Seirei no Moribito

Depression and lush forests are a common narrative, but the "North Forest” was truly a creepy, no-to see forest everywhere in its language.... as if it were a deep, dark darkness that neither body nor mind would take everything in and let go.

Yes, I was walking one step at a time, following his back, thinking.

"... of course, but no one is here..."

"... because it's so close to suicide to get in here... isn't there anyone who came back alive?

... That's about you, isn't it?

Though I thought so, when I put it in my mouth, it was going to be a reality and I couldn't tell you.

Instead, he repeated the questions that were not asked or answered in the village.

"Hey, Leo... what's in here?

"... the Protector really comes from the Spirit Tree, and if my guess is correct..."

I didn't speak the rest of the word because a mysterious roar rose in the dark woods. There is no distinction between man and beast, aim for prey... voices whose instincts complain of fear.

around where his voice sounded. He killed the signs and observed,

"... Laura, be careful not to find"

"Yeah......"

I grabbed the hem of his clothes unconsciously out of anxiety, but I followed him quietly off the sidewalk without being able to recognize it.

At the same time, I saw a slow drifting figure. What you can see from the shadows is a presence that is never fantastic but makes you feel somewhere mysterious… maybe this feeling is "protector".

Me and his perception seemed the same, we both looked at each other,

"... that's the“ protector "..."

Nodding to a whisper almost silent, I concentrate my excessive positional nerves on the presence of slowly approaching me as I drift through the air.

Eventually, it was the "protector” who grew clear glowing silver wings on his back, even in the dark, that appeared without moving one leaf of the tree. However, I felt something different from the "protector” who always appeared before us humans. Yes, if the “protector” who always appears before me is a puppet with personality, the “protector” drifting in front of me is... a crafty person, or a beautiful puppet with a loss of heart... either way, though it doesn't make a difference to being scared.

While careful not to let the "protector" know where he is going without changing his speed, he did not let go of his hand from the sheath.

"... your eyes are dead... no, maybe you're not self-conscious... yeah, sounds like it"

Precisely as his analysis suggests, the eyes of the “Protector" are vain and nothing is "visible." It seems that it is merely a search for the ”Spirit" … a being who does everything possible to be violent.

After there was no "protector” who was going through it slowly, I put into my mouth a question that I was anxious and unable to raise.

"... In the first place, I thought the Protector was created just to protect the Spirit Tree... but then there would be a lot more Protectors in this forest where the Spirit Tree should be... Isn't it a little strange that I haven't seen one before?

"... there was no" protector ”in my port town either. Of course, in this village. …" Spirit Tree ”is famous for not tolerating treason. Then more“ guardians ”have been identified to end the insurgency that is an element of anxiety, and the same is true for just a lookout... Is there any reason why the Spirit Tree can't do that, or is there no such number?"

This is the first time I've had any doubts about the "Protector” since I've been here.

There's a way to make sure of that behind this...

"I'm coming, Laura"

I still followed behind him as he quietly walked along, grabbing the hem of his clothes.

It was too small a temple to spend many nervously “guardians" and eventually see them in a woodlike centre. Moss is everywhere and crude, which is evidence that there has been no movement of people for decades, and there has never been a single "spirit tree” that has been supposedly there. There's no guardian here at all.

If the inheritance learned in the village is certain, the "protectors” will always guard it, a large tree will stand in the center, and spirits will dance and dance around it... What the hell is this all about?

"... nobody, nothing..."

"Yeah, there's only a shrine... this is pretty old, at least 20 + years old"

"... given the area, this is the heart of the forest... what... really, nothing. The monastery didn't say a word about it."

He looked around and then glanced at the temple again.

Wooden carved temples made of hard materials. When I gently remove moss with my nails, it is unexpectedly well decorated. There was just enough space to get inside, so I opened the unlocked door and looked inside, but there was nothing in there either, and there was no harvest-like harvest.

"It's hollow inside... really, there's a secret hidden here?

"... um, did my guess come off that this is how it is?

"Don't be so easy on me."

Isn't that a little bit true when you talk about it in such a big way?

"Or was it a bad time or a bad time... but eating humans should still be efficient here to produce one or more" protectors "..."

"Sure, I used to dedicate“ contributions ”more often when Leo came... but that was a long time ago. This is a despicable place, so seldom do travelers come, and if they do, they'll never get close to this forest. I assure you that."

"... then I figured -"

He tried to talk about something, reacting to the sound of the forest bushes shaking slightly,

"Laura, hide!

In the words I rushed to hide myself after him.

Shortly afterwards he appeared... a “protector" with a raging expression. How the hell could a "protector” never try to get close to the temple...?

"... what are you going to do?

Our questions soon cleared up.

The contours of the "Protector", which came in dangerous footsteps to the front of the temple, suddenly blurred, and the Spirit, which became a particle of light, slowly fell out.

The sight

"Exhaustion of the Spirit......!

It was a phenomenon known as "spiritual depletion”.

In this world, not just in villages, there are tools that power the Spirit. Inviting spirits to carve a curse vessel to lend strength… or forcing them to suck up power and embody various benefits and phenomena. When the effect of the curse or the Spirit weakens to its limit, it becomes a slight grain of light and the Spirit slowly ascends to heaven and eventually vanishes. We call this sight "spiritual depletion."

But in this case, it was a little different.

The Spirit fell out as the sand collapsed, and the “Protector” vanished itself as if there had been nothing from the beginning.

Up to this point, it's the same as magic tools. But the next phenomenon is completely different.

The “Guardian" vanished. Normally, the phenomenon stops, but the fallen spirits gather to be drawn to the temple, not to heaven. The fallen Spirit gathered in the temple and extended to one greater being… where the mysterious phenomenon subsided.

All that remains is the eerily quiet noise of the night.

"... hey, what was that, now...?

After checking to see if there were any other "protectors", I ran into him again heading to the temple, and he offered one possibility, even though he conceived it.

"... maybe reuse, right? In the end, the" protectors ”who failed to maintain their existence disappear, but the spirits who remained until the last moment gather to the temple, and the microspirits are born again as spirits. And when the spirits make their existence bigger by the time they make the Protector exist, perhaps the Protector will be born."

That's an extreme birth story that I can even convince you of.

However,

"But doesn't that mean the number of spirits is going down a little bit? The spirits that have fallen out... I don't know how to say it, but the spirits that are left are gathering..."

"... so I'm making it up to you from the margin - in the form of a" tribute ""

My back, the biggest freeze I've ever had.

That's just to make up for a "protector” who can also be called a natural enemy... and who doesn't even know if he can keep his presence. "The tribute” is... everyone is dedicated...? If I had just flashed the possibility, I would never have done such a stupid thing...

I can't believe the action to protect everyone was accompanied by consequences to torment everyone. I... Oh, my God...

He quietly gazes at me suffering from the mistakes I have made......,

"... Laura, over there!

Suddenly, he hides in the bush pointing his finger in the diagonal direction to the right, and I follow that direction with my eyes, too.

"That's..." Protector "...!"

What I saw ahead was the same “protectors” fighting each other.

The “Guardians" unleash the “Advanced Spirituality” of the water and the “Advanced Spirituality” of the wind, and the two giant “Spirituality" collide with each other and offset them with great impact.

Without taking the blazing storm as an object, the two “Protectors" activate “Spirituality" again without showing any significant reaction.

Attributes unchanged, water and wind. The water that swallows everything and the wind that cleaves everything - now the water wins.

The giant water that wrapped around the vortex tore up the giant wind blade and became one too giant murder weapon, turning the "Protector” into a straight two.

Normally, “Protector” plays back to that extent of scratches immediately, but in the case of scratches hit by the same “Protector”, the regenerative power did not seem advantageous.

The same annihilation occurred as what I saw earlier, and the fallen Spirit was absorbed into another “protector”.

And

"Not good!"

The Protector turned to us in hiding and activated the Spiritual Art without getting lost.

He rushed to thrust me, and the large debris of the ice attribute, the application of the water attribute, dimensionally pierced the place where I had hidden until earlier,

"Then pierce him with a scorching flame, a savage barbarity." Raising Shots "!

The flaming bullet released from his hand crashed into the ice debris that targeted him.

Make a fierce noise and the ice melts,

"The sun radiation of a pouring sensation of universe." Flare Line "!

The magic that he continued to chant radiated from his hand, and the line of flame pierced the "Protector” and burned him as hard as rain.

In the meantime, I staffed my enemies unannounced, checking with other “protectors” around me before

"What are you gonna do, Leo!?"

"Laura, run!

"Leo, leave me alone and tell me to run!? There's no way I can do that!

The “spiritual art” of the waters of the "Protector” strikes me as we speak.

"Be a shield, the brilliance of the wind." Barrier "!

Watching how it was, he bewitched sparingly, making a fierce noise on the wind barrier that appeared in front of the wand and the water hit him, splashing backwards.

"The enemy uses the“ spiritual art ”of water! You know it's a bad situation for Leo, who can only use the“ spiritual art ”of fire!?"

"Still, it's better for the two of us to just run away without business than to stay here forever!

He pulled out both knives,

"" Two Blades/Red Lotus Sword "!

Only two consecutive cuts cut off the radiation of the water ejected.

In terms of compatibility, the flames should be vulnerable to water, but he burned out the water only at pure temperatures. It's a rough business that only he can do,

"... awesome..."

Even at times like this, an exclamation leaked out of my mouth. With his eighteenth two swords, which lightly cut off my supreme sorcery when I first fought, I now burned out incompatible water with a more powerful force move than then...... I really think he's someone who can't see the bottom of his strength anywhere.

Naturally not realizing my thoughts like that, he fought, but

"I need to stay here a little longer because I haven't seen if the Spirit Tree really gives birth to the Protector yet. So Laura first..."

"I told you, you can't just put Leo down and get away with it. Leo the boulder is also unscrupulous to his" protector ”opponent in this forest. Then I'd better fight with you too!

"... Still, yes. I already know that there is a dispute here. There should be other“ protectors "out there soon... and I'm not going to let them hang out with Laura any more. Right?"

"But..."

to me unconvinced. He smiled a little,

"… If the aim of the" Protector ”is true (...) the annihilation of the village (...), the villagers may also be in distress by now. The village chief is the only one who has the power to fight, and it is possible that… the worst is happening. Then it's better to protect your village than to fight for nothing."

He cleverly stroked the bullet of water unleashed by the “Protector,"

"... Still, I...!

to me, who would not back down, he grinned to reassure the usual,

"It's okay, you know it's Laura I'm strong, right? So I'm not going to die here. Not yet... because I've left some behind."

He is:

"... wandering into the sky and countless meteors, now is the time to praise the earth!" Meteo Drive "!

Speak of “spirituality” and let down into the forest a mass of flames of equal weight to meteorites.

Every time one falls, the roar bursts,

"Leo!"

"Go, Laura!

When he approaches, he attacks with a duplicity of “guardian” attacks that emerge from behind him.

The gorgeous two swords sparkle brightly in the burning woods,

"Laura!"

To that powerful word of encouragement, I swung through my strays and ran to the exit of the forest with all my might.

... Absolutely, he's fine. Yes, give yourself a hint.