Into the Upper Tier
The first thing Chester and Monia encountered as they walked through the Upper Tier was a fallen, broken tree. It wasn't an uncommon sight. Down below, they had frequently seen trees knocked over by storms, or for various other reasons. The only difference here was the sheer scale of the destruction.
"What on earth is this?" Monia asked.
"Did a meteor fall or something?" Chester muttered.
Most of the trees before them were fallen in a single direction, as if swept away by something massive.
Chester lowered the cautious stance he had maintained while keeping his distance from both the river and the forest. He stepped closer to the tree line to inspect the fallen trunks. Ant had already beaten him to it, sniffing intently at something on one of the logs.
"Ah, Chester!"
"...It's fur," Chester said, identifying what Ant was sniffing.
"What?"
As Monia drew closer, she saw a strand of fur caught in a split in the wood where Chester and Ant were looking.
"Animal fur."
"...Something this long?"
The strange thing was that the strand of fur was longer than Monia's own hair. Could there really be a creature with fur this long?
"Yeah."
"No, wait. If the fur is this long, just how massive is the beast it came from?"
"Long fur doesn't always mean a giant creature, but in this case, it definitely belongs to something huge. But there's something even scarier than the fur."
"What is it?"
Chester pointed to a specific spot on the trunk. There was a mark that was far too strange to be a natural split from the tree falling.
"It looks like it clawed the tree to knock it down..."
"...Excuse me?"
Clawed a tree to knock it down. Monia might not know much about survival, but she could guess what that implied.
"Are you saying... all of this is a territory marker?"
"Yeah. Looks like it."
Chester climbed onto a fallen trunk to get a better view of the distance.
"Hey, Monia. What do you make of that?"
Monia climbed up beside him and peered into the distance. Her eyesight wasn't as sharp as Chester's, so she couldn't make out the details as clearly, but even within her range of vision, something highly unusual was visible.
"Moss...? Or is it mold?"
"Yeah. Looks like mold, doesn't it?"
In the distance, most of the fallen trees were covered in a mysterious, mold-like substance, rotting away as if melting. Yet, amidst the mold and decaying wood, new saplings were shooting up like bamboo after rain.
Watching the trees grow at a speed visible to the naked eye inspired a sense of wonder, as if they were witnessing the forest's destruction and rebirth replayed in fast-forward.
But at the same time, it brought a creeping dread. It was a sight that defied common sense—not just for Monia, but for Chester as well.
An unidentified giant beast marking its territory by flattening a section of the forest. A mold-like entity devouring the ruined woods. And a forest regenerating in the blink of an eye.
"And this is the same island?" Chester muttered.
Below the waterfall, everything had been within the realm of Chester's common sense, save for the shrunken size of the wildlife and the rapidly shifting weather caused by the island's movement across the ocean. It was a bit unusual, and the weather was harsh, but otherwise, it wasn't a bad place to live.
But the scene before his eyes completely shattered that assessment.
It was bizarre. Incomprehensible. Hard to accept.
"Hmm."
Chester took a deep breath, staring at a sapling that had already grown a span taller.
"Right."
He nodded to himself.
"Chester?"
"Now I finally get it."
"Get... get what?"
"Monia, what did you think of the Floating Island before?"
Hearing his question, Monia caught his drift and understood what kind of impression he was asking for in their current situation.
"Honestly, it was hard at first... but now I feel like it's quite livable."
"Exactly."
Fast-growing plants and crops. The abundant vegetation sustained an abundance of wildlife, which in turn became food for Monia and Chester. If one's goal was simply to survive, it was just as Chester said. It almost felt like a remarkably easy place to live.
No need for money, no need for power. Just pure, untouched nature, free from anything that could corrupt human nature.
"It fell far short of being called a demon realm."
"A demon realm..."
Yet, the Floating Island was feared as a demon realm. Why? Because of the rumors fabricated by the kingdom. Because the nobles exiled to this island had vanished, never to return for one reason or another. The image crafted by the crown and the exaggerated rumors had painted the Floating Island as an ominous, horrific demon realm in the eyes of the kingdom's people.
Even Chester had believed those rumors at first, only to realize after living here for a while that they were fabricated.
But.
"I don't know if the rumors just happened to hit the mark by chance, or if they actually investigated this far before calling it a demon realm..."
The truth was unknown. But one thing was clear.
"This island really is a demon realm."
Chester fell silent for a moment, lost in thought.
"Though it still seems tamer than the demon realms my father told me about from his own experiences."
"Eek!"
Monia gasped in horror at his casual remark. Just what kind of superhuman was this man's father?
Whether the Upper Tier of this island was a demon realm or not didn't particularly matter to Chester and Monia. Of course, they would have to be extremely cautious and stay on high alert, but they had to take the risk for the sake of healing their leg and chest wounds.
His chest and thigh. Those were the places where they had suffered the largest and deepest wounds of their lives. The thigh wound was especially severe; Chester still had trouble walking properly.
Even with daily washing, the sheer scale of the injury made it a completely different beast from a simple torn palm. It oozed far more pus, and just when it seemed to be improving, Chester would break out in a raging fever, groaning in pain.
The healing process was agonizingly slow. If his wounds had been recovering well, Chester would never have made the decision to venture into the Upper Tier in the first place.
"Mmm."
"How is it? I think the water tastes a bit different up here."
"Gulp. Yes, it does. It feels... sharper, I suppose?"
"Sharper? What's that supposed to mean?"
"It feels crisp and clear. And it's incredibly smooth, without any of that chalky or gritty aftertaste in your throat or on your tongue. It's good water."
"Of course it is."
Chester reached into another bucket and scooped up a creature swimming inside.
"Because there are crayfish."
"What about crayfish?"
"They only live in truly clean, pure water."
Chester stared at the crayfish trapped in the bucket.
"Why is it so huge?"
A single crayfish filled the entire bucket. Chester stabbed it with his claw knife, killing it, and tossed it near the campfire.
"Ah! Oh no! I missed it. It went under the rock."
"There's one right next to your left foot."
"What? Eek!"
Looking down at her feet at Chester's warning, Monia panicked, flailed, and tumbled over.
While Monia was falling, Chester caught another crayfish and finally straightened his back, which had been bent from searching the water.
"Hmm. It feels like the days are a bit longer up here."
The sun was slowly sinking behind the mountains. Chester and Monia had halted their march, set up a simple camp, and were now foraging for food.
...
Since Ant wasn't much help when it came to fishing, he simply watched the two of them, played by batting his paws at the small fish near the water's edge, or drank from the stream.
At first, he had chased the fish with great enthusiasm, but now he seemed bored, his once-wagging tail drooping listlessly.
Whine~
He even let out a wide yawn.
"Look at him go," Chester chuckled.
Both Chester and Monia laughed at the sight of Ant yawning with his mouth wide open.
"Wait, dogs yawn too?" Monia asked.
"I thought you said he was a wolf."
"How is that a wolf?"
"Fair point. But yes, dogs yawn. Cats probably do too."
"Really? I'd love to see that."
Giving up on the crayfish, Monia began targeting the fish instead. She aimed at the water with a crude, simple harpoon she had quickly fashioned after hearing they were hunting by the stream.
"Take that!"
Splash!
As the harpoon pierced a fish, it thrashed wildly, sending water splashing everywhere. Monia hooked her finger through its gills, pulled it off the spear, and tossed it toward the campfire.
"The fish here are much smaller than the ones down below," Monia observed.
"I'm worried if they'll suit your taste."
"Ugh. Even if they don't, I'll still eat them!"
"Really? I know for a fact you've only been picking out the tastiest cuts of meat lately."
"Y-you've been watching me that closely? Ehehe."
"Hey, I'm scolding you right now. Why are you smiling?"
Chester shook his head at Monia's goofy grin and swiped his hand through the water.
Smack!
A fish struck by his hand flew right out of the water.
"What was that just now?"
"What was what?"
"I mean, catching a fish with your bare hands like that..."
"The ones up here are slow to react."
Smack!
"..."
"Oh, this crayfish is pretty big. There'll be plenty to eat."
Watching Chester catch fish with casual slaps while simultaneously grabbing crayfish, Monia was left utterly speechless.