CHAPTER 4: Conflict in the forest of doom (Part 1)

"Catherine, bring them to their room" the witch said as a white-haired maid appeared from one of the rooms in a black maid outfit. She walked towards the both of them with a warm smile.

"Please follow me, Sir…" she asked

"My name is Kyle while this black-haired gloomy guy is Isaac"

"I see, please follow me Sir Kyle and Sir Isaac" The maid smiled before walking in front of them. The mansion was large as there are a lot of rooms but oddly enough, no one can be seen around. Catherine stopped in front of one of the rooms with a wooden door. She turned around and smiled.

"This is where Sir Isaac will stay"

"I see" Isaac nodded before pushing the wooden door but instead of opening it, the door wouldn't budge. He puts more strength into it but it's still the same. He hears a snicker from behind him as he turned around.

"There seems to be some kind of problem in the door" Isaac said

"Oh dear, i didn't think a man like you can't open a normal door" she smiled but under her warm smile, Isaac can see a sadistic nature from this maid. He smiled back while waving his hands dismissively

"It's fine, now i can see why this mansion doesn't have any guests" the maid gave a forced smile with a squinted eyes. Quickly noticing this, Kyle inserted himself between them with his hands in front of him.

"Relax Isaac and forgive us, maid. You don't have to tease us. We are merely level one otherworlders" Kyle mediated with a nervous smile. The maid smiled before walking forward.

"Follow me Sir Kyle and…Sir Isaac"

Meanwhile walking to find their rooms. Kyle notices that Isaac merely glanced around the mansion likes nothing ever happen. Kyle rubbed his temple, he didn't know that Isaac has the talent to piss other people off. Whenever he speaks, it's either to sneer at someone or anger them. He sighed before gazing at the maid walking in front of them. He doesn't want to anger someone working to the witch of calamity because if someone is working for a woman who can destroy the kingdoms, such person isn't normal.

The maid once again stopped in one of the rooms, without a word Isaac tried pushing it open. The door creaks and a smell so revolting entered their noses. Seeing this, the maid smiled before bowing.

"Wait a minute, this is our room?" Kyle asked nervously while checking if she was joking.

"Yes, what's wrong?" the maid tilted her head with her finger pointing in her cheeks and eyes full of curiosity. Kyle wanted to punch her right now but he calmed himself. He looked at Isaac who looks unfazed by it. He's afraid that something rude might come out of his mouth.

"So, all of the rooms smell like this. No wonde-hurriedly, Kyle blocked his mouth to stop him from talking. Luckily, the maid remained smiling like she doesn't hear anything. Still, her eyes are practically shining in curiosity with her point finger touching her cheeks. She still acts innocently like she doesn't know what she has done wrong. Her sadistic nature is showing already. That's why no normal person will willingly work for the witch.

"Are there any cleaning materials?" Kyle asked

"Sorry, i only used magic to clean to rooms"

'then use your damn magic!' he coughed awkwardly as the words inside his mind nearly come out. He doesn't know how a room can smell that disgustingly, it's like a hundred corpse is dried for days. That alone nearly made him vomit. To Isaac, the smell is revolting but he simply doesn't care, as long as it's safe to sleep in. Still, such a smell can't be hygienic. He might cough up blood from the smell alone.

"Catherine, stop messing with them and bring them to their proper room" the witch said out of nowhere but Isaac and Kyle doesn't see her.

"Yes, your highness"

The maid is in front while Isaac and Kyle are following her silently. Once again she stopped but this time, she is the one opening the door. The room has two luxurious large beds on each side separated by a white wall full of different paintings. A closet and a small table can be found in each mini room. Kyle can finally sigh in relief as he dashes towards the bed on the left with a contented smile on his face meanwhile Isaac walked slowly and sat on the edges of the bed on the right. His hand still holding the katana, his shirt is dirty and full of dirt while his pajama has a large bloodstain near the thigh and a hole in it.

"Where can i take a bath?" Isaac asked to the maid

"After taking a bath, what are you gonna wear?" Kyle said across the wall

"Household Magic: Clean" the maid said as a shining blue light washes over both Isaac and Kyle. Isaac notices that there are no stains or any dirt marks on his white shirt and pajama but the hole is still there created by the priest. He feels refreshed like he actually has taken a bath.

"Convenient" Isaac muttered while Kyle nods in approval

"So i'll leave you both here in a meantime, i will come here once the dinner is ready" the sadistic maid bowed before leaving.

Now that both of them are on their own devices, they can finally take a rest. They have walked for hours and while Kyle walked across the forest feeling lethargic and tired from overusing his mana, and Isaac was mentally strained from continuous use of magic in his experimentation on the skills he possessed. He doesn't want to rest but the blood residue from the wound he received was gone and he was just cleaned so he won't slice his palm to practice magic on himself. It would be tiring to clean without magic if the blood is splattered on the ground and in his clothes. Added by fatigue from the illusion, he yawned as he can feel his eyelids being heavier and he closed them to finally sleep.

Meanwhile, outside of the forest of doom. There are a thousand knights on their horses, outfitted with full plate armor and a sword. They seem ready for war as in front of them is a red knight and a priest riding inside a carriage.

"You're sure they are in here?" the red knight asked

"Likely, since the shrine is full of people, knights, and merchants that if they can see someone with a weird weapon oozing with negativity. It would be easy to apprehend them. Besides they are not that stupid" the priest replied calmly

"I'm just worried that the witch of calamity will be angered if we bring this many knights, you know we can't afford to ignore the treaty of the four witches"

Treaty of the four witch is a treaty for peace. The four witch such as the witch of calamity, witch of destruction, witch of curses and the dragon witch signed a peace treaty that they will stop attacking the human kingdoms if the human kingdoms stop entering their domain and that they should give them their most prized product every month like wine, cheese, or slaves. The Lederion Kingdom offers them their most prized product which is a thousand mithril bars every month.

"We can only pray for mercy, still we need to capture them" the priest's angry tone ranged inside the carriage.

"I don't know what Sir Leonard is thinking when he ordered us to take a platoon of knights when we will only capture some weak egos" the red knight sighed.

"We can only pray to the goddess that they are still alive by then" the priest said solemnly while clasping both of his hands as he closed his eyes muttering under his breath.

The sound of galloping of the horses echoed through the land and the metal clinking of the armor and weapons is the signal of might. As the knights rushed inside the forest of doom.

In a dark room, a black-haired woman is sitting on a throne while sipping a glass of red wine. Her cat-like eyes gazing solemnly at a bowing woman in front of her.

"The Lederion Kingdom requested to scout our forest since they lost something valuable inside " the bowing figure said

"Something valuable" the black-haired woman smirked

"Tell them that the witch of calamity won't adhere to their request and if their knights are still inside the forest by tomorrow morning. They will see my wrath"

"Yes, your highness" the bowing figure stands up before leaving the room. The woman smiled deeply and her eyes are full of excitement.

"Such interesting otherworlders, to be able to control the cursed sacred weapons" she laughed gently.

Isaac has woken up as he stood gazing at the window. The forest was lush but there are no animals or beasts. Still, he was not gazing at the forest but he is only looking absent-mindedly as he starts thinking about what to do. He needs to be stronger so first, he wishes to go into a training room or area to bleed himself. He still needs to make the blood spike viable for battle. As of now, it's too brittle and small that it will only cause mild discomfort to others. Still, the maid is can't be found anywhere and the mansion is too big for him to walk around randomly. He is contemplating on opening the window and practicing in the forest.

"If i was you, don't jump outside" Kyle said while yawning and grunting as he stretches himself awake.

"Why?"

"There are magical traps surrounding the mansion, once you jumped there. Even your ashes will be obliterated." Kyle said nonchalantly. It makes sense, the witch still doesn't trust them and they might escape once they are strong enough to not need protection.

"Besides, the parchment was already signed. If we broke the contract, our asses will be drag towards hell"

"Hmm.." Isaac contemplated on what to do.

"Why are you so eager on going outside anyway"

"Practice"

"Practice?"

"I'll improve the spell that I am creating"

"Oh, that's one way to become stronger. Still, we only level up if we break our limits. Practicing and making spells indeed can make you stronger but it won't break your limits." Kyle explained

"So how?"

"Fighting desperately and fighting enemies stronger than you" Kyle smiled

"We can fight the maid" Isaac said

"Are you crazy? one punch from her will send you straight to hell!"

"So what do you propose?"

"We fight the knights, normal knights. They might be stronger than us but we can handle it because of our weapons"

"Where do you find the knights to fight"

Kyle smirked before pointing to the forest "There"

Inside the carriage, the red knight and the priest is shaking in anger. Their request was denied so they can't even enter the forest, worse they can't go back anymore since the Golden Knight Leonard will kill them if they fail. The priest looked at the platoon of knights before a creepy smile appeared on his face.

"The goddess has truly never forgotten about me" the priest laughed maniacally

"What are you on, old man. If we can't bring those egos, our heads will roll"

"See those knights, let them attack the forest while we sneak and find the egos"

"Are you crazy?! those knights will just die if they attack!" the red knight was angered by his suggestion as he stands up while wielding his claymore at the priest.

"We just need a couple of minutes at best. I'll use magic to track them while the knights distract the witch"

"I see..let's do that" the red knight has calmed down as he sat back down in his chair. He taps the window and soon enough a knight runs towards them. Opening the window, the red knight whispered something to the knight before nodding as the knight runs back.

"White Magic: Find Evil" the priest chanted as his staff shined before a small white thread can be seen moving towards to forest. Both the red knight and the priest nodded before leaving the carriage as the sound of galloping can be heard as the knights charged deeper to the forest.