We were on our way to our destination after the rest of my party came with us. I honestly thought that that was the last time I would see them. Continuing going on an adventure with them made me really happy and I was sure it was not only me but Merry also.

Our destination was the next town of Prosk, just south-west of Roq. Though it was the next town, it was approximately fifty miles away. And since the wagon was slow, it was going to take a while to get there.

Inside the wagon, it was a bit cramped. Although most of our equipment was either on the roof or the sides of the wagon, there was still stuff inside. And since there were six people in the wagon, it wasn’t going to be a much pleasant ride, especially for Risa.

Incidentally, there was only one Norji that was pulling the wagon. I repeat, only one. That was how incredibly strong these scale-feathered creatures. That was why it was slow. Additionally, the name of the Norji was Sray and its owner’s name was Chance, who was the driver and the mailman.

The only place I’d been out of Roq was going to the hunting grounds. I’d been in every nook and cranny of that town and I thought that the town was relatively wide but when I went outside of its walls, I’d come to know that it was small. Although I was going to miss this isolated and, at same time, full of life town, I was happy to be outside of it.

Outside of Roq were for farming fields. A little bit further than that was an outpost for responding to people who needed help. After that was, well, Mother Nature. Stretching for miles was just nature. The roads were just dirt and occasionally, you would see some wildlife.

As a person from another world, I had a lot of confidence when saying that this world was incredibly similar compared to our world.

This world also had the ingredients to create life. That meant, and as we all knew, this world had; water, trees, oxygen, the celestial planets, though I didn’t know if they were the same celestial planets, and whatever else needed to create life.

The setting in this world was the same as medieval ages from our world. It was technologically lacking and evidently, it had a low standard in moral, too.

As we were slowly trudging and making our way to Prosk, it looked like Risa couldn’t handle it anymore. She was in absolute bliss when she came to learn when the other ‘humans’ weren’t coming but her eyebrows had been furrowed ever since they came onboard. Actually, she’d been like that ever she’d seen them. She avoided them like the plague as she stayed by my side.

“Terrin!” Risa shouted quietly. “Shakna can’t handle this anymore! Get rid of these pesky humans!” she commanded.

“Well, if you say so. Don’t blame me if bad humans capture us just because you don’t like them. Also, don’t use Shakna with everyone here, remember?”

“Fine, fine!” that was easy. “Just don’t let them get close to Risa.”

I didn’t know if she heard or us not but Fuyuki came to us.

Oh, boy.

“What are you guys talking about?” Fuyuki asked.

Risa glared at me intensely. She was telling me with her eyes to get rid of her. Oh, boy.

“Nothing, really. How about you? You guys comfortable?”

“Yup! We’re all right. How about you, Risa?”

Risa hid behind my back. “Sha—, R-Risa’s fine! Ter—Onii-chan, make him go away now!”

“Risa,” I said. “You’re not supposed to respond like that.”

“It’s okay, Terrin.” Fuyuki said. “I partly know how she feels.”

Fuyuki must have been talking about his “father”. Well, no, Fuyuki. She just really hates humans.

“Come to think of it,” Fuyuki put her hand on her chin. “We’ve never really introduce ourselves, huh?”

“We did, you idiot.” Takana said. He was right. They did introduce their selves. Although, Risa might have forgotten it by now.

“Seriously? Then do you know my name, Risa?”

“No because Risa doesn’t have interest about your name or you itself!”

Fuyuki might have been a little bit hurt. If that was said to me by a little girl, I would probably take some significant damage. I had a soft spot for little kids, after all.

“Fuyuki, sorry about th—“

“Bwahahaha!” Fuyuki laughed. “That’s the first time somebody said that to me! Even Takana didn’t say that the first time we met.”

“Hey, I’m a decent human at the very least!” that was probably the most untruthful thing I’d ever heard in my entire life.

“We’re going to be with each other for a while and I would like to get to know more about you, Risa.” she then turned around and pointed at Kihana. “So is that girl.” Kihana smiled towards Risa.

“Don’t count me in. I hate little kids.” Takana announced. I think kids hate you, too, Takana.

Fuyuki didn’t mean anything bad by it but she tried to get closer to Risa.

“Get away from Risa! Risa doesn’t care about each and one of you! And Risa’s not a little kid, you sorry excuse for a monkey!” from behind, she grabbed my shirt really tightly. It seemed she didn’t want to be touched by a human.

“What a rude girl.” Takana said.

“Sorry, guys. She didn’t mean anything bad by it.”

“It’s okay, Terrin. She just needs some time.” She then looked at Risa. “I’ll come back to play again, Risa, okay?”

“No! Don’t come back again!” although it sounded like Fuyuki would go away in some very far away place, her spot before was literally 3 meters away.

In contrast to Risa, who sounded she was about to cry, Fuyuki was brimming with passion. It seemed this was her new goal in life; to make friends with this little girl.

That’s Fuyuki for you, all right.

“Cheer up, Risa.” Merry said with a gentle voice. “I’ll cook something good for you later, okay?”

I could feel Risa nodding her head against my back. Merry’s really great with kids, huh? It was like that, too, at the orphanage.

“I wish all humans would just disappear…” Risa said quietly. Although she said it in a quiet way, what she just said was far from being quiet.

Well, then, how am I suppose to solve this problem?

*

After a long day of travelling and sitting inside the wagon, we found an open space and camped there. It was about to turn into night, so it was becoming dark.

“Remember everyone, out here, I’m the leader.” Chance, our driver, said. “The boys will gather firewood and build the campfire and as for the girls, they will prepare the utilities and food. I’ll be here tending to Sray.”

The girls went to work while Takana and I gathered firewood for the campfire which would be use to cook our food.

“Why does he get to be the leader?” Takana started to complain.

Oh, boy.

“He does know more about the outside than us.”

“Huh? What are you talking about? You came from another kingdom, right? You should know this stuff more.”

Oh, yeah. I forgot about that.

“W-Well, I’ve not been on the road for a long time, so it’s safer if someone who had experience travelling recently to be our guide.”

“I just don’t like him calling himself our leader, you know? I would have been okay with if it was you.”

Huh…So he trusts me that much?

“Let’s go back.”

When we returned, the girls had set up the utilities. There was a table and on top of it were a bunch of cooking utensils. There were fish, poultry and vegetables on it, too. The girls light up the lamps, too, to be able to see our surroundings.

Risa was beside Merry, although it didn’t look like there she was doing anything. When she saw me, she immediately went to me.

“What took you so long?” Risa pouted.

“Sorry, sorry.”

“Man, this girl got you by the neck, huh?”

Takana and I built the campfire while Risa watched us. After that, we lighted it with the flint and stone Chance gave us. Takana knew how to use it.

After that, we went to do our own things. I tried to help Merry cook.

“Hey, need some help?”

“Why not. Can you give me that?” Merry said. Although I’d been in this world for quite some time, I’d never seen this fish before. It looked like a salmon fish and had a grey color. It was hard, as if it was a rock.

“What is this?” I didn’t know what it was since Merry and Kihana were the ones who bought the food supplies.

“This is a Kron. As you’ve probably noticed, its skin is hard and dry. The skin is hard and dry, making it rot slower and thus a good source of food for travelling.”

She picked up the fish and snapped it into two. “Since its skin is hard, only a strong person can snap it. You can use a knife if you want but I prefer snapping them.”

“After snapping, you can take the inside and remove the organs.” She flawlessly did what she said.

Wow, Merry really is like a top-notch maid.

“Thanks for the info. Now I can cook for myself.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll always cook for you since you’re somewhat an inept person.” Merry said.

What she said made me a bit embarrassed since that would mean she would always be with me.

“What’s wrong? You look red.” Merry said.

Merry gently brushed up my hair and then slowly pressed her forehead on my forehead. “Hmmm…You’re heating up. Do you have a fever?” Merry said.

I immediately moved my head away. “N-No, I don’t. It’s probably because it’s hot out here.”

Merry’s action could have given me a heart attack, to be honest. Seriously, Merry. And how can she act like it was all nothing? Also, we’re not flirting, Risa. Stop looking at me like that.

“Go and rest. It’s going to be hard if our leader is sick.”

“Yes, ma’am...”

“Also,” she took out something from a bag. “Give this to Risa. It’s a bread filled with sweet things inside. I think she will like it. And make sure to give it to her after eating her meal first.”

“Yeah, she will. I’ll make sure it came from you.”

Risa and I took our leave. In the end, I wasn’t able to help her cook.

“That…was funny. Seeing you squirmed like that reminded Shakna of Shakna’s first meeting with you.”

Oh yeah, that did happen.

“Speaking of meeting, can I ask you the questions now?” she had postponed it now for a week but she told me we could continue it once everything calmed down.

“Okay. But later. Shakna’s stomach can’t wait any longer.”

“Finally. And you’re stomach has to wait a little more. Merry just started cooking.”

“Shakna’s talking about the food that Merry gave you. Give it to Shakna!”

So she saw that, huh?

“Well, this was yours to begin with. Merry gave it to me to give it to you. Make sure to thank her later.”

“Will do. Merry’s such a nice beast.”

“That I agree.”

It took a while but Merry finally finished cooking. It was a Kron soup with vegetable in it. Its broth tasted good and hot, perfect for the cold outdoors. The Kron fish was also great; you could see that it was prepared with love and care. It seemed everyone had the same thought as me.

After eating and cleaning the plates we used by using the water we had in stored, we rested for a while before going to sleep. The girls would sleep in the wagon while the boys, including the driver, would sleep outside, on the hard and cold land.

As everyone probably knew by now, there were bandits in the surrounding area. We were surrounded by thick forest, so we had to keep our guards up. And by that, it meant that I would always be on the lookout since I knew the darkness like the back of my hand. Takana would switch with me, so there were no problems. Also, everyone had their weapons by their side

“So, what are your questions?”

Risa’s voice overlapped with the sound of wood being burned in the campfire. The others were asleep not too long ago. Risa didn’t want to sleep with the humans by her sides, so she would sleep besides me.

“Just so you can comprehend, there are a lot of things Shakna also doesn’t understand. There will be grey areas as Shakna answer your questions.”

“I understand. My first question is…” this was one the one that I wanted to ask for so long. “Is the curse lifted?”

“No, it’s not. Although Shakna’s here in flesh, Shakna’s still in slumber. Mankind’s seal to Shakna is still there, Shakna can feel it. Shakna’s only able to be in this form because of you.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Before Shakna had been sealed by those humans, Shakna was able to cast a summoning that summoned you. Due to that, Shakna was able to transfer some of my precious magic to you. Reminisced the first time Shakna met you. Do you remember when Shakna touched your chest? That was Shakna storing Shakna’s magic to you.”

“But I thought that was a curse?”

“It is my magic and I used a “curse” in order to protect it. You’re a human, too, and Shakna couldn’t trust you. Whenever Shakna looks at you, Shakna could see Shakna’s magic healthily flows into you.”

“So, the curse is not lifted, huh?”

“What’s this? Do you not like the curse Shakna gave you?”

“No, it’s not that. Whether I have a curse or not, I would still save you if you just said so.”

I would do it. That was what I really felt.

She quietly laughed and then her small eyes turned into cold and lifeless eyes. “You’re naïve. Humans can’t be trusted.”

Her hate for humans runs deep. There’s just no way for me to remove that.

“All right, I understand. My second question is how were you able to talk to Nimog?” she was able to talk to Nimog but she couldn’t talk to the other kasaks.

“Nimog was one of Shakna’s Rinshoka. Witches had at least five Rinshoka. Rinshoka’s are the strongest out of and in all the monster’s races. Visualize them as human generals but are zealots and powerful. Shakna’s powers are faint compared to before, that was the reason why the Rinshoka’s underlings couldn’t detect Shakna. Additionally, only the Rinshoka knew Shakna’s magic, so only them would be able to detect it in the first place.”

“So, you eating Nimog’s magic-contained heart gave you a boost?”

“Something like that. Kasaks were one of the weakest races that Shakna controlled, so it was easily understandable why it didn’t even scratch the surface.”

I still can’t believe that she made him sacrifice himself just like that…

“Is that all? Shakna’s really sleepy.”

“Why do you hate humans so much?”

“Because they’re evil. That’s all there is to it.”

“But not all—“

“No more questions. Shakna’s tired, so she’s going to sleep.”

“Okay…We did have a long day, so go ahead and take a rest.”

“Finally.” She stretched her little hands and went to her bed. By bed, I meant a row of connected pillows under a blanket. “Also, one more thing, remember, if you die, Shakna dies, too.”

“Huh? What does that mean?”

“Goodnight, Onii-chan.”