Shadows of the Forest (3)

The man's shadow vanished as quickly as the one that had appeared in front of me moments ago. It could have been a passing adventurer or a lost traveler. Given that the shadow had a bow slung across its back, it was probably an adventurer… but a bad feeling settled in my gut.

The forest outskirts were a place people normally passed through, but dismissing the fact that someone had ventured this deep into the fog-shrouded zone as mere coincidence felt off. Still, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I couldn't just abandon my goal after coming all this way. That meant I needed to hurry.

"Can't we just go back?" Haley asked, looking up at me with trembling eyes.

Even so, the way she tried to smile through it showed that for a girl her age, she had pretty decent courage. I didn't have time to comfort her fear, so this worked out fine.

"Want to wait here by yourself?"

"N-no way."

"Then get up already."

"Aren't you scared?"

To be honest, saying I wasn't scared at all would've been a lie, but right now my mind was racing too fast to waste time being afraid of illusions. More than that, I was worried about the third party lurking somewhere in this fog.

"It just shows up and disappears without doing anything."

"So there's a reason you don't have to be scared. Got it."

I'd given a half-hearted excuse, but Haley had sharp eyes as always. She seemed to have realized there was no need to fear the illusions, even if she didn't know what they really were. Fear still lingered on her face, but her eyes sparkled with clear fascination at the same time.

I tucked my staff under my arm for a moment and reached out to help her up. Haley brushed the dirt off her backside with a few quick pats. Both of us were completely covered in mud from head to toe.

"By the way, why did you come to a place like this?"

She'd been following me around like a puppy this whole time, yet she was asking now? Talk about timing.

"A request. Someone asked me to investigate."

I made up a convenient excuse. Since requests like that would probably come up later anyway, it wasn't exactly a total lie.

"Ah! There it is again. This one looks like me."

We'd barely taken a few steps before another illusion appeared from behind a tree. Just as Haley said, this one took her form. She must still have been scared, because ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she pointed at it and grabbed onto my left arm—the one holding the magic lantern.

"That hurts."

"I told you to hold on tight, didn't I?"

"I thought you meant my clothes…"

"There's another one over there!"

Haley didn't even wait for me to finish before pointing to the opposite side. This time, the illusion looked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠exactly like me—Kael. Her hand gripping my arm was shaking, so she was definitely afraid, but her voice and expression said otherwise. She looked like she was touring a haunted house at an amusement park.

When you thought about it, this boss's pattern wasn't all that different from a haunted house attraction. It was better than her screaming and flailing in terror, so I decided to just let her be. Even if my captured arm did hurt a bit.

"There are so many of us… Is it some kind of doppelganger monster?"

The fog grew thicker and the number of illusions increased. Shadows shaped like me and Haley kept popping up everywhere. Haley seemed to have gotten used to it by now; instead of fear, she looked more intrigued. Occasionally the male figure from before appeared too, but that was the one that really bothered me.

"A forest that produces illusions… How fascinating…"

"Could you please be quiet?"

Haley's voice was quite loud. I warned her in case the other person lurking nearby might hear us.

"Why? Why do I have to be quiet? Is there a reason we need to be quiet?"

Bad move. This girl turned every single comment into three questions. I just shut up and kept walking.

The area crawling with illusions was the path leading straight to the boss. It didn't take long before we reached what I assumed was the spot where the boss stone would be lying. The thick fog made it hard to see clearly, but the crowd of shadows standing there confirmed this was the place.

"Hold this for a second."

I pulled Haley's hand off my arm and handed her the magic lantern I'd been carrying.

"D-don't go alone."

"I'm not going anywhere. Just hold the light steady."

I pushed through the shadows and took a few more steps forward. The shadows tried to obstruct me with eerie gestures, but the moment they touched my body they scattered like mist. The fact that they were acting so wildly meant the main body was definitely here.

Sure enough, I found a small black stone inside a hollow in the large tree right in front of me. This was the core of the monster that had created all the surrounding fog and illusions. Later it would merge with the tree it inhabited and swing its branches like tentacles, but for now only the core sat there exposed. Destroying it would be ridiculously easy.

In the game, after defeating the moving tree, you just had to pull out the core and crush it by hand. But…

"……."

It wouldn't break. My grip was pathetically weak. I crouched down, set the stone on the ground, and stabbed it hard with the end of my staff.

I already knew what the skill was, so there was no need to check it right away. The moment the black core shattered, the shadow figures around us began to disappear one by one like smoke. With the main body gone, the thick fog that had blanketed the area would gradually thin out too.

"What? What did you do? How did you do that?"

Haley, who could see me clearly now that her view had opened up, asked with her face full of curiosity once again.

"Let's go. Quickly."

I didn't have time to leisurely explain, nor any reason to. The fog was thinning and visibility was increasing by the second. That went for the other person hiding in the mist as well. If they were targeting me, it meant they could make their move anytime now.

I grabbed Haley by the wrist and started walking briskly.

"Mmm…"

Haley, whose wrist I had seized, didn't ask why or what this time. She simply followed quietly behind me. I'd been ready to cover her mouth if she got too noisy, so this was perfect.

With better visibility, retracing our steps wasn't difficult. Our footprints were clearly visible in the muddy ground. All we had to do was follow them back. As we walked, the fog almost completely lifted and faint light began filtering through the branches. Even so, I didn't slow down. I kept moving at nearly a run.

That was when it happened.

Whoosh.

The sharp sound of something flying toward us cut through the air.

"Get down!"

I yanked hard on Haley's wrist. It was to lower our posture. I threw myself to the ground in a desperate dive as well.

"Hngh…!"

Unfortunately, I ended up landing right on top of her back. The magic lantern Haley had been holding smashed against the ground. It wasn't strictly necessary from here on, so I left it.

When I cautiously lifted my head, I saw an arrow deeply embedded in the tree right next to where we'd been standing moments ago. Then another one came flying fiercely from somewhere. This time it whistled past right beside our prone bodies.

So they're after me after all.

It was hard to imagine Haley being the target. At this point, she was just one of the many clueless academy students. Talented and eccentric, sure, but she had no reason to be targeted by anyone yet. Except for the part about having zero talent, I was in pretty much the same boat… I had a few guesses, but I didn't have the luxury of dwelling on them right now. Dealing with the bastard aiming for me came first.

Whoosh. Whoosh.

The fierce sounds came in rapid succession again. The sound of the projectiles was different this time, and they were hard to see. Probably small throwing weapons. The fact that they could throw them meant the distance wasn't too great, but while lying flat, the underbrush made it impossible to tell where the attacker was.

The silver lining was that the enemy was probably in the same situation. They must have spotted the magic lantern we'd had on earlier and launched the attack. Right now, they didn't know our exact position either. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠It would be nice if we could stay hidden and counterattack, but the problem was I didn't even know which direction they were in.

If I'd been alone, I could've taken the risk relying on my Indomitable Will skill to survive a hit, but with Haley here I couldn't move recklessly.

"Just a little to the side…"

At that moment, Haley squirmed beneath me and whispered. Come to think of it, I was still pinning her down. I shifted slightly to the side as quietly as possible. Haley gasped for breath and finally managed to roll over. Seeing her looking like she'd just come back from a mud festival, I felt a little guilty—even though I'd knocked her down to keep her from getting hit by arrows.

"I can block them…"

Still lying down, Haley moved her staff. With a cracking sound like ice splitting, a semicircular ice wall suddenly rose up, enclosing us. Thud! The enemy's next projectile embedded itself right in the center of the ice wall. Thanks to that, I could tell which direction the attack had come from.

Not bad. Come to think of it, this girl was originally a top-class mage. It was a relief she wasn't panicking in a situation like this.

"Then keep it up and block them well."

I pushed myself up into a sitting position. Thanks to Haley, I'd conserved my mana while fighting the slimes and spiders earlier, so I had plenty left. Even covered head to toe in mud, she was concentrating hard to maintain the ice wall. With a defensive barrier in place, I was like a mortar set up in a fortified position. I drew up my mana without holding back. I didn't know the enemy's exact location, but knowing the direction was enough.