Chapter 522:
A Secret Village?
“EEP!”
I didn’t care how safe it was supposed to be—I was still scared! In the blissful reverie of our reunion with the serpents, I never would’ve imagined we would be scaling the cliff with them later.
“Amazing… Even if I let go, my body doesn’t move.”
I could hear my father saying something, but I was too scared to understand the words. I risked a soft glance to my right and saw that my father had completely released his hands from his Snakey’s back. And the longer I stared, the less scared I started to feel. I released my iron grip on my own Snakey. Since I was being held on by magic, I could never fall off, but it still seemed so reckless to me that a part of me would never stop feeling scared.
“I know it’s safe, but looking down sure is terrifying.”
I noticed Zinal, who was riding on my left, glancing over his shoulder. Against my will, I felt my own neck jerking to do the same thing. And since we were basically climbing at a ninety-degree angle, all I could see was the ground. I only got a glimpse of it, yet I was starting to see stars. I quickly returned my eyes to the front, and I sensed the magic energy from my serpent burst a little stronger. I looked at the serpent curiously and got a concerned look back. Snakey had probably noticed I was scared.
“Thanks. I’m okay now.”
My father looked at me. “Something happen?”
Deciding that hiding it would only make him worry more, I explained, “I looked over my shoulder and sort of almost fainted.”
He stared critically at my face. “You do look a little pale, but hang in there. We’re almost up.”
“Okay.”
It took us just under a minute to scale the cliff, and we reached the top before I knew it.
“Thanks,” I told my Snakey as I slid off its back.
My father immediately came over to me. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” I started walking away to look for a place to sit down, and I wobbled a little.
“Hey, take it easy.” My father swooped me into his arms and sat me on a nearby boulder. “Your face is all pale.”
I pressed both hands to my cheeks. I was no longer seeing black spots, but I felt chilly all over.
“Drink!”
I took the cup of water from my dad and glugged it down. I must have been really nervous, because my throat was bone-dry.
“Thanks.”
“Need more?”
“I’m okay.”
Now that my worries were over, I could feel my muscles give out in relief. The worry in my father’s eyes softened a little at the sight.
A gentle shadow prompted me to look up, and there was Snakey, staring at me. It was the one who had given me a ride.
“I’m okay now. Thanks for the ride.”
I had tried not to look down, but I couldn’t help myself and risked my health because of it. I felt really bad about it, since the serpents had been so kind to give us all a ride up the cliff. Snakey softly leaned in close to me. I petted its nose, and its eyes happily closed.
Oh good. I think I’ve made any worries about me go away.
“That sure was quick,” Zinal remarked.
I nodded. We had scaled that cliff insanely fast.
“It sure was…” Fische wobbled over to me and flopped onto the ground.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yeah…I guess looking down while we were climbing so fast was a dumb idea.”
It sure was. It might have been okay if we’d been climbing more slowly, but seeing the ground grow distant so quickly was such a new and terrifying experience. I met Fische’s gaze, and we exchanged sheepish grins.
Thank goodness I’m not the only one. Dad and Zinal both seem totally fine.
“What’s wrong with you, Fische? Pathetic.”
Fische growled at Zinal. “How can you be so calm?”
“It was a thrilling little ride.”
Fische scowled in reply. He thought it had been a little too thrilling.
“Think you can stand up?” my father asked.
“Yeah, I’m good.” I got off my boulder and stretched my back. I no longer felt dizzy or cold, so I was probably okay. “What a spectacular view, huh?”
I felt a rustling in my shoulder bag, so I let out my creatures. I’d forgotten that I had stowed them in there during the climb just in case the worst happened.
“Sorry, guys. You can come out now.”
My creatures flew out of the bag and excitedly took in their surroundings. This was probably the best view any of us had ever seen during our travels.
“Gyah.”
“Ooh, haven’t heard you say anything in a while,” my father said, looking at Toron. The tree monster was in a basket hanging off Zinal’s shoulder, and only its little face was peeking out.
“I never get tired of your funny little voice,” Zinal said.
“Gyaaaah!” Toron’s leaves rustled indignantly.
“Good morning, Toron. You’ve been asleep for three whole days, haven’t you?” I remarked.
Lately, Toron had taken to sleeping for a few days at a time. When it first started happening, we were worried enough that we woke the little tree monster up, but Toron would always fall right back asleep, so we decided to keep an eye on the little tyke instead.
“Gyah!” Toron jiggled happily in reply. The little tree seemed perfectly fine.
“Want something to eat?”
I had tried feeding Toron purple potions while it slept, but the little tree just collapsed into the potion without drinking it up, so now I only fed it during waking hours.
“Gyah.”
“Here you go.”
My father handed me the purple potion right after Toron’s reply, and then I took the basket from Zinal. Toron must have been very hungry, judging by the way its leaves shook as I gently poured the purple potion on them, little by little. The purple potion was eagerly drunk up.
“Toron sure has an appetite. I guess there’s nothing wrong, then?” my father asked.
“Yeah, I think everything’s fine.”
I gave Toron purple potion until its little trunk quivered. A quivering trunk was a sign that it was sated.
“Looks like you’re full,” I remarked.
“Gyah!” Toron bowed inside the basket. Fische and Zinal were eyeing the tree curiously. This happened a lot now whenever Toron moved, so it was funny to watch.
“They’re watching again?” my father asked with a tired sigh.
“Hey, we can’t help it; this is uncharted territory to us. It’s a tree monster, you know? And you’re its mother.”
I’m Toron’s mother? Is that what I am?
I put the purple potion back in my bag and looked around. I could see a big mountain in the distance, as well as a river and a lake.
“Wait a minute…I see a village.”
“A village?”
My father tilted his head curiously and followed my gaze. It was quite small in the distance, but we did see some buildings that looked like houses, with an especially large structure in the middle.
“Zinal…do you remember there being a village around here?”
“No, Druid—without Garrit, we have no idea where we are. I still can’t believe there’d be a village in a place like this…” Zinal looked toward it. “You know, it does look like a village. But from this far away, we can’t tell if anybody lives there.”
Since the village was quite far from our spot on the clifftop, the most we could see were houses.
“How strange… There’re no roads leading to that village,” Zinal said.
I looked at the village’s outskirts and, sure enough, there wasn’t a road in sight.
“Is it a secret village, then? Or maybe it was abandoned a long time ago?” Fische asked.
Zinal tilted his head thoughtfully. “Even if it was deserted long ago, there would still be traces of roads.”
My father nodded. “That’s right. Since the houses still have their shape, any roads that led to this village would also still be around.”
As far as I could see, there were no traces of any roads. So did this mean we were dealing with a secret village? I’d heard that sometimes criminals built secret villages off the map to harbor fugitive nobles or crime organizations.
“Want to check it out?” Zinal asked.
My father looked wary, and I didn’t blame him. A village full of criminals was a risky possibility.
“Druid, look around you. Who are you more scared of, a bunch of criminals, or us?”
Look around us? I moved my gaze away from the village and looked at my immediate surroundings. I could see my slimes happily playing. Toron was sucking some grass dry nearby—was it having a snack? And a bit farther away from them, Ciel and the serpents were watching over us. Wait a minute… Now there were ten serpents.
“No matter how many criminals are in that village, they’d bolt at the sight of us like scared rabbits—that’s just how powerful our party is.”
My father and Fische both chuckled heartily at Zinal’s words.