Shinka no Mi – Chapter 153

The Magicless Forest

Fairy: Do comment if there are any issues with the translations or the accuracy. It will be highly appreciated.

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「…………Hmm？」

I found myself standing in the middle of a forest and I was stunned. Where am I? Who am I? This is no place and time to joke about….

「No, seriously… Where am I? Saira! Al! Helen!」

I unconsciously shouted on the spot and there was no reply. Even though I was worried, I remembered the effect of 『Necklace of endless love』that I wore around my neck and immediately tried to use it to communicate with Saira and the others.

「Saira! Can you hear me?」

『—Ah! Seichi! I can hear you, I can hear you!』

Hearing the reply from the necklace, relief washed over me and I breathed a sigh of relief. Previously, travelling to the underworld was of my own accord hence, I was not as worried. But this time around, I was suddenly thrown into a strange land. Hence,  I couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

In addition, this time round unlike in the underworld, we can still contact each other.

『Hey! Seiichi! Where are you right now?』

I felt relieved hearing Al’s voice but right now, she sounds really flustered. Normally Al would act as a tsukkomi but this time she is really worried about me. I am really sorry.

「If you’re asking where I am, …… I honestly don’t know either.」

At any rate, there is a dense forest right before me. I can’t honestly say where I am as there are really so many trees surrounding me. However, since the effect of the necklace is working in this way, there is no doubt that they have been sent to somewhere on the same planet, so we should be able to join up somehow.

Then I heard Saria’s cheerful voice this time.

『Thank God!　Even though I know Seiichi will be fine, I still worry about you. ……』

「I’m sorry Saria ……」

I am sorry that I have caused so much worry to the always innocent Saria.

『Seiichi can return from there with transfer magic, right? Quickly come home . And we need to hand over this dude Destra to the King… and I want to meet you as quickly as possible.』

One can totally imagine Al saying that with her cheeks turning red. I remembered that I could indeed use transfer magic to get home quickly, so I tried to use it immediately.

However,

「Huh?」

『Seiichi, what’s wrong?』

「No, it’s ……」

I tried to activate the transfer magic several times, but for some reason, it never worked.

「What happened? Is it because of the location?」

If that’s the case, and if this place is the reason I can’t use transference magic, there is no way this unreasonable body of mine will overlook it….

I was puzzled, but the announcer, who had been very active today, called out to me.

『Seiichi-sama. This place seems to be a land where magic cannot be used.』

「Huh?　If that’s the case, can’t you just activate【Evolution】 and use it as usual?」

『 The reason why you can’t use magic in this land is not because this particular land is interfering with you, Seiichi-sama, but because it is interfering with magic itself, and as a result,【Evolution】is not activated.』

What a surprise. It was here that I first glimpsed the weaknesses, or rather the gaps, of 【Evolution】.

If there is an effect or interference on my own body, the【Evolution】will adapt without question. However, it does not have any effect outside my body.

If you’re asking me if this makes me less of a monster, I’d honestly say 「so what?」. It’s not going to change anything, but …… it’s just an inconvenience at times like this.

In any case, if I, myself were to be involved, 【Evolution】will be triggered. So, in the end, it is not a cheat, or rather it is more like a bug. But, I still felt a sense of relief that 【Evolution】is not perfect.

Realising that I couldn’t leave now anyway, I let out a sigh and told Saria and the others through my necklace.

「Apparently magic doesn’t work in this place, so I’m going to move to a place that does and then come back to you.」

『Are you going to be okay?』

Then I heard Al’s worried voice from his necklace and I smiled.

「Hmmm …… I’m not sure I’ll be OK, but I’ll be back.. In addition, we are able to communicate through this. So if there are any issues, I will immediately inform you girls. 」

『…..Hmm. I’ll be waiting for you then.』

「I’m sure you’ll be able to get in touch with me soon.　For now I’m going to —- blow this whole forest away.”」

If this forest hampers magic, then the last resort is to eliminate the forest itself, which is an idiotic idea. …… I think my thoughts are slowly being dragged into my body. …… It’s an idiotic idea, but I think I can do it. ……

I don’t want to destroy the environment or anything, but if something happens to Saria and the others, I’ll go and ignore even that.

「If there are other developments, I will..」

『Yeah, take care!』

After Saria’s words, we ended the communication.

「Well, ……, I don’t even know where I am, so I’ll just walk around.」

It’s dangerous to move around aimlessly in the mountains, but in the first place when I was isekai-ed into this world, I landed in the middle of a very dangerous forest as well. I am definitely safer as compared to before, hence I will manage, probably.

「So, let’s try this and start our journey?」

I picked up a tree branch that had fallen on the ground and placed it on the ground.

「Now, which way will it fall?」

I immediately let go of the branch and it fell to my right.

「Right it is.」

I don’t know the exact numbers right now because Status is away from home. I am pretty lucky so I guess I will be fine. But on second thoughts, it didn’t even show up even before Status ran away from home. So I don’t really know.

Anyway, I start to wander through this incomprehensible forest.

◆◇◆

「Damn, Seiichi… What are you always getting into trouble?!」

—-After Seiichi suddenly disappeared, Saria and her friends, who were left in the dungeon, got in touch with him.

Then, after confirming that Seiichi was safe and sound in a place completely different from the dungeon, they took a breath.

However, normally, using the Transfer magic would get him back immediately, but Seiichi has gone to a place where magic cannot be used, therefore we were told that he would have to explore the place first.

「Wait.. Is it due to my curse?! I thought he is going to be alright…」

It suddenly occurred to Al who has been  tormented by the curse till now that it might be due to her curse that led to Seiichi suffering, leading to her turning pale.

「I’m sure Seiichi will be fine!　And it’s not Al’s fault, is it?」

「Bu.. But…」

Saria gently embraces Al, who still has an anxious look on her face.

「It’s okay。Seiichi has already said that he will come back properly , even if the curse of AI is really on Seiichi, he will escape from the curse immediately. 」

「……What’s that.. . But then again… It’s funny that I can’t deny it.……」

Al smiled as Saria hugged her and calmed her down.

「Thank you, Saria.」

「Yes!」

Back to normal, Al turned her attention to Destra, who was still unconscious.

「Well. Thanks to Seiichi retrieving all his belongings, I do not think he will pose a danger to us anymore.. 」

「…… Ah, I remember now!　The crystal that Seiichi dropped was the one Destra used at the end of his fight with the soldiers at the school before, wasn’t it?」

「Ahh! That time when we couldn’t even call it a fight. I am not so sure about the effects but… apparently, you can transfer to any place you want…The place where Seiichi is now might be the place where this Destra guy was supposed to go after this place. 」

「At any rate, let’s think about giving this person to the soldiers!」

「You are right.」

As Al roughly carried Destra up, she suddenly noticed that Helen was acting strangely.

「……」

「Ah… Hey, what’s up?」

「A… Place where… magic can’t be used? No, it can’t be…」

「Helen – chan?」

「!! What is it?」

When Saria looked into Helen’s face, Helen finally realised that Saria and Al had been watching her.

「What? …… You’ve been acting weird.」

「…Hmm. it’s something but.. ……if he is one of the executive levels of the【Demon Cult】, it is possible that he has moved to a hideout. 」

「Hmm? Oh, I see, there are also a chance that Seiichi has moved to a hideout…」

Al raised an eyebrow at the new possibility, but quickly shook her head.

「I’m not sure what to make of it. In any case, we’re going to take him and get out of the dungeon as quickly as possible. Do you understand?」

「Yes, that’s fine. I’ve achieved my goal of leveling up. ……」

「All right, then, let’s go home.」

Thus, as Seiichi begins to explore the forest, Saria and her friends return to the royal capital.