If you do it again, I’ll suppress you, so be careful.”

Was it hopeless to pick up the pieces after saying what she wanted to?

Well, it’s understandable that she would be angry when a criminal acts recklessly, not listening to what was said.

If I were in her place, I would probably have kicked off with a good kick first.

“I’m sorry. I’m just so used to reading these kinds of phrases…”

“Used to reading them…? Does that mean you can understand what they mean?”

As Muyun spoke, flustered, I nodded.

“So, a Mystic Scholar? I don’t see that on your resume… If that’s true, it makes sense you could read the writing and understand their abnormal sexual tendencies.”

Uh…

Yeah, well, a Mystic Scholar might be better than a psychopath.

But still, what did those Mystic Scholars do that would allow such a level of comprehension?

…They seemed far more complicated than I imagined.

For now, I decided to let her think I was a Mystic Scholar.

Muyun didn’t seem to have a nose for lies like a Hunter would.

“Um… ahem, I can read the writing, yes.”

“Ah, I knew it! That’s why you were able to defeat the Watcher.”

“Is the Watcher that dangerous of an Outsider?”

“…Yes, exactly. There’s a hierarchy of Outsiders defined by the Knights, and the result shows that the Watcher is at the Outsider level, alongside the Record Keeper who wrote this text. Once you understand that language, you go crazy.”

Outsider level, huh.

I was aware that there were grades for Outsiders, including Outcast Gods, but it’s the first time I’ve heard that term directly mentioned.

“So, Her Highness the Princess highly values the fact that you defeated the Watcher.”

Just like any typical early-game gimmick boss, the Watcher also had top-tier status.

It was proven from the outset that it was an Outsider strong enough that Hunters couldn’t even overcome it.

“And the Gardener we’re going to take down… occupies a forest area, and there are no distortions, so it’s rated lower among Outsiders.”

“Then why hasn’t it been taken care of?”

“Uh, can I say this? Hmm… Well, since Rondan is where the biggest hearth is, it means Outsiders interfere a lot here, so it falls lower on the priority list compared to others. If the Knight Commander had come, it would have been dealt with quickly.”

Muyun lamented that the Knight Commander was too busy to participate in such trivial matters.

The Knight Commander.

It didn’t seem like the community welcomed them either.

Despite mixed evaluations, do they actually have the skills to match their reputation?

“Does that mean it’s within our capability to handle such a low-tier Outsider?”

“Uh… there are single knights who deal with them, so it should be fine.”

Hmm.

Then it should be all right.

Though the information sounds a bit shaky, it is still something that needs doing.

“Ah, by the way… are you really okay?”

“Yeah, for now.”

Seeing Muyun mumble ‘Definitely a Mystic Scholar…’ my conscience pricked a bit, but I didn’t want to be called an Outsider freak or a psychopath, so I decided to keep quiet.

“Then… can we go in now?”

Muyun approached the main door, unlocked the padlock that had been placed to prevent entry, and when she opened it, a loud creaking noise echoed, as if no one had entered for a long time.

Trying to get inside, it didn’t seem easy with the dense growth of tree trunks blocking the way.

“Please wait a moment.”

Muyun grabbed an axe with both hands and started swinging it around to cut down the trees.

But.

Is that even right?

With each swing, shockwaves seemed to obliterate the trees in her path.

…It really only looked like a toy, but the raw force remained intact.

After swinging for a while, Muyun finally turned back, panting.

“Haah, it’s done… Shall we go in now?”

“Yup.”

Is this the true power of a Knight member that has been talked about in the community?

…I automatically thought that it would be best to keep a low profile.

As Muyun took the lead, I followed closely behind, only to be greeted by a sea of beautiful flowers blooming in every direction.

I didn’t know what kind of flowers they were, but their fresh fragrance suggested that this was quite a beautiful place for an area with Outsiders.

True to their title of Gardener, the flowerbeds were rather pretty.

As I was admiring the flowers, I turned to look at Muyun, who seemed terrified.

“…Hii, hiik.”

Ah, it seems those things have switched to coward mode, just as expected.

“Muyun?”

“Th-there are corpses… everywhere…”

Wait, what?

What did you just say?

Are you telling me that all these beautiful flowers are made up of corpses?

Without that explanation, I would have sounded like a crazy person muttering to myself.

Come on, even if they were going to change, they could have at least made it related in some way. Switching to flowers is just too random!

“Ah, ah. Yeah. It was such a shocking sight that I momentarily zoned out…”

For now, I pretended to have seen the corpses casually, wearing a look of disbelief as I scanned the environment.

Only then did Muyun drop her suspicious expression.

“But why are there so many corpses here?”

“From their attire, they seem to be Candles. Ugh.”

“Candles?”

“D-don’t you know? The hearth is what protects against the blizzards caused by the Outsiders on the Snow Mountain, and those who survive outside are referred to as Candles.”

A group barely scraping by day to day by living near the woodpile outside Rondan, which is a harsh environment for humans.

“Basically, they are traitors who steal firewood from the hearth. Sometimes, there are those who sneak in through these rat holes.”

“Of course…”

Muyun pointed to the flowers.

“They met a tragic end for taking the wrong path…”

Looking at the abundance of flowers, it implied that there were just as many corpses.

Though they were attempting to steal, they were still dead, so I offered my prayers for them.

In their next life, I hoped they would be happy people who wouldn’t do such things.

“…Ugh, no. I can do this. I can do it.”

Seeing her trying to self-hypnotize was pitiful.

I might have reacted even worse than Muyun if I thought all these flowers were made of corpses.

But thankfully, they didn’t look like corpses to me, so, you know.

“Shall we head in for a bit?”

“W-wait a moment!”

How long was she planning to stall?

The sooner we finished, the less scared we’d feel.

“Don’t run away, don’t run away, don’t run away…”

It seemed she was starting to move, so I walked in ahead, leaving Muyun behind as she continued her self-motivation.

Maybe those so-called Outsiders weren’t as dangerous as they sounded if you could communicate with them.

Upon reading the notes around, they were absurd in nature, and even the Watcher got playful when I joked around.

Moreover, the Outcast God in my pocket even followed me because it liked me!

I glanced around, searching for the Gardener.

I stepped carefully on the clear paths, trying not to trample the flowers.

“Is anyone here?”

“Ah, no! Don’t shout like that!”

Well, of course.

If I want to lure it out, I need to be loud enough to get a reaction, right?

And anyway, I could always make a run for it if things got dangerous.

The phrases written on the walls never provided incorrect information during the Watcher encounter, so they were reliable.

But after wandering around for a while and calling out, nothing responded or showed up at all.

I was on edge, expecting something to jump out from the dense foliage, but most of the time, it ended up being an empty effort.

As I ventured further in, I turned to ask Muyun.

“Is it around here?”

But behind me, there was no word from Muyun.

“Muyun?”

I asked again, but there was still no response.

No matter how scared she was, I didn’t think she’d suddenly stop answering.

I turned my head to check, imagining she’d still be following behind, only to find she had vanished without a trace!

Uh, wait?