Chapter 12
Trees bearing mysterious blue fruits stood here and there. Apparently, it was fruiting season, as I saw several fruits that looked as though they had been half-eaten.
My belongings were limited to what I needed for Skill Orb excavation work at the mine. An empty backpack, and in the tool pouch at my waist, only a chisel and a conveniently sized stone (something I'd found to use as a hammer). Other than that, I had the glowing magic stone Old Man Hinga had given me.
My clothes were crude and undyed; only my shoes were made of sturdy leather, with wooden soles. I was used to those shoes by now, so they no longer rubbed my feet raw, but they were utterly unsuited for walking long distances, and I slipped terribly whenever I walked through mud.
"Hmm, these leaves..."
I spotted some leaves that looked like mugwort, but according to 【World Ruler】-sensei, they were "mildly poisonous." Still, I learned that they might be useful for removing my tattoo, so I tore off some of the mugwort look-alike and rubbed it against my wrist.
A refreshing scent rose along with the green juice.
"...Hmm... Is it... fading...?"
The change was subtle enough that I could only put a question mark after it, but it seemed like the tattoo had grown a little fainter... maybe? Well, it was harmless to put on my wrist, so I kept smearing it on without worrying. It didn't smell bad, either.
I pulled up several stalks of the mugwort look-alike, tucked them into my sash, and set off.
In the end, I didn't make it to the next town that day.
Near the boundary between the forest and the grassland, I settled on a tree branch and waited for night to come.
By then, I'd acquired acorn-like nuts and mulberry-like berries, and I gazed at the moon while munching on them.
Back in Japan, I had grown up in what was called a regional city, though there had been nothing around my home but fields and rice paddies. In a place like that, the stars must have been much more beautiful than in Tokyo.
But—what about this place?
"Whoa..."
There were several streams of stardust, like the Milky Way. The crescent moon, like a thin cut in the night sky, was the same as Earth's.
When I thought about it, the constellations were different, but there was a moon, there was air, and human beings had the same shape—in short, we must have followed the same evolutionary path. You could even call this world a copy of Earth. Well, it did have absurd elements like magic and Skills.
I would probably never learn how this world came to be. Even on Earth, there were countless things that remained unexplained—and plenty of people who didn't believe in evolution from the Big Bang, either, you know?
The faintly lit grassland swayed softly in the wind. It was a quiet night, without dog howls or insect chirps.
"...Huh?"
Beyond the grassland, the ridgelines of the mountains appeared faintly as black shadows.
I saw a bird-like silhouette there.
No. No, no. Wait, wait, wait. At this distance? How could I actually see a bird?
The silhouette opened its mouth wide toward the sky.
Flash—
It spat out a white sphere of light that illuminated even my surroundings. The sphere split into several pieces like a shooting star, tracing parabolas before piercing the ground.
——Gyaaaaoooooooooooooo.
The sound reached me a moment later. Then came an explosion.
"W-w-w... What... what is that...?"
A tremor followed even later, shaking the ground and the tree I was in.
Only then did I realize why there had been no signs of wild dogs or other animals that night, and why no insects were chirping.
That gigantic creature had appeared.
Animals with much keener instincts than mine had hidden themselves long ago.
【World Ruler】 remained silent about the black silhouette—perhaps because it couldn't identify anything from a silhouette alone. As for the light, all I received was the vague information that it was "harmless because it won't reach you."
The silhouette melted into the mountain ridgeline and disappeared.
I couldn't shake the feeling that the mine we'd been in lay in that direction... and 【World Ruler】-sensei's answer was, "Yes."
The next town came into view.
Unaccustomed to sleeping outdoors, I was exhausted and still groggy from lack of sleep, so I was overjoyed—or tried to be.
The gate connected to the main road was abuzz with guards.
——A slave?
——The mine...
Hearing those words carried on the wind, I quietly put some distance between myself and them.
This place... no. Avoid it.
I'd been careful all along, so there was no reason to take a risk. Even though it was tough. Even though I was sleepy. Even though I was lonely!
Even so, I had no choice but to adapt to life in survival mode.
Every morning, I woke up in a tree. If there was a stream nearby, I washed my face and rinsed my mouth. I walked while scrubbing at my wrist with the mugwort look-alike (the tattoo seemed to be fading a little. Maybe it was just my imagination. No, surely it wasn't just my imagination?), picking and nibbling on whatever fruits and seeds looked edible.
The forest was rich in blessings, and the abundance of edible plants was a lifesaver.
I wanted staples like bread and pasta, as well as meat and fish, but I figured I could keep living like this for another week or so. By then, I might have become a full-fledged wild man.
Two days passed. I still hadn't reached the next town.
I first noticed something was wrong by its smell.
"Hmm? Is that cooking...?"
The smell of spices scorching reached my nose. At first, I thought it might be a hallucination brought on by my hopes, but when I checked with 【World Ruler】, my nose had been right.
About a hundred meters away from me, three people were making a campfire in a small clearing in the forest. One was a huge man. One was a woman who looked like a priestess. The last was a small person wearing a hood.
It was almost evening, and they were roasting skewered meat over the fire.
Gulp.
I thought I'd heard an incredible sound, but it was just the sound of me swallowing. I'd said I could survive for another five days or so, but that now seemed utterly impossible. I was going to die if I didn't eat meat immediately. 【World Ruler】's answer was, "You have another ten days." Shut up.
"...Ugh."
But I couldn't do something stupid like reveal myself. For now, my rationality still had the upper hand. After fleeing through the forest with such difficulty, showing myself to strangers whose identities I knew nothing about would be dangerous beyond belief.
Grrrrr...
I thought I'd heard another incredible sound, but it was the sound of me grinding my teeth. Did I really want meat that badly? Yes, I wanted it. ...Maybe some miracle would happen and they'd all suddenly go to the bathroom? That meat could even fly over like a bottle rocket and land in my hands. Well, if you asked whether I'd eat such creepy meat, that might be a little weird... But no, I still wanted it.
I'm... really losing it.
Trembling at how far my rationality had gone off the rails, I put a hand against the tree. This smell was dangerous. It could ruin a person. The scent of meat juices grilling drifted over, too, and oh, come on!
"Let's get away..."
I turned my back on the adventurers around the campfire—and that was when it happened.
"!"
A branch stretched out above the petite adventurer in the hood. On it was a snake moving as though it were camouflaged against the branch.
Poison. Extremely potent. If it bit an arm, the only option would be to cut the arm off; if it bit the torso, death would be unavoidable—the information flowed into me from 【World Ruler】. Run. Run. Run.
I took another look, and the snake was flicking its tongue above the petite adventurer. Was it about to drop down and attack that person...?
"U-up there!"
At that moment, I forgot my own position, the risks, who they were—all the things I was supposed to think about—and shouted. I ran toward them. The huge man spun around in alarm and immediately drew the dagger lying beside him. The campfire glinted fiercely off its blade.
"Up! Up there!"
"—Wait, Dantes. That kid's trying to say something."
"But..."
"Up there! A snaaaaaake!!"
"Huh, a snake?"
When the petite adventurer looked up, the venomous snake was just beginning to fall toward them. It seemed to me as though I were watching it in slow motion. There was no way I could reach the adventurer. The huge man holding the dagger was paying attention only to me and wasn't even looking that way. The other person was merely floundering in panic. And the petite adventurer—when the adventurer looked up, their hood slipped off. Long amber-colored hair appeared beneath it. It was intricately braided, with colorful bead-like things tied into it here and there—surely they were pieces of ore. The figure was a woman dressed like a shaman.
Beneath her broad forehead, large, clear blue eyes reflected the snake.