CH 61

Episode 61 – Mental Trauma

I was really lamenting over the fact that I seemed to have been dropped from heaven to hell in the span of a few hours, but… just complaining about it wouldn’t make things any better. Anyway, the priority for us right now was to escape, and we had to deal with this situation by ourselves. Sweat was dripping down my back, my breaths became labored, and it started becoming increasingly difficult to breathe. The reason for that was clear. I was most likely traumatized from my experience with [White Feiler]. In my mind, I was deathly scared that I would be abandoned again. I was doing everything in my power to get a hold of myself, but I couldn’t stop myself from hyperventilating.

“Hey Lewin, what’s wrong? The monsters are still some distance away, so we’re alright for now.” (Byrne)

“Yeah. If it comes down to it, we’ll hold them back, so don’t worry.” (Porta)

Byrne and Porta noticed my condition and spoke to me in a concerned voice. My legs felt weak, and I was trembling as if I was about to fall, so I put my hands on my knees. Porta declared confidently that they wouldn’t abandon me, but that didn’t stop my body from shaking. I thought I had already put what happened with [White Feiler] behind me, but… it seemed that the mental damage I incurred from being abandoned in such a dangerous situation was deeply etched into my psyche.

“I am alright. Just a little scared… It’s a bit difficult for me to move, but I will be fine.” (Lewin)

“Yikes, back to polite speech, huh… Whatever. Lewin, we’ll definitely protect you, so you can put your heart at ease!” (Byrne)

I bit down on my tongue hard, trying to forcefully suppress my fear with pain. That didn’t really work too well, but the acrid taste of blood in my mouth diverted my attention, which caused the trembling to subside slightly. At that time, Lyra and Nina exited the tent and grouped up with the rest of us. It seemed that we had time to get out of here before the Angry Wolves came.

“Sorry for the wait. We’re all ready on our end.” (Lyra)

“Alright, then for now we’re getting out of here. It’s nighttime, so we’ll communicate via signals every so often.” (Byrne)

I was able to move my disobedient, quivering legs, but I soon noticed that Byrne and Porta, and even Lyra, were in a similar state as me. Because we were being vigorously chased from behind, but also pressured with paying attention to the possibility of monsters in the front, Byrne’s breathing was ragged, and Porta’s forehead was glistening with sweat. Lyra kept tripping and stumbling as we rushed to descend the mountain, which led me to believe her legs were quivering just like mine. Originating from my mental trauma, the intense fear and anxiety that I was feeling must have infected those three as well. Catching note of this, Nina spoke up in a cold, dignified manner totally different from her norm.

“You three… and Lewin. The threat from behind us is coming after us for sure, but don’t worry about it so much. We can soundlessly kill any of the monsters in front of us with [Anti-Heal]. Even in the scenario that the threat chasing after us from behind manages to catch up, we will be able to deal with them, so please calm down.” (Nina)

“Hah… hah… We managed to shake them off after descending the mountain, huh?” (Byrne)

“Honestly, I was feeling so much pressure from the monsters chasing us from behind, I really thought we were gonna die for sure…” (Porta)

“As we were running, there was a moment I totally thought we were done for! I mean, they were really closing the distance on us, weren’t they?!” (Lyra)

At the entrance of Mount Cornello, the three of them were exchanging words of relief. There really was a time where one of them shortened the distance so much that I could palpably sense their presence behind me, and I thought it was over for us. In the spur of the moment, I ignited the Magical Grass and they got put off by the smell and stopped chasing us, but… it was way too close.

“Well, we left most of our luggage at that point halfway up the mountain. What should we do? Just go back and get it?” (Porta)

“Idiot, we can’t go right now! The monsters that were chasing us the entire way down are probably still around.” (Byrne)

“You’re right… For now, I think it would be wise to return to Grezesta empty-handed and report the situation, then come back here. Sorry, Lewin. Even though you just kindly signed that exclusive contract with us, this time’s quest commission ended up being a failure…” (Porta)

Porta was extremely apologetic about the situation, but my opinion of him was skyrocketing. To be honest, I myself was in such a terribly panicked state up until halfway through the whole ordeal that I couldn’t even understand most of what happened. The fact that the thought of using me as a decoy never even crossed their mind was enough for my opinion of them to be at an all-time high, but the members of [Iron Gear] even put me as their first priority as we were escaping down the mountain. In the first place, my evaluation standards were most likely off, but in a way, I felt inwardly that this situation was somewhat of a success because I got to see the true nature of [Iron Gear] up close.

We were completely at ease, standing there talking because we had completely descended the mountain and moved a far enough distance away from the forest to have a clear field of vision, we heard an ear-splitting roar nearby. Everyone turned in unison towards the direction of the roar, and there, we saw the figure of a single Angry Wolf.

I immediately examined the surroundings, but fortunately… or unfortunately, there was just one. Apparently, it seemed that only one Angry Wolf had pursued us this entire way. For some reason, I felt the Angry Wolf’s gaze was directed only at me as it approached.