Chapter 10: Nightfall

The man named Uncle Hans led the way to his home.

As we walked through the village, I noticed it was in much better condition than I’d expected for a remote mountain settlement.

Though it couldn’t compare to the town we’d left behind, each house looked fairly well-maintained.

There weren’t many people out and about—not surprising, since it was around dinner time.

After a short walk, we arrived at Hans’s house.

Stepping through the door, we found ourselves in an ordinary living room.

Hunting trophies hung on the walls—pheasants, rabbits, fish, and the like.

A fireplace crackled on one wall, warming the entire room.

“Have a seat.

I’ll get dinner ready.”

Hans disappeared into the kitchen, and we sat down.

“That Hans fellow… does he not have a wife or anything?”

Frey asked Warren as soon as we settled in.

“Ah, no, he doesn’t.

But maybe that’s why Uncle Hans is such a good cook.”

Warren beamed as he praised him.

“He’s also quite skilled with a blade—I used to spar with him often.

He told me he used to be an adventurer too, until he took an arrow to the knee and retired here.”

“I see…”

Before long, Uncle Hans had finished cooking.

The aroma drifted out from the kitchen.

In no time, he emerged carrying a platter laden with various dishes and set it on the dining table.

The fragrance was rich, and the colors were vibrant.

The food at the inn before was worlds apart from what Uncle Hans had prepared.

Even by Earth standards, I had to give these dishes top marks.

“Alright, dig in.”

We didn’t stand on ceremony—after thanking him, we happily ate our fill.

After dinner, we were given two rooms.

Naturally, I got one to myself.

Of course, since I didn’t need sleep, the room was pretty much meaningless to me.

I waited in my room until everyone else had gone to bed, then used short-range teleportation to sneak out for a walk.

The countryside at night was incredibly quiet—eerily so.

I wandered through the forest surrounding the village by moonlight, gazing back at the lifeless settlement from a distance, and pulled a round stone from my pocket.

This was the communication device Karin had given me, which she called a “transmission stone.”

She’d warned me that its alchemical cost was extremely high, so I should use it carefully.

Every time I used this thing, I couldn’t help but miss the electronic gadgets from Earth.

As fun as this other world was, it didn’t ease the pain of losing access to video games.

I really wanted to play on a computer—I’d just spent a fortune during the Summer Sale, after all!

Carefully channeling mana into the transmission stone, I heard Karin’s excited voice in no time.

“Wow, little Rosa, I miss you so much!”

…She contacted me every single night, without fail.

“You missed me too this time?

You actually reached out first.”

“No, I have something to ask you…

Can someone tell if a monster killed by my magic was done so with dark magic?”

Yes, I’d been wondering about this for a while.

Withering caused the target to die rapidly, leaving them looking like they’d died of old age.

Corrosion melted the target away until nothing remained—not a trace.

Neither of these dark spells seemed like they’d leave any clues.

And the other spells I’d used on monsters weren’t even dark magic at all.

No matter how I looked at it, I shouldn’t have left any evidence.

So what had gone wrong?

“What dark magic did you use?”

I thought for a moment and answered, “Just things like Withering and Corrosion.

I don’t know any other offensive dark magic.”

“Then they shouldn’t be detectable…

Did something happen?

Why are you asking?”

“When we tried to leave town today, the guards at the gate told us there’d been traces of dark magic in the area, so travel was banned across the whole province.”

“Is that all?

Don’t worry.

With the necklace I gave you, even the Pope of the Holy Church standing right in front of you wouldn’t be able to tell you’re a lich.”

Karin’s confident tone reassured me.

Still, if it probably wasn’t because of me, that meant there was likely someone else nearby using dark power.

This world wasn’t exactly a peaceful place, after all.

Since I’d arrived in this new world, I’d only faced one real crisis—getting killed once by that doting Demon King.

Everyone else I’d met had been friendly and unassuming…

Maybe I should be more cautious and heighten my awareness of danger.

“A necromancer sloppy enough to leave traces of dark magic shouldn’t be all that strong—the local guards can handle it easily.

You should set out tomorrow and not get involved in this mess.”

“Alright.

Since it’s not my problem, Frey and I will head off again tomorrow.

I’ll leave the rest alone.”

I made that decision cheerfully.

“That’s enough for today.

Bye-bye.”

“Wait, no, I want to talk more!

It’s so boring here, no one’s—”

“Waaaaaaaaah!”

Just then, a scream echoed from somewhere in the distance.

“Wh-what was that?!

Rosa, are you okay over there?”

“It came from far away…

Should I go check it out?”

“No, little Rosa.

Go find Frey—don’t go alone!

Something bad will definitely happen if you do.”

Something bad will definitely happen, huh…

Hearing Karin’s warning, coupled with her earlier assessment that I was only as strong as a rookie witch, something stirred inside me instead.

A sudden urge to go check it out welled up.

“No, I think I’ll be fine.

I’m strong.”

The caution I’d just been thinking about had already been tossed out the window.

I’m not weak!

I’ll prove it—even if I’ve forgotten most of my spells, even if I no longer have a puppet body to fall back on…

Not wanting to hear any more of Karin’s fussing, I stowed the transmission stone away.

Then, I used short-range teleportation to appear right outside the house where the scream had come from.

At that moment, a figure dashed out of the building.

Under the cover of darkness, wearing black clothes and a hood, I couldn’t make out their face or gender at all.

But I could feel it—the unmistakable scent of potent dark magic emanating from them.

This had to be the culprit!

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