Chapter 64
Chapter 64
-----------------------------------------------------------------
>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 64
>Chapter Title: The Sky is Blue, No, Red
>-----------------------------------------------------------------
Indeed, the Hamern Great Forest was a total shitshow.
Keeek...!
Kak!
Monsters bursting out from everywhere. Their varieties were so diverse it was impossible to even count them.
The most numerous among them were, of course, the goblins—but were these really goblins?
'What the hell kind of size...'
A proper goblin was supposed to be around 1.5 meters tall, with a scrawny frame like a child's.
And yet, those compact bundles of wiry muscle were their hallmark.
Pew-bang, bang!
Using Crimson Jade, I precisely burst the goblins' heads before looking down at the sprawled corpses.
About two meters tall.
Even bigger than a well-built adult man.
And those muscles.
'Must've eaten damn well.'
Hickster, the second son of the Doranpega martial house. It was exactly the kind of build that came to mind.
"Uh, um... Mage-nim, may I take a quick look?"
"Yeah."
I stared at the goblin for a moment before stepping aside.
Railey had a bundled pack slung over his shoulder, but it didn't seem heavy at all as he strode forward and crouched down to examine the goblins.
Unlike his traitor's mug, Railey had been surprisingly dutiful ever since entering the Hamern Great Forest.
Just look at him now.
"Hmm, as expected. These look like the ones from the village near the Second Base Camp. We call them Kenti Goblins..."
"Kenti?"
"You know, that fruit that shows up on noble tables a lot... the one that boosts concentration."
Now that he mentioned it, a memory surfaced.
Back at the Blandoga estate, before deciding to head to the academy.
Meals that were already plentiful had doubled in both quantity and quality overnight.
What we'd eaten back then was probably...
'Right, Rakhan Mountains one-horned goat sirloin with Kenti fruit salad.'
I didn't remember every single meal, but those two ingredients always made it to the table, so they stuck in my mind.
"But why Kenti Goblins? They don't look like the type to graze on grass."
"Ah, there's a wild grove of Kenti trees near their village. And they eat the fruits pretty often too. Goblins are... omnivores, right?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Um, is it okay if I keep looking?"
I nodded, and Railey peered closely at the Kenti Goblin again.
He mostly checked their fingernails. And the soles of their feet, including the toenails...
After inspecting the Kenti Goblin for a moment, Railey looked up.
"Hmm, as I thought."
"What is it?"
Railey didn't reply and instead pushed into the underbrush where the goblins had emerged, staring intently at the ground.
He did this for a short while.
"We should adjust the route a bit. If I'm right, the ecosystem around the Second Base Camp has been pushed all the way to the outskirts. Honestly, even near the Second Base Camp, there aren't that many monsters that would make Kenti Goblins flee."
They weren't particularly special as individuals, but since pack hunting was their baseline, they sat near the top of the food chain.
However.
"If you look at the fingernails here, you'll see... lots of dirt and tree bark. The soles are covered in wounds too. No matter how I think about it, they were definitely running from something."
He was explaining the basis for his deduction, but honestly, I had no clue.
Either way, I could understand his conclusion.
"So, change the route?"
"Hmm, yes. I think that's for the best. Ah! Of course, I'm not looking down on you mages or anything. It's just... avoiding unconfirmed variables when we can... haha."
Railey laughed awkwardly while rubbing his palms together.
Despite his massive build and rough features, it didn't look out of place at all—which meant this wasn't the first or second time he'd done it.
Either way.
"Yeah, fine. You okay with that?"
"...Yeah."
Obern nodded as well once I agreed.
Even if it meant a detour, we should steer clear of unconfirmed variables.
It was something I could definitely agree with.
No matter what monster lay ahead, I was confident I could smash through it—but we weren't crossing the Hamern Great Forest in a day or two.
More than that.
'Unconfirmed dangers are the most lethal.'
It wasn't a brave lion that killed the elephant. It was the viper hiding its fangs.
Either way, it had been two days since arriving in the Hamern Great Forest.
The routine was more or less like this.
Smash any monsters that appeared, then use the smashed monsters as a basis for Railey to set our direction.
And Railey's pathfinding was remarkably precise.
Just look at him now.
Sss—
My senses expanded to their limit.
The presence of the forest's countless lifeforms brushed distinctly against my skin.
And at the very edge of that.
An unusually sharp and vivid presence.
'...Hmm.'
I pulled back my senses once I'd grasped that much.
Perhaps because the space was so crammed with presences. Fatigue several times the norm crashed over me all at once.
'Definitely...'
I took in Railey, who was walking ahead.
His eyes darted around ceaselessly as he scanned the surroundings—that alone made it easy to guess why he'd been called "sneaky" back in his Black-White Slums street rat days.
But setting that aside.
'He's competent.'
The Hamern Great Forest, where lifeforms were packed to the extreme.
I could find a path by maximizing my senses, but doing so would wear down my mental stamina before my body gave out.
In that sense, Railey was an excellent pathfinder.
How long had we been trudging through the underbrush of the great forest?
After catching a few orcs and goblins that leaped from the bushes.
And several more unknown beast-type monsters.
"Hmm, we're almost there."
Railey, who had been walking ahead, came to a sudden stop.
Pushing aside the underbrush and stepping to the side revealed a wide-open vista greeting us.
Towering giant trees.
Dense clusters of unnamed foliage.
And sprawling across that space, a vast wetland.
In the center, a pool murky enough not to be called a lake yet clearer than a swamp stretched out like a river.
Railey opened his mouth.
"Once we cross this wetland, we'll be at the First Base Camp."
The First Base Camp was just around the corner.
* * *
After arriving at the wetland.
Railey declared a rest and immediately set up camp.
However, only Obern and I actually rested. Railey quickly prepared the spot and stood up again.
"Mage-nims, please rest easy. I'll scout the surroundings before we cross the wetland. It's normally a section with nothing to worry about... but you never know."
I sat down on a convenient tree stump and waved him off without a word.
Railey bowed politely regardless and withdrew.
The sun was already starting to set.
'If we're crossing, we need to do it soon.'
Night travel came with all sorts of burdens.
According to Railey, the day and night in the Hamern Great Forest were entirely different.
Could say entirely different ecosystems unfolded in the same space?
But the one who was truly in a hurry wasn't me.
"......"
Obern, staring silently at the ground with a hardened expression.
His features were delicate, but the light in his eyes was as firm as could be.
Yet that calm surface rippled with some inexplicable anxiety, and after watching him for a moment, I turned my gaze away.
'No wonder he's impatient.'
Our destination was the Fourth Base Camp.
The Hamern Great Forest near Greentown.
The deepest of the four base camps, which meant we had to pass through the First, Second, and Third on the way.
There were ways to go without stopping, but apparently...
—Pathfinders can't handle every situation. The camps nearby know the local ecosystem best. Especially in times like these, you absolutely have to stop by and gather intel.
It was the slower but more reliable way to arrive.
Either way.
'Already two days...'
It had taken a full day longer than the usual schedule.
The First Base Camp wasn't that deep in, so it normally only took half a day to a full day.
'Might not make it today after all.'
Above the open sky over the wetland.
Seeing the sun dipping low, any further delay would pin us in place.
I sat there lost in various thoughts when a voice from the side snapped me out of it.
"...Sunbae-nim."
"...?"
I looked at Obern in puzzlement.
It was day two since entering the Hamern Great Forest.
In all that time, Obern hadn't once initiated a conversation.
And yet.
"The monster wave... it'll be soon, right?"
"...?"
I tilted my head in confusion.
A monster wave out of nowhere?
"The ecosystem around the Second Base Camp has been pushed all the way to the outskirts. For now, the monsters are instinctively staying in the Hamern Great Forest, but if a little more time passes..."
"Yeah, they'll burst out."
"How many will die?"
"Who knows."
It wasn't a topic that particularly interested me.
Greentown was already in full evacuation mode, and beyond the Hamern Great Forest lay the vast Dmru Plains.
No matter how many monsters charged out, would they really affect nearby territories or cities?
'Who knows, though.'
They might look numerous up close, but the monsters weren't marching in disciplined army formation.
In the end, they were fleeing for their lives, so they'd probably hole up in some convenient mountain valley.
But Obern seemed to think differently.
"See... even if it means pushing ourselves, we should have found and eliminated Destrow faster."
"......"
"My thinking was too shortsighted. It wasn't just Destrow that was the problem..."
He ground his teeth in frustration.
I watched him quietly before asking.
"That what you've been worried about?"
"Huh?"
"Your face has been dark ever since we entered the Hamern Great Forest. Was it because of that?"
"...Ah, yes. Embarrassing as it is, the truth is... when I saw the Orc Rider, even I froze for a moment. And I'm someone who's trained in magic—if even I was like that, what about ordinary people? Once I started thinking about it, I just..."
He spilled his feelings at length without me even asking.
"...Yeah."
I watched him for a moment before nodding.
I had nothing to say.
What was I supposed to say?
'He's pure.'
Too pure.
Our ways of thinking were just fundamentally different, huh?
Right, it reminded me of when I first met Henji. The impression I'd gotten seeing his masked face.
In other words...
Polar opposites.
To think that in a situation like this, he was worrying not about his own master, but some total stranger—and over something that might not even happen!
"Ugh."
I suddenly felt like I was sitting on a bed of nails and slyly averted my gaze.
I was waiting for Railey to return, but Obern's rambling didn't stop there.
"It's my fault. Because I'm lacking, I've ended up holding my master back."
"Uh... yeah."
"If only I'd trained a little harder, I could have not only found Destrow's ruins but already wiped that thing out..."
"Yeah, I see."
The sky is blue.
No, red.
The sun was setting, so of course it was red.
But even as the murky waters of the wetland reflected the reddening sunset, they themselves didn't turn red.
With a guy like Obern in front of me, these were the kinds of thoughts I could muster.
Somehow, he'd held it in for two whole days, but now the words poured out nonstop—and it was truly hard to endure.
It was around the time that agonizing stretch passed.
Rustle.
The underbrush shook.
"......"
The face that poked out from beyond it belonged to our ever-reliable slave... no, pathfinder, Railey.
But for some reason.
"...?"
Railey's face was frozen stiff.
"So I absolutely have to take down Destrow, and beyond that, the world...?"
Obern, who had been chattering away, seemed to sense something off as well and clamped his mouth shut.
Silence settled between us.
Then Railey's mouth opened.
"Ru-run... we have to run. Ma-mages. Right now, right...!"
Even in his panic, he didn't raise his voice.
But his movements were lightning-quick; he was so desperate he practically dragged Obern and me along.
All the while muttering something.
"Wh-why is that thing here... Its territory is way... No, there were never enemies like this."
Incomprehensible words.
His face was pale as a blank sheet of paper, but I silently let him lead me. And at that moment.
Grooooar—
Beyond the underbrush.
A massive roar echoed from the wetland.
The sound alone shook the surrounding trees and foliage, and even I instinctively raised my guard.
Halt.
I came to an abrupt stop while being pulled along by Railey's hand and stared in the direction of the sound.
Perhaps because I stopped moving.
The voice of Railey, deep in panic, rang out.
"Th-the swamp ruler. Hurry, we have to run. We haven't stepped in the water yet, so we can survive. We can survive, I tell you. So hurry...!"
"Swamp ruler?"
Day two in the Hamern Great Forest.
The swamp ruler.
The first true danger of the great forest that I'd encountered.
It was my first meeting with the monster that had devoured countless adventurers and mercenaries over the years.