That was the sort of thing she’d said was pointless to imagine, but Kallen sank into deep thought. Then, even though I was the only one who could hear, she swept a quick look around the cave.
“This is a real secret. Only you, Ceryl, may know.”
“I don’t have anyone else to tell, anyway.”
Kallen cupped a hand to her mouth and whispered like she was sharing a secret.
“I actually wanted to become a doctor. Doctors came often to my parents’ herb shop.”
“Oh? A profession. Nice.”
I’d thought she was a girl without a speck of greed, but she had ambition after all.
Come to think of it, she’d taken decent care of sick monsters at the Facility. Her hands were steady when she wrapped bandages, too.
I didn’t know how many more days I’d be traveling with Kallen, but I should give her something in return for the story.
“You should know you lucked out with your mentor.”
“My mentor? Who?”
“Let’s sleep. We’ve got a long way tomorrow.”
Perplexed, Kallen only tilted her head. Still, she did as told and lay down deeper in the cave.
She’d said she probably wouldn’t be able to sleep after napping so much in the daytime, and sure enough, the moment her head touched down she started snoring. She was impressively robust about both eating and sleeping.
After I confirmed Varen and Kallen were both asleep, I stepped out of the cave. I stretched under the moonlight.
“Phew... what is this. I’m too tired.”
My body felt oddly heavy today. Fatigue was no doubt accumulating day by day.
I kneaded my heavy shoulders, thinking of the ones I had to be responsible for. Even my grip strength was thinning; it didn’t relieve anything at all.
***
We started moving in daylight. Bright light exposed the world down to its seams, and under the sun even the dense needles of the conifers were helpless.
Even so, we had no choice. Varen’s pain seemed milder by day, and he walked the path in silence.
“Is your body a little better?”
“Yeah.”
When I drew close and lowered my voice to ask, Varen took a long step away.
Varen had been distant with me for days. What’s with him again? I wanted to grab him and ask, but I didn’t have the bandwidth.
Our route was stretching longer than I’d first planned. A week had passed before I knew it, and we still hadn’t slipped out of the forest’s heart.
And I took the night watch every single night. Which meant I hadn’t slept properly for a week.
My stamina was being diligently shaved down. My head was foggy; I didn’t even have the strength to carry a single pack.
At this point I couldn’t tell if I was walking or floating, if this was reality or a dream.
“Careful.”
“Mm... thanks.”
I nodded off with my eyes open and staggered. In moments like that, at least, Varen would steady me.
He would catch my forearm for a moment, then move away just as quickly.
Kallen, scurrying anxiously at my side, grumbled.
“Ceryl, ride Ella, please? Close your eyes for a bit on her back.”
“Ella must be tired too. I’m fine.”
Next to me, the second-most tired was Ella. The steadfast mare was marching with all the humans’ burdens piled on her back.
And Ella wasn’t sleeping properly either. Without being told, she circled the perimeter at night and kept watch.
Rami, by extension, complained of fatigue as well. No «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» matter how much I told her to sleep, she kept me company whenever I stood the night watch so I wouldn’t be lonely.
“Piyuuung... piyuuung....”
Of course, while we moved in daylight, she slept like a log in my pocket.
I rubbed my sleepy eyes and looked up at the sky.
“Jjaaaak— jak!”
A ringing sparrow call cleaved the heavens and headed east. It was the signal that this side was safe.
“Ceryl, get on.”
Unable to watch any longer, Varen offered me his back. I stared dully at him crouched in front of me.
Come to think of it, this was my first time seeing the back of him in human form. I knew he was big, but his shoulders were broad as a plain. Through the thin cloth his solid latissimus dorsi made its presence known.
I wanted to flop right up there and take a daytime nap, but I shook my head and gave his shoulder a couple of light taps.
“I’m good, brat. What if you collapse instead.”
When I walked past, maybe his pride was stung; Varen caught up.
“A dragon doesn’t collapse from that.”
“What are you talking about? I’ve piggybacked you while you were passed out more than once. I’d rather be the tired one. If you go down, we’ve got nothing.”
Varen was about to retort, then clamped his mouth shut.
He halted dead.
Great, did I scratch his pride too hard? He sulks easily.
I stopped too and turned back.
Varen was staring down the way we’d come. Between the tightly packed trees, there was nothing to see.
“Blood-scent is following us.”
They said he could smell a human from a hundred kilometers away. Maybe that wasn’t an exaggeration.
Cold water sluiced over my fatigue-hazed mind. I drew in close to Varen and lowered my voice.
“Close?”
“No. But it’s been tailing us for days. Tenacious.”
Varen’s eyes cooled. The air went heavy in an instant, and I tugged at his collar.
“Let’s just go. No need to make a fuss bumping into them.”
“It’s annoying.”
“Sigh... how many?”
“One.”
Dragon Hunters don’t travel alone. If it was one, odds were it wasn’t a hunter.
Then who? Who’s wandering this vast forest alone, looking for a dragon?
We’d been erasing our traces as we moved. Covering footprints was basic, and we didn’t leave a single ember where we’d stayed.
Even so, if they’d been on us for days, they were clearly tracking something.
What? What am I missing?
“Can I kill them?”
“Huh?”
Varen’s question snapped me out of my thoughts.
When I looked up, startled, his face was perfectly calm. If I went by expression alone, it was the level of “Can I eat this?”
My deliberation quickly shifted directions.
It was only one human at a distance; Varen could take care of it without using mana.
It was irritating that they’d been dogging us for days, and better to prevent trouble down the line.
But unless it was truly life-threatening, I couldn’t stand by and watch Varen kill.
I clasped his wrist, firm. I shook my head.
“We promised. Think once more before killing.”
“Haa....”
Varen let out a sigh laced with displeasure. Blue eyes flickered with irritation and a will to kill.
Even so, as if to keep the promise, he pressed his lips together and sank into thought.
After a moment, his voice came softer.
“I’ll just check if it’s a dangerous human. I won’t kill.”
I worried this might just stir up a hornet’s nest, but since Varen yielded a step, I backed off as well.
I nodded and whispered.
“Then I’m coming too.”
“The human’s energy isn’t good. I’ll go alone.”
“What? Isn’t that dangerous? Come with—”
“Do you not trust me?”
How am I supposed to trust someone who keels over every other day.
The truth almost sneezed itself out; I swallowed it back. He squared his chest with confidence, and I sighed in secret.
Fine. However young Varen was, I couldn’t keep him wrapped in my arms forever.
“If it feels dangerous, come straight back. All right?”
“All right.”
Varen strode into the forest. His broad back flexed with each step, but to me it felt like watching a child set by the water.
Should I follow after all? Good grief, watch your footing. He’s going to trip staring straight ahead like that.
I kept my eyes on that wide back when a grating noise pricked my ear.
Clack.
To me, it was a very familiar sound—metal catching.
“Ah....”
At the same time, a low groan slipped from Varen’s mouth.
“Varen!”
I sprinted straight to him where he’d stopped in the middle of the brush.
At the shout, Kallen and Ella, who had been walking ahead, hurried back.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
Varen’s expression didn’t change; he only looked down.
And when I checked under his feet, I nearly fainted. A hunting trap studded with sharp teeth like a beast’s mouth.
Even with his ankle caught, Varen was unruffled.
“An interesting thing.”
“You... you think this is interesting....”
When I properly assessed the situation, my head swam. The iron trap looked brutally dangerous.
But Varen was fine. Only the fabric of his pants was torn; not a drop of blood.
In fact, the iron that had touched his ankle was bent. A body I’d thought a boulder was truly harder than steel.
The absurd scene right before my eyes left me speechless. Varen eased his chest open, just a little smug.
“I told you. A dragon doesn’t get hurt.”
“...Good for you.”
It was a relief he wasn’t injured, but we couldn’t have him walking around with a trap attached. It wasn’t a fashion anklet. More than anything, it would leave marks with every step.
I flattened myself to the ground and studied the trap’s mechanism. Luckily, it was the same structure as in modern society.
In that world or this one, trappers’ snares were common. I was glad I’d studied wildlife emergency rescue back at university.
“Don’t move. If you do, it’ll dig in deeper.”
“That looks dangerous.”
“Yeah, which is why hold still.”
“I meant you, not me.”
If you press hard on the spring plate at the base, the jaws open.
But whether the metal was rusted or enchanted, it wouldn’t open with ordinary force.
As I grunted and strained for a long while, Kallen and Ella arrived.
“Ceryl, what happened?”
“He’s in a trap. He’s fine because he’s a dragon; if it were you or me, we’d be cutting an ankle off.”
“Ugh, don’t say something so awful. I get chills just imagining it.”
Kallen crouched beside me and peered at the trap with fascination.
And Varen now crossed his arms and looked down at me with a pitying gaze.
“Ceryl, I could just break it.”
“And risk you getting hurt? Hold on. You’re supposed to press here... ngh, if I press this... it should open....”
Lately, my body had been strangely weak. No matter how hard I pushed on the iron, it wouldn’t budge.
