In the Seolo Forest covered in thick mist, A woman with short blue hair is running for her life. She had been stuck in this misty forest for hours, she doesn't know how much time has passed, but she's only running for her life.
"Asfi, we need to get out of here and report the situation here... This place is a death trap!" she whispered to herself, very uncharacteristic of her.
Her name is Asfi Al Andromeda from Hermes Familia, she was tasked by her Kami to investigate the missing adventurer's case in the Seolo Forest. A week ago, low-level adventurers began missing in this forest. As soon as they step into the forest, they disappear without a trace.
The Forest looked normal at first and she entered, but for unknown reason and without notice, the forest became engulfed with thick fog as she went deeper. She didn't mind it at first, but clearly, this fog wasn't normal in one bit.
The fog, for some reason, felt alive. Keeping a certain distance from her and moving away just enough that she can't touch it at all. When she moves, the fog moves away. The ground on her feet is clear, but if she looks forward, a thick wall of fog stops her from looking afar.
Then there's the monsters, The monsters here are not normal at all! She thought. They are all grotesque! Right now, she's being hunted by "wolves" with a human face for a head and human hands for limbs, they howl like wolves but clearly, they are monsters. There are more monsters like "giant" with a pyramid head, at first she thought it was a person. But after learning what kind of monsters lurk in this place, she begins a chain of suspicion of what she encounters.
The worst she encountered was a dead adventurer being eaten by a group of "babies" with wings, like cherubs from legends but more disturbing. They don't have eyes on their eyesockets for Kami's sake!
"*Howling* Awooo!"
Suddenly a howl interrupted her thought. She sighed and continued running away, the trees became blurry. Oh yes, the trees, they have faces, and Asfi is sure "they're" mocking her. Laughing at her for her inevitable death. Asfi no longer cared which direction she was running she just wanted to escape this doomed place.
She tried killing the monsters, unlike the monsters in the dungeon, these monsters don't drop a single valis, but instead drop "weird" items, she has been collecting them, and for some reason, she feels it's useful. But don't know what these items do.
Suddenly a "wolf" leaped in front of her tracks. Looking around, it looks like she has been surrounded. She dropped to her knees, she was too tired, she didn't even know how long she'd been running. She looked at the human faces, clearly in glee, she knew what was about to happen.
She looked at the sky covered in fog where the sun's light still penetrated it. And cried.
"Hermes-sama, please save me!" Asfi bit her lip and started tearing up. When suddenly
What looked like a shadowy figure with wings emerged from the sky and a cluster of feathers surrounded her. It reminded her of Hermes. She smiled a bit and thought 'At least in the last moment, I can see Hermes-sama figure.'. She closed her eyes, waiting for her death.
But what came was the wailing of her pursuers, they cried like humans. She recognized it when she killed a few of them. Opening her eyes again, she sees the monsters are being attacked by birds! Dozens of them, no hundreds!
"Owls?" Asfi muttered.
Her surroundings were like a sea of beautiful feathers, she looked at the sky again, and a person falling from the sky. Like an angel sent by the gods to save her. When the person fell next to her, she could now clearly see the figure.
"Are you okay?"
It was a girl! She was wearing a hood that had tails like an owl feather, and on her head were two protruding feathers that made her look like an owl. Her face is completely covered in darkness. Her glistening smooth legs can be seen as she wears short shorts.
The girl and her owls made short work of the monsters, she could see them running away deeper in the fog and soon enough gone.
"Hey, are you okay? Didn't you hear the announcement, the Manor Of Madness is out of control why are you outside? Didn't the Mechanical Guild tell you how dangerous it is right now? I'm going to file a complaint to those bastards."
A soft female voice said angrily. It looks like there was a misunderstanding, mechanical guild. does she mean the Adventurer's Guild? Asfi was tired but she needed to clear the misunderstanding.
"I'm Asfi, do you work for the guild? I was sent here by Hermes Familia." What the heck is a Manor of Madness?
Suddenly the girl froze from her track. Although Asfi couldn't see her face she was sure this girl had a shocked expression behind her covered face. Comical as it may be.
"Outsider! More outsiders!" The girl said in shock.
Outsider? Is this what she colloquially calls adventures? No there must be a huge misunderstanding between us. But before she could answer, the girl started inspecting her body. Lifting her hands, checking her skirt. Playing with her hair. Asfi was too tired to care.
"Outsider?" Asfi asked not knowing what a girl meant.
The girl stopped and made a "check" hand sign on her chin. Asfi knows this girl is smugly checking her out, she doesn't know how though.
"I'll explain later, let's get out of here, the forest is dangerous to outsiders! Sidorovich will be happy to know we found a surviving outsider! Maybe I'll get paid double! Oh damn, more paperwork too!"
"w-wait where are we going? I need to go back to the guild and report the situation here!" Asfi protested but soon the owls that were guarding her lifted her up. And they flew towards the sky. Suddenly a GIANT of an OWL came down and picked the girl up. Asfi had never seen such a huge owl. Is it a monster?
"You can call me Owl! Hey is it true that all outsiders are blessed by gods?" The girl asked with excitedness ringing in her voice.
Asfi was lost in the question, is this girl not an adventurer? What's going on here? Is she not blessed by the gods? Then how can she control all these owls, she's pretty sure there are at least one hundred owls here! Including the big owl!
"You don't have a falna?" Asfi asked perplexed.
The girl smiled again, Asfi was sure this girl was smiling despite the darkness covering her face! How can she do that?
"You'll learn all of this from Sidorovich later! Look we're almost there!" The girl pointed in the direction and Asfi was shocked.
She could see tall spires in the distance and pillars that blew black smoke in the air. Not only that, she could see a silhouette of an entire city in the distance! 'Since when was a city built in here!?' Asfi looked shocked at the city beyond the distance. Does anybody know this?
"How!?"
"Welcome to Silent Hill Town!"
This is only a town!? Asfi was shocked inwardly, she was sure there were at least thousands of people living here! It's not as big as Orario, but if this is considered a "town" then so be it.
Asfi and Owl landed in front of a gate that had a sign "Welcome To Silent Hill" and was greeted by guards.
"Back so soon Owl? How was the harvest? Is the Hunter's guild getting lazy?"
The Guard with a gas mask covering his face inquired Owl.
"I didn't get any materials! But look at what I found!" Owl pointed
The guard looked, and Asfi was sure he was shocked, how does Asfi know? She doesn't, are the people in this town all have this special ability to express themselves so comically?
"Another outsider? You need to tell the lord about this. There have been dozens of them, at least the ones that survived the forest. The barrier is weakening, I'll ask the captain to report this to the lord."
"Hehe, I'll get to meet the lord, you think he'd give me potions? Let's go Asfifi!"
Asfifi? Did she get a new nickname? Only friends give nicknames to each other right? Everything seems to be too unreal ever since she got into this forest, did she get a friend? A friend. Asfi feels too tired to care. Anyway, she also needs to report back to the guild of her findings, investigating this "town" seems necessary.
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Chapter End.
Thanks For reading