“Demonleaf Trees?”
“Yes. Were you not chased by a monster that looked as if a tree had grown a mouth?”
“Ah, yes, that’s right!”
It was an accurate description.
That monster, as if a great mouth had been attached to a tree, rushing in with its jaws wide enough to swallow a person whole.
That thing was a Demonleaf Tree.
“Good grief. So there really wasn’t just one?”
“What? You mean there’s more than one of those things?”
For a moment, I was at a loss for words.
“Yes. I came to investigate the disappearances occurring in this forest. But I was ambushed deep inside. If you encountered one over there, then that means there are at least two of them.”
That monster was far larger, and far more monstrous, than most of the creatures I had encountered.
The fact that there were several of them was a reality hard to accept.
“You said you were an ascetic earlier, didn’t you? May I ask what kind of work you do?”
He nodded and removed his hood.
“Ah, my introduction is late. I am Brayvil, an ascetic on pilgrimage from the Kaltzheim Order.”
Shining blond hair spilled out from beneath his hood, and even his eyes were gold.
His appearance gave off a sacred air. No matter where one saw him, he looked like someone who belonged to an order.
He held out his hand as he spoke.
The Kaltzheim Order? It was a name I had never heard before.
“It is an honor to meet you.”
“Ah, Mr. Brayvil. Nice to meet you. I’m Liv.”
As we shook hands, I also bowed carefully.
“And the person beside you is…?”
“My name is Eileen.”
Eileen lowered her head slightly in a polite greeting. For a moment, tension and wariness flickered in her eyes, but they soon changed into a quiet smile.
Brayvil nodded gently toward her and said,
“I am glad you are both unharmed. This forest is dangerous right now. That monster may be something beyond a simple magical beast.”
I closed my mouth without thinking. From those words, I could instinctively tell that something greater was involved.
“But… how did you end up entering this forest?”
Brayvil asked cautiously.
“Was this forest such a dangerous place?”
“You don’t know the Black Forest?”
The Black Forest. Even the name sounded ominous.
“No. Is it famous?”
At my question, he nodded and answered at once.
“Yes. Recently, it has become infamous as a forest where disappearances happen unusually often. Normally, merchant caravans and travelers take a detour around it. It is a place everyone avoids. Did you have urgent business?”
…This was that kind of forest?
My words caught in my throat.
How would I know the geography of this world in the first place?
I had left the carriage route entirely to the coachman.
He probably hadn’t known this road was dangerous either.
Or… he had known, and stepped into it out of greed for a few extra coins.
‘I can’t even say anything about it…’
But that coachman had been the first to be taken.
The wheel flying off before my eyes, the horses tangling together, and… blood.
That terrible scene, which had happened in an instant, burrowed into my mind. Even when I closed my eyelids, it rose vividly before me. My mouth went dry, and my stomach churned.
Honestly, we hadn’t been that close.
But… when you saw someone who had been with you only moments before literally vanish right in front of your eyes, no matter how much you tried to steady yourself, the shock remained.
“…We just didn’t know.”
Eileen murmured softly. I slowly nodded as well.
“Still, it is fortunate that you survived.”
At Mr. Brayvil’s words, I let out a small breath.
We had survived. For now, at least.
But strangely, I could sense that this would not be the end.
“Still… can’t we just go around by another path and get out?”
Eileen asked carefully. But Brayvil slowly shook his head.
“It is not such a simple matter. The terrain around the outskirts of this forest is far rougher than you might think.”
He pointed at the ground with his finger.
“The south is blocked by mountains, and to the east, a broad expanse of mire spreads out. If you go around that way, it will take at least three more days, and more importantly…”
He paused for a moment.
“The mire is home to Mire Spiders.”
I frowned without thinking.
Spiders again. I was sick of spiders by now.
“Mire Spiders?”
“Some of them are as large as carts. They hide without moving in deep bogs, then attack just from the sound of footsteps. Once you’re bitten, there’s no hope.”
Were spiders in this world all that big on average?
At this rate, even someone like Fabre probably couldn’t have become an entomologist in this world.
Mr. Brayvil let out a short sigh.
From his expression, I could tell he was not joking.
“The safest path in this forest is the very road the two of you came running from. Normally, the carriage would have simply followed the road and passed through quickly. But now…”
“…There’s no carriage, and the horses ran off.”
When I continued, Mr. Brayvil nodded.
“On top of that, the fact that there is not only one Demonleaf Tree concerns me. There is a high chance another one is somewhere in this forest. You cannot even feel at ease around something that looks like an ordinary tree.”
“Then… what do we do?”
Eileen murmured softly.
A brief silence passed.
The wind pushed through the branches, sounding like a strange murmur from deep within the forest.
It was like the breathing of living things.
“For now, we should not move recklessly. It would be best to go to an abandoned temple near the forest.”
“An abandoned temple?”
“Yes. There was a small temple where I stayed while on pilgrimage through this forest. It is abandoned now, but the building remains. We have no choice but to hide ourselves there for the time being and wait for an opportunity.”
“Is that place safe?”
“At the very least, it is better than the forest. Demonleaf Trees are sensitive to the sound of movement, so we should rest quietly and then decide on our direction again before nightfall.”
I gave a small nod.
“How long will it take to reach the abandoned temple?”
“If we go now, we can arrive before sunset. However, we must move quietly. If there is even one more of them… there may be no next time.”
“…Understood.”
The small gulp of saliva I swallowed slid down my throat. My breath tightened.
But now, there was no way back.
Keeping our bodies low, we carefully followed behind Mr. Brayvil through the dense trees.
As if he were accustomed to situations like this, he made his way forward without stepping on so much as a single rustling fallen leaf, like a person who had melted into the forest itself.
‘He said he was from an order… but for a priest, his movements are far too practiced.’
Leaning on my staff, I thought that as I watched his back leading the way.
At a glance, he looked like a calm pilgrim, but if one looked closely, something felt off.
Through the gaps of his slightly loose gray coat, the outline of dark brown leather armor could be seen.
A scabbard was also naturally fastened at his waist, and there was a kind of tension in the movement of his hands that only the trained possessed.
‘…Is he something like a battle priest?’
The explanation that he was merely a pilgrim sent by an order was insufficient.
His mannerisms seemed subtly closer to a mercenary’s.
“Now, here we are.”
When Mr. Brayvil gently brushed aside the bushes between the trees, an old, half-collapsed stone wall appeared before our eyes.
It seemed to be a structure that had once surrounded the temple grounds, now covered in moss and vines and buried in nature.
Beyond it, past collapsed pillars and a broken roof, a small, low brick building could be seen.
It was the abandoned temple Mr. Brayvil had mentioned.
“This place is a small temple where pilgrims used to rest in the past. It is no longer in use, but the interior is still safe.”
He entered first and cautiously looked around, and we followed behind him.
The inside of the temple was surprisingly clean.
Dust had settled over the broken altar, and not a single footprint remained on the mossy floor.
There was not even the common smell of mold. Instead, the chilly air exhaled by old stone filled the space.
“Let us recover ourselves here for a while. There is still some time before the sun sets.”
I carefully sat beside the altar and looked around.
On the wall, the shadow of an old saint’s image remained faintly, and a broken candlestick lay rolling about, covered thickly in dust.
Still, the roof was mostly intact, and judging by the door still hanging in place… this was quite a decent shelter.
“This temple… is truly old.”
Eileen said as she slowly looked around.
Her eyes held a somewhat complicated light. Perhaps the sight of the collapsed altar overlapped with some familiar scene.
Leaning against the wall, Mr. Brayvil answered gently.
“This is a small temple in the outer forest. Deeper inside, there is a larger temple. In the past, this place was also considered quite sacred, but with war and calamity overlapping, even the priests could no longer remain.”
At those words, I drew in a breath for a moment.
“Was this place… attacked too, by any chance?”
He nodded.
“Yes. Long ago, an unidentified being appeared in this forest. The Demonleaf Trees have existed since that time. Back then, several orders joined forces and carried out a subjugation, and they were able to temporarily calm the situation, but… the fact that things still remain like this likely means something has yet to end.”
A strange chill clung to the end of his words.
I had a feeling that this forest was not merely a dangerous zone where monsters lived, but a place that held some deep story.
“Did the orders step in directly at that time?”
“Yes. It was a large-scale purification operation that mobilized several orders, including the Kaltzheim Order, as well as knight orders and mages. Most of the temples inside collapsed, and afterward, this area was removed from the pilgrimage routes.”
“And yet you came here again because…?”
He quietly nodded.
“After time passed, disappearances began to continue again. Judging that some presence had revived… I was dispatched ahead of the others.”
I quietly bit my lip.
It had not been a monster we coincidentally encountered at the edge of the forest. This place was one where the darkness of the past still remained deep-rooted.
“Then… does the inner temple still remain?”
“Yes. Though most of it has collapsed, I have heard that the central section still maintains its shape. It is possible that something was left behind there… or that something awakened.”
By the time he finished speaking, Eileen’s gaze had lingered for a moment beside a fallen pillar.
“Something… can awaken even in a place like this?”
Mr. Brayvil gave a short nod.
“Yes. Perhaps this forest itself is a story that has yet to end.”
This had become troublesome.
I had merely followed the road, yet I had gotten entangled in something strange.
“By the way, you said you belonged to the Kaltzheim Order, correct?”
“Ah, yes. Have you heard of our order before?”
“No, this is my first time. I’m not very close to religion.”
“Ah, you are a mage, after all.”
Mr. Brayvil had noticed I was a mage from the moment we first met.
To be honest, it was no longer all that surprising.
These days, there were more people than I expected who could recognize mages, to the point that even I was getting used to it.
“What god do you worship?”
“Our order worships a demigod.”
“A demigod?”
At the word demigod, my eyes widened slightly for a moment.
Could someone be only half a god?
I couldn’t quite grasp what it meant.
Mr. Brayvil gave a short laugh, then added,
“He is not now. But at the time the religion was founded, he was undeniably human.”
“A god was human?”
Honestly, that sounded even stranger.
“He was one who ascended to the seat of a god in a human body. With his own footsteps, he trod upon the world, traveling through deep forests and seas, wastelands and abysses that all others feared, and reached that place.”
“……”
“We call him the God of Adventure and Inquiry. He was also the first adventurer.”
Ah, so that was it.
“That is why the priests of our order set out on pilgrimages.”
“Pilgrimages?”
“We travel to temples scattered across the world and resolve the problems of the regions where those temples are located. It is not a simple visit, but a journey undertaken with one’s own feet.”
Ah, so that was what he meant by pilgrimage.
Traveling and solving problems.
In other words, they were almost like a church version of mercenaries.
“Within the order, only those who complete their pilgrimage are acknowledged as true priests. During that journey, they sometimes exterminate monsters, and at other times help people.”
“…That is oddly practical.”
“It means the one we serve placed that much importance on action.”
His attitude was always courteous and gentle, but I could feel the weighty resolve contained within it.
I finally understood how he had been able to enter this forest alone.
“Then… was investigating the missing people in this forest also part of your pilgrimage?”
“Yes. This place has had a temple since long ago. It is abandoned now, but records remained. With the occurrence of the disappearances, the order dispatched me here.”
He spoke calmly.
“This was a place where many dark things happened even in the past. Perhaps that is precisely why the temple was abandoned.”
“……”
“And so, while investigating this forest, I was attacked by a Demonleaf Tree. Fortunately, thanks to fleeing, I met you and your companions, Sir Liv.”
He said it with a light smile.
I gave a small nod.
Behind that smile, I felt as though the things he had experienced until now had piled up in layers.
‘The God of Adventure and Inquiry, huh…’
It suddenly occurred to me that perhaps there was something about that which suited me, too.
Come to think of it, I was getting caught up in strange incidents every day as well.
In the sense that this was a journey to survive in this world, it might not be very different from that pilgrimage.
“It’s a relief that we can rest, even for a little while.”
As I said that, I pretended to wipe my lips and quietly drew up mana.
I condensed moisture at my fingertips and silently took a sip.
There was no need to openly show myself using magic.
A stale sensation remained in my mouth, but it was enough to soothe my thirst.
However, my mind was still complicated.
There was more than one Demonleaf Tree, and something had existed in this forest in the past.
And now, we were right in the middle of that past’s shadow.
Could we really… get out safely?
All of a sudden, a strong gust of wind blew, and the temple door creaked.
The night before us was still long.