The boy took a really deep breath and dived right into the water.

"Splash!"

When he opened his left eye, he could see a really big hole.

The water was quite deep, around 4 to 5 meters deep.

"Did I somehow get inside this hole back when I was drowning before?" The boy swam through the hole before swimming upward toward the surface.

"This means that I should be back at the river where I was drowning before!"

The realization that the exit was right above him swelled his heart up with agitation. The faces of the other children flashed through his mind, and he hurriedly swam ahead. Now that he had found his way out, he had to hurry in order to return on time.

But all of a sudden…

"Blurb, blurb!"

To his horror, he suddenly felt a stabbing pain in his legs that prevented him from moving. They had cramped up from their sudden exertion. He flung his arms wildly in an attempt to propel himself up, but it was futile. His body was sinking deeper and deeper into the water, and there was nothing he could do to save himself.

"Blurp, blurp?!"

All of a sudden, he felt a force tugging at his robe, pulling him upward. He raised his gaze and saw the grimoire. It was exerting all its might to pull him to safety.

The grimoire was surprisingly strong despite its small size. It took a bit of effort, but it successfully pulled the boy to the water surface

"Fuaaah!" The boy gasped desperately for air as the grimoire continued dragging him to the river bank. It was a bit more strenuous now as it had to hold its own against the river tide so as to stop the boy from getting washed away.

Eventually, they reached the river bank. The boy dragged his body up with both of his hands and then lied down on the ground, completely exhausted.

"You saved me there! Thanks!"

The grimoire was looking at him from above. It just floated still in mid air, staring at him intently.

"..."

"I'm sorry." The boy was feeling guilty. It had already reminded him to be calm, but he let his emotions take over again.

Had he been a bit calmer, he wouldn’t have ended up placing himself in such a near-death situation back there

If not for the grimoire saving him, he would have drowned by now.

"I lost myself for a moment there…" The boy was angry at himself too. He just couldn't remain calm whenever he thought of the other children.

The grimoire tilted forward a little, as if heaving a sigh, before gesturing toward another direction.

The boy followed its line of sight before widening his eyes in astonishment.

"Isn't that the Demonic Forest?!"

Appearing before his eyes was a lush forest, but the knowledge of its true nature was more than enough to chill his blood.

"That is the most dangerous forest in the Eglustan Kingdom!"

The boy remembered hearing from the townsmen and adventurers that this forest was filled with magical beasts and monsters. It was highly dangerous.

Even the adventurers wouldn't take quests relating to the Demonic Forest without a proper squad.

"Judging from the passageway that I passed through before…" The boy held his head with both of his hands and closed his eyes.

The scene from where he came out from the big gate inside the passageway and all the way to the end of the passageway was replaying in his mind.

He was simulating the pathway he had taken, every corner, every turn, as well as the details it entailed. He couldn’t shape out every single detail with precise vividness, but he could still make out the main parts of what he had seen in the passageway.

"The ruin is inside the Demonic Forest!"

The boy was so shocked that he was stunned for a moment.

Something tugged him on his shoulder, he turned around and asked, "Do you know that the ruin was inside the Demonic Forest?"

The grimoire couldn't understand those words, and it tilted to the side in confusion.

"Uhm… Do. You. Know. That. You. Are. Inside. Of. That. Forest?" The boy repeated again with some gestures.

He was so shocked that he forgot to gesture.

The grimoire looked at the forest he pointed at before shaking its body.

"Ah… I see…" The boy was thinking for some time and then said, "Let's go!"

The grimoire hovered around and followed him.

"This is really strange. What was that ruin? And the mural and this grimoire as well…?"

Several doubts flashed across the boy’s mind as he jogged his way back to the city. However, he quickly snapped out of it, knowing that there was something more important on hand. "It's good that the passageway led me out of the forest, or else…"

The boy clenched his fist as he hastened his pace, murmuring under his breath "Summer, George, Roxel, and Adle, all of you have to remain safe!"

…

Despite the massive threats lurking within the Demonic Forest, interestingly, its outskirts were fairly safe. For some mysterious reasons, the monsters in the forest had never ventured out of it before.

It wasn’t of great importance to the boy at the moment though as he hurried his way back to the city. He was ignoring all other thoughts that he deemed unnecessary.

Were it not for his limited stamina and his injuries, he would have been running by now.

It was fortunate that the Demonic Forest was near the City of Vrircaster. With the river as his guide, it took only a bit over an hour with some breaks here and there.

"Finally!"

The grimoire was seeing this sight too. It looked in curiosity and wanted to fly ahead, but then a hand caught it.

"No! You can't! For now, stay inside my robe!" The boy pulled the grimoire inside his robe and covered it.

The grimoire couldn't understand why, but it felt that the boy must have his reason to do so. So it could only quietly hold its anger and took a peek outside.

The city wall was in his sight. He picked up his pace despite his already fast pace. He started to jog forward toward the nearest city gate.

The city wall was huge. It was around 9-10 meters tall, it was made of stone just like anywhere else. The guards' post could be seen towering there too.

There were guards on the gate. But surprisingly, there were quite a few people wanting to go inside to the city. It was unusual at this time in mid night, but the boy paid no heed and took advantage of the situation. He sneaked through their checks and went straight inside into the city.

“I need to fetch my savings first. The money that I got from that lady before isn’t enough!” The boy ran toward the hidden place where he put his savings.

Not long, he finally got what he wanted to bring, he thought in his heart.

"I need to go back as fast as I can!" The boy couldn't hold his emotions anymore and started running at full speed. Despite his injuries, he felt no pain at all as adrenaline took control of his body.

The city was generally quiet. Not bustling like in the day. Only parts of the city were still full of activity. Most shops were closed. Only some that were still operated at night were still having their candles or lanterns lit.

The wind was quite strong. The moon was veiling the night with its silver light.

The grimoire was looking around while peeking. It could see the writings on a board in front of a restaurant, menus were written on it.

Then it heard people were laughing and chatting inside of a shop that was bright inside. it looked at the banner of the shop, it said "Bear Claws Inn". Behind the name, there was a bear claws sculpture.

Beside the Inn, there was another big building. With its big sculpture of a knight in full armor, holding a sword with both of his hands in front of his chest. The building was not that crowded. But the people who were going in or going out were having weapons of many types. Spears, swords, bow. Even some people had grimoires flying on their side or being held in their arms.

The grimoire was full of curiosity. If it had a mouth. It would totally be grinning from ear to ear, and if it had eyes, it would be shining brightly because of the excitement.

It also attentively listened to the faint voices of people chatting when the boy was passing them.

But then it saw a shop. The window of the shop was very big. The grimoire looked at inside the store and it found a mountain of books neatly placed on their shelf.

The boy was still running at his fastest pace. The grimoire was silent for a moment to think. But then, the mysterious runes were flying around it and then left a mark on the boy's body.

After it was done, the book slipped through from the boy and flew to the shop, going through the chimney.

The boy was so anxious that he did not even realize that the book was slipping away from him.

"Please! Be safe!" His face was full of worry as he fastened his speed once again, running toward the direction of the slums.

…

Not long after, he finally arrived. The house was in his sight. The boy didn't even try to catch up his breath first as he ran toward the door and opened it.

"BAM!"

"I GOT YOU THE MONEY!"

But the sight he saw was not what he wanted to see.

He saw Ted was holding Roxel, wanting to hit him. The other kids were lying on the floor, their faces were painted in blood red. Blood was everywhere in the room.

"Oh? Look who just came back. We thought that you were running away." A skinny guy, wearing a sleeveless shirt and brown long pants said as he smiled mockingly at the boy.

"You heard what he said? He brought the money! Hahaha!"

"Nice! We can buy some ales again!" The other two tugs said. Their appearances were not that different with the first guy.

He felt like the world turned upside down, his face darkened, tears started to fall to his cheeks. He ran desperately toward the kids on the floor.

"SUMMER! GEORGE! ROXEL! ADLE!"