episode_0019

Asher’s initial fear of the monster he’d encountered quickly subsided. He grabbed the bag, the purpose of his visit here, and slung it over his shoulder.

“Let’s get out of town first.”

He couldn’t know how many more of those things were out there, but he did know that staying in this village wasn’t safe. Taking Belka’s hand, he first checked the window, seemingly where the creature had gone, to see if it was still there. His heart pounded wildly with tension; he worried he might be heard by the creature, but he carefully watched outside. Seeing the quiet courtyard, he was reassured that the creature had truly left the house and took the girl outside.

“Ugh! It’s too tight!”

However, he faced an unexpected obstacle. The bag, enlarged by the various things he’d deemed necessary, was too big to pass through the gap behind the house with it on his back. He had no choice but to try pushing the bag through first, but it got stuck. He pushed harder, but instead of going through, the bag got jammed. Finally, after removing some of his spare clothes and food rations, the bag passed through the gap without getting stuck. But at that moment, he heard its cry from behind.

-Kaka-kakak!

Cold sweat trickled down his brow. He barely managed to move his stiffening body and looked back. Sure enough, a creature almost as large as Asher, though smaller, was watching them from beyond the wall, grinning. Asher felt his mind go blank. If he hadn’t felt the touch of the small hand he was holding, he would have been frozen in place.

“Belka, go first!”

He wasn’t alone. If he succumbed to this thing, it wouldn’t just be him; Belka would be taken too. He could move. He had to move.

“Asher is…”

“Coming!”

A flicker of worry crossed the golden-haired girl’s face, but knowing there was no time to waste, she slipped through the gap Asher had created while removing the bag. Asher crammed the bag, now more easily fitting into the gap, once the girl was in.

-Kii-giik!

Driven by the approaching sounds of the creature, he also squeezed through. As he moved diligently towards the hole, he glanced back to see the creature peering into the gap, turning its head. Just how flexible was its neck? It looked like its head had done a full rotation – yet, instead of breaking, it moved smoothly and strangely. Then, intending to enter this way, it shoved its head into the gap, so he looked past the bag. Luckily, the girl was already getting into the hole.

He pushed the bag into the hole the girl had entered. Relieved that the bag went inside easily, he entered as well. As he pushed the bag with his head, ascending upward, he felt more breathless than usual. Seeing no signs of pursuers, it seemed the creature wasn’t very bright; it hadn’t noticed the hole they had entered through and seemed to have passed by. Nonetheless, he climbed diligently without stopping. The length of the hole felt longer, and the cramped space felt even tighter – fueling his tension, making it impossible to stop.

-Kaga-kakak!

Its cry began to sound closer, indicating that it had realized the hole’s presence. The creature’s footfalls were accompanied by sounds, *thud-thud*, then scratching. As he pushed the bag a little faster, he found himself suddenly dropping downwards towards a light. He came out of the hole, taking the hand extended by the girl, already waiting. Immediately, he slung the bag back on and ran towards where the large oak tree had been. He didn’t know why he was heading there, only that the girl was leading him.

-Kiririk!

However, the creature’s sounds behind him were getting closer, not farther away.

“Oof?!”

“Belka!”

The girl, running ahead of him, stumbled. Alarmed, he caught her, feeling her thin legs tremble. The girl wasn’t ready to run properly. Considering her less-than-robust stamina, it was to be expected.

-Kaka-kakakakak!

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the creature’s cry came from behind. He thought it was the end. *Bang!* A loud sound echoed around them. Clutching Belka tightly, he waited for the pain.

“Asher, I can’t breathe.”

“Huh? Uh, uh?”

No pain, not even impact. Puzzled, Asher turned to see why the creature hadn’t attacked.

-Kii…rik.

The creature was impaled by a large, sharp horn that emerged from the side, its body embedded in a nearby tree, oozing an unpleasant brown liquid. It wasn’t that the creature hadn’t attacked; it couldn’t. Another enormous insect had rammed into it.. This insect had a head like a human helmet and its massive body was covered in armor-like carapace. The creature thrashed its thin legs but soon stopped moving. Asher tensed as the insect withdrew its horn, stepping back from the creature.

While it seemed like the creature had helped by killing their pursuer, he couldn’t afford to be complacent. Perhaps this insect was also a monster that intended to eat them. Besides, the creature they’d been chasing had a fairly sturdy, armor-like carapace, and this insect had pierced it easily, even something that seemed even stronger. Fortunately, it also looked much slower, so he thought they should run – then.

“I came to see you off?”

The girl spoke to the insect as if she knew it.

“You know each other?”

He asked, as the large insect and Belka stared at each other silently. From their conversation, it seemed they knew each other, but there was also an awkwardness, a sense of encountering something unfamiliar.

“Yes. But this is our first meeting.”

It was a vague statement. Knowing each other but meeting for the first time? He wanted to ask how that was possible, but the insect moved first. It moved with surprising speed for its size, seeming to charge with its horn, startling Asher. Luckily, it didn’t ram them like it did the other creature. Instead, the insect turned, exposing its strong, armor-like back. He didn’t have the ability to read the insect’s mind, but he knew what it wanted to do this time.

“What do you, Asher, want to do?”

“Huh? Me?”

Belka’s question was more than he could comfortably handle. That thing, so large and imposing, was not something that could be easily mounted.

“I’m good.”

“It’s okay. Take us to the Stone Realm.”

At the girl’s words, the insect started walking slowly towards somewhere.

“Let’s go.”

He followed the insect as she instructed. He wondered where they were being taken. After a long walk through a dense forest, they were still surrounded by huge trees.

“Where are we going?”

He asked Belka, his increasing worry mirroring the endless continuation of the forest.

“It won’t take long.”

As she answered, he took a step and one of his legs sank into the ground.

“Careful.”

“Oh, uh.”

If Belka hadn’t caught him, he would have fallen. He looked at where his leg had sunk; there was a hole there. Someone had to have dug it, yet, its existence seemed strangely unnatural. As Asher stared at the hole, the girl’s gaze followed his.

“This…is iron.”

“Iron?”

Looking more closely at the hole, following the girl’s words, he clearly saw that something enormous was within. The forest being dimly lit made most details difficult to discern, yet, it was clearly quite large. About the size of an adult. Curiosity growing, he tried to see more clearly.

“Asher.”

He couldn’t go through with it. Her tone was cautionary as she called his name. He would have been able to sell it and get some iron money for their journey.

“Can’t we just take a little bit?”

It was too big to carry away completely, but he still felt disappointed.

“That’s not what you think it is, Asher.”

“But you said it was iron?”

“It’s only called iron.”

Belka’s explanation was difficult for him to grasp. Still, believing she wouldn’t say something without reason, he held back his disappointment and continued to follow the insect. After they’d passed, a black hand stretched from the hole, unseen. Birds soared up, and a chilling wind swept through the forest.

For a while, following the insect, Asher had initially been uncertain, but soon he felt more and more eyes on him, swallowing nervously. Soon, he identified their owners. The first thing he saw was a large silver wolf standing confidently in front of them, led by an insect. It looked somewhat like the village dogs, but could he truly dismiss this wolf as a mere dog after seeing it in person? Its impression was much sharper and more menacing compared to the docile image of a dog; its large body was intimidating just to look at.

Upon seeing the wolf, about the same size as the insect in front of them; he realized that countless wolves surrounded them, watching from all sides. The silver wolf was the largest, but the others, though smaller, were certainly not small themselves – definitively enclosing them. The bright eyes shining in the darkness suggested that many more wolves remained unseen beyond the bushes.

Feeling like prey, Asher wondered if he should run again. He gripped the girl’s hand tightly. Instead, she stepped forward. Asher followed, surprised, but then realized that it was unusually quiet for wolves surrounding prey to hunt. There was no growling, bared teeth, or any display of aggression or threat. The girl met the violet eyes of the silver wolf, which seemed several times her size.

“Take us to the wisest one.”

Though not loud, her voice carried perfectly within the unusual silence. Were her words significant to the wolves? The wolves seemed to murmur among themselves as the human might before a crowd. Once the silver wolf turned and walked, the others fell silent, surrounding them as they walked.

But why? The insect that had led them here showed no inclination to follow. As if it had finished its task. Stopping at its spot, it watched them go with the wolves, a sight he began to find concerning, though it remained until he couldn’t see it anymore.

“This is…”

The place they arrived at under the escort of the wolves was a large semi-circular staircase. The path that cut through its center, along with the small cave at the end of it, was too sophisticated and large-scale for natural creation. Though it felt unnatural, it also blended in perfectly with the surrounding elements. As they gazed, the wolves surrounding them began to climb the steps, taking their seats, allowing him to realize that this was nothing like a typical staircase.

It was a place where the wolves assembled. And so, the silver wolf remained at the top of the steps, the only one that remained standing, thus they were standing on what is essentially a platform. The wolves sitting around the platform looked down at them with gravity. Feeling the imperative need to remain silent, he shut his mouth. Then, in that silence, a huge sound made him jump.

-Auu~uuuuu!

It was the howl of a wolf. Suiting its massive size, the howl shook Asher’s ears to their core, echoing far and wide.

“Hmm, this sound… it seems a precious guest has been brought.”

Shortly after that, a voice came from inside the cave situated at the end of the pathway cutting through the center of the steps. The moment he thought, “It’s a person!”, a silhouette emerged from the cave. The moonlight illuminated as it slowly revealed its form, leaving him with no choice but to be astounded.

“A wolf speaking human words?”

What emerged from the cave was not a person but a wolf with startlingly white fur, as if bleached. Unlike the other wolves with their intact canines, this wolf has only a small canine visible and showed patches of missing fur. The moment it revealed itself fully, all the wolves bowed their heads to it, even the silver wolf. It was astonishing to Asher, who had assumed that the silver wolf was the leader.

“I never thought, within at least my lifetime, that I would meet the master of the forest in person.”

The wolf acted as if shaking its head, disapprovingly, making eye contact with the girl.

“I know you are aware that the Stone has long since crumbled. The fact that you, who must protect the heart of the forest, are here…”

“The tree has fallen.”

Belka interrupted the wolf before it could finish. The wolf didn’t seem to mind, acting as though it had anticipated her statement; it continued speaking.

“What has become of the Iron?”

“It has awakened. I confirmed the seal was broken.”

“Is that so.”

Sighing, the wolf looked regretfully at the sky before finally looking at Asher.

“Judjing by what you carry…is that child, Erastus, the prophesied one?”

Asher didn’t know what it meant, but the words clearly referred to him.

“I ask in case… could it be that you are the descendant of Erastus that we missed at that time, Agapia?”

The wolf glared at him, and at his words, the other wolves snarled and glared in unison. Hearing words he didn’t recognize, then suddenly facing unexplained hostility, Asher’s fear grew.

“Don’t worry. This child is not his descendant.”

Belka reassured him soothingly, causing the wolf’s hostility to immediately subside. Asher, surprised at that, looked around and saw the relieved expressions on the wolves’ faces.

“Then I am truly relieved.”

The leader-like wolf’s voice clearly conveyed relief too. Then, sniffing a few times, sensing something, it gazed at Belka and Asher with cloudy eyes, frowned.

“Hmm. Could it be?”

Muttering that, it slowly descended the slope to stand before them. Unlike the silver wolf, it had no special appearance. In size, it was no different from the other wolves, its thinning fur making it rather unsightly. But, its somewhat hazy blue eyes were strangely imposing, exuding an aura of authority. Slowly inspecting them again, it spoke in a displeased voice.

“A strong scent. Has this child, Erastus, given you their body?”

“Yes.”

Belka replied without hesitation. The old wolf sighed. He was relieved on behalf of the girl, but also unnerved by it all.

“I knew this day would come.”

The old wolf muttered; then, worriedly looking at the girl before him, as his eyes narrowed dangerously.

“However, I sense another being’s scent on your body, apart from Erastus. Considering your nature, you wouldn’t have willingly yielded to that person, would you?”

The girl flinched at his words.

“Who dares to do such a thing!”

Asher frowned at the wolf’s anger, remembering Mac. It was as though wanting to hurt whoever would dare do such a thing to her, as if she were his daughter, and learning that his daughter had been violated. The wolf’s furious tone vastly differed from his dull appearance. Although his anger wasn’t directed at him, Asher was intimidated. But someone intervened.

“Don’t get so angry.”

It was Belka.

“Are you really alright after experiencing such a thing?!”

“Calm down for now.”

Belka calmly spoke to the enraged wolf.

“Asher is exhausted. Let’s talk later.”

It had, indeed, been a tiring day, late into the night, Asher was exhausted, though not as much as the girl. Although she was the one who suffered, Belka expressed worry for him instead. At her words, the old wolf quieted down, staring at the girl, then at Asher, before shaking his head in resignation.

“Huu, alright. You are that kind of being. But one way or another, tell me who dared touch you.”

“…Okay.”

The old wolf insisted, Belka only then giving a positive response to the old wolf’s insistence.