Third Outer World Story Series: Pumpkin Sorcerer - Chapter 67

Translator: MadHatter Editor: MadHatter

“Bunbubun?”

After a while after Tax’s arrival, Pumpkin was in a much better mood as he was working in the house, which had at some point come to be treated as the chief’s house.

“Well, I’m really glad Tax-san came.”

Tax turned out to be a much more superior person than he had expected.

To begin with, he possessed common sense, something none of the three of them—Pumpkin, Mizuki, and the leader of the Hunting Bees at Samsara Egg Village—had.

Well, I’m less than two years old, the leader is a Hunting Bee, and Mizuki is a spirit, so neither of us is familiar with the common sense of humans.

This was why Tax was so valuable in sharing the common sense of the humans with them and Spalpkin.

“Besides, he has a good grasp of farming-related knowledge, too.”

To add to that, Tax kept up a solid understanding of farming, hunting, and commerce in order to perform his duties as a tax official; as a result of this expertise, Samsara Egg Village’s development has advanced significantly.

Yeah. I really appreciate your help, Tax-san.

“To get away from that man’s gaze must be tricky for me, nevertheless.”

“Mizuki?”

And here came Mizuki into the house.

Her expression was sullen, by all standards.

“I’ve been wondering for some time now, why is it that you are so reluctant to have your existence known by humans?”

“Oh, by the way, I haven’t told you about that.”

Mizuki then looked around for any signs of Tax before settling down on the floor.

She was apparently going to talk about it.

“Didn’t I tell you before that the spirits are the incarnation of nature?”

“I don’t remember, but you probably mentioned it.”

“Yeah. Well, to be more precise, spirits are the protectors of the equilibrium and cycle of the world of nature.”

“Hmm.”

Pumpkin nodded to Mizuki’s words and showed his understanding.

But still, protecting equilibrium and cycle… huh. I suppose the equilibrium is the fact that Mizuki is helping me and the leader, but not the other individuals.

Originally, spirits are not supposed to support a particular race.

As for cycle… well, nature is constantly changing, and that’s the right way to go about it. Considering that, it’s only natural.

“So, here’s my question to you, Pumpkin. Are humans the protectors of nature?”

“No, if anything, I would say they are on the side of destroying it.”

Pumpkin answered Mizuki’s question in no time.

As was the case in his previous life, the development of civilization and the preservation of nature were fundamentally incompatible.

The fact of the matter was that human intervention was already considered a part of nature.

In any case, Mizuki appeared to approve of Pumpkin and the Hunting Bees’ leader since they prioritized nature over their own lives and magic.

“Right? Furthermore, since spirits are a mass of magic power and can use potent magic, there are fools who try to make it their own…”

“Oh… I see…”

Mizuki’s expression was incredibly worn out as she said.

In fact, the magic that Mizuki exhibited last year when she fought Entdragon was quite formidable, partly due to the boost from the rain, but Pumpkin thought there might be someone out there who would consider maneuvering it as their own.

But well… to tell you the truth…

“But maneuvering spirit magic is impossible, isn’t it?”

“I agree. A spirit cannot leave the place where they were born, and if they are to be subdued by force, humans will need to possess magic power greater than that of a spirit or a special device…”

“Even if someone was to bring in a particular device, the spirit will know the details of anyone who comes to the vicinity of their dwelling site. Right?”

“Yes, exactly,” Pumpkin said, remembering his first encounter with Mizuki when she called out to him before he could sense her.

In fact, with that level of perception, a surprise attack would be impossible no matter what measures were taken. It would be impossible to win, or even if it was possible to win, it would be meaningless.

Well, the only reason to attack a spirit is to take advantage of their enormous magical power.

But even so, the demerit of the destruction of nature is greater than the merit of the increase in magic power.

“Well, I don’t think a normal human would beat me, but just in case, I don’t want too many humans to know I’m there, to avoid making any unnecessary disturbances.”

“I’m not necessarily against them because they’re human, but you never know where someone’s ears might be.”

Neither Mizuki nor Pumpkin believed that they would lose to a normal human being, which was why they said these lines, but as a matter of fact, there was no guarantee that if they told a good person about Mizuki, that person would not tell anyone, not to mention the possibility of an unscrupulous person listening in assuming that they would tell someone else.

In the first place, there can be no denying the possibility that someone in the wrong would overhear what was said.

“Well, that’s why I don’t want humans to know I exist.”

“In that case, I suppose it can’t be helped.”

In conclusion, if that was the reason, it would certainly be better to keep it hidden.

To be honest, if people like the last three fools find out about this, things are bound to get messy.

Besides, Tax would have no choice but to report it if he found out about Mizuki due to his position.

“Well, that’s why you’re going to have to keep up the charade.”

“You’re leaving all the decision-making to me huh…”

Mizuki subsequently went through a gap in the wall and went somewhere else.

I don’t think that’s a safe zone to leave all the decision-making to me though?

——————

A/N:

In the following chapter, there will be a bit of time skip.