Chapter 98
I slipped out of the tent and headed toward the comrades waiting up ahead.
Beyond the trees, I spotted the brown cloak Tania was wearing.
“S-Senior!”
She sensed a presence and hurriedly turned around.
Her eyes met mine, and she let out a sigh of relief, clutching her chest.
“What happened to the raiders?”
“I bought us some time. But it won't last long. They'll be chasing us soon.”
I looked at Vale.
He was limping, a lingering side effect of the seizure.
“Am I becoming a burden?”
Vale spoke with a face tight with tension.
“It's fine. I expected that you would struggle.”
I didn't feel any fluster.
I had guessed it would turn out this way from the moment I fed Vale those peanuts.
I drew a summoning formula on the ground and activated it.
Luna appeared atop the magic circle.
“Luna, protect them from the zombies and the raiders.”
“Yes.”
Luna didn't ask a single question.
She simply nodded her head in silence.
Even without an elaborate explanation, she knew her role.
A summoned beast bound by a contract is a creature that understands its master's moods and thoughts.
“Serena, turn on your detection magic and keep going straight. You'll see a river. Leo and Adela will be waiting there.”
Serena's eyes were trembling.
She looked as though she wanted to say something, but she couldn't find a substitute for her voice.
“I know what you want to say. You're worried because I'm not following you.”
It was impossible to expect Vale to recover in such a short time.
With current holy magic, I could treat wounds and poison, but I couldn't pull up someone's physical stamina.
I had to buy time.
Fortunately, Cyris was currently searching for me with fire in her eyes.
“Don't worry. I can pinpoint Luna's location. There's no way I'll get lost.”
Luna was their guard and, at the same time, my compass.
Once I explained that much, Serena wore a face of resolve.
She supported Vale and began to walk forward.
“Senior, you have to come back.”
Tania said.
I shrugged my shoulders in response to her call and then turned my body.
The flames rising from the mountain fortress were gradually growing in size.
To protect their hideout, they would have to put out the fire.
Because of that, I thought for a moment that Cyris might give up the pursuit.
“The footprints end here.”
I heard a raider's voice.
Leaning my body against a rock, I slowly peeked my face out.
Cyris was there.
There were eight raiders centered around her, and some of them held leashes in their hands.
Attached to the leashes were dogs.
“You brought the wild dogs, I assume?”
“Yes.”
“Track him down by scent.”
The wild dogs put her noses to the ground and sniffed.
Leaving that sight behind, I stood up and entered the forest.
It was morning, but the sunlight was blocked by the trees, leaving it as dark as ever.
The sound of a crow crying echoed from somewhere.
The bird's cry broke the silence and gave birth to an ill omen.
“Hehe.”
For some reason, a laugh escaped me.
I didn't know how long it had been since I last struggled alone to survive.
Ever since I met Tania, someone had always been by my side.
Not this time.
I was a loner, just like when I first woke up in the dormitory.
However, if there was one difference from that time, it was that I had adapted to this world.
There was no panicking or fumbling.
Even in a situation like this, with raiders chasing my back.
“Uuugh!”
A familiar groan reached my ears.
A zombie was nearby.
I bent my knees and grew wary of the zombie, whose location I didn't yet know.
Naturally, my hand went to my lower back.
I couldn't catch the dagger that was supposed to be there.
[Cool] lashed out at me, telling me to pull myself together.
“I suppose I was mistaken because it's always been there.”
Even though there was no one to talk to, I continued to talk to myself.
I didn't know if I wanted to talk to my personality traits.
Or if the hidden [Loner] trait had manifested.
“What to do.”
Ideas like creating a [Shield] to strike down or trapping it with [Sanctuary] came to mind.
I thought of several means to cope.
However, [Clever] opposed them.
In the darkness, even a small light was easy to spot.
Changing my mind, I picked up a stone that was nearby.
“Uuugh!”
The grotesque voice grew closer.
A chilly cold swept over my body, sending goosebumps.
[Steady Nerves] helped me escape from the fear.
I threw the stone I picked up with all my might toward a large rock on the opposite side.
Thwack!
The rock and stone collided, and a strong rupturing sound was heard.
The silhouette of a zombie flickered in the dim bushes.
I could have run away just like this.
Suddenly, a scene from a drama came to mind.
Looking around, I picked up a sharp branch and headed toward the back of the zombie.
I held my breath.
The creature didn't yet know I was approaching.
Stab!
I lunged and stabbed the branch deep into the zombie's nape.
“……K-Keuk.”
A lifeless sound, as if air were escaping from its throat, flowed out of the zombie.
The bastard didn't collapse even though its neck was pierced.
It flailed its arms, staying true to its instincts.
I reflexively stepped backward.
Then, I used [Growth] on the branch stuck in the zombie's neck.
Crunch!
The branch grew and tore the zombie's throat apart.
“Huff, huff.”
My chest heaved, and my hair stuck to my forehead from the sweat.
Silence hung in the air.
I felt dizzy and almost collapsed, but I endured it with the help of [Patience].
As expected, this body didn't have good stamina.
“Kiheeeek!”
Another scream was heard in the silence.
It seemed the raiders had encountered another zombie while rummaging through the forest.
I thought they might return to the fortress out of fear.
But Cyris's face came to mind, and I realized it was a futile hope.
I leaned down in front of the fallen zombie.
“……This is also a proven method, but I really don't want to do it.”
I slit the zombie's stomach with a sharp stone nearby.
Then, I shoved my hand inside.
Sticky organs and green blood tangled between my fingers and clung to them.
I smeared it all over my body.
Using this method, I could avoid the zombies' gaze to some extent.
It was a very useful method, but I couldn't use it often.
It was because a debuff was created every time I used it.
[Cool] told me to apply it diligently in various places.
[Patience] seemed to like the nauseating smell of the zombie's entrails.
“No one is here to comfort me huh.”
I felt that my traits might not be on my side.
From a certain point, they would often watch my plight with amusement.
“You heartless bastards.”
I grumbled once and stood up.
A foul stench stung the tip of my nose.
I endured it and began to walk through the forest again.
“Where on earth did those rascals go?”
“You idiots, you can't even do your jobs right!”
Beyond a few trees, a raider growled in excitement.
The wild dogs were lost and wandering.
It made sense, as only the foul smell of a zombie could be felt from my body right now.
I stopped my steps for a moment and peeked at the situation.
Someone strode closer within the light of the torches.
“The situation?”
It was Cyris's voice.
Her tomboyish voice felt like it would be etched into my ears.
“The trail hasn't been caught, and I don't know where they tucked her tails. He's an unusual bastard. It's as if he sees through this forest clearly, like his own backyard.”
“That little kid knows the geography better than we do, even though we've lived in this forest for months?”
I felt a killing intent so strong it made my hair stand on end.
The subordinate standing in front of her stumbled, unable to withstand the tension.
“Why are the wild dogs reacting so dully? Did they catch a cold or something?”
“This has never happened before. It seems he hid his scent.”
“How?”
“……I don’t know that far……”
“What on earth do you know then?”
“I-I'm sorry, boss.”
The tense energy cooled down chillingly.
It had already been over thirty minutes.
The further they got from the fortress, the greater the burden was on them.
This place was crawling with zombies.
They were feeling how difficult it was to search for someone while dealing with them in the forest.
“Pathetic things.”
Cyris looked at them with disappointed eyes.
She also looked quite tired, as fatigue was evident in her complexion.
Give up already.
At the moment I was repeating that to myself.
Just as I thought she might be giving a fishy smile, she turned her head this way.
I felt for a split second as though our eyes had met.
“Joshua~”
It wasn't a delusion.
She called out my name in a coquettish voice as if calling a lover.
Then, she began to chase after me with nimble steps.
“There you were.”
I ran.
I slid down a downhill path as if gliding.
My body was scraped by the irregular stones and gravel on the ground.
I felt as if my skin had been torn.
But without a moment to check the wound, I ran straight up the opposite hill.
My legs felt heavy, and a stabbing pain came to my side.
I didn't turn my head back even while laboriously stepping forward.
“Joshua~ give up. Since you've shown me your back, running away is impossible.”
She talked to me every now and then as if trying to imprint her presence.
It was a terrifying obsession.
There was a distance of at least 20m between me and her.
From that distance, she had sensed the place where I stood with mere intuition.
“If you scream like that, zombies will swarm.”
“Are you worried about me? How kind. You can rest easy. I've already confirmed that there are no variants in this forest. As for the others.”
Crunch!
I heard a grotesque sound of something bursting.
I reflexively turned my body.
Zombie flesh and blood were smeared on the knuckles she wore on her hands.
She had burst a zombie's head with her bare fist.
Looking closely, a bluish energy was flowing from her hand.
It was an aura.
“An aura isn't a specialty of just knights after all.”
She blathered about that power very proudly.
“I agree with that point.”
“I think we'll get along very well.”
“I don't.”
“Heh, pretending to be coy I see.”
She and I continued our game of tag without yielding the current distance, as if we were wrestling.
The balance that felt like it wouldn't break was shattered at some point.
It wasn't a matter of stamina.
[Patience] guaranteed that I could hold out for a few more minutes.
I stopped walking because a cliff unfolded before me.
“It's over.”
She had chased me to within my nose.
“Yes, it's over.”
“Are you submissively admitting defeat? That's not your charm.”
“I feel like you're evaluating me too highly after meeting me just once.”
“This big sister has an eye for people. I should say it's an insight built up while buying and selling many people.”
I shrugged my shoulders and looked down the cliff.
The height was one thing, but the walls between the gaps were rugged and steep.
A river flowed below, but jumping down trusting in that was a suicidal act.
“Come over here.”
She muttered in a gentle voice.
“You're someone who even attempted an escape to live. There's no way you'd do something like throwing your life away.”
“As you can see, I'm in this state, so do you still intend to take me?”
I revealed my body, which was soiled with zombie flesh and blood.
“You used that to hide your scent from the wild dogs and were safe from the zombies? It's not an idea a student of the Academy would have.”
“I suppose.”
“That's why I like you. That decisiveness to do anything to live. A real man is what they call you.”
She hugged her own body and wore an ecstatic expression.
[Steady Nerves] seemed to find that reaction unexpected, as it couldn't find its composure.
“Come with me.”
I stepped backward.
Crumbs caught on my shoe fell below.
The sound of stones rolling down the wall continued for a long time.
I slowly walked toward her.
“Have you resigned yourself? Yes. Sometimes you have to know when to give up.”
When I reached a distance where I could touch her if I reached out.
I suddenly turned my body and ran like mad toward the cliff.
“W-What the?”
I threw my body between the cliffs.
The reason I had approached her was because I wanted a distance to make a running start.
The moment my body fell due to gravity.
[Clever] drew a formula in my mind and manifested magic.
It was a [Shield].
Using the one I created in mid-air as a foothold, I jumped across to the opposite cliff.
“Magic can be used in this way too.”
I snapped my fingers and erased the [Shield] so she couldn't use it.
“I'll be taking Vale with me.”
“J-Joshua!”
“And I'll tell you this now, but you're not my type.”
[Clever] and the plan I created in my head.
As the final puzzle piece was completed, I succeeded in escaping.
Or so I thought.
However, there was one unexpected variable.
Cyris widened the distance backward.
Much further than the distance I had used for my running start just now.
Then, she jumped toward the cliff with the elasticity of her legs.
“…….”
For the first time since waking up in this world, my prediction missed.
I really didn't think she would jump.