episode_0033

“If outside the forest is like this, I should have prepared something to ride.”

They hadn’t originally intended to come here, so it was questionable if they could even get a ride, but they were wondering if they could really walk across this vast land on foot.

“If that’s the case, it seems like you don’t have to worry.”

“What?”

Had she prepared a ride in advance? As the girl looked towards the forest, he followed her gaze. Then the bushes twitched a few times and made a sound. At the sight of a white shadow leaping out, his face froze solid.

“Hey! Why are you here!”

-Heeheeheehing!

The identity of the shadow was none other than a white horse, ordinary in every way except for the horn on its head.

“It’s been following us since earlier.”

“Ah, seriously! And I can’t tell it to go back either.”

Asher felt a headache coming on and pressed his temples. It was good that they definitely had something to ride, but. A ride is a ride, depending on what it is.

-Heeeeeehing!

“Hey, it’s difficult if you do this to me.”

See? Isn’t it nudging its head as if asking Belka to stroke it? His mood lightened a bit at the sight of the girl pushing the horse away and looking at him as if asking for help, but the horse being annoying was still annoying.

“Don’t nudge Belka!”

-Heeeeeeeeehing!!!!

The horse’s scream echoed at the border of the forest and the wilderness. Asher didn’t like the horse that had suddenly become their companion, but there was nothing he could do. It wasn’t that he was so thoughtless as to insist on leaving the horse behind even after seeing the view outside the forest. He could easily tell that wandering on foot through that endlessly stretching wasteland without even knowing their proper destination would be reckless.

Even though he knew the horse was lecherous, unlike its appearance, he had to endure what he had to endure. Even if riding the horse was unavoidable.

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to use this horn for anyway.”

Eventually, they proceeded through the wilderness on horseback. The horn, which had originally been on the horse’s head, was now in his hand. Originally, the horse had nudged its head as if trying to give it to Belka, but seeing her troubled expression, he couldn’t stand it and grabbed the horse’s horn as if to snatch it, accidentally pulling it out.

The sight of the horse wailing as if it were greatly wronged at that moment. He had looked at Belka, wondering if something was wrong with the horse, but.

“It’s okay. Giving that is like a sign that it’s allowing you to ride on its back.”

Whether that was true or not, the horse became quite docile afterward and they were now riding along with the girl. The horse’s horn had a strange texture, so much so that he wondered if it really belonged to the horse. It felt like stone, and also had a hard texture similar to the feeling of a seashell he had picked up from the bottom of a lake. It felt less like a part of the horse and more like a part of a completely different creature.

That was only for a moment; under the blazing, harsh sunlight, he put the horn he was examining into his bag.

“Ugh, it’s hot.”

The first problem they faced after leaving the forest was the blazing sun, which shone down without mercy. When they were in the forest, there were many trees, so it was rarely hot, but the reddish-orange wilderness, where not even a single decent tree grew, was too hot for Asher. Because of this, to avoid the direct sunlight, he covered his head and face with a cloth made by tearing a white outer garment into two pieces. That garment was the only one left because they had left their other clothes in the cave.

It was unpleasant for it to cling to him, soaked in sweat, and he wanted to take it off, but he couldn’t.

Not only was the direct sunlight the problem, but heat was also rising from the ground.

He wished there was some wind, but for some reason, the wind didn’t blow well here either.

“Belka, want some to drink too?”

When he took out a leather water skin from the bag strapped to the horse and drank, asking Belka if she wanted some, he saw the girl just shake her head without speaking.

It was so hot, and he wondered if she was really okay, but not a single drop of sweat flowed below her neck, which was covered by her mask and veil, making it seem as if she was truly unaffected.

Somehow, she spoke less and leaned against his back often as if she had no energy, but the girl had been in this state ever since leaving the forest. He worried if something was wrong because they had left the forest, but for now, there was no visible way to solve it, so his worries only increased.

Then, seeing the horse panting with visible exhaustion, they decided to stop for a rest. The only thing that would block the hot sunlight was the bag he had brought, and to be in the shade, they had to stay close to the bag.

After they came out of the forest. They rode the horse slowly, and when the horse got tired, they would rest like this and, after resting sufficiently, they would repeat walking slowly for a long time.

Because of this, it seemed like the horse drank more water than they did, but since the horse was the one doing the moving, it was unavoidable.

Leaning against the bag propped up using the horse as a support, he sat and looked at the endlessly stretching wilderness. They were following a faintly visible path left by people, but several hours had passed since they started riding. All they could still see was the wilderness stretching to the horizon.

If they had walked on their own without the horse, they probably wouldn’t have been able to walk far before collapsing. Still, if there was something that bothered him.

-Prrr!

“Why does this fellow sweat so much?”

He knew horses were supposed to have good stamina, but it was sweating so much that its fur was completely soaked, and somehow holding onto it felt quite unpleasant.

“That’s something this child can’t help either.”

The girl said, taking off the mask she was wearing. Indeed, it was probably an animal that originally lived in the forest, so it couldn’t help it in a desert like this.

Still, after the horse seemed to have rested a bit, they rode for a while. Just as if the fact that not a single breeze had blown was a lie, a strong wind began to blow.

Seeing the sun slowly setting, they eventually decided to sleep in the middle of this vast wilderness.

Fortunately, as the sun completely set, the wind died down, but there was another problem.

“Why is it so cold this time!?”

The wilderness at night was quite, no, truly cold. He was shivering so much he wondered if it had really been that hot during the day, when the girl pulled out two blankets from the bag and motioned to him.

He reluctantly draped one blanket over the horse, but since they were huddled close together, one blanket was enough for them.

The horse seemed very tired and fell asleep quickly. If there was one slightly questionable point.

“I don’t think I put any blankets in.”

In fact, he had packed blankets after an adventurer told him there would be many times he’d have to sleep outdoors while traveling. However, when they left the previous town, the bag was too big, so he had taken everything out except for the things he thought he would really need, which meant these items shouldn’t have been there now.

“I asked the forest children, and they brought them.”

“Those wolves?”

Belka’s standard for ‘child’ was truly unknowable, so it was hard to say exactly what she meant, but the only ‘children’ he could think of right now were the wolves they had met before leaving the forest.

Looking at it now, this blanket, which smelled slightly musty, was the hide of some unnamed animal that they had used when they slept in the wolves’ cave.

Although it was thin, covering themselves with animal hide allowed them to forget the cold.

As they were wrapped up in the blanket like that with the girl, he could feel her soft body pressed against him.

Even in this wilderness full of sand and dust, the girl’s scent distinctly stimulated his nose.

Come to think of it, yesterday, because they were squeezed out by the mermaids, he couldn’t properly do it with Belka and had stopped in an ambiguous place, right?

“Ah??”

Just then, as he placed his hand on the girl’s body, which was pressed close to him, he felt her small body tremble.

With her back pressed tight against him, she couldn’t turn to look at him and was hesitant, but Asher moved his hand over her body.

Although it wasn’t visible because they were wrapped in the blanket, his right hand had already grasped one of the girl’s small breasts.

His other hand also lifted her skirt, grabbed the secret fissure hidden beneath her underwear as if clutching it, and pushed his fingers into the fissure.

“Heeeuuut!”

They couldn’t move much for fear of the rolled-up blanket coming undone and letting in the cold wind, but that limited movement excited him even more. He could feel his thing lodged between the girl’s butt cheeks through her clothes.

When she put pressure there, as if wanting to let him know the state of his thing.

“Uuuuu.”

In the moonlight shining on them, he could see the girl’s flushed ears. When he moved his thing lodged between her butt cheeks up and down, rubbing it as if playing a trick, Belka’s body trembled slightly.

Wanting to make the girl restless, he gently rubbed her breast and poked her fissure, repeating the act.

To the point where he himself, who was doing such things, became restless.

By the time the girl’s fissure was so wet that it soaked even her underwear and skirt. When he felt like he might ejaculate before even putting his thing inside her.

Belka, who was held captive in his arms, raised her head and looked up at him.

“Hee, Asher… now, hua, stop.”

And what he could see was the girl’s face, melted as sweetly as if he wanted to lick it directly.

“Heeuut! Aah.”

The girl, fully aroused in his arms, moaned with pleasure.

She was tightly wrapped up with him in the blanket and couldn’t move at all.

It wasn’t that she was particularly resisting, but he still liked the fact that the girl was held in his arms.

Moving wasn’t easy, but he moved his thing as if a large caterpillar was crawling, going down her butt crack and inserting it between her thighs.

And his thing, wiggling and starting to crawl, pushing through the soft flesh on the inside of the girl’s thighs.

“Hyaaat?!”

Perhaps feeling the movement, Belka looked up at him again.

Breathing heavily, looking up at him with a flushed face, a hint of shyness and anticipation swirled in her golden eyes.

As if answering the girl’s anticipation, Asher moved his thing even more diligently.

Eventually, the tip of his thing, thoroughly wet and dripping sticky honey-water, reached the girl’s fissure.

And then, as if it were its home all along, his cock pushed through the fissure, opening it with its head and thrusting in with squelching sounds, making her moans grow louder.

“Eungeuut! Haa.”

The sticky fissure opened its entrance at the movement of his cock, allowing entry.

The tip went into the girl’s hole, but only the head had entered. Greedy lust was not going to be satisfied with just that.

His thing digging deeper and deeper inside.

To relish the girl’s warmth a little more, to feel the inside of the girl a little more, he wiggled his cock, filling the inside of the girl completely with himself.

“Haa.”

As expected, that wasn’t enough, so he moved back and forth and sometimes twisted his body, searching for a comfortable position.

As his cock moved more roughly, perhaps scraping against the girl’s inner flesh, Belka, who now forgot even to hold her breath, let out a full stream of moans.

“Eungeung! Heut! Ahhuut!”

Flesh rubbing against flesh should have been painful, but the honeyed water filling the girl’s inside only gifted pleasure to each other.

And so his cock pulsed inside the girl’s body for a while. Soon, he poured his semen full inside her.

“Huuwoo.”

Belka leaned against him, looking languid as if her belly were full.

Normally, it felt like he could have done it several more times, but was it because they had already used up a lot of energy in the wilderness?

And so they became one and fell asleep in the middle of the wilderness.

The next day, what woke Asher was the sand hitting his face.

“Ugh! Ptui, ptui! Wind again?”

It seemed the wind here blew around dawn and dusk, when day and night changed.

It had been several days since they had been traveling through the vast wilderness, following only the faint color of the path.

“When will this tiresome wilderness finally end?”

This wilderness, hot during the day and cold at night, showed no end no matter how far they went.

When on earth would they arrive somewhere where people could live? This thought, combined with the sight of the endless wilderness, made him even more anxious.

All that was still visible was the wilderness stretching to the horizon.

If they had walked on their own without the horse, they probably wouldn’t have been able to walk far before collapsing.

“Belka, where are we going?”

“….”

No answer came back from the girl.

“Why won’t you answer something like this?”

Even though he thought about going back to the forest, there wasn’t much water left in the bag. Food wasn’t a problem, but they couldn’t survive without water in a place like this.

It was certain they were going somewhere, but Belka wouldn’t tell them where they were going, so he looked at her, feeling vexed.

He thought he had gotten used to the girl, who was originally not talkative, but was it because the weather felt even hotter than usual today? Was it because the sweat-soaked cloth kept sticking to him unpleasantly?

He felt the girl, leaning against him without saying a word, was more frustrating than usual.

He couldn’t abandon the thought that it would have been much better, even if it was a bit further, to go through another village near the forest as planned, if he had known it would turn out like this, which made him even more anxious.

That’s why. That’s why he got annoyed at Belka for the first time.

“Say something…! Belka?”

And so he just quickly turned his head. The moment he saw the girl being pushed back and collapsing weakly even from that small shock.

Forgetting his anxiety and fatigue, he quickly grabbed her.

“Belka? Belka! Try to wake up! Belka!”

-Heeheeheehing!

As the horse that had been carrying them stopped in surprise and looked on with concern. Checking her breathing, thankfully she was breathing, but her breath was so shallow and unstable that you wouldn’t know unless you put your ear close.

Shaking the girl’s shoulder and shouting, she didn’t wake up, making his anxiety grow. Thinking about why she collapsed, he suddenly remembered that Belka hadn’t asked for water even once in several days.

Only then did Asher, his face pale, take out the water skin and put the opening to her mouth.

He reproached himself for having been momentarily annoyed at Belka and tried to make her drink the water somehow, but the little water remaining couldn’t enter her mouth and flowed futilely down her chin.

Surely he wouldn’t lose her like this and be left alone? It was when he was trembling with fear.

-Kugugugugu!

It sounded like the ground was rumbling. At the sound of something massive moving in a group and kicking up the ground, he raised his head and saw a procession of carriages approaching in the distance, raising clouds of sand.

It didn’t look like they were coming towards them directly, but it was a distance where they would likely meet if he rode the horse along the path they had been following.

Moreover, in front of them.

“Buoy?”

Wandering through the wilderness, he realized that what the girl had told him about, a ‘buoy’, was on their path.

He remembered her telling him that in a place where it was so hard to find the way, there would be markers indicating the location, and that it was a place many people passed through while traveling.

He didn’t know if that thing, like a large ball floating in the sky with chains seemingly connected below it, was the ‘buoy’ she had told him about, but there was no time to think now.

Because, if his guess was right, that procession would stop at that ‘buoy’.

He hit the horse’s neck as if slapping it.

The horse, as if understanding his thoughts, started running along the path.

His back had been hurting even when the horse was walking, but as it started running, the violent shaking made his back hurt even more.

Asher clenched his lips shut and endured, grabbing the horse’s neck.

The horse’s fur was short and smooth, so it felt precarious, as if he might fall off if he didn’t hold on tight.

Because he had tied his waist and Belka’s waist together with the cloth that had covered his head, the harsh sunlight and the heat rising from the ground stung his face, but he endured it and ran along the path.

Then, what caught his eye was a path with a clear shape, unlike the faint path they had been following, which seemed about to disappear.

Seeing that path and where the carriages were coming from, it seemed certain that the procession would pass through this path.

“Hey!!”

They were coming towards this place, but what if they didn’t see them or ignored them and passed by? Asher waved both hands while still on the horse to attract attention.

At that moment, he saw a strange sight. The carriages were quite large. Large enough that he could clearly tell they were big even from a distance.

To that extent, he could simply understand it as the carriages being big and move on, but the problem was the creatures pulling those carriages.

When he first saw those creatures from a distance, he thought they were mottled horses with blue markings on an orange background.

However, the closer the carriage procession came, the more he realized that was his mistake.

They were similar in shape to horses. But their skin was covered in hard scales, closer to that of a reptile, rather than glossy fur like a horse.

Even the sparse hairs they did have were thick and tough at the root, like bird feathers, not thin, thread-like hairs.

At the sight of those bizarre creatures pulling the carriages, he stopped calling out to them and froze awkwardly.

Had they spotted them?

The driver of the leading carriage seemed to say something after opening the rear window, then raised a flag to signal.

Then the carriages running behind also repeated that action and gradually slowed down.

And by the time the leading carriage arrived in front of them, it had completely stopped.

-Kururuk! Kururuk!

The creatures pulling the large carriages made harsh breathing sounds, as if tired, but it was a sharp, unpleasant sound like boiling saliva.

What he had thought were horses were only similar in appearance. They looked more like giant reptiles.

Their size was so immense that Asher had to look up even while on his horse.

The carriages that followed behind were also being pulled by the same creatures.

At the sight of the monstrous creatures that seemed capable of easily killing the horse and them with just a simple movement, Asher hesitated, worrying if he had perhaps called out to those he shouldn’t have.

With a creaking sound, the door of the large carriage opened. And a ladder descended from within the door, and an old man slowly walked out.

“Hoh, when they said there was a horse and children in a place like this, I thought I was seeing things.”

The old man, with sparse grey hair and a benevolent impression, was laughing in a disbelieving way, as if confirming an unbelievable fact.