Episode 293.1

Episode 293.1

(EP-293.1) #2

293 – Fall #2

Why was the wall to the south of us?

No, that’s a stupid question.

I fell over.

Over the Great Wall Clarice...!

In other words, the place I’m standing on now was no longer the kingdom of Angmar, but the lawless and barbaric forbidden lands beyond.

“How in the world...?”

I’ve crossed north!

Even though I could roughly grasp the situation, it’s still confusing. As I tried to remain calm, Professor Balan said while splitting firewood with an axe.

“When the wall collapsed, a few people fell to the northern side of the wall. In short, you could say we are now exposed to many dangers...”

Was this disaster the result of the wyvern’s rampage and the aftermath of my magic? Looking up at the sky, the wall looming over our heads was very high.

Balan further explained.

“To return to the south, we would have to head either west or east... I heard we’d need to cross the wall at a lower point.”

That’s probably correct. It was foolish to try scaling this towering height nor was there a small gap to slip through.

Swish.

Nevertheless, I reached out into the air, just in case.

Even if the wall was high, with the bird taming magic, there was a chance I could summon birds to help me fly back up.

“.......”

But contrary to my expectations, no birds came. Not even the slightest flapping sound could be heard. Were there no birds in this forest?

─Silence.

The surroundings were eerily quiet. The only sound was Professor Balan’s chopping. There was none of the usual noise from insects or birds that one would expect in a forest.

“Professor Balan, do you know anything about the northern territory?”

Balan’s true identity was that of a demon general, known as Gamigin or Samigina, who once instilled fear into humanity.

Thanks to her, I managed to fling the bizarre hand-like creature onto the ground. I pinned it down with my foot, grabbed the axe lying nearby, and swung it down with all my strength.

Slash!

Chwaak-!

━Kkiiiik!

The creature let out a horrific scream as it splattered blood across my face, twitching a few more times before finally going still. Only then did a sense of relief settle in my chest.

“What is this thing? What’s going on?”

Even with Calm Thinking, my heart refused to stop racing. It must have been because the situation was so dangerous.

Meanwhile, Professor Balan prodded the cross-section of dead creature’s body with a stick.

“It seems to be a monster. I, I don’t know what kind. But it looks like a spider... or maybe a hand. I’ve never seen this before.”

“Now we know this place is dangerous.”

Just as I let out a sigh of relief—

Rustle, rustle.

The bushes rustled again, along with something moving. Having been alerted by the earlier attack, I drew my wand and was ready to strike back.

“What, you finally came to your senses?”

But the figure that emerged had long purple hair and pointed ears. It was none other than Stella.

* * *

“I searched the area to the east all day today, but there wasn’t really anything that could be called a water source. Still, I managed to gather some of these fruits.”

Ssshh—

Stella spread out the fruits and mushrooms she had collected all day on the ground.

Their sizes and shapes varied wildly, and they were covered in dirt, but everyone knew it wasn’t the time to be picky.

Fortunately, I had plenty of drinking water and emergency rations stored in my inventory, 《Squirrel Cache》.

It could last me several weeks on my own. For the three of us, it should last about a week. If we rationed carefully, it could last even longer.

As I was thinking about how to efficiently distribute our supplies, Stella added.

“Oh, and today I spotted a kind of monster I didn’t see yesterday. It was about 2 meters tall, walking upright on two legs. It had a long tail, like a crocodile, and was covered in scales.”