The Flow of Fate
The beginning of the anomaly born in Trajan Village under the flow of fate had started one month earlier. Hunters heading into the forest as usual to hunt game discovered unfamiliar traces deep in the woods. They were nothing like the droppings left by the animals and monsters normally found near the village. These strange marks appeared everywhere among the trees.
At first, the hunters hadn't been too worried. Unfamiliar monsters and beasts occasionally wandered in from beyond the village borders, and a few had even settled down permanently. With a new monster in the area, they decided to monitor how the forest's ecosystem might shift and proceed with extra caution. Such situations were routine for them. What they hadn't expected was for the intruder to start interfering with their hunts.
It began as harmless pranks. Small fruits dropping onto their heads as they walked the trails, or the creature deliberately rustling nearby when they were stalking prey—just enough to startle them. Since not every monster was vicious, the hunters assumed this newly settled, apparently gentle one was simply toying with them and would soon grow bored and vanish. But whatever it had eaten, the thing refused to stop. A full month later, it was still harassing them.
The pranks never put their lives in real danger, but they made hunting—the foundation of their livelihood—nearly impossible. After enduring it as long as they could, the hunters tried every trick they knew. Yet the creature that could disappear like a ghost proved impossible to track. In the end, they prepared to hire adventurers. That was when we, who happened to be visiting our hometown, stepped in.
"So that's the general story?"
"Yeah. So please, do something about the monster in the forest! I'm begging you!"
I nodded at the earnest request from my old hometown friend. For someone who made his living as a hunter in the village, this situation was critical. Seeing his desperate face, I put on a confident expression and gave him a firm nod.
"Don't worry. Tracking is my specialty."
Even as a child, I'd had the best grades in ranger classes, and now I possessed the Pathfinder skill thanks to my Mystery ability. But my greatest tracking asset wasn't either of those things. It was the power passed down through my bloodline.
"Kiit!"
Rata, who had already climbed out of my pocket, let out a energetic cry. The surrounding bushes rustled, and small animals began to emerge. Creatures of every kind gathered like gentle lambs. I rolled my neck lightly and spoke to them.
"Does any of you know about a monster that recently entered the forest?"
The woods erupted into noise. The animals glanced at one another, chittering and squeaking. It seemed none of them had direct knowledge. Still, I couldn't expect success on the first try. I decided to send them out to search.
"Can you help me search this forest? I'll reward you generously."
"Kiit! Kit! Kit!"
The affinity derived from my World Resonance—the aura that earned goodwill from the living beings of this world—made the animals accept my request without hesitation. They scattered in every direction. The smaller ones skillfully climbed through the trees while birds took to the sky, surveying the vast woodland. I'd deliberately avoided calling the larger beasts, since they might alert the monster, but the small animals and birds proved more than enough.
In no time, creatures spread across the entire forest returned with clues both large and small. Rata organized the information they brought and relayed it to me. Before long, we had pinpointed where the problem monster was staying.
When our party arrived at the location, we found an absolutely massive tree. The students gasped in awe at the trunk that must have been dozens of meters tall, but I remained unimpressed. Trees this size were common if you ventured deep into the forest or toward the front lines. Still, I kept silent so as not to spoil their wonder and approached the tree.
A large knot-hole marked the otherwise unremarkable trunk. As I calmly peered inside, a pair of bright, beady eyes appeared in the darkness. Then the creature emerged.
Everyone's faces filled with shock once they saw the monster that had been tormenting the hunters.
"That's..."
"...a new species of monster?"
The creature that had crawled out of the knot-hole looked nothing like what I'd imagined. If anything, it bore an uncanny resemblance to someone I already knew.
"Rata?"
"Kit?"
"Kiit?"
Indeed. The so-called new monster that had been harassing the hunters and quickening our pulses turned out to be a giant squirrel that looked remarkably like Rata. Rata himself seemed startled, eyes wide as he stared at this creature that mirrored his own appearance. Aside from the enormous size difference, they were nearly identical. The giant squirrel noticed Rata too and watched him with open curiosity.
"Could they be the same species? Maybe this monster grew large because of a Mystery?"
"That's a very plausible theory."
The rest of the party kept glancing back and forth between Rata and the giant squirrel, equally fascinated. It wasn't unusual for monsters and animals to share similar appearances, but these two looked like they had been copied from the same mold with only the scale changed.
The creature, which had been warily eyeing the humans, perched halfway out of the knot-hole as if debating whether to come down. The moment its gaze met mine, its eyes widened slightly. Then, in an instant, all its caution melted away and it approached.
"Kiit!"
"Kit!"
After chattering with Rata on my shoulder, the giant squirrel pushed its snout forward to sniff me, then promptly rubbed its head against me in a clear display of affection. The gesture was something no wild monster would ever show. I stared in bewilderment.
"What the...? Why is it acting like this?"
"Looks like it likes you."
"I can see that, but why is it suddenly being so friendly?"
Even the famously docile Gorax had never been this affectionate. The creature was acting like it had just reunited with an old friend. The behavior felt strangely familiar. As I tried to place where I'd seen it before, a certain monster currently playing in the Water Realm came to mind.
"...Protisha?"
"Kit?"
"Yeah, it feels exactly like that one."
The same sensation I'd gotten from the three-tailed fox now radiated from this giant squirrel. It was hard to describe, but if I had to put it into words, I'd say it felt neither hostile nor wary—just genuinely friendly. The kind of feeling you might get from a dog or cat. I looked at it with fresh wonder.
"Did you awaken from an ancient ruin as well?"
"Kiit!"
The giant squirrel answered vigorously, even nodding its head. It seemed my guess was correct. I cautiously stroked the massive squirrel that had apparently emerged from an ancient ruin near the village. By now the rest of the party had gathered around it, their expressions turning serious.
"Ancient ruins... that's a topic that's come up quite frequently lately."
"A lot of incidents involving ancient ruins have been happening recently. We discovered several ourselves while at the academy."
"The timing matches perfectly with when people started showing interest in them."
"Is it because of the ancient ruin excavation teams?"
It was certainly an odd coincidence. With so many events tied to the ancient civilization occurring lately, it almost felt like the hand of fate. I asked Rata to persuade the giant squirrel to guide us to the ruins where it had awakened, then fell into thought.
The secrets of the ancient civilization, connected to the mysteries of the world, were probably known only to the gods in this era. Unless the dragons from legend were actually alive somewhere. Since no rumors about them had surfaced, I turned to Harne, the Saintess who had deep ties to the gods.
"Does the Holy Kingdom have any records related to the ancient civilization? Or any words the gods might have left behind about them?"
"I'm not particularly interested in that field, so I'm not sure. As far as I know, the Holy Kingdom's archives don't contain such materials."
"What about the forbidden archives or secret record repositories?"
"I've never been there, so I wouldn't know. I'll look into it when we return."
I nodded at her reliable response. By then Rata had finished persuading the squirrel and gave me a triumphant nod. Realizing the negotiation had succeeded, I led the party after the giant squirrel now taking the lead.
"Kiit! Kit!"
"Kit-kit! Kiit!"
Listening to the squirrels' conversation as we walked kept the journey from feeling tedious. I listened with interest to the exchange between the Mystery-awakened squirrel and its monster counterpart until we reached our destination. There, cleverly concealed by vegetation at the base of a massive cliff, was a cave.
"So that's the entrance to the ruins?"
"Kit!"
No wonder no one had found it. The terrain near Trajan Village was notoriously treacherous. Even veteran hunters hesitated to venture here. The area was also teeming with active monsters, offering little reward for the risk. The giant squirrel strode confidently into the cave. Neon, however, wore a disappointed expression.
"I was expecting a new monster to fight. This is a bit anticlimactic."
"Can't be helped. Hunting a monster that's friendly toward humans doesn't exactly fit the adventurer code."
Monsters that needed to be exterminated were scattered across the entire North. There was no reason to hunt one that could coexist with people—something the adventurer community actively discouraged. After all, adventurers sought honor and glory by slaying monsters. Why would they hunt something that would earn them criticism instead? Neon knew this, so he swallowed his disappointment and followed us into the cave.
The interior was cleaner than expected. Despite being abandoned for a thousand years, there were no traces of animals or monsters having taken shelter. The usual dampness and life forms typical of caves were completely absent.
"It's surprisingly clean inside."
"Maybe because it's been hidden all this time?"
As we ventured deeper, natural rock walls gave way to artificial corridors that welcomed us. Everyone in the party had experience with ancient ruins, so they walked the passageways calmly. After traveling quite a distance from the cave entrance, we reached the end of the corridor.
A massive stone door stood firmly closed before us. It was pitted with large and small holes, showing its age, but it still seemed to function properly as a barrier.
"Kiit."
"You can leave freely, but entering is impossible?"
"Kit-kit, kiit."
"So we need a key to get in."
Just as the giant squirrel had said, the stone pillar in front of the massive door had a groove perfectly sized for inserting something. As I examined the slot carefully, I couldn't help but let out a dry laugh.
"Hah."
The groove wasn't meant for a key. It was the perfect size for a fist-sized cube. I pulled an object from my inventory. It was the cube I'd obtained from the altar beneath the imperial palace. I didn't know what material it was made of or what function it possessed. All I knew was that it was a genuine relic. Yet its dimensions matched the groove in the pillar exactly.
My companions stared at the cube in astonishment. I found myself looking up at the ceiling, imagining the beings beyond it as I muttered.
"Is this too part of the flow of fate? Or is it the gods' arrangement?"
I'd suspected as much since the underwater ruins beneath Emerald Lake in the West. No matter how I thought about it, discovering the Sun Medal through hidden spaces and sunlight in that trance-like exploration couldn't possibly have been coincidence. Now they were being so blatant about it that I could only sigh.
"I thought only the world was interested in me. Turns out the gods are watching too."
It was possible the world was guiding me through its agents, the gods, but I didn't dwell on it. Even if I'd been caught in an irresistible current of fate, there were still things I could do within that flow. The stories I'd seen countless times in my previous life were proof enough. If only the events directly recorded in fate came true, then all the surrounding details could change. That was the premise for stories about defying predetermined destiny.
Besides, if the predetermined fate was a positive one, was there any need to twist it? Perhaps the world was working to lead me toward a hopeful future. Given the interest it had shown when I awakened to Gold rank, that seemed highly likely. Of course, someone with a more twisted personality might have despaired at being moved like a puppet on strings. I considered myself lucky to have realized this truth.
With that thought, I inserted the cube into the groove.