54
Chapter 54
"How... are we supposed to open this?"
I muttered, looking at the pattern of Kalzheim carved into the floor.
I had my hopes up since it was supposed to be a hideout, but no matter how I looked at it, it was just a normal stone floor.
There wasn't a single common handle in sight, and I tapped the floor to see if there was a hidden door, but only a heavy thud rang out.
"Could it... perhaps react to magic?"
Eileen asked carefully.
I gave a small nod and gathered mana at my fingertips.
Then, I carefully condensed a small water drop and let it fall onto the pattern on the floor.
Drip! Swish.
Rumble!
At that moment, the pattern in the center of the floor glowed faintly and began to slide open.
To think it reacts to mana... Do priests use mana too?
Remembering the white light I saw back then, it did have a similar texture to mana.
"It's open."
"What... could be inside?"
I slowly went down below the floor.
It was a narrow passage with low, wide steps that could barely be called stairs.
It was a bit damp, and the inside was full of darkness... but it wasn't blocked.
After stepping carefully, we reached the inside of the narrow space.
"Someone was here."
Just like Eileen said, there were definite signs that someone had used the place.
There was an old blanket and a thin bed, some moldy bread in the corner, and a half-burned candle stuck in a holder.
Above all, the books neatly arranged on the floor.
'Paper is ridiculously expensive, so do the priests here have a lot of money?'
I opened the thin notebook on top.
The old paper was filled with dense handwriting, and a faintly written name could be seen inside the cover.
"Order of Kalzheim, 5th Pilgrim Lahar...."
"...Looks like he was from the same Order as Mr. Bravil."
"Did he live here?"
"...Probably. But the candle is completely cold, and the food looks months old. I don't think anyone has been here recently."
There wasn't much content, contrary to what I expected.
A story about being dispatched for a similar reason to Mr. Bravil,
And short records of encountering a few monsters and ultimately having no choice but to run away.
There were no warnings about danger, no magical analysis, and no deep stories tied to this temple.
Just a request to be careful, and a few sentences tinged with helplessness.
My hand stopped turning the pages.
The records abruptly ended after a certain date.
That day was long before the large-scale subjugation operation that Bravil had mentioned.
'That was quite a long time ago.'
I flipped through more pages hoping to find an answer somewhere, but a sigh soon escaped me.
The pages were damp, and mold stains had spread, making the letters so blurry they were almost unrecognizable.
Does this mean no one visited this temple after the day the records stopped?
Or does it mean someone here no longer even had the luxury to leave a record?
I slowly closed the book.
"Then did this person participate in the subjugation back then and never return?"
I took out an old slip of paper tucked in as a bookmark.
Only a single sentence was written on it.
'The center of the forest is still awake. It just isn't hungry yet.'
"...That's a creepy thing to say."
"Yeah... And something we need to keep in mind."
I pushed the bed and old blanket aside to make some room.
It was cramped and damp, but it was fine as a place to make it through the night.
"Let's rest here for tonight. Moving right away is... a bit much, isn't it?"
"...Yes."
And so, we quietly unpacked in the midst of the traces someone had left behind.
The space that was just the floor of an unfamiliar temple a moment ago soon became a hideout imbued with the traces of old memories.
***
The hideout was definitely a hideout.
Unlike turning our backs and sleeping curled up in an abandoned temple, we were able to get a decent human night's sleep for the first time in a while.
The air was relatively clear, and the dampness was somewhat bearable.
In the hushed space, I could feel a somewhat refreshing sensation where the morning chill had lingered.
...Though that refreshing feeling was quickly blown away by the severe pain in my right hand.
"Ugh...."
I gritted my teeth without realizing it and clutched my right hand.
The back of my hand was bruised blue, and a faint tingling pain shot up from my wrist joint.
I couldn't just rely on magic.
My stamina and physical body had to keep up to survive for a long time in this harsh world.
With that thought, I clenched and unclenched my fist a few times to loosen up my hand.
"Are you okay?"
Eileen, who was quietly swallowing a sip of water, asked carefully upon seeing me.
"Yeah, it's just a bit stiff. Did you sleep much?"
"Yes, thanks to you. This place... is cozier than I thought."
I nodded at her words.
It was pretty decent for a hideout.
"Is that stone statue the god the people of the Order of Kalzheim believe in?"
"I think so."
There was a small stone statue quietly placed under the wall in the corner of the room.
There wasn't any fancy carving, and there were no decorations around it.
It looked like a figure roughly carved out of stone. It had faint features and a somehow expressionless face.
To be honest, it was too ordinary to be considered a statue of a god.
Usually, when making a statue of a god, they would add wings or at least give it a radiant halo... but this just felt like a rough copy of a passerby's face.
It seemed there was no glorification whatsoever.
'It seems this Order is quite honest.'
I stared at the strangely familiar stone statue for a moment before tilting my head.
It looked ordinary, but it had a structure that strangely kept drawing my eyes.
It gave off a strange feeling, as if it were silently telling me to take a look before leaving.
"You said this person was a human, right?"
Eileen spoke up carefully.
Her gaze was also fixed on the stone statue.
"Yeah. Apparently, they're a demigod. Someone who started as a human and rose to the position of a god."
"...Is that why it looks so much like a human?"
"Maybe. But it seems you don't know much about religion either."
"I did believe in the Sereon Religion, but I wasn't really devoted."
Eileen gave a small laugh while looking at the stone statue. That laugh was a mixture of strange longing and fatigue.
"I only followed along during formal ceremonies, and I only knew a few prayers I memorized as a child. I just... naturally picked it up while living in the castle, so it's hard to say I truly believed."
"That goes for me too."
I chuckled and nodded my head.
Even before coming to this world, I had never deeply believed in a god.
Once, when I was young, a friend took me to a church with the promise of a fried chicken gift card, but that was it.
Religion was always like that.
It might be the center of life for someone, but to me, it was still a distant concept.
"But the people here seem to have pretty deep faith."
At Eileen's words, I looked around.
An old incense burner was placed in front of the small altar, and there were traces of someone kneeling in a secluded corner.
It was covered in dust, but it was clear that someone had tried to protect this place for a long time.
"They probably had no choice. If there's anywhere to lean on in a world like this, it would ultimately only be a god."
After saying that, I looked at the stone statue again.
Its stone face was still looking at us with an indifferent gaze, as if it didn't care whether we believed in it or not.
"You might be right."
Silence flowed for a moment.
I slowly stood up and spoke.
"Let's get going. If we stay any longer, we'll get attached to this place for no reason."
"Yeah, it is a bit of a scary place to get attached to."
I briefly bowed my head before standing straight.
I didn't have any particular faith, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to show some respect.
"Alright, shall we head out now?"
I picked up my bag again, grabbed the mace leaning against the wall, and hung it on my waist.
My wrist still ached, making it hard to use... but there was still nothing better for protecting myself.
We stepped out of the temple and successfully found our bearings.
Since it was a site built for a temple, some of the surrounding trees had been cut down, allowing rare sunlight to filter through.
Thanks to that, I could gauge the rough direction of north by looking at the sun's position.
Normally, it would be a small gap I would pass by without much thought, but in this forest, even such a gap was a precious guide.
"Oh, north was this way?"
Eileen asked from beside me in an admiring voice.
I could feel her sending me a look that said she expected nothing less, but I turned my head and avoided her gaze.
Honestly, I wasn't even sure if it was the right direction either.
It wasn't like I had a map, and this forest wasn't very bright even with the sun high in the sky.
But anyway, right at this moment, this was the most plausible direction.
"Yeah. If we're heading north, it should be this way."
I vaguely pretended to know the way and started walking, and Eileen quietly followed behind without asking any questions.
'...If I get this wrong for no reason, her infinite trust in me is going to shatter.'
I quietly sighed inwardly and took the lead.
Fortunately, the forest was gradually thinning out in that direction.
The dense trees were spread out with some distance between them, and it felt like a bit more light was coming in.
"Doesn't it feel like it's gotten a bit better somehow?"
Eileen said in a small voice from behind.
"Yeah. I think we're going the right way."
Of course, it was just a feeling.
But so her words wouldn't be awkward, I also gave a slight nod.
We walked like that for quite a while.
The air was gradually changing.
From an atmosphere oppressed by moisture and darkness, the scent of leaves and the fresh smell of dirt were slowly reviving.
With every step we took, the texture beneath our feet softened, and faint rays of light began to leak through the dense trees.
'Are we finally going to see some light?'
Having walked in the darkness for so long, even that small change put my mind at ease.
It felt like slowly floating up toward the surface from deep underwater.
Just seeing the faint color of the sky through the gaps in the black foliage hanging overhead brought my energy back.
The more we walked, the more rewarding it felt.
That incredibly dense forest extending from the access road was now slowly regaining its green color, and our shadows were already following behind us.
Eileen seemed to have recovered some of her energy too, following beside me with a bright expression.
Rustle, rustle.
My body stiffened instinctively at the sound coming from the brush up ahead.
I lowered my stance and placed my left hand near my mace, and Eileen also quietly stepped back while holding her breath.
In this forest, you never know what will pop out of the brush.
Having gone through so much already, even a tiny noise made tension shoot up to the top of my head.
Swoosh!
What burst through the brush was...
"......."
It was a small gray rabbit.
With its fur puffed up and standing on end, it looked around wildly before spotting us and darting off into the brush.
"......It's a rabbit."
Eileen said, letting out a breath.
"Yeah. Got startled for no—"
"Screeeech!!!"
The death throes of something dying rang out from beyond the brush.
"......!!"
In an instant, the muscles in my entire body stiffened again.
The tension that had just lifted returned in full force, and this time, I could smell a real threat approaching.
I pushed Eileen back and whispered.
"Let's hide."
I quickly looked around.
A crevice in a boulder draped in vines, or under a large fallen tree covered in dead leaves.
It wasn't the best option, but it was enough to get out of sight for now.
We quickly hid our bodies underneath it.
And a moment later.
Rustle, rustle.
Something slowly revealed itself from the direction where the rabbit had vanished.
It was standing completely straight on two legs.
Its entire body was covered in green plants like vines, moss, and leaves, and even its hair was tangled like brush.
At first glance, it looked like a piece of the forest had walked out.
In its hand was the rabbit that had just darted away.
The small creature, limp with a twisted neck, was still shedding warm blood while grasped in the bizarre entity's hand.
What is that? A baby Monster Tree?
"...."
I instinctively held my breath.
The entity slowly turned its head and stared straight in the direction we were hiding.
"......."
It didn't move or speak.
It only slowly tilted its long, slender neck, cocking its head as if trying to confirm something.
In that moment, cold sweat ran down my spine.
I felt like I even had to be careful with the sound of my breathing.
However, the entity soon withdrew its gaze and quietly placed the rabbit on the ground.
Then, placing a hand on the small corpse, it began to chant something in a low, monotonous tone.
"——O forest, please return this life back to the earth."
That voice definitely belonged to a person.
The resonance of the voice, the manner of speaking, and the choice of words were all human.
I looked at Eileen with wide, surprised eyes.
She, too, wore a bewildered expression at the human language spoken by this unidentified entity.
At that moment, he raised his head and spoke.
"You there, you don't have to hide anymore."
"......!"
Having pinpointed our exact hiding spot, he slowly took steps toward us.
Seeing him up close, I could tell for sure.
He wasn't a monster. He was definitely a person.
However, perhaps because he had been with the forest for too long, his appearance looked more like he was half-assimilated into the forest rather than human.
"Are you Pilgrims by any chance? Or... are you lost in the forest?"
He stopped and slightly raised both hands, showing he had no intention of harming us.
"I am Vellan. A wandering Druid who lives in this forest."
There were still more people in this forest that we didn't know about.