(EP-293.1) #2

293 – Fall #2

Why was the wall to the south of us?

No, that was a stupid question.

I fell over.

Over the Great Wall Clarice…!

In other words, the place I was standing on now was no longer the kingdom of Angmar, but the lawless and barbaric forbidden lands beyond.

“How in the world…?”

I’d crossed north!

Even though I could roughly grasp the situation, it was still confusing. As I tried to remain calm, Professor Balan said while splitting firewood with an axe.

“When the wall collapsed, a few people fell to the northern side of the wall. In short, you could say we are now exposed to many dangers…”

Was this disaster the result of the wyvern’s rampage and the aftermath of my magic? Looking up at the sky, the wall looming over our heads was very high.

Balan further explained.

“To return to the south, we would have to head either west or east… I heard we’d need to cross the wall at a lower point.”

That was probably correct. It would be foolish to try scaling this towering height or hoping for a small gap to slip through.

Swish.

Nevertheless, I reached out into the air, just in case.

Even if the wall was high, with the bird taming magic, there was a chance I could summon birds to help me fly back up.

“…….”

But contrary to my expectations, no birds came. Not even the slightest flapping sound could be heard. Were there no birds in this forest?

─Silence.

The surroundings were eerily quiet. The only sound was Professor Balan’s chopping. There was none of the usual noise from insects or birds that one would expect in a forest.

“Professor Balan, do you know anything about the northern territory?”

Balan’s true identity was that of a demon general, known as Gamigin or Samigina, who once instilled fear into humanity.

As one of Solomon’s close associates, she might know something about the geography or behavior of the north. But Balan shook her head.

“I, I don’t know much….”

“I see.”

I’d felt this way before, but Professor Balan seemed to know surprisingly little. I briefly wondered if things would have been different had it been Vassago that was here instead.

Perhaps reading my thoughts, Balan stammered a few more words.

“S-some monsters in the north were strong enough to resist the Demon King’s control. After the wall was built and the Demon King was defeated, no one can predict what happened to the monsters and their ecosystem….”

I got some idea on what Balan was trying to say. The Demon King’s shadow army consisted of monsters driven by endless lust for destruction and murder.

Even Solomon had to control them using the Crown of Dominion.

After Solomon’s death and the wall’s isolation, it would be impossible to predict how these monsters might have lived.

Rustle.

At that moment, a sound echoed through the forest. I turned my head, thinking it might be Stella returning from gathering food and water.

Rustle, rustle…

━Kyaaaaak!

Then something small and dark suddenly darted out from the forest, lunging straight at my face.

“What—!”

I instinctively reached out to block it. Thanks to that, I ended up falling backward—hitting the ground with my back and hips. But there was no time to worry about such.

━Grrrrrrr, grrrrrrr!

“W-what is this!?”

It was a monster with five legs, roughly the size of my palm.

Its shape resembled a hand, but a horrifying difference was the gaping vertical mouth at the center of its body, filled with menacing teeth.

━Graaaaw!

Thwack, clank, clack-!

The creature rattled its sharp teeth towards my face. If I stayed still, it might very well rip my face apart!

“Th- Theo-nim!”

At that moment, Professor Balan, who had been watching the scene, reached out to help me.

Thanks to her, I managed to fling the bizarre hand-like creature onto the ground. I pinned it down with my foot, grabbed the axe lying nearby, and swung it down with all my strength.

Slash!

Chwaak-!

━Kkiiiik!

The creature let out a horrific scream as it splattered blood across my face, twitching a few more times before finally going still. Only then did a sense of relief settle in my chest.

“What is this thing? What’s going on?”

Even with Calm Thinking, my heart refused to stop racing. It must have been because the situation was so dangerous.

Meanwhile, Professor Balan prodded the cross-section of the dead creature’s body with a stick.

“It seems to be a monster. I, I don’t know what kind. But it looks like a spider… or maybe a hand. I’ve never seen this before.”

“Now we know this place is dangerous.”

Just as I let out a sigh of relief—

Rustle, rustle.

The bushes rustled again, along with something moving. Having been alerted by the earlier attack, I drew my wand and was ready to strike back.

“What, you finally came to your senses?”

But the figure that emerged had long purple hair and pointed ears. It was none other than Stella.

* * *

“I searched the area to the east all day today, but there wasn’t really anything that could be called a water source. Still, I managed to gather some of these fruits.”

Ssshh—

Stella spread out the fruits and mushrooms she had collected all day on the ground.

Their sizes and shapes varied wildly, and they were covered in dirt, but everyone knew it wasn’t the time to be picky.

Fortunately, I had plenty of drinking water and emergency rations stored in my inventory, 《Squirrel Cache》.

It could last me several weeks on my own. For the three of us, it should last about a week. If we rationed carefully, it could last even longer.

As I was thinking about how to efficiently distribute our supplies, Stella added.

“Oh, and today I spotted a kind of monster I didn’t see yesterday. It was about 2 meters tall, walking upright on two legs. It had a long tail, like a crocodile, and was covered in scales.”

Edit by: faker