Where the Red Moon Rises
Those who chase false glory shall sink into the mire.
The true victor shall head for where the crimson moon rises.
Thump.
Thump,
Thump.
A rough, pounding beat that hammered against my eardrums like a war drum.
I could not even tell whether this fierce throbbing belonged to me or to Ruby, cradled tight in my arms.
Inside the pitch-black robe, the two of us were pressed together with not so much as a handspan of space between us, our exhaled breaths brushing against each other’s chins.
“……Hey, you……”
Ruby’s voice trembled against my ear like a wet, ragged breath.
“Your hand…… the position’s a little dangerous.”
“I have no choice. There isn’t enough room.”
I answered in the driest tone I could manage. Honestly, it was not a lie. The robe was sized to hide a full-grown man with room to spare, yet for two people to vanish completely I had to wrap my arms around her waist and pull her as deep between my thighs as possible.
The problem was that her body was softer than I had imagined—and dangerously fragrant.
Of course I had no intention of casually laying hands on Ruby Scarlet. That would lock in a guaranteed Bed Ending.
Even so, the scent that kept teasing my nose—faint rose mixed with the sharp bite of gunpowder—was the very essence of the woman called Ruby Scarlet, and it was scrambling my reason.
“Ugh…… you, you’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you? You’re enjoying it.”
What……?
Enjoying what? Our lives are hanging by a thread right now.
I let out a hollow laugh of pure disbelief.
“I’m the one being wronged here. I’m just thrashing around trying to stay alive.”
“Don’t you dare lie! Your heartbeat’s been ridiculously loud this whole time!”
Ruby thumped a fist against my chest. Yet for all her protest she did not push me away. If anything, the knuckles gripping my clothes had gone white.
“Seriously…… you’re sticking to me on purpose, aren’t you?”
“I’m telling you I’m not…… Haah. Just stay quiet for now. The robe’s effect lasts a while, but if you keep making a racket we’ll be found.”
That was when it happened.
Rustle.
Right outside the robe, barely a handspan away, a presence stopped dead.
“Weird…… I’m sure the bastard bolted this way.”
One of the hunting dogs that had tried to kill me was pacing right in front of the tree we were hiding under. Tension turned the body in my arms rigid as stone. Reflexively I cupped the back of her head and pressed her face hard into my shoulder. The slightest movement could flip the robe’s hem.
“Mmph……!”
A stifled, scream-like gasp burst from Ruby’s lips. The mouth that brushed my neck was hot as a live coal. She was trembling in my arms—whether from fear of the enemy or for some other reason, I could not tell.
Please just leave already.
I held my breath and waited for the man to go.
One second stretched into an eternity that felt like a full minute.
“Fuck, this rat-bastard human…… where the hell did he run off to?”
“Ah, damn it. Looks like we lost him. Let’s try the other side!”
“That son of a bitch…… we have to kill him if we want the bigger payout.”
Are they talking about me?
More importantly, why are they after me in the first place……
Thinking it over, maybe I had simply gotten on that elf’s bad side. Humiliating him at the fountain? But I had clearly stated I belonged to the Holy See. Any noble elf should know how dangerous that affiliation is to touch. And yet they still tried to kill me? It made no sense. There had to be something beyond simple grudge.
I decided to sort that out later.
“We still have to take care of those two crazy bitches.”
“Let’s move over there for now.”
“Got it.”
Thankfully the footsteps gradually faded into the far side of the forest. We stayed locked in that tangled position until every last trace of presence had vanished.
“Whew…… they’re gone.”
I carefully peeled the robe open.
Whoosh—!
Cool forest air flooded the narrow, overheated space. At the same time the warmth that had filled my arms slipped away.
“Haa…… haa…….”
The moment the robe came off, Ruby staggered backward. She was breathing hard, head bowed low. Between the strands of crimson hair her ears burned as red as polished ruby.
“Ruby? Are you all right?”
I stepped closer in concern.
“Ha? Don’t come near me…… you pervert bastard.”
She scowled with sharp eyes. But when she lifted her face the sight was truly spectacular. Her eyes were moist, her cheeks flushed so hot they looked ready to burst into flame.
The great Ruby Scarlet, reduced to this just from a little close contact?
“Y-you……! You, you!”
“Yes? I save someone’s life and this is the reaction I get?”
“Shut up…… who told you to squeeze me that hard? I thought I was going to die from lack of air! You bastard!”
Ruby jabbed a trembling finger at me, her whole hand shaking.
“You think I was shaking because I was scared? I was shaking because touching you felt disgusting! Don’t get the wrong idea!”
……She said that, yet she looked anything but disgusted. Anyone could see she was flustered out of her mind with embarrassment.
I swallowed a snicker and put on a deliberately wounded expression.
“Then next time should I just leave you to become an ice skewer?”
“Ugh……! Always with the snappy comebacks!”
Ruby stamped her feet in place, still not satisfied, then kicked the innocent tree beside her.
CRACK—!
The trunk of the massive tree screamed as it split cleanly in half.
Whoa, fuck……
If that kick had landed on me I would have been dead.
“……Still.”
After venting her temper by demolishing the tree, Ruby suddenly muttered in a voice that had gone small and shy. She still would not look at me, glaring instead at empty air as she spat the words out.
“……Thanks for saving me. Just this once, I’ll let it slide.”
Ruby Scarlet's affection has risen.
Affection:+5
Current Affection:75
The affection window chimed brightly.
As expected, a vicious cat is fun to handle.
“……Think nothing of it. Partners look out for each other, don’t they?”
I shrugged and smoothly changed the subject. If I teased her any further a fireball might actually fly at my skull instead of the tree……
Anyway, that was that.
What mattered was what came next.
The tree standing clearly in my sight. It was definitely the guide left by that game-community veteran, the gallery user ILoveBlondeBigBreasts.
That red tree……
In other words, the giant Blood Wood?
No doubt about it.
“Ruby. Look over there for a moment.”
I jerked my chin toward the deeper forest where the mist had cleared.
“……What is that?”
There stood a crimson giant far larger than anything we had been searching for, radiating an ominous, blood-red aura.
“There’s probably a clue near that tree.”
“Ha? How would you know that?”
How do I know?
I can’t exactly say ILoveBlondeBigBreasts’s gallery post taught me.
I answered with shameless ease.
“……I’ve heard that elf nobles have a habit of using red giant trees as landmarks when they bury important items. Have you ever heard of that?”
“……Ha? What kind of bullshit is——”
Ruby started to snap back, then something clicked. She stopped mid-sentence, eyes flashing.
“Ah……! You’re right. Now that you mention it……”
“This Heavenly Spirit Tournament is hosted by elf nobles. So the odds are high that something is hidden using that red tree as a reference point.”
“……You’re pretty sharp.”
“Haha, you flatter me.”
Apparently convinced, Ruby strode straight toward the crimson giant. Maybe it was the affection boost, but she was accepting my opinions far more readily now.
Still, I could not let my guard down.
If ILoveBlondeBigBreasts’s advice was correct, that tree had traps installed.
Watching her back, I called out urgently.
“Ruby, wait a second.”
“What now?”
I stopped her from going ahead and pointed at the base of the trunk.
“Just walking up is dangerous.”
“Ha? What’s dangerous about a tree?”
“It’s the compass that leads to the trophy. You think they wouldn’t put security measures on it? There are probably traps that activate the moment you get close.”
I smiled faintly and pointed a finger at the roots.
“Hey…… aren’t you being way too paranoid?”
Ruby folded her arms under her chest and looked up at me through narrowed eyes.
I kept my gaze calmly on the tree and spoke evenly.
“No. There’s no harm in being careful. Let’s put your specialty to work. Just in case, sweep the ground thoroughly for us.”
At my suggestion her eyes lit up. As expected, she preferred smashing things with raw power over carefully dismantling them with her head.
“Hmm…… I hate following your suggestions, but…… I really can’t stand that uneasy feeling either.”
Ruby raised her right hand. A searing fireball swelled and roared to life above her palm.
“I’ll burn it all just like you wanted!”
BOOOOM—!!
The fireball she hurled detonated near the roots of the red giant. Then an unbelievable sight unfolded.
KIIIIIIIIEEEK!!!
“Wh-what the hell?!”
The tree screamed. Enormous vines that had been hiding underground thrashed in agony from the heat and burst up through the soil. The thick, writhing vines looked like a nest of dozens of tangled snakes. If we had approached without knowing, those vines would have coiled around us and turned us into fertilizer without a chance of escape.
As expected of noble elves—their rotten personalities never disappoint. Besides those man-eating plants, they had almost certainly layered double and triple magic wards.
Anyway, without ILoveBlondeBigBreasts’s gallery post we might all have ended up as that tree bastard’s dinner. Next time I meet him I ought to bow in gratitude.
“Ugh, disgusting things…… What is this? Man-eating plants?”
Ruby twisted her face in revulsion and poured more mana into the flames.
Whoosh!
No plant-type monster could withstand that overwhelming heat. The vines crumbled into black ash in an instant, and the base of the giant tree blew open to reveal a hidden space.
“……There it is.”
Where the smoke cleared, a small box glowing with faint magical light sat nestled inside the charred trunk.
Information truly is power.
We approached carefully.
“What is this…… treasure?”
Ruby opened the box with curious eyes.
Creeeak.
With the groan of old hinges the lid lifted, revealing the contents.
Inside was neither a splendid weapon nor gold and jewels. Only a single sheet of aged parchment lay there alone.
“What? Just a scrap of paper……?”
Ruby showed open disappointment. But my eyes lit up. This was the real deal.
I picked up the parchment from the bottom of the box. When I unfolded it, it was no ordinary map.
It showed the full topography of the forest where the Heavenly Spirit Tournament was being held, with a red-ink “X” marked at a specific point. And beneath it, a short inscription.
Those who chase false glory shall sink into the mire.
The true victor shall head for where the crimson moon rises.
“Crimson moon……?”
Ruby peered over my shoulder at the parchment and tilted her head.
“What does that even mean? They said the trophy is in the central temple.”
According to the official tournament rules, the first to claim the trophy wins. When we had checked the Heavenly Spirit Tournament map before the start, the Ancient Temple at the center of the forest had looked like the final destination. Common sense said every participant would be racing there.
Yet this map pointed to a completely different place—a cliff region on the forest’s outer edge.
False glory…….
Instinct struck.
Every elf heading for the central temple would come up empty-handed. No—they would fall into traps and be eliminated. While most of the contestants were slaughtering one another there, the true victory condition had been hidden somewhere else entirely.
This was the real trap of the tournament—and its true charm.
“Ruby. Let’s go this way.”
“Where?”
I tapped the X on the map.
“Here. The place where the real trophy is.”