The World Outside

Just moments ago, Seja had experienced something absurd.

As a Scale-Claw Shaman of the Lizardfolk, she had once believed herself well-traveled and knowledgeable, that nothing in the swamp could still surprise her.

But today, she realized she was wrong.

She had never seen a Slime speak before.

The moment she heard the Slime in her palm speak, Seja's mind went completely blank. After a few seconds, she seemed to grasp something.

"Messenger of Putu, please accept my gratitude."

Chen Yu heard the female Lizardfolk uttering completely unfamiliar syllables from her mouth. Though he didn't understand the words she spoke, he could discern the meaning she wanted to convey.

Putu?

Was that some kind of Lizardfolk belief?

Doubt surfaced in Chen Yu's mind, but he didn't ask. He simply said, "What is your name?"

"Seja."

"A Scale-Claw Shaman."

Seja noticed that the messenger before her seemed not to fully understand Demihuman speech, so she emphasized it deliberately.

"My name means 'Water of the Swamp.'"

Oh?

So he had picked up a Lizardfolk Shaman.

"Where did you come from?"

"Ah?"

Seja was stunned.

Did the messenger not know about the world outside the swamp?

"The riverbank outside the swamp... we live there... it's far from here."

There was a river outside the Swamp Forest?

"And beyond the river?"

"That's human territory. They say there's an Adventurer Town on the other side. Seja has never been there, only heard of it..."

Seja's voice grew weaker as she spoke, ashamed of her own ignorance.

Humans and an Adventurer Town?

So there might be a human kingdom on the other side of the river.

No wonder he had never seen a human since being born here—the Demihuman tribes on the riverbank had been blocking the adventurers' path.

"Why were those Lizardfolk and those dog-like things chasing you?"

Chen Yu's description made Seja's mouth twitch upward almost imperceptibly, revealing her delight. But she caught this tiny change in expression immediately, quickly restrained herself, realized her disrespect, and hurriedly explained.

"Great Messenger, I was merely pleased that you called the Gnolls 'dogs.' I meant no offense to you."

Without Chen Yu needing to ask further, she then laid out the entire sequence of events clearly.

From this, Chen Yu learned a great deal.

The Lizardfolk believed in the Three Souls, holding that every Lizardfolk possessed three souls within: the Spirit of Scale and Claw, representing strength; the Spirit of Flesh and Blood, representing life; and the Spirit of the Swamp, representing nature.

"Yesara the Coiler," who controlled life and Black Scale, was an Ancestral Spirit the Lizardfolk could only gaze at from afar, never reaching. She had ascended to godhood in ancient times and was once the most widespread faith among the Lizardfolk. But as Divine Miracles ceased to appear and the rituals of the Spirit of Life failed, she was gradually forgotten by them.

The Spirit of the Mire, Putu, was a symbol of nature, an ancient guardian of the swamp. It was said to take the form of a shapeless clump of swamp mud, very similar to a Slime, which was why Slimes were often considered Putu's descendants by the Lizardfolk.

Seja was the last natural believer remaining in the Lizardfolk tribe, which was why she held Slimes in such high regard.

"Our tribe has lived by the Reed Riverbank for generations, united together, resisting the cold and deadly Winter Year."

"If not for the faith of the Corrupted Morgul..."

Chen Yu learned that winter in Zeyarila was not so simple—sometimes it lasted an entire year.

For the Lizardfolk tribe on the riverbank, nothing mattered more than having enough to eat and staying warm during the Winter Year, and keeping their companions alive.

The previous Winter Year had just ended. The Lizardfolk tribe and the Gnoll tribe had been starving for an entire year, with no food reserves left. That was why they risked venturing deep into the swamp to find food.

During that long winter, the faith of the Corrupted Morgul had somehow become popular among both tribes.

These Demihumans began obsessively pursuing the outward form of the Spirit of Scale and Claw, sinking deep into the deceptive power of the Corrupted Morgul, gradually falling into the abyss of darkness.

They reveled in the frenzy of power, forgot the strength of the Spirit of Flesh and Blood and the Spirit of the Swamp, and willingly became allies with the Gnolls.

Even the faith of Putu, the Spirit of the Mire, was branded heresy by most of the Corrupted Lizardfolk in the tribe, and the natural believers became outcasts instead.

"Priest Zulok—he's the one pulling the strings behind it all, the one who personally killed my father."

"I will, I will definitely..."

Mid-sentence, Seja lowered her head in defeat.

She realized she could do nothing, that she was utterly powerless against the corrupted believers who had taken over the tribe.

"Don't you want to go back?"

"I do."

"But I don't have a home anymore..."

"It's fine, you can just stick with me for now."

Having finally gotten a helper with hands and feet, Chen Yu naturally wasn't about to let them go.

No way—having hands and feet in the swamp was a rare skill, and there was plenty they could do.

Besides, with a body that short, if they really tried to leave the Swamp Forest, they might not even make it out after jumping for three days and three nights.

They'd probably get swallowed by some predator halfway there.

Having Seja scout the outside world for him was perfect.

"Is that okay? I won't be a bother to you, will I..."

"More than that, if that group of Demihumans comes back here, it might cause me some trouble."

Seja let out a sigh of relief and carefully hugged the Slime with the pitch-black carapace on its head into her arms.

"Don't worry, there are plenty of dangerous Demonic Beasts along the way. They were chasing me too, which is how they managed to get this deep over the past few days, lurking nearby."

"Without faith in nature, the swamp is a death trap for them—no return."

Faith had that kind of effect?

Chen Yu gained a bit more understanding of the wonders of this world.

"Speaking of which, you must be hungry after fleeing from so far away."

"Want to try the local specialty?"

He considered himself the host here—how could he not entertain a guest?

"Specialty?"

"That's right, something delicious."

"It'll help heal your wounds."

Before Seja could figure out what "specialty" meant, the Slime in her arms hopped out and squelched its way into the Stinger Bee's territory.

"Buzz—!"

Seja was about to worry, but then she saw the Stinger Bee's stingers clatter against the black carapace without harming Chen Yu at all.

Then she witnessed a scene that made her mind go blank.

A Slime actually shot out stingers, sweeping across the Moss Monster farm under the tree, infuriating the Stinger Bees as they spun in the air, helpless.

A Slime... shooting stingers...

She felt like she no longer knew what a Slime was.

Then again, a normal Slime probably wouldn't show up wearing its natural enemy's carapace either.

Right.

...As expected of Putu's envoy.

When Chen Yu came back, he spat out the Moss Monster hidden in his gel and looked at Seja with round, expectant eyes.

"Eat up, don't stand on ceremony with me."

Seja snapped out of her daze and instinctively picked up a Moss Monster.

This Moss Monster looked surprisingly plump and tender to her, seeming much tastier than the ones on the outskirts of the Swamp Forest.

Having survived so long on the fringes of the Swamp Forest, the Lizardfolk had eaten everything, Moss Monsters included.

When she was little, every time the Harvest Moon came, her father would follow the hunting team into the swamp, gathering a full basket of Moss Monsters to make into salad and feed her—it was her favorite food.

But now her father was gone...

With a faint trace of sadness, Seja bit into the Moss Monster in her hand.