Chapter 46: Into a New Land... I'm Not Dead Yet, Sis
Ruthar peeked outside the window of the carriage as it finally came to a stop. He originally thought they might have stopped at a city region outside the Spade Horus, but it turned out to be different. They had stopped in a forest terrain in the middle of nowhere.
According to Taraha, the carriage would be back the next day to pick them up from the mission.
Ruthar turned back to the two who were already strapping themselves up with small adventurers' bags. Letting his curiosity get the best of him, he asked, "Are we the only ones on this mission?"
Troma walked to him before Taraha could react, standing close to Ruthar before frowning. "You should learn to keep your mouth quiet more, Ruthar. The first brother couldn't come, so we are the only ones."
Ruthar wasn't expecting that as a reply. He originally anticipated a much larger escort or something more akin to a family excursion.
"Besides, big sister is enough," Troma added, as though reading his mind, before walking up to a separate bag and sword. He turned around and tossed it to the ground close to Ruthar.
"That's for you, Ruthar. Weapons of Exorcist grade, so you should probably use them like a pro," Troma finished speaking before turning away to prep himself.
He seemed like a person who didn't like to associate with people much. Probably that was his behavior, but Ruthar, who had read the novel, had a better idea of who this character was.
'At least he gave me a weapon and supplies. I should be grateful for something.' Ruthar bent over to pick up the blade, afterward strapping it tightly to his waist.
From what he could see and feel from the mere hilt of the weapon, it was unlike anything he had ever witnessed. This gave Ruthar a sense of protection.
As he was dressing himself up, Taraha came from upfront, grabbing and pulling him into her embrace.
This took Ruthar's breath away as he was unable to find a reason why she had done this. "I'm... I'm not dead yet, Sis."
Lady Taraha furrowed her brow in confusion at his assumption. "What are you saying? I was strapping you up properly. You did it all wrong."
She pulled on his strap a bit and continued to explain how his strap could have come off from his former way of tightening it. While she did this, Ruthar instead stared at her face with eyes filled with curiosity.
'Is this sibling love? No... I must be forgetting we are just on a mission, and she doesn't want me to die...' As Ruthar reached this checkpoint in his thoughts, he quickly realized. 'This is...'
"Here. I'm done. Can't have my little brother die," she winked at him after finishing up with the strap. Now she was right before him with her beautiful face just a few inches from his.
"Thank you--" Ruthar trembled in his voice, trying to back away, but as he did, she grabbed him strongly by the arm and stopped his movements immediately.
"Wait," she ordered with a stern voice, disconnecting her grasp from Ruthar and raising her hands to her neck. For what reason?
As time went on, she undid one of the few pieces of jewelry she had around her neck: a pendant with a transparent gem in the middle with a very authentic and attractive look.
She raised the pendant and placed it around Ruthar's neck, fixing it there.
Ruthar gasped again, his cheek reddening as he felt a light feeling he wasn't used to. The only time he felt this way was when he was with his girlfriend in his former life. Although, 'This is different.'
As Taraha finished, she chuckled and shook her head in excitement, "Now you look really awesome, Ruds. You are my brother. Take this as my first gift to you and never lose it, or I'll kill you."
'Now I understand this is love... I have a sibling that cares, and she's even prepared to risk her life to cure me from this nightmare... I wish I could do something for her too...' Ruthar froze up as tears began to form at the corners of his eyes.
'No, don't cry... No... Baka... look tough, idiot.'
He couldn't help but cry. Thankfully, he didn't have to look embarrassed in front of Taraha for long as she left to tell the coach to halt the carriage.
While she did this, Ruthar managed to regain his composure, only barely.
"Don't get so sappy, Ruthar. We are getting off here," Lord Troma opened the door of the halted carriage and hopped out first. Ruthar was next, then finally Taraha.
Once all was clear, the three heavily armed Exorcists on the carriage, instead of coaches, bowed their heads and instantly turned the carriage around to leave.
After the carriage disappeared from their sight, they turned the opposite way and began to walk the forest path.
As they did this, a perfect silence was maintained, everyone in their own separate worlds.
Ruthar was busy eyeing the forest path. The trees he recognized from the novel.
Trees that had pink leaves and branches, the bodies of these trees were sweet to eat, looking very edible to the eyes as they had a brown crispy color. The only problem was that they were poisoned.
Apart from that, there was another mysterious creature that lived at the top of these trees: the Korianou birds, which resembled the fantasy-type phoenix. Only they didn't burn up. The only thing special about them was their delicious eggs, which could be used to boost Mana output.
'Man, it's like I'm immersed in the novel. I can recall every single word coming back to me. This is really cool...'
A facepalm halted Ruthar's thoughts and aspirations.
At first, he wanted to scream out and throw curses at Troma for hitting him so hard for no reason, although after seeing his state of alertness, he curiously followed.
Now paying more attention, he noticed Taraha had also stopped, her left hand grasping the hilt of her sword.
'Is something coming for us?' Ruthar too copied their movements, placing his hand on his hilt and scanning around like a mad dog.
"Hey, Ruthar, it's up," Troma corrected his wasteful movements, calling his attention to narrow down at the red wisps emanating from a large figure.
This figure turned out to be some sort of rhino, having multiple spear-like horns protruding from its back like a porcupine. It had a muscular and enormous body mass that made it look like a tank. More importantly, it had a strong Mana output and killing intent.
[System has sensed Killing intent.]
[Blood Seeker Beast has locked onto you as a target.]
"What the heck?" Ruthar gulped hard, knowing he was the target at this point.
"As Darkdawns and Exorcists, our blood was naturally tampered with to attract spiritual beasts and entities. We will be facing a lot out here since we have no Mana scent dampener, and you must be oozing out a lot since you are having nightmare-crazed adventures," Troma explained, folding his hands confidently.
No wonder he didn't bother to grasp the hilt of his sword or prepare a battle stance.
'I thought scientists said rhinos can't see?'
Ruthar gulped as the rhino gave a loud huff, breaking into a thunderous sprint at him.
With every step it took, the ground could be heard giving in to its movements, and its huff became louder. This was a brutal monster for sure.
"Shit!" Ruthar pulled his sword out of its scabbard, straightening his stance, and preparing to face the beast head-on.