How a Reincarnated Warlock Lives – Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Movement (4)

Visibility was so poor that I could barely see my own body. In a fog so thick it felt as if I could touch it.

Voices came from all directions, making it impossible to get my bearings. The obscured vision and the noise were enough to confuse the mind, but I smiled faintly.

It wasn’t much different from the reaction I’d heard when I first went to the Cloud Mountains long ago.

“A strange human!”

“He must be a mage!”

“I wonder if a mage’s teeth are tasty too?”

The last comment was a bit unsettling, as always.

They seemed to find it quite curious that I had found my way to their nest without losing my way in the fog. It would be normal for an ordinary human to wander lost in the pixie fog.

Of course, the vast mountain range in the east was incomparably wider than this place. If this were the real Cloud Mountains, it would have taken me at least a week to reach their nest.

And I wouldn’t have been able to maintain Vision Field for that long with the amount of Demonic Energy I’ve absorbed so far.

The buzzing and chattering voices of the pixies were coming from all directions, but I still couldn’t see them.

I hadn’t used any special protective magic. I knew the pixies wouldn’t attack me.

It wasn’t because they were peace-loving creatures. To begin with, it was a bit contradictory to say that creatures who lived by gnawing on the bones of humans and other animals were a peace-loving species.

Swish.

I pulled something out of my pocket.

A large leather pouch stained with blood. It was something I had found on the bandit leader’s corpse.

Although I couldn’t see them, I could feel the pixies’ gazes focusing on the pouch I had taken out.

“What’s that?”

“What’s that?”

“Is it food?”

I slowly opened the mouth of the pouch and took out a tooth from inside.

At that moment.

“……!”

Flutter.

The thick fog stirred, creating a flurry of movement. The way the dense fog that filled my vision shook violently created the illusion that the entire space was swaying.

“It’s a tooth!”

“A human tooth!”

“Food!”

The buzzing sound began to intensify. They seemed excited at the sight of human teeth, their favorite food.

“If you give us teeth, we’ll give you shiny things!”

“We’ll give you shiny things!”

“Food!”

Clatter.

As soon as the pixies finished speaking, something began to pour down from the sky out of nowhere.

Something was raining down from all directions in the thick fog, where it was difficult to see even a few steps ahead.

Pitter-patter.

I glanced down at the pouch I was holding. The pouch full of teeth.

The reason the bandits pulled out all the teeth of innocent people and collected them was not because they felt sorry for the Tooth Fairies.

Rustle.

A faint, glittering golden light in the thick fog.

Tinkle.

Small grains, like rain, touched my body and poured down. I looked down indifferently at the small grains that had fallen on my hand as well.

Small as grains of rice, but hard and shiny metal.

It was gold.

🔹🔹🔹

Of course, there’s no way those thieving bastards could have pierced through the pixies’ fog and come this far. They probably stumbled upon a pixie at the foot of the mountains, got tempted by the gold they showed, and slaughtered people indiscriminately.

“We gave you shiny things!”

“Give us food!”

“Food!”

If those guys saw this scene, they would probably be quite frustrated.

A shower of gold pouring down from all directions. As I lifted my foot and took a step, I felt the crunching of the gold piled up on the ground under my feet.

It’s a sight that would tempt anyone. Enough to make the lives of other humans seem insignificant.

It’s an era where people kill for food. Let alone gold pouring down like rain.

Thud, thud.

I brushed off the small chunks of gold that had fallen on my head and shoulders with a casual gesture. These guys haven’t changed a bit.

The pixies didn’t instigate the murder with malicious intent. They probably just promised shiny things in exchange for teeth.

When I didn’t immediately fall to the ground and scramble for the gold, nor hand them pouches filled with teeth, I could feel their movements slowly subsiding.

“……”

“……”

A momentary silence. And then, I felt their questioning gazes.

These creatures, with teeth right in front of them, wouldn’t have much patience.

Sure enough, angry voices followed soon after.

“Give us the teeth!”

“If you don’t, we’ll eat you!”

“We’ll eat you!”

There was even a hint of frustration mixed in the pixies’ voices. They probably haven’t seen many humans who disregard gold.

Eat me, huh?

I chuckled softly and slowly raised my hand.

It was a cute and audacious threat, considering it was directed at the black mage who had read all seven volumes of the Hell Bible and ascended to the highest rank.

Crackle.

A small crack appeared in the air, and a thick demonic energy began to flow out from within.

The mana from the negative dimension soon started to project color into the air, and the black fog I created mixed with the whitish fog, creating a grayish hue.

‘Cormeld’s Rotten Breath.’

And like a giant being exhaling with a whoosh, the writhing black energy began to devour the pixies’ fog.

The black energy, spreading in all directions as if alive, devoured the fog. The fog created by the tooth fairies began to melt away like snow.

“The fog!”

“The fog is clearing!”

It didn’t take long for the thick fog surrounding me to disappear completely. As the magical fog that enveloped the mountainside lifted, the surroundings began to reveal themselves.

Beyond the dissipating fog, which vanished as if bubbles were popping, small creatures buzzing and floating in the air came into view from all directions.

About a handspan in size.

Their hideous appearance didn’t suit the name ‘fairy’ at all, as if a child had crudely sculpted them from clay.

The gray creatures, with two pairs of wings sprouting haphazardly from their bodies, started buzzing around fiercely like a disturbed beehive as the fog disappeared.

Fwoosh.

Simultaneously, the gold they had scattered began to return to its original form.

Ordinary dirt that could be found anywhere. Worthless things.

“The fog is gone!”

“They can see us!”

“No!”

“Scary magician!”

“Sorry!”

“Don’t kill us!”

“Give us back our fog!”

Even while terrified, they were still buzzing around above me, clutching their pouches filled with teeth.

Their attitude had become a little more polite.

I slowly lowered my stinging arm. A little bit of magic is quite effective in initiating a cooperative conversation.

“Hmm.”

Now, we can have a proper conversation.

🔹🔹🔹

As I expected, they hadn’t settled in this small mountain away from the Cloud Mountains of their own volition.

“You were chased out? But why?”

Whether it was easy or difficult, there was no reason to do so. Aside from the fact that these pixies with their grotesque appearance and unique eating habits were not very welcome creatures.

“Mages!”

“The mages chased us out!”

“We don’t know why!”

I frowned.

If they were talking about the mages of the Cloud Mountains, they must be referring to the Necromancers.

‘But why?’

Those immortal worshippers who were not attached to their physical bodies had driven the Tooth Fairies out of the mountains.

It was quite an interesting fact.

However, since the pixies themselves didn’t know the reason, it was difficult for me, who hadn’t been there for over five hundred years, to immediately figure out the exact reason.

‘Hmm.’

For now, it was enough that I had found out that something was happening in the Cloud Mountains.

It might not be of much use right now, but it was high-level information unknown outside the mountains.

“……”

I looked around at the hundreds of pixies watching me cautiously. There were probably many more hiding in the crevices of the mountain.

I had solved my curiosity and obtained useful information. Now it was time to head back towards Sitdria, our destination.

Oh, before that.

I opened the mouth of the heavy pouch I was holding.

I didn’t know how many humans it had been extracted from, but it was more than enough to keep the pixies in this mountain quiet for a while.

“……!”

The pixies’ gazes all turned to the pouch at once.

“It’s a gift.”

Whoosh!

I threw the pouch towards them.

“It’s teeth!”

“Food!”

Crunch.

I saw a pixie with tiny hands clutching a tooth in each, biting into the hard tooth.

Munch, munch.

They looked quite happy, munching on the teeth as if they were apples.

“……”

It wasn’t a very pleasant sight.

🔹🔹🔹

Unlike the center, which had been forcibly cleared by my magic, the lower part of the mountain still had the pixie fog.

Of course, thanks to a few pixies who had followed me, flapping their wings, there was no need to use Demonic Energy to activate Vision Field again.

It was a fortunate thing in many ways. For both me and Jerit.

“What are you doing here?”

“……!”

I stopped walking when I saw Jerit emerge from the whitish fog. He spotted me belatedly and shouted with a voice filled with relief and joy.

“I-Inquisitor-nim!”

“You have quite a lot of unique hobbies. The elves would be happy to see you.”

I muttered, looking at Jerit, who was trembling while clinging to a thick tree.

“Ah, the fog is strange! I was walking straight, but─”

He had followed me up the mountain and gotten lost in the pixie fog. He seemed to have been clinging to the tree for fear of falling off a cliff if he moved any further.

I looked at him with a pitiful gaze for a moment and then asked in a displeased tone,

“Don’t tell me you left the horse down there and followed me without thinking?”

“N-No, sir!”

Jerit shook his head desperately at my words. According to his stammering explanation, there were priests who had come out in advance to greet us in Sitdria, our destination, which was not far away.

Well, I didn’t think Jerit would disobey my orders and act on his own. But that didn’t mean he hadn’t done something stupid.

“I appreciate that you followed me because you were worried, but……”

I looked at him and continued,

“I hope you won’t disobey my words with your own judgment next time.”

I said quietly as I approached him through the fog.

“This is advice, not an order.”

If things had gone wrong and Jerit had seen me handling Demonic Energy, I would unfortunately have to seal his mouth. Or at least mess with his head and ruin his memories.

“Y-Yes, sir! I’m sorry!”

Jerit hurriedly nodded at my words. He was still clinging tightly to the tree.

Flutter.

One of the large pixies who had been watching our conversation blankly, as if knowing it was time to part ways, offered me something.

“I’ll give you something other than shiny things!”

It seemed to be a reward for giving them a large amount of teeth.

The pixie, who nodded with flapping wings at my warning that they would come back if they made contact with other humans, offered me a large flute that it had been carrying on its back.

Of course, it became the size of my finger when I accepted it.

“It’s a gift!”

A small flute that seemed to be made of some kind of bone. A faint magical power emanated from it.

Unlike the gold, this is real.

“Thank you.”

I nodded and accepted it.

“Eek!”

A sound came from behind me.

“A-A demon! It’s a demon! Inquisitor-nim!”

Jerit screamed in surprise at the grotesque appearance of the pixie that had come closer.

The large pixie who had given me the flute shouted loudly at Jerit, who was looking back and forth between me, who showed no reaction, and the hideous Tooth Fairy.

“I’m not a demon! You ugly human!”

“……Huh?”

To the bewildered Jerit, I nodded nonchalantly and added quietly,

“That’s what it says.”

🔹🔹🔹

“Burn the witch!”

“Burn her!”

“Flames to the heretic!”

The city of Sitdria, located in the southeastern part of the continent, was one of the major cities along the Pilgrim’s Road.

The Pilgrim’s Road.

In the distant past, when God used to answer human prayers. The path that Saint Iodex, inheriting God’s will, walked to the Holy Land through countless hardships and trials.

The Pilgrim’s Road, stretching from the foot of Mount Calimphus, where the Grand Temple was located, to the Holy Land where the Holy See resided, required a long journey that crossed half the continent, and naturally, the large cities situated along the way were bustling with merchants, worshippers, and various other people.

And the Free City of Sitdria was one of the largest free cities among them.

A place where hymns praising God, the voices of merchants haggling over goods, and the screams of burning witches mingled together.

A place where the flames of the stake never died down throughout the year.

Today, too, black smoke, like a beacon calling for help, was rising from the stake in Sitdria.

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