Chapter 30 – Petrified Forest_Leon Greyrat: The Second Son

Chapter 30 – Petrified Forest

 — Leon Greyrat —

 “Sho good~!”

 Indeed, as Aisha had said, the food really was good.

 While I had tasted things that were much better in Asura,pared to what we had been eating for the past week, this stuff tasted like the greatest thing in the world.

 But still…

 “I didn’t know you hated my cooking that much, dear sister,” I teased.

 “Hwah!?” she quickly shook her head. “T-That’s not-! I mean, you didn’t have-! Uuu~”

 Ah. Seems like I went too far.

 “I’m just kidding, calm down,” I patted her head. “I think it’s good, too.”

 While our meals had gotten significantly better after leaving the Migurd vige, where we got a few spices and even hunted a Great Tortoise for its tasty meat, nothing beat a restaurant-cooked meal, even if it was in the Demon Continent.

 But damn… even with the difference in currency, this stuff was quite cheap.

 It just went to show how rich of a country the Kingdom of Asura was.

 “Hmm… To think the ce had changed since back then,” Ruijerd mumbled, looking over at the massive castle at the centre.

 “Did youe here often?” I asked.

 From his adventurer card, I saw that he was over 500 years old, dispelling all doubts that he was part of the Lace War.

 From Roxy’s lessons, and my own research, I knew that there were demons that lived that long, but what surprised me was the fact that the receptionist didn’t even bat an eye to that.

 That much time… if one focused on honing their skills, and had enough talent to take them far, they could truly be a terrifying opponent.

 I would have to be careful to not make any dangerous enemies on this continent.

 Now, while I said that, I still stand by my decision to make such an entrance to the Adventure Guild.

 After all, while I wanted to make sure no one did anything unscrupulous with my sisters around, the bigger purpose behind the disy was to show everyone not to mess with us.

 We wouldn’t be in this city for long, but it was important to make sure everything went smoothly, especially with Norn and Aisha around, as they could be easily exploited.

 “Not often, no. It used to serve as the home base of the Demon Empress’ forces during the Great Human Demon War, but with Lace, it was only a city he needed to conquer to unite the Demon Continent,” he said, clenching his fist. “I should have known such underhanded methods could be turned against us.”

 Yeah, while the man held a lot of hate towards his old leader for betraying the Superd race… he held even more hatred towards himself.

 Perhaps that was the reason for his quest to better the opinion of his people, not as a means to actually shed light on the truth of his race, but rather a way to atone for his sins.

 Well, he was also extremely lonely, so maybe during our journey together he would lose some of that guilt, or at least transform it into more determination for his goal.

 But again, as much as I wanted to help the poor guy… we had our hands full already with getting back home safely.

 “I see… well, let’s find somewhere to sleep, and then check out the quests we can do,” I said, getting up. “I want us to be out of the city by the end of the month as a C-rank party. Does that sound good?”

 Ruijerd and Eris nodded their heads, though Eris was much more animated.

 “It’ll be tough, but if we take a bunch of searching and hunting quests, we should be good,” I continued.

 With Ruijerd’s ‘third eye’, and the three of our collective martial might, I was confident we could do those jobs with ease.

 It was just a shame that one of Eris and I will need to stay back with Norn and Aisha the whole time.

 “A real bed sounds nice, doesn’t it?” I said absently to myself.

 Well, I guess there was no time to waste.

 Time to find an inn.

 — Information on the Six-Faced World —

 Adventurers Guild

 The Adventurers Guild is one of thergest organizations in the world and can be found in all major cities across the various continents. The main headquarters of the Adventurers Guild is located in Millishion, the capital of the Holy Kingdom of Millis.

 Adventurer ranks vary from F to S, with adventurers being able to take on quests up to one rank above or below their current rank. Uponpleting a set number of jobs, the adventurer, and their party can be promoted, and upon failing a set number of jobs, they can be demoted as well.

 — Leon Greyrat —

 It’s been a week since our arrival in Rikarisu, and with the three of us doing consecutive E-rank quests, which amounted to nothing but simple household chores, we were now an E-rank party.

 With this new rank, we were now able to take on D-rank quests, which amounted to guarding duties and harvesting quests, thetter of which we were doing right now.

 We would have to do ten of these D-rank quests before gaining promotion to C-rank, and once we did, we would begin moving south and making more progress towards home.

 So we just had to bear with it, even if it was a bit boring.

 “‘Moongrass herb’… do you know anything about this, Ruijerd?” I asked.

 “Yes, it’s a nt used for cleaning small cuts,” he exined.

 “I see… we’re in the right area, right?”

 “Yes.”

 Always a wonderful conversationalist, Ruijerd was.

 Well, since our lunch was done, I guess we should get collecting.

 “Aisha? Norn? Could one of you pack up the utensils?” I asked.

 As this was a simple collection quest, and one where we wouldn’t be going anywhere dangerous, I decided to bring the two along.

 One reason was so that they wouldn’t get too ustomed to thefy city lifestyle they had been living for the past week, but also for the extra manpower, as both Eris and I coulde along.

 And they could help out too, I guess.

 Plus, such activity was good for them… probably.

 “I getted it!” Norn eximed.

 Aisha frowned. “It’s ‘got it’, not ‘getted it’.”

 “Same thing!” Norn pouted.

 Hmm… while it was a little petty, correcting such mistakes was how one grew.

 But that was a job for the parent, or in our case, the older brother.

 It would suck to have a sibling your age correct you like that, after all.

 More importantly… recently, Aisha has seemed a little… angry at Norn.

 Ever since we had left the Migurd vige, now that I think about it.

 But… why?

 An argument?

 “Thank you, Norn, that would be helpful,” I said before getting up. “Aisha? Can youe with me for a second?”

 Raising her eyebrow, Aisha then hopped off the rock she had been sitting on, following me away from the others.

 Taking a seat on the ground, I then patted my leg a few times. “Here. Come sit.”

 “Okay… but why?” she said.

 “Just sit please.”

 While curious, she stillplied with my request, taking a seat on myp as I rested my chin on her head.

 “So…” I said. “Do you want to tell me why you’re angry at Norn? Or will I have to try to guess?”

 She tilted her head down, fiddling with her fingers in silence.

 “So I have to guess, huh? Let’s see…”

 Now, do I try to go serious? Or should I be lighthearted about it?

 I know it’s weirdly easier to talk about serious topics after lightening the mood, but I didn’t want her to treat this whole thing as a joke either.

 Hmm… being the responsible one was kind of tough, huh?

 Maybe I was a bit too hard on Paul.

 …Wait. I’m a kid, right?

 And I was actually thinking about these things… so maybe I was just right in my judgment of the man.

 “It’s just…” Aisha said. “It’s unfair, is all.”

 “What’s unfair?” I asked gently.

 “Just… no, it’s stupid,” she shook her head.

 “Just tell me, Aisha.”

 Her body curling in on itself a bit, she eventually told me the reason, “Just… why does Norn get to keep her stuffy?”

 …Huh? It was that?

 So she was… jealous?

 I didn’t think she cared that much about the owl I got her, especially as she was more mentally advanced than Norn.

 But… I don’t think it was about the stuffy, now, was it?

 Rather… she was probably jealous of Norn having something to remind her of home.

 Unwrapping my arms from around her, I slowly unravelled my red scarf from my neck.

 “I see. Well, while it might not be the same, how about you have this?”

 I then ced the scarf across her shoulders.

 Hesitantly grabbing the fabric, which had be somewhat tattered with age, she looked up at me. “B-But why would you give me this? Don’t you love it?”

 “Yeah. And that’s why I want you to have it,” I exined. “You know, your mother gave me this for my fifth birthday, right? So… let’s just consider this as passing it on.”

 I wrapped the scarf around her neck as she slowly took in my words.

 “But… why?”

 “Just treat it as your version of Norn’s bunny. Plus, with you keeping it on, I won’t have to worry about getting monster blood on it.”

 ‘Any more’ monster blood, that is.

 Luckily, while the soap in Rikarisu didn’t smell great, it was good at getting bad scents and stains out of stuff.

 Aisha tucked her head into the red fabric as her eyes began to water.

 “Sorry, Big Brother. That was stupid and childish of me.”

 Now that just wouldn’t do.

 “Hey, I know you’re mature for your age, but you deserve to be childish. Always… At least to me,” I turned her around to face me, making sure our eyes were level as I ced my hand on her head. “You''re my baby sister, after all.”

 That seemed to clear up some of her doubts, as her eyes widened before she smiled and jumped towards me, wrapping her arms around me in a hug.

 Now that’s better.

 “Thank you! I love you, Big Brother!” she cheered.

 Ha… yeah, a lot better.

 — Eris Boreas Greyrat —

 After returning to the city and passing in the herbs we had gathered, we then made our way back to the inn, but even though the sun had long passed the crest of the crater’s walls, and the sky had turned dark… the city was still illuminated.

 This wasn’t due to anynterns or torches like back home, no… instead, the inner walls of the crater were shining a bright blue that lit up the city.

 It was really amazing.

 ording to Ruijerd, those pretty lights were called the ‘illuminators’, a type of magic stone that shined in the dark and were put in ce by an old Demon Empress that used to rule this city.

 I wished it would shine for the entire night, but unfortunately, after a few hours, the city would be nketed inplete darkness, so we couldn’t stand around to sight see.

 “Hmm… we have a few more quests to go, and since harvesting usually takes a day toplete… we should be leaving in a little under two weeks,” Leon said with a smile.

 Adventuring, as I found out, was much more boring than the stories I had been told, but ording to Leon, the fun stuff, like hunting monsters and exploring ruins, woulde after we reached D-rank.

 But I was still a bit confused…

 “Leon? Why are we waiting until then to leave? Can’t we just do quests as we go?” I asked.

 “Hm? Ah, well, with B-rank quests, we can start taking on extermination quests away from the city, and the thing about those is that they can be collected at other branches, so we can make money as we go,” he exined. “Ah, and they also give us good money.”

 My heart pounded at the mention of ‘extermination’.

 Finally, an actual quest like the ones Ghiine talked about.

 Though I still wanted to explore dungeons andbyrinths, I knew asking that would be impossible, considering Leon’s little sisters.

 Plus… there was always time in the future for Leon and I to go adventuring together… on our own.

 …Ugh, that annoying feeling was back.

 No, actually, it had beening back more often than nottely.

 Come to think of it, as soon as Ruijerd joined us, every night had been a struggle, trying to hold me back from crawling over to him.

 Mother did say how ady should ‘attack at night for someone you want’, but doing such a thing… I wanted to wait, at least until we got home.

 After all, I had a feeling that if I did such a thing with Leon even once… I would get lost in the experience.

 Plus, I think he had much bigger priorities right now than doing anything like that, mainly in getting back to his family.

 But… I didn’t hold high hopes.

 I was lucky tond here with Leon, as were Norn and Aisha.

 But his mothers… Sylphy… I wasn’t so confident about them.

 I would be worried about my parents too, but since they had Ghiine with them, they should be fine.

 Should be…

 Well, it wasn’t like I could do anything about it.

 All I could do was try my best to help Leon bring his sisters home and try to lighten his load, at least a little.

 “-i? Eri!”

 “Huh!?”

 Leon’s words broke me out of my internal ramblings.

 “What were you thinking about, spacing out like that?” he shook his head. “Anyway, since you don’t really care too much about harvesting quests, can you watch Norn and Aisha tomorrow? If I’m lucky, I should be able toplete three at once, considering they’re all close to each other.”

 “Uhh, sure!”

 What the heck was I thinking!?

 If Mother’s words weren’t embarrassing enough at the time, now they wereing back to me naturally!

 I was not such an easy woman! Even for Leon!

 “Thanks, it means a lot,” he nodded. “Now… since we’re E-rank adventurers, we should be able to use the Adventure Guild-sponsored inns for a fee. Though I don’t know how many there are here in the Demon Continent…”

 He grimaced. “Plus, they’d probably be expensive.”

 That’s right. As I hade to learn once again, Leon was really amazing.

 He knew everything we needed to know and organized our days, and if he ever needed to learn something, he simply asked, as he knew the localnguage… somehow.

 That must be due to his old teacher he annoyingly kept talking about back in that vige.

 Anyway, it seemed that he knew a bit about adventurers from when he was a baby, travelling along with Zenith, Paul, and Ghiine.

 How he still remembered everything was beyond me, but I guess I should expect that from him.

 “Children should sleep in nice beds,” Ruijerd added from the side. “If we need to work harder, then so be it.”

 “Hmm… I suppose you’re right. Then let’s try to cut down on eating out,” Leon nodded.

 Ruijerd was… weird.

 In a way much different from Leon and Rudy.

 First, he was strong.

 Stronger than me, stronger than Leon, and probably even stronger than Ghiine.

 And not only that, he was also scary, as embarrassing as it was to admit.

 When I first saw him, I freaked out, and shrieked for Leon to save me like a blubbering child, but after I got to know him a bit more… he wasn’t all that bad.

 Especially after he shaved his head.

 Though… he really should smile a bit more.

 He was much less scary when he patted Norn and Aisha’s heads with a calm smile.

 “Hmm… but how many rooms should we get? Ruijerd can take one, and-”

 “Two!” I shouted, interrupting Leon’s mumbling. “G-Get two, alright?”

 If there was one thing I missed about camping, other than the sense of adventure, was the feeling of sleeping next to him.

 So two rooms would be fine!

 “W-We’ll need one of us to make sure no one steals anything, right!?” I added. “And Ruijerd can sleep without any belongings!”

 But dammit! It felt so embarrassing to beg like this!

 I was definitely getting back at him for thister.

 “…Sure. It’s more economical that way anyway,” he shrugged.

 — Leon Greyrat —

 Another week had passed, and in that time, we had ranked up once again, bing D-rank adventurers, which also meant we were no longer considered newbies.

 As for how we were able to rank up so quickly?

 Well, that was a mix of constant hard work and efficient job organization.

 As for our adventuring colleagues, while at first many looked at us with veiled disdain due to my initial disy, they had now calmed down to see us with some respect.

 At first, I thought that they would hate us even more for taking so many quests, but it seemed like there was nock of jobs on the Demon Continent.

 It also helped that we ended up taking some not-so-valuable quests, simply because they were on our way to others.

 But now, it was time for our first extermination quest.

 For this one, I decided to have Ruijerd stay back with Norn and Aisha, as not only had he gained my trust in our time together, but my little sisters had also warmed up to him.

 Plus, it would be nice to spend some time with Eris alone after such a long and hectic time travelling with my sisters.

 While we would still need to be vignt, and I still had to watch over Eris, I was feeling excited to do a quest like this… working together with her without worrying about any responsibilities in the form of my little sisters.

 “Let’s see… what one do you want to do, Eri?” I asked.

 Twirling a lock of hair, she sent a re back my way. “Are you making fun of me? You know I can’t read.”

 “Ah, right… is it fine if I choose then?” I asked.

 “Hm? Yeah. But make sure it’s something fun, okay?”

 I… don’t think adventuring jobs are supposed to be ‘fun’, but I’d try my best.

 Looking over at the C-rank quests hung on the board, I read over the various wooden tes that exined the quests.

 Let’s see…

 Acid Wolf extermination, guarding a mining operation, collecting a herb in a monster-infested area, and-

 Oh?

 Reaching forward, I took the te off the board and looked down to read the request that had caught my eye.

 -

 C

 Task: Clear out Monsters

 Reward: 2 iron coins

 Details: Locate and exterminate monsters

 Location: Southern Wood (Petrified Forest)

 Duration: Before the end of the month

 Deadline: ASAP

 Client: Clithanso

 Notes: Monsters have been recently spotted at the edge of the Southern Wood, clear them out before they begin to affect the harvesting of nearby materials. Hand in materials of monsters in as proof ofpletion.

 -

 This one… now, this one was interesting.

 Not only did it pay well, but it also held a sense of adventure past just ‘go here, kill that,e back’.

 We’ve already had our fair share of those kinds of battles when we first got to the Demon Continent, after all.

 “Here, Eri. Let’s do this one,” I said, taking off the te.

 “What’s it about?” she asked.

 “Oh, you’ll see,” I smirked.

 Her mouth twisted in annoyance.

 “Nowe on, we’ll probably need to camp for a night, so we should get some supplies.”

 Oddly enough, as soon as I said that, her eyes seemed to light up, and her frown turned into a wide smile.

 “Okay!”

 How odd.

 — Leon Greyrat —

 “Hmm… I sense something up ahead, Eri, so keep sharp.”

 “G-Got it!”

 If that stutter had been out of fear, I would have been a little relieved, as it meant that Eris was taking this quest seriously, but unfortunately, from the wide, wobbly grin on her face, it seemed that it was out of excitement instead.

 Well, that was just like her, after all.

 “…Right,” I said. “And remember, while I’m strong, I’m not at Ruijerd’s level yet. So don’t take this too casually.”

 “Yeah, yeah. I don’t need you to protect me anymore, you know!” Eris pouts.

 …Sure.

 “If you say so,” I shrugged. “But it’s still good to have a partner, right?”

 “Y-Yeah, I guess… A-Anyway! Come on! I wanna kill something!”

 ‘I wanna kill something’…

 Well, those were some scary words, especially when they were said by such a pretty girl, but at least it fit her character.

 If Sylphy ever said something like that with a happy smile… man, I was getting shivers just thinking about it.

 I just hope that wherever she is, Sylphy is the same kind and innocent girl I know her as.

 Walking through the dull, grey forest, I let Eris take the lead as I watched from behind her, my hand gripping my sheathed sword as I kept my other one free to cast any magic as needed.

 Soon, Eris’ jovial jaunt came to a quick stop as she crouched behind a fallen tree, drawing her sword.

 “So… you see them?” I whispered.

 She nodded her head.

 Coming up behind her, I then peered over the tree, watching as a giant green snake circled over two identical, sleeping snakes which I assumed were in the same ‘pack’.

 The monster had a wide jaw and an array of blue eyes that shone like jewels in the otherwise dark forest.

 Hmm… while I couldn’t be sure, I knew that the mostmon monster that fit this description was an Almond Anaconda, a B-ranked threat with deadly venom and high agility.

 Now, while I knew Eris was strong, she was still inexperienced, and despite her ability to enhance her body with touki, her body was still that of a 12-year-old girl.

 A strong one, for sure, but still the body of a girl who had yet to reach her teenage years.

 Having her face such a threat alone… that would be dangerous and reckless, especially since if she got hit, I would have to really focus on detoxification magic, as I didn’t know the specific antidote spell to the monster’s poison.

 But luckily, she had me.

 While the safest option was for me to set up a trap with magic, or even take all three of the monsters out with one surprise Longsword of Light, that would do nothing to grow her skills… nor my own, for that matter.

 So a head-on fight it was.

 But that didn’t mean we would be stupid about it.

 “Eri,” I whispered. “I’ll leave the awake one to you. Don’t get bit and tell me if you need support, got it?”

 She nodded her head. “Yeah. Alright, here I go!”

 Sprinting with a start, Eris quickly unsheathed her sword as she jumped toward the startled monster, preparing to kill the thing with one strike as touki thrummed through her de.

 But, befitting a B-rank monster, it reacted quickly, sending its tail to intercept.

 A normal person would attempt to dodge, or even try to block it with a well-timed parry… but that didn’t exactly fit Eris’ style, and she was anything but a normal girl.

 With a shout, she brought down her sword in a heavy swing, carving into the monster’s tail as she used the momentum to flip over it,nding with a crouch.

 Well… she seemed to be doing fine, so I guess it was my turn to fight.

 “Morning, sleepyheads,” I said, pulling out my sword.

 As I grew stronger and taller, my unnamed spellsword became much easier to wield, and while most lower-rank swordsman would find the thinner decking in power, for me who could coat it in touki, that didn’t really matter.

 Despite my cheerful greeting, the only thing I got in response was a pair of angry hisses.

 How rude.

 Wait… ‘How rude’?

 Was I… really taking this so casually?

 Yeah, no… I definitely was.

 After all, Eris was strong enough to take care of herself, and I was always here to heal her, and most importantly, I didn’t have to worry about Aisha and Norn behind me.

 So, for the first time in a while, fighting monsters felt… calm.

 Fun even.

 Was that a proper mindset one should have when fighting a pair of B-ranked monsters?

 No, probably not, but… I couldn’t say I hated it.

 The two snakes, now awake, converged on me, both baring their impressive set of fangs as theyunched their simultaneous attack.

 Casting wind magic around my feet, I jumped up to dodge, letting my hair flutter as I twisted my body, forming a fireball in my free hand as I reached the apex of my leap.

 Casting a nce to the side, I saw that Eris had made another pass by the monster she was fighting, leaving arge gash in her wake as she red at the wounded snake.

 So she was still doing well.

 Good.

 Positioning my feet above me, I sent the fireball forward, willing it to explode in a sh of light just as I summoned a burst of wind to send me shooting downward, my sword held at my side all the while.

 Blinded and confused, my sword cleaved effortlessly through the first one’s neck, and letting my de surf through the air, the tip descended through the second one’s eye with smooth, practised ease.

 In one swift strike, they were both dead.

 “Ss-ss…”

 Well, almost dead.

 Summoning a fireball at the tip of my de, I released a small explosion inside the monster’s head, killing the snake that was on itsst legs.

 Wait… they didn’t have legs… so, on itsst scales?

 Hmm… no, that wasn’t important.

 Dislodging my de, I ignited it in mes to clean off the blood as I looked over at Eris, who had just finished off her own opponent, her de cleaving through the monster’s open mouth as its body fell limply to the ground.

 “Haa! Haa! I-I did it!” she shouted with a smile.

 Seeing her happy expression, I couldn’t help but feel my own lips curl upwards.

 “That you did. Did you get hurt anywhere?” I asked.

 “No,” she shook her head. “My feet are a bit sore though. I think I need new shoes.”

 “We’ll get thoseter then. These things should fetch a good amount of money,” I returned, kicking the corpse.

 Unfortunately, these guys were way too big to take back as bodies, but from what I remembered, a few of their scales and fangs were enough for proof of a kill, and the fangs were worth a bit on their own too.

 “W-Whoa!”

 Hearing a voice from the woods, my head instantly snapped towards it as I set myself in a stance.

 “That was amazing!”

 Emerging from behind a tree, three figures made themselves known.

 Three boys, more specifically.

 One had scaly red skin and a matching horn, another was a bit taller with four muscled arms, and thest one was… a chicken.

 Well, from what I could tell, they weren’t too skilled, so even if their amicable front was a lie, I doubt they would be able to harm us.

 “Who are you?” I asked.

 “We came here to get some herbs but happened to hear your fight, it was really cool!” the red-skinned one said.

 “That wasn’t my question…” I frowned.

 “Ah, right!”

 Lining up, the three boys then struck a pose, with the red-skinned boy, who seemed to be the leader, standing at the centre.

 “We’re the Tokurabu Vige Toughs! A D-rank party that will soon make a name for themselves on the Demon Continent!”

 …The heck?

 “And what are you doing in such a dangerous ce?” I asked.

 While this forest wasn’t too much for me and Eris, that wasn’t the same for these three, unless they were somehow hiding their strength.

 “Ah! Well, you see, we decided to take as many C-rank quests as possible to rank up, so here we are! I’m Kurt, by the way!”

 Ah, so they were idiots.

 That was good to know.

 “A-Anyway! Since there’s only two of you, what do you say about joining-”

 As the red-skinned one, Kurt, continued to ramble on, I noticed movement from behind the three, prompting me to leap forward, arriving just in time to stop the swing from an axe from cleaving through the three boys.

 “Hwa!?”

 A littlete there, Kurt.

 Staring at the humanoid suit of armour, I instantly recognized that this was an Executioner, one of the mostmon monsters found around the world that was formed through the remains of killed adventurers.

 “Hiya!”

 Hearing Eris’ shout, I felt a sword whizzed past my ear before it embedded itself in the monster’s chest in front of me.

 With my sword keeping the Executioner’s axe to the side, I used my free hand to grab Eris’ thrown sword, before slicing across its body and through its impressive set of armour, killing the monster.

 The armour and axe dissolving into thin air, I looked back at the young adventurers, only to be met by three sets of shining eyes.

 “S-So cool!”

 …You almost died just now, you know… why are you three so cheery?

 Shaking my head, I headed back to Eris, handing her back her sword with a smile.

 “That was a nice throw. You’re probably at the Intermediate rank for the North God style, if I had to guess,” I praised.

 She averted her eyes. “W-Well, it’s only natural, right? But… thanks.”

 She then looked over my shoulder. “Anyway, who are those guys?”

 “Ah, they’re…”

 What were they called again?

 “…Adventurers. Apparently, they had a collection quest or something near here, so they aren’t enemies.”

 “I see,” she nodded. “Aren’t they a bit stupid, though?”

 Should you really be the one saying that?

 “Hm?” she turned to me. “Did you say something, Leon?”

 “…No.”

 While she wasn’t traditionally smart, she did have a weird sense of intuition.

 To be honest, it was a little scary at times.

 I would have to remember to keep my internal mouth shut around her as well.

 — Leon Greyrat —

 It had been a week since we hadpleted our first C-rank quest, and after preparing some final things, andpleting a few more quests, we were now a C-rank party, which meant that it was now time to start our journey south toward Wind Port, where we would then travel the Millis Continent.

 I don’t know what felt worse, the fact that we would probably have to travel the Demon Continent for an entire year, or that after doing so, we would only be a third of the way back home.

 But there was no need to despair.

 I was strong, Ruijerd was stronger, and Eris was pretty good herself.

 Plus, with Ruijerd’s sensing abilities, and the barrier nes I had made, Aisha and Norn should be safe from any trouble as well.

 “Leon… isn’t this a bit too big for me?” Erisined from my side.

 “It’s supposed to be,” I answered. “And make sure you keep it on, even if it’s annoying. We don’t want you getting sunburned.”

 “Hmph,” she reluctantly pulled up her hood. “But can’t you just heal it for me?”

 “…I just don’t want you getting sunburned, okay?”

 After all, I had never encountered ‘cancer’ despite all my studying in healing magic, and while I wanted to figure out if I could heal it, I didn’t want to do so on my loved ones.

 …Loved ones?

 Was Eris like that to me?

 “Fine. I guess I’ll wear it, since you got it for me,” Eris huffed, pulling over her hood.

 Despite her reluctance, I could tell she was pretty happy with her new cloak, as since it was meant for beastfolk or a demon race that was simr, it had two pockets for ears, and Eris being a member of the Boreas Greyrat family, was quite endeared to such things.

 Well, it looked cute on her, so I guess it was a win for both of us in that sense.

 “Thanks,” I then turned to Norn and Aisha. “And you two have to wear yours as well, got it?”

 “Got it, Brother!” Aisha saluted.

 “Y-Yeah… I like it anyway,” Norn smiled.

 Following my words, the two of them pulled up the hoods of their cloaks, the structure matched Eris’, though it was coloured brown instead of white.

 To my pleasant surprise, ever since I gave Aisha my scarf, the tension that was present between the two seemed to have dissipated into thin air, so that was one less thing I would have to worry about.

 Since I doubt we would be picking up another kid anytime soon, they would have to get along with each other, as they were the only ones their age that they would be around for a while.

 “Good,” I nodded. “Then it’s time we head out then. Nowe on, up you go!”

 I then took a girl in each arm before lifting them onto the giant lizard we would be using for transportation.

 The lizard in question was called a ‘Transport Lizard’ or a ‘Merchant Lizard’, and was the substitute for horses in the Demon Continent.

 Having bought it a couple of days ago from a lizard merchant, we were luckily able to get it for a good price due to its unruly nature that was quickly tamed by Ruijerd.

 Apparently, the man had quite a bit of experience with the animals.

 But then again, I think even the fiercest of foes would tuck their tails and run if the Superd cast a hardened re their way.

 Hopping onto the lizard next to them, I then put out my hand for Eris. “You too.”

 Narrowing her eyes, she hesitantly took my hand while mumbling under her breath, “I can get up on my own, you know.”

 Sure you can.

 Anyway, with her sitting behind me, and my little sisters both sitting in front of me, it was time for us to head out.

 “Ruijerd? Are youing?” I asked the man.

 “No,” he shook his head. “I will walk beside you and deal with any threats.”

 “I see… but, I don’t know how to lead one of these things yet.”

 His eyes widened in realization. “Ah… yes. I suppose not… then, excuse me.”

 And so, with hip hopping next to me, we were ready.

 I just hoped this journey would go smoothly.

MillionNovel

Chapter 30 – Petrified Forest