* * *
“Be careful not to trip over the thread.”
“What is this annoying thing anyway?”
“It’s…”
It was a valuable item the healer had given me.
I turned around to explain it more simply—and was rendered speechless by what I saw.
Since I planned to cut it later anyway, I thought I’d just let the yarn drag behind me.
It was inconvenient, but it seemed like the best option.
But Klen must’ve decided otherwise.
Unaware of that, he had picked up the yarn and was holding it in his arms.
It didn’t get tangled, nor could it be rolled up—soft, fluffy yarn.
And him holding it like that made him look almost like… someone hugging a plush toy.
‘…Cute?’
The thought came out of nowhere.
Klen looked cute.
He was cute, but… was he supposed to be cute?
I quickly shook my head, trying to get rid of the absurd idea.
Still, the image in front of me lingered stubbornly.
Cute.
Before the word could fully take shape again in my mind, I rushed to explain.
“That yarn… the healer gave it to help me in case I got lost. It’s imbued with magic, so I think it extends infinitely. Once we find the entrance, we can cut it with the special scissors and it’ll disappear. So we don’t need to carry it.”
“But won’t it get in the way while we move?”
“It’ll get in the way a little, but—”
“Then maybe it’s better to carry it, at least for now.”
He hated hassle, but there were times when he’d still go out of his way to do things properly—like now.
In the end, Klen gathered the yarn into his arms.
“…”
If I kept staring, I might blurt out “cute” without meaning to.
But turning my eyes away felt like such a waste, and that was the problem.
I forced my head to turn, twisting my body away.
I had to tense my eyes just to drag my reluctant gaze forward.
“By the way… was it really okay to kill the worm?”
I struggled to steer the conversation to something—anything—unrelated.
“It wasn’t a divine beast or a spirit, just a monster. It should be fine. Besides, they attacked us first.”
“…So I was right?”
The reason he didn’t hesitate to swing his sword was exactly what I’d thought.
“But still… monsters in this forest? I guess there’s no barrier here?”
“Considering humans can walk in this easily, probably not.”
A light completely different from sunlight illuminated the entire forest, and yet there was no barrier.
Perhaps the divine beasts or spirits didn’t care about that kind of thing.
They were whimsical beings, after all.
Which meant those of us who had to guard the place suffered, but I doubt they cared.
‘It’s not like they asked us to guard it.’
Having successfully changed the subject, we continued walking, our steps noticeably lighter.
‘Wait… did we come this deep in before?’
There’s no way the yarn could have led us wrong.
Still, even if the forest looked similar throughout, it couldn’t be identical.
We’d been walking a long time, and yet I didn’t recognize anything.
In fact, it felt like we were circling the same area.
Just as my suspicions deepened and I began to feel the urge to wander off the path—
Rustle—
The sound of grass being disturbed struck my ears like a sharp note.
In a place like this, you couldn’t ignore even the smallest of signs.
I turned quickly—and the first thing I saw was Klen’s back.
He must’ve sensed something too and stepped in front of me.
Peeking out from behind him, I looked ahead.
“A wolf?”
A large wolf emerged from the undergrowth.
Its fur was unnaturally bright yellow, each strand dancing like it had a life of its own.
Standing tall, it looked more than capable of carrying one or two people on its back.
Its piercing blue eyes narrowed as they locked onto us.
“…Maybe we shouldn’t have killed that worm?”
“If that was the case, it should’ve stopped it from attacking us. We only acted in self-defense.”
It wasn’t so much a conversation between us as it was an excuse directed at the wolf.
We hadn’t meant to kill the worm.
It wasn’t on purpose.
So please, just let it slide this once.
Did the protagonist in the novel avoid killing anything while in this forest?
I couldn’t remember details like that.
That meant I had no idea what the wolf would do.
And besides, the protagonist and I weren’t treated the same way.
Rustle—
As if half-listening to our exchange, the wolf took a step forward.
Instinctively, our hands went to our sword hilts.
Klen, still holding the ball of yarn, looked somehow both serious and… unintentionally funny.
Still, this wasn’t a situation we could laugh at.
Here, where no one was watching, we didn’t need to pretend.
If it attacked, we’d respond.
The only issue was not knowing what consequences that would bring.
Even so, I couldn’t loosen my grip on the hilt.
‘–Grrrr!’
“…!”
The wolf tilted its head slightly, almost like it was scoffing.
‘–You humans… all you ever think about is fighting.’
Though it didn’t let out a single sound, it felt like I heard those words in my head.
“…Huh?”
But even if that really was meant to represent the heart of a wolf, the creature didn’t show any intention of attacking us.
Far from giving off any killing intent, it simply stared at us—as if it had discovered something curious.
It looked more like it had come out for a casual stroll after hearing rumors that humans had wandered into its territory.
“…Klen.”
“It doesn’t seem like it plans to attack.”
Without taking my eyes off the wolf, I carefully followed the thread as I walked forward.
Unlike me, who had already let go of my sword hilt, Klen still followed closely behind, ready to draw his blade at any moment.
As we moved a certain distance away, the wolf also began to move, as if trying to maintain the same distance between us.
But even that felt like part of its observation.
There was still no sign it intended to strike.
Though there was no killing intent, we continued walking with the creature trailing us.
They say humans are adaptable animals—my body, once stiff with tension, gradually relaxed, and soon even the sense of danger began to fade.
We only occasionally checked its position.
Other than that, we turned our backs and kept walking forward.
Swooooosh—
That’s why, when the sudden gust of wind came, I didn’t think much of it.
Neighhhh!
“…!”
Crashing through the rustling leaves came a horse with a pure white body.
But this was no ordinary horse.
‘A Pegasus?!’
With wings flaring dramatically on either side of its back, the pegasus revealed itself in full majesty.
It flapped its wings with ease, looking down on us quietly.
Its eyes scanned us and the area around us, as if searching for something.
The air was thick with a prickling tension, yet its movements were relaxed.
Cold sweat that had formed on my back finally trickled down.
I took a cautious step back and grabbed Klen’s hand.
“Run!”
“Huh?”
Without waiting for him to fully grasp the situation, I pulled him along and took off.
I hadn’t explained anything, but he quickly matched my pace and followed without question.
Grrrrrr!
The pegasus let out a deep, eerie cry, dripping with rage.
Of course—it was a divine beast.
Not just any divine beast…
‘That’s the protagonist’s divine beast!’
The one who waited and waited for the protagonist to be born… until it grew twisted and bitter from the endless waiting.
Because of that personality shift, the moment it laid eyes on the protagonist, its idea of a “warm greeting” was an attack—just enough to not kill him.
Emphasis on just enough.
In other words, it pushed him right to the brink of death.
I thought it only showed itself when the protagonist entered the forest.
‘So why is it taking it out on us?!’
Could it be like the wolf—rushing over after hearing rumors that humans had entered the forest?
And now that it realizes we’re not the humans it’s been waiting for… it’s pissed off.
In short, this is a tantrum.
Whoosh—
“Urk?!”
As I was running with Klen in tow, he suddenly yanked me hard.
Crash!
“…!”
The moment he pulled me, the body of the pegasus shot past us and slammed into a large tree.
The tree wobbled from the impact, but thankfully didn’t fall.
The pegasus, however, seemed unfazed by the pain and quickly got back up, locking its eyes on us again.
‘It’s completely unhinged!’
* * *
