Walking in a place where the path has disappeared is a familiar task.
It has already been three years since they started their adventures, so navigating through pathless areas was second nature to Alex and Yona as they pushed through the dense shrubs and ascended the mountain trail.
Leading the way, Alex swung his sickle, cutting down the tall grass that reached up to their waists, while Yona followed closely behind.
The sounds of mountain birds chirping and the cries of wild beasts echoed from who-knows-where. With each rustle and call, tension layered thickly in the air, but so far, everything was alright.
“Are you not tired? Should we take a break?”
“No, I’m fine. We can keep going.”
When Alex turned to look back, Yona replied nonchalantly. However, the beads of sweat rolling down her face were solid proof that she was quite exhausted, but Alex didn’t push the issue and continued silently swinging his sickle to clear the underbrush.
“We could turn back right now, you know.”
After all, they had only climbed for two or three hours. The sun was still high in the sky, and they could definitely have turned back at any time. Alex hoped Yona would reconsider and give in at this point. There wasn’t anything to gain, and it might even become dangerous.
“…They say it’s about Kaiyak’s hometown. It feels wrong to just skip past it.”
“Yeah, I figured you’d think that.”
What could he do about that? — Alex continued walking silently, swinging his sickle.
They had been walking for quite a while now. About an hour after their last conversation, the two suddenly came to an abrupt stop as if they had made a pact.
“Is that… the sound of water?”
“Yeah, it seems like it.”
The sound of rushing water was unmistakable. It was loud enough to make one wonder if a waterfall was nearby.
“Looks like we really came to the right place.”
“We never heard anything about a waterfall, though?”
“Well, that’s true.”
It was hard to tell if they had actually come to the right place or not. Yona was inclined to check it out now that they heard the water, and since Alex trusted her instincts, he followed her without any objections.
The shrubs that had been as tall as their waists began to dwindle, and the pebbles beneath their feet slowly decreased as well. However, as they approached, the mist from the water started to swirl around, and the atmosphere felt strange.
“Kweck!”
Making a bizarre sound, Alex stumbled backward. The tip of his nose turned red, as though he’d banged it against a wall.
Yona quickly placed a finger on the end of Alex’s nose, and the trickle of blood from his nostrils soon slowed down.
“What’s wrong? Why are you acting like that?”
“Uh, well… in front of me, huh? Wait, why is there nothing here?”
In his startled state, Alex thrust his hammer forward. It made a ‘thunk!’ noise, as though blocked by something invisible.
Even though there was clearly nothing there, it felt as if an invisible wall prevented the hammer from advancing any further.
“What the hell? What is this?”
Alex, flustered, thrust his fist forward.
But that fist hit an invisible wall like it had run into a brick.
“…Ah. I think I get it.”
After banging around for a while, Alex slapped his palm together with a loud smack.
It dawned on him that the answer was in the conversation he overheard from the adventurers at the inn.
“Humans can’t enter…”
He was about to finish that sentence while looking at Yona, but didn’t manage to complete it.
Yona was staring back at him, casually stepped through that transparent wall he could no longer pass.
Her face was equally flustered as she looked at Alex, unsure of what to do.
“What, what’s going on? Why can I go in…?”
“Uh, well… What the heck is going on?”
Seeing Yona’s face that looked like she was about to cry, Alex frantically racked his brain.
They said it was a sanctum that humans couldn’t enter, so that adventurer must have somehow gotten in.
Then, his identity was exposed, and he got kicked out while fainting— that much seemed right.
So, he understood why he was blocked from proceeding like he had just hit a wall.
But why could Yona just walk in like it was nothing?
Alex’s brain began to spin at high speed.
And soon enough, he came up with an answer.
Maybe it was because Yona was already half not human.
With tattoos on both arms and one arm actually possessed by a demon.
So, she probably wasn’t considered a complete human, allowing her entry.
That was his rough assessment, but saying that directly to Yona was a whole different story.
Looking at Yona, who looked ready to burst into tears, he pondered again.
“Is it because I’m bald?”
“…What are you talking about?”
Yona shot a baffled glare at Alex as if to say, “What does being bald have to do with anything?”
“…Ah, man, it means that once you accepted the demon, you’re no longer human, right?”
“Then why’d you even ask?”
“Because I didn’t want to say it out loud…”
Yona let out a long sigh.
It wasn’t just Alex who overheard the adventurers’ tales, but the reason this was happening was secondary.
Given that Alex could enter, why could Yona get in? His only thought boiled down to that.
But he didn’t want to say it out loud.
It was a strange and complex emotion he didn’t want to share through Alex.
“Well, it’d be a bit weird to come this far and not take a look, wouldn’t it?”
“Are you seriously considering going in? Staying out seems better to me.”
“Come on, I’m no longer human, so what’s the harm? I’ll just check if the water’s really pitch black and come right back.”
【Yeah, the smell of kin is definitely coming from this deep place. Those guys like me who’ve climbed to the seat of the Great Duke aren’t here, so it’d be good to confirm their identity.】
‘…It feels weird to say stuff like this… But do I really have to go? I don’t want to go alone.’
“It’s awkward to say I’m just chattering… But do I really have to go? I don’t want to go alone.”
Yona’s honest feelings were clear: she didn’t want to be apart from Alex. She couldn’t accept him, but she also didn’t want to be separated from him. How selfish and ignorant was this, she thought, not fitting for a Priest or a man at all. But that was just a thought, and Yona’s true feelings remained. So what good would it do to deny it now?
“Shouldn’t you just accept it? Why do women have to overthink everything like you? I’ve corrupted countless heroes as a Demon, but I’ve never met a woman as unpredictable as you!”
“Shut up, you snake!”
Yona cursed Vervaria in her mind and waved her hand at Alex.
“You can’t go anywhere. Stay right here. Got it? You have to answer me when I call, okay?”
“Fine, but you better be careful. I wish you wouldn’t go, but you just have to insist on it.”
“I’ll be back soon. I’m just going to take a look.”
With her back to Alex, Yona started to move her feet, which seemed glued to the ground.
*
As she got closer to the sound of the waterfall, the mist from the water thickened.
The humidity was so strong that she could feel her nun’s clothes getting damp with every step.
“Pretty intense magic, huh?”
“This…!”
Yona’s breathing was oddly rough. The huffing breaths were warm, and while she had felt a strange heat whenever such magic was nearby before, it felt even stronger now.
What Yona didn’t know was that her face was turning red as well. Her eyes had a faint dreamy look, radiating a peculiar allure, and her lips were slightly moist, leaking a bit of saliva with each breath.
“You look rather troubled.”
“Shut up. This has nothing to do with you.”
It had been like this even before Vervaria manifested. It started when the tattoo appeared on her right arm, so it shouldn’t have anything to do with Vervaria. It felt a bit intensified, but that was it.
“Uh…?”
As Yona pushed through the bushes and took a step forward, she quickly pulled back her foot.
Before her was a downhill path she hadn’t noticed, but it wasn’t the slope that left her speechless—it was what lay before her.
Kaiyak dodged the tail swinging down from above and promptly stabbed his spear into it.
With a splat, black blood sprayed as the flesh was pierced, and a massive fist smashed down in the very spot.
Kaiyak leaped again to avoid the fist, yelling at the surrounding Lizardmen.
“Move as fast as you can! Don’t just stand there after attacking!”
The corruption had sprung up in the sanctum.
Leading a group of warriors to hunt down the monster that emerged from that sanctum, Kaiyak was struggling.
The healer who was granting them the grace of healing had soon received injuries herself, and the young healer who had come along was barely holding on, but was ridiculously inadequate.
The monster known as the Mermaiden was quite familiar to the Lizardmen.
It appeared anywhere there was deep water, including the sea, so it was common to encounter them around the Lizardden by the Kantasia River.
And the monster that appeared in this sanctum resembled a Mermaiden, so Kaiyak thought it wouldn’t be hard to hunt it down—but that was a grave miscalculation.
Unlike the Mermaids that appeared in groups, this Mermaiden appeared alone and looked completely different.
With a face like a catfish, six arms, and spiky fins resembling raised ribs, it launched barbs at him.
Its tail split into three strands, allowing it to maneuver freely, and its size was considerable; even Kaiyak, a strong warrior among the Lizardmen, had never seen a Mermaiden like this before.
In the meantime, Kaiyak thrust his spear deeply into the area near the Mermaiden’s newly sprouted tail.
As he confirmed the black blood flowing out, he hastily dodged, only to catch sight of an open palm flying toward him.
“Yikes!”
He positioned his spear horizontally to block the direct hit.
With a impact strong enough to break the spear shaft, Kaiyak was sent sliding backwards.
Was it time to prepare for retreat?
Kaiyak quickly scanned his surroundings.
The Mermaiden was engrossed in the sanctum, not stepping out.
There were still over ten Lizardmen remaining, most of them injured but still able to fight.
However, Kaiyak had seen a similar situation before.
The bear that appeared in James’s village and the sacred tree intertwined with it.
As the bear gulped down the black sap flowing from the sacred tree, it healed its wounds immediately.
That Mermaiden was probably gaining strength from the darkened sanctum.
The bear had ultimately destroyed itself by overdosing on the sap, but this Mermaiden was a creature born of water.
He had to do something about the sanctum.
But what could he do? No solutions were surfacing in his mind.
And then it happened.
He felt someone’s touch on his injured thigh, and instantly, the wound began to heal.
“Are you okay, Kaiyak?”
A long-awaited voice.
Much smaller than Kaiyak, yet always assertive—a healer whose head might be a bit odd, but whose skill and character were definitely solid.
It was Yona.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.
