episode_0011

“Do you know what that witch is up to right now?”

“I do. She’s ordering us to retreat quietly, isn’t she?”

The elf, Kallia, simply couldn’t comprehend the situation.

With a magic circle hovering above her head and weapons pointed directly at her, wouldn’t it be normal to surrender quietly?

If you’ve lived your whole life aiming for the pinnacle of magic, wouldn’t it be right to neutralize that ‘special’ immediately, even if it means risking your own life?

So why was this witch holding the ‘special’ hostage and discussing the elves’ retreat?

Kallia, momentarily taken aback by the unexpected turn of events, finally regained her composure and growled at the witch.

“Isn’t your life precious? To us, that male is nothing more than a mere horse. It seems like you’re seriously mistaken…”

“Mistaken, you say… then prove it.”

“What?”

“Use your magic. If this man is truly just an ordinary horse as you claim, why haven’t you activated the magic circle until now?”

Stunned by the witch’s words, Kallia was left speechless.

In reality, the magical bombardment set up on the witch’s house was a last resort, designed to subdue that ‘special’ embraced by the witch.

Even though it was installed with the mindset that as long as the vital organs were intact, the risk of activation was not without consequences.

But if even bearing that risk and activating it led to no gain…

The elf hesitated for a moment.

Observing her, the witch chuckled, further unsettling the elf.

“Why, is it because it’s not the ‘special’ that comes every day that you hesitate to activate it?”

“How could you…?”

“Just do it. But let me tell you…”

Placing a large kitchen knife directly above the man’s lower body, the witch gently stroked the trembling man’s back as she continued speaking.

“If I were you, I’d retreat peacefully now and wait for the next opportunity. Provoking unnecessarily might just get you cut off abruptly… and that would only be your loss, wouldn’t it?”

Seething with anger, the elves glared at the witch with livid eyes, but they had no sharp solutions either.

Unless there was a time-stopping spell in place, there was no way to prevent that wicked witch from reaching the precious seed dispenser.

Moreover, being beings who pursued the end of magic, wouldn’t they have a plan even if a time-stopping spell were used?

After a brief discussion, the elves nodded in unison and canceled the manifestation of magical bombardment.

Subsequently, one by one, they began to leave after confronting the witch.

“I will not kill Ne-yeon gently! Make sure to kill her in the most excruciating way possible!”

“That’s quite terrifying. But didn’t I mention earlier that if anyone dared to act out, I would cut them off?”

Remaining steadfast in their defiant attitude towards the witch, the elves had no choice but to keep silent.

As they moved away from the witch’s house to a safe distance, they immediately began discussing possible solutions.

“What should we do? Threats and negotiations seem ineffective.”

“…First, let’s establish a blockade outside the Great Forest so they can’t escape. If by chance they manage to flee, there will be no turning back.”

“That does make sense. Um… by the way, sister, what are your thoughts on the captured remaining ‘specials’? The sisters are already salivating over them.”

“Hmm.”

A peculiar and colorful voice mixed with strangeness could be heard from a nearby distance.

Glancing around briefly, Kalia confirmed that the state of her sisters was more serious than she had imagined. She let out a deep sigh and slowly began to speak.

“Alright, I permit the harvesting of the seeds. But remember, there is still one ‘special’ seed we have yet to capture.”

“Yes, Unni!”

The resounding roar of the beasts famished for mating echoed throughout the entire forest.

“Darn it.”

Upon hearing this, the witch muttered curses under her breath, beginning to lament her unfortunate situation.

—–

The situation was not good at all.

No, it had surpassed the level of being merely bad—it was the epitome of worst-case scenarios.

One could say it was a “screwed-up situation,” so to speak.

The elves, a faction significantly contributing to reducing the birth rate in the Southern Forest and turning it into a wasteland, were a crazy race one should never provoke if they wanted to escape.

And there was a figure topping the list of those you shouldn’t encounter.

The original protagonist, Cal Pashible, seemed to have become deeply intertwined with everything.

In an instant, all the plans made went down the drain, and even the future seemed uncertain, making it feel like one’s sanity might just slip away.

It was just one step.

If only one more night had passed, they could have escaped the forest unnoticed and enjoyed a peaceful and leisurely fantasy life.

“Sigh.”

As the tension eased, her legs weakened, causing her to sit down right there.

Subsequently, filled with emptiness, she sighed as she gazed at the original protagonist.

“Hehehe…”

The guy had been smiling since he entered the house, seemingly finding something amusing. Frowning, wondering if he was delusional about the grim future, she furrowed her brows, and he, tilting his head, questioned her.

“I don’t understand why you’re looking at me like that. Did I do something wrong to you?”

“Plenty, wouldn’t you say?”

“Well, I can’t deny that. I did involve you in quite a troublesome matter. Of course, it wasn’t intentional.”

“If it were intentional, you would have cut off what you value most without hesitation.”

“…Quite harsh words coming from such a pretty mouth.”

Pashible swallowed his saliva, crossed his legs, and put on the most apologetic expression he could muster, asking for forgiveness.

“I’m sorry for involving you in my affairs. I don’t know if I can resolve them, but I’ll do my best for now.”

“No matter how I think about it, it seems hopeless.”

“Still, isn’t it better to try and fail rather than not try at all? Hehe, in this world, there’s no such thing as ‘impossible’; everything is ‘possible.’”

So, are you going to charge at monsters saying ‘it’s possible’?

Though the words almost slipped out of her mouth, she forced herself to ask him.

“Do you have a good plan? What about the possibility of failure?”

“We can think about the plan from now on, and as for failure…”

He chuckled and shrugged his shoulders.

“It usually ends with getting squeezed by the beauties, what’s the problem with that?”

“…”

“If you’re a warrior, isn’t that the best death you can face as a man? Well, being a non-virgin might be a bit of an issue, but that has its own charm.”

Chup.

Pashible licked his lips, casting a desire-filled gaze towards the World Tree at the center of the forest.

“Don’t worry! It really doesn’t matter what happens to me! Even if I have to burn this body, I’ll make sure to help that priestess and you escape, no matter what!”

“Are you strangely expecting to fail? Could you wipe that drool off your mouth?”

“Oh, sorry. I got carried away imagining what would happen if I failed.”

He wiped the drool off his mouth with his sleeve and then awkwardly started to laugh to dispel the tension.

…Truly, he was the craziest person in this world.

How could one’s thoughts be so skewed? Was he the epitome of the saying ‘his brain is screwed’?

Reading about it was disorienting enough, but facing it directly, I could understand.

Merely with words, I couldn’t contain all that madness.

I even feel admiration for the original “Beatrice.”

Just a brief encounter with one person made me nauseous like this, so how could I withstand facing four of them for over a month?

Perhaps the reason I could only show my pathetic loser side was not being able to handle that immense madness.

As I silently applauded the transcendent mental strength of the original “Beatrice,” something I had forgotten suddenly came to mind, prompting me to question the protagonist of the original work.

“By the way, where did your party members go? Have they all been captured by the elves?”

“Hmm, one succumbed to temptation and defected as soon as the confrontation began, while the other two drew their weapons and scattered but still…”

“They got caught?”

“Most likely. One side is skilled but lacks physical prowess, and the other side has good physical abilities but lacks intelligence, you see.”

“Not very good news.”

“That’s true. If there had been just one of the three, the chances of escape would have been even higher.”

Pascible expressed regret with a sigh.

However, I found hope in his response instead.

In a novel I once read, there was an episode very similar to this.

Episode – ‘The Great Escape.’

Although it wasn’t exactly a forest like the one depicted, the protagonist and his group managed to lead everyone to a successful escape from a nearly impossible situation.

The situation then was quite similar to now.

Were the other three besides the protagonist imprisoned, with only the protagonist gaining limited freedom to find the way out?

Perhaps if we eliminate the characters of myself and the priestess, changing the location to the northern snowy mountains, it would simply become that episode itself.

The narrative flow was too similar.

The main difference lies in the fact that the difficulty of this escape is much more intense.

“Still, there seems to be a way out.”

A glimmer of hope barely found.

After pondering the contents of the episode once again, I gathered the despondent priestess and the still nonchalant original protagonist, opening my mouth to address them.

“Come here for a moment, I have something to say.”

“Oh, have you come up with a good idea? Well, even in such a precarious situation, it would be strange not to think of a way out.”

“…What elaborate scheme are you concocting now?”

Pascible and the priestess approached with anticipation shining in their eyes.

Upon hearing the escape plan, they all stared at me dumbfoundedly.

Especially our original protagonist, who added another layer.

“It feels like we might lose it all at any moment, but before we execute it, shouldn’t we graduate from just sympathizing…?”

Speaking seriously, he quietly looked down at his lower garment.