“Shiroi! Answer us if you can hear us!”
“Shiroi! Shiroi, hey!”
Not long after, while the main group collected ingredients, Yuugo and Precia looked for Shiroi, the runaway boy, and yelled his name loudly.
Phi was between them, carefully looking around and trying his hardest to help his big brother.
“It’s really not going to be that easy. This forest is big…”
“But he might respond if we keep calling for him. Let’s keep going.”
Yuugo nodded to Precia, while thinking that even in a world where magic was common, their methods to look after a person were the exact same.
When he looked away from Precia towards his little brother, he saw him looking worried.
“Is he okay…? I hope nothing bad happened…”
“It’s okay. The owner of the inn didn’t seem worried, so there must be a reason why everyone thinks it’s safe, that we outsiders just don’t know about.”
“…But don’t you think it’s strange? People are way too relaxed about a child being alone in a forest like this.”
“Y-yes… Maybe, but…”
Precia tried to comfort Phi, but something felt strange about Serel. No, it was not just her. It was strange that no one in the village was kicking up a fuss when there was a child missing.
This was certainly an emergency, but no one, not even Shiroi’s parents seemed concerned.
After thinking about it again the next day, Yuugo’s expression turned gloomy as he felt something certainly did not feel right, and Precia spoke to him.
“It sticks out to me a bit too, but maybe Shiroi runs away from home all the time, and people in the village are used to it. Maybe there’s a reason why they’re not worried, but I think it’s best to look for Shiroi instead of trying to figure that out.”
“Yes. You’re right. Like you said, maybe there’s something us outsiders just don’t know about.”
There was a lot to think about, but nothing would come from doing so.
Precia was right, they should focus on looking for Shiroi.
That should certainly solve everything… Thought Yuugo, but when the warm wind touched his ears, so did a strange sound that made him turn its way.
“Yuugo? What is it?”
“I just heard something moving…”
The sound of something moving, that was not the sound of the wind making trees shake, made Yuugo look in its direction with caution. And what he saw, was what looked like a small person hiding behind a tree.
Yuugo thought it could be Shiroi, but the moment the boy realized he had been spotted, he ran.
“Ah!? W-wait!”
“B-big brother!”
“Yuugo, wait!!”
Phi and Precia tried to stop him, but Yuugo closed the distance between himself and the boy who was running, and landed in front of him after a big leap.
The boy was surprised at having his escape path cut off, and fell on his behind, as Yuugo got down on one knee to look him in the eye.
“Are you Shiroi?”
“Y-yes…”
Shiroi’s voice sounded nervous, as he nodded to Yuugo.
His clothes were dirty and he showed clear signs of exhaustion, which felt wrong to Yuugo.
(It doesn’t feel like he’s been taking it easy in some hideout somewhere… How come he stayed in the forest if it’s causing him so much trouble?)
It could be that he had a secret base hidden in the forest with food and water, and he was just relaxing in it, but… Yuugo had even more questions, now that he saw that did not appear to be the case.
Yuugo had no idea how long he had been there, but normally, a child would accept that his parents would be angry, and go home where he could be safe and at peace.
And yet, Shiroi was still in the forest. But as Yuugo thought about this strange behavior, the boy fearfully asked a question.
“Y-you’re not from the village, are you? W-where did you come from?”
“Hm? From the Luminous Academy. We came here to collect ingredients. We just got to the village where you live last night, and we heard that you ran away from home after an argument with your parents.”
“N, that’s wrong…! You’re being tricked! I didn’t fight with mom and dad! And I didn’t run away from home!”
“Eh…?”
Yuugo was at a loss for words, as the boy immediately raised his voice.
He said Serel’s story that he had an argument with his parents and ran from home was a lie, but just as Yuugo was about to ask him to elaborate, he felt a presence approaching, and jumped back after grabbing Shiroi.
“Gugyaaaah!!”
“Uwaaah!?”
The yells of a beast and Shiroi echoed in the forest.
Yuugo was careful not to let the boy get hurt as they rolled on the ground, and when Yuugo looked at what attacked them, he saw an ugly monster with distinctive sharp claws.
“That’s an arachlaw! Didn’t the guards take it down!?”
“Gigih! Guh, gih!”
It was the first monster armor beast Yuugo fought in this world… A fusion of goblin and spider.
It had been a while since Yuugo saw one, and it looked at him and the boy with sharp, bloodthirsty eyes.
It seemed it locked onto both of them as a delicious meal.
Yuugo was not about to let himself be the monster’s dinner, but just as he was about to get up, Precia’s voice echoed loudly behind him.
“Yuugo, get down! Battle Cooking, Rare Flare!!”
“Gyabih!?”
Yuugo immediately got down, and a fireball flew over his head.
It hit the arachlaw and exploded, dealing considerable damage.
“Are you okay, Yuugo!? Are you hurt!?”
“I’m okay, thanks!”
“Is it a leftover from before? This isn’t safe at all!”
Yuugo thanked Precia, who held a red-hot frying pan, and faced the arachlaw again after entrusting Shiroi to his little brother.
The monster was thrown off by the fireball, but it was still ready to fight. In fact, it was angry after taking damage, and seemed even more raring to go.
“Phi, president, look after the kid. I’ll deal with that!”
“Gyuoooh!!”
Yuugo entrusted Shiroi to them, and intercepted the arachlaw as they stepped back.
He dodged the sharp claws, and hit the monster armor beast in the neck with his elbow, before kicking it with his full power.
“Jyugooooh!?”
“Hen, shin!!”
With enough distance between them, Yuugo infused the bracelet on his left arm with magic energy.
The arachlaw stumbled to its feet, and saw the dark knight with a sparkling crimson light pointing at it.
“Sorry, but I’ve got no time to play with you. Don’t feel bitter about it, but I’m not holding back!”
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He dodged the sharp claws, and hit the monster armor beast in the beck with his elbow, before kicking it with his full power.
Neck*