[Silver Ash] - Become The Strongest In Another World
CHAPTER 296: Ritual in the Middle of the Forest

...****************...

After getting the heart of the Spirit Hunter, Noelle and Tania did not go back to their tent, instead choosing to play in the water for a moment.

Noelle was busy catching fish with a spear, while Tania was only watching her from the mainland. He had just taken a bath, so he had no interest in soiling his body again by running around in the lake.

Next to Tania, there were some fish that were stabbed and plugged into the ground to then drain the blood. Tania's job is to keep the fish from being stolen by wild animals.

Not far from there, Noelle who was focusing on aiming at a fish with her spear suddenly felt another presence.

This was different from the Spirit Hunter, and all the familiar animals or monsters. It felt like humans or other humanoid creatures, but somehow they felt so small and cold.

Noelle threw the spear in her hand at the fish she had been aiming at, and the spear smoothly struck— piercing the fish body to death instantly. Then, Noelle manifested her sword, and walked closer to the presence.

The closer he got, the more strange they felt. The number was also quite a lot, perhaps a small group of ten people.

At least he knows they're not hostile. In fact, they might not be aware of her and Tania's presence.

Tania saw Noelle approaching the forest area slowly, and her curiosity instantly rose. Tania stood up, tidied up her clothes, and manifested the true form of the Zephiroth scythe. He then followed Noelle, but kept walking by the lake.

As a calming silence enveloped the entire area of the lake, Noelle suddenly leaped forward, and without a cue directly entered the forest.

This made Tania gasp, making her instantly alert and looking forward to what would happen next.

However, despite Tania's ten seconds of waiting, there was no sound of metal clanking or puncture as she had expected. Just complete silence, like nothing happened.

Even so, Tania knew that Noelle was fine. He could feel Noelle's strong presence from the direction of the forest, along with another small collection of presence that was not at all hostile.

"Mmm? "

Tania tilted her head for a moment, then ran while carrying her scythe. She was not worried, but the unyielding Noelle made her feel an anxiety that was hard to explain.

Finally, Tania found Noelle, who was looking at the bottom of a fairly short cliff. As soon as she arrived beside him, Tania was inevitably surprised by what she saw.

The gazes of both focus on the same thing, which is a group of people who may not be worthy of being called human. Their bodies were dwarfed, but unlike the dwarves who were relatively fat. They are like normal humans, just so dwarfed, and have other physical characteristics that make Noelle and Tania difficult to describe what they really are.

The most striking feature on them is the color of their skin. It was blue, thick as ink, had a white tattoo patterned like an ice flower on its back.

Anyone who saw it would definitely have the same thoughts and questions in their heads; 'What kind of creatures are they really? '

Counting ten people, they all performed a strange dance while surrounding a campfire.

"Praise the Queen of the Bengal! "

"Praise the Queen of the Bengal! "

"Praise the Queen of the Bengal! "

After singing various praises to the Queen of Bengal, they went on to sing the song in a completely unknown language.

Noelle's automatic translation ability wasn't even able to decipher their singing. But, from the language they used to praise the Queen of the Bengal, Noelle concluded that they spoke in Hermes.

"Maile …."

Noelle called out to Tania vigilantly, and Tania responded with a brief nod of her head.

"You ever see them? "

"No, yet" Tania replied in a low-volume voice.

Noelle did not remember any race having physical traits like the group of people dancing down there.

Are there any other races that are not yet known to the public? Like a race of vampires known only as myths.

It could be, and it's the biggest possibility.

(It looks like they're performing a ritual. Then ... I better get Tania out of here right away.)

However, his sense of vigilance was now far greater than his curiosity. That was why, instead of approaching them, Noelle guided Tania to take a few steps back.

However, his plan to leave did not work.

One of the ritualists noticed the presence of the two, and immediately shouted in a language Noelle and Tania understood.

"Wanderer! "

"Damn it! " Noelle clicked her tongue in annoyance, and instantly raised her sword.

Tania did the same. Slightly sheltering behind Noelle, she had prepared to attack at any time using Zephiroth.

It would be best to make an impromptu attack, but I don't know what those dwarves have to endure. It could be that they had set up a trap that even Noelle and Tania could not avoid.

The dwarves abandoned their ritual, and immediately ran towards Noelle and Tania. Both are ready to survive. However, the attack that the two had been waiting for never came.

The dwarves hurriedly approached them, and immediately prostrated themselves after reaching a distance of about a meter from the two.

"The Queen of the Bengal has sent blessings! "

...****************...

In the morning, Tania tried to open her eyes after repeated attempts, and this time she succeeded.

His eyes were open, but his vision was still blurred. To erase that, Tania finally woke up and rubbed her two eyes repeatedly while trying to look around.

He was inside the tent, and bright sunlight slipped in through the open crack. This made Tania instantly recover her consciousness, and attempt to get out.

Once out, what greeted her was Noelle in her original form, busy turning the fish still burning on the bonfire.

Looking at the position of the sun, this was still not too late. Even so, the cold temperature that suddenly pierced the skin made him tremble for a moment, before finally recovering by wearing the body temperature-regulating earrings that Noelle gave.

Tania was not used to wearing earrings at all, so she passed them when she was about to sleep. But it seemed like it was a mistake, because he was really cold right now.

While trying to hold back her shivering body, Tania asked Noelle, "Not waking me? "

The night before, they had agreed to take turns once every three hours.

The first turn fell on Noelle, and Tania took advantage of the three hours to rest her tired head. However, he only woke up when morning arrived.

Noelle who was busy with her fish just smiled wryly, then replied, "You slept too well, I don't want to wake you up."

That's not a lie. At least, that was one of the reasons why Noelle did not wake her up.

Noelle's biggest reason was that she wanted to spend the night to finish the house she made herself. Right now, all the parts are done, Noelle just needs to add some last structure.

Although that was the real reason, Tania had no idea at all. She only believed in the answer Noelle gave, and did not question it anymore.

But in fact, the care Noelle showed made her both happy and embarrassed, even though at the same time she was also sad about not being able to carry out her duties.

Tania again hardened her expression, and nodded. He understood how important this situation was.

...****************...

Adventurer guild, Alten.

Behind his desk full of files, Francelis was massaging his own temple with fatigue.

Her body took care of her, and the hollows on her cheeks looked deeper than usual. White strands also began to spread in his head, as if the speed of aging had been increased many times over.

Although the position as guild leader gave him many absolute advantages, it was undeniable that this work was exhausting. Especially for him who works as the guild leader based in the capital of a country.

The biggest benefit that Francelis can get with this position is the right to 'take a bit' of a share of the funding (though mostly he does without confirmation with the central party). However, given the amount of work he had to complete, Francelis considered this an equivalent exchange.

Breathing heavily, Francelis ended up leaning on the chair, choosing to take a break before continuing her work.

The sky outside was bright, but the cold temperature made his feet shiver slightly as they touched the floor. It was at this kind of time that he truly regretted leaving that body temperature-altering magic tool at home.

As his gaze fell on the flock of birds that were beginning to migrate south, a knock on the door sounded. However, even before Francelis responded, the door had been slammed open, and the two people whose faces he had forgotten were breezed in without guilt.

"Yo, I've finished it" said the man named Grei Noctis, grinning vilely.

Although Francelis had already disliked this person from first sight, she could not be so bad about him. He had a premonition that Grei would give him a tremendous advantage in the future.

Francelis had given him a test of whether this man named Grei was worthy of being used or not. The way he did was to take advantage of Grei's desire for instant promotion.

The heart of Spirit Hunter is indeed tempting. It can be sold at a high price at auction. However, that is not the main goal of Francelis.

He wanted to see if Grei was worthy or not.

Francelis gave Grei a cold look, which Grei responded to with an arrogant smile. Meanwhile, Tania, trying to hide behind Grei's figure.

Before Francelis could speak, Grei had already pulled out a chair, sat on it, and threw something at Francelis after removing it from the empty air.

(So he also has a spatial warehouse? )

Spatial warehouses, which fall under the category of space magic are indeed rare, but that does not mean that no one has them. At the very least, Francelis had already seen dozens of people with that ability, and most of them could indeed be categorized as great.

Removing his admiration, Francelis casually accepted what Grei had just thrown.

It was cold, and its size was slightly larger than his own palm. There was a thin layer of ice covering it, but it was gradually melting in the hands of Francelis. Until finally–

Warm flames appeared in the hands of Francelis, and melted the ice sheet that protected the Spirit Hunter's heart.

"Ohh? Can you use magic? I think people who work behind a desk like you are nothing more than nerds."

"It's really rude." Francelis clicked her tongue in annoyance at Grei.

One of the things that made Francelis dislike Grei was his behavior and manner of speaking. He had just met her, but Francelis already knew that most of what came out of the mouth of a Grei Noctis was just lies and insults.

That's what makes Francelis difficult to deal with, because Grei Noctis is similar to himself.

After confirming the authenticity of the Spirit Hunter's heart in his hands, Francelis sighed resignedly.

The Spirit Hunter's heart was indeed fragile, yet it had quite good heat resistance, so the flames from Francelis did not give him any damage. At most, it would only melt the ice protecting it.

Francelis placed the heart of the Spirit Hunter on an empty table, and doused it with water.

"I don't think I have a choice. Then, did you help him? "

Francelis looked at Tania sharply, but Tania responded by shaking her head. Thanks to Noelle telling him, Tania came to understand that the promotion exam was an independent test, and had to be done by the person who did the exam.

"Heh, okay. Come again to get your identification card in three days. Ahh, also .. do you mind if I tinker with it a little? "

Before Francelis finished speaking, Grei and Tania had already walked towards the door, but then Grei stopped, turned his head back and gave a vile grin to Francelis.

"If you do anything weird, this building will be the guarantee."

"Without you even saying that I already know. Your personality is a complete jerk. It doesn't matter, you only provide minimal information about your identity, so I'll remodel it a little."

Manipulating identity on identification cards is illegal, and Francelis could have been arrested, and removed from office for being involved in it. However, the risk is proportional to the profit that Francelis will get in the future.

Now Grei's individual worthiness has undergone a fairly positive evaluation at the head of the Francelis. You could say, Grei passed every test that Francelis secretly did.

Although, it is possible that Grei himself was aware of the test, but chose to keep quiet and let Francelis do it.

...****************...

After leaving the guild, Noelle and Tania went to a nearby restaurant, ordered a rather luxurious meal menu, and rested until satisfied.

Actually, the one who needed rest was not Noelle, but Tania.

Spending almost two days in the sky, just a flying carpet was absolutely sickening, and Tania had not even had the chance to let go of her longing for a comfortable land. Therefore, as compensation, Noelle left Tania free to choose what foods she liked on the menu.

His second order finally came. Tania ordered a lot of food, whereas Noelle only enjoyed a medium-sized apple pie, accompanied by a rather luxurious wine.

While eating the pie presented in front of her, Tania made some changes to the schedule she had previously written.

"The first problem: getting a position in the guild, it's done. Next ... there are still some other problems …."

Noelle frowned as she looked at the row of problems she had to solve. However, his gaze was now fixed on a fairly light schedule, and he could do it at any time starting from today and tomorrow. Tomorrow is the final limit.

There is a timetable for an interview with writer Fuu Kafhka, which has been planned since Noelle has not even set foot in Alten.

Noelle had no intention of coming, but seeing herself as quite free, it seemed like there would be no problem to visit for a while. Kafhka also confirmed that the interview will not last long.

Which is the problem ….

(There are important things to take care of.)

Tania noticed a firm change in Noelle's expression, and only smiled faintly as she chewed on the small portion of apple pie she took from Noelle's plate.

"We're quite free. Their problems could wait, and the dungeon that would appear in Alten also needed a longer time until it was formed."

It was the code from Tania who wanted to say: 'Just do what you want'.

Noelle understood Tania's intentions, and nodded small. "alright. After this, I will meet the person who wrote this book. Do you want to come along? "

The offer was given while showing the book 'Shepherd and the Skinwalker' which he had finished reading until the end. Tania intends to borrow it later, so maybe this is a good offer because Tania can meet the author in person."

Tania continued to chew the apple pie in her mouth, then swallowed it round and round so that it took a rather long time for her to empty her throat.

After doing that, he nodded with a faint smile. "I want to."

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