“This place… tsk, it’s all bloodstains…”
“This place too… what a big dried-up blood clot…”
“It won’t hurt if I peel it off, right…?”
A scream.
“Wuwu! It hurts, it hurts…”
“Hiss… huff… hiss… huff… hasn’t this area on my belly recovered yet?”
“It looks like I might end up dyeing the pond red.”
From the forest pond came a voice so lovely it seemed even the light rippled along with it.
A naked young girl was bathing in it.
“…Bloodstains everywhere…. Shouldn’t my blood evaporate and disappear?”
Despite being covered in blood, it still could not hide the girl’s smooth skin, white as snow-white angelica.
And under the cover of the mist, the girl’s face was completely obscured.
“Scooping water over and over is such a hassle… hiss…”
The girl looked around, as if confirming no one was peeking, then revealed a wicked smile.
“Just using it a little should be fine, right?”
She raised both hands, then suddenly lifted them high——the next moment, something unbelievable happened. The entire body of water in the pond flew up into midair, as if supported by something.
“First hold up the water… then let it leak out….”
Splash, splash, splash, splash.
It was like rain, but it had not started raining yet.
Ah, it was the “body of water” starting to “leak,” like a bouncy castle with a small hole torn in it.
“…A showerhead. It really looks like one.”
The girl let go, and the body of water lost its power and fell back toward her——
And so the whole puddle filled up again, and a small rainbow obligingly appeared above the pond.
This looked like such a warm, cozy scene. To the girl…
It was about the same.
…
“Hey! Brothers! Did you make it through?!”
“Are you asking that to check whether we’re dead or not?”
“I feel like I’m about to throw up.”
“Who the hell set all those traps on the road?!!”
“Then that’s good. Hurry! There’s a pond up ahead. Let’s rest there for now! Then think about what to do next!”
“Okay, okay, as long as we can get some rest. If I’d known it would be like this, I wouldn’t have come out with you.”
“Always saying such discouraging things.”
“What are you doing?! Give me back my wand!!”
“Come catch me and I’ll give it back!”
“You know perfectly well I can’t catch up to you!!”
…
“How could this happen? We were only pulled into the corridor for a moment, and yet…”
“Lyle, don’t blame yourself too much. The Quinn Forest is full of bloodthirsty, flesh-craving monsters. The little girl’s corpse…..”
“Damn it! Damn it!! We missed her again!!”
“…?”
“She’s alive. She’s not dead! How could I not have noticed?”
“Prince Lyle, we found Miss Hanezuki’s footprints by the carriage. The tracks also extend continuously to the teleportation gate.”
“The girl is still alive?! But inside the corridor we didn’t——! I see, she got out before us?”
“Yes, she’s strong, much stronger than us. But this forest hides many dangers. To find her, we must——!!! What’s wrong?! What is this!”
“The ground is, shaking? Could it be an earthquake?!”
“Your Highness! Don’t move rashly!!”
‘Hiss… hiss….. There are humans.’
…
Condensing a fireball but not releasing it, it was just perfect for warming myself by the fire. How wonderful.
I crouched by the edge of the pond, holding a fireball in one hand while using psychokinesis to hold up my sweater with the other. The remaining less important underwear, boots, and “private cloth” I controlled with mental telekinesis… and additionally there were the leggings, but I couldn’t split off any more free attention, so I had no choice but to hang them on a tree.
Once the clothes were dried, I would have to think about what to do next. The safest choice at present was to go through the Quinn Forest to the checkpoint one kilometer outside the town of Cliff.
But before that, I had to shake off this group of beastfolk, especially that elf disguised as a goblin. Letting them follow me would only make them suffer… In that case, I needed to think about how to settle them.
Every time, it’s always like this with me—letting trouble find me on its own.
“Silence them permanently?”
I blurted it out half-jokingly, and knowing I wouldn’t do it, I smiled bitterly.
There’s no way I could do that. If I could, I would have already been living that so-called peaceful life.
Once things quieted down around me, and since I had nothing to do, a wave of boredom immediately hit me——
Wah~ I really want to find something to do, or something interesting.
“By the way, this is roasting so slowly. Is a single fireball just not enough?” Saying that, I put out the fireball and switched to the [Hammer of Sunflare] to test its effect.
Sure enough, the moment it met the “iron ball,” the sweater and the rest immediately gave off a “zzz” sound…. No, no, if I roast it too much, I won’t be able to wear it.
In the end, the sweater became half wet and half dry. The biggest taboo when drying clothes is being “careless.” Not only does it ruin the clothes, it also affects you personally….
“Is that how it goes?”
I laughed at myself, then simply placed all the clothes on the ground and held the fire hammer with both hands, carefully controlling the distance.
My long hair stuck to my body, feeling extremely uncomfortable. But even hair similarly tabooed high temperatures. Apparently it easily damages cells and causes hair loss.
I thought for a moment about myself being bald… and immediately shuddered. That would be way too terrifying.
After roasting for a short while, the clothes were finally dried intact, and the damp places on my body were dried along the way too. Then only my hair was left…..
Back when I was at Lady Creelol’s house, I used the bath cloth there to wipe it dry. After all, it was fabric.
“If you don’t dry your hair, it’s easy to get lice. Tsk, the worst.” Saying that, I put on my “panties” and “underwear.”
Compared to the formal “underwear” sold on the market, my “equipment” looked a bit shabby. However, this was not within my considerations either. What mattered was having the mindset to get used to it quickly.
Since this world shaped me like this, why not count it as a new experience?
“Well, I guess I should also say thanks. For certain special reasons, I’ve also been spared some experiences that would have embarrassed me.”
That is, hygiene issues, including “once a month” and “regular natural water detox.”
Ahhh, there’s just no way around it. Who told me that in my previous life I was also a virgin tired of romantic and sexual relationships!?
“Cough, cough. It doesn’t matter much anymore.”
After putting on the “tracksuit” (actually I wasn’t even sure what it was), I was just about to pull on my sweater when I heard movement from the bushes behind me.
It was a series of noisy footsteps, and then a green figure darted into my view.
“Master!!”
I used psychokinesis to hold him in place, preventing him from pushing me into the water again, and then he fell to the ground with a thud.
I thought it was a prank, but his eyes were full of panic, with no trace of a smile at all.
“Master! Something terrible has happened!” Of course, from the look of it, anyone could guess that something big had happened.
My blind guess was that he caused trouble, which then dragged in the captain and the priestess, and only when they couldn’t hold on anymore did they think of finding me.
Every single one of them is like this. Tsk…..
I put on my sweater and then my leggings, hastily sorted out my belongings, and left the pond area. When I reached the road, what I had expected happened….
The Quinn Forest was an ancient forest to begin with. Not only did it harbor many monsters, but rare and strange beings also existed there. And frankly, I had no idea what exactly was in it.
“Hiss… human, why do you set foot in this last pure land?” The snake-like speech quirk at the start of the sentence still hadn’t changed. As expected of a naturally born, native Lamia.
Although I did not understand what she said afterward, it must have been related to their past. If things stayed deadlocked like this, it would only bring suffering. Better to start negotiating earlier and then handle things according to the other side’s terms.
At the moment, I did not see the beastfolk, but I did spot another group of guards. Based on their ornaments, they were indeed guards of [Feltro].
“Miss Lamia, please don’t act rashly. I mean no harm.”
Since it had nothing to do with me anyway, I might as well say a few words and see.
“Hiss… young girl, you seem much more reasonable than these metal lumps.” She seemed to become interested at once, and the wild Lamia released the guard “leader” tightly wrapped by her tail.
I swallowed and looked up.
As expected of a wild Lamia, she could grow so tall and so “sturdy.” I suppose that was thanks to racial traits—they had always been tall.
Her whole body could be described as crimson. A piece of silk that was clearly not naturally made was wrapped around her waist to cover her private parts, and a chest wrap was wound around her chest.
Mm… I can’t describe any more.
Demihumans are like this. Apart from some beast-related traits, they are almost no different from humans——though this also depends on the environment. The environment in which a creature grows from childhood to adulthood will affect it.
“Hiss… golden eyes, sea-blue long hair… hiss… Are you her? No, impossible.”
“Hm? What are you saying?”
Although I really wanted to ask clearly about the worries behind her confused expression, what mattered most right now was finding a way to get out of this without causing a disturbance.
“Miss, what happened?”
