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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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Lina and her party followed Kerry through the forest. Kerry’s tracking magic had detected suspicious magic within the forest.
‘Suspicious magic, my foot… We’re just going to the White Witch’s villa.’
A waterfall located in the southwest part of the forest. It was said that the White Witch’s villa was hidden within this waterfall.
With the key the White Witch gave him, even the barrier wouldn’t be a problem. He couldn’t wait to take the elixir.
Kerry walked ahead, pretending to seriously search for clues.
After walking for some time, Lina spoke.
“Kerry.”
“Yes, Lina.”
“I think we should stop tracking.”
“….”
Why so suddenly? He could only hope she hadn’t realized he was leading them on a wild goose chase.
Kerry, guilty of his deception, was sweating bullets.
However, seeing Lina draw her sword and cautiously scan their surroundings, he realized his worries were unfounded.
“Kerry! Come here! It’s dangerous.”
Victoria called out to Kerry.
It seemed everyone but Kerry, who had low combat abilities, and Grandma had sensed the presence.
Kerry ran to Victoria. Victoria drew her shield and sword, vigilantly surveying their surroundings.
It wasn’t long after that.
“Kiri kik-”
“Kru kru kkuk-”
Strange, laughter-like cries echoed around them.
Kerry knew these creatures well. He’d encountered them quite a few times during his adventuring days.
Monsters resembling a mix of dog and human.
Kobolds.
‘Damn it. Of all things, we had to run into these annoying bastards.’
Kobolds were, in fact, weak monsters. Comparing them to Lina’s party was laughable.
However, that didn’t mean they could be ignored.
Because these creatures formed packs.
One kobold was a pushover, but ten, or even a hundred, changed the equation.
Kobolds around villages were regularly exterminated due to this very reason, preventing their numbers from growing too large.
But the forest was different.
Here, there was no one to manage the kobold population.
Looking around, Kerry saw kobolds swarming everywhere.
“Kiri kiri kik-”
“Kru rur kru kkuk-”
The kobolds’ mocking cries were always irritating. More importantly, how many were there? Damn. Easily over a hundred, right?
“Be careful, Kerry. There are quite a lot of them. You might get hurt if you’re careless.”
“Lina and Natasha will be alright even at the front, right?”
“Those two would be fine even if a thousand kobolds swarmed them.”
So the only ones to worry about were him and Grandma.
“Grandma, stay close to me.”
“Are you worried about me, son-in-law? Heh heh. Don’t worry about me.”
As expected, Grandma mumbled an incantation and created some doll-like creatures from the earth.
“Oh.”
“I have enough power to protect myself.”
Then he just needed to look out for himself. As expected, the specs of a hero’s party were hard to match.
“They’re coming!”
Lina shouted from the front.
As soon as she spoke, kobolds began to rush out from the bushes. There were so damn many!
“”Kieeek!””
Rumble-
The sheer number of them made his heart skip a beat, but only for a moment.
Lina dashed forward and swung her sword with a shout.
“Haaaap!”
A gust of wind erupted, sending all the kobolds in front flying.
Good job, Lina!
Natasha also elegantly slaughtered the kobolds with her two curved swords.
With each swing of Natasha’s blades, kobolds were sliced apart.
“No one touches my hubby!”
She glanced back at him even while fighting, showing how much she worried about him.
Lina and Natasha covered the front and sides, but no matter how strong they were, the sheer number of kobolds made it difficult for them to protect the rear as well.
But it was alright.
Victoria was here.
“Foolish vermin dare to challenge us without valuing their lives!”
Victoria swung her shield and sword, decimating the kobolds.
Of course, Kerry wasn’t just watching.
“Flame Orb.”
As Kerry muttered, he held out his magic storage orb. A fireball shot forward.
Whoosh-Boom!
The moment the fireball hit the kobolds, an explosion erupted, spreading flames.
“Kieeek!”
Kobolds with their bodies on fire screamed and thrashed about. Serves them right, bastards.
“Heh heh. You seem to be enjoying yourself, Kerry.”
Victoria said, effortlessly sweeping away kobolds with her shield.
“This feels really good. Victoria, want to try?”
“I’m alright.”
Just then, Kerry noticed something. Kobolds were still hiding in the bushes.
He knew it.
Kobolds, being pack creatures, possessed a certain level of intelligence. Despite their weakness, they were masters of being annoying.
Looking closely, the hidden kobolds were drawing their bows.
Crude bows, but their power was real.
He should use that this time.
The third magic the White Witch had inscribed on the rare-grade magic orb.
Kerry switched orbs.
At the same time, kobold arrows rained down from all directions.
“Hubby!”
Natasha cried out in surprise, looking back.
Kerry quietly chanted.
“Barrier.”
A translucent circle formed around Kerry. A large, transparent barrier, big enough to encompass Victoria and Grandma as well.
A mage’s defensive spell. A shield. This was the romance of another world! The true taste of magic. Take that, you bastards!
The kobold arrows bounced off the shield without leaving a scratch.
“Oh my. You had a shield spell too? But I could have blocked them for you.”
“I want to contribute sometimes too, Victoria.”
“That’s not a bad idea.”
Seeing Kerry’s shield, Natasha jumped up and down, shouting.
“Hubby! Awesome! Yay!”
Natasha’s excitement made him feel embarrassed.
Lina also turned around and smiled warmly.
Kerry’s shield disappeared after blocking the kobold arrows.
“Ugh… it’s still difficult to maintain it for long.”
“It consumes that much mana when you spread it so wide.”
He definitely needed the elixir!
If the elixir increased his mana capacity, he could extend the duration of the shield.
“But there’s nothing to worry about now. They’re starting to run away.”
In that short time, over a hundred kobolds had already died.
The sight of kobold corpses strewn about was gruesome. They should have chosen their opponents wisely.
“Then let’s resume tracking.”
Kerry quickened his pace. This incident had made him realize the necessity of the elixir even more.
After walking for some time, the waterfall the White Witch had mentioned came into view. Behind this waterfall was a cave, where her villa was located.
“The suspicious magic I sensed with the tracking spell came from behind that waterfall.”
At Kerry’s words, Lina stared intently at the waterfall.
Lina gripped her sword.
The air around Lina grew heavy.
In an instant, Lina’s hand seemed to disappear, and the waterfall split apart. Lina had drawn her sword with blinding speed.
What was that? A complete monster.
Between the bisected waterfall, a cave was visible. The air at the cave entrance cracked and split open.
Then, with a loud crash like shattering glass, it crumbled.
Lina had even destroyed the barrier the White Witch had cast with her sword.
The key… he brought it for nothing.
“There was a barrier. It’s gone now. By the way, Kerry, your magic talent is amazing. It seemed like a high-level barrier, yet you detected it.”
Well, he didn’t actually detect it. He just followed the White Witch’s instructions.
Actually, wasn’t Lina the real monster?
She destroyed a high-level barrier with a single blow. She even split the waterfall like that.
This time, even Victoria and Natasha seemed surprised, their eyes wide.
As expected, the Regressor was supreme!
Lina spoke to the party as if it were nothing.
“Let’s go inside before the waterfall closes again.”
Lina and her party leaped over the pool of water in front of the waterfall in one jump.
Kerry and Grandma were carried by Victoria and Natasha as they jumped.
Lina and her party easily arrived inside the cave.
The cave was free of moisture, insects, or bats.
“It’s more pleasant inside than I expected.”
“It seems to be maintained by magic. I can’t tell for sure since I’m not a mage.”
After walking a little further into the cave, a pure white villa came into view.
Whoever built this had a distinct style.
Lina also seemed to have realized whose villa it was from its appearance.
However, perhaps because she knew the White Witch was sealed in the artifact, she didn’t seem too tense.
“Wow, a pretty villa! It’s like a castle from a fairytale. It would be nice to live here with hubby.”
“Hmm. I don’t know who built and hid this villa, but it is pretty.”
Kerry clenched his fists. The elixir was in there! His precious medicine!
“Let’s go inside quickly. It seems like no one’s here.”
“Just in case… we should be careful, Kerry.”
Lina came up beside him as he walked ahead. Was she worried about him? Cute.
It would be strange to go in too casually, so Kerry pretended to be appropriately cautious as he entered the villa with the others.
The villa was magnificent. Inside the walls was a garden filled with green plants.
Bright lights were always on, perhaps to illuminate the dark cave.
A white villa within a cave. It was quite charming.
“Fortunately, it seems like no one’s here. It looks like it’s been abandoned for a while, but thanks to magic, it’s not too dilapidated. For now, I think you can relax.”
Of course. If there was any danger, the White Witch would have warned him.
Where was his elixir? He needed to find it quickly.
“I’ll look around the house. There might be traps or something.”
“Let’s explore the villa together, hubby!”
“It’s not exploring, it’s investigating, Natasha.”
“Just in case, be careful, Kerry. I’ll look around separately.”
The party split up and began to investigate the house. “Just in case” was the reason.
Of course, Natasha stayed by his side. It didn’t really matter.
Natasha wasn’t the type to steal and consume his elixir.
Kerry examined every corner of the white villa. He didn’t know the exact location of the elixir.
[I don’t remember exactly where I put the elixir… It’s been over 100 years, hasn’t it? It can’t be helped.]
That was understandable. At least it was definitely somewhere in the villa, so all he had to do was find it. Yes, the elixir. This much trouble was worth it.
He should be able to find it within the day, at least.
But Kerry’s expectations were wrong. In the end, he couldn’t find the elixir even by dinner time.
“Hubby, aren’t you looking too hard? Anyone would think you’re searching for treasure or something.”
Natasha’s intuition was sometimes frighteningly accurate.
Since he couldn’t find it after searching so much, it might be hidden somewhere with a secret mechanism. In that case, it would be difficult to find immediately.
He was hungry. He should eat dinner and then look for it.
“It’s getting late, so it might be best to rest here tonight. Shall I make dinner, everyone?”
“Wow! Food! I’ll help you prepare, hubby.”
“Since there are kitchen utensils here, I can make a proper meal this time.”
“Heh heh. I’m looking forward to it, Kerry.”
Everyone was excitedly anticipating a delicious dinner when Lina appeared. But something was off about her.
Her face was bright red like a tomato, and she looked extremely flustered. This was the first time he’d seen Lina like this.
“Lina? Are you alright? What happened?”
“I… well… uh… how should I say this…”
What on earth could have made Lina so flustered?
Then, he saw a bookshelf open behind Lina. A suspicious room was visible inside. This didn’t feel good!
Kerry immediately went into the room hidden behind the bookshelf. The chances of the elixir being there were extremely high.
Upon entering the room, he saw why Lina’s face was so red.
It was filled with tools that revealed the White Witch’s hardcore tastes.
From whips to obscene-looking tools whose purpose he couldn’t fathom. And finally, candles!
Their pure Regressor must have seen those indecent things, which explained her flushed face.
But that wasn’t important right now.
His elixir! Where was his elixir?
Then, he heard Lina’s voice. Her face was still bright red.
“Um… Kerry. I found this inside…”
Lina held a small box in her hand.
And inside the box, a white pill was visible.
It was definitely the elixir the White Witch had mentioned. This felt somewhat inappropriate.
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