Well, it was understandable that the person who had been criticizing her just now suddenly started acting friendly. She said as she roughly pushed me away.
"Get your hands off my body! You… If you get out of here, I won't let you go."
Instead of answering, I just shrugged my shoulders.
When I looked closely, I saw that her cheeks were red and swollen. Frey asked, looking at the two of us alternately,
"What happened to you two…?"
Before I could say anything, Charlotte struck.
"Oh, no! Nothing happened!"
Then, while glaring at me, she muttered, "If you tell anyone, I will really kill you."
I smiled and nodded. Frey, who had no idea what was going on, just watched the scene with a sullen expression.
'You know you're embarrassed too.'
Just in time, Eden intervened.
"Charlotte! This is awesome! How on earth do you have to manage mana to be able to use magic so cleanly? I was really shocked! Despite combining the two attributes, I couldn't help but stare in fascination at how flawless it looked. After all, there's a reason why the Magee family is called the most prestigious magic clan in the empire!"
Charlotte seemed to feel a little relieved by the endless praise and said, crossing her arms,
"Hmm. Commoners, you know how to look."
Although she was trying hard to pretend that nothing was wrong, I couldn't help but smile at the corner of my mouth.
"If I get the chance, I would like to learn something."
"Well, I'll think about it."
"Thank you!"
He was suspiciously affable and suspiciously powerful. Perhaps sensing my gaze, Eden looked at me and smiled.
"Alright! Now that we've defeated the enemies, let's go strong again! This time, I'll take the lead."
Following Eden, who was in the lead, we entered the forest again. I continued walking along the endless forest path.
"Now that I am gone, I no longer wander down the street!"
As he said, we no longer hung around the same place. However, because the surrounding scenery was so similar, I didn't feel like I was going in the right direction.
At that time, Frey, who was looking at her hands blankly, muttered in wonder,
"That's fascinating. Because the sense of touch is prohibited, I don't even feel pain."
Now that I thought about it, I didn't feel anything when I slapped Charlotte.
Charlotte also seemed to be aware of this fact as she slowly caressed her swollen cheek.
"That's right. I also got scratched by a branch of the linden tree earlier, but I didn't feel any pain. I think it would be beneficial to forbid the sense of touch… wait… Oh my! Did you really calculate all of this before choosing the sense of touch? I'm impressed once again! Not only does he possess military power, but he also possesses wisdom. This is the bloodline of a hero!"
Now I see that he was just a guy whose hobby was making a fuss.
Of course, I didn't choose the sense of touch with this in mind.
I just thought it would be much better to exclude touch rather than hearing or sight.
However, others seemed to believe that I had already calculated and chosen all of this.
There was no one to correct the misunderstanding.
"Still, your insight is truly amazing."
Even the stubborn Charlotte seemed to approve.
"… Not bad."
Now that it was too late to say no, I just pretended to be like that.
"It is true that I chose the sense of touch because I thought it would be the most efficient, but it's not the only advantage. In other words, not feeling pain is the same as not feeling crisis. Since you cannot feel pain, you may die without even knowing that you've been injured. You have to be careful about this."
"I guess so! I'll keep that in mind."
We started walking again. There was only one road, so I just looked ahead and walked.
Even while walking for a while, Eden never stopped talking like a crazy person.
It got to the point where I wondered if it would have been better to ban hearing.
Just when it felt like my ears were starting to bleed, Eden stopped.
"Commoners, what's the matter?"
Eden pointed to the floor.
"[There is a horse, a head, and a woman in front of this.]"
A familiar phrase that seemed to have been seen many times before.
'It wasn't once or twice that I got caught up in this phrase and had a hard time.'
Charlotte frowned and read aloud the words carved into the ground.
"In front of here… horse… head… woman… there is? What does this mean?"
"Is this a warning?"
I looked ahead. Even through the thick fog, it gave off an ominous aura.
It was then—
A loud crying sound was heard from somewhere.
Black. Black. Black. Black.
A sound like a woman wailing.
Charlotte was startled and grabbed the hem of my clothes.
"What is this again!"
The sound gradually grew louder. The sound, which at first seemed far away, felt closer and closer.
It felt like it was coming this way—a sound like fingernails scratching a blackboard.
As I continued to listen, I felt like my eardrums were going to burst.
My heart was beating irregularly due to the unpleasant sensation. Eden, who was always cheerful, now seemed to have lost his composure and shouted urgently,
"What are you going to do!"
I said after thinking for a while,
"Let's go forward."
There was no other option anyway.
We entered the fog. The fog that covered everything was so thick that only the person in front was barely visible. Fortunately, the creepy sound was no longer heard.
Charlotte followed me from behind, holding on to my sleeve, and asked, trembling,
"Uh, uh, how long do I have to go?"
"They're all here."
The fog slowly cleared, and the surroundings began to open up. Frey and Eden, who were walking ahead, stopped at the same time as if they had made a promise.
Their eyes were fixed forward, and their complexions were very poor. They looked pale, as if they had seen something they shouldn't have seen.
Charlotte and I also looked ahead.
"… Horse?"
A black horse and a knight in black armor riding on it.
The knight had no head.
So what was that thing looking at me right now? No, should I even consider that as an eyeball in the first place?
The knight's head was held in his right hand. Pupils painted all black and a mouth torn right up to the ears.
―Headless Horseman.
Charlotte, whose legs became weak, fell down and said,
"… Dullahan."