Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 49

49. Accompanied by Silence (5)

“Alright, alright. If I sell this one off, I’ll get a skill proficiency increase.”

The man driving the wagon hummed a tune.

Professionally, he was a swordsman with a sword at his waist, but in reality, he didn’t even know how to wield it properly in a battle.

Hunting, which was dangerous and difficult, was not for him, and he had fallen into the trade content of Warlord, walking the path of a merchant.

If he was looted by those nasty bandits, the losses would be enormous, and he would be in a bad mood all day, but when the situation was just right and he made a huge profit, an indescribable joy came over him.

Even now, the trades loaded on the back of the wagon would give him a good amount of gold and experience to raise his trade rank.

‘It’s not time for the market price to change significantly yet; I’ll arrive with plenty of time this time,’ he thought.

He checked the time again and thought.

The trade content of Warlord was not simply about buying, transporting, and selling trade goods.

The market price and trading volume of items varied from region to region and from time to time, so he always had to pay attention.

Since a fairly realistic system was applied, it was perfect for his constitution to use his head a lot.

Thump!

Then, suddenly, the horse that was pulling the wagon just fine stopped as if it had hit something.

There were no obstacles in sight on the well-paved road, so he couldn’t understand what was going on.

First, the merchant quickly got off the wagon and calmed the agitated horses.

“What’s going on all of a sudden?”

It wasn’t just that the horse pulling the wagon was showing strange symptoms, but the impact of hitting something had been transmitted to him, who was holding the reins.

The agitated horse calmed down with his touch, and he, sweating profusely, stepped forward to take a closer look.

“This is… it’s really blocked?”

He opened his mouth in astonishment.

The merchant, reaching out his hand, looked ridiculous as if he were doing a mime.

A transparent wall was clearly felt in his palm.

“A… a bug, maybe?”

“Excuse me, what are you doing there?”

Suddenly, someone’s voice was heard from the side.

The merchant turned his gaze and saw a man appearing from the forest on the right side of the paved road.

“The road is suddenly blocked. I can’t pass through even though I can’t see anything.”

“Don’t you know there’s a barrier here?”

“A barrier?”

The merchant’s eyes widened as he asked back.

Then the man smiled and replied.

“Haha, I guess you really didn’t know. There’s a place called the Spirit Forest beyond here, and there’s a barrier around it so no one can enter. If you want to go to the other side, you’ll have to go around Hanoip Hill.”

As he said, this area was a place where no one, including users, NPCs [Non-Player Characters], and even monsters, could cross the barrier and had to go around.

You couldn’t feel any signs of it from afar, and even up close, it just looked like a normal road, which made it even more infamous.

“So, if you’re a merchant, you should always plan your route in advance. If you’ve already come this far, you’ll have to go back a long way.”

The man clicked his tongue as if he was sorry.

“Ah… is there no way to pass through?”

“Just think of it as impossible. You can’t even enter unless it’s a special quest because of those Rutom or Rotum dwarves.”

“Ugh, this is really troublesome. I don’t know how the market price will change over time.”

“Market price… you’re amazing. I get a headache so I can’t do trade, but I hope it works out for you. We have to help each other as herbivore users, but there’s nothing I can do for you.”

“Are you a life skill user too?”

“Of course, I was collecting alchemy materials in the forest.”

While they were talking, a man who had approached from behind without a word passed them and suddenly entered the barrier.

The merchant, surprised by the man’s sudden disappearance into the barrier, pointed in the direction he had disappeared and said.

“Huh? That person is passing through just fine?”

“Huh……?”

The bewildered man also stared blankly into the barrier.

* * *

‘I heard in advance about me, and I really just went right in,’ Aeil thought in amazement as he passed through the Spirit Forest’s barrier without any problems.

It was such a strong barrier that no one could pass through unless they were authorized to enter from the inside, but Aeil himself had no problems, so it seemed that Alrund’s message had arrived without any problems.

Inside the barrier, grass was growing sparsely on the paved road, as if it had not been maintained for a long time, and Aeil left it and entered the forest in front.

And not long after he walked through the forest, small spirits appeared between the trees to see the rare outsider.

Some fairy-shaped spirits shyly hid their faces when their eyes met, while green spirits in the form of shining spheres swept through Aeil’s body and passed by.

This ‘Spirit Forest’ was a forest where spirits and Rutom lived together, as the name suggests, and it was a place where you could see many spirits even if you were not a spiritist learning summoning skills.

To be honest, he wanted to catch one and raise it.

‘It’s about time to arrive,’ Aeil thought, shaking off his wandering thoughts, and glanced at the map.

According to the marked location, the village should be coming out soon, and the scenery changed and the village appeared really soon.

The buildings, streets, and even the faint lights illuminating the streets were generally small and cute.

But most of all, what stood out the most were the residents there.

“A guest!”

“Really, really?”

The two Rutom who first discovered Aeil approached, scurrying over.

As small as they were, they had childlike appearances, and there was not much difference between them and humans except for their slightly pointed ears and small bodies.

“It’s the human Alrund was talking about.”

The little boy holding the herb basket looked up at Aeil with shining eyes.

“Ah… hello?”

Aeil awkwardly answered their welcome.

If they were just simple children, he would have stroked their heads out of cuteness, but the average age of the Rutom was over hundreds of years old, and Aeil, who was meeting them for the first time, couldn’t easily figure out how to treat them.

“What’s your name?”

“Aeil.”

“Hello, Aeil! I’m Peren, and this is Pico!”

“Nice to meet you!”

A boy named Peren introduced himself first, and a girl named Pico behind him raised her hand and waved.

It was just as he had heard.

The Rutom, who have a natural purity like their cute appearance, trusted and welcomed people so well.

However, due to their overly good nature, they repeatedly suffered great harm from other races, including humans, and the spirits in the forest, who couldn’t bear to see it, even created a barrier.

Usually, the opposite case is not normal, but it was a story that was possible because they were Rutom who usually communicated with spirits and lived in the forest.

In that way, the danger disappeared, but when the guests stopped coming, the friendly Rutom felt grateful but also a little lonely.

‘But if there was no barrier, the village would not have been left by now.’

If there were no barriers in this world, where the most terrifying beings, adventurers and players, had emerged, this village would have already disappeared from the map.

In fact, there were few players from Esmair who came into the barrier and met them, and Aeil was lucky in many ways.

Peren and Pico grabbed Aeil’s hands and began to rummage around the village, guiding him.

The other Rutom who met him were all surprised and welcomed him as if they were about to fall backwards, and the sight of drying herbs and the unique fresh smell of grass were everywhere in the village, as befits a race that lives by collecting herbs.

“Hey, what about the supplies?”

Aeil, who was being led by small hands, asked about the request.

Whether it was sightseeing or introduction, it was all good, but in the end, he visited this place because of the high elves’ request.

“Ah, that thing…….”

Peren trailed off strangely, and Pico, who was standing next to him, took over.

“There’s a small problem with the things to send to the White Forest. I think we’ll have to collect them again from the beginning, but it will probably take a little longer until the departure time.”

“Can you wait a little longer?”

“Of course, how long do you think it will take?”

“You’ll have to wait at least a day. Maybe it will take longer.”

“A day……?”

Aeil paused for a moment.

He didn’t know exactly what was wrong with the item, but the delay was longer than expected.

Of course, giving up the quest after coming this far was a bigger loss, and he began to think about how to spend the empty time.

As far as he knew, there were no suitable hunting grounds for users around level 20 in this area.

The Spirit Forest was not a place where monsters appeared on a regular basis, and it was a waste of time to do nothing.

Then, Peren and Pico touched Aeil’s legs from below and started talking to him.

“If you have nothing to do, can you do us a favor?”

“Can you punish the bad spirits that have flowed in from outside?”

The Rutom asked with their eyes shining brightly.

One fact was reminded of their appearance and came to mind.

‘Ah, that’s right…….’

Just as the elves’ territory, where players were difficult to set foot in, was, the Spirit Forest, which had a strong barrier, would also be full of high-quality quests because the entry of other rival users was restricted.

Aeil smiled and said to them.

“If you have anything to ask, just tell me.”