After being attacked by the wolf monsters, we continue with heightened caution.
Three more days pass. We’re still alive. The roadside shelters we used to see are no longer visible. Perhaps that area used to have more monster appearances in the past.
Finally, it seems Kimijima has reached her second level increase. As expected, her progression is slower compared to me, who’s been dealing the final blows. I thought the third level increase would come first for her, but I’ve leveled up ahead of her.
As Kimijima’s level increases, symptoms of physical discomfort begin. I ask her to push a little harder, and we enter the forest where she creates a curtain of vegetation.
“Thank you. You did well. Rest now.”
“No… Please… take care…”
Having pushed herself to the limit, Kimijima loses consciousness after creating the barrier.
This should raise Kimijima’s ranking further. It would be helpful if her naginata could cut through now. Especially now, when my sword drawing is the only way to finish off monsters. Even though I think I can strike four times now that I’m at the fourth level, it would be tough if monsters attack when I’m out of “ammo”.
Well, even thinking that, the fact that we couldn’t reclaim areas dominated by high-level monsters for fifty years means there aren’t many humans who can fight against high-level monsters. Normally, it’s difficult to be able to cut monsters at just the second level.
Then… why can I cut them?
I understand that the otherworldly skills are having a synergistic effect, but I can’t help but question it.
I’ve tried various adjustments to my magical power output. But the results weren’t successful.
Rather than concentrating magical power, it’s more like focusing all aspects of myself. So, reducing magical power also reduces other elements, like speed and strength. Even dynamic vision seems to decrease, making it impossible to react to the monsters’ speed.
So, I’ve been conserving magical power and only attacking single monsters when my magical power is fully recovered.
This time too, Kimijima has been asleep for nearly half a day. During this time, I occasionally use the focused state of the iaido stance to search the surroundings.
As I repeat this, there’s suddenly a change in the surroundings. The presence of a monster appears abruptly. It feels like it’s descending from the sky.
This is bad. What should I do? For now, it doesn’t seem to have noticed us. I carefully observe the monster’s movements. It’s just one, so we should be able to handle it, but…
Usually, I’m cautious about the smell of blood and quickly move to a new location after slaying monsters. But with Kimijima asleep, that’s not an option…
I remain slightly tense, maintaining my iaido stance while keeping a watchful eye out for any signs of monsters.
Hm? What’s this?
Gradually, the monster’s presence begins to fade. What’s going on? The monster has remained stationary for over an hour. Is this a monster reaching the end of its lifespan? Or perhaps one that’s fatally wounded… The way its presence is fading gives me that impression.
Crack… Crack…
Hm? What’s that sound? Could it be… a fire!?
As the monster’s presence completely fades away, I hear a crackling sound, like something starting to burn. There’s a burning smell too. This is bad. If a forest fire breaks out here, it’ll engulf the sleeping Kimijima as well. I’m flustered and anxious about this sudden turn of events.
Damn it.
I gently prop Kimijima against a tree and take out water bottles from my backpack and Kimijima’s bag. It’s not much, but it’s better than nothing.
I cautiously approach the spot where the monster’s presence vanished. There lies a large, bright red bird. Heat seems to be radiating from it, and the surrounding trees are starting to catch fire. I hurriedly pour water from the bottles, but it’s like a drop in the ocean. I cut away the surrounding bushes, trying not to touch the bird. I desperately stamp out any flames I come across.
After somewhat containing the spread of fire, I start digging up soil and throwing it on the bird. However, the bird continues to burn. I’ve managed to create some distance between it and the surrounding trees and leaves, but the bird’s combustion won’t stop.
“Oh, come on!”
My own strength has increased quite a bit since coming here, with my rank having gone up three levels. After a moment’s hesitation, I grab the bird’s foot firmly.
“Ouch! Hot!”
Gritting my teeth against the heat, I drag the bird down the slope. Luckily, the road here is quite close to the river below. I rush down the slope and, with all my might, throw the bird towards the river.
Splash! Sizzle~
Huff, huff, huff… What on earth was that thing?
Looking at the river, I see the bright red bird continues to burn as it’s carried away by the current, steam rising with a hissing sound.
Huff, huff. Oh right, the fire?
I hurriedly climb back up the slope to where the bird had been burning. The fire seems to have mostly died out, probably because the living wood didn’t have enough contact time. There’s just some smoldering and steam rising now.
Still, to prevent any reignition, I stamp out any suspicious spots. As I do so, I notice something hard buried under the soil. What’s this?
I dig it out to find a bright red egg. It’s a bit larger than an ostrich egg.
Did it lay this before dying?
I don’t understand any of this. But while I’ve been keeping watch, I can’t stay away from Kimijima for too long. After confirming the fire is out, I pick up the water bottles and the egg, and return to our leaf tent.
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As I entered the tent, Kimijima was leaning against a tree, breathing peacefully. Her complexion looked much better. Perhaps she was getting used to the abilities gained from gradually climbing the ranks. I breathed a sigh of relief and looked intently at the egg in my hand.
…Gulp.
Lately, we’ve only been eating portable foods like biscuits. Even though the size is odd, it’s still an egg… right? Thinking about it made me crave to eat this egg. Alright. I’ll consult with Kimijima when she wakes up. I can’t start a fire, but maybe she can. Hehehe.
I wrapped the egg in my spare shirt and carefully tucked it away in my backpack.
“Mmm…”
After a while, Kimijima finally woke up. She opened her eyes with a drowsy expression and stared at my face for a moment with the same look.
“Are you okay?”
“…”
“W-What’s wrong?”
“…”
What’s going on? Is she still not feeling well? I started to panic as Kimijima silently stared at me without saying anything.
“Sensei… did you go somewhere?”
“W-Why do you ask?”
“When I woke up, I was leaning against this hard tree…”
“Ah, s-sorry. Did it hurt? Well, there was a monster…”
“A monster… I see, that can’t be helped. Were you alright?”
“Y-Yeah. The monster was already dead when I approached it. It must have been injured.”
“I see… that’s good…”
Kimijima sat up and then fell towards me. I hurriedly supported her body.
“It’s warm…”
“I-Is that so…”
“Yes, very…”
“Hm? H-Hey, Kimijima?”
“Zzz… Zzz…”
Kimijima had fallen back asleep while leaning on me.
“Don’t you smell something burning?”
The first thing Kimijima said when she woke up was about the burning smell. I explained everything that had happened earlier. We couldn’t figure out why it was burning… maybe it had been hit by fire magic and fled here. We concluded that it might have died without the fire going out, almost causing a forest fire.
Kimijima didn’t seem too keen on eating the egg.
“But is it safe? What if we crack it open and it’s half-formed? That’s kind of gross…”
“Come on, that’s unlikely. If the egg had been here originally, I’d understand, but this came from a monster that arrived from somewhere else, right? It must have just laid it.”
Yes, if we think about it normally, everything is strange. Did it suddenly lay an egg before dying? Was it carrying a freshly laid egg with its foot? Or was the egg here to begin with? It might be wrong to apply the common sense of our world’s animals to monsters, but it’s puzzling.
Even if we wanted to cook the egg, it would be difficult now. There are concerns about smoke attracting something. I put it back in my backpack for a future luxury.
“Shall we walk a bit more? Can you manage?”
“I’m fine. I feel much better now.”
“That’s good. You seemed pretty out of it earlier.”
“Was I… sleepy?”
“Ah, no. I just mean you looked tired.”
“I’m sorry if I caused you trouble—”
“No, no. It’s not trouble at all. I hope you’ll gradually climb the ranks and it’ll get physically easier for you.”
“Yes, I hope so too.”
From there, we returned to the path and started moving again.
The road gradually became an uphill slope. It felt like climbing a hill. Even so, the two of us, having raised our ranks, continued up the slope without getting particularly tired.
As the sun began to set, painting the sky red, we reached what seemed to be the top of the uphill path. The area at the top had sparse trees and was scattered with rocks. We decided to take a break there.
Since we had used up our water to extinguish the fire, Kimijima refilled our empty water bottles. I took big gulps while surveying the surrounding landscape.
…Huh?
Although still far away, I could see what looked like a walled settlement along this road. And beyond that, a single line of smoke was rising.
“Kimijima!”
I called out to Kimijima, who was filling her own water bottle beside me, and pointed to the rising smoke.
“Ah… Is that…”
“Yeah… There might be… people.”
“You think so too, right?”
“But how far is it? Is it quite distant?”
“Yes. But it’s not too far now…”
I wanted to run towards that smoke right away… but the sun was already starting to set. It would be tough to make it there today. We decided to give up on reaching the smoke’s location today and rest along the way.
We might meet people tomorrow.
Light pierced through the unseen darkness, and we spent the night with hope for tomorrow.
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