Into the Wetlands
Our progress after leaving the east gate was smooth, and we only encountered a few goblins before arriving in the wetlands.
As that was what they called it, I was expecting loose soil and so much mud that we would soon be covered in it…
"Well, that"s a surprise…"
"It is quite beautiful…"
We both stood there and watched. There was a slanting path between the trees that stretched on before us. Flowers bloomed here and there, and there were lots of small ponds made from water that had risen from the ground. Each pool reflected the blue sky on its surface.
It was a beautiful sight indeed.
"Really, I thought we were about to travel through some horrible marshes."
"As did Il. Just the thought of getting my new clothes dirty was putting me in a foul mood. But this…I am quite speechless…"
Water and flowers and sky. It was so little and yet created such a great effect. It was impressive that they had paved a path here without destroying the natural beauty. That was the empire for you. I know longer had any desire to live in Lambrusen.
The road was wide enough for us to walk side by side, and there was no one else here but us. It was nice to walk like this. A marsh date. Why not?
The wind blew and disturbed the surface of the ponds. Daniela said that this was the result of wind spirits playing. I wished I could join them. I wished I could see them.
"You cannot see them at all, Asagi?"
"Yeah, I only have normal eyes. And Jack of all Trades, Master of None as my unique skill."
"But what about Legs of the Forest Wolf? Is that not a unique skill?"
"Hmm…I don"t know. I don"t think it is unique if it can be given to you."
"But I have never seen anyone else with it."
"That"s not too surprising. I doubt Beowulf has that many thralls."
This skill was almost part of my ident.i.ty now. I would be a lot less of an Adventurer without it. Not that having Jack of all Trades, Master of None alone was such a bad thing.
"That is also a skill I have never heard of before."
"I"d be worth a lot less if you had…"
"I do not think I have ever asked you about it in detail… What is it like?"
Yes, it wasn"t exactly something we had talked about, now that I think of it. Or maybe we did…
"I don"t know. It"s hard to explain… If I want to do something but don"t know how, or don"t know what the outcome of doing something will be, I activate it. And then this image that is split into quarters appears in my head."
"Quarters? What does it look like?"
I picked up a stick and began to draw on the soft dirt.
"It"s split up like this. And I am able to see what I want to do in each frame. If I want to swing my sword like this, it will show me examples."
"It only instructs you visually?"
"No, I also gain an understanding of how to make my body do it. Things like weight distribution or balance. It just comes to me."
I hadn"t really mastered it at all yet. But it gave you the basics. In order to copy it perfectly, you had to think, move and understand it all.
"It"s kind of like a shortcut skill. But a shortcut is still a path. You can"t just skip through everything. But if I could, I would never have to be afraid of anything."
"I see. I think that I understand now."
"Yeah, it"s like that. You feel like you understand… But you"ll never be sure. It"s that kind of skill."
As the briefing session continued, someone came towards us from the other side of the road, and I so we moved to the side.
"Ah, sorry to bother you."
"No, we were the ones blocking the path."
It was a young man. He looked like an Adventurer. As he greeted us pleasantly, I smiled and apologized. Daniela also bowed.
"You two look like Adventurers as well…"
"Yes. Though, I"m still somewhat of a beginner…"
"Haha. You do not look like one."
Oh, he was good. I almost fell for it.
"Let me give you a word of advice then."
"Yeah?"
"The lord of monsters lives in these wetlands. It"s beautiful now, but it will turn quite savage during the night. You might be tempted to enjoy the scenery, but you should really be hurrying on."
Then the man pointed up at the sky. The sun was already starting to descend. We still had plenty of time before nightfall, but that was no a.s.surance that we could get out of this vast marsh by then if we didn"t hurry.
"Thanks for the advice. We just happened to be traveling as leisurely as if we were tourists."
"Ahaha. Well, you can still make it if you hurry. And now, I must go as well."
"Thank you. Perhaps we will meet again one day. We could go on a quest together."
"Ah, I am sure that will be quite fun."
After those social pleasantries, the man continued on his way. It was just as he turned a corner and was out of sight that Daniela turned to me and muttered.
"That man. He is very strong."
"Really?"
I was no expert and could not tell by just looking at someone. Perhaps Daniela had learned something about it through experience.
"Yes. If we were not in a hurry, I would have liked to fight him."
"Well, you may still get your wish one day."
We started to walk again. To be honest, I could just use Legs of the Forest Wolf and we would be out pretty quickly. But it was nice to walk like this sometimes. Things had been very hectic up until Nicora, and so we opted for a more relaxed pace while we could.
When it was nearing evening, we finally saw the end of the road. It was also the end of the marshes. This was evident by how dry the ground was when we were off of the path.
"What a relief, eh?"
"This monster lord seemed intriguing. But fighting in the marshes is not very appealing to me."
"You must really like your new clothes."
"Aye. Are they not pretty?"
Daniela turned dramatically. The skirt rose in the air, exposing her shorts underneath. My eyes felt quite blessed as her pale thighs came into view.
"I feel a lecherous stare."
"Heh. Ahahaha."
"Hey, wait. Asagi. We must talk."
I ignored her and began to walk on ahead. We were going in the opposite direction of the setting sun. We had initially considered going around the marshes, but ended up going straight through it. And it had saved us a lot of time. We would be able to get very close to the next town if we continued at this pace. That way, we would be able to pa.s.s through the town without stopping at an inn the next day. While we had money to spare, it didn"t hurt to try and avoid unnecessary expenses. Though, we would still sight see.
Daniela grumbled all the way, but by the time we pitched the tent and prepared dinner, she was back to her grinning self. No one remained angry when food came out. Humans have no choice but to smile when eating something delicious. You can find peace in the midst of a dinner.
Master Daniela took the first watch that night. I lay in the tent and thought excitedly of the imperial capital…for about three seconds before falling asleep from exhaustion.
But I was soon pulled out of my dream when Daniela"s voice rang in my ears.
"Asagi. Get up. Monsters."
"Mmm…how many?"
"Twenty."
"Twenty!?"
I got up frantically. At first, I had been thinking sluggishly that Daniela might have dealt with the problem alone, but those numbers were alarming. I quickly put on my armor and pulled out the Schwarz Tempest from the hollow bag. It was especially great for handling large numbers of enemies.
"They are coming from the marshes."
"I didn"t sense them at all during the day…"
I rested the blade on my shoulder as we looked in the direction that we had come. We had moved away from it as much as time would allow, but perhaps we were somehow still in their territory…that was a bad mistake on our part. It was dumb to think that they wouldn"t come out here where the ground was dry.
"The size…is not too bad. But there is one that looks worse than the rest."
"They"re still not within range of my Presence Detection…oh, now they are. Uhh…d.a.m.n that"s a lot…"
I tried counting them and it did seem like twenty. Huhhh… Why wouldn"t they let me sleep in peace? I thought irritably as I scratched my head and prepared for a battle.