Seeing him standing there, Hes said, "What is it, Rohan? Do you have any doubts?"
Rohan said, "Yes. You haven't shown how the runes look."
"Well, I didn't show you because I can't show you."
"I figured that, but I imagine you can make an exception for me. After all, it was because of you that I went through one of the worst feelings of my life and almost died."
"Hey, Rohan, it's not like that either. I simply told you about a place where you could be accepted with your previous grade. I didn't force you to go there."
"How many times do you intend to use that excuse? Do you think you have no responsibility for telling me about that place?"
"... I know I do, but it all worked out in the end, didn't it? You managed to get into the Palace of Death, and your grade went up to 'S'."
"Yes, and now I'm stuck with a crazy master who's going to destroy my organs one by one until he's satisfied with the result."
"... Ahh, okay. I'll show you what the white rune looks like. That's the best I can do considering the situation I've put you in."
"All right. That'll help me a lot."
"Okay, wait a moment here."
Hes then headed into the forest and, after a while, came back out with a white object in his hand.
He then stretched out his hand towards Rohan and said, "Here."
Rohan looked at the white object and, after analyzing it for a while, said, "Is that the white rune?"
"Yes."
"... Hes, you'll have to try harder if you want to fool me. This is a stone and a very common one at that. I can see several like it on the ground all around."
"No. This is a rune. It looks like a stone on purpose."
"... Are you serious?"
"Yes. Here, look. There's a symbol on one corner of it."
Rohan moved his face closer to the supposed rune, looking in the direction Hes had spoken. After a while, he saw a very small symbol in one corner of the stone.
He then said, "Is that small scratch the symbol?"
Hes said, "Hey, it's not that small. After a while, you'll get used to it and identify it easily."
"... All right, I won't argue about it."
Rohan then headed towards the forest, and Hes said, "Good luck, Rohan." This made him look back at Hes with an angry face for a moment, and then he continued towards the forest.
Some time passed, and Rohan was crouching in a part of the forest while looking at the stones on the ground, picking some of them up from time to time.
"Not that one, not that one either ... no."
After a few minutes of repeating this process, he threw a stone he had in his hand and sat down on the ground, saying, "Ahh, what kind of test is this?! Why did they have to make the runes so similar to the stones in this place? What's the point? Why don't they just do the next procedures on us instead of wasting our time like this?"
A person then appeared from the direction in which he had thrown the stone and said, "I don't know either, but surely there must be a reason, don't you agree?"
Rohan looked in the direction of the person and realized that it was the tall man who had done the initial test with him.
He then stood up and said, "What are you doing here?"
The tall man then said, "Hey, don't worry. Don't you remember what Hes said? We can't steal each other's runes or fight with each other."
"Hm, that's true, but why did you come to talk to me?"
"I heard the noise of the stone you threw and decided to come and see what it was. When I saw you, I decided to come closer to see if you'd managed to find any runes. I haven't managed to find any so far."
"I haven't found any either."
"Hmm, it looks like we're both out of luck or maybe the test is just too difficult. After all, how are we supposed to find something we've never seen before in the middle of this huge forest?"
"Yes, you're right. The test really is too difficult."
"Well, I'll keep looking for the runes. Good luck."
"Good luck to you too."
"Oh, I forgot something. My name is Welli. What's yours?"
"Rohan."
"It's a pleasure, Rohan. If I find any runes today, I'll tell you how they look later."
"Hm? Why are you going to do that? Although we can't steal each other's runes or fight, it's still kind of a competition. After all, there's no telling how many runes there are in this forest."
"I know, but I think that information is worth the price of a new friend."
"Friend? You want to be my friend?"
"Yes. After all, we don't know how long we're going to be in this world, so it's best to make some friends so we can talk and pass the time."
"Hm, that's true. I hadn't stopped to think about it, but why did you choose me? Was I the first person you met? Or is there another reason?"
"Well, you really were the first person I met, but that's not why I chose you. I saw the test you passed to enter the Palace of Death, and it impressed me. I don't know if I'd have the courage to eat that pill."
"Oh, is that why? I can't say I did it of my own free will. I was kind of driven by my emotions that day. Normally, I would never have eaten that pill."
"That doesn't matter. In the end, you eat it and manage to survive. Whether you did it on purpose or not, that makes you someone worth making friends with."
"Well, if you think that, I'm not the one who's going to try to change your mind."
"Hahaha, that's good because I'm not someone who changes easily. Well, I'm off. I'll see you later at the city gate."
Welli then began to walk away from Rohan, heading into the forest.
Rohan thought, 'What a strange guy. Does he really intend to tell me the information he finds out about the runes? ... Friend, hmm? All right. I'll give you a vote of confidence.'
Rohan said, "Hey, Welli."
Welli turned towards him and said, "What's up?"
"Look for the runes among the stones you see on the ground. They look a lot like them."
"Oh yeah? Okay, I'll try, thanks."
"You're welcome."
Welli then headed off through the forest, disappearing from Rohan's sight.
Just then, Rohan turned in the other direction and said, "Well, let's get back to looking for the runes.", and walked on through the forest while looking at the ground.
...
Some time passed, and Rohan still hadn't found any runes.
He then said, "Damn, it's getting dark, and I haven't found anything yet. If it goes on like this, I'll have to sleep in the forest. I'd better start heading back towards the city gate. Hopefully, I'll find a rune on the way."
Rohan headed towards the city gate, and on the way there, the sky darkened completely, making it difficult for him to find the runes.
He said, "Damn, I've gone too far from the city. I can barely see. Now I'm risking getting lost in this forest."
He kept going in the direction he remembered the city gate to be until, at one point, he saw a very dim light.
Rohan said, "Hm? What's that light? Could it be the gate?"
He headed towards the light and, after a while, realized that it was coming from the ground in front of him. He bent down to try to find the source of the light, and after moving some stones and branches around, he finally found it.
The light was coming from a stone with a crack in it, emitted from inside the crack.
Rohan took the stone in his hand and began to observe it. After a while, he said, "Is this a rune? If it is, it's probably a white rune from the color that's coming out of it. I'll have to confirm that with Hes. If this stone really is a white rune, that explains why I haven't found any of them during the day. The light coming from them is too weak. It's certainly impossible to see while it's still daylight."
Rohan continued on his way, seeing a little more with the help of the light coming from the supposed rune. After a while, he finally saw the city gate in the distance and said, "Whew, I've finally found it. I thought I was lost."
He headed towards the gate, but after a few steps, he noticed movement around him, which scared him. He said, "What was that? Hes said there were no animals in this forest. Did he mean that there were no animals during the day?"
Rohan prepared to start running when suddenly, something came out of the trees in front of him.
He was about to run in the opposite direction when he heard a voice say, "What a pity, it looks like someone has already taken that rune."
He turned toward the voice and saw that a woman with black hair had appeared in front of him. As he looked more calmly, he realized that the woman was one of those who had taken the initial test with him.