I watch as the branches curl and bend, forming a path through the dense layer of trees. Why is Miliasa glaring at me? Did I do something?

“Did I do something Miliasa?”

She keeps staring at me. And then, she opens her mouth.

“What did you do? The forest is scared of you…”

Huehuehue

The forest is scared of me eh? Maybe Pandemonium was a bit of an overkill. Sorry Forest san. I really wanted to try that technique out, since it’s the only chance I got. But, I scared the forest eh? Payback, Forest!

“You’re making a scary face….Creep”

Urk! Critical hit! A child saw my sadistic side!

I wave my hand, and the map appears before me. I check it, just to make sure I didn't forget it at Baras. I'd hate to return, since it hasn't even been a day since I left. We have no idea where we will be after we exit the forest, since no one in the forest knows it. Anyone who exits can never enter back, I think. I place it back in the ring, reassured. I check all my preparations and get ready to leave, but then I stop.

There was a tree there. A bonsai like tree. It looks very conspicuous, since it’s one of a kind tree, that I’ve seen only in one place other than this.

“Oi turtle. Did you think I’d forget my promise?”

I release my Monster slayer energy toward the tree, and it shakes. I draw my sword and release it full force. The tree is shivering now. I told you didn’t I? If I find even one of your kind, I’ll exterminate them.

After putting the turtle meat inside the ring, I once again prepare to set out. The branches stay opened, and we exit the Forest.

The moment we step into the pathway, we’re at another forest. It’s different from the forest I saw before, because the leaves here were all red. I turn back, and the greenery is all gone.

Tch. Teleportation huh. Might be random spots.

“Miliasa, climb onto my back”

“I’m fine. Don’t need to.”

“It might be dangerous here”

“The only thing dangerous here might be you”

Oi oi oi, what’s with those lines? Why does the kid hate me?! It breaks my heart. The feeling when a child looks at you with disgust is extremely painful.

I can only sigh. I advise her to stay close and I keep heading into the forest of red. I shouldn’t let my guard down.

Odd. There aren’t many monsters here. I frequently use Detect in order to check whether there are monsters. But till now, the only one I’ve encountered is a demon cricket, and Miliasa insisted she’ll fight it. It was cute, seeing her struggle with a little insect. Well the demon insect looked really similar to a normal cricket, except with red eyes and a white body.

“It’s best if you keep your swords away. Since they look conspicuous.”

“Conspicuous? How?”

I ask, puzzled. Isn’t my Rebellion completely normal?

“Those kinds of swords are rare for one. And a cursed one is especially rare”

“The sword is cursed? How?”

“Isn’t it obvious? It gives off an ominous feeling. It’s like a monster sealed in a sword. It wants to eat. The reason it cut easily through that turtle was because of the sword’s curse. “

Huh. Miliasa is really knowledgeable huh? She spotted in one try that my sword was cursed. Well, it might be obvious. Now that I look at it, the sword does give off an ‘I’m cursed ‘ feel.

I heed her advice and put the Rebellion in my ring. I take out another normal sword, a bastard sword like monster’s—I mean master’s.

That said, this forest is really huge huh? We’ve been walking in this forest for almost 3 hours, and there’s no sign of an exit. An uneventful journey. We quickly pass by various fruit groves, without any guardians or monsters.

It’s almost night now, and we set up camp near a stream. Arcus san already taught me how to make a fire and I did it. The branches from those red trees burn really hot and bright. The colour of the flame was pink. Reminds me of Shizuka…. I hope that airhead is fine.

I take out the world tour books from my ring, that I brought with permission from Master. I try to quickly read through it, in order to find any clues of a red forest. There’s pretty much nothing, and I fell asleep, snoring from the reading.

I woke up with a start, and the book fell onto my lap. I fell asleep huh. Seems like my sleeping habits haven’t improved. Miliasa was already up, and she was poking through my books. I spook her, and she jumps up, shocked. She gets flustered and runs away, hiding behind a tree. Cute. No. Not a lolicon. Don’t look at me with those eyes!

Wait, why can’t I just ask Miliasa? I’m sure the all knowledgeable Miliasa sama would know about it! I could try asking her.

“Ne, Miliasa? Do you know where we are?”

She looks at me like I was sort of dumb. Sighing, she answered.

“Un? Isn’t it obvious? We’re in the Rudia continent, judging from the fact that monsters are on the low and based on the season now, it’s in the southern part of Rudia”

“Uwaa… Miliasa, you’re awesome!”

Must be right on the mark, since there's not even a hint of doubt in her answer. I can ask every doubt I have to Miliasa sama. She seems flustered from the sudden praise, as she goes back to hiding behind the tree.

“Something like this…. Is only average”

“No no.. It can’t be?! Miliasa, are you hinting that I’m below average?!”

I ask her, just to tease her. But her reaction was contrary to my expectations.

“Of course. You’re scum.”

Critical hit! What did I do?!! Miliasa, don’t kill me like that!

“Ne, Miliasa, why aren’t there any monsters here?”

I ask Miliasa, taking out the map and spreading it out. I check the Rudia continent’s southern part. The only country in the south is the Ugraok kingdom, a comparatively smaller kingdom. I call Miliasa and ask her to point out where we might be. She points to a forest a little bit east off from the small Ugraok kingdom. Meaning, that’s the place we need to head to.

“That’s because it’s the awakening period of the Dragons.”

“Awakening period?”

“Yeah, the Dragons from these parts are super sloths. They spend most of the year sleeping, and this is the period when they roam around. Of course, there are monsters that aren’t scared of the dragons, who roam around without restraint, but those are rare. The monsters are generally scared of becoming fodder for the dragons, so they go into hibernation”

Miliasa sensei once again proves her superiority. Her knowledge is several leagues above mine.

“Miliasa, can you tell me the direction we need to go in, in order to reach that country?”

Miliasa nods, and then puts her little hands on the ground, and closes her eyes in concentration. The wind stops blowing, and then Miliasa opens her eyes and points to a direction. Seems that’s the way. Alright. I need to get there within today. It’s only about 30 miles away. I can easily run that much within two hours. I grab Miliasa, put her on my back and run off.

“Wai-what are you— ?!!”

I was already zipping through the red forest, and Miliasa’s protest was lost to the roaring of the wind.

It’s been two hours, and I can see that the forest is thinning. The trees become sparse, and I can see some stumps here and there. Alright! Signs of civilization! We keep running, and I see it.

A dragon

Truly majestic. A huge figure, almost 12 meters long, flaps its humongous wings and flies a ways above me. Its red scales glitter in the sunlight, and it ignores me, while flying off.

I’m itching to fight it, But I should remember that Miliasa is on my back. She’s already turned green, and has vomited a few times.

Finally, I can see a village. A small one, but a village nonetheless. Alright! My adventure in another world starts now!

I stop near the village, and let Miliasa down. She looks at me with eyes full of hatred, and throws up again. Haha! That hurts Miliasa.

I wait for her to recover, and check my equipment. Great. I walk into the village, with Miliasa behind me. She keeps out of my arms reach. I think she’s scared that I might do a grab and run again. Haha.

It seems this village is called the Pioneer’s village, and the nearest town from here is Ravenblack. What an obvious name. Ravens are black. Is it for general knowledge?

This village seems to be a small and less urban one, with a makeshift wooden fence around it. The edges of the fence were sharpened, maybe to keep out monsters. There was only the Village head’s house that was worth mentioning, a comparatively better house which seemed to be a bit bigger than my cabin in Baras. The other houses were grey shacks, and there were a great number of them. There’s nothing worth mentioning here, as it’s just a normal village. I prepare to leave for Ravenblack the next day, as I have a feeling there might be something of interest there. My primary objective is to find clues about summoning or foreigners, since that might be my only chance at finding the others. If they were moved to remote spots, I’m gonna be in trouble. If someone died…. No wait, it’s better not to smile at the prospect of Satoshi dying.

The probability that they might’ve been summoned as heroes is very high, since summoning does take place in this world. I read it in a book, that heroes were summoned in times of disaster. I’m sure they might’ve been summoned here as heroes.

But in such a remote village, there’s no chance of getting clues about heroes and summoning.

But I know one thing I will do in the next town. Become an adventurer. Not doing that after coming to a fantasy world is like going to a restaurant and not having dinner! Having decided my course of plan, I head outside the village, since that’s the only place I can camp. I don’t have any money too, so becoming an adventurer is my sole option.

Tonight, I cooked for Miliasa, since normally we just ate the food I had in my ring. The stew made from the damned turtle was delish, seeing Miliasa’s reaction, as she swallowed it all down in one go, and even asked for seconds. Alright, I scored more points with Miliasa!

As the moon came from behind the dark clouds, I lie down on the Giant bear fur I used as a bed. Miliasa gets a deluxe bed of Demon bird fur, but it’s fine, since Miliasa sama deserves it. I slowly nod off, mesmerized by the flickering flame.