After the Disaster

Mace sat awkwardly beside the campfire, helplessness and gloom showing on his plump face. He wanted to vent his anger, but had no idea who to take it out on. On the other side of the fire, Rhode leaned quietly against a tree trunk, resting with his eyes closed. Lize silently prepared some food. Her expression seemed calm, but her red, swollen eyes told the whole story.

Whether it was good luck or bad, the fat merchant had become the only other survivor of the disaster besides Rhode and Lize. As a merchant who often traveled, he had a few magical items to save his life. When the Airship had crashed, the Guardian Pendant in his hand had proven its worth, making him the least injured of the three. Rhode's earlier injuries had yet to heal properly, and the violent battle followed by the crash had only made things worse. Lize hadn't fared much better. She hadn't noticed in the heat of the moment, but once everything was over, they discovered that her right arm was dislocated and her foot was injured. Only the fat merchant was more or less fine, apart from a few scrapes and a dazed head from the impact.

For ordinary people, injuries like these would have kept them in bed for months. Fortunately, Lize was a full-fledged Spirit Master, and Healing Spell was her specialty. Under her care, all three of them had improved, though Rhode still needed time to recuperate before he could fully recover. Even so, that was already very good news for him. Given the injuries he'd started with and the ferocity of the battle, he should have died or at least been left crippled. But Rhode still had all his limbs, and aside from moving a little stiffly because of his injuries, he was no different from an ordinary person. This astonished Lize. Ever since they'd pulled Rhode from the wreckage, she'd been the one caring for him, so she knew the extent of his injuries very well. Even she hadn't expected his body to be so tough.

Lize wasn't the only one surprised. Rhode himself was secretly astonished. He'd already sensed during the battle that his body probably didn't follow human standards, but he hadn't expected it to be this abnormal. He'd suffered such terrible injuries, fought such a brutal battle, and then been flung to the ground by a violent impact—and he could still move... Could his mixed blood be from a Barbarian?

There was one other thing Rhode hadn't said aloud. He knew his own body well because he understood its attributes. He still didn't know what they were, but he knew he wasn't fully human. But the blonde girl's performance had been very strange. By all rights, a frail young girl in a noncombat profession like Spirit Master should have been certain to die in those circumstances. Rhode had survived and was still lively because his physical attributes weren't human. So what explained her survival—and how could she still be so energetic? It couldn't just be luck.

Rhode only understood when he noticed a hint of gold hidden in Lize's beautiful blue eyes. It seems this young lady survived for more than just good luck.

"Um... Mr. Rhode?"

Mace rubbed his hands together, a distinctly ingratiating smile appearing on his plump face.

"What do you think we should do next?"

After rescuing Mace, the three of them had split up and searched the Airship wreckage again, but they hadn't found any other survivors. To keep their companions' bodies from becoming food for the beasts in the forest, Lize suggested cremating them. Mace had been heartbroken over his precious cargo, but seeing the blonde girl's gloomy face and Rhode's indifference, he had no choice but to change his mind. With a look of utter anguish, he watched them set the Airship ablaze until it was reduced to ashes—he looked as if he were the one most gravely injured. The Guardian Pendant he'd paid a fortune for had saved his life, but the excessive impact had shattered it completely, reducing it to scrap metal. In that respect, Mace's losses really had been considerable.

Afterward, they rested in the forest for a day. Nothing troublesome had happened, but after the Wind Serpent swarm's attack, the fat merchant had become like a bird startled by the mere twang of a bowstring. Before, he'd sworn that Wind Serpents were such a rare occurrence that there was no need to worry. Now he'd completely changed his mind. To him, all those stories about rare dangers were now one hundred percent accurate!

Just look: they'd said there was a chance they might run into a Wind Serpent swarm along this route, and sure enough, they had! And he'd also heard that the Silver Moon Forest was home to man-eating wolves and terrifying birds. Were they going to run into those too?

That was what it meant to be bitten by a snake once and fear a rope for ten years.

At the thought, sweat covered the fat merchant's forehead. He was a fairly capable merchant, but he had no experience adventuring. Now, when he looked at the dense undergrowth and trees all around him, his legs trembled. His guards' casual talk about venomous snakes in the grass and savage wolves came vividly to mind, leaving him seeing threats everywhere.

On top of that, his only life-saving item had been reduced to junk. In these circumstances, the fat merchant had no choice but to rely on others.

He hadn't set his sights on Lize. First, he'd already met the girl when hiring her, and Mace could tell she was obedient and likable, but had little initiative. Besides, she was in a noncombat profession; if something really happened, she probably wouldn't have time to help him. In the end, Mace decided to rely on Rhode. Rhode didn't seem to be a fighter by profession, but his earlier performance had been striking, proving that he was strong. Mace didn't know how his adventuring experience compared with that of the mercenaries, but surely he couldn't be too far behind.

As for Lize, she still seemed immersed in grief over losing her companions and didn't appear to care about any of this.

"Don't worry, Mr. Mace."

Seeing the fat merchant's nervous expression, Rhode shook his head. Mace was a little vulgar, but Rhode didn't dislike him. After all, if the fat merchant hadn't ordered the Airship to stop, Rhode probably wouldn't have been saved. So he had a certain fondness for him.

"I know the Silver Moon Forest very well. In the area where we are now, we're unlikely to encounter anything particularly dangerous, so you can rest easy."

Rhode wasn't saying this without reason. In the game, the Northern Paffield Plains had always been a gathering place for new players, so he knew the distribution of monsters here by heart. On the plains, the greatest threat was the Wind Serpent swarm. Their sheer numbers were a nightmare for many melee classes and anyone who couldn't fight alone. In the Silver Moon Forest, the greatest threat was the Silver Wolf. Unlike the Wind Serpents, which relied on their numbers, Silver Wolves mostly acted alone and were easier to deal with. Now that he'd killed the Wind Serpent Lord, Rhode had gained a full 3,000 experience points and reached level eight. The beginner zone capped at level ten, so unless he ran into a rare elite or a boss-class monster, he figured he could go wherever he pleased in this area. The only exception would be if he ran around blindly like some clueless newbie and wandered into some damned monster's lair—but for Rhode, known as the "Walking Encyclopedia," that was basically impossible.

"That's good. That's good."

Hearing Rhode's answer, Mace let out a long breath and took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his forehead. Then he yawned. He'd barely slept over the past day because he'd been so tense that even the wind in the trees sounded like wolves howling. That showed just how nervous he'd been. But now that he'd made up his mind, he was much more at ease. The fat merchant stopped worrying and curled up beside the campfire, comfortably closing his eyes.

With that in mind, the fat merchant half-closed his eyes and soon sank into a deep sleep.

Only after confirming that the fat merchant had fallen asleep did Rhode, who'd been sitting quietly beside the campfire, rise to his feet. Then he turned and walked into the depths of the forest.