Chapter 302

Chapter 302

There was quite a distance from the elixir farm to the place called the Black Forest.

By the time I arrived, the sun had already set.

Then I saw a forest ahead of me, with trees that grew taller than the rest, completely blocking out the sunlight.

"......That's the Black Forest? That's a good name for it."

The old man clicked his tongue at the sight of the Black Forest, which could be said to be a dark place.

"It certainly looks like a place that dark spirits would love, with the lack of light and the shadows everywhere."

Such a place would certainly have a geographical advantage, making it easier to fend off attacks from others.

I could see why they hadn't targeted it.

"But are you sure you want to go there on foot? I don't think they'll welcome us."

The old man strokes his chin as he says this, looking worried but I was not without options.

"Well, they won't welcome us from the start, but we can talk it out, right?"

"That's what......."

──If it doesn't work, I'll make it work.

With that, I started walking toward the Black Forest.

Eventually, the old man and the young man reluctantly followed me.

And just like that, I crossed the border of the Black Forest.

......!

In an instant, the temperature of the surroundings plummeted and I felt goosebumps rise.

"It's a completely different world from here, isn't it?"

I knew that this was no ordinary forest, but this temperature difference was beyond my imagination.

"It's a barrier."

The old man who walked in after me rubbed his palms together.

"A barrier? Was that the effect of a barrier?"

The old man was more sensitive to Aura and mana than I was, so he could recognize it immediately.

"Yep. It seems to be a crystal that grants all sorts of bad abilities to those who enter it, but it doesn't seem to work on us, does it?"

"Well, we're not normal people."

"Ugh......I'm very cold."

An aura master with shoes made of a high-level dark spirit and a Shinrok called the Forest Spirit.

It seemed that such a barrier had little effect on us, though Dulchan seemed a little colder.

"At least cover up."

I pulled a coat from the cube and draped it over him.

"Oh, thanks, big brother!"

"Don't fall off the old man's side, just in case."

"Yeah......!"

"Let's go inside first, they're the ones who broke away from the Spirit Realm after all, so they're probably living in a building somewhere, right?"

With that, I said, and walked to the location in my memory.

If the ‘ruins' in the second half were a village, this must be it.

"Do you know the way?"

"Just a hunch, but staying here won't change anything."

We walked through the forest, glancing around once in a while.

The trees were oddly shaped, each one growing taller and taller to see the sunlight, and now completely blocking the sky.

Could it be that? I'm hard-pressed to find any other vegetation besides the trees.

There were some mushrooms, but they weren't particularly valuable, so I ignored most of them.

"Hey, that's a poisonous mushroom."

"Oh, it's okay, I've eaten them often!"

However, there was one guy who couldn't ignore the poisonous mushrooms.

Is Shinrok immune to poison as well? This was news to me.

"I think there's something up ahead."

The old man with his hands in his pockets stopped walking and said.

I listen to him and peer through the trees a little more intently.

"It looks like a cave......doesn't it?"

"It looks more like a giant crypt than a cave, and judging by the other holes around it, there must be a village there."

"Yeah, I guess so."

Sure enough, there was a huge cave that matched my memory.

-Do you know how many times we've had to give up our homes because of you?

There were other humans besides us.

Well, it's not strange, the dungeon had already been surveyed.

But we didn't do it, so why should we apologize?

"If we blow this thing up, we'll be all over you and us anyway, so bring them in while you're on good terms!"

-Halt!

Just then, a new voice came from inside the cave.

-The Black Hand has come.

-The Black Hand himself has come.

-We must protect the Black Hand. We must protect the Black Hand.

As if they were supposed to, they began to change their formation, watching us warily.

It looked like they were escorting someone coming from the inside.

Recognizing who it was, I gingerly tucked the gem bomb away and stared straight ahead.

Black bandages wrapped around his body, and a reddish glow through them. If there was one thing that was unusual, it was the wide strip of black cloth that covered his hands where they should have been.

-I, the leader, am here, as you said I would be. What on earth have you summoned me to say?

Heavy mana in every word.

I could instinctively tell that he was a high-level dark elemental, like ‘Dark Spirit'.

"The ‘Black Hand', the broadest of the dark spirits, the one who controls the darkness. That's you."

-......You know that? Who the hell are you?

I slowly showed him one of the objects.

"This should explain it."

It was a silvery dagger that I recovered from him after disposing of the poison.

Recognizing it, his eyes shook.

-.....how come you have that thing!

After all, this village must have had something to do with Dark Spirit.

Right now, I'm the only one who knows what happened with Dark Spirit. Since society still thinks he is alive, here's a little lie.

"I am Eugene Han Corleone, the contractor of the Dark Spirit. I've come to you to fulfill my contract with him."

A serious voice that doesn't sound false at all.

It's been a long time since I've seen my [Orator] trait in action.

-A contractor for the Dark Spirit. You expect me to believe that he contracted with a human?!

Apparently, he's been close to Dark Spirit, as he shouts in disbelief.

Knowing that, I showed him something else I had prepared.

I placed the power of Black Mist onto lightning in my hand.

"You know who this energy belongs to," I said, "are you really going to accuse me of being a liar?"

And he froze in place.

-Ah...... ah......!

Yeah, that's the right reaction.

This must be the energy of the unquestionable Dark Spirit.

-I thought he was surely dead. What the hell is going on......!

Did he finally believe my story? The hostility I felt from him slowly diminished.

Here I decided to say something that would win their hearts completely.

"──That's because it's a contract between me and the Dark Spirit."

-Kai, the contract is.......

"To help you overthrow the Elemental Kingdom and create a new home for you, that is our agreement."

-Ah......! Finally!

"I don't think this is the right place to talk, Black Hand, but I wonder if you could invite us in, please."

-Of course. We'll take you inside, guests.

A few objects, a few words, and an instant change of demeanor.

I smiled at the obvious difference and turned to the old man and the ragtag group behind me.

"You guys are more communicative than I thought."

"If you threaten......with a bomb, who wouldn't listen to you?"

But walking into enemy territory with a coat full of bombs is an old wives' tale.

"That's how things worked out, right?"

Apparently, the old ways work.