"Oh, so it was just a misunderstanding!" Luo Ge had actually been ready to take action and finish him off.
But once he heard that it was only a misunderstanding, Luo Ge saw no need to waste time.
Since the man's apology had been fairly sincere, Luo Ge could not be bothered to hold him accountable.
As for whether he had... lied.
With the gift of the Transparent World, Luo Ge could not only use someone's breathing to determine whether they had the neural signals to attack.
He could even use this gift to see whether someone was lying.
After confirming that the man had not lied.
Luo Ge had been about to turn and leave, but then he remembered how hard it had been to finally encounter a living person here.
So he stopped, deciding that he might as well ask for information before leaving.
"Um... could you tell me where this is?"
"Huh?"
Karen was stumped by the sudden question.
"Is that something you can't answer?"
"Not at all. This is the Great Forest to the east of the Asura Kingdom's border."
"Sorry for the trouble, but could you be more specific? For example, what territory is this?" Luo Ge asked again.
The hunter standing opposite him with his bow fell silent for a moment, then suddenly seemed to think of something.
He looked at Luo Ge with a complicated expression. "For a lost child like you, your luck must be incredible not to have been eaten by the monsters in the forest. As for where we are, to be more specific, this is Saraku Village in Milbots Territory, in the eastern Asura Kingdom."
"Huh?"
"D-did I fucking go the wrong way?" Luo Ge's mouth twitched, and his head ached.
He had charged ahead like a tiger, only to discover upon asking that he was simply hopeless with directions, unable to tell north, south, east, or west.
After coming down from the Red Dragon Mountains, he had gone in the opposite direction.
Milbots Territory was already fairly far south within the Asura Kingdom.
Even if he headed to the Sword Sanctum next, he might be able to stop by Fittoa Territory along the way and see his family.
It sounded ridiculous, but that was the truth.
In this other world without navigation, an ordinary person without anyone to guide them might spend months in a forest.
If he had not run into the Dragon God along the way, he might have already become a disciple at the Sword Sanctum.
Still, it had been a blessing in disguise.
Because of the Dragon God, he had been transported to Demon Dragon King Laplace's laboratory and inherited part of what he had left behind.
Over the past two and a half years, his strength, whether in swordsmanship or magic... had improved considerably.
Without an opponent to serve as a reference, Luo Ge could not accurately judge his own strength.
For now, he could only take things one step at a time.
Next, Luo Ge planned to continue on to the Sword Sanctum and further improve his swordsmanship there.
"Hm?"
"...Little one, are you here in this Great Forest all alone because you got separated from the adults in your family?" Karen asked with concern.
"Uh, yeah, more or less."
Luo Ge did not know how to describe his experiences to him.
He had been attacked on his way to the Sword Sanctum by the Dragon God, one of the Seven Great Powers?
Then, through a strange twist of fate, he had fallen into the Dragon God Hole...
Spent two and a half years in seclusion inside the Demon Dragon King's laboratory...
Only just managed to make his way down from the Red Dragon Mountains.
And then gotten lost in the Great Forest.
That was everything Luo Ge had been through.
In short, the whole experience had been too fantastical, so no matter what the man asked, Luo Ge gave him perfunctory answers and did not mention anything else.
"...If you're having trouble, I can help you." Karen was enthusiastic about helping others; he was clearly a simple, kind, honest man.
"Thank you! But there's no need. I'll be fine on my own." Luo Ge declined and turned to leave.
"Wait, but if I leave you all alone, won't you get lost in the forest?"
Looking at the man who had caught up from behind, Luo Ge sank into thought.
"Will I?"
"You seem to have a point. Let's do this, then. As long as you lead me out of the forest, I can pay you."
"Pay me?"
"Ahahaha, that's not why I'm doing this. I'm heading out anyway, so it's hardly any trouble."
"Come to think of it, we don't even know each other, do we? Why would you help a stranger?"
"Huh?"
"Isn't it only natural for adults to help children? Besides, you're so young. You don't even look like you've come of age..."
"If I leave you to your own devices, lost in the forest, won't you soon be eaten by monsters?"
Luo Ge did not know what to say. He thought he must have met a good person.
Whether in his previous life or this other world, there were always people who enjoyed helping others.
That look... is he treating me like a child?
Honestly, Luo Ge did not dislike the feeling. If it were his teacher Roxy, she would probably find it irritating.
Although he had only spent two years with Roxy, Luo Ge knew very well that she was the sort of person who became particularly angry when others treated her like a child.
Luo Ge, however, did not see anything wrong with it.
Karen walked ahead, deliberately slowing his pace because he was mindful that the person behind him was a child.
As he walked, he asked, "My name's Karen... what about you?"
"My name is Rog Greyrat." Luo Ge narrowed his eyes slightly and gave a smile as pleasant as a spring breeze.
W-what?
Karen was visibly shocked when he heard that surname.
"G-Greyrat? Isn't that the noble surname of the local lord's family? They're very famous nobles in the Asura Kingdom."
"You can't joke about something like that... If someone else heard you, a commoner impersonating a noble could get into serious trouble."
"Do I look like I'm joking?" Luo Ge asked in return.
The man was immediately at a loss for words, then began examining Luo Ge carefully.
"Huh, it looks like... you really are a noble?"
Only then did Karen notice that although Luo Ge was dressed in rags and looked filthy all over.
Even his clothes were worn out, with a hole roughly the size of a fist at the chest that had been patched with animal hide.
At first glance, he looked like a wild man from the mountains.
But in fact.
A closer look revealed that the material of Luo Ge's clothes was clearly not something an ordinary commoner family could afford.
On top of that, Luo Ge's manner of speaking and bearing consistently exuded confidence, another trait children from commoner families did not possess.
By this point, Karen was seventy or eighty percent convinced that Luo Ge was a noble.
But that made it even stranger.
A pampered child from a noble family had somehow not been eaten by the monsters in the forest?
That... Karen found very difficult to explain.
Luo Ge suddenly seemed to remember something and slapped his forehead. "Oh, I almost forgot to ask."
"Um, sir... what year is it in the Armored Dragon Calendar?"
"Oh, you want to know that? This year should be... should be year 414 of the Armored Dragon Calendar. Winter's almost here," Karen replied cheerfully.
"Mm-hm!"
"Year 414..."
"Huh? Wait, what did you say?!"
"That much time has already passed outside?" Luo Ge frowned.
Although he had already suspected that a long time must have passed... it still exceeded what he had mentally prepared himself for.
He had thought it would be a little over a year at most, never expecting that a full two and a half years had passed outside.
In that case, he would soon be eight years old.
For some reason.
Luo Ge's feelings suddenly grew complicated.