kscans

Chapter 293 - A Starry Night, A Rainy Morning

Marmi snuggled into my arms.

The air had grown crisp, and the moon and stars seemed to shine even brighter. But a faint, steam-like mist was rising from the surface of the river.

I wrapped my arm around her small back to shield her from the night air, and she looked up. Thinking she wanted a kiss, I leaned in, and her long ears twitched.

"Can you move those ears on your own?" She nodded and wiggled them up and down. I wonder if all elves can do that.

"I can't…" I tried my best to move my ears, but I couldn't feel them moving at all. Seeing my struggle, her body shook with laughter.

"…Your eyes are crossing." It was the first time I'd seen her laugh with such innocent, childish amusement. Realizing I was staring, Marmi stopped laughing and looked at me.

"…Why are you making such a weird face?"

"You think my face right now is weirder than me being cross-eyed?" Marmi nodded. To get back at her for hurting my feelings, I wrapped my arm around her side and tickled her. She let out a shriek of laughter and started struggling to get away from me.

Listening to her scream-like laughter, I watched her expression. I wanted to see that smile from before again, and before I knew it, my tickling had stopped.

"…Mash?" She looked at me with a puzzled expression.

"Hm? Oh, right, what were you about to say before, Mo?" Her face returned to its usual composed expression at my words.

"…Someone's here to get us." I scanned our surroundings. Around the spot where we had burst out in pursuit of the monster, slightly higher up, I could see a light that looked like magic. The only person in Levante other than me and Marmi who could use magic was Nephi.

I loosened my grip on Marmi, intending to let her go. But she hugged me tighter.

"Hey, let go and get dressed. What are you going to do if Hyattsu or Hattsu is with Nephi?" She buried her face in my chest and shook her head.

"…It's fine if they see."

"I don't want another man to see you naked." While we were arguing, the light descended to the riverbank. There was only one figure. It walked toward us.

"Should I have given you more time?" I shook my head at Nephi's words, still holding Marmi.

"Looks like you were able to take care of the monsters on your end." I called out to Nephi's back as she started to climb back up the steep slope.

"Yeah, Mizuki took one of them out in an instant, so we had the upper hand." Mizuki's special skill must have activated. Come to think of it, she's the strongest of us all. Maybe I don't need to worry. With that thought, I took a step forward.

My foot sank into the leaf mold, and I slipped and fell. I grabbed onto a tree trunk and pulled myself up. I looked back, wondering how I had managed to run down such a slope, and saw Marmi, breathing heavily, staring ahead resentfully.

"But we didn't have time to embrace naked." Nephi turned around and gave a faint smile. I grabbed her outstretched hand and climbed up the slope. She didn't seem tired at all, as if she were used to places like this.

She offered her hand to Marmi as well, but Marmi ignored it and climbed on her own.

Marmi took the lead, with me and Nephi following behind her.

"Do you like doing it outside?"

"Why do you ask?"

"You did it in the last village, too." My body froze for a moment. I started to slide down the slope. A hand pushed my bottom from behind, and I stopped myself.

"I thought no one saw." What kind of face would Myra make if she found out?

"I didn't mean to peek. I just saw the two of you walking…" Despite being the one to bring it up, she seemed embarrassed, her words trailing off into a mumble.

"Don't be a stranger. If you were watching, you should have joined in." There was no reply. Curious, I turned back and saw her shaking her shoulders, breathing heavily as she looked at me.

"We're only about halfway up. You should save your energy." Nephi clearly changed the subject. Until now, she had always tried to entrust herself to my thoughts and actions. For some reason, a sense of superiority washed over me. I wanted to press her further, but I wasn't sure how to handle her myself.

"I have no idea where we're climbing. Do you not get lost, Nephi?"

"I'm leaving markers." She pointed to a tree trunk where a white, thumb-sized stone arrowhead was embedded. It reflected the light of the Light magic, shining white.

"A pebble made with Stone Magic…" She nodded at my words. Marmi, walking ahead, seemed to have noticed it and was using the pebbles as markers.

Whether from Clovis and the other Saviors or some other party, she was clearly used to adventures like this. It made me feel even more that she had no need to travel with adventurers like us.

"What's wrong? Are you tired?" I had stopped walking while lost in thought about her. Prompted by her words, I took a step forward, following Marmi's tracks.

I felt a slight vibration in my back. The unpleasant sensation of the earth shaking.

When I woke up, I was in a world shrouded in white mist. There was no trace of last night's clear, starry sky. I had slept under a tarp, but my hair felt damp.

"It's raining today!" Hyattsu said with a booming laugh. I didn't know what was so funny, but he didn't seem tired from his watch duty and was as energetic as ever. Hattsu, who should have been on duty with him, was nowhere to be seen. He was alone, preparing breakfast.

I poured water into the pot he held out using Water Magic. Just then, the ground shook again. I tried to look for the giant, but with this mist, I couldn't see anything.

"It seems far away, but is the giant out and about…?"

"It seems to be in the direction we're headed."

"You can tell?"

"I can hear a sound along with the vibrations." Hyattsu cupped his hand to his ear and turned toward the south.

"I wonder if it's already started on the fortress."

"Who knows? From the way the tremors are spaced out, it feels like it's still walking, don't you think?" Hyattsu took his hand from his ear and looked down into the mist.

"Thanks to that, we won't get lost, but with this fog, we might miss the markers. So we're not leaving yet." I nodded at his words. I wanted to check on the fortress's situation before the giant arrived, but these were the words of someone familiar with this land. I should follow his instructions.

Just then, a voice mumbled, "Nn…," and Mizuki sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"Morning…" She still seemed dazed, running a hand through her hair and looking around. The sight was strangely alluring. Myra, Marmi, and Nephi, who had been sleeping near her, also started to stir.

"Where are Famu and Hattsu?" I was about to ask Hyattsu when I heard the sound of trees rustling deep in the forest. Soon, they emerged from the mist. Both of them were holding mushrooms.

"Were you out looking for food?"

"This was just on the way. We thought we might be able to see the giant from a gap in the mist if we climbed to the summit, but…" From her expression, it seemed they hadn't been able to see the giant. Still, I wondered if the mushrooms they had picked were edible. As I stared at the mushrooms Famu was holding, her cheeks started to puff out.

"Hmph. I saw how much you enjoyed the matsutake mushrooms in the settlement, Master, so I thought you liked mushrooms and picked these for you. If you're going to be like that, you don't have to eat them!"

"Wait, I haven't said anything yet. At least wait until I say something before you get mad." A raindrop fell on Famu's puffed-out cheek. She looked up at the sky.

"It's raining…"

The pot was boiling vigorously. Inside, the mushrooms Famu and the others had picked were dancing. They were a creepy yellow color but had a sweet scent like apricots. I couldn't imagine what they would taste like. I glanced at Mizuki to borrow her knowledge, but it seemed she didn't know about these mushrooms either. The other members didn't say anything, so I figured they were probably safe.

I took out some vegetables from my storage and, following the instructions of the three dog-eared folk, added them to the pot.

The rain was beating down harder on the tarp. The mist showed no signs of clearing and continued to envelop us. At this rate, our departure might be later than expected. Perhaps because of that, the breakfast preparations were proceeding at a leisurely pace.

"I think the ground stopped shaking," Mizuki murmured. Come to think of it, the constant vibrations had stopped.

"Did it disappear again? Or did it reach the fortress?"

"Who knows? If it reached it, there should be some kind of action, like an attack, so it probably disappeared again, don't you think?" Hattsu answered Mizuki while adding spices to the pot and stirring. It was a thick soup with grain added. The yellow of the mushrooms was toned down by the color of the soup, and it now looked appetizing.

"Why does it keep disappearing?"

"Beats me. I don't know the answer to that." Mizuki's gaze turned to me. Even if she looked at me like that, I didn't have an answer either.

"It might have something to do with mana," Nephi answered in my stead.

"It must take a considerable amount of magical power to keep that body materialized. Without a store of magic, it might not be able to maintain its form."

"That doesn't make sense, does it? According to the myths, there was no mana in this world until the goddess Rishal destroyed the jar of mana. But the Fifty Gods appeared in this world and fought." Nephi shrugged at my words.

"I don't know about that. But I can feel a powerful magical energy from the giant." I turned my gaze to Marmi. She was getting her bowl filled with soup by Hattsu and was busy blowing on it to cool it down. I thought she wasn't listening, but then she looked up.

"…I think it's the same as a monster."

"But Laciel said she couldn't defeat it, and not a single blow was effective."

"…I just thought it was the same in nature. There are various types of monsters." With that, she scooped up some soup and brought it to her mouth. It was still hot, and she puffed her cheeks as she moved it around in her mouth. As I watched her, Hattsu handed me a bowl of soup. I tried to stir it with a spoon and eat around the mushrooms, but my eyes met Famu's. I had no choice but to scoop up a mushroom and put it in my mouth. It was sweet, just as the scent suggested, and with the spices and other ingredients, it had a rich flavor. It was still hot, and I nearly burned my mouth. But my hand didn't stop, and I scooped up another spoonful of soup.

"I wonder what the Crimson Brigade will do. If something like that attacks them…" Mizuki murmured.

"True. I just assumed they would hole up in the fortress and fight, but it would be a problem if they escaped. We'd lose any chance of tracking them." They had lost a lot of their forces in the battle of Miglutt. It was highly likely they would flee. Losing the trail would be a major blow. If that happened, they would probably attack some other village to rebuild their forces.

Soldiers from the One-Land family should be monitoring the fortress. But they could also get caught up in the giant's attack, and we didn't know if we could even meet up with them.

We still hadn't decided how to proceed. I stared into the mist-shrouded forest.