Arcadia Garden Volume 1 Chapter 1 Part2

TL: I decided to divide the job like in the Harry Potter. A man will be a wizard and a woman will be a witch.

ED: Speaking of witches, I'm shamelessly promoting Release That Witch (though it's a CN novel). Go read it! It's gud! Though apparently, the TL's kinda… hit a snag? Under civil war? Or something? Well whatever, regardless it's good!

Anyway, if you see any mistakes on my editing, please feel free to send us death threats corrections! Thanks!

"Good job!"

I told Suriya after confirming that all the werewolves were beaten. She jumped off the rock, at quite a height, and slowly landed on the ground like she was carried by the wind. It was a floating spell; one of many of the Spirit category. Though this ability can't be used as a reliable means of transportation, it's still convenient nonetheless.

"Fufufu~," Suriya drifts towards Gray, laughing.

"Haaa……… Haaa………"

On the other hand, Gray's panting heavily, trying his hardest to catch his breath while sitting on a rock.

Somehow, everything went well, is what Gray is thinking. This task made him go all out on his effort to lure the werewolves to the planned location. Although everything was planned, he was still the person who had to expend the most.

"Well done, Suriya. You did great!"

Suriya, who wanted to get her prize, replied, "Hey! As a reward, give me a hug!… Huh? You stink!"

"What were you expecting?!"

Gray s.h.i.+ed away from Suriya with a retort of his own.

"I ran a lot, you know? Plus, I was chased by five werewolves! Geez…"

"Was it that hard?"

Gray shrugged in response.

"Being chased by five beasts in a dense forest, that's just stupid!"

"I see~ So you have to say thanks to the great, first-cla.s.s witch for giving you a hand; me!"

"What great witch? If I had to grade you, you'll get just 3%!"

To relieve the tension after the battle, they start picking on each other.

"But I'm serious, Gray. You keep doing reckless things."

Suriya leans forward towards Gray. Looking at her, Gray knew what she wanted. So, he patted her head gently.

Without her help, he wouldn't have been successful in getting out unscathed from his encounter with the five werewolves.

"No matter what it is, there will always be a risk."

Being adventurers isn't a hobby; it's a way of life.

"The hero's work is winning against the opponent by challenging them fairly, and with a sword, they overcome difficult situations. But, we aren't like that. Just doing things steadily is fine."

"Luring, keeping your distance, controlling their positions from far away, those are all essential, right?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"Then I'll be alright. What I did was acceptable."

Gray's mood became bad.

Suriya knows. She knows he is carrying a burden on his shoulders.

Though his situation should have made him draw his sword, he didn't. Instead he solved the problem with only his wit. Though she knows about Gray's burden, she doesn't know what it actually is.

But she knows that it was something that makes him suffer all the time.

"Alright!"

Gray's shout interrupted Suriya's thoughts.

"Take what should be taken and leave everything else. Let's go back!"

Suriya decides to stop thinking about it for a while. She should just focus on cheering Gray up. So she, to lift her mood up, raised her hands to the air and excitedly yelled, "Yeah!"

And thanks to her, Gray's mood brightened, pulling his lips to a smile.

Suriya laughs as she saw Gray.

"Hey, hey! Your smile's creepy, it makes me s.h.i.+ver!"

"Eh? It is?"

"Yeah, really weird."

"It's not! I don't smile like that!"

They continue teasing each other as they gather materials from the werewolves' corpses. Suriya, still enjoying Gray's company, pauses for a moment as somethings went through her mind.

The Devil, the [Crawling Darkness] and its enemy, the one favored by G.o.d, the Hero.

"This time, we managed to kill these werewolves… I hope the next time, we could do this together again."

Gray, shocked, looks at Suriya who stated something quite touching.

"… what?"

"No, I mean. You were pretty good, I think."

"You fell for me? Huh?"

But Gray continued teasing her…

"Ohh! You did fall for me! You really are honest."

"What do you take me for, huh? Hmph!"

As their bickering continued, they successfully extracted the Magic Stone from the corpses' chest. According to myths, the Demon Race is born of blood and flesh from the [Crawling Darkness] which envelops life with hatred, and as such, they are humanity's sword enemy. Places contaminated by the [Crawling Darkness] give birth to these [Magic Stones], and in time, these become creatures of the [Demon Race].

"Oh wow, this [Magic Stone] is pretty big! It also has a nice color!"

"Seems our hard work has paid off. As expected from a pack of five werewolves."

"They are quite a dangerous bunch. But to get these, entering the forest is needed."

Humans aren't always threatened by demons. Because [Magic Stones] are fuel for [Magic Tools], hunting demons became a necessity. Thus, demon hunting became a part of everyday life.

Although from the beginning the humans struggled against the destruction the [Crawling Darkness] and its sp.a.w.n caused, they survived.

"Hey Gray, what are you thinking? We could make a huge profit off these, huh?"

"Ah, but you know… there's something that bothers me. This island is located close to the garden, a place with abundant water supply. And, the concentration of magic here is quite dense, plus this quest has a short deadline, right?"

"Yeah, this quest was supposed to be a mere sweeping quest."

"Then, why did these five werewolves show up?"

"Because dense concentrations of magic make them appear?"

Gray shakes his head in disagreement and falls into thought again. He takes out a magic tool, the [Ouija Board], and checks the dials.

"The density of magical power should be normal around these parts - no, it's much lower than average."

"Huh? Then why?"

–Suriya felt chills from what Gray said.

Then suddenly, the [Ouija Board]'s needle spins abruptly.

"Hmm–?!"

The needle turned and stopped at the uppermost limit of what it can measure. An unpleasant feeling can be felt from the device.

"Uhh…"

Gray immediately takes a stance. The sound of tree branches being broken resounded noisily from the direction of the forest. Something was approaching them. Then, between the thick trees, it appeared—

"Black… a werewolf?"

But it was something different.

Though werewolves were big, they aren't sizeable giants. And they shouldn't be able to release bloodl.u.s.t outside of their instinctual capabilities… Moreover, it should not be able to emit smoke from its body. This… creature emitted a frightening amount of pressure. This is the first time they've encountered anything like this monster.

Something like this—

"Re… reload!"

To suppress the fear that had enveloped them, Suriya prepared to shoot a ball of fire from her wand.

To defeat a werewolf of that size, they needed to act quick and not hold back.

"Cast!"

The magic square was completed almost instantly, and she shot the fireball immediately after.

Suriya's face contorted in shock.

The werewolf, who made it look easy, simply swatted the fireball away like it would a fly. A moment later, the resulting explosion from the fireball shook the ground.

"… Escape!"

Gray yelled.

"This is bad. That werewolf is a mutated version!"

Gray thought so too. According to the [Guide Book], extraordinary monsters like Black Werewolves belong to the calamity category. It's related to the crimson eyes of the devil, the [Crawling Darkness]. One piece at a time, the [Crawling Darkness]' eyes were cut and scattered into fragments known as [Black Shards]. A demon with a [Black Shard] in its body gains abnormal power.

"One, two—"

It seems that they were right. Beside the blue [Magic Stone], the [Black Shard] can be seen.

Previously it was five werewolves, and now a black werewolf? Terrible luck, Gray thought.

"Just run!"

At the same time as Gray's screams, he threw something at the enemy. The object unwinds and binds the werewolf's limbs. It was a tool called a Wire Bola.

Even though the tool held up both its hands and legs, it wasn't strong enough to keep it for long. Without looking back to see how long they managed to delay their pursuer, Gray and Suriya ran to the outer edge of the island.

"Where should we escape?!"

With that kind of strength, they will soon be caught even if they ran to the other side of the island. The boat which they used to come to the island is located very far from their current position.

"Hold me, we are going to dive down that cliff"

Hearing that, Suriya's jaws fell.

Even with the ability to float, Suriya holding onto Gray would make them move very slowly. Though their floating height would be higher than the enemy is tall, it wasn't possible to go any faster. But keeping a vertical distance from the enemy is possible. And that was the important thing.

"That's a smart move, Gray!"

"Here we go, keep going in that direction!"

They locked hands and headed to the cliff to jump.

"Yeaa—?!"

At the final moment, Suriya felt something on her ankle. She was pulled. The force was strong enough to break their hold on each other’s hands.

Gray turned his head and was shocked.

It's the black werewolf.

"Noooo…!"

"Suriya!"

This was bad. Suriya was being pulled quickly.

With that much strength, pulling Suriya wasn't a problem. Gray is separated from Suriya at quite a distance. But, struggling, Gray keeps on chasing after her.

But the black werewolf opens its mouth, drooling, and roars.

Gray felt cold. It felt like swimming in near-frozen waters. His body couldn't move freely. He felt tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Suriya!!!"

Gray wanted to help Suriya, but… with his ability, how will he be able to help her from this monster?

Honestly, Gray thought that dying together with her is a fine idea. Suriya thought that too. As things were now, Suriya will definitely be killed.

The blue sky is still far away from their reach.

That's why—

"Run! Gray!!"

Suriya shouted at the top of her lungs, her voice trembling with her tears.

"Run!! Quickly, just escape!!!"

While still being pulled far away, Suriya keeps shouting. Their figures were already beginning to disappear from sight.

"Please, run and don't turn around!"

Gray is scared. He didn't want to die.

So… this is fine.

"Leave me….!!!"

Suriya kept shouting, until she couldn't see Gray anymore. This brought her some relief; finally, she could close her eyes.

——————–

ED: What the f.u.c.k did I just edit…

… anyway, next release will still be Arcadia -____-

I don’t read the stuff I edit in advance (though I should) so I can’t give you any details about what happens next (and even if I did read ahead, I wouldn’t give spoilers)