(EP-215.2) Wedding in the Forest #2

215 – Wedding in the Witch Forest #2

I tossed Lily a bunch of mushrooms.

“I picked these while you were sleeping, you can eat them if you’re hungry.”

Her eyebrows lifted slightly as she caught them.

“What’s this? Most of these are poisonous.”

‘I see. I thought they were edible since they looked so pure and white, but turns out they could kill you…’

“And this….”

Lily, who was rummaging through the pile of mushrooms, picked up a blue mushroom and paused for a moment.

“This mushroom went extinct long ago.”

“Can you eat it?”

“…….”

Lily kept her mouth shut instead of answering. This sassy brat.

After eating only the edible mushrooms, we exited the cave together.

The refreshing scent of green and dew felt good. On the other hand, the footprints scattered throughout the forest were eerie.

Seureureuk-.

Then the balloons wrapped around my wrist started to sway. Even though there was no wind, the balloons moved freely.

Like iron attracted to a magnet, they began to point in one direction. One look and it was obvious that they were guiding us to go there.

“Let’s go.”

Leading Lily, who was still annoyed that I pinched her cheek, I followed the direction indicated by the balloons.

The rugged forest path was treacherous, alternating between climbing hills or walking on slopes. However, my body was strangely light.

Like really light.

“Hey, wait up!”

“Was I too fast?”

I walked as usual, but my stride felt different.

That was right, my body used to be like this.

I’d done a lot of hard work as a part-timer, so I had plenty of health and vitality. It made me realize once again how much of a penalty having a half-fairy’s body was.

As we were briskly walking, we stopped in our tracks when we noticed numerous totems hanging from the branches.

Dreamcatchers and colorful talismans made from bird skulls, goats, sheep, and various other eerie animal bones, swayed on the high branches-.

“It looks spooky…”

But unlike my fright, Lily’s expression was quite bright.

“It’s the realm of witches. From here on, it’s the territory of Tarantera. It’s the mark of Walpurgis.”

“I see. So, we’re almost there?”

“Now we need to be cautious. There might be minions here. Since we’re outsiders, we might be driven away. These are also warning signs.”

“Minions…”

Are they like the gargoyles that were placed at the entrance of the Draco Family mansion?

I unconsciously clasped my left arm.

Marmar’s tail always protected me, but in this dream, it seemed that I couldn’t bring it with me. My left arm was empty.

Still.

If I could use magic as I imagined, I should at least be able to protect myself.

So, passing the witches’ marks, we ventured deeper into the forest and found something peculiar wriggling.

━Geuaagh-.

It resembled a melted figure in black slime. It was like covering a person’s body with a sticky blanket.

Chiiiik-.

The bizarre amorphous ‘thing’ made black soot as it roamed. It was very strange.

“What’s that?”

Hiding behind the bushes, I asked Lily, who wrinkled her brow and replied in a very quiet voice.

“That’s a Melted Bandit.”

“A Melted Bandit?”

“Yeah. Bandits who got caught in witches’ traps melt away in this forest. If you touch them, they’ll melt you, so be careful. It’s best to avoid or wait till they leave.”

Lily showed a passive attitude. Certainly, the rusty swords and arrows sticking out here and there looked terrifying.

━Guaaeuuugh-.

Gloop, gloop.

Looking closely, you could see bones tangled in the liquid from those sacrificed.

Sway, sway.

But the path indicated by the balloons was straight towards where the Melted Bandit was heading. We’d be backtracking even more if we missed it.

“Can we defeat it?”

“Hmph, go ahead and try. That liquid has been specially treated, so magic below the 3rd rank won’t work.”

“3rd rank, huh…”

Being a Rank 3 battle mage was an accomplishment in itself. But for me now, it was just a checkpoint.

Seureuk-.

I lightly pointed my hand at it, while Lily snorted at the sight.

“What are you going to do? You don’t even have your fancy Imp Tail Wand.”

“Be quiet. I need to concentrate.”

My magic required precise calculations and coordinates compared to others. So, it needed quite a bit of focus.

“…….”

Finally getting Lily to shut up, I flicked my finger.

“Here it goes.”

Ttak-. A clear sound echoed as a gust of wind suddenly swept under the creature’s feet, tearing its body apart.

Hwiioooooooo-.

━Gueeeeargh-!

Cheodeok, cheodeok-.

The melted bandit’s goo splattered everywhere as it turned into fragments. It seemed I could use my attack magic, “Heavenly Whirlwind Storm,” even without a wand.

And it worked amazingly well.

“There, we can move forward now, right?”

I confidently asked, to which Lily closed her mouth and snorted.

“… Hm, well. You’ve learned directly from Tarantera-nim, this much is to be expected.”

She still couldn’t be honest. But strictly speaking, it was true.

The finger flicking spell activation method was inspired by Aira’s telekinesis.

It was quite useful for a first attempt.

This should be good when I didn’t have my wand out.

Ttak, ttak-.

━Geuaak-!

━Gieeek-!

As we progressed further, melted bandits or beasts would block our path. But with just a flick of my finger, they were easily dealt with, so it wasn’t much of a hassle for me.

“Hey, look, there’s an apple over there! Pick that one too!”

However, Lily, who was quietly sucking on honey, didn’t seem pleased. Not content with just sitting still, she even asked me to pick apples.

Swipe-.

I made a slight gesture with my palm upwards.

Whoosh.

Soon, a strong gust of wind swept up Lily’s skirt. Startled, she clung tightly to her skirt and blushed.

“Do, do you want to die? You saw…!”

“Saw what? I didn’t do anything. It’s just a little windy in this forest.”

「Black lace!

Gained job experience for ‘Casanova’. +50」

My ‘Casanova’ experience points had risen after a long time.

I was silently admiring this when it happened.

Pang-!

One of the balloons wrapped around my wrist suddenly burst. Seeing this, both Lily, who was growling at me, and I stopped talking.

Why did it pop all of a sudden?

Edited by: faker