Chapter 1-8 : The Girl, The Cat, And The Monsters In The Forest
The next morning.
Elle wished she could wake up to the pleasing sound of birds chirping, but the first thing she heard in the morning wasー
Grrrrrrrrrr!!
ーthe growling of monsters.
「Hiiiiyy!!」(Elle)
Elle and Yoyo were surrounded by wolf-like monsters called Forest Wolves as soon as they woke up.
Forest Wolves are monsters that live in the forests and move in packs. They are feared monsters that attack travelers and merchants passing through their territory.
There were three Forest Wolves glaring at Elle with drool dripping from their mouths.
Their ribs are visible, meaning that they haven’t eaten for a while. They must be really starving.
Monster-repellent magic is usually ineffective against monsters in this state because they will attack their prey with all their might.
However, they couldn’t harm Elle thanks to the barrier.
「Don’t worry, Elle, we’re safe in this barrier.」(Yoyo)
「Yeah, but that means we can’t get out of here.」(Elle)
「Hmm, can you attack them with your magic stones?」(Yoyo)
Magic stones are normally used for daily needs, but there are also magic stones that can be used for combat.
They’re usually much more expensive than normal magic stones and can store much more mana.
For example, lighting magic stones can create thunder, fire magic stones create pillars of fire, and ice magic stones can freeze your enemies.
Since there were so many monsters living in the forest, Elle thought that it would be impossible to avoid encounters with monsters, so she prepared some magic stones with offensive spells before she left.
「Alright. I’ll try attacking them!」(Elle)
She took out an ice magic stone, pushed her fingertips against the magic formula engraved in its surface to activate it, and immediately threw it toward the wolves as soon as it began to glow.
The magic stone exploded when it hit the ground, and at the same time, huge pillars of icicles protruded from the ground and impaled the Forest Wolves from below.
The wolves died in an instant as the icicles pierced through their bodies and caused a large amount of blood to spurt all over the area.
「Uwah… Good thing we’re inside the barrier, otherwise we would have been covered by their blood now…」(Yoyo)
「Ughh…」(Elle)
Seeing all the blood made Elle want to throw up, so she covered her mouth with her hand and tried not to look at the surrounding area as much as possible.
At that moment, she realized that getting out of this forest meant that she would often see this kind of scenery.
「Elle, are you okay?」(Yoyo)
「Yeah… I’m fine.」(Elle)
「We should get out of here quickly before their friends come.」(Yoyo)
「You’re right.」(Elle)
Elle and Yoyo started packing up. They folded the mattress and blanket and then put them in Elle’s magic bag.
The last thing to do was to release the barrier and get out of there, but Elle seemed a bit hesitant for some reason.
After all, she would be in a situation where she could be attacked by monsters at any time if she left the barrier.
She was lucky no monsters were attacking her when she ran through the forest last night. At that time, she was focused on running away from the villagers and the fire. She wasn’t aware that she could be attacked by monsters.
However, after seeing those starved Forest Wolves, Elle was now fully aware that she was exposed to the threat of being eaten by monsters.
She had been living inside the massive barrier that Moritz made, so she hadn’t realized how terrifying the forest truly was until now.
Yoyo knew what Elle was worrying about, so he tried to encourage her.
「Don’t worry, Elle, I don’t feel any monster’s presence nearby.」(Yoyo)
「Really?」(Elle)
「You can trust me. Let’s go, we should hurry!」(Yoyo)
「Okay.」(Elle)
Elle took a deep breath to prepare herself and released the barrier.
She then looked at the corpses of the Forest Wolves on the icicles.
She could have kept turning her eyes away, but she thought that she had to get used to this kind of sight, or she would have a hard time in the future.
She stepped forward when she was ready. She passed the Forest Wolves’ corpses and continued walking through the forest.
◇◇◇
After walking for about an hour, Elle’s stomach growled.
She didn’t have much appetite, but she knew she had to eat to keep moving.
「Elle, let’s take a break. You need to eat something.」(Yoyo)
「Un. I know.」(Elle)
After finding a good place to rest, Yoyo used his telekinesis ability to gather stones and dry twigs from the surrounding area and made a simple stove.
He then took out some cooking utensils and food ingredients from Elle’s magic bag and started the fire with a fire magic stone.
「I will cook you something. In the meantime, can you make some tea?」(Yoyo)
「Got it.」(Elle)
After seeing Elle nod to him, Yoyo cut a huge piece of bacon into several thick slices and fried them in a pan with oil.
Elle was a bit surprised when she saw Yoyo cook that much meat.
「Y-Yoyo!? I can’t eat that much food!」(Elle)
「Elle, you must be very hungry right now. I’m sure you will devour it in a second.」(Yoyo)
「Eeehh… Do you want me to get fat?」(Elle)
Yoyo always tries to make Elle eat a lot whenever he gets the chance.
「Well, not too fat. You see? You’re too skinny and don’t look very healthy right now. Don’t you realize it?」(Yoyo)
「I do think I’m skinny, but…」(Elle)
「Not just skinny. I said, ‘too skinny’, and that’s not good. You haven’t eaten much since Moritz was bedridden, right?」(Yoyo)
「Uhh… Alright. I’ll try to gain weight a little. 」(Elle)
「Good. It will be ready soon. How about the tea?」(Yoyo)
「Aa, I almost forgot.」(Elle)
Elle hurriedly took out an earthen pot, tea leaves, a water magic stone, and a fire magic stone from her magic bag.
First, she filled the pot with water using the water magic stone. She then used some rocks as a stand, put the pot on top of them, and put the fire magic stone under the pot. After that, she activated the fire magic stone to heat the water.
Once the water started to boil, she put the tea leaves into the pot.
Yoyo finished cooking almost at the same time as Elle finished brewing the tea.
「Bacon with fried egg is ready! Enjoy~」(Yoyo)
「Thank you, Yoyo!」(Elle)
On Elle’s wooden plate were thick slices of bacon, a fried egg with a crispy edge, and wild vegetable salad.
「Mmm~! Delicious! Yoyo, you really are good at cooking!」(Elle)
「Glad you like it. Don’t leave any of your food, okay?」(Yoyo)
「Alright. I’ll try to clean my plate.」(Elle)
「Good.」(Yoyo)
The bacon was a bit thick, but it was well-cooked. It was crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.
Elle didn’t think she would be able to finish the food, but as Yoyo predicted, she devoured all the food on her plate without stopping.
She didn’t notice it, but she was actually quite hungry after running all night.
After finishing the food, she slowly drank the tea while enjoying the pleasant feeling of having a full stomach.
「Phew… I’m full~」(Elle)
「See? In the end, you ate all the food.」(Yoyo)
「Ahaha…」(Elle)
「By the way, do you know where we are going? We don’t have a map, right?」(Yoyo)
「Don’t worry. I still remember the map I saw in Master’s library. There’s a small village south of this forest. I think we can rest there. If we go further south, we’ll find a port town. From there, we can get on a ship to go to Cecil Continent. The royal capital is at the northside of that continent.」(Elle)
「I see… Your memorizing ability is impressive as always. I think you can get a high-paying job in the royal capital with your ability ーNo, I think you can even work in the castle and become the king’s personal assistant or something!」(Yoyo)
「No, that’s impossible. I’m sure there are a lot of people like me in the royal capital.」(Elle)
「Reeeally…?」(Yoyo)
「Besides, I don’t need that kind of job. I just want a simple life with a simple job. I don’t need any luxuries as long as I have a place to live in, food to eat every day, and a bed plus Yoyo to help me sleep soundly at night.」(Elle)
「I see. ーHm? Hold on. Do you think of me as a pillow or something!」(Yoyo)
「Fufu. It’s just your imagination~」(Elle)
「No, it’s not!」(Yoyo)
After eating Yoyo’s cooking, Elle finally regained a little bit of energy to continue her journey.
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