On the steep downhill path, the surroundings were a dark, damp illusion, and the only source of light was the torch in the girl's hand.
She walked ahead.
The shadow swayed in the firelight because of the wind in the cave. Beneath the enlarged shadow, the girl's already slender body looked even smaller, but she walked quickly.
"Can you keep up? There are lots of sharp little stones along the way. Haven't you scraped your feet?"
This was probably how the girl showed concern... in a relatively direct way.
"Miss Jeanne, I'm right behind you. Don't worry."
"Oh." The girl did not turn around. She merely responded softly, then quickened her pace a little at the same time... She thought that this fellow from the city might simply be forcing himself to keep going.
How should she put it?
Perhaps this fellow's swordsmanship was truly superb, but he was not a hunter, and this was his first time walking along this rugged path... Yet he made it sound so easy. Even with her own experience, the exertion was still considerable.
Still, when she had encountered this fellow in the forest, he seemed to have demonstrated some impressive wilderness survival skills.
She shouldn't be distracted by such thoughts right now.
"Careful."
"Huh? Ah..."
The girl's feet suddenly slipped. Just as she was about to slide down the steep cliff, alarm jolted through her heart. Instinctively, she grabbed at something to steady herself, only to find a warm palm in her grasp.
Half of the girl's body had nearly gone over the abyss below!
At that moment, the falling pebbles were swallowed by the darkness in an instant. The girl's heart raced, and the feeling of having survived a disaster drained all the strength from her body for a moment.
She felt