Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 40: To That Forest (Part 3) The Church in the Abandoned Village
Agaro-san was a bit late due to a hangover, but we regrouped and headed for the forest.
We arrived at that forest without any incident.
There was a strangely open area, with a small, shabby bridge over a dried-up river.
“……”
As I crossed the bridge, I turned back.
This was the place where I fought the Black Knight.
He turned to ash and disappeared, leaving nothing behind.
Still, I was definitely here—no doubt about that.
“Woof—Wof-sama? Is something wrong?”
Juicy-san tilted her head and peeked up at my face.
“Ah, no, it’s nothing. Let’s go.”
On the other side of the bridge was the abandoned village.
Though we call it that, most of the houses were already collapsed beyond recognition.
The only structure still standing was the church.
It was from that church that we heard the sound of the “flute.”
…Though it wasn’t really a flute.
Agaro-san took a swig from a large gourd flask and muttered as he looked around.
So even this world has gourd flasks…
“Nothing here. No tavern either.”
What would you even do if there were one?
“Hmm, hmm. Looks like only that church is still intact.”
“Um, um, that ruined church… it gives off a strange feeling.”
“That place…”
“Well then, shall we go check it out?”
With nothing else around, it was the only real option.
The church was bronze-colored, with faded stained glass.
The creaking door opened.
Inside, it immediately opened into a chapel.
Right beneath a statue of the Holy Mother Goddess was an altar, red with a thick layer of dust.
Agaro-san tilted his gourd flask and looked up at the faded statue.
“They say this was related to evil god worship.”
“Oh my, what a splendid Holy Mother Goddess statue.”
The Holy Mother Goddess—she’s the sacred icon of the Seihou faith.
I looked at the altar.
There used to be a cup here, swirling with screams and resentment.
Now, there’s not a trace of it left.
I believe it was purified by the Elixir.
“Hm?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a door.
At the far right end of the chapel.
A plain wooden door, nothing special about it.
It blended in with the wall, so it was hard to notice.
I must’ve missed it the first time because I left so quickly back then.
“Um, um, Wof-sama. Is something the matter?”
“There’s a door over there.”
“Oh my, so there is.”
“Probably just a storage room.”
Agaro-san commented as he drank again from his gourd flask.
Honestly, I’ve never seen anyone who looks so natural drinking from one.
“Probably. That’s what I’d guess too.”
I approached the door.
“Oh yes, by the way—before coming here, I did some digging around. It seems, you know, even after it was ‘liberated’, explorers have still been visiting this place.”
The witch suddenly chimed in.
Well, that makes sense.
If someone hears a rumor that the place was cleared, they might think, “Hey, let’s check it out. Maybe there’s treasure.”
That kind of false sense of security would attract a certain kind of person.
“Yeah, I’ve overheard that kind of talk at taverns too.”
“But, you see, as you can tell—there’s nothing here. So most of them get disappointed or angry and go back. But… a few of them haven’t come back at all.”
I opened the door.
It was a small room.
There was an empty shelf in one corner, and an empty wooden box.
“They didn’t come back? But wasn’t the place already cleansed?”
“Um, um, woof. What does that mean?”
“Well, who knows, really.”
“Come to think of it, this request wasn’t issued by the Guild, was it?”
“Nope nope. This one came from old man Abramelin.”
“Um, um, that’s the former guild master, right? Now he’s the Grand Guild Master.”
“Oho… this whole thing smells fishy, doesn’t it?”
They were chatting away.
Still… there really is nothing in this room.
Maybe Agaro-san was right—it’s just a storage room.
“…………”
On a whim, I activated [Crisis Perception].
No response. Nothing at all.
“……”
So then, as a follow-up, I used [Wheel of Fortune].
See? Nothing—wait, what?
The wall in front of me… is glowing green?
“What the…?”
Is the wall rare or something?
Maybe it’s made from an unusual material?
Or maybe the wall itself is special…
“Um, um, Wof-sama? Did you find something?”
“Is it booze? Maybe there’s a barrel in there?”
“Come on, Agaro. Even if there was, I don’t think we’d want to drink it.”
Everyone came over.
Agaro-san took another swig from his gourd.
“There’s nothing here, but… it does feel kinda sketchy.”
“Um, um, this little room—there is something here.”
“Hmm hmm. That wall, I’d say.”
The witch pointed at the rare wall with interest.
Amazing… they all noticed it too.
“Well then, shall we burn it down?”
Agaro-san’s left hand ignited with red flames.
He drew back and punched the wall.
It dented and burst into flames—and then vanished.
“Oh my, a hidden wall.”
“There are stairs.”
When the wall disappeared, stairs appeared, leading downward.
“It’s dark.”
“Ah! I actually have something Liv-san gave me!”
I took a glowing orb out of my pouch.
When I flipped the switch, it floated up and lit the room.
Juicy-san’s eyes sparkled, and her tail started wagging like a windshield wiper.
“Um um um um—!”
“Juicy-san, please, calm down.”
“You were about to pounce, weren’t you? I saw that.”
“No sulking with a ‘woof’ either,” I said, seeing her droop. The witch was staring intently at the glowing orb.
“Oh ho, this is quite interesting.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty handy.”
Someone else added.
After this brief exchange, we descended the stairs to find another similar white room.
There was nothing in it.
“Um, um, there’s something on the floor.”
“The floor?”
At that moment, the floor glowed pale blue. Oh no—this is a teleportation array.
Suddenly, my body pulsed with a strange sensation.
[Offering of Death: Once you exit the Grave of Death, you become an Offering of Death. After four days, you will again become an Offering of Death.]
What?
In the next moment, we were teleported into complete darkness. The glowing orb immediately floated up and illuminated the space.
“Where are we?”
From the light, we could tell the area was very large.
And far away, countless red, blue, and yellow spheres floated, swaying like faint ghost-lights.
There were easily over a hundred. No way.
Even without using [Danger Sense], I could tell—still, I used it. Red. Bright red. They’re enemies.
Agaro, standing next to me, tilted his gourd flask, drank, and muttered.
He can still drink at a time like this?
“Yeah. Those are Globo, I think.”
“Monsters?”
“Yeah, undead ghost types. Their colors correspond to elemental relics.”
So fire, water, and lightning Globo, and nearly hundreds of them.
“Um, um, so this place is a dungeon?”
“Yes, yes. Looks like some explorers came down here.”
The witch said.
And apparently never came back.
“There sure are a lot of them.”
The witch pulled something out of thin air—a vial. Oh, I see.
“Yes, yes. This is Kon’s special holy water. It’ll grant the effect of light for a while.”
“Thanks.”
“Um, um, thank you!”
“Oh, I’m good.”
I said.
I drew a pure white knife—the strongest anti-undead weapon that doesn’t cut.
An Elixir Knife.
Agaro looked at my knife and said:
“Come to think of it, this’ll be the first time I see Wof fight.”
“Now that you mention it.”
“Woof! Woof! Woof woof! Waooohn!!”
Juicy gave a battle cry and launched into the blue Globo group with a punch.
The holy water’s effect erased them one by one.
Apparently, she couldn’t hold back any longer.
Triggered by Juicy’s ambush, the Globo swarmed us—floating, shooting fire, water, and lightning.
One at a time, they weren’t a big deal—but in these numbers, they were a real threat.
Well… no, not really. It wasn’t actually that bad.
First, Agaro—drinking as always—casually incinerated the undead left and right.
His purification burned them to nothing.
He wasn’t even using the holy water the witch gave him.
Then why’d he take it?
Next, Juicy—punching them one after another.
Agile and fast, the Globo couldn’t catch her. Her fists, laced with holy water, glowed white.
Then the witch—snapped her fingers, and dozens of Globo disappeared.
No clue what she did. It was like a magic trick.
She did this three times, cutting down their numbers quickly.
Then she gripped holy water bottles between three fingers, tossing them lightly: boi boi.
Finally, me—I cut down any Globo that approached with my Elixir Knife.
They vanished in one slash. They weren’t that strong—it was just the relic effects.
We finished them off with no real trouble, and nothing remained.
Only a strange silence.
Agaro downed his gourd in one go and muttered:
“Figured there’d be nothin’ here.”
Yeah, I thought the same.