Chapter 300: Octopus

"I just remembered what I forgot to tell that girl last night."

"What?"

"All day yesterday, an Overlord-class magical beast was tailing us from afar. I was going to tell her to keep her distance."

"..."

Muen said speechlessly, "How do you even forget that? Give me back the compliment I just gave you."

"When did you ever compliment me, you little punk!"

The Pink Bear shot Muen a vicious glare and said, "Besides, an Overlord-class beast is a small matter. The kind I can smash dead with one swing."

"Small for you, but..."

"I-It’s fine..."

Muen’s hem was tugged again. Liya visibly let out a breath and said softly:

"If it’s only an ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ Overlord-class beast, Ariel will be fine—at least she can run."

"...Right."

It was Ariel, after all; getting into trouble wasn’t that easy.

Muen thought a moment, then said:

"To be safe, we should still go meet up with her. I’m worried that if it’s not the beast she ran into, but something else—"

"Kid..."

But before Muen could finish, the Pink Bear rolled her eyes at him.

"Do you really look down on me that much?"

"...Do I?"

"Hmph."

The Pink Bear snorted and said, "No need to go looking on purpose. If there’s real danger and you go, aren’t you just delivering your head? I left something on each of you. I’ll check and we’ll know."

"Eh? You did? How come I didn’t notice?"

"If you could notice, I’d owe you two lifetimes."

As she spoke, the Pink Bear sat cross-legged and closed her eyes.

Silence fell all around; only the sound of a breeze brushing the woods could be heard.

And also—

Swish-la.

Swish-la.

Like liquid flowing.

But judging from the sound of that flowing liquid, it was exceedingly viscous.

Not like water.

More like...

Blood.

"Found them."

The Pink Bear spoke suddenly.

"How is it?"

"As expected, that girl has crossed paths with that Overlord-class beast—no, wrong. Judging by it, that beast was probably looking for her to begin with."

"Will it be dangerous?"

"Let me see... oh? That beast isn’t simple—it’s even a variant. But that little girl isn’t weak either; she’s trading blows evenly. No—now she’s starting to suppress the beast. Yes, like that—slide tackle, sneak attack, kick its butt—beautiful..."

"This woman..."

Watching the Pink Bear slip into full immersion like a spectator, Muen couldn’t help twitching the corner of his mouth.

But...

"Was I being overly cautious after all?"

Muen looked at Liya and smiled:

"Looks like there’s nothing to worry about. Let’s just wait patiently."

"Mm."

Liya nodded lightly.

Muen then turned and swept his gaze around, suddenly pointed in a certain direction, and said:

"Let’s wait from higher up. The view’s better there—we can respond to Ariel the moment she appears."

Liya turned her small head and glanced at the place Muen indicated—an extremely tall tree standing atop a hill, towering high, high up. She hesitated, then still nodded lightly.

"Mm."

...

On the branches at the crown of the tree, Muen and Liya sat side by side.

Although, so as not to make the girl uncomfortable, Muen deliberately shifted two fist-widths farther away, it was still closer than when they’d watched the stars the night before.

Fortunately, the girl didn’t show any dislike toward this.

Muen let out a quiet breath and looked out.

Having been inside dense jungle the whole time was inevitably a bit stifling, but perched on this tree, gazing across the four quarters, Muen instantly felt as if his body and mind opened up.

"Huh? What’s that?"

Muen looked toward a certain direction and suddenly voiced a question.

Right off to his side, at some distance, towering trees stood abruptly, forming a spectacle like a tall encircling wall that stretched all the way to the edge of sight.

"Those trees are enormous—and is that... an entire forest?"

In the stretch of jungle where Muen sat, the trees were of ordinary size by his understanding—just relatively dense. So once he climbed this exceptionally stand-out tree, his view became extremely broad and he could see very far.

But every tree over there seemed even grander than the one he sat upon. From here it looked like a boundless plain where, without warning, a vast forest had thrust up from the ground.

The boundary between the two was so sharply defined, it felt as if a god had used ruler and pen to draw it by hand.

"I-I know that place."

Liya followed his gaze and let out a small gasp. "That’s the Forest of Doom-Bane."

"...What kind of fucking ominous name is that supposed to be?"

"The forest’s name comes from a certain existence," Liya explained. "A very terrifying existence."

"A certain existence?"

"That’s right."

Staring at that eerie forest, Liya’s little face grew uncharacteristically solemn. "One of the ‘Sources of Destruction’ from the legends—a Calamity-class monster, the Doom-Bane Dragon, Hamrain. It’s said... it coils within that forest. Because of that, the forest is one of the Empire’s few forbidden zones. Even Crowned ones don’t dare enter lightly."

"Whoa."

Muen was stunned. "Then isn’t being this close a bad idea? That bastard Pink Bear said to relax—this is making us rave-dance on the edge of death!"

"No, I think that Pink Bear uncle deliberately took this route."

Liya shook her little head. "Although the Doom-Bane Dragon is renowned, the Imperial records only note it destroyed a city two hundred years ago. Since then, no one has observed it leaving this forest. And precisely because it exists, the stronger the beasts are in and around this forest, the less they dare to approach."

"I see."

Muen let out a breath of relief, then looked again along that sharp boundary line.

"So if we keep walking along the forest’s edge, we’ll reach the Empire’s border soon, right?"

"Mm, we should."

"I see..."

Muen smiled and praised:

"As expected of Classmate Liya—you know so much."

"It’s nothing..."

Liya’s cheeks flushed; she turned her head away. "These are just common facts from books."

"Are they? I think it’s impressive."

"..."

Liya said nothing.

Muen turned back and continued to gaze at that forest, sighing in his heart, "It’s truly beautiful."

The towering giants stood in solemn ranks, forming a vast, dark wall, and the clouds drifting in the sky hung unusually low, unable to pass that wall. The neat sea of clouds crashed into the dense canopy and was cut into countless scattered clumps, like flowers, or like an upside-down waterfall.

It was a spectacle even more enchanting than last night’s starlight, one that made Muen feel the arcane depths of this fantastical world. Gazing at the sea of clouds strewn over the forest, Muen’s heart finally relaxed bit by bit.

All the things he’d anticipated hadn’t happened.

The Pink Bear was more reliable than he’d thought—turns out she’d considered everything with exceptional thoroughness.

And those people weren’t as brazen as he’d imagined, either.

And now, with only two hours of travel, he could leave the Empire smoothly.

Even if those folks were willing to invest more effort afterward, they couldn’t possibly stretch their hand beyond the border.

"Was that feeling of being watched back then just an illusion?"

"I really was overthinking it."

Muen exhaled long and then smiled, thoroughly dispersing those hidden anxieties.

"What is it?" Liya tilted her head and asked suddenly.

"Nothing—just that this view is even prettier than last night’s. Makes me think I should get out and walk around more," Muen said with a smile.

"You can’t see scenery this beautiful in Belrand."

"Really... I think it’s beautiful too. Those clouds—they look like an octopus."

"An octopus?"

Muen looked up at the oddly shaped cloud Liya pointed at with her small hand, and said, a peculiar expression on his face:

"Do you like octopuses, Classmate Liya?"

"Mm."

Liya nodded gently, her five fingers making a little imaginary grasping motion. A look of rapture showed on her cute face as she said, "Octopuses are soft and silly, and they have long tentacles. They feel really cute."

...Something about this girl’s tastes isn’t exactly normal.

Muen complained silently in his heart, but said evenly:

"But I don’t think it looks much like an octopus."

"Eh? Why?"

"Because an octopus has eight tentacles, doesn’t it? But this cloud—those shapes like tentacles—there are only five."

"That’s true."

"And also..."

Muen inexplicably furrowed his brows. "The protruding shape of that cloud... I think it looks more like a... hand?"

"Now that you say it, I suddenly feel the same."

"..."

"Classmate Muen."

"Mm?"

"Do you feel like... that cloud got bigger?"

"..."

"..."

As the breeze stirred, a dead stillness fell. The two could hear only each other’s breathing, growing faster and faster.

In Muen’s slightly contracted pupils, that cloud was reflected.

The hand-shaped cloud.

No.

No.

Absolutely not.

At this level, it could no longer be called a resemblance.

Because within the suddenly surging cloud outline, Muen actually saw, growing clearer and clearer... palm lines!

As if a real giant hand had descended from the sky, pierced through the cloud layer, and suddenly came down to cover them!

In an instant, a death warning thrummed, buzzing to life!