Two weeks passed since the day they were attacked by the demi-dragons.
"Onii-chan, what's for breakfast today?" Latifa inquired about the menu
one morning, playing by herself in the compact space of the shelter as Rio lay
next to her.
"What do you want to eat, Latifa?" Rio asked with a small, uneasy smile.
"I want to eat risotto! The kind with cheese!" she informed him
cheerfully. As the name implied, it was the exact same food as the Italian
risotto that existed on Earth.
"Risotto... that's made with wheat in a broth, right?"
"Yup, that's right!"
Rio was aware of what the word risotto meant, but he reacted like it was
a term he wasn't too familiar with. This was because he had yet to tell Latifa
that he had memories of his previous life on Earth. Latifa was in the same
situation as him, but she would yell out the name of the food whenever she
recognized something familiar from Earth. Her attachment to Rio had
probably lowered her guard enough to do that.
Rio already suspected that Latifa was a Japanese person in her previous
life, but he didn't push the topic, as he didn't want to cause unnecessary
drama for himself.
"All right. Then I'll make it as soon as possible. You can sleep for a little
longer, Latifa," Rio said, sitting up.
"No, I want to watch you cook, Onii-chan." Latifa turned her mouth up
in a carefree smile and shook her head.
"There's nothing fun about watching, though."
"I have fun just being together with Onii-chan, you know?"
"Really, now? Then let's go." With a strained smile, Rio left the shelter.
At present, Rio and Latifa were in a hilly area near the center of the
Wilderness. They had set up their tent on the top of a small hill last night,
giving them a wonderful view of the area. If they looked to the east,
grasslands stretching all the way to the horizon filled their vision.
As Rio went about cooking the risotto, he stared just beyond that horizon.
"Hey, Latifa. Are you sure you can't see that huge tree over there?" he
asked Latifa, who was sitting right next to him.
"Hm? The one you mentioned yesterday? I only see the grasslands...
why?" Latifa had been watching Rio cook cheerfully, all while keeping aware
of their surroundings. At Rio's prompt, she tilted her head curiously.
"If you can't see it, that's fine. Don't worry." Rio shook his head with an
evasive smile. He glanced once more towards the east, where a humongous
tree stood along the horizon, clear as day.
He had first sighted the tree yesterday.
They were making their way eastwards when he saw something
fluctuating in the air far away. Feeling suspicious, he had strained his eyes to
visualize essence and the air cleared up, revealing a giant tree that pierced the
skies.
So it must have some kind of obstruction that only allows it to be
perceived through sorcery. It's detectable if you can visualize essence, but
seems to be invisible to anyone else.
Rio figured that was why he could see the tree, while Latifa couldn't.
The problem is... who cast that sorcery? It's more than possible that
demi-humans did it. According to the literature I read in the Academy
library, they're very compassionate towards their own kind...
Rio recalled the literature he had read during his days at the Academy.
Somewhere in the Wilderness, demi-humans — elves, dwarves, and
werebeasts — lived together. They had a strong sense of kinship for their
own kind. On the other hand, they held deep hatred towards humans that
oppressed demi-humans, and chose to live deep within the Wilderness by
themselves.
Rio glanced over at Latifa. She noticed his gaze and spoke up.
"Hm? What is it, Onii-chan?"
"...Nothing. It'll be ready soon. Do you want mushrooms in it?"
"Yes! But no wild grasses, please."
"I know." Rio nodded with a smile.
It wasn't that Latifa couldn't eat wild grasses, it was just that they were
bitter enough to ruin the flavor if they were added to the risotto. Just like that,
he kept a track of her preferences in tastes and spoiled her.
At any rate, we'll have to head to that forest first and see what happens.
Perhaps, in the near future, the time would come where he would have to
part ways with Latifa. Ultimately, that would be best for Latifa's future, as she would be happier living with her own kind — at least, that was what Rio
told himself. While he held some reservations about it deep in his chest, that
was what he had decided in the end.
"All right, it's done. We'll be on the move a lot today, too, so make sure
you eat up."
That day, they left the hilly area and reached the great forest beyond it.
That tree is deep within these woods. I'm not sure how we can possibly
find it, but we can only give it a go. Standing at the entrance — although they
could have entered from any point, really — Rio looked over the trees in their
vicinity and decided to move forward. Next to him, Latifa was watching on
nervously.
"Onii-chan, are we really going in here? Won't we get lost?"
"It's all right — I know the way. We'll camp here and enter the forest
tomorrow morning," Rio answered with a faint shadow to his smile.
That seemed to be enough reassurance for Latifa, though, who nodded
earnestly. "Okay!"
The next morning, the two stepped into the great forest. The entry of the
forest was far behind them after a few minutes of walking.
The densely overgrown flora made everything dark even in the middle of
the day, as the sun's rays were filtered by the canopy of trees above. The
ground was uneven, making it hard to walk on, and it was hard to progress in
a straight line. Rio and Latifa used their natural physical abilities to continue
along the pathless route easily.
There were trees and plants as far as the eye could see — similar scenery
could be seen no matter which way they turned. Normally, one would
immediately lose their sense of direction and struggle to find their way out,
but Rio didn't hesitate in his footsteps at all. Occasionally, he would climb to
the top of a tall tree and double-check their direction, adjusting it as they
went. Seeing Rio's reliable figure like that made all of Latifa's anxieties fade
away.
Still, they did encountered several wild beasts on the road.
For example, a pack of intelligent and persistent wolves and a four-
meter-long tiger-like animal with fangs as sharp as blades made an
appearance, but the two travelers were able to drive them away with Rio's
power. After progressing for the whole day, their first day of forest
exploration ended without occurrence.
The incident occurred on the second day of their forest stay.