Chapter 523:
Let’s Go to the Village
“OKAY, LET’S GO!”
With Zinal on serpent-back at the helm, we climbed down the cliff we had just gone up. Since the climb down was a gentle slope all the way, I didn’t feel a bit of the terror I’d experienced on the way up. So I got to enjoy the scenery from my Snakey’s back as I sat peacefully, and that definitely suited me more.
“You know, these guys really seem to be in a caravan following you, Ivy,” Fische said.
They’re following me?
I gave Fische a curious look. “You know, I do seem to meet up with them a lot.”
The serpent I was riding on swayed left and right in reply. I couldn’t quite understand what it was trying to say, but the joyful movements made me think Snakey was happy to be reunited with me.
“We’re quite deep into the forest right now, so it’s too bad I don’t sense any sign of human life,” Zinal said.
“Why is that bad?” I asked.
Zinal looked over his shoulder at me and smiled innocently. “If somebody saw our caravan from far away, they’d start some rumor that the new breed of serpent multiplied, wouldn’t they?”
The new breed of serpent multiplied?
I looked at my father and Zinal…
Oh! Yeah, the first time we rode on Snakey-back, there was a rumor about a new breed of serpent.
“You’re right. They would start rumors about that.”
“Right? Hey, why not take a detour and find some people so they can start rumors about us?”
“Don’t be stupid,” Fische sighed.
Zinal pouted sheepishly back. He really was a fun guy.
Once we’d gone down from the cliff and into the thick of the forest, I sensed monsters in the distance. Ciel had already noticed them and was sending out extra magic energy as a precaution. After a while, the monsters moved even further away from us.
“That’s our Ciel. Perfect guardian,” Zinal said.
I nodded and looked at Ciel, whose tail was swishing in satisfaction.
“Okay, we’re coming up on the trees surrounding the village,” my father said.
The serpents slowed down, and I looked between the trees for any sign of a road. We thought we might have a better chance of finding something up close.
“Don’t see anything,” Zinal said.
Fische slid off his serpent’s back and looked up at one of the trees. “Yeah, it’s definitely a secret village.”
Zinal nodded. “Let’s take a look around the outskirts. If there really are criminals in there, we’ll be in danger. Then again, that’s highly unlikely.”
I nodded. If the village really were filled with criminals, they would be on high alert in response to us, which would mean we would have sensed their auras or their magic by now.
“Do you think somebody could still be in the village, though?” I asked.
We looked for signs of a road and signs of human tracks and could find none. And living in the village without ever leaving it would be rather impossible. That meant if anybody were around, they would have left clear traces. And since we couldn’t find any, it seemed unlikely that there was anybody in the village at all.
“You’re right, Ivy. There’s just no sign of human life,” my father said.
Zinal and Fische nodded. “I guess this village is long deserted. Well, we’ll go inside and have a look after we check the perimeter.”
We walked through the trees surrounding the village with Ciel in the lead and the serpents tagging along. After we walked for a while, I felt like I was slipping through something. The others must have felt it, too, because they stopped and looked around.
“We all felt that, right?” Zinal asked.
Fische’s hand drifted to his sword, and my father was already holding his.
Mrrrow.
As I stood on guard, I heard Ciel’s voice. I looked over to see the adandara acting normal.
“Looks like everything’s fine,” my father said.
Fische and Zinal relaxed a little. Ciel looked at the men before starting to walk again, and the slimes also seemed to be behaving normally as they followed it.
“You okay?” my father asked me.
I nodded and followed the other men. After a while, the village gate came into view.
“That gate seems awfully high for a village cut off from the rest of the world…” Zinal pressed his hands to it and looked up. Indeed, the gate was very tall for a village in the middle of nowhere. The walls surrounding the village were also quite high.
“Think there’s dangerous monsters in this forest?”
We hadn’t met any monsters on the way, and the magic energy I had sensed didn’t feel that strong. Could that caliber of monster manage to scale walls like this?
“Anyway, we can’t get in this way. We’d have a hell of a time just ripping off all these vines.” Fische gripped a couple of the vines that were thickly tangled around the gate and walls.
“Gyah!”
Toron jumped down from the basket hanging off Zinal’s shoulder—rather, Toron tried to jump down.
“Gyahhh.”
“Hold on, buddy,” Zinal said. “The basket snagged your roots—wait, your legs?—well, whatever. Anyway, hold still. I’ll untangle you.”
I clamped a hand over my mouth. Toron’s feet never seemed to move like they were supposed to, but I felt bad laughing about it.
“Ah!”
Toron met my gaze.
“…Gyah!”
“I’m so sorry, Toron, but you’re just so cute.”
Toron let out a sulking cry and stole a glance at me. But its little roots were still stuck, so it got twisted even more. I clenched my jaw tighter, willing myself not to laugh, but my lips started prying themselves apart.
“Okay! Got you free. Wow, Toron, your legs sure are flexible. Ouch! Hey! Don’t punch me with your leaves!”
Toron’s leaves batted against Zinal’s hand. It seemed like it was lashing out even harder than it typically did. Could it be…Toron was even more embarrassed than usual?
“Does somebody have an ego?” I whispered.
Toron must have heard my little jab. The tiny tree came to a halt—then promptly jumped from Zinal’s arms down to the ground, marched right up to the gate, and stuck its roots in the ground.
“What is Toron doing?” Zinal asked.
I shook my head. “Toron did that when it sucked the karyo field dry. The field withered to death in an instant, so I wouldn’t be surprised if these vines—ack!”
“Ah. Yeah, they’re dying all right,” Fische said, staring at the rapidly dying vines in awe.
“Wow…”
It was fascinating to watch the vines wither up on each side of Toron, who was starting to quiver slightly. I anxiously looked at its little face, worried that the feat was hurting the little tree, but from the look on Toron’s face, I was wrong. It appeared to be in a happy trance.
“Maybe we can open the gate now,” Zinal said.
I looked at the gate just in time to see the dead vines fall away from it.
“Gyah!”
Satisfied, Toron’s roots lifted from the ground…almost! The little tree’s branches were flapping erratically as it tried to free itself. I didn’t want to laugh, but I was dangerously close to it. I gently lifted Toron out of the ground.
“Ooh, Toron, did your roots grow again?” I asked.
Toron’s gaze lowered and stared at the longer roots. It didn’t look too happy about it, and I sympathized, since Toron already had a hard time dealing with its roots.
“Well, you’ll figure it out eventually, buddy.”
I wasn’t sure why that earned me Toron’s biggest eye roll ever.