The World Beyond

Just moments ago, Seja had experienced something absurd.

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

But today, she realized she had been wrong.

She had truly never seen a Slime speak before.

The moment she heard the Slime in her palm speak, Seja's mind went completely blank. Several seconds later, she seemed to realize something.

"Envoy of Putu, please accept my gratitude."

Chen Yu heard the female Lizardfolk before him utter entirely unfamiliar syllables. Though he could not understand her language, he could sense what she meant to express.

Putu?

Could that be some kind of Lizardfolk faith?

Doubt surfaced in Chen Yu's heart, but he did not ask. He merely said, "Your name is?"

"Seja."

"A Scale-Claw Shaman."

Seja saw that the Envoy before her did not seem to understand Demihuman speech very well, so she deliberately emphasized it.

"My name means Water of the Swamp."

Huh?

In other words, he had picked up a Lizardfolk shaman.

"Where did you come from?"

"Ah?"

Seja froze.

Could it be that the Envoy did not know about the world beyond the Swamp?

"The riverbank beyond the Swamp... we live there... very far from here."

There was a river beyond the Swamp Forest?

"And beyond the river?"

"That is human territory. I heard there is an Adventurer Town across the river. Seja has never been there, though. I only heard about it..."

The more Seja spoke, the quieter her voice became, ashamed of her own ignorance.

There were humans and an Adventurer Town too?

That meant there might be a human kingdom on the far side of the riverbank.

No wonder he had never seen a human after being born here for so long. The Demihuman tribes along the riverbank had blocked the adventurers' path.

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

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

"Envoy, I was merely pleased that you called the Gnolls dogs. I did not mean to offend you."

Without waiting for Chen Yu to ask further, she immediately explained the whole story from beginning to end.

Chen Yu learned quite a lot from it.

The Lizardfolk worshipped the Three Souls. They believed every Lizardfolk possessed three souls: 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" controlled life and Black Scale. In the eyes of the Lizardfolk, she was an Ancestral Spirit beyond reach, who had ascended to godhood in ancient times. She had once been the Lizardfolk's most widespread faith, but as Divine Miracles ceased to appear and the rituals of the Spirit of Life failed, she had gradually been forgotten by the Lizardfolk.

Meanwhile, the Spirit of the Mire, Putu, was a symbol of nature and an ancient guardian of the Swamp. It was said to resemble a shapeless mass of swamp mud, very similar to a Slime, so Slimes were often regarded by the Lizardfolk as Descendants of Putu.

Seja was the last remaining follower of natural faith in her Lizardfolk tribe, which was why she held the Slime in such reverence.

"Our tribe has lived by Reed Riverbank for generations, standing united against the cold, deadly Winter Year."

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

Chen Yu learned that winter in Zeyarila was apparently far from simple. Sometimes, it lasted an entire year.

For the Lizardfolk tribes along the riverbank, nothing mattered more than staying fed and warm through the Winter Year, and keeping their companions alive.

The previous Winter Year had only just ended. The Lizardfolk tribe and the Gnoll tribe had starved for an entire year and possessed no food reserves whatsoever, which was why they had risked venturing deep into the Swamp in search of food.

During that long winter, the faith of Corrupted Morgul had somehow spread through both major tribes.

These Demihumans began obsessively pursuing the outward image of the Spirit of Scale and Claw. Trapped in the deceptive power of Corrupted Morgul, they gradually sank into the abyss of darkness.

They plunged into a carnival of strength, forgetting the powers of the Spirit of Flesh and Blood and the Spirit of the Swamp, willingly becoming companions of the Gnolls.

Even the faith of Putu, Spirit of the Mire, had been branded heresy within the tribe by most Corrupted Lizardfolk. Followers of nature instead became the ones cast into exile.

"Priest Zulok. He is the one manipulating everything from behind the scenes, the murderer who killed my father with his own hands."

"I definitely, definitely have to..."

Halfway through her words, Seja lowered her head in discouragement.

She realized she could do nothing. She simply could not fight the corrupted believers who had occupied her tribe.

"Don't you want to go back?"

"I do."

"But I have nowhere to return to anymore..."

"It's fine. Then follow me for now."

It had not been easy for Chen Yu to finally find an assistant with hands and feet. Of course he could not just let her go.

What a joke. Having hands and feet in the Swamp was a rare skill. There were countless things she could do.

And this body of his was so short. If he truly left the Swamp Forest, he might not make it out even after hopping for three days and three nights.

He might even get swallowed by some predator halfway there.

Having Seja scout out the world beyond for him would be perfect.

"Is that all right? I will not trouble you...?"

"More importantly, if those Demihumans come here again, they may cause me some trouble."

Seja let out a breath of relief and carefully held the Slime wearing a pitch-black carapace against her chest.

"Rest assured, Envoy. There are many dangerous Demonic Beasts along the way. They were also pursuing me, and only managed to venture this deep over the past few days. They are lingering nearby."

"Without faith in nature, the Swamp is a land of death from which there is no return for them."

Faith could do something like that too?

Chen Yu gained a little more understanding of this world's wonders.

"By the way, you fled here from so far away. You must be hungry, right?"

"Want to try a local specialty?"

He considered himself the master of this place. How could he fail to entertain a guest who had arrived?

"A specialty?"

"That's right, something tasty."

"It can help your wounds recover."

Before Seja could figure out what "specialty" meant, the Slime in her arms sprang out and went splat-splat into the territory of the Stinger Bees.

"Bzzzz—!"

Seja had still been somewhat worried, but then she saw the Stinger Bees' stingers strike the pitch-black carapace with clanging sounds, unable to harm Chen Yu in the slightest.

Then she witnessed a scene that made her mind crash.

A Slime actually shot stingers from inside its body, sweeping across the Moss Monster farm beneath the trees. The Stinger Bees spun furiously in the air, yet could do nothing about it.

A Slime... shooting stingers...

She felt as though she was about to forget what a Slime even was.

A normal Slime probably would not appear while wearing the carapace of its natural enemy, either.

Right.

...As expected of Putu's Envoy.

When Chen Yu returned, he spat out the Moss Monsters hidden in his gel and stared expectantly at Seja with his round eyes.

"Eat. No need to be polite with me."

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

This Moss Monster looked unexpectedly plump and tender to her, seemingly far more delicious than those from the outskirts of the Swamp Forest.

The Lizardfolk had survived on the outskirts of the Swamp Forest for so long that they had naturally eaten everything, Moss Monsters included.

When she was little, whenever the Harvest Moon arrived, her father would follow the hunting party into the Swamp and return with a basket filled to the brim with Moss Monsters. He would turn them into salad and feed it to her. It had been her favorite food.

But now, her father was gone...

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