Still catching his breath, Tohrk frowned at him. “Of course I kept up with you!” he snarled. “Is the first-year safe?”
“I think so. We should be able to save him.” Almark swung his tree branch, cutting through the air with a sharp whoosh. “You can leave the rest to me. I’ll handle it.”
Almark raced down the slope.
Morgan ran to the forest’s entrance with all his might, but he couldn’t muster up the courage to go inside. All he could do was pace around anxiously. It was the same trail he was used to—one he could navigate even with his eyes closed—but right now, all he could see was a road to a den of monsters.
I’m so scared…, thought Morgan. What am I going to do? Just thinking there are monsters in there makes this road I take every day look so scary. But Almark and Tohrk are in there, chasing the monster down. I have to go in and help them somehow. Isn’t that why I came here?
But even knowing that, he couldn’t take a single step forward.
“Morgan.”
Hearing someone call out to him, Morgan turned around with a start. “Oh, Wollis…”
The class representative, Wollis, was standing behind him with a serene expression. Morgan breathed a sigh of relief.
“There’s big trouble,” he told Wollis.
“What happened?” Wollis narrowed his eyes. “It’s rare to see you this pale in the face.”
“A monster came out of the woods!” Morgan said.
Wollis’s lips curled for a second. Morgan blinked—it almost looked like a smile.
“Wollis?”
“That’s never happened before. This is no joke,” Wollis said, ignoring the suspicious look Morgan gave him. The class representative was the picture of concern.
“So, what are you doing here?” he asked Morgan.
“Well, you see…” Morgan forgot about his momentary unease and looked pleadingly at Wollis. “A monster snatched one of the first-years. Almark and Tohrk went in to save him.”
“What?” Wollis raised an eyebrow.
“It’s just, I saw what looked like a monster’s shadow near the woods once, too,” Morgan said. “If I’d have told the teachers, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.”
Wollis shook his head. “It’s not your fault.”
“Still…” Morgan hung his head. “That wasn’t the first time I saw a shadow like that on the road between the dorm and the schoolhouse.”
Wollis’s eyes glinted for a moment, but Morgan didn’t notice.
“So I thought maybe I was just imagining things…”
“I understand.” Wollis nodded. “Did you let the teachers know what happened?”
“A first-year girl managed to escape, and Deg and Garain took her with them to get a teacher.”
“Mhm.” Wollis looked toward the woods. “Don’t worry, Morgan.” He smiled comfortingly. “I’ll go check it out. It’s dangerous out here, so you head back to the schoolhouse.”
“Are you sure?”
“I am.”
“I’m sorry. I’m just a coward…” Morgan hung his head again. “I came all the way here, but I was too scared to do anything on my own…”
“You made the right choice.” Wollis patted Morgan on the shoulder. “At your level, going after them wouldn’t be brave. It’d just be reckless. You could end up getting in their way.”
“…Right.” Morgan’s eyes were fixed on his feet. “Yeah, you’re right.”
What would me going into the woods achieve? There’s no way I’d actually be good enough to help Almark and Tohrk.
“But you don’t need to brood over it. Everyone has things they’re good and bad at, all right?” said Wollis. “Don’t worry; I’ll handle this.”
He turned around. Morgan watched him run into the woods, his eyes glued to the class representative in something akin to prayer.
Almark raced down the slope with surprising speed. Hearing his footsteps, the jaranon spun around, Eldo still under its arm. It was slightly smaller than a human adult, and its body was covered in brown fur. Its one eye swiveled for a moment before focusing on Almark.
As shown in the way it effortlessly walked while carrying a child with one arm, jaranons had brute strength that far exceeded what their small stature implied. But their most menacing trait was their long, hardened claws, which were distinctive enough to have caught Morgan’s attention. These claws could effortlessly tear through victims or act as spears, easily skewering a human body.
Almark intentionally made noise as he charged at the jaranon. He swung the branch in his hand around. This was, of course, a perfectly ordinary branch he’d snapped off a tree earlier. It had no special powers, but Almark swung it around like a large weapon, nonetheless.
Just as Almark had hoped, the jaranon let out a low growl and threw Eldo onto the ground, standing on guard with both hands extended. The plan worked. Almark could see Eldo hit the ground and stir gently.
Almark stopped just outside the range of the jaranon’s claws. Holding the branch up like a sword, he stood at the ready. The jaranon swiped at the air menacingly, trying to intimidate Almark as it inched forward. It was being cautious, which meant it wouldn’t make any sudden lunges at him.
Taking this chance to save Eldo, Tohrk finally ran down the slope, but he couldn’t move as quickly as Almark did.
Seriously, how strong is he?! Grumbling to himself, Tohrk hurried down the slope, almost slipping. Keep the jaranon distracted, you hear? I’ll slowly pull Eldo away.
But Almark didn’t do what Tohrk expected; instead, he moved in. He swiftly closed the distance between the jaranon and swung the branch, skimming it against the ground.
“Oh…,” Tohrk uttered despite himself.