"Talk" translation by Crimson (NOT ME)

[DoomRavager]

Rescued this from old BL, thought I might as well post it. Please delete thread if reposting other people's work is forbidden. Original translation by Crimson. (Korean>English)

1/ Darkwood Kingdom 1

'------all dead.'
She muttered, in front of the dreadful sight.

*

It was a dark forest.
Two hours since the nightmarish night had passed. Even though the sun has risen, the forest is still shrouded in darkness.
The forest is dark even in daylight, and it sheds blood repetedly in a shade of dark red as if it were the innards of some animal.
Blood is flowing, just like that.
The trees of this forest secrete blood instead of sap.
It was not made from the inside, but sucked from the outside.

------speaking frankly,
This forest can be called an alien world.

A black forest that reaches 50 kilometers in diameter. It, with a mind of its own, 'moves', and sucks the blood of every single animal in the area.
No man who had set foot upon this forest, which can be called an enormous predating lifeform on its own, has returend alive.
A dense overgrow of tree branches.
Countless roots reach into the earth.
Blood flows from the end of each, and the forest growls, as if it were one bloodthirsty dark-red beast.
Inside it, human ability is powerless. The trees suddenly strike, becoming weapons of free form,
and even the air becomes poisonous, leaving nowhere to flee.
A man engulfed by the forest has his fate sealed. No, the forest not only attacks humans, but the village itself,
and it wasn't rare for it to create a whole new forest in one night.
A vampiric land that thinks, and wanders the world with the earth.
Forest dwellers call it the Demon of Schwartzwald.
They call it the Disemboweling Forest of Einnashe.

'-------all dead, here as well.'
In the darkness, she is the only one alive.
She has no baptismal name. Only the name 'Ciel' refers to her.
Ciel sets foot upon the miserable space.
The trees in the vicinity are definitely eliminated. Probably the final struggle of the collegues.
The trees around the square were all slashed, broken, and incinerated.
Scattered around the square are around ten dead bodies. Bodies with familiar faces.
The demise of the follwers, sent into the forest by the order of the Church.
......in the end, a combat unit of 40 people wasn't even able to survive one night.
'......ten men could only eliminate such a small section.'
Ciel confirms the bodies one by one.
Each one is a first-class fighting monk, and a comrade who had trained together.
'So exorcists can be of no help within this forest... mages are not specialized in exorcism, but even to them, this forest would be a fatal place.'
The combat units of the Church are not accompanied by exorcists. The ones that were sent to this forest are specialized in close combat.
There were some who used sorcery as well, but their circuits couldn't have operated. Because, in this forest.

'------the source of magical energy is dominated by Einnashe, yes. Wouldn't that be why Narbareck chose you in the first place?'

Ciel's movement stalled.
Fixing her eyes on the tenth body, she spoke to the person who appeared------no, he was there from the start, behind her back.
'Merm. Are you the watcher this time?'
'Ahahaha... a watcher, that can't be appropriate.'
A lively laugh that doesn't match the scenery.
The one called Merm, does not reveal his form.
'Do you know that I really care for my co-workers? Since I'm here to help Ciel for now, why not be friends?
Actually, Eins was supposed to come here, but I switched places. He can't possibly protect you,
and both of you could be killed. But Narbareck insisted on putting you in charge... so I followed in a hurry.'
'You care for your co-workers? That's new... I'm just asking, but what did you do with Eins?'
'Ahaha, I ate him.'
Merm said in an innocent tone.
'It doesn't matter, does it? Just say Einnashe did him in. He was at a good age to retire, anyway.
This kind of work gets tough both physically and mentally after 50, doesn't it?'
'......I'm hearing this from someone whose life scales up to 4 digits, Merm.'
'No, look. I'm Peter Pan, so I can't be measured by common standards.'
'..................'
After confirming all the bodies, Ciel started to walk towards the center of the forest.
'Eh? What, you're going to do it alone? You know you can't use any sorcery in this forest, don't you?
The only thing one can trust here is his personal abilities. Supernatural powers that rely on exterior mana cannot be used.
After all, everything in this forest is-'
'Dominated by Einnashe, isn't it? I know that. This is a Reality Marble created by the shito Einnashe.
You can't enjoy the world's benefits when the world around you belongs to your enemy.'
'That's it. I mean, even if you are skilled in the martial arts. You didn't train yourself to master level.
The two factors that made you a member of the Burial Agency has no meaning here.
Without your sorcery and your immortality, you can't survive in this place.
Knowing this, and picking you, Narbareck's really got a rotten spirit.'
'It's probably just a test. Without my immortailty, I am not attractive firepower. The director is indirectly telling me to die.
'See, you're stubborn. That's why Narbareck likes you.'
'.....useless meddling. If you want to talk, than talk to those trees. They can attack people, maybe they can talk to people as well.'
Ciel leaves the square behind.
And behind her,

'------Ciel, you're leaving the Burial Agency, are you?'

A question is thrown, with murderous intent.

*

'I've heard that such rumors are spreading.'
Ciel replied in an emotionless voice.
The one called Merm giggled.
'So it is. Your objective was to regain your humanity by killing Roa. Since that has been accomplished, there is no reason to be with us.
Frankly speaking, you were invited by the British Museum, weren't you? Now that your next workplace has been arranged, don't you think this rumor is quite persuasive?'
'......I am no mage. Even if something goes wrong, I won't be joining the Association.'
'Ah, that's fortunate. Since it's really dull there. I figured if someone like you, who already knows the taste of blood, went there he'd die of boredom.
Of course. Dying of boredom, you wouldn't want to die such a shito-like death.
Well------although you are more shito-like than that shito over there in the first place.'
'------'
'Besides. I know that the rumor is just a rumor. I mean, if you were trying to leave, you would have left a year ago.
It's been a year since Roa was exterminated. And you've been continuing the shito-hunting. If your objective was in regaining humanity,
isn't it strange that you didn't leave a year ago?'
'------so, what are you trying to say, Merm Solomon?'
'Eh? Well, I'm saying that you don't really care about being human or not. All you're interested in is killing vampires.
Like the others, you're no more than a killing machine. Ah, but I'm different. I'm just a kid who likes toys.'
'------are you? Then don't bother with my affairs. Like what you said, I'm just a machine that kills shito.
So even if you're a co-worker, there's no guarantee that I won't assault you, is there?'
The shito called Merm laughs, shrouded in darkness.
'Then, Ciel, why are you still hunting shito?'

2/ op.

There is a shito called Einnashe.
It is regarded as one of the ancestors, but the vampire had changed its matter of existance dramatically some 800 years ago.
The vampire called Einnashe follows a forest.
There is a sorcery called Reality Marble, which materializes a person's mental image, altering the world temporarily.
The 'Living Forest' that Einnashe controls is a form of it.
However, while a typical vampire can only maintain a bounded barrier for a few minutes, and even the most powerful ancestors, a few hours, Einnashe maintains it for days.
The forest. The alien world called the Disemboweling Forest is elusive. It sucks the blood of hundreds of people, and then disappears,
going into a state of hibernation for a couple of decades. Einnashe shows its form only around once in 50 years.
This is why the Church hasn't been able to seal it, even though it repeats mass homicide.
No, to speak the truth, they have no way of destroying Einnashe in the first place.
Out of the 27 ancestors, ones that rank in the top 10 cannot be destroyed by ordinary concepts.
For if one is to compete against a being that lives in an illusion, one must use an illusion that surpasses it.

And this time.
Einnashe is active again, and two towns have already been exterminated.
The Church has sent first-class combat units out of dignity.
The result is obvious. The Church has failed again.
Also, the Church is not the only one that is interested in Einnashe.
There are many organizations that are trying to negotiate, or capture Einnashe, one of the most powerful of the shito.
They, too, sent their elite into the forest, but the result was the same.
Einnashe does not distinguish friend from foe. Everything that sets foot upon his alien world has no more meaning to it than food.

Even so, there are many humans who wish to enter the dark forest.
One of the reasons is related to immortality.
In the center of the dark forest, there is a giant tree, and in that throne of Einnashe is a fruit of vivid red.
A singe fruit holding the condensed blood of hundreds, thousands of animals that had lived in the forest.
One who eats that fruit can gain temporary immortality.

That is, similar to a light trap.
Countless humans enter the dark forest, lured by the fruit of immortality.
This year, it has been 4 days since Einnashe has appeared again, and the number of hunters that have entered the forest goes over a hundred.
------only four remain.
Numbers 5 and 7 of the Burial Agency, the prized anti-vampire organization of the Church.
A wind magus from the Mage's Association, who has visited the forest as a hunter.
And, one other.