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The short brown-haired boy with a basket on his back is chubby and large in stature, but his droopy eyes exude a gentle atmosphere. He is sweating profusely.
The girl sitting in the middle, has beautiful lavender-colored short-cut hair, is small but cheerful, and was talking a lot even before we got here, though I didn’t understand what she was saying.
And the boy with short gray hair and a knife sitting next to her is about the same height as the girl, though his eyes are sharp. He’s probably the Yankee type by appearance.
And–
For all intents and purposes, the three are human.
Although the hair color is quite unusual, the face and body shapes, their placement and balance overall.
They look so human that it is difficult to find any difference between them and humans I am used to seeing.
But I guess I am being too forward with my joy and sorrow… All three of them are now quite withdrawn.
Well, if I care about it, I’ll lose. It can’t be helped that I also have a complicated situation here.
“I apologize for making you wait. I’d like to hear what’s going on, is that OK?”
“Uh, yes. Do you now understand what I am saying?”
“Oh, yeah, I guess I kind of forgot how to speak… I’m okay now, as long as it’s not a difficult word.”
“Is that possible?”
“Did he give a prayer to the Goddess? I’ve never heard of it being done outside the church.”
I’m curious about this stuff, but I don’t think I should poke my nose into it right now…
I’m not even sure where I stand, so let’s just get back to the subject at hand.
“So, do you guys live in the woods or in the town outside?”
“Yes, well. We live in the town of Bezart. We couldn’t find Horn Rabbits today, so we went a little deeper into the woods and then…”
“Then a monster we’d never seen before showed up. And Potta, he didn’t follow my instructions and ran off into the woods!”
“No, no, no! I followed the directions and ran straight! I just didn’t know which way out of the forest! Besides, you ran away with me, Mei.”
“If there is danger, you should have run straight for the forest exit, you idiot!”
“If you’re in danger, run straight for the forest exit, you idiot! Mei was just chasing after Potta.”
“That’s right! I was going to call you back because I thought Zink will take them down! But Zink and the goblins followed me!”
“Stupid, stupid, stupid! I can handle a normal goblin, but a guy with a sword like that is scary! It’s much longer than a knife! It’s terrifying!”
Hahaha. It’s so noisy.
It was noisy, but… not at all unpleasant, on the contrary, it was a sight I’ve been longing to see.
Finally, thanks to you guys, I can breathe a sigh of relief…
The view from the top of the big tree was all green trees, but I still followed the possibilities and came here.
I forced myself to find my own path, or else I would have stopped. If I got lost, I wouldn’t have been able to move.
So, I convinced myself with a theory that was doubtful to have any basis, and kept moving with that as my driving force.
But even so, I wondered if there really was a person or a town where I was headed.
I wondered myself every night, and every day I felt like I was being crushed by anxiety.
I had no one to talk to. I had to make all decisions on my own responsibility. I don’t know if it’s right or wrong.
And if the answer is wrong, you will eventually die.
In such a situation, if I heard that you came from the town, I would say…
“What’s wrong? Why are you crying?
“Oh, come on, you’re afraid of the woods! You were so strong!”
“Maybe you’re afraid of Zink’s face!”
“Potta! I’m gonna gut you!”
Phew, right. I should not be relieved yet, right?
Zink, you’re right, we’re still in the woods.
Then I, who am only 32 years old in spirit, will have to do something about the situation.
“I’m just relieved because I was lost, and I’m fine now. Well then, let’s plan to deal with this situation first. Also… the sun should be down in less than two hours. Do you think we can make it to the town of Bezart?”
I wonder if I am conveying the idea of hours properly, but I guess [Language Understanding] was working, so there was no problem.
“I’ve never been this deep before… but I think we can make it out of the woods before the sun goes down!”
“I’m sure we could run… but then there’s Potta.”
Zink-kun looks at Potta-kun with a sideways glance as he says this, and he is indeed drenched in sweat and his face looks exhausted.
That’s because he was running away just now.
With that body shape and carrying a large basket on his back, it’s no wonder he was under extra strain.
“By the way, have you ever camped…or rather slept in a tree?”
“”Of course not!””
That’s to be expected, isn’t it?
I mean, Potta-kun can’t understand my language, but he seems to be able to understand and speak Mei-chan’s and Zink-kun’s language.
It seems that the [Language Understanding] skill is not so simple.
Well, that’s not something to think about now.
Our priority is to get out of the forest.
“Then, since camping out in the forest is not an option, we’ll have to somehow get out of the forest before the sun goes down. We’ll have to ask Potta-kun to do his best, but if we really can’t make it in time, we can use the light to illuminate the way.”
Saying this, I pull out the flashlight that I used earlier in the fight against the goblins and shine it on the three of them, being careful not to point it at their faces.
“Wow, that’s amazing! I was wondering about this earlier, but is this a magical tool?”
” I knew it, you were a noble after all! Your clothes are so strange!”
I received some interesting words. Some of the words really resonated with me.
“Well, we don’t have time to talk, so let’s just go. I don’t know the way, can I leave it to you?”
“If we can see the Sail River, we’re headed in the right direction, but it’s a long way along the river, so we’ll go through the forest.
“Okay, then Zink, you take the lead, please. If there are any monsters, we can deal with them together, while Potta-kun and Mei-chan, don’t get separated from us.”
“Yes!”
Potta-kun also seemed to have some idea of what to do from the flow of the conversation.
Unlike being alone, the situation is different when there is someone to protect.
The way we move and the way we fight will change.
Still…if I get through this, I will finally be in a world where people live.
Just thinking about this brings strength in my legs and back. One more push.
Let’s head out then. To the town I have longed for.