“......ȝՐԹ? …...ՎԾȝՐԹ ՐɿԳɧ?”

The human in front of me said, while swaying dangerously.

How surprising.

To think it was able to move, despite being battered to that extent?

I am truly curious as to how it managed to do that.

Even though it was completely unresponsive for so long, it not only awoke, but managed to travel to here alone?

When the sun rose, there was still no sign that the human would be waking anytime soon. Waiting for it to regain consciousness for quite some time, I had spent quite a while before realizing something important.

Humans required food and water, no?

If they did not eat and drink, they would perish.

How could I forget something as simple as that?

If it perished, then I would have lost another important resource.

Food and liquid, of which I had neither. So I would have to go and look for it.

However, there were no water sources that I had found in this forest, aside from the lake where I landed.

Nor did I have any confidence that I wouldn’t poison the human by giving it something inedible.

My next best available option was… that’s right.

The other human, being left alone on the ground for a whole night, had turned cold and stiff. Because there were no wounds on its body, the blood could be said to have been perfectly retained.

Blood...could probably be ingested, right?

And is also largely made up of water.

I had debated for a bit on whether or not to feed the dying human with blood, and eventually decided to go with it.

The worst scenario was that the human would simply die.

I had no wish for that to happen, but,

If I did not take any action at all, it would die anyways.

Therefore, I reasoned, would there any difference if I did not try in the first place?

It was a bit far, about a few minute’s walk away, but I ended up going there anyways.

I had taken a somewhat sharp rock, and holding it against the corpse’s neck, stabbed it a few times.

It had taken a few clumsy tries, and even though it was hard and messy, I managed to open up a wound and let it trickle into a wooden cup that I had gotten from the body.

Because I did not know if ingesting blood would be healthy for the human, I had only taken a small amount.

Hopefully, this would be enough for the it to survive on for a few more days.

And then, when I was about to head back, I heard something.

“......ȝՐԹ? …...ՎԾ ȝՐԹ ՐɿԳɧ?”

When I turned around, I saw the human, who was on the ground earlier.

I did not expect this to happen, not even remotely.

I was a bit shocked, but that was all.

Since it was already here, I could save some time.

When I got up though, its face turned pale and it started shivering.

Was there something wrong?

Perhaps it was from blood loss?

Or maybe it had gotten an infection?

That would be quite a serious obstacle as I had no data on medical practices.

It would be best if that wasn’t the case.

Maybe it was starving?

However, it started shaking even more when I held out the cup of blood, and even took a few steps back.

Was there something wrong?

Hm.

It seemed like I was incorrect? Perhaps the blood was not edible.

When it once again expressed its unwillingness to take the cup that I had offered, I placed it on the ground as I had no more need of it.

Now what? Since it had already awoken, I no longer had the need to help it feed itself.

I suppose, I should try to communicate with it, right?

However, I was somewhat troubled as to what I should say.

I decided it was important to know whether or not it could understand me.

And so, for the first time since I had come to this place, I opened my mouth, and spoke.

“Do you, understand the words, of this one?”

The only reaction I got in response was a blank face.

I repeated it, slower, in case that it didn’t hear me properly, but there was still no sign that my intentions were getting across.

I had realized that language would be a problem early on, but I didn’t know how I could resolve it. It had also not been a pressing issue, so I had not thought much about it.

How to figure out this dilemma?

However, then, there was another sound.

“ՎԾՄ ʍՄρԲ ԹաԳρ ԲφԳφ?”

While I had been immersed in my thoughts, the human approached a bit closer and said something.

I could not understand what it wanted, neither were there any body gestures to hint at what it was saying.

It seemed to realize it as well, and, bending down, took a stick from the ground and started to drag it through the dirt.

As a crude picture started to form, I recognized it as where I had landed.

The lake, yes, I could see that. And the trees around it too. Flowers, and the rocks, this was the lake without doubt.

Bending back up, the human, pointed at the picture and then pointed in a direction, then back to the picture.

I see.

The human wanted to go to the lake.

However, the direction it was pointing in was inaccurate, by an angle of about 37.26 degrees.

I raised my own arm, and then pointed in the correct direction of the lake. Indicating that it was the location of the picture it had drawn.

The human paused for a bit, then started walking, carefully skirting around the growing pool of blood. When it had passed me and walked down a bit, it turned its head and looked at me inquisitively. I pointed at myself and shook my head, indicating that I would not follow.

I myself would not be able to make it there yet, as my reserves were a bit low. I estimated that it would take at least six more hours before I had enough energy to make it there safely.

It seemed to understand that I wanted to stay, and then turned back around.

So, as the human headed on towards the lake, I went back to the clearing and found the optimal spot for the fastest recharge time.

In order to communicate, I would have to learn the language of the people here. Not only that, there were still a great many things that I did not know.

A guide, I truly did need a guide in this strange place.

I hope the human doesn’t die, I told myself, before laying down and going to ‘sleep’ in the clearing.

It would be quite hard to find another one.

In another part of the forest.

“H-Help, we need help!”

“These shitty things just keep coming!”

“We have to get out of here!”

“But what about the oth-”

“That doesn’t matter if we die! They ca-, wait, what’s that!?”

“W-We can’t fight that! That’s a gi-”

“A-Alton! Damn it! Anyone! Is anyone there!? G-Get away! Ai-”

“.................”

“.................”

The forest, which had been filled with noises and chaos just before, was now eerily silent.

“.................”

“.................”

Tap.

૯Ոცƿ ɿՐω૭૦ωҺ૭ɿω ૭౮Նც౮ҩც, ౮ҩҺცƿԲҺ૭ƿ ૯ҩՈՆც ૯ƿც૯ɿ ૭ҩ૭ც౮ қძც౮ςƿ?

Tap.

φաȝՐʅ ʍՌՅע ՇԳɧʝƙʅʍ, ՌՅעԲԳ ɧʝƙʍ ՅɧʝƙʍՌ ՅՅɧ ʝƙ,ʍ.

Tap.

ɧʝƙʍ.

The sound of rustling leaves broke the silence.

And it continued until it got farther away and then faded.

In the dim light of the forest, only the spilled blood on the ground indicated the events that had taken place here.