episode_0131

I ran until late at night, woke up at dawn, ran hard, and arrived at the forest.

My whole body was sore, but it was better than arriving late and having my plans ruined.

“… … Where is the temple?”

“Yes? Didn’t you know where it was?”

“I don’t know the exact location. Who in the world knows the entire geography of the Great Forest?”

As the name suggests, the Great Forest was a vast forest.

It was a jungle containing all natural features such as rivers, swamps, lakes, waterfalls, cliffs, etc.

A green maze that you will never be able to escape from if you step into it without thinking.

The reason I arrived at the Great Forest early, even if it was unreasonable, was because there was a possibility that I would not be able to find the temple even if I spent the whole day.

There was a chance that if we came at night to adjust the time zone, it would be in vain.

“But fortunately, the Temple of the Moon is located at the beginning of the forest.”

Looking back on my memories of my past life, I, a wolf, discovered the Temple of the Moon only after escaping from the forest.

Since the Moon believers are also human, they would need a way to interact with the village in order to purchase daily necessities.

For that reason, it could be predicted that the temple would have been built slightly away from the forest.

However, the roots of the Great Forest, which is constantly expanding its territory, may have reached the Temple of the Moon.

“You can enter the Great Forest and make a sharp turn to the outskirts. Even the rumor that Fabiel told me didn’t go into much detail. ”

“If you just go around the outskirts, you won’t have to get lost.”

“You don’t have to get lost, but it’s so wide that if you don’t turn around quickly, dawn will break before you can see everything.”

This was the reason why I had not been able to find the temple of rumors even though it was at the beginning.

It was nearly impossible to tour the entire forest within the limited time of a full moon night.

Moreover, it is known that wild beasts living in the great forest are generally nocturnal.

The beast may not be my opponent, but considering the time delay, the difficulty of the search increases.

A fight against time that begins from the moment the sun sets.

Time was a powerful enemy that could not be cut down with any sword.

“This is my first time running a marathon in the forest.”

A starting line was created by drawing a line on the ground with a sword.

I hope that when I return to the starting line, I will have found the temple.

“Let’s go.”

Before we knew it, the sun was disappearing behind the hills and darkness was slowly beginning to fall.

But it wasn’t all that dark.

Instead of the sunlight disappearing, the full moon rising high in the sky illuminated the forest.

And the Moon Temple, which had been hidden somewhere in the forest, would have been revealed by the moonlight.

Crack-tap-!

I jumped lightly, tapping the ground with my front foot a couple of times.

When I thought I was inside, I tried to turn around and make a sharp turn.

A dark and desolate forest with the constant sounds of owls and insects.

There is also a way to use a lantern, but I thought that it might disappear if any light other than moonlight hits it, so I looked around the forest only with my naked eyes.

[Owner, is something coming this way?]

Sasasak!

I heard a sound approaching my position quickly through the bushes.

I could tell what kind of creature it was through the subtle footsteps and vibrations.

“You’re a kleptomaniac monkey.”

A male monkey was running through the bushes and quickly trying to steal my pocket.

Just before the monkey’s hand reached his pocket, he accelerated and easily dodged it.

“Wow?!”

“Unfortunately, there is no money in this pocket you are trying to steal.”

I took out the pocket on my waist and shook it.

When there was no jingling sound coming from the pocket, the monkey lost interest and left.

[That monkey has bad hand habits!]

“That’s right, it’s not a threat, but it’s quite a nuisance.”

The kleptomaniac monkey was named so because it often stole the luggage of people entering the forest.

Although they were fully prepared to explore the great forest, there were many cases where the expedition was aborted due to a monkey stealing.

In the worst case, there were quite a few cases where the monkey got lost while chasing it to retrieve stolen luggage.

That is why the dishonorable epithet “kleptomaniac” was given to it.

[Why don’t you cut off his hand so he can never steal anything again?]

“I don’t have time for that. And as you just saw, they just let it go as long as you show them that they don’t have any money.”

[But is there anything a monkey can do with human money? Isn’t there a human who would do business with such obnoxious monkeys?]

“Kleptomaniac is a monkey’s habit. When a male woos a female, he uses goods stolen from humans.”

[You are courting a female by giving her a shiny object! How romantic is similar to that of humans!]

“It’s similar. If the female puts a gold coin into the wide-open hole, she will give herself to you. And the next morning, the female and male naturally separate.”

[Wow, that’s crazy.]

[…] … It looks like romance was thrown into a hole.]

“In terms of human society, is it similar to Changkwan? Still, kleptomaniac monkeys don’t know how to use contraception, so they increase their population that way.”

[I didn’t want to know about that dirty side… … .]

Hibana’s disgusted voice was heard. It’s understandable because she has a noble temperament about love.

However, nature is inherently more cruel than humans.

For example, like the promiscuity of a dolphin or the promiscuity of a cuckoo.

[So what do female kleptomaniac monkeys earn and spend the gold coins on?]

“There are elves living deep in the Great Forest, right? Female monkeys go to male elves, hand over all the gold coins they have collected, and mate with them as well.”

[Ex… !]

“Female kleptomaniac monkeys are stupid.”

The elves, said to be statues created by nature, were insanely beautiful.

There is even a precedent that a kingdom was destroyed while trying to enslave all the elves.

So, from the perspective of the female kleptomaniac monkey, she had no choice but to be amazed.

On the other hand, elves were a crazy race that did not hesitate to accept people of different species, as they placed aesthetic value on nature affinity rather than appearance.

This is why I say nature is terrible.

“The elves trade with humans using goods obtained from monkeys, and it is truly a perfect money cycle.”

[It’s not blood-stained money, but semen-stained money… … .]

“If you say things like that, won’t you be reluctant to touch money in the future?”

As soon as the sun rises, I will have to wash away all the money I have hidden away.

It may not have passed through the hands of a monkey, but you never know.

Anyway, for now I decided to focus on finding the temple.

[Sir, another creature is approaching.]

“Just like the kleptomaniac monkey, it is a harmless animal, so it is okay to ignore it.”

[It’s coming from here too!]

“Is the low cry a diseased leopard? Once I decide on my prey, he will chase me until the end, so I have to deal with it and go.”

He pulled out his sword and quickly cut off the head of the approaching leopard.

Thick green blood spurted out, and I wiped the leopard blood off my sword with a leaf.

Then, one after another, they rushed towards another bush.

“I said it felt strangely foreign, and it turned out to be a camel cobra.”

It was a snake that blended into the environment with its protective coloring, but then looked for an opportunity and bitten it with its deadly fangs.

In order not to waste time, he was cut down in one go, just like the diseased leopard.

From then on, it dealt flexibly with harmless creatures and dealt with threatening beasts before they attacked.

In the process, I only lost one second of time, so I felt truly amazed at myself.

‘No, don’t be mistaken.’

The reason I was able to act the way I do now is because in my past life, I was a wolf who lived in the great forest.

Understanding the ecosystem of the forest and having a keen sense of the wild suggested efficient ways to deal with it.

Therefore, this ability was not an ability I had built up, but a strength that came from my past life.

[Husband?]

“I’ve seen this road somewhere.”

[That sound… … .]

“Yes, this is the road that remained in the wolf’s memory.”

Even if I wanted to forget it, I couldn’t.

After killing the demonic beast, it was a road that he rushed along with twin wolves in his arms before it eroded away.

The pressure of having to take the twins to a safe place before they turn into magical beasts.

As you move forward through the narrow bushes… … .

“… … I found it!”

The Temple of the Moon sparkles white under the moonlight.

Although it had not been maintained for a long time and its appearance was greatly damaged, it was still full of sacred energy.

This may be because it is the day of the full moon, when the moon goddess is said to be at her strongest.

“Come over here.”

“What?!”

I was staring blankly at the temple that was far away.

Suddenly, a clear voice rang out in my head.

It felt like he was speaking directly to my brain.

“Come this way… … .》

[Gwae, are you okay?]

[what’s the matter!]

It seems like the swords can’t hear their voices, so this message is only for me.

I followed the voice and slowly walked toward the direction it was coming from.

The source of the voice is the Temple of the Moon.

Unlike the Wolf time, which was tightly closed, it was possible to enter through a crack in the broken door.

“I had a guess, but it was abandoned a long time ago… … .”

The inside of the temple was full of weeds and moss.

No matter where you go, the interior is all painted green.

Moreover, the noble statue of the Moon Goddess was stained with moss.

“Hmm… … .”

As the moon goddess was not a famous deity like Praana, the internal structure was truly simple.

If you just check the back room and the space behind the goddess statue, you can say you’ve seen it all.

Since there was no reason to look in the back room, I closed the curtain behind the statue.

Buuuuk!

The curtains were so worn that they were torn apart even with just a little bit of force.

A necklace made of two pairs of wolf fangs appeared beyond the curtain.

At that moment, the moonlight illuminated the necklace, creating a brilliant atmosphere.

《Catch it.》

The hand naturally reaches for the canine necklace, captivated by the voice.

The moment I grabbed the necklace. The light emitted from the necklace spread out in all directions and soon engulfed me.