Chapter 117
The strange high spirits of the past few days have finally settled down.
The result... a mountain of butchered prey.
One of the storage rooms has been filled in just the past few days.
The little goblins look satisfied with their work, but...
Good work.
The water amoeba and field amoeba dancing together.
They had somehow mixed together.
I'm completely satisfied now. Really.
I'd like to ask you not to gradually extend the length of the dances.
It's good to be back to normal.
It really is... Oh, today is the day alcohol is allowed again.
...Just one more day!
Drinking alcohol while in that strange mood makes them even more impossible to handle than usual.
...No, even if I know that, what am I supposed to do?
I can't stop them! It's impossible!
The gazes of the squirrels who suffered the damage... They hurt.
There's no way I can stop that.
Perhaps because they were imitating the amoebas, the stick insects started showing me a dance one morning.
The tree is writhing... Is it a curse?
Ah, no, thank you for going to the trouble.
...
A rematch: cave exploration.
It was a large cave, so I decided to tackle it first thing in the morning, racing through the forest... Somehow, the forest is different.
The magic covering the entire forest seems to have changed over the past few days.
Magic seems to come in various types—or rather, to differ from place to place—and the forest had magic unique to it.
That magic has been slowly but surely changing.
It started around the time my companions' energy levels rose.
If they became so energetic because they were happy, then it must be a good thing.
That's what I think, but I'm the only one who doesn't get it, so it's a little... No, it's not like I'm frustrated or sad!
I noticed the difference while running through the forest.
The magic used to feel somehow prickly, but now it is gentle, as though it were wrapping around me.
For it to have changed this much, I feel as though something major must have happened.
...The forest is vast, so something good must have happened somewhere.
If it had been nearby, I would have noticed too.
I was curious, so I went to the barrier.
I was surprised.
Outside the barrier, the shadows were still thick, and the curse's influence remained strong.
That darkness is beginning to thin.
Is the curse that caused me so much trouble beginning to disappear?
So the forest's magic changed because the curse's influence weakened. I see.
Haha, I'm satisfied. Let's explore the cave.
...
It really is huge.
No matter how far I run, this cave just keeps going.
I had hoped to find something... but all that continued was a huge passage.
What if this path just goes on forever?
This cave has me seriously wondering whether I should keep going like this.
I took a lunch break partway through, then resumed.
Honestly, I'm starting to get bored.
Mmm—oh!
The path splits in two!
A little change like this gets me excited.
The path has only split in two, but I'm glad something changed.
I wonder which way to go.
...I want to discover something!
I've come this far only for the path to keep going...? I'll cry.
I seriously want to discover something!
For now, I'll leave the choice to today's companion, Big Boss-san.
Which way?
...The baby spider had finally grown to Big Boss-san's size.
Big Boss-san went out of the way to introduce it to me during the morning rounds.
...I was confused, but I'm happy to see my companion grow.
Big Boss-san has lost its wings, and for some reason, its body—which should be pitch-black—now bears a pattern of white lines.
Could this be what they call a mutation?
It doesn't seem to be affecting its health, so there's no problem.
I noticed while traveling through the forest that this Big Boss-san is incredibly skilled at manipulating its threads.
It seems to have evolved.
So, which way?
With Big Boss-san leading the way, we charge down the cave passage.
Haha, there's nothing here.
The path ends right in front of us.
Big Boss-san also seems a little dejected.
It's okay. Don't worry about it.
Shall we go home for today?
Let's regroup and come back another time.
...
...An amoeba.
There's an amoeba where the cave passage splits.
I sensed its magic, and it seems to be different from the amoebas at home.
Now, what should I do?
As I stood there, unsure what to do, the amoeba and I made eye contact.
...Or at least, that's what it felt like.
The amoeba's eyes are tiny, but somehow I can tell when it's looking at me.
Lately, they have been appealing to me about all sorts of things through those invisible eyes.
Especially the pleading looks they give me whenever I try to stop them from dancing.
Those looks are hard to bear, but the dancing is hard to bear too... It goes on forever.
I asked it to shorten its dances because I have to watch them, and I want to believe it understood me.