Chapter 21 - A Strange Girl Was There

A Strange Girl Was There
‘Here! Here!’
One of the slimes led the way through the mountain.
It was a complicated path that was hard to see.
When we finally arrived, there was what looked like a cave under the roots of a tree that was surrounded by plants.
I didn’t think that I would have been able to find it without a guide.
And there was-a girl inside.
She appeared to be about fifteen.
She looked delicate and pretty, but…her face seemed very sickly.
Not only that, but there was something about her that did not seem quite human.
Even her clothes did not look like they were manmade.
What if she was a monster that was in the shape of a human?
‘Miss Dryad? Are you alive?’
‘Yes…somehow…’
The girl replied weakly to the slime’s voice.
It wasn’t the voice of a human, but as I was still using ‘Monster Mutal Understanding’, I could understand what she was saying.
So it wasn’t just me. Her face really did look sickly.
‘Still, it’s rare for you to come here. Did something happen?’
‘Yes. I brought someone who might help you!’
‘It’s Yuji!’
The slimes said as they looked at me.
They wanted me to go in.
And so I stepped into the cave where the girl was.
‘Eee…it’s a human!?’
She looked at me with horror and recoiled.
It seemed that she feared humans.
‘But this one isn’t scary! He’s a nice person.’
‘He’s very strong and protects us.’
‘And he can understand us!’
The slimes tried to persuade the scared girl.
I…decided that it was best to stay quiet.
And so I did for the next few minutes.
‘Uhhh…mister human? Are you going to help me?’
She asked me hesitantly.
I guess she finally stopped seeing me as a scary person.
“Uh…well, I don’t really know what’s happening…”
I had just come here to gather Dria flowers.
So even if someone asked for help, I didn’t know what to do.
As I was thinking this, the slime started to talk to me.
‘Some bad people left something strange in the forest, and now the forest is sick. Dryad is a fairy of the forest, and so she lost her magic and is weak…’
The girl nodded at the slime’s words.
…I see.
This girl(called a Dryad), was a forest fairy.
I had been looking at the ground the whole time in search of the flowers, but now that I think about it…yes, the trees did seem kind of unwell.
“In other words, you want me to break or remove this ‘strange’ thing? Also, if you could regain your magic somehow…”
After saying this, I looked through the magic I had acquired.
And then I found something called ‘Energy Transfer’ that sounded like it was exactly what I was looking for.
It seemed like it would allow me to send magic energy to someone I was touching.
Still, that might frighten her if I did it directly.
“Hey, could you touch the Dryad for a second.”

‘Okay.’
One of the slimes touched her.
And then I activated the magic.
‘Magic Transfer-Energy Transfer.’
Just as the magic activated, the magic energy in my status started to decrease.
After some time, my energy dropped to about half and then stopped.
Then the Dryad tilted her head.
‘I, I feel lighter now…Mister Human, you said energy transfer…did you mean…’
“Yeah. They said you didn’t have enough energy, so I used the slime to send you some. …Do you feel better now?”
‘Yes! Thank you!’
Dryad said with a laugh.
So it did go well.
“Alright, I’m going to go to this place where ‘the bad people left something.’ I’m assuming something has to be done about it?”
‘Yes?’
And then the Dryad rushed passed me and left the cave.
It seemed that she was less cautious after the ‘Energy Transfer.’
After that, I arrived at a corner of the forest where the damage was especially bad.
No, it wasn’t exactly a forest.
This was because all of the trees and plants in the area had died, and it was a wasteland.
In the center-was something that looked like a big, black magic stone.
So I just had to throw it away somewhere or destroy it.
That’s what I thought as I walked up to it and picked it up.
‘Ah, wait!’
“Hmm?”
The Dryad called out just as I picked it up.
…Was there a problem?
As I wondered this…the Dryad looked at the magic stone I was holding and then muttered in confusion.
‘Wh-why are you able to touch it…?’