East Road Quest

Chapter 74: Wrong Place, Wrong Time

Jade, Saph, and Ruby were the only ones left. Suddenly, Jade was seized by a silence so profound it sent shivers down his spine.

“The presence of those two was so significant, I’m only now realizing it,” Jade murmured.

Ruby coldly released Saph’s hand and said, “Just so you know, I’m not familiar with the forest of the elves either.”

“Talking about it ‘now’ isn’t exactly ‘forewarning,'” Jade pointed out.

Ruby shrugged off the comment nonchalantly.

Saph spoke up cautiously, “Couldn’t we just ask the elves for directions? It seemed like they understood us earlier.”

“To ask the elves for help… It sounds like something out of a fairy tale,” Jade mused.

Perhaps dealing with the elves, who could communicate, was better than dealing with the Kun nomads, who couldn’t.

Jade nodded and continued, “Right. Ultimately, we need to reach the elves’ harbor. Maybe it’s better to meet a friendly elf.”

“What about the guardian of the Dark Forest? Since we’re here to fight demons, wouldn’t they help us?” Saph asked.

Jade tilted his head, “That’s uncertain. What do you think, Ruby? Will the guardian help us?”

Jade turned his gaze to Ruby.

Ruby crossed his arms and closed his eyes, “I don’t know. I’m not even sure if they’re an elf.”

“Of course, they’re an elf… You talked to them, didn’t you see what they looked like?” Saph inquired.

“I didn’t see them at all,” Ruby replied with a wounded pride.

“But I do remember bits and pieces about the forest.”

“That’s great! Tell us,” Jade said, genuinely pleased.

“Don’t get your hopes up. It’s only fragmented knowledge.”

“Better than knowing nothing at all.”

“Let’s talk as we go.”

Ruby set the direction and began walking. Saph and Jade followed closely behind him.

Jade wanted to reassure the still anxious Saph by holding her hand, but he refrained, fearing he might end up relying on her instead.

They had walked all night, ridden horses, and now marched through the forest without rest, to the point of exhaustion.

“Strictly speaking, the Dark Forest isn’t the forest of the elves,” Ruby explained tediously.

“It’s the border between the human world and the elf world. I can’t remember how much further we have to go, but if we continue north, we’ll leave the Dark Forest and come to the real forest of the elves. The elves call that place Elforest.”

“So, the Dark Forest is like the Mediterranean Sea, serving as the boundary between the eastern and western continents?” Jade asked.

“The Mediterranean? That’s a good analogy,” Ruby said, twirling the guardian’s arrow between his fingers.

“Both the Dark Forest and the Mediterranean can disorient those inexperienced. Just as a sailor might lose their way in the small sea of the Mediterranean, elves can also lose their way in the Dark Forest. Those six elves we saw earlier might actually have been lost. In simple terms, we’re in the middle of the sea without a maritime chart or compass.”

“But you can find your way, right? You’re an explorer who’s traveled all over the world,” Saph said hopefully.

“To put it in perspective, this forest might be incredibly vast to humans, but to me, it’s no more than a forest behind a village. But are you confident you wouldn’t get lost in a village’s forest? It’s like that. So make sure you don’t lose sight of me.”

As Jade was reminded of the pursuers they had momentarily forgotten, they had already reached the very edge of the Dark Forest. Right at the entrance.

Alisa removed her hood and let out a long sigh, not moving any further.

“Someone explain to me, what could I have done right to avoid such a failure?” Alisa lamented, fiddling with her lips.

One of her subordinates spoke up.

Without rest, they pursued the elusive trail of their quarry, yet they could not catch up. “It wasn’t a misjudgment,” they insisted.

“When we found that stake where the Kun tribe hunters were bound… We could have quickened our pursuit then.”

At that spot, Alisa learned that Jade had encountered a demon on the plains. The presence of demonic blood suggested a fierce battle had taken place there, and that the Kun tribe hunters had joined the fray.

“But I didn’t hasten our pace. Jade had an unknown guardian, and I hoped he wouldn’t notice our pursuit. Instead, I believed they would stop eventually.”

Alisa continued with a tone of self-reproach.

A subordinate offered consolation, “The Kun nomads would sell their tents to entertain guests, such was their obsession. ‘We’ surmised from the stake and the demon’s blood that Jade’s party had rescued the Kun tribe hunters. Our guess was correct. To that hunter, Jade was an esteemed guest, and it was unthinkable not to offer hospitality. Our initial judgment and slow tracking were justified.”

“Then we weren’t wrong there… What about after that? I thought the hunters would lead Jade to Gran. I even boasted to you all, ‘In a city as large as Gran, it’s easier to sneak up and slit a throat or poison the food.’ But they headed to a small tribal village instead.”

It was an odd village. The Kun nomads didn’t usually live clustered like that.

“Our prediction that they would go to Gran wasn’t entirely off. Even if they had stayed in that tribal village instead of Gran, we would have had our chance. But the village had been attacked, and by the time we arrived, it was nearly deserted. That was unforeseeable.”

Posing as a lost traveler, Alisa inquired among the remaining villagers and heard an absurd tale: “Demons had abducted the children, and Jade’s party had set off to rescue them, followed by worried tribespeople.”

Seeing Alisa’s lingering regret, another subordinate interjected, “From there, we gave our all in the pursuit. The trail was clear, so we hardly strayed. There was no fault in our actions.”

In the midst of the plains, they encountered the Kun nomads returning with about fifty children. Alisa, believing Jade’s party was among them, hid her subordinates and approached.

They were even prepared for a surprise attack. But Jade’s party was not there.

She asked the nomads what had happened.

The abduction of children, the beasts of the plains, the death of the Goat King…

They described Jade’s party as if they were saviors, exaggerating their deeds. Thanks to this, Alisa gleaned some valuable information.

One was that someone in Jade’s party possessed the power to annihilate demons. Another was the formidable combat skills of a red-haired youth.

Though this was already known through the scouts of Fairbang, they hadn’t expected them to defeat the demon known as the Sovereign of the Plains.

“From then on, we tracked them all day. Did we ever stop?”

Alisa asked.

“Never.”

“Was there a chance to go faster?”

“None. Any more speed, and our horses would have perished. Theirs were accustomed to the plains, ridden by hunters.”

“Then we made no mistakes.”

“Indeed. It was only their good fortune, and our caution turned against us. Had we abandoned caution, we might have perished instead of the Goat King.”

At Alisa’s sharp glance, the subordinate flinched and bowed his head.

“Of course, I meant our lives, not yours, Alisa.”

Alisa fell into contemplation again.

To continue the pursuit or to give up.

She felt more attached to the past day than to the month spent traveling from the Duchy of Luna and waiting near Fairbang.

“If it’s alright…

The subordinate who had been listening to her self-reproach suggested,

“Shall I pursue them alone?”

“No. The sentry will spot you. And he won’t just let us pass.”

Hearing her subordinate’s proactive proposal, she felt inclined to give up.

“We return.”

She mounted her horse again.

“The Duke will be disappointed.”

“It can’t be helped. Besides, having entered the Dark Forest at such a time, their chances of survival are slim. Ours too.”

“At such a time?”

“As far as I know, the Dark Forest is at war. Even if we pass the sentry safely, we’d be jumping right into the middle of a battlefield.”

Alisa turned her horse eastward and galloped away.

“…And if their luck protecting them runs out, they will surely come to us.”

♦

“Excuse me, just now…

Sapp looked around, puzzled.

“Did you hear a child’s voice somewhere?”

It should have been cold in the northern part of the Kuman plains, but it was unexpectedly warm. The humidity of the forest made their skin sticky.

“Huh? What sound?”

Exhausted Jade, who had depleted what little energy remained while traversing the forest path without a proper trail, hadn’t quite caught Sapp’s words.

“A child’s voice.”

Jade wiped the sweat from his brow and listened intently, but only the intermittent cries of birds reached his ears.

“I can’t hear anything. What about you, Ruby?”

Ruby too halted her steps and gazed upward at the trees.

The tree was so large that its treetop was barely visible to Jade. The day had not yet darkened, and he wondered if torches would soon be necessary.

Sapph listened longer before speaking.

“I’m sorry. It seems I was mistaken. We can go now, Ruby.”

Despite Sapph’s words, Ruby remained motionless.

“Wrong time, wrong place…” Ruby muttered something cryptic. Jade, catching his breath, thought he had missed Ruby’s words. Sapph approached and asked on his behalf.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve been pondering something the Forest Guardian told me,” Ruby replied, turning swiftly to face Sapph.

“Come to think of it, didn’t you say you smelled something foul starting from the meadow?”

At Ruby’s question, Sapph shuddered slightly. To him, it was as startling as a cat leaping from its spot.

Flustered, Sapph could only bite his lip, unable to speak.

Ruby pressed again.

“Is it still there? The stench?”

“Yes. It is.”

Sapph answered cautiously.

“Which direction now?”

“I’m not sure…”

Sapph continued with difficulty.

“I thought it was the stench of Lamatus. It grew stronger as we entered the meadow.”

“Lamatus is dead. It should have disappeared. But it’s still here, isn’t it?”

Ruby probed.

“Yes. So, I thought it might be the Tyrant’s stench next. It intensified as we neared the Dark Forest.”

“But the Tyrant is also dead.”

“Just because you remove something that smells doesn’t mean the odor vanishes immediately. It’s the same with garbage, food… Maybe the Tyrant too.”

Sapph spoke as if making excuses.

Jade, who had been quietly listening, cautiously spoke up.

“Sapph, it’s okay to tell the truth. No one here will associate you with demons just because you can sense them.”

As Sapph slowly nodded, Ruby asked incredulously.

“What? Were you worried about that? Stop being so timid. Just spill everything you know!”

“…Alright.”

“If what you say is true, and both the Tyrant and Lamatus are dead, then at least the smell should have faded. Has it?”

Ruby inquired.

“Instead, it’s gotten stronger.”

Sapph, gaining a bit of courage, raised his voice slightly.

“But I can’t pinpoint the direction. It’s as if the entire Dark Forest is emitting this foul odor.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear!” Ruby exclaimed, climbing onto a slightly elevated rock and raising her arms triumphantly.

“I can’t smell like Sapph, but I can feel an ominous presence. It’s all over this forest! Jade, don’t you find something odd? Even you should notice.”

Jade shook his head in response.

“I don’t see what’s strange.”

“You obtuse fool!”

“What do you want me to do? Yes, it’s dark and damp here. I get that. But I’ve heard the Dark Forest is supposed to be like this.”

“You may not realize how much humans fear the Dark Forest, but it doesn’t scare me. There were no Guardians or anything like that in my time. And Baltian alone used to traverse the Dark Forest like any other dense forest, learning strategies and tactics from the elves.”

Ruby fiddled with the shackles on her wrists, as if loosening up before a fight.

“Still, I don’t understand.”

“Perhaps it’s natural for you not to know. You lack experience. Surprisingly, Sapph detected it not by experience but by scent. This is a battlefield. It seems even Sapph’s luck couldn’t avoid it.”

“A battlefield…?”

Jade looked around frantically.

“If it’s as you saw, Ruby, then the demon Buffalord, abandoned by the Tyrant, must be about to fight the Forest Guardian! Let’s get out of here!”

“No.”

“You want to get involved in their fight? Save your combativeness for when we’re not around.”

Just then, a thunderous boom resounded.

For a moment, Jade thought the sky had roared. But the vibration came through the ground. He couldn’t pinpoint the source of the sound, nor could he see what happened next.

Suddenly, Ruby changed direction and charged toward Sapph and Jade.

With one hand, she pushed Jade aside and scooped up Sapph, leaping away. Jade tumbled across the ground several times, and Sapph, almost thrown by Ruby, landed in a mud puddle.

A massive tree fell where Sapph and Jade had been standing.

A haze of dust and stone covered the area. The sound of the tree snapping and the loud noise left their ears ringing.

After rolling on the ground several times, Jade lifted his head.

Ruby stood atop the fallen tree and spoke.

“I’m sorry. This was the only way to save both of you safely.”

Though her words were apologetic, her tone was not one of remorse.

“And I didn’t refer to this place as a battlefield merely as a metaphor or simile.”

Ruby let the chains on her wrist dangle at length.

“This is truly the midst of a battlefield where armies clash head-on. Just as the sentinel said, we’ve come to the wrong place at the wrong time, like flowers that have bloomed out of season.”