Evan D. Sherden, Discovering the Witch (2)

Since they lived in a deep forest hideout, they didnt expect much from a witchs banquet, but surprisingly, they had prepared a splendid feast.

There were rare fruits that couldnt be found in the outside world, liquor made from those fruits, and meats that were deliciously cooked and prepared. As soon as Evan saw it, he knew what it was.

Its monster meat.

It is difficult to raise livestock in a forest full of monsters. Also, since the mana density is too high here, they often turn into a monster. If you dont like monster meat, were sorry, but its certainly not harmful to your body. I can also guarantee its taste.

No, its okay because I dont care what its made out of as long as it tastes good.

Evan held the unknown meat with its bones. Shine approached and took off a piece of the meat with a knife, put it in his mouth, and chewed on it. His face brightened up, maybe because it was better than he expected.

Master, theres no poison.

Im sorry, Im a noble after all, so I can be a little sensitive.

I dont mind at all. Feel free to test it all for poison. Oh, its not poison, but some dishes help vitalize the body, so just know that.

So it is a witchs recipe.

Evan looked around the hall while biting down the meat. Although peoples eyes were focused on Evans party, there was no hostility in their expressions. Did they really let their guard down just because Evan was a descendant of a witch?

It appeared that all the people living in the village were present at the banquet. Even though everyone was there, there werent that many. There were seven witches, including the village chief Ctheasil, and 22 other men.

Although there was a serious imbalance in the gender ratio, Evan did not say anything. It was well expected when their entire identity was full of mystery.

Moreover, all witches were maintaining their younger from middle-aged to elderly If I had not known that they were witches, I would have left the village already.

He smiled bitterly and received the glass that Ctheasil had just poured for him.

Raihan casually intercepted the glass.

You cant drink liquor yet, Young Master.

Aww, please. Im begging you.

My answer is still no.

Ctheasil, who saw Evans and Raihans short encounter seemed surprised and spoke.

Its true that ordinary humans dont drink liquor until they become adults. No, but, so you are still underaged?

Do I look like an adult?

Youre tall, and you seemed calm. Your face looked young, but I thought that was because you had a witchs blood flowing in you.

Ctheasil continued to speak.

One of the witchs training includes drinking liquor which has been made from the witchs recipe. It could be considered an alchemy tonic too Since you have witchs blood in you, wouldnt it be okay for you to have a drink?

Lua, is that true?

I havent done it, but Madam sure said something like that before.

When Evan, after hearing that, tried to get his hands on the glass, Belois took it away from him.

But you shouldnt because you are not a witch. No matter how thick your veins are with a witchs blood, you shouldnt.

Why do these people become so insistent whenever I try to have a drink?

Was there any chance that Evan drank liquor without knowing it and had gone berserk? While Evan was agonizing over the unsolvable mystery, the villagers started the welcome ceremony.

It was only playing the mandolin and the pan pipes, and men dancing awkwardly to the beat, but it seemed fun enough for the drunk people. Sober people were disgusted by it, so it was very easy to separate them from each other.

So

After staring at the sight of some of the men in the village dancing whilst showing off their shame, Evan asked Ctheasil.

Are you going to tell me about the Devil Runes?

The story is pretty long, is it okay?

We have a lot of time. Its fine.

She must have been waiting for Evan to say that first. Ctheasil hid her facial expressions by tilting her cowl hat, but she couldnt hide her lips that went up.

Did you know that they and us witches are hostile to each other?

Since they called me a witch and despised me, I figured.

Yes, theyre looking for our runes. They regard all runes to be that of the devils and call us, who received the runes powers from God, as thieves and despise us.

Evan tilted his head. Cant you guys work together and fight against them?

When it comes to skills, we can beat them for sure. But unfortunately, our rune powers dont work well with them. Those devil runes have the power to absorb the powers of our runes. Moreover, if we beat them, it would contaminate our runes, so just by fighting them, we are putting ourselves at risk.

When he heard that, it made sense. The fact that he could get part of the Devil Rune by absorbing their blood and the fact that the boots with the devils curse could absorb a Devil Rune It was certain the Devil Rune had such characteristics.

But he would never think that it was not just limited to the Devil Rune but could take power from other runes Evan glanced at his gloves with a rune, the Black Cloud, but shook his head eventually.

It wasnt possible to sacrifice his gloves, which were already exhibiting clear abilities, for an uncertain experiment where the risks were high.

Right, those gloves contain rune power, dont they? Its the reason why I thought you were a witch.

I just got it from God in the dungeon.

Its even more surprising than saying that you received it from a witchs ritual. Its really interesting. Which witch gave birth to you? There are a lot of witches wandering the world without any ties to the world, but to give birth to such a talented person, she must be

Shes incredible. If you come to the dungeon city, Ill introduce you to her.

There are many witches, but if it were a witch who gave birth to only you

Shes a great person. I will introduce you in the dungeon city.

Evan said so with a lighter tone to feel her out. It was problematic for Evan, too, for him to independently invite a group of strong people into the dungeon city But things could work out.

No, I cant do that.

But Ctheasil outright rejected Evans suggestion.

We have a task to do in this forest. Its the reason why we cant leave the forest even with the threat of the Devil Rune.

I thought so Alright then, continue with the Devil Rune.

Okay.

According to Ctheasil, Devil Rune was a new race created by the devil to eliminate the God-created ancient race, the witches, and control the human world with evil. A Devil Rune monster, which develops and procreates by absorbing the witches rune, was the ultimate natural enemy of the witches. It was Ctheasils argument that if time passes and the Devil Runes territory expands further, eventually, all the witches throughout the entire world would be hunted by them and be eliminated.

Therefore, if not stopped, you who inherited the blood of the witch, and Belois with the power of the witch, will be in danger. Also, your mother, who is in the dungeon city.

Could this have been the reason why Evan was pleased to learn that he had a witchs blood in him? Because he could frame it as our problem instead of framing it as their problem? Evans eyes narrowed.

I have one question. Even if they dont prey on runes, do they have the capability to reproduce? If so, then the danger becomes too real.

It is possible, but it takes a very long time. What shortens the time immensely is the power of the witches runes.

Thats why they are aggressively going after you guys.

Yes, so

Ctheasil seemed to hesitate for a while, but put on a miserable face that couldnt even be imitated and asked Evan.

I would like it if you could eliminate them. Please dont turn your back on your kin.

Well, I did expect it would be such a request.

If we didnt see you coming out after killing that Devil Rune, we wouldnt have asked. But you proved you were capable by defeating it. One concern I have is regarding your rune

While saying that, Ctheasil glanced at Evans gloves. Evan shrugged his shoulders and said.

I dont know if there hasnt been such a situation so far, but at least when I defeated the mole, I didnt feel that it was taking my rune from my gloves.

I see, it must be that its a rune engraved on a tool, unlike a witchs rune Then what about Belois?

I havent performed the witchs ritual yet, so I cant handle the runes power.

I thought that was the case. But, thanks to that, it would be okay for you to hunt the Devil Runes. Its ironic that your weakness disappears because you cant handle the runes power.

You could tell how much the witches who had runes feared the Devil Rune monsters by that statement.

Naturally, I wonder why they live in this forest hiding out with all this risk She wont just tell me if I ask her.

Evan nodded, sighing in his mind.

Alright, Im taking on your request. It turns out Im also impacted by this And I also had business with them too.

Really?! Then we too will give as much support as possible. We know the location of the particularly dangerous Devil Runes.

As soon as Evan nodded, Ctheasil brightened and took out the prepared parchment.

It sure looked like something that everyone would say, Its a quest item! It was a dark brown parchment that had the map of the region, which was clearly and precisely described. You could see there were countless locations which had been marked with an X.

Did you figure out where the Devil Rune monsters are? The location of the one we killed is also marked.

Isnt this getting more and more like a quest? But it was Ctheasil who was impressed by Evans reaction.

Did you figure that out right away? Youre really amazing.

Yeah, well, Im a guide.

But the path he was taking was far from the ordinary paths!

But why are they all trapped in a dungeon?

Because we took care of the ones we encountered which came out from the dungeon. Since if the witch kills them directly, the witches rune becomes contaminated, we would critically injure them, and the men would kill it off in order to minimize the contamination.

As expected in a witch village, men who are not witches seemed to be powerful as well.

Evan admired and looked at the villagers, and Ctheasil reached her hand out and gently grabbed Evans hand. Belois, who was quietly watching the two, lit up.

But even with that method, we cant prevent the runes contamination I ask you again. We have no one but you to rely on.

Leave it to me. Ill leave immediately tomorrow.

Evan responded with a bitter smile to Ctheasil and put the parchment in his inner pocket.

In fact, most of the places she checked were the dungeons where Evan planned to lead the Dungeon Knights to. So even if he didnt accept her request, they were the places that he wouldve gone anyways.

So basically, it was as though Evan was making a big deal about something that he was going to do anyway.

Moreover, I was planning to kill every Devil Rune monster I see. Thanks to meeting these guys, I got so much since now I know about the dungeons that I previously didnt know.

And if he successfully conquers the marked dungeons, he will be able to obtain the Evil Origin and the Grass of Innocence. Theres nothing but good here!

Thank you so much, Evan. Tonight, I will serve you with all my heart

Master Evan, if youre done talking, Ill take you inside.

At the very moment Ctheasil gently pushed her body into Evan and whispered sweetly, Belois brushed her hand from Evan and protected Evan. Evan smiled bitterly at Ctheasil, who had a bummed face.

Well, well call it a night then. Could you prepare a place we can sleep in? Well need to leave early tomorrow.

Ummm. Okay.

Evan waved with the other hand, which was not caught by Belois, and left.

Ctheasil was still in that position for a while, but she burst into laughter as she looked at the Belois hand, who firmly held Evans hand and was leaving.

No matter how young you are, a witch is a witch.