“It’s starting to get late...”
After all signs of life vanished, I kept walking for a while, and I eventually peered up at the sky. The incandescent ball of light had been shining down from the east when I’d started—it had now passed its zenith and was gradually making its way west.
There was still plenty of time until it would fall completely dark. However, this wasn’t enough time to find an individual in the Aflatta Mountain Range. I hadn’t truly expected to resolve things in a single day, but since I’d found a pretty good lead already, I had a greedy desire to push it as far as I could.
That said, I couldn’t afford to get stranded here either, so I had to proceed with caution. It would be outrageous to lose my way and not be able to get back. After all, if Surena was wounded, I had to be able to get us out of here.
“Phew... I really need a break...”
I took a breather, leaning against a tree to get some shade. My stamina truly was on the decline. Surena, Curuni, and Henblitz would be able to do this climb at a faster pace with fewer breaks.
This was one thing I seriously couldn’t do anything about. Even though I felt rejuvenated in spirit, my body was still old. Aging was a truly irreversible process. Lucy was weird for having somehow smashed that concept to pieces.
I sat down and rested awhile, and the only sounds I could hear were the wind and the rustling of trees. There were no animal cries of any kind. It definitely seemed like this region was the territory of an apex predator.
Would it show itself to me? I wasn’t sure, but I did appreciate that whatever it was had scared away the other wildlife. It meant I had fewer things to keep an eye out for. It was a big deal that all presences—ones you could normally detect without even trying—had vanished. This was especially true for those who lived by the sword because it made it a lot easier to notice when a new presence roamed nearby, though the lack of humans and animals also signified that this region was simply that dangerous.
Things could get really rough if the apex predator of this region specialized in stealth. I had confidence in my eyes, but to make use of that advantage, I had to be able to see my opponent. If something attacked me from outside my perception before I was even aware that there was an enemy around, I would die. The same went for Allucia and Lucy. This was simply a limitation of being human. Well, maybe being human is questionable in Lucy’s case.
However, for both humans and monsters alike, erasing all signs of bloodlust when going for the killing blow was probably impossible. I say “probably” because I couldn’t do it myself, but maybe there was something out there that could pull it off. Perhaps there was a magical way of hiding all signs of bloodlust. If something like that went in for the kill, then all hope was lost, not only for me, but for anyone and anything in existence. Humanity could easily come to an end.
The fact that humanity was still thriving proved that such a monster didn’t exist. Maybe something like that could be born in the future, but that was a problem for another time.
“Okay then... Hm?”
While I was resting, some pretty useless ideas had flitted through my mind. I decided to view this optimistically—I felt relaxed and safe enough to get lost in thought. I was standing up, ready to get back on the move, when I spotted a strange feature of the terrain.
It was still quite far away, so I couldn’t say for sure, but it looked like an indent in the mountainside. It could’ve been the result of a landslide, or perhaps it was a naturally formed cave. I’d found it by complete coincidence—if I hadn’t sat down to rest, I probably wouldn’t have noticed it.
“Hmm...”
A certain possibility came to mind. Say Surena was still alive—it was better to find somewhere to hide and rest than to stay out in the open and expose herself to enemies from all sides. Even if it wasn’t a deep cavern, it made sense to find a spot with a little cover to increase the odds of survival.
There was no guarantee that Surena was there. This was a huge mountain range, and there were plenty of natural caves all over the place, even excluding the ones that were hard to find.
However, Surena was one of the best adventurers out there. It wouldn’t be weird for her to have thoroughly investigated such spots when running or hiding had become a priority for her survival. Maybe she’d even scouted the terrain before beginning her dangerous job.
“Guess it won’t hurt to look...”
There was no reason to ignore the cave now that I’d found it. Even if Surena wasn’t there, I could use it as a forward base. And if a monster was hiding in there, I could just beat it up.
“Hup...”
I hefted my gear onto my back and moved out. The fact that I still couldn’t sense any living beings was a bit of a concern. Something supernatural was definitely going on, but I couldn’t really get a grip on what exactly was causing it.
I had a vague idea, at least. Surena had mentioned there being fewer monsters than expected right before our encounter with Zeno Grable too. So, it was likely the same thing was going on here.
However, Zeno Grable had attacked immediately after signs of life had faded. Things were different here. A monster could be watching me, but if it were anywhere nearby, I figured I would be able to sense something. The fact that I couldn’t put me ill at ease.
If the monster had left the area, life would’ve returned. Why would it remain such a desolate place? Perhaps it had come here from afar, but it was difficult to believe that any monster or animal would spend so much time away from its nest.
I thought I’d hit the jackpot at first, but maybe I was getting ahead of myself. Now that I gave it some proper thought, it was extremely abnormal for this lack of life to extend over such a wide range.
If something magical was concealing the enemy, there was nothing I could do about it. On the other hand, it made no sense for a monster to do something so crazy yet refrain from attacking. Something about this whole phenomenon just didn’t sit well with me. It’ll probably get solved as I continue searching, though.
At any rate, my mission wasn’t to clarify what was going on. I was here to rescue Surena. And though my curiosity was piqued, I couldn’t mess up my priorities.
“Ah...!”
After I walked for a while longer, I reached the indentation I’d spotted in the mountainside. Just as expected, there was a small cave—a hiding place—and I sensed something within. I didn’t know whether it was a human or a monster, but there was definitely life in there. The question was whether that presence was who I was looking for. I kept my beloved sword close as I carefully took a step inside.
“Hmph!”
“Whoa!”
As I placed my hand on the entrance to the cave, trying to take a peek inside to gather information, a flash of steel lunged out of the darkness, aimed right for me. I had my hand on the hilt of my sword but didn’t have time to fully draw it against such a fast strike. I pulled up the hilt in a fluster and used it as a shield to block the thrust. I twisted my head out of the way just in case, but if I hadn’t positioned my hilt correctly, I probably would’ve lost most of my neck.
“Whew...” I breathed a sigh of relief. “Glad you’re okay...and that I am too.”
“Master?! Wh-Why?!”
The one who’d let loose with her sword before even saying a word was none other than the exact person I was looking for: Surena Lysandra. Well, I’m sure she didn’t consider that any other humans would come all the way out here—no one besides her would risk it. It’d be far more likely for a monster to enter the cave. Her decision to go for the throat with a sneak attack was correct.
“I heard that you not only missed your return deadline, but you haven’t even made contact,” I explained. “Before I knew it, I was hurrying into the mountains to find you.”
“Erk!”
Surena’s expression showed clear signs of regret—regret for missing her deadline, for dragging others into her problems, for ultimately dragging me into it, and for her own failures. I didn’t deny that. It was true that she hadn’t sent word all this time.
“Looks like you aren’t in great shape...” I noted, “and you’ve got others with you.”
“Yes...though I’m ashamed to admit it.”
I hadn’t realized due to her sudden attack, but both her left shoulder and her waist were wounded. Her thrust hadn’t been weak in any way, though. She could move if she needed to, since she had a good supply of potions. It was a relief to see that her wounds weren’t fatal.
However, if that had been all, she should’ve been able to make her way down the mountainside on her own. As I considered that, I noticed another presence deeper inside the cave.
So that’s the reason she hasn’t gotten out of here yet.