Third Outer World Story Series: Pumpkin Sorcerer - Chapter 27

Translator: MadHatter Editor: MadHatter

“You are performing a strange dance.”

“Hmm? Is that you, Ojii-san?”

The old man, Kozo, appeared the following morning as Pumpkin was performing radio calisthenics in the inn’s garden with his body being bolstered by magic power as usual.

“You seem to be mysteriously brimming with magic power. Is it the effect of that dance?”

“No, the abundance of my magic power is the result of my habitual training. As for the dance, it is a preparation exercise called ‘radio calisthenics,’ as it was called in my hometown.”

“Hmm. There are some peculiar preparatory exercises in the world.”

Kozo would occasionally murmur something like, “But it seems efficient despite its outer look,” or “Hmm, that’s really theoretical,” while saying such things.

In fact, as Pumpkin mentioned before, radio calisthenics would be really a handy way for training and such. So he hoped to spread the concept if possible!

“Okay, that’s it. So, what do you want, ojii-san?”

“Well, I was wondering what your plans are for today.”

“My plans for today? I’m planning to do some shopping for necessities but… yeah, I’ll have to pay back the money to Rio later.”

Hearing his schedule, Kozo’s lips curved into a deep smile.

While I know he’s not a wicked man, that smile does cause me uneasiness…

“Mmm. If so, I’ll let you know where Rio resides. When you have something to do, you can ask her to show you around the town. Fofofo.”

Hey, Kozo ojii-san. You shouldn’t be so casual while disclosing such private information to a stranger. I mean, that laugh of yours is too obvious.

From what Pumpkin could tell from the magic power of the people around Kozo, other than Kozo himself, there was probably some sort of purpose to investigate his own background while letting Rio guide him around.

“Well, if you are going to tell me about her house, then tell me.”

“Good, good. Honesty is the best.”

Pumpkin then went to Rio’s residence after asking Kozo to inform him about it.

—————

Afterwards, he arrived at Rio’s house as he had been informed.

Rio’s house was located in the outskirts of the residential area of Kunukihappy… and to put it in a more prosaic way, it was on the border between the slums and the regular town, and the people living there were somewhat shabbily dressed in comparison to those living in the central part of the town.

But the shabbiness extended only to their clothes, not to their facial expressions, and these people all struck Pumpkin as nice people… probably.

They would approach such a suspicious guy like Pumpkin and chat with him in a normal way.

They were simply acting normally and concerned or something like that when he explained what was going on. His head and vines were being played with by the youngsters.

“Pumpkin-san.”

“Hey. I’m here to return your money. And I might need you to give me a tour of the town or something.”

[[Oh, it’s Rio nee-chan.]]

At this point, Rio came out of the house.

“Oh, um…”

“What’s wrong?”

But Rio’s expression was… very desperate.

Or, more accurately, her whole complexion appeared pallid.

“M-My mother is…”

…Pumpkin paid close attention to her house as she heard Rio’s words.

He then spotted something like a black line extending from somewhere towards the inside of Rio’s house.

That black line was probably made by dark attribute magic, and it was loaded with a reminder that made one feel sick just by looking at it.

“Rio. Can I enter your house? And the pair of Elf and Lizardman who are following me. You guys should take a look if possible.”

“Y-Yes!?”

[[!?]]

To his statement, Rio returned her approval, and Pumpkin wondered if the pair didn’t think they had been exposed. The two people who had been hiding in the shadows of the building and watching him, the Elf and the Lizardman, were caught off guard and emerged slowly towards Pumpkin’s direction.

Pumpkin had noticed these two since he was around Kozo.

However, unlike Pumpkin, they weren’t totally able to suppress the emission of their magic power. On top of that, they clearly had a lot more magic power than normal humans.

Well, what is more urgent now is Rio’s mother.

“Come this way.”

“Okay.”

[[…]]

So the three of them entered Rio’s house under her guidance.

“Hah hah…”

“This is…”

“This isn’t… any sickness.”

“Rio. When did this happen?”

“Yesterday, she had a sudden collapse… and I didn’t know who to talk to about it.”

At the sight of Rio’s mother, the three of them were speechless.

After all, Rio’s mother’s skin had lost all of its radiance, her eyes were sunken, and her cheeks were hollow. To put it succinctly, there was a definite look of death on her face.

Pumpkin’s eyes, nevertheless, also caught something else that no normal human being would have.

“It’s a curse… huh.”

That was a black magic power that adhered like a stain on the colorless magic power that was gathered in the area just below the navel of Rio’s mother… in other words, in the abdomen.

When it came to magic power, there were some variations among races of ordinary humans, but basically, it was concentrated in three places: the abdomen, the heart, and the head. It was not clear why it was concentrated there, but in any case, it was located there.

However, Rio’s mother appeared to suffer from a flow of dark magic power from somewhere to the magic power in her abdomen, preventing the original function of the magic power in the abdomen from engaging in its proper operation.

The result of that might explain her present condition.

“Ugh…”

“Please! Please help my mother!”

Rio’s heartbroken sobs reverberated throughout the house, as did Rio’s mother’s moaning voice.

Now, I wonder how things will turn out…