. A Certain Village Investigation by the Female Swordsman (side Merutia)
 

Over a few days, Yuno and I arrived at the village near the Noa Forest.
When I inform that I want to meet the village elder, I was guided to a mansion inside the village.

Given the characteristic of the roof and the weatherc.o.c.k, how do you say this..... It gives the impression of a witch’s house.

There was a lawn in the fence with flower beds simply arranged inside, and that beside these patches of flowers were three wooden crosses that been lined up and stabbed in the ground.

Is it a grave?
Though I was sure I’ve seen a graveyard on the way…

“Um, um Merutia? If the person here plays with corpses, wouldn’t this be really bad koree…” (Yuno)
Juno tail becomes limp and drops, as she clings to hide behind my back.

When I ring the bell at the garden, the door is opened automatically.
[Come on in], is what it seems to imply.

I enter into the house while dragging the mildly frightened Juno.

There is a table in front of the fireplace, and there were two girls were sitting on either side sandwiching it.
One was a girl with chestnut colored bobbed hair, the other was a girl with bright orange hair with braids

"Apparently my guests have arrived. Milia, leave your seat.”

The girl with the braid started talking with a voice that doesn"t match her figure, and the small girl called Milia lowers her head, and went out of the house.

"Umm, may I ask to meet the village elder....."

When the girl with orange hair nodding her head in affirmation it cause Juno to as usual become very reserved.

"Umu, it is me-jya" [E.N: She talks in an ancient way. Try listen how Shiroyasha from Mondaijitachi talk]

She refers to the name of Mariel, as she was a mixed-blood elf with slow growth, it seems to have a long life.
Though I’ve never heard of a story of a baby born from elf and human, it is not an impossible story.

Ignoring Juno who keeps overreacting, I continue to the story about the request and Mariel.

Three people from the village goes to Noa Forest to hunt the rock dragon, one person died, and apparently one person has resulted in going missing.
There was only one survivor, and that is Milia.

Two people from the village claims to have saw  what looks like him in the forest, and Mariel ordered for them to be quiet about it to avoid confusion, but it is already a bit late at that time, as the rumor has already become a hot topic in town.

How the strange rumor began spreading over the village is not the main concern, but Millia seems to feel responsibility as being the only person to have survived, that she could secretly try searching for Dorz near the forest depth many times when she heard the rumors.

To reveal the cause of the rumor, it seems purpose of the request was to stop Miglia from going out to search for Dorz in the back of the woods.

At the end of the story, it was added that the other villagers should only sees us as [adventure who enter the forest just out of curiosity].

I was thinking taking advantages of getting into Noa Forest without being seen by villagers with suspicious eyes, but I guess there’s no helping it.

The village elders had permitted for strangers to enter the forest, but problems may arise when departure.

It is a law that was originally mere facade has become now, a lot of villager will be guessing about the request, but there is no need to worry about being hara.s.sed......that being said, it was a little bit disappointing

Because this is special, I want to search without  reserve without being being thought as shady.

Earlier than the time being to go to the Noa Forest, I gathered information around the village.

First I talked to two people that saw the figure after he became missing.
Dorz was dragging one foot, with his face pale like having no blood. Though he looks conscious he does not seem to recognize the two people
 

I entered a bar near a small plaza.
For the time being, I confirmed that the graveyard in the village is not damaged. This doesn’t seems to be the work of a Necromancer.

Though I had understood it when I enter the village, like Mariel said, the elderly in the village doesn’t seems to be fond of adventurers aiming to enter the forest.

Strong atmosphere covered the entire place as this is the place with very few changes.
I wonder it is too much to say that is it so hard for a change to be accepted by one generation?

The rumor to be worried about, was the one about [I saw a big dragon flew in the forest]
If it is a large dragon, then the rank could be considered as B-rank, so I really want to think that it is irrelevant.

No matter how I look at it, there is no relation between a dead body and a dragon

Though I was allowed to enter the library because I wanted to examine the history and customs of the village, we were driven out one hour later because Yuno starts losing concentration and start playing with the books on the floor. Though it is not possible to finish checking the part I’m anxious about, there’s no helping it.

It can be said that with this I begin the investigation into Noa Forest.