Ch.7Chapter 7 – Tree Bark

The bishop was biting his thumbnail.

His research facility had been literally turned upside down.

One test subject had somehow broken out of its containment chamber and escaped, and a holy knight had gone missing.

Was this an irregular mutation in the experiment? One powerful enough to break its containment and escape?

Or was the subject immune to the liquid?

How did it overcome the brainwashing?

Did it even withstand the magic that was prepared in case the brainwashing wore off?

Various thoughts crossed his mind, but the bishop, out of his mind with rage and anxiety, could only try to calm himself down.

Everything had been prepared by him personally.

The measures applied to the test subjects were by no means carelessly prepared.

They had all been tested first on death row inmates and approved only after their effectiveness had been confirmed.

Whatever the case, the measures he had thought sufficient had failed.

No matter how hard he tried, the fact that it was his responsibility remained unchanged.

“How could this happen to me, of all people…!”

He needed to make amends somehow.

He wanted to order the escaped test subject captured for thorough examination.

At the same time, he wanted to vent his frustration.

Of course, that was impossible.

The test subject was no longer on the island.

‘I can’t just sit here doing nothing…!’

The bishop left the room.

He had already called for a meeting long ago.

This problem needed to be solved immediately.

He entered the meeting room with hurried steps.

As he opened the door, he saw the people he had summoned today.

And for some reason, something round on the central table caught his eye, and as he was about to look more closely,

“You’re late.”

He immediately turned his head toward the voice that suddenly reached his ears.

A platinum-haired man was standing there.

It was the man who had come to inspect when they first gathered the test subjects after the summoning ritual.

There had been no notice of his arrival, so when did he…?

“Wh…when did you arrive…?”

The bishop, who appeared to be over fifty, was at a loss for words before the man who looked like he had just passed thirty.

Their actual ages probably weren’t that different.

“I heard some interesting news.”

The man’s tone was flat.

However, to the bishop, that voice sounded like a death sentence.

“Let’s hear your excuse.”

The man’s eyes were gray.

There seemed to be no emotion in those gloomy gray eyes.

The bishop hated those eyes.

They weren’t eyes he wanted to look at, so he shifted his gaze slightly toward the table.

And then he regretted it.

The head of the island’s security chief was on the table, staring at the bishop.

As if to say: you’re next.

+

My face stung.

Wondering why it suddenly hurt so much, I opened my eyes.

My eyes only opened halfway.

“…Right.”

I remembered that the holy knight had blown off half my face.

I carefully brought my hand to my left eye.

I realized that my eye wouldn’t open properly because of some discharge.

I gently touched around my eye and tried to force it open.

“Ow ow ow ow!”

It stings.

I regretted doing that.

In that state, I closed my right eye and waved my hand in front of my left.

I had been too frantic during the fight with the holy knight, but fortunately, it seems my eyeball wasn’t damaged.

I carefully got up and looked around.

How far had I come? Was the mainland nearby?

How much time had passed?

I remembered carefully rowing and then collapsing from exhaustion.

I looked around for a moment.

It all looked the same, but I should be far enough from the island by now.

At least I wouldn’t have to worry about a holy knight suddenly appearing.

“…So I really escaped. I did it.”

It didn’t feel real.

‘What was that smoke back then?’

As my body heated up, smoke that couldn’t possibly come from a human body emerged.

Once I became aware of it, it started to subside with a sudden feeling of coldness, but I don’t know why it appeared.

That memory is a bit hazy.

Was it because blood rushed to my head during the fight?

“…Damn, what the hell did they do to my body…?”

Of course, no answer came.

‘It stings.’

Whatever the case, the burn marks reminded me that what I had experienced was definitely real.

They made me realize how close I had come to death.

The weapons on the side of the boat also confirmed that fact.

“It’s strange I didn’t get hypothermia after falling into the water.”

With the thought that life is surprisingly tenacious, I decided to stop thinking about it.

Therefore, it was now time to face the problem I had been trying to avoid.

“Where am I…?”

The boats at the dock weren’t meant for long voyages, and when I went to the port earlier, I reached it sooner than expected, so there must be land nearby.

Still, I had passed out from exhaustion for too long.

I looked around for something that could serve as a landmark.

-Squawk squawk.

Oblivious to my concerns, birds began to fly around peacefully.

I stared blankly at the birds, wondering if the priests had attached wings to me too.

Wait.

“Birds?”

Do birds build nests on water?

The world is vast, so it’s possible, and this is a different world, so who knows, but logically, wouldn’t they build nests where there’s land?

Thinking I had nothing to lose, I decided to move the boat in the direction the birds were flying.

I worried about what would happen if this failed, but staying put would only lead to me drying up like seaweed while drifting on the boat.

I could only hope those birds weren’t flying far to catch food.

After continuing to row and rest repeatedly, I finally reached land.

“That was one hell of a journey…”

And then I collapsed.

Yes, following the birds was a good idea, but their nests were on a cliff.

I moved the boat along the cliff and barely found a small piece of land to disembark.

My only belongings were weapons, and I had no attachment to the boat.

I decided to console myself with the thought that arriving at such a place might help throw off any pursuit.

‘…I’ll get rid of the robe.’

Of course, I know it’s better to have more clothes.

However, it was too disgusting to keep.

I tore it up with force and threw it into the sea.

It was similar to the robes those priests wore.

I couldn’t stand the sight of it.

Just as I was about to rest for a moment before moving on, I immediately faced a serious problem.

“I’m hungry…”

I don’t know how much time had passed while I was escaping, but I obviously hadn’t eaten during that time.

On the day I escaped, I wasn’t given any food either.

In other words, I’ve been starving for more than a day.

Of course, it couldn’t be helped.

I wasn’t in an environment where I could stockpile food, and all I found at the guards’ quarters I visited last was a bottle of alcohol.

Come to think of it, I don’t remember eating anything until now.

“How did they keep me alive?”

Did they supply nutrients through that experimental liquid or through some other method in the tank?

If so, they probably didn’t give me anything to eat since there was no need for meals.

‘Even so, they didn’t feed me at all?’

For some reason, my mood suddenly worsened, and the feeling of emptiness in my stomach became stronger.

I walked around hoping to find some edible fruit.

Unfortunately, I found none.

I continued walking, thinking it would be good if I could at least find water to drink.

Several hours passed like that.

When I escaped, I thought I would somehow get supplies after disembarking at the port, but now I had no time to think about that.

I needed to eat something.

But all I could see around me were trees.

‘…Bark.’

I think I heard somewhere that when there’s nothing to eat, people even chew on tree bark.

Fortunately, I had a dagger. Was it about peeling off the outer bark and eating the inner bark?

“…I’m thinking all sorts of things because I’m hungry, huh.”

Thinking I could still hold out, I trudged on.

…And two more days passed.

I hadn’t eaten anything.

Walking deeper into the forest in search of food and water had been a bitter mistake.

Having walked into an unfamiliar mountain, I was now even more lost.

It would be truly laughable if I starved to death after managing to escape.

“But that’s exactly what’s about to happen.”

Talking to myself, I let out a hollow laugh at the absurdity of it all.

I never imagined I’d end up like this.

Surely I should see some sign of people by now.

A little more time passed.

The hunger had subsided, perhaps because mealtime had passed.

Hunger does calm down when mealtime passes.

The problem is that it comes back stronger when the next mealtime arrives.

And the thirst remained constant.

‘I don’t think I’ll be able to bear it when the next mealtime comes…’

Tree bark…

Do I have to eat it…?

I started to seriously consider it.

I sat down, thinking I’d rest for a moment.

‘I’m going to die…’

I looked at the tree in front of me and thought that.

I took out my dagger and approached the tree.

Yes, I’m eating this to survive.

I’m about to starve to death, so I need to eat even tree bark to stay alive.

“Help me!!”

A human voice.

Life began to return to my dying body.

+

Anna was an herbalist.

Today, she had been enthusiastically gathering rare medicinal herbs that were unusually visible, thinking it was a stroke of luck.

“Grrrr…”

Perhaps that’s why she hadn’t expected to encounter monsters.

It hadn’t been long since the holy knights and priests of the Emiris Church had conducted their regular extermination.

These must be monsters that had barely survived and wandered in.

That’s also why there were only two Red Wolves, which usually move in packs.

However, even one would be too much for Anna to handle.

They seemed to have been starving for a long time and looked ready to pounce on her at any moment.

“P…please…”

She was a young woman who had a promising future with a young man in the village.

‘And I thought my luck was good today…!’

Cursing her misfortune, all she could do was back away.

Soon she fell backward, and one of the Red Wolves immediately leaped.

Then, with a sound cutting through the air, a mace flew.

-Thwack!

“Yelp!”

With a sound no living creature should make, the Red Wolf that had leaped fell to the ground.

It didn’t move after that.

The other one seemed startled and didn’t know what to do, and Anna, realizing she had escaped death, looked behind her.

“Uh…”

A man with half his face burned stood behind her.

His eyes looked very fierce.

“…You came to save me, right?”

The stranger remained silent.

More precisely, he seemed lost in thought.

Anna began to feel increasingly afraid of this stranger.

From her perspective, the stranger’s appearance was alarming: barefoot, wearing tattered clothes that had been torn from traversing the mountain, with the left side of his face scorched by fire.

She began to think he might be a madman who lived deep in the mountains.

Anna felt her knees weaken.

‘So today was meant to be my death day.’

While she was recalling her family and loved ones one by one, the frightened Red Wolf tried to flee from the stranger, and the stranger immediately began to chase it.

Shortly after, the death throes of the Red Wolf echoed through the mountains.

+

The woman’s name was Anna.

She said she was an herbalist from a nearby village.

“Th-thank you for saving me. May I ask your name…?”

“…Please call me ‘K’.”

When she hesitantly asked for my name, I quickly made one up.

It would have been ridiculous to call myself by the number 13, which is what the priests called me, so I hastily thought of a letter I could use as a name.

The letter K came to mind, so that’s what I said, but thinking about it, I believe it was a letter often attached to good things where I used to live, like “K-something.”

Anyway, it seemed suitable as a name.

‘Since I’ve given it as my name, I should use it from now on.’

I hesitated a bit while thinking of a name, but I looked at Anna, hoping she wouldn’t find it strange.

“Excuse me, Mr. K, are you a traveler? An adventurer?”

“I’m a traveler who was shipwrecked and drifted here.”

“I-I see.”

Fortunately, she didn’t seem suspicious.

Seeing her still trembling while looking at me, it seemed she hadn’t calmed down from the encounter with those wolf-like creatures.

“It’s safe now, please calm down.”

“Ah… um… yes…”

At those words, Anna took several deep breaths as if trying to calm herself, and finally managed to stand up.

Until just now, she couldn’t get up because her legs were weak.

Those wolves must have frightened her quite a bit.

Surely she’s not trembling because a person suddenly appeared in the forest.

“Um, the Red Wolf carcasses can be disposed of in our village.”

“How far is it?”

“It’s a bit of a walk… but we’ll arrive before sunset.”

“Nnngh!”

“Eek!”

At those words, I involuntarily let out an angry groan.

I was seized by the urge to collapse right there.

I was hungry, thirsty, and now I had to walk even more.

When I was trying to save her earlier, I briefly considered eating these creatures afterward.

I ultimately decided against it because I wasn’t sure if they were edible, but now I’m wondering if I should just roast them here.

-Growl…

My stomach rumbled loudly.

All sorts of thoughts were racing through my mind, like whether there was anything to eat, or if Red Wolves were edible.

“Um… earlier, you said you were shipwrecked, right?”

Anna spoke in a voice that sounded like she might cry as she took something out of her basket.

It was a fruit that looked slightly dried up.

“This is, um, a snack I brought…”

“Thank you.”

I snatched it immediately and ate it.

I didn’t know if I was supposed to eat it with the peel or not, but I just chomped down on it.

I devoured the fruit in an instant.

The hunger wasn’t completely gone, but it subsided a bit.

“How many days have you been starving?”

“…Yes.”

Only after hearing that question did I realize I had done something embarrassing, and I averted my gaze.

Anna, seemingly relieved of tension, chuckled slightly.

“I should guide you to the village quickly. It’s this way.”

Anna started heading toward the village without saying much else.

Unlike before, her steps were light.

She had definitely relaxed.

We tied the Red Wolf carcasses with a rope Anna had and dragged them along.

As we walked, I decided to ask a few questions.

“Anna, do you happen to know the exact location of this place?”

“Hmm, you’d have to ask our village chief about that.”

She added that the chief has a map at his house.

“I see.”

It seemed that Anna wouldn’t have much information that was either plentiful or important.

“You said you’re a traveler, where were you trying to go?”

“I was heading toward the port, but as you can see, I drifted off course and ended up wandering through the mountains, not knowing where I was.”

If she keeps asking, it’ll be awkward for me since I don’t know the place names or anything.

I silently prayed for her to stop asking.

“So you were heading to Gema Port nearby?”

“Yes, well…”

Where is that?

I wondered if that might be the port I had been to before, but I couldn’t be sure since I didn’t know.

Anna seemed to understand something and nodded while pointing in the direction opposite to where we were heading.

“Then you should have gone that way… you completely lost your way.”

“Well, my boat capsized, and I got lost in the confusion.”

“Oh my, by boat? I’ve never been on one, so I just assumed you came by land.”

Anna said, “How embarrassing,” though she didn’t seem genuinely embarrassed. She was just lightly acknowledging that her assumption had been a bit narrow.

The sun was beginning to set.

“We’ve arrived.”

At Anna’s voice, I looked up ahead.

Through the trees and the darkening sky, the village began to come into view.