Chapter 158
Today I'm riding on Soa's back.
Two of Soa's children are coming along.
Lately, whenever I try to go somewhere, they compete to carry me.
I wonder if there's some reason for that.
...I don't know, but I need to watch out for getting too little exercise.
I really don't want to realize one day that my stomach has gotten flabby.
I rub my stomach to check... It seems okay for now.
The forest is still changing.
But it seems the rivers have stopped getting longer.
No matter where I look in the forest, there's a river flowing.
I've also found a new lake.
More importantly, there's something about the rivers that's been bothering me.
The river water contains magic.
I only noticed recently, but for some reason, that magic is similar to my own.
Why is that?
I've thought about it from all sorts of angles, but couldn't come up with an answer.
It made me feel a little uneasy.
While checking out the changes in the forest from above, I spotted a cave!
Caves are full of encounters.
Maybe that's why I get excited.
There might not be anything inside, but... I'm allowed to hope, right?
Though I'd prefer to find something other than long things that wriggle along the ground or things with lots of legs.
Those things are a no-go!
I stand at the cave entrance.
It looks much like the caves I've seen before.
I don't sense anything unusual about the magic.
Soa takes the lead and enters the cave.
Soa is in front of me, and two of her children are behind me.
Once again, they wouldn't let me take the lead.
Apparently I have a lot of magic... but I've hardly any combat experience.
Is that the reason?
I feel like all my companions worry about me too much.
Well, if something suddenly attacked me from behind a rock, I don't think I'd be able to deal with it at all...
I guess I can't blame them for worrying.
...But this cave doesn't give me a scary feeling.
Could magical beasts be using it as a den?
I walked for a while, but it was just an ordinary cave with rough, exposed rock.
As we went deeper, I heard the sound of water.
This is a situation I haven't encountered before.
I've been to a cave with a lake before, but there was no sound of water then.
I'm a little nervous.
We followed the sound as it grew louder and came to a spacious area with a lake.
And then...
"An amoeba nest... huh."
From a distance, I hadn't noticed anything but the splashing, but when I got closer to the lake, I could make them out.
Small amoebas were playing in the water.
Small... about the size of my palm, maybe.
Judging by the magic I sense, they seem to be water amoebas.
When I approached the lake, the amoebas moved farther into it.
I dip my hand into the lake a little.
It's cool and refreshing.
Before I knew it, the amoebas were all around the hand I'd put in the water... and there were so many of them.
There were far more amoebas than I'd seen at first.
...I'm scared.
They haven't done anything to me, but... the way they look.
I'm used to the larger amoebas by now.
But tiny amoebas, and so many that there must be hundreds... that's scary!
I quietly and gently pull my hand out of the lake, careful not to provoke them.
A few of them stuck to my hand.
...What should I do with these little ones?
I hold them up to eye level.
...I think they'd be cute if there were only three or so, instead of a whole bunch.
The amoebas below are splashing around wildly.
It's scary to look at them.
...All right, let's get out of the cave!
I return the amoebas stuck to my hand to the lake as gently as I can.
I wave with a smile at the amoebas in the lake and head for the cave exit, trying to move as slowly as possible.
I won't worry about my smile being stiff.
I mustn't worry that I've picked up the pace a little, either.
I make it out of the cave.
All the strength leaves my body.
...That was scary. Honestly, way too scary.
Each one was small, but numbers can be overwhelming... a ton of amoebas clinging to my hand, and their appearance was a no-go!
I can't handle a bunch of tiny things swarming everywhere, either!