Inn Overlord: Reincarnated with Enhancement Magic, Now Worshipped as a Divine Messenger! - Chapter 15

“Be careful…”

Abigail held both mine and Luka’s hands as she prayed. Laura also spoke to us.

“Both of you, take care of him, okay?”

Luka and I nodded, and then David spoke up.

“Hey, what about me!?”

We laughed, and then my mother said,

“David, please take care of Seraph and Luka.”

“Of course!”

With that, we set off toward the Cursed Forest.

David put on the magic armor he used back in his adventurer days—a piece of equipment that changed its shape to fit my small body perfectly. He himself wore a leather breastplate and carried a hand axe on his back.

I was given a short sword, and as I walked, I familiarized myself with its grip. Meanwhile, Luka wore the same outfit Abigail always gave her, without any additional equipment. She skipped along happily—her large chest prevented any armor from fitting properly.

To avoid being seen by the villagers in this gear, we left early in the morning.

When we reached the entrance of the Cursed Forest, David raised his voice.

“Alright! Let’s go!!”

“Yeah!” Luka and I shouted, raising our fists. Even though he wasn’t using enhancement magic, David’s voice seemed to carry a mysterious power.

As we entered the forest, the dense trees blocked the sunlight, making it feel as if we had stepped into another world. Still, we pressed on.

Leading the way, David cut through the thick underbrush and low-hanging branches with his hand axe to clear a path for us.

Soon, we encountered a group of goblins. There were four in total: one archer in the back, two front-liners with daggers and clubs, and a spearman standing slightly behind them. They had clearly identified us as enemies—their killing intent was obvious.

Seeing this, David quickly gave us instructions.

“Seraph, use enhancement magic on me and stay back! Luka, you and I will focus on the front while keeping an eye on the archer—”

Before David could finish his sentence, Luka threw a full-force right straight punch—the same one she used to defeat the Orc General—at the two goblins in the front. The sheer power of her punch blew through them, obliterating the spearman behind them, and even took out the archer in the back. The impact didn’t stop there; trees behind them crashed to the ground one after another.

As the sound of falling trees echoed through the forest, Luka hopped around excitedly and spoke to David.

“Wow! I followed David-sama’s instructions, and we won!”

“…I-I see…”

David’s eyes widened in disbelief as he let out a stunned response. Meanwhile, Luka picked up the club that one of the goblins had dropped, swung it around like a whirlwind, and asked,

“Can I use this?”

“O-oh… sure…”

We continued deeper into the forest, defeating enemy monsters along the way.

However, when we encountered one particular monster, I stopped David and Luka just as they were about to attack.

“Wait!”

It was a creature called a Vircasis—a wolf-like monster.

The Vircasis bared its fangs and growled at us, its fur bristling, but I noticed something—it was injured in several places. I stepped past David and Luca and stood in front of it. The Vircasis snarled at me, baring its teeth even more.

“H-hey!?”

David called out to me, worried, but I spoke firmly.

“If it’s not hostile… no, even if it is, I don’t want to kill it unless we have to.”

Memories of my past life surfaced in my mind. People had been persecuted for things like looking different, worshipping different gods, or just because others found them unpleasant.

I had been given a miraculous second chance at life, along with the power of enhancement magic. In this life, if something didn’t have the intent to harm us, I wanted to avoid hurting it. Even if it was a monster.

I took a step closer to the Vircasis. It lunged at me with its fangs bared.

“Seraph!?”

David shouted, but I dodged its attack and slipped into its guard, reaching out to touch its fluffy fur.

“W-what are you doing—?”

I used enhancement magic to boost the Vircasis’ natural healing abilities, helping it recover from its wounds.

Watching the wounds heal, David murmured in amazement as his tense posture gradually relaxed.

“Its wounds… they’re healing…”

The Vircasis itself seemed surprised. Fully healed, it hesitated for a moment before turning and disappearing into the forest.

David stared at its retreating figure before speaking.

“I get how you feel, Seraph… but what you’re doing doesn’t really change much. It’ll just get hurt again, or it might even attack humans in the future.”

David had a point. This was just my own selfishness. But after living in both my past world and this one, I had come to believe something.

After a moment, I spoke.

“…It’s more about how I feel. I was abandoned by my father at birth and forced to live with my mother alone. We were driven from our home… By normal standards, that’s a tragic life. But now, I get to be here with all of you.”

I looked at Luka and smiled. “And with Luka too.”

“As long as we’re alive, there’s always a chance things will get better. Sure, I’ll fight monsters that try to kill us, and we have to hunt to survive. But if something isn’t a direct threat, I’d rather leave it be. Besides, I have the power of a goddess who can heal wounds. I want to use it to help others. Maybe that Vircasis will attack people someday… but maybe it will also hunt dangerous monsters that could have harmed humans.”

David didn’t argue. He just nodded and said, “I see.”

But after a moment, he spoke again, looking worried.

“Wait a second! Does that mean that Vircasis will turn out like Luka!?”

Hearing her name, Luka tilted her head in confusion. I answered David.

“Probably not. I used a different type of enhancement magic on her… but…”

“But?”

“I still don’t fully understand how it worked. If we want to, we could try using the same magic on that Vircasis and see what happens—”

It was a cold way to say it, but I had already considered experimenting in the future. David shook his head.

“No, let’s not. Our goal here is to figure out what’s happening in the Cursed Forest.”

We refocused and moved deeper into the woods.

After some time, David suddenly stopped. Raising his arm horizontally, he signaled us to halt. Then he gestured for us to come closer. I pressed against his back while Luca clung to his bald head as we looked ahead.

There, we saw a swarm of large blue ants, each about the size of a small car.

“Army Ants… now it makes sense,” David muttered.

I waited for him to explain.

“These monsters are the cause of the forest’s changes.”

Then, suddenly, a loud crash echoed from where the Army Ants were.

Looking over, we saw Luka swinging her newly acquired club straight into one of the ants’ heads.

──What is she doing!?