Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 39: To the Forest in Question ② – Wof’s Investigation Team
The day of the forest investigation.
I was called by the witch and found myself on the first floor of the Hydrangea Branch of the Explorer’s Guild.
She gave me a location, but since I’m not an explorer, I don’t know where it is.
Guess I’ll ask at the reception desk for now.
“Oh, Wof.”
“Agaro-san.”
The one who spoke was Agaro-san.
A red-haired Faun male. A Rank II Explorer. Agaro the “Annihilation Blade.”
“What’s up? Kinda rare to see you here.”
“I was called by the witch.”
“You too, huh. Oh right, you’re her apprentice, aren’t you?”
“Y-yes. I am her apprentice.”
“You? Well, now that you mention it, I can see it.”
…What’s that supposed to mean?
“Wait, ‘you too’? You were called by the witch as well, Agaro-san?”
“Yeah. Probably the 3rd meeting room. This way. Follow me.”
As expected of a Rank II Explorer, Agaro the “Annihilation Blade.”
With bold confidence, he walked up to the front desk and asked, “Hey, where’s the third meeting room?”
Guess he didn’t know either. The receptionist smiled and showed us the way.
The third meeting room.
Third from the left on the second floor of the guild. Inside was a bare, inorganic space.
Pure white walls. A whiteboard in front. Cheap long tables and simple chairs lined up.
Nothing else. A true meeting room. Somehow nostalgic.
“Excuse me.”
“Ah, ah, Wof-sama!?”
“Juicy-san?”
I did a double-take. A well-behaved dog sitting primly near the front.
And now that dog just jumped to her feet.
No mistake. It was the black-haired dog-girl beauty, Juicy-san.
Why is she here? Agaro tilted his head.
“Huh? Who’s that?”
“She’s Rell-san’s little sister.”
“Rell’s?”
“Um, um, nice to meet you. I’m Juicy Tasan.”
“Agaro. Tasan, as in the marquis family?”
“Um, yes. That Tasan.”
“So Rell’s a Tasan, huh. That’s a surprise.”
Agaro scratched his scruffy chin with a wry smile.
Juicy opened her eyes wide.
“Um, do you know my brother Rell?”
“Yeah, we’re kinda acquaintances.”
“Um, wow! Um, Agaro-san, please take care of me!”
“Yeah, you too.”
“By the way, Juicy-san, why are you here?”
“Um, woof. I was called by the witch-sama.”
Well, yeah, but… Agaro and Juicy-san?
Could it be they’re part of the forest investigation team? That’s an unexpected lineup.
Just what is the witch thinking?
“Hey hey, everyone. Looks like we’re all here.”
The witch made a grand entrance. She seemed in a great mood.
“Oh, witch.”
“Um, witch-sama, good day!”
“Good morning.”
“Na!”
“Hm? What’s that?”
Agaro looked puzzled. Ah, right, he wouldn’t know.
I drew my Dagger knife.
“Dagaa.”
“Na!”
“Whoa, what is that thing? A monster!?”
Dagaa transformed, and Agaro took a step back.
Hey, don’t draw the Flame Tongue!
“Na!?”
“Now now, calm down, Agaro.”
Dagaa leapt to the witch’s chest. She stroked it gently, saying “There, there.”
“What is that thing?”
“My knife… or maybe my pet?”
Honestly, I don’t really know. What even is it?
That thing napping on the witch’s chest…
“So it’s yours. Oh right, your knife did transform, didn’t it?”
Agaro relaxed and put away the Flame Tongue. Juicy spoke up.
“Um, wow. That sword is amazing. Just looking at it feels like I might catch fire!”
Juicy’s eyes sparkled like stars.
Agaro gave a short laugh.
“Oh? You can tell?”
“Um, yes. Agaro-san, could you be… the ‘Annihilation Blade’?”
“Yeah, that’s what they call me.”
“Um, um, I’m so happy to meet you!”
She might be a fan?
Then Juicy looked at me. Or more accurately, at my waist.
“Um, I sensed a similar aura from the knife Wof-sama carries.”
“This one?”
Ah, this? I showed her the knife Agaro had given me.
Juicy nodded enthusiastically.
“Yes, woof! That’s it!”
“Oh, that? I gave that knife to Wof.”
“Um, I see! That explains the aura!”
“Wow, nice! Good eye, girl. Looks like the witch made a good call picking you.”
“Yes yes, doggy-chan is a capable one!”
“You’ll make a fine explorer.”
“Um, thank you so much! Wof-sama, they praised me! I’m so happy!”
The way she reports everything to me—totally like a dog from back home.
She used to bring me stuff all the time… please not another dead rat.
“Well then, shall we begin? Everyone, take a seat wherever you like.”
The witch placed Dagaa on the table. I sat next to Juicy.
Dagaa twitched all four ears and wagged its tail in sync with the witch’s tail.
Wait, Juicy started wagging hers too. Is that a tail-synchronization reflex or something?
Agaro slouched in his chair.
“Witch. Is this everyone for the forest investigation?”
“Yes yes, everyone’s here. I invited the cat too, but she turned me down since she’s busy with her base.”
Pakira-san. I’d heard she was busy moving and remodeling.
“I see. Well, I know Wof. I’ve confirmed the girl’s skills. A small elite team—it works. Too many people just gets in the way for investigations or exterminations.”
Agaro smirked self-deprecatingly. “Extermination” must refer to that past dungeon incident.
“Thanks, thanks. Now, if there’s nothing else, let’s move on to the first important thing we need to decide—our team name!”
“Huh? Team name?”
“What even is that?”
The witch enthusiastically wrote in large letters on the whiteboard.
“Yes, yes! Kon’s recommendation is… ‘The Wof Boy Investigation Squad!’”
“Huh?”
“Hmm. Not bad.”
“Agaro-san!?”
“I particularly like the ‘Wof Boy’ part.”
“Agaro-san!?”
Wait—he’s started drinking alcohol!?
“U-um, what about ‘Wof-sama’s Investigation Team’?”
Juicy-san!?
“Ohoho! I like that, I like that a lot!”
The witch wrote “Wof-sama’s Investigation Team” on the board.
“Hmm. Not bad.”
“Agaro-san!?”
“I especially like the part where it says ‘Wof-sama.’”
“Agaro-san!?”
He’s definitely drinking.
“So then, Wof boy, do you have any ideas?”
“Ideas? I mean… what even is this naming thing?”
Is this really the most important thing we need to do first?
“Oh, come now. It’s a tradition for investigation teams to come up with their own name as a kind of good luck charm. For example, there’s a team that investigates dungeons in town called, ‘After this investigation, I’ll finally propose to her Squad.’”
What a giant death flag. Are they going to be okay? Wait—who is that?
When I turned around, there was a man leaning casually against the wall with his arms crossed. He had short blond hair, long pointed ears, and several piercings.
With narrow golden eyes and a mysterious smile, he had a tall and slender figure, wore makeup and lipstick, and had on a white shirt with yellow pants. An elven man.
I recognized him—from when we returned after the dungeon incident. He was talking with Megadia-san underground… the elven crossdresser.
“Guild Master!?”
“Ohoho, you remembered me? I’m Arans.”
Arans-san chuckled softly.
“I-I’m Wof. Nice to officially meet you.”
“Ohoho. A proper one, even though you’re the witch’s apprentice. And cute, too.”
“Uh, thanks…”
He winked. It made me recoil a little.
“Hmm, hmm. Agaro, any ideas?”
“Huh? Hmm, let’s see… how about ‘Wof-sama Boy Investigation Team Squad?’”
“Agaro-san!? That’s just a mash-up of the other two!”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“It doesn’t even make sense anymore!”
“That’s what makes it good.”
No it’s not.
Could it be that they just don’t care?
Actually, it’s starting to feel like it doesn’t matter. Even Arans the Guild Master was laughing.
“Ohoho. That’s so like you, Agaro.”
“Eh, it’s fine. This kind of thing doesn’t need to be too serious.”
“True.”
“…”
No, seriously, it’s not fine! I couldn’t take it anymore and raised my hand.
“Um, how about ‘The Dagaa Investigation Squad’?”
“Na?”
“Hmm, hmm. The Dagaa Investigation Squad, eh?”
The witch wrote it on the board… so small. The letters were tiny.
“Okay then, let’s decide from these three. Majority vote. Raise your hand for the one you like best. First, the Dagaa Investigation Squad, proposed by Wof Boy. Alright. One vote—just Wof Boy. Next, ‘Wof-sama Boy Investigation Team Squad’, from Agaro. Okay. Zero votes.”
Agaro-san!? Why didn’t the person who proposed it vote for it!?
“Next, ‘Wof-sama’s Investigation Team’, proposed by the puppy girl. Okay. Also zero. And lastly, ‘The Wof Boy Investigation Squad’, proposed by Kon. Okay. Four votes and one beast. That’s the winner!”
Four people? Wait—what is the Guild Master doing!?
And one beast? Dagaa!? Wait, he raised a paw… you traitor!
Also, Juicy-san, you didn’t even vote for your own suggestion…
What even is this?! Was the whole thing rigged from the start!?
And so, the name for the team investigating that forest was officially decided:
‘The Wof Boy Investigation Squad.’
Next came the discussion on rewards. Although it was a guild commission, it came from the Grand Guild Headquarters, not a local branch.
That meant the job was officially from the Grand Guild.
The rewards were tiered based on explorer rank.
For people like me and Juicy-san, who weren’t ranked, the payment was naturally abysmal.
But that was expected. As long as we were getting anything, that was fine.
Then came the explanation about the forest itself.
Apparently, there’s an abandoned village there. A village that once worshipped an evil god.
The witch explained that the village had been wiped out during a large-scale extermination carried out by explorers and the knights.
Here, the Guild Master Arans-san added some clarification:
What kind of evil god they worshipped was never discovered, despite extensive research.
Which suggests it might have been an extremely obscure and niche evil deity.
“Oh my. But they did find the village chief’s name. It was Hargan.”
Hargen? No, Hargan?
“Hmm, an unusual name.”
“U-um, I’ve never heard of it before.”
“Hmm. The sound feels northern. Like Havgan or Annuv.”
“So, does that mean Hargan was Havgan?”
“Beats me.”
Yep. Figures.
“Oh my. Also, there was a Legendary item in the guild’s vault that resonates with that forest. When it goes off, we know someone has entered the forest.”
“Huh, now that you mention it, I remember hearing a rumor about that. So it was true?”
“Yes. Although… even if we know someone entered, there’s not really anything we can do about it.”
Arans-san gave a wry smile.
That makes sense.
The guild can declare the area off-limits, but they don’t have the authority to forcibly stop anyone.
Apparently, there was a time when they even built a small hut nearby and tried to keep watch.
But the watchman disappeared in less than a week, so they stopped doing anything after that.
“U-um, what kind of Legendary item was it? I’m interested!”
“A flute, right?”
“No, it wasn’t. It was a cup. Also, saying it ‘went off’ isn’t quite right. It sounded like a flute, but that was actually the overlapping screams and curses coming from it. It shattered when it was released.”
Yes—
The screams and voices of resentment within the cup sounded, from far away, like the tones of a flute.
Even now, that horrifying thing remains a mystery.
One thing is certain—it was connected to the worship of an evil god.
And guarding it was a massive horde of skeletons… and a black knight.
Even now, I sometimes remember it and shudder.
That monster was the first one to ever defeat me.
Since then, I think… I’ve become stronger.
I wonder how well I could fight that black knight now, without using [Generous].
“More importantly, why the hell did something like that even end up in the guild?”
Agaro-san voiced the question.
True—why was it there?
“Oh my. That cup, you see… it’s said that Alhazard Abramelin—the current Grand Guild Master—brought it here back when he was the master of this guild.”
“Seriously? That old guy used to be the guild master here?”
“He did?”
“Yes. Not many people know, but it’s true.”
I was a little surprised.
So that’s the connection—that’s probably why the request came directly from him.
“Well, that’s about everything. For now, the investigation of that forest is scheduled to last three days. If anything comes up, that could be extended.”
“Sounds fair, from what I’ve heard. If nothing happens, all the better.”
“Y-yes, exactly.”
“That’s right…”
I’m the one who freed that forest.
So nothing should be there. Nothing at all.
…This isn’t a flag, right?