Celia lay down for a while before sitting up and stretching.
Elent still hadn’t left.
He just stood there at the entrance of the Church, unmoving, pitifully gazing in the direction of Celia’s room.
He looked just like a big dog whose owner had refused to take him for a walk.
“Even if you look at me like that, I won’t go soft on you!”
Celia said this toward the window at Elent, though it was clear he couldn’t hear her.
Elent’s pitiful gaze continued to bore into Celia.
Feeling a bit uncomfortable under that stare, Celia left her room, sneaked out from the Church’s side door, and only relaxed after confirming she was out of Elent’s line of sight.
She decided to treat this as an after-meal stroll to stretch her muscles.
Celia wandered aimlessly through the village, eventually arriving at the Village Square.
At the Square, quite a few villagers had already gathered in small groups, chatting together.
“Ah, it’s Grandpa Bagla!”
Seeing that familiar figure, Celia greeted him proactively. Bagla was the Baker of the village—a kindly old man whose bread was second to none.
Whenever a Merchant Caravan passed by, they would always buy some on their way.
Celia liked his bread too; it was much more fragrant than the black bread Lynn baked.
“Why, if it isn’t Miss Celia! Back from the city?” Bagla turned his head, saw Celia, squeezed out a smile, but a trace of worry hid in his brows.
“Sigh.” The old man heaved a deep sigh.
“Did something happen?”
“My Little Black has gone missing. He was fine this morning, but vanished in the blink of an eye. I guess he ran into the nearby Black Forest and hasn’t come back. That Ariel guy isn’t in the village, either. Hmph, what kind of hunter is that, hardly ever in the village at all.”
Little Black was the black cat Bagla kept, very clever. Celia had seen it a few times, too.
“Is that so?”
Looking for a cat? That sounded troublesome.
“If Miss Celia can help me find my beloved cat, I’m willing to give you my newly developed dessert as a reward.”
A newly developed dessert?
At once, the taste of Holy Carrot Cake appeared in Celia’s mind, and her mouth even started to water.
“Deal.”
“Oh, right, my cat is very sharp and never runs off without reason. This time, I bet he smelled some special aroma in the forest and chased after it. Come to think of it, I think I smelled that scent on Ariel too, when he came back from the depths of the forest last time.”
Bagla seemed to recall something and added this detail.
“Thanks for the tip.”
Celia made note of the clue, quickly bid Bagla farewell, and turned back toward the Church.
When Celia reappeared at the entrance to the Church, Elent—who had been waiting there all along—immediately brightened.
“Priestess, you’re back!”
Looking at his silly, grinning face, Celia felt even more embarrassed for returning out of gluttony.
“Listen, Elent. I absolutely didn’t come back because I felt sorry for you, nor because I was worried you’d die in the forest and leave me with no one to help out.”
“Mm! Mm!” Elent nodded vigorously, his eyes as clear as a husky’s.
“I’m doing this to preserve the village’s peace.”
Celia spoke with absolute seriousness.
“Grandpa Bagla’s cat is missing, and as a loving member of the clergy, I can’t just stand by and do nothing. So going to the Black Forest to find the cat is just something I’m doing along the way, understand?”
“I understand! I understand everything!” Elent’s grin became even brighter, “Priestess really is the kindest person!”
Celia held her forehead.
This guy clearly didn’t get it at all, but never mind.
“Lead the way. And don’t talk so much.”
“Oh, Lynn, I’ll have to trouble you to look after the Church again.” Celia turned to instruct Lynn.
“No problem, leave it to me~” Lynn waved to the two of them.
“Come back soon!”
……
Celia soon regretted her decision.
The Black Forest truly lived up to its name. The canopy blocked out the sun like a lid. Mosquitoes, swamps, and shadows were everywhere.
Even with the Hero leading the way, the path was incredibly difficult.
If Elent weren’t there, Celia probably would have turned back as soon as she entered the Black Forest.
Celia glanced at Elent walking ahead of her.
His tall figure blocked most of the branches, and the broad sword in his hand now served as a tool to clear the way.
“By the way, Hero, do you smell anything?”
Celia sniffed the air. Amidst the complicated odors of decay, there seemed to be a faint trace of sweetness—barely there.
“A smell?”
Elent stopped, taking a deep breath through his nose.
“I do think there’s a fragrance.”
That was it. Grandpa Bagla had said his cat was lured away by a special scent.
“Come on, let’s look for the cat.” Celia pointed in the direction the fragrance was coming from.
The two followed the increasingly distinct aroma, weaving through the forest for another ten minutes or so.
Suddenly, the scene opened up before them.
They emerged from the dense woods into a forest clearing. At the center stood a giant mushroom, like an open umbrella. Under its cap, a patch of faintly glowing fungi grew.
“Found it, these are Glowing Mushrooms!”
But Celia’s attention wasn’t on the glowing little things. She scanned the clearing, hoping to spot a ball of black fur.
Nothing.
Other than the Glowing Mushrooms and that giant mushroom, the place was empty.
“Huh, the cat’s not here.”
Trouble. Their only lead was gone. Searching for a cat in a forest this big was like looking for a needle in a haystack. And if the cat had wandered deeper into the Endless Forest…
Celia was already considering how to explain things to Grandpa Bagla. Maybe just say Little Black had ascended to follow the Cat God.
Forget it. Better handle what was in front of her. Since she was here, she couldn’t go back empty-handed.
“There aren’t any traps around, right?”
“None. I checked—nothing unusual nearby.” Elent replied.
That was good. Celia trusted Elent’s professional abilities.
Celia picked some Glowing Mushrooms and put them in her cloth bag. Elent started gathering them, too.
“Somehow, they’re not quite like I remember,” Elent said, holding a Glowing Mushroom up for a closer look.
“They’re smaller and not as bright as I recall.”
“Maybe they’re just not mature yet?” Celia didn’t care. As long as they were edible, size didn’t matter.
Just as Celia was about to harvest the whole patch, a thought suddenly struck her.
“By the way, we haven’t run into a single monster on the way here? Not even the sound of bugs.”
It was too quiet.
Ever since they smelled that aroma, the annoying hum of insects had vanished. This clearing was eerily silent, except for the wind rustling through the leaves.
No matter how safe a forest might be, it shouldn’t be this quiet.
“Yeah, it’s kind of strange.” Elent noticed something was off, too.
Celia’s mind raced.
Either an extremely powerful presence had appeared in the area—whether monster or something else—and its aura had scared all other creatures away.
Or, some other person or group had been here first and cleared out all the monsters.
Either way, it was not good news for the two of them.
The former meant danger. The latter meant uncertainty. Anyone who could silently clear out part of the Black Forest wasn’t someone to be trifled with. If they harbored ill intent, that would be trouble.
“In any case, let’s look around for the cat a little longer.”
Celia suppressed her unease.
A promise is a promise. She had to at least make an effort. After all, the dessert reward hadn’t been obtained yet—she couldn’t give up now.
“All right!”
Mushroom.