Chiyu Mahou no Machigatta Tsukaikata ~Senjou wo Kakeru Kaifuku Youin~

So this is the hidden village .

The hidden village of the beastmen invited by the wolf beastman, Kagari-san, was surprisingly spacious .

The structure of the place could be described as a village surrounded by a deep and thick forest .

But its not just a bunch of trees, there are fields and proper houses, so it looks like they are living a more comfortable life than I imagined .

. But

Still, the stares from the beasts living in the hidden village are amazing .

Fear of humans .

And curiosity towards the humans who would be seeing them for the first time .

But strangely, there seemed to be less hostility .

Most of the ones here have never seen a human before . Its no wonder there are so many strange stares .

Kagari-san, who was walking in front of me spoke to me as if he was acting suspiciously under the unfamiliar gaze .

This the first time theyve seen a human? Its not surprising, since there are few people who would dare to enter the realm where beasts live . Its just rare for beastmen to enter human habitats like Kiriha and the others who are learning magic in Lukvis .

As for me, it doesnt bother me at all . In fact, Im rather used to this .

I see . Well, I didnt expect a mere human to come here, but youre having a hard time, too .

Hmm? Hes giving me a look of great pity .

Does he think Im the kind of person that people avoid? Im not sure what to make of that .

. No no no, its not that we are used to being watched, but not to being maligned .

Isnt that right? Youve had a very difficult journey to get here .

Have you forgotten that you were a part of that struggle?

When I responded to Neas words, who was walking next to me with black hair and red eyes, she blatantly averted her gaze .

Im sure youre aware of that .

I let out a sigh at Neas silence and turned to face forward again .

Then, I notice a statue-like object at the edge of my vision .

Hmm? What is that?

Looking closely, I can see a humanoid statue standing in the center of a small square .

Its of a beastly woman , or perhaps a girl .

It may be a moderately old statue, and there are many parts that are damaged, but I can tell that it has a sword-like weapon at its waist .

Usato-dono, whats wrong?

Uh, theres a statue over there .

I tell Arc-san, who stops and calls out to me about the statue .

Then Kagari-san noticed this and turned his head in the direction of the statue and started muttering to himself .

Thats a statue of Kannagi-sama, a hero to us beasts .

Hero , what did she do?

In response to my question, he looked at the statue affectionately .

His gaze seemed to be filled with a deep sense of respect .

She is the only beastman who brought the hero and the beastman together . Its no exaggeration to say that thanks to that person, we are still alive to this day .

Kagari-san took his gaze off the statue and started walking again .

I guess well continue as we walk .

We follow behind him for a short run .

Hundreds of years ago, the beastman race was even more oppressed by humans than they are now . The powerful were sent to fight the Demon Lords army, the powerless were discarded as pawns, and many lives were scattered in the battle .

They were really doing terrible things, werent they, the humans of that time?

Forcing the beastmen to go into battle, while they themselves fought to cause as little damage as possible .

Even Arc-san is frowning . Im sure hes in the same state of mind as I am right now .

This is a story from the past, and it has nothing to do with you living in the present . At least, I dont hate you or anything .

Kagari-san said this, understanding my and Arc-sans feelings .

Lets go back to . At the time when the beastmen were being oppressed by humans and the existence of the beastmen tribe was at stake, Kannagi-sama brought a hero to the beastmen tribe . The hero who had tremendous strength, fought the Demon Kings army single-handedly in order to prevent us from dying needlessly .

Again with the hero .

Anecdotes about the hero really do spread throughout the continent, dont they?

Nea tilted her head at Kagari-sans story .

Fought? And without any reward?

That much I do not know . But it is said that besides fighting, the hero gave us knowledge when we were barbarians .

He not only fought for us, but he also gave us knowledge . Its not like hes the hero we know, but its a new aspect of him .

Thats true .

The image of the hero that I have known so far is that of a hero who has been betrayed .

However, listening to Kagari-sans story, I get the image of a benevolent hero .

In the end, the hero who defeated the demon king, the enemy of humans, what was he fighting for?

What kind of person was Kannagi-sama, who was the follower of that hero?

It is said that she is a kind and a ruthless woman . What I can say for sure is that Kannagi-sama was a very powerful woman .

Powerful? Does that mean she was someone of high rank?

No, in this case I mean her strength . The story goes that she was a great woman who knocked down her enemies and proceeded to slash and punch them . Well, Im sure theres some exaggeration in it .

Kill, slash and punch your way forward

What is that person who seems to be going full speed ahead and breaking through the front .

My image is now completely fixed on Rose with animal ears .

I cant imagine it, its not cute at all . Rather, the fear of Rose imprinted on my body started to torment me .

Here we are .

As Im mentally damaged by the richness of my own imagination, Kagari-san, who was walking in front of me, stops in his tracks .

Looking ahead, there was a two-story house made of wood . This is probably the home of Kagari-san, the head of this hidden village, and his granddaughter, Rinka .

Kagari-san turns around and looks at us, and then turns his gaze to Bluerin, who is following a little behind us .

Even we cant let monsters into the house . Youll have to wait outside with the horses there, is that alright?

Understood, sir . Bluerin, can I ask you to stay here for a while?

I crouched down in front of him and told him so, and he nodded his head and sat there as if he was weakening .

Seeing this, Kagari-san rolled his eyes .

I didnt think it was possible, but youve been able to build a trusting relationship without a messenger contract .

Do you understand?

Yeah, I can feel the joyful emotions coming from the blue grizzly .

This is a characteristic of beastmen that allows them to read the emotions of animals without human language .

I also have a vague idea of what Bluerin is thinking, but I was a little envious .

With this in mind, I turned to Kagari-san and pointed my thumb at Nea with a chuckle .

Shes the one who has a contract with me . Well, in my case, this fellow forced me to make a contract with her .

youre kind of like a strange person, very different from the people I know .

I wonder if that was a compliment .

With a subtle expression on his face, Kagari said, Im not sure how I feel about this, but were going to go in for now

-So thats the situation .

In the guest room, I spent more than ten minutes telling Kagari-san the reason why we had come to this place . After finishing listening to our story, he slowly relaxed his shoulders .

Its been two years since you left your hometown and its been a long journey, Amako .

Yes . But Ive finally made it here . And its all thanks to these people .

When Amako said that, Kagari-sans gaze shifted to me .

Usato, you say?

Yes .

You are the healing magician who came to this place at the request of this girl, is that correct?

I nodded firmly at Kagari-sans words .

When I didnt avert my gaze straight away, he let out a sound of admiration in his voice .

I never thought there would be people who would come this far for a beastman . What can I say, there are some very odd people out there, arent there?

You wouldnt have come this far otherwise . Right? Usato .

Why do I have to affirm that Im an oddball?

Right? As if Im saying that . If I say yes here, its like admitting that Im a freak, isnt it?

I twitch a smile at Amakos oddly happy expression .

Ill send a letter to my late son back home . Im sure hell be able to get us to her safely .

Youre going to ask my father?

Who else would you ask? Im sure her daughter would be happy to take you to her .

From what youre saying, youre asking Rinkas father?

If hes good enough to let us into the beastman country, is he a man of high rank? If thats the case, then its probably a lucky thing that I met Rinka in the first place .

If I were to send out a letter today, youd have to stay here for a couple of days until I get a response, is that okay with you?

Everyones okay with that, right?

Yeah, were fine .

Rinka who was sitting next to Kagari-san leaned forward and spoke to Amako as she replied to Amako while confirming with Arc-san .

Then that means Amako will be here for a little while, right!

Yes . I guess so .

Yay! Theres so much I wanted to talk to you about!

Perhaps she was too happy to be reunited with Amako, but Rinka had a big smile on her face .

Kagari-san looked at her sideways and gave her a dumbfounded, yet smiling expression .

While you guys are here, you can stay here .

Uh, are you sure? I mean, youre letting us stay here too .

Yes, its fine . Weve got plenty of room .

I hadnt originally thought of staying here, but I was glad that Kagari-san was a kind man .

This time, I would take advantage of his kindness .

As for the rooms, there are two spare rooms upstairs, you can use them as you like .

Thank you . Its bad enough that youre just letting me stay here, please let me know if theres anything I can do .

Hmmm then, can I have you chop wood behind the house? As you can see, Im old, and Ive been having a hard time chopping wood .

That much is fine by me .

Ill help you, Usato-dono .

Then, after I put my stuff in my room, Ill chop wood with Arc-san .

Chopping wood, huh? I used to do it when I was in the Lingle Kingdom . Im sure hell be happy to know that Im not the only one who has a problem with this .

Im sure Nack and Ferme are being forced to do the same now .

Lets go drop off our stuff as soon as possible .

I bowed to Kagari-san and headed upstairs to drop off my luggage .

At that time, for some reason, Rinka also stood up and tried to follow us, but I thought it was nothing to worry about, so I just opened the door

Wait a minute, Rinka . Youre about to get a lecture .

Yeek! Why? !

Kagari-san grabbed Rinkas head as she tried to follow us .

Rinkas face turns pale, but he doesnt care, and his expression turns grim .

Ive always wanted to say, who would shoot an arrow out of nowhere? Its a good thing he was mild-mannered . If he had been a dangerous man, you would have been in danger, wouldnt you?

W-Why are you bringing that up now! You can scold me later!

Apparently, Kagari-san was crowned about the daytime attack .

Shut it! I dont remember raising you to be such a violent child!

Usato is not a normal person! He can grab a flying arrow with his bare hands, and hes even faster than me!

Hell never do anything so monstrous! Youre being rude to our guest!

Im telling the truth this time!

Im not geriatric enough to be fooled by such an obvious lie!

Uwaaaaaah! Help me Amak!

.

After watching the exchange between Kagari-san and Rinka, Amako quietly closed the door .

After a few moments of silence, she looked up at me as if nothing had happened and pointed to the second floor .

Usato, lets go .

Oh, okay .

I dont know if its just me, but it seems like Amakos treatment of Rinka is very familiar to me .

Dont tell me that two years ago you were also ?

I felt sorry for Rinka, and after giving my hand to the shouts and cries coming from the closed door, I picked up my bags and went upstairs to my room .