Ratel and El
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The sound of Ratel's footsteps climbing the quiet basement stairs of the temple filled the vast space. Judging by the absence of the skinny priest, Lia, and the unconscious knights, this place seemed to be an alternate dimension conjured by the sword. Ratel took a brief look around the silent basement before gazing down at Sierra's Sword resting in his hand. No matter what he did, this sword refused to break. Stabbing it with another blade only caused it to deflect, and other physical attacks yielded the same result. The sword only reacted when he channeled Manis. Even then, it would merely glow for a brief moment before reverting to a useless piece of junk.
Ratel suppressed the rising tide of impatience and stepped out of the room. He couldn't just sit still simply because he didn't know what to do. If he couldn't destroy it, he had to at least find a way out. Absorbing Manis to send someone to an alternate dimension shared similarities with entering Amica's Space. To enter from the outside, a medium was required. However, to exit from the inside, one only needed a rift in space. The problem was that unless one knew the spatial rifts inside out like the Elder, they were incredibly difficult to find. First, he needed to determine the scale of this space. Reaching the exit of the basement, Ratel opened the door without hesitation. But he could not take another step forward. What lay before his eyes was not the temple he and Lia had been dragged into. It was darkness. An endless abyss stretched out, creating the illusion of sudden blindness. No, describing it as "stretching out" wasn't quite right, as there was no way to tell where it ended. Ratel slowly reached his hand forward to find its limit.
"Squeak!"
At that moment, along with a tiny cry, an equally tiny mouth bit down on his heel. However, its bite force was so pitifully weak that it couldn't even pierce Ratel's boot. Ratel withdrew his hand and looked down at the bright, round eyes staring up at him. A familiar squirrel was clinging to his right foot.
"Squeak..."
Intimidated by the golden eyes staring back at it, the squirrel slowly let go of Ratel's foot and tried to back away. But Ratel's hand was faster than the tiny animal's attempt to distance itself. He grabbed the squirrel by the scruff of its neck and lifted it up.
"Was your name El?"
At Ratel's murmur, the squirrel nodded its head rapidly as if deeply moved. Seeing El's reaction, which left no doubt that it understood his words, Ratel furrowed his brow. He had found the creature suspicious ever since Jing repeatedly emphasized how smart it was, but this was taking it too far.
"How did you get in here?"
As Ratel's expression hardened, the squirrel desperately pointed at Sierra's Sword in Ratel's hand.
"Squeak! Squeak, squeak!"
It seemed to be saying that it had been swallowed by the sword along with him. Did it get caught up in the sweep while clinging to Lia? It made no sense that the squirrel had been dragged in, yet the skinny priest, who was being consumed by the sword right beside them, was nowhere to be seen. Ratel scanned his surroundings. However, there was no other living creature in the basement space besides himself and the squirrel. His eyes gleamed with suspicion.
Ratel seemed to deliberate for a moment, but soon set El down on the floor. Delighted by this unexpected leniency, El looked up at him in triumph. Contrary to how that fellow Ran had tried to scare it, the Child of Prophecy was a generous and broad-minded person. I knew it. What could he possibly do to such a small, fragile creature? Just as the squirrel let out a sigh of relief, Ratel firmly stepped on its tail. Ratel's violence spared no one.
"Squeak?! Squeak, squeak!"
He hadn't put his full weight into it yet, but it was more than enough pressure to squeeze the muscles of its tail. A panicked El thrashed about, but the more it struggled, the more its tail stretched, only adding to the pain. Finally ceasing its resistance, El looked up at Ratel with tearful eyes. But Ratel's gaze remained ice-cold.
"You can understand human speech to some extent, can't you?"
El rolled its eyes slightly before giving a small nod.
"And you were swallowed by the sword along with me?"
Another nod.
Ratel applied more pressure to the foot pinning El's tail. Bewildered and terrified, El began to thrash again. It couldn't comprehend why it was still being subjected to violence even after answering.
"Then why didn't I notice you?"
This time, it wasn't a question that could be answered with a simple nod. Stretching its body as far as possible, El pointed toward the basement below the stairs. Its stretched tail throbbed with pain; if this continued, its tail would surely snap. At El's desperate gestures, Ratel tilted his head. He followed the direction El was pointing. El's pitiful little paw was pointing toward the corner opposite the room where the holy relic had been. Sensing that Ratel was still unconvinced, a panicked El clutched its head and pretended to faint. When the foot on its tail didn't budge, El opened its eyes, let out another squeak, and repeated the fainting act. Watching El's bizarre antics with narrowed eyes, Ratel finally spoke.
"You were hiding over there, got dragged in, and passed out?"
Miraculously, they had communicated without spoken language. Tears of joy streaming down its face, El nodded vigorously. It was a lie, of course, but El wasn't stupid enough to not realize that revealing its true identity right now would be far more hazardous to its lifespan.
Staring expressionlessly down at the weeping El, Ratel bent down and brought his face close. He whispered softly,
"If I find out you're lying, next time it won't be your tail. It'll be your neck."
That fellow Ran was right. If El ever revealed its imperial bloodline, the treatment it would receive from this guy would be far worse, certainly not better. Finally, Ratel's foot lifted off El's trembling body. Seizing the opportunity, El tried to scurry away, but the attempt was instantly thwarted as it was grabbed by the scruff of its neck once more.
"I suppose you can be used as bait."
El looked up at Ratel, desperately hoping it had misheard "bait" as "moss." Ratel kept his eyes fixed on El, as if he still had more to say. El's heart raced, wondering what terrifying question would come next.
"Did that guy really run away?"
The question was so completely unrelated to their current situation that El had to blink a few times in confusion. When El didn't answer, Ratel's brow furrowed.
"I asked if your master abandoned you and ran away."
Highly displeased by a specific word in the rephrased question, El grimaced but nodded anyway.
"Are you sure?"
Another nod. Though it hesitated slightly, El nodded dutifully. He probably didn't run away. He wanted to see Ratel destroy the holy relic with his own eyes if possible. Unless, of course, he's dead.
"Why are you so sure? Both you and Jing."
This time, it didn't seem like a question directed at El. In fact, it didn't even sound like a question at all, so El merely wagged its tail tentatively while reading Ratel's expression. Ratel's slightly clouded eyes blinked once, then focused back on El.
"Last question. Did you follow me down to the basement to help me?"
This was one question El could answer with absolute confidence. El nodded up and down so vigorously it seemed its head might fly off. Satisfied by its earnestness, Ratel roughly stuffed El into his front breast pocket. Subjected to treatment even harsher than what Ran put it through, El thrashed about in a daze.
"If the outside is dangerous, then I need to find a way out from the inside."
Muttering to himself, Ratel left the closed door behind and placed his hand on the wall as he walked down the stairs. He began to channel his energy, bit by bit. The bright light emanating from Ratel's hand flowed along the wall before fading away. Sensing that his intuition was correct, Ratel slowly descended the stairs, keeping his hand firmly on the wall.
As sunset approached, the stinging sensation on my skin began to subside.
"Squeak. If I have to live like this forever, I really might grow to hate the sun."
Neigh.
The creature that answered my mutterings limped over and nudged my arm with its face. It seemed to have completely adapted to my appearance now. Remembering how it used to flinch as if I were going to eat it alive just by looking at it, a sense of pride washed over me, and I stroked its head.
"Squeak. I can't tell if the horses in this world have good temperaments or terrible ones."
By the way, could horses even survive in the mountains? With me around, it wouldn't have to worry about being eaten by predators, but I couldn't quite picture it foraging for food in the winter. Realizing I was acting as excited as a child who had brought home a stray puppy, a wave of embarrassment hit me.
"Squeak. Maybe it's better to send you to Jing after all?"
When I spoke softly, the creature raised its head to look at me. Seeing it press its long snout against my hand, it seemed to understand my words this time as well. It felt like it was saying it wanted to stay here. Since its body wasn't working properly, it seemed to blindly follow the human... well, Orc, it could rely on. Stroking its head, I erased the concept of "emergency rations" that had been nestled in a tiny corner of my mind.
Sniff.
In contrast to the somewhat touching moment, my nose reacted once again. I raised my head and looked in the direction of the scent. This time, I knew for sure. It was Jing's scent. And drifting along with it was...
"Squeak. It's Lia."
There was a faint but distinct smell of Orc Grass. The unpleasant odor carried by the wind made me grimace. But why were they coming this way? The Orc Den was in the opposite direction. I had deliberately chosen this path to avoid running into Ratel's group, so their approach only heightened my anxiety. Above all, the fact that there were only two human scents fueled my unease. I pushed myself up and slowly walked toward the direction of Jing and Lia's scents. The smell grew stronger, but as expected, there were no other human scents.
"Squeak. Something has definitely gone wrong."
As if noticing my hardened expression, the creature standing beside me stepped closer and looked up at me.
"Squeak. Maybe he really might lose his status as the protagonist."
Muttering words the creature couldn't possibly understand, I kept moving forward.
Lia had grown noticeably quiet, weighed down by the guilt of abandoning El in such a harsh place. Unaware that the tiny squirrel had crawled into her pocket of its own accord only to follow Ratel, her guilt was sky-high. Even as Jing, who was leading the way, raised his head to scan their surroundings, Lia's mood remained in the gutter.
"Miss Lia, stop for a moment," Jing whispered, lowering his voice as much as possible.
"Yes? What is it?" Lia whispered back, matching his tone.
"Something is approaching. My guess is a single Orc. A massive one, at that."
Lia's eyes widened. "Isn't that strange? Orcs usually travel in packs."
She was right, but the image of a certain Orc who insisted on traveling alone crossed Jing's mind, causing him to frown slightly.
"Not necessarily. It seems there are exceptions."
"Exceptions?"
Jing nodded. Furthermore, judging by the calm, un-Orc-like footsteps, there was a high probability that the source of the sound was indeed the very exception Jing knew.