12. Endless World

Every city had a barrier. That was the general knowledge.

There were various forms of barriers, and although I had never seen them, it seemed that the Imperial City had a glass-like barrier made of magic that surrounded the city. Others were simply surrounded by tough, tall walls or trees that give off odors that monsters didn’t like.

Even if it was such a man-made wall or a natural wall, the things that its function was to protect the city was called a barrier.

The barrier of <Distall> was a poisonous fog.

The fog was scattered around the city. Of course, it was artificially made.it contained poison that works only on monsters and was harmless to humans.

It was designed so that if monsters were to enter the fog, they would wander inside it, and die from poison by the time they reach the city.

So, as the matter of course, there were monster corpses around <Distall>, and travelers hated the eerie fog. Cleaning was done once a day, but since cleaning was done at midnight, during the daytime like now, there would be a lot of corpses.

In the fog, I and Ash headed south while avoiding the corpses.

A signpost stood on the borderline where the fog cleared.

“Welcome to Distall”… It was a sign with letters that I never thought of.

We stopped in front of the sign.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, just that since I was born….. I’ve never been further than this sign.”

I’d been walking around in the fog for fun before, but I didn’t cross the border.

One more step and it would be a different world for me. 

Scared by something unknown… I didn’t know what will happen after I passed the sign.

While denying boredom, I was actually afraid of change. It was a wall that I couldn’t overcome.

Anxiety and uplifting…

Two opposing emotions swirled inside me. 

As I wasn’t taking a step, Ash wrapped my right hand in both hands.

“It’s okay… nothing to be scared.”

Ash tried to comfort me as if I was a kid.

It was soft hands. But a little cold hand.

I got out of the fog while being pulled by Ash.

“Ah……”

―― The sunlight greeted me.

From the pitch-black fog, the dazzling light dominated my field of vision.

Just one step… It was just one step away, but I could see the vast forest and the sea in the distance spread out. I looked down on nature from above.

<Distall> seemed to have been a city in the highlands… I knew it for the first time… Perhaps, everyone didn’t say it because it was a common knowledge.

“Woww, This is…!”

I ran involuntarily and went to the top of the cliff.

From there, I viewed the beautiful green and blue scenery.

“Somehow… I feel like, ‘it is started’.”

I feel like I can hear the sound of fanfare.

I feel that more air is being sent to my lungs than usual.

I feel that the sunlight is warmer than usual.

That beautiful lake,

The flower field where red and blue flowers are in full bloom,

A valley with a gorgeous river,

A white town on the seaside,

And the sea that shines with the reflection of the sun――

―― I can go to all of them.

There are countless choices…. 

If this was the past me, I might have stopped at the signpost and got stuck.

I’m really excited now. Everything I can see is reachable.

“You… did you want me to see this view?”

I’m still dreaming about ‘it’ from time to time.

…the old man is alive, and I’m traveling around the world as a disciple of the old man.

Even now, I still hope that he could put his hand on my shoulder next to me and laugh.

…Well, it’s not the time for me to be so sentimental.

After all, an adventure must begin with a smile.

“From now on, we will go down a zigzag path and go through the forest to the port town…You can see the white town on the side of the sea, right? “

“Yeah, is that the Port Town <Crow Port>?”

“We will aim for that. I think it will take a day.”

“Roger, I understand…There is a lake in the forest… when we reach there, let’s take a break and have a meal. “

“Yeah!”

I stepped into the slope that connected from the cliff.

And, I didn’t look back.

————————————-

When I got off the zigzag path, there was, of course, ‘that’.

I’d seen the corpse a lot before, but it was the first time I’d seen it alive.

“[Gugu ―― Gi !!!!]”

Red-eyed Wolf-shaped Monster.

“That’s {Fang}. A monster that likes human skin…”

“What a bad hobby.”

Ash held the cane and I picked up a talisman with ‘Lion’ written on it.

“Lion Spear―― ‘OPEN’ “

A blue spear popped out of the talisman.

I took the spear in my right hand, turned my wrist around and spined it, and pointed the spear at the enemy.

“…”

Seeing me doing all of that, Ash was squinting.

“I thought this when I was watching from my sister, but… That technique is very strange.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. Really… it has an unpleasant Mana Movement… it’s strange that the technique is not failed.”

“Oi, oi, what a terrible evaluation.”

There were seven enemies, and they brazenly look at us.

“Your elder sister is without a doubt an infighter, but what are you good at?”

“Magic attack using Green Mana, the Mana of Creation.”

“Mana of Creation, huh… Ah! Then, can you do that? Fireball!”

“I can do it―― Want to see? “

“Yes! I want…I really want to see it!”

I mean, it’s a man’s romance!

“All right…I’ll do my best…”

And I regretted what I said not long after.

“Hmmm――Ash-san…?”

As declared, Ash raised her cane and created a mass of fire over her head.

Poured in more Green Mana and made the mass even bigger.

The fireball I imagined was at best about the size of the bag I was carrying. Even if it were big, I thought maybe it would be about the size of a human.

However, the lump of flame produced by Ash was big enough to swallow a cabin.

“Wait, wait, wait! I’m not asking for that size!… I mean, a wildfire might occur! Also, it’s over the level for a small fry!… Look at the {Fang} over there, I’m sure they’re stuck and can’t properly stand!”

“It’s okay. I’ll extinguish the fire immediately with the Water Magic.”

The ruthless flame burned the monster, {Fang}, to death.

————————————-

Unlike Shura, Ash seemed to be a Support-type Magician.

If Shura was good at physical strengthening with Red Mana, Ash was good at Magic Attacks with Green Mana. The two were well-balanced sisters.

I and Ash, even after defeating {Fang}, we encountered monsters several times. I had Ash took the role of attacking with a large firepower, meanwhile I went forward to attack directly with the Lion Spear. The opponent that I failed to finish off was burned with an appropriate size fireball.

The monster was much weaker than I thought it would be, and most were fragile enough to be punched through with a fist covered with Red Mana, I didn’t even need to use my Magic Items. 

I was pretty scared at first, but when I think about it now, even those guys, who couldn’t handle Mana, at <Distall>, were able to get rid of monsters, so I was wondering if we, the Magicians, was too strong for those monsters.

“Oh, by the way, you don’t chant when you use magic, huh…”

“Chant…”

“I mean, in a Hero Storybook when someone use Magics, they’ll chant the spells, right?… Or maybe… you’re a great magician? That’s why you can use magic without chanting? “

“It’s the other way around. Controlling Magic after you put Mana in the words is a high-level technique…. Chanting is a really difficult technique in using Magic… I’m practicing it, but it still doesn’t work.”

Chanting is a high-level technique?

Rather, I thought that to be able to cast Magic without a chant is more advanced.

…I just don’t understand.

“I see. The opposite, huh…　Hey Ash, can you teach me how to control Green Mana, the Mana of Creation, during the journey? “

“Okay. But that aside, Let’s go faster!… The sun is setting!”

After that, we killed out more monsters, and I and Ash reached the lake.

It was a green lake. The scent of flowers around calmed the mind. We settled down with the lake in front of us.

I didn’t notice it because I kept moving, but it seemed that time had passed, and the sun was about to set.

“Seal! fast, make it fast!”

Maybe Ash was afraid of the shadows that falling, she rushed me.

Oh right, she was careful not to get in the shadow of the tree as much as possible when we were moving… Did she hate to be replaced by her sister before eating the bean sprouts?

“All right… Collect dead trees and light them with Magic… I have a frying pan with me, so I’ll start cooking right away.”

The menu was stir-fried bean sprouts with garlic and soy sauce.

First, I washed the bean sprouts and squeezed them to remove water. On the way, we hunted a wild boar, an edible creature (a creature that does not emit miasma even if it dies), so I proceed to dismantling it too.

“Seal! It’s ready!”

“Roger that.”

I put the frying pan that I bought at the tool shop right after I was released from prison, on the fire that was made by Ash. 

First, I put butter on the frying pan and let it melt… Then, I put bean sprouts and lastly, the boar meat. When the scent of fragrant butter rose, I seasoned it with garlic and soy sauce.

To be honest, I wanted to make two more dish, but I didn’t have much time.

After tasting it, I put the finished stir-fried bean sprouts on a wooden plate.

Yeah, it has a nice scent.

The animal odor of wild boar meat was balanced by the scent of herbs added as a secret ingredient when I fried it.

“It’s done.”

I carried the finished stir-fried bean sprouts in front of Ash.

Ash sat on a stone, held a fork with shining eyes.

“Looks delicious…..!”

“Well, the taste is a little stronger than I expected…”

“It’s okay. The strong taste means that it’s delicious.”

Ash procced to take the fried bean sprouts with the fork…

――I’ve a bad feeling...

It was just then.

The sun set and the shadows dominated the area.

The moment Ash took the bean sprouts and brought it to her mouth ―― Ash disappeared.

The next thing that appeared was a brown-haired girl who moved her mouth in a boring manner.

I put my hand on my waist and sighed.

“… Huft. As I thought, it would end like this.”

“I’m feeling guilty even though I haven’t done anything wrong …”

It’s really a troublesome curse. Somehow, I could understand why they hate it.

“Well, do you take over the thing that you’ve eaten with your sisters? Will Ash be hungry after you switch with her? “

“Well, that area is pretty vague, I guess…? I don’t take over the injuries, but it seems that I share some of the energy that we got after eating. And both of us aging at the same time.”

Well, if you don’t share the age, even if you had lived for 20 years, both of you will only look like 10 years old… right?

Does the fact that Shura to look so young like this has a hidden meaning too?

Hmm, I think it’s not good to dig the information too deep.

“Well, maybe I’ll eat too.”

I turned my foot to the frying pan where the stir-fried bean sprouts remained.

At that time, I glanced the clothes that Shura was wearing.

The clothes were not the correct size because she inherited the clothes worn by Ash, who was taller than Shura.

Black long sleeves with shorts pants. When Ash wore it, it looked like slightly loose clothes, but when Shura wore it, I felt a strong sense of a kid wearing adult clothes. The sleeves were too big, half of her palm was hidden.

Is this the truth of why Ash was wearing tight clothes in the back alley?

Contrary now, probably next time she switches place with Ash, Ash will take over the clothes that Shura was wearing.

…I’ll say it again. It’s really a troublesome curse.

I put the stir-fried bean sprouts on the newly prepared wooden plate.

With the lake in the background, eating in front of the bonfire while surrounded by the wilderness. It was like ‘This is it, the thing they call an Adventure’.

I took a plate with stir-fried bean sprouts and walked toward Shura. But then, I heard something crawling on the ground from behind Shura.

“――tch!… Who? Come out now!”

Shura laid down a wooden plate and held the cane.

The grass swayed. 

Is it a monster?

….Who crawled out of the shade was a man.

The man was around thirty-year old and looked so pale like he was about to die.