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Chapter 39
What Should I Do?
A cold wind appeared and decapitated the rabbit monster, Leprus. But there was only one Sylph, and the Leprus clinging to Diana’s arm bit her shoulder.
Crack! Blood splattered. Diana gritted her teeth against the excruciating pain. The Sylph immediately cut off the rest of Leprus’s neck.
“Miss!”
Giskar shouted and grabbed Diana’s hand. White, snowball-like creatures rolled out. They looked cute at first glance, but the sight sent shivers down one’s spine. A single one wasn’t very strong, but when they gathered into a swarm, they became terrifying monsters.
Diana knew this well.
Long ago, when she was being dragged from Panborough to the Lordbrock Kingdom, she had seen these monsters. How could she ever forget such terrifying creatures?
Giskar was running while holding Diana’s hand. Watching his back, Diana felt relieved. A fleeting thought crossed her mind that everything would have been easier if Giskar had died—but her body acted first. How funny—it moved instinctively to save him without a moment of hesitation.
Not because it was the “right” thing foretold in prophecy, but simply because she didn’t want him to get hurt. Even so, it wasn’t so bad. At least they were alive.
Her arm hurt, but it was fine. If she hadn’t acted, Leprus might have bitten her neck and devoured her instantly. Diana ordered the Sylph to cut down the pursuing monsters. She hadn’t expected the necklace Sasha gave her to be so useful in a situation like this.
Monsters born by chance from the remnants of darkness created by gods, and spirits born by chance from life gathering in the world created by gods—they were said to be opposites. In fact, the Sylph displayed even greater power against monsters than against humans.
Diana and Giskar ran into the forest, leaving the Leprus behind. But soon, they realized something. They were no longer outside the safe forest—they had run into its depths. The cunning Leprus had driven them toward the monster-filled forest.
They had become prey.
A shiver ran down Diana’s spine. But there was nothing she could do. If she stopped, the swarm of Leprus would overrun them.
“I should have trained harder and learned to summon spirits!”
She had been too busy to study. Diana bit her lip. Even reading books didn’t make summoning mid-level spirits easy. The key was affinity, but she didn’t know how to increase it.
“Ah!”
Diana slipped on something slick and fell. Giskar looked back and helped her up. Diana also turned to see where the Leprus were.
But there was no sign of them.
What? Had they vanished from exhaustion? Diana felt a sense of dread. Strangely, they hadn’t encountered a single person.
Why was no one here?
Diana stood in a daze, thinking. Either they had crossed paths with people who had gone the other way, or they had come to a place people didn’t visit… or thirdly…
Everyone had already fled because it was dangerous.
But why were the rocks slippery? Because of moisture? The swamp where dragons lived should be far away… Had the snow melted?
Diana looked at what she had slipped on. In the sunlight piercing through the thickening fog, it glittered. Scales.
As Diana lifted her head in shock, she met a pair of yellow eyes staring at her. Where she expected a snake’s head, there was instead a human head. A beautiful young girl’s face.
Ah… uh… it’s a snake monster. Such a massive snake monster… Now she understood why the Leprus had fled. They had run from this gigantic monster.
Even to Diana, this monster looked dangerous. Warning signals blared in her mind, but she was too stunned to move. Was she going to die like this? She couldn’t possibly escape from it.
A truly futile struggle. She had hoped for another life, yet now she would be eaten by a monster…
It smiled at her, then opened its mouth and lunged. The beautiful girl’s face twisted into a grotesque monster. It felt as though she had stepped into the middle of hell. Diana could only hope the creature would end her quickly.
“Snap out of it!”
Giskar’s voice brought Diana back to her senses. He blocked the lunging snake monster’s head with his sword and grabbed Diana’s hand, pulling her along. She followed, dazed.
They had to escape. But how?
This was an unknown forest. The monster knew it better than they did.
[Hey! Hey! Where are you going?]
A hissing, whispering voice reached them. It was so soft and gentle it gave her chills. Apparently, the monster could speak human language.
[Hey! Wanna play tag? Run quickly! Heehee!]
Tears welled in Diana’s eyes. The terror was far worse than anything the Leprus had caused.
[But hey, if you get caught, I won’t hurt you.]
Her lungs felt like they were about to burst. Who said humans gained super strength in crisis? Human bodies were fragile. Diana was an untrained noble girl, thirteen years old, and not particularly tall.
[But if I catch you, I’ll eat your arms and legs one by one! You won’t even die from poison!]
It sounded like a voice from hell. Yet Giskar grabbed her hand and dashed into a cave.
He got Diana inside first, then managed to follow. She panted heavily, but he quickly covered her mouth.
[Hey, hey!]
The monster’s voice faded. Diana held her breath, nearly suffocating. She clutched Giskar’s collar and trembled.
[Where are youuu?!]
The snake’s voice receded. Giskar released her hand, and she gasped, tears falling. The cave was spacious enough to sit, but too narrow to lie down or keep distance.
“This place…?”
“A cave.”
“How did you know?”
“I remembered the way while running.”
Remembered the way? This was the Abyssal Forest. Giskar seemed to anticipate her question.
“I didn’t even remember coming here myself.”
How had Giskar come to this forest?
“You came alone, here?”
“Of course… with my mother.”
His mother? Herya? She had come here with Herya? That was even more confusing. Giskar looked out at the forest outside the cave.
“Do you remember the way out?”
“Unfortunately, I only recently remembered this too. These are childhood memories. Only fragments.”
Diana sighed. They were separated from the party, and the snake monster was about to eat them. What… what should she do?
“I want to ask something.”
“Speak. I’ll answer anything except how to get out of here.”
“Why… did you save me?”
Was that really important right now? Diana frowned at Giskar. He frowned and said:
“Aren’t you just a slave? The kind you consider filthy.”
“What…?”
“Why would someone of noble blood bother to save me?”
Noble blood? That should be Giskar, a royal… but it wasn’t important.
“Just…”
“Just?”
Diana hesitated, then said:
“Really… just…”
“Are you insane? Out of your mind? That’s why you got hurt too!”
“Giskar, your voice is too loud.”
He lowered his voice, glaring at her.
“Risking injury for a slave who even considered betraying their master—what foolishness is that!”
“Wait, what do you mean I considered betraying you?”
“Do you think your master is kind?”
“What are you saying?”
Diana was confused. He said she tried to betray him? She hadn’t, only thought about it?
“Master Emil told me to put you in danger. To cripple you or scar your face.”
“…What?”
“I was supposed to lure you into a dangerous situation. But I didn’t follow that. As you see, this isn’t what I wanted.”
Diana thought of Emil. He had been unusually kind recently. That couldn’t be. Yet her face turned pale as Emil and Mirva’s faces overlapped. She looked down at her bright red hood and cape.
It was Emil’s gift, claiming it suited her well. Out of apology, she had worn it willingly. She sniffed the hood; it smelled of pungent grass.
Leprus liked this sharp scent, she remembered.
“D-Don’t lie.”
“It’s true.”
Giskar’s short answer made Diana’s eyes redden. What… was happening? Seeing her confused, he said:
“From the start, if a bad-tempered sibling suddenly acts kindly, you should be suspicious.”
“…”
“If he ‘wanted to help,’ he could have sent me alone. So why bother coming here?”
“…”
“Moreover, I wouldn’t have died even if bitten by the monsters. If my neck had been bitten, it would have been dangerous, but the collar protected me from fatal injury.”
“Ah…”
“But foolishly, you insisted on saving a single slave, and now look at the mess.”
Giskar was right. Diana bit her lips. Her usually calm face had long been broken. She clutched her hood tightly.
Emil’s betrayal was a betrayal, and first, she had to figure out how to escape. But she couldn’t think of anything.
“What… what should I do?”
“Hm?”
“Giskar, I was foolish.”
“What do you mean, Miss?”
Instead of retorting, Diana sank into gloom, listening to Giskar’s reprimand.
“How do we get out of here? Everyone’s going to die! It’s really over.”
“Miss.”
“I should have just told Barret to escape! Why did I have to be greedy…”
“Hm?”
Diana began to cry like a thirteen-year-old child.
“Mom…”
She called for her mother like an ordinary child. Wait—she became a child in this situation? Giskar stared at Diana, who was crying helplessly.
Seeing her face collapse like that…
Giskar somehow felt truly doomed too.
