WYPSO 13

Chapter 13

When You Pick Up a Suspicious Freeloader

“…Right. It’s good to stay positive, but you shouldn’t take this place lightly.”

Uncle Paul seemed worried that Elaina would get her hopes up recklessly, only to be crushed later.

“Still, I’m not giving up hope.”

Elaina believed in her parents. She hadn’t realized it before, but the more she thought about it, the more suspicious things about them came to mind.

Uncle Paul sighed, looking conflicted.
“So, what are you going to do?”

“What do you mean?”

“Are you going to keep searching?”

Truthfully, she wanted to investigate further. Even if she believed her parents were fine, she couldn’t help but worry.

But there was no one she could ask for help.

“There’s no one willing to go near the boundary of the demonic beasts.”

The hunters of this region had lived here all their lives, so they knew the dangers all too well. No one would help her search beyond the monster’s boundary.

“…You’ve got Jayden, don’t you?”

“So that’s why you called me here secretly.”

Uncle Paul gave a sheepish laugh. She’d wondered why he’d shown up right when Jayden was bathing.

It had only been a short while since Jayden started living with Elaina when the two men first met.

That was how Uncle Paul had experienced Jayden’s complete lack of social grace—and why he found him so difficult to deal with.

That’s so typical of Uncle Paul, Elaina thought. He’s afraid of Jayden, but still trying to use him.

Uncle Paul wasn’t wrong though—if it were Jayden, he could probably search the entire mountain range on his own.
Whenever he spoke of Jayden’s feats, he said that monsters were no threat to him.

But Elaina didn’t want to ask him for help.

“Please don’t bring that up again.”

“Why not? If you ask him, Jayden would do anything for you.”

That was exactly why she couldn’t ask. Elaina guessed that Jayden had gone through a lot in his past.

He had barely managed to escape that painful time and finally found some peace—she didn’t want to disturb that.

Lately, he seemed more stable than before. The harsh edge in his demeanor had softened. His expressions were livelier now, and instead of tossing and turning in light sleep, he had started to sleep deeply.

There was no way she could send him somewhere dangerous.

Especially not when it was something she could do herself.

Unlike before, she no longer had to worry about the judgmental looks of the villagers—so she could take action on her own.

But if I go chasing after my parents’ trail now…

Jayden was the problem. She didn’t want to leave him behind, but she didn’t want to bring him into danger either.

“Elaina?”

Jayden’s voice called from a distance—the sound of him finishing his bath.

Elaina made her decision.

“Either way, I won’t ask Jayden. So please, don’t bring it up again. I’ll handle it myself.”

Uncle Paul gave her a worried look, but Elaina only smiled as if to reassure him.

Elaina hadn’t forgotten about that buried matter. If her parents still didn’t return, she had always intended to go look for them someday.

Since she had left the village with Jayden unexpectedly, she had lost her bearings for a while. But now, she decided to use this chance to search for any trace of her parents.

Still, the journey was far rougher than she expected. She’d heard it was dangerous, but—

I didn’t think I’d actually be climbing a cliff!

The slope that started out steep had now become a sheer rock face. If she weren’t in good shape, she would have given up already.

Elaina’s village was an extremely remote place, built halfway up a great mountain range. There was only one proper path connecting it to other villages. Behind it lay nothing but endless cliffs and wilderness—so some people called her village “the edge of the world.”

That’s how isolated it was, surrounded by treacherous terrain.

In fact, this was the first time Elaina had ever left the village.
Most villagers never did—only hunters and her parents ever went outside.

On her way here, Elaina had even spotted monsters in the distance. The world beyond the village was far from safe.

But… that’s what’s strange, she realized for the first time since leaving.
Why is the village safe?

She had never once been threatened by a monster while living there.

Even though the village was surrounded by dangerous creatures, not one had ever invaded—not even once.

The villagers didn’t seem worried about monsters coming in. They just never thought of leaving, saying the outside was dangerous.

It felt like there was some hidden secret protecting the village.

But that’s a mystery for later.

For now, she needed to focus on finding her parents.

The closer she got to the monster boundary, the rougher the terrain became.
Now she understood why the hunters avoided this path—it wasn’t the monsters they feared, it was the exhausting climb.

The saying “you suffer once you leave home” had never felt truer.
It hadn’t even been two hours since she left, and Elaina already felt it in her bones.

She started to question herself.

Did my parents really travel this way?

Now that she was here, she found it hard to believe they would choose such a brutal route. No one would go through this much trouble willingly.

After a long climb, she finally found a small spot to rest—an alcove in the cliff just large enough for two adults to fit.

Catching her breath, she looked around carefully. She had to stay alert—monsters could appear at any moment.

It looked like a natural formation, untouched by animals or beasts. Relieved, she began to relax—

—and then spotted a long strand of hair.

Her heart began to pound.

She picked it up, brushed off the dust, and examined it closely.
It was hard to be certain, but…

It looks like Mother’s hair. The color and length are almost the same.

That meant her parents had likely passed through here.

But the discovery only made her heart heavier.

Why would they come this way?

There was no reason to take such a difficult path.

They hadn’t prepared for mountain climbing when they left.
And the existence of a trace itself was suspicious.

A single strand of hair was something you could easily overlook—but a skilled hunter or strong traveler would have noticed it.

She examined the surrounding area more carefully.
There were no footprints or traces of anyone passing through.

That much she had expected.
When her parents had first gone missing near the village, the searchers hadn’t found a single clue, as if they had vanished into thin air.

They must have been deliberately careful not to leave any trail—so why would they suddenly leave one here? Was it a mistake?

No… If it were just the hair, maybe. But…

Remembering the torn cloth Uncle Paul had found earlier, Elaina realized it must have been intentional.

Her parents could be scatterbrained sometimes, but they weren’t careless when it came to important matters.
Sometimes, they even seemed sharper than usual—almost like different people.

What on earth were they doing?

Her head spun with confusion, but she couldn’t draw any conclusions yet.
She needed to keep following the trail to find out.

She let the strand of hair drift away into the wind, erasing the evidence that anyone had stopped there.

After resting enough, she set out once more.

At last, she reached the “Boundary of Beasts” that Uncle Paul had warned her about. The journey had been grueling enough to make her curse.

Moving carefully to avoid leaving tracks made it even harder.

Mother, Father… when we meet again, please forgive your disobedient daughter at least once, she prayed silently, half as a joke.

She began surveying the surroundings.

The first thing she noticed was a massive footprint—nearly as long as her entire arm.

A beast’s footprint.

True to its name, the Boundary of Beasts was clearly a place where monsters roamed often. There were multiple prints she’d never seen before.

They were all about the same size, meaning only one creature had been walking around. Judging from the size, it wasn’t a fully grown adult—but the prints were fresh.

I’ll have to be careful.

If she ran into it, she could be in real danger. She needed to check quickly and get out.

She focused on finding any human-made traces.

Broken branches, crushed weeds, trampled soil—but they were all signs of beasts, not people.

Maybe I should’ve asked Uncle Paul exactly where he found that cloth piece…

She had just begun to regret it when—

—a chill crawled up her spine.

Elaina slowly turned her head and saw a pair of bright yellow eyes gleaming from between the trees.

Grrrrrr.

The only color in that pitch-black silhouette was the luminous glow of its eyes.

And she realized—far too late—that the monster was already right beside her.