Two men had run off into the forest. The path was dark and hard to see, but they were still moving quickly. These were men accustomed to fleeing in the dark.
However, they were fast approaching their limits.
“Haah, haaah, we’re done for!”
“Just shut up and run!”
They kept on pushing through the tall grass, not even stopping as branches cut into their skin.
Their lives were on the line, after all.
“Graaaaaaaaaaaaarh!!”
“Gyah!”
“Damn!”
A monster was closing in on them from behind. For some reason, though, they didn’t so much as look back.
The man running in front was holding a bag. It was made of a beautiful, pale beige silk, a strange match for the filthy men. A ribbon they had stolen from a merchant tied it shut. There was nothing else binding it, though.
The bag itself would have been nice enough to sell on its own, but its value must have paled in comparison to its contents.
There was no way he was going to drop it.
“J-Just get rid of it already! That thing really is cursed!”
“Don’t be stupid! How many of our allies do you think have died up until now!?!”
“T-That’s exactly why you should chuck it! That thing is something that should never, ever be touched!!”
“Shut it! If this thing is for real, it’ll earn us a fortune!!”
“B-But...!”
“Just a little further, and then we’ll reach the highway! Then we’ve just got to steal a carriage!!”
The thieves, blinded by greed, didn’t realize. They had no idea that their lives were on the verge of being snuffed out.
But the moment still came.
Woosh!
Thud!
“Agh!”
“Gah!”
Vines shot out toward them from behind, wrapping around their legs. Their bodies were lifted off the ground — and they were powerless to stop it.
“No! It was just a little further! We were almost there!!!”
“G-Gyaaaaaah!!!”
Were those teeth, or were they stakes?
The struggling thief finally threw away the bag. That silk bag tied with its high-class ribbon, unsuited to the filthy men.
It was already too late, though.
“Aaaaaagh...”
A merchant carriage was moving along the highway. The horse was tired, so its owner was currently leading it on foot at a slower pace.
Something hit the ground nearby with a thump.
“Hmm...?”
The merchant turned around, and found that a silk bag tied with a pretty ribbon had fallen to the ground.
“Ah, that’s no good. Looks like some of the luggage fell, huh?”
The merchant headed around back, picked it up, and threw it into the wagon.
Even though he had already received the job, if he lost anything, it’d make for a real hassle later.
There were a lot of packages and gifts in this delivery, so it was probably one of those.
“Are they having a party or something in Cardiff?”
The merchant hopped up onto the carriage and set the horse running, figuring the beast should be rested up about now.
There was no breeze blowing that day. As a result, the smell of blood from the nearby forest didn’t reach the merchant. The monster was also focused on eating its prey.
That was all very fortunate.
By the time the monster noticed the sound of the horse’s hooves, the carriage was already quite a distance away.