Chapter 07…
The Forest of Death
Kuna scooped up the clear water flowing through the ravine with both hands and brought it to her mouth.
The coldness sliding across her tongue startled her body slightly, but once it flowed down her throat, it transformed into a refreshing blessing.
“…Delicious.”
Again and again, she scooped it up and drank it with delight. It was nothing like the tasteless magic water she was used to.
People say wars break out over a single drop of water in the desert—and now she understood why.
After quenching her thirst sufficiently, Kuna took off her worn-out clothes along with her shoes.
Her soles stepped onto fine sand. As she slowly immersed her body in the cool water—
“Ah—ouch.”
She frowned, but there were no wounds left on her body. Only the lingering sensation of tightened, pulling pain remained around her back.
Last night, Kuna had eaten countless medicinal herbs growing nearby. Probably well over a hundred. Thanks to that, most of the whip-inflicted wounds had healed.
She had also found herbs used to reduce fever and placed them on her forehead, which helped bring her temperature down considerably.
After washing away the dried blood covering her entire body—and cleaning off sweat, grime, and dirt from her face and hair—she felt refreshed.
Kuna got out of the stream and put on the clothes she had hung on nearby bushes to dry.
The linen outfit was a single-piece garment. It was probably meant for a man, as it was far too large for her, but it was still better than wearing torn rags.
She rolled up the long hems and tucked them into her shoes.
Since exposed skin risked insect bites, it was safer not to cut it unnecessarily.
She tied a leather waterskin, which she had picked up along with the clothes, to a waist cord. Water she had just drawn from the stream sloshed inside.
—In Ako Village, this is the heavily restricted “Forest of Death,” but travelers who wander in and die, or adventurers who come for a trial of skill, never stop appearing.
The clothes, cord, and waterskin were all things she had picked up in the forest. There were no owners nearby.
Kuna pressed her hands together and gratefully took them. It might be ruthless, but it was a decision made for survival. Hesitation here would only lead to dying like them.
“Alright, let’s go.”
Steeling herself, Kuna began to walk.
“My destination is the town over there… Wes.”
Wes, the neighboring town separated from Ako Village by the “Forest of Death.”
There was no other place Kuna could go after being exiled from Ako Village.
(Grandma said I might have come from there…)
Kuna only remembered events from a few months before meeting Madeli.
She didn’t really know why she had been alone in the forest. When she became aware of herself, she was already living in the “Forest of Death.”
She assumed her parents were travelers or adventurers who had died in the forest. That was the extent of her thoughts. She had no memory of their faces, and there had never been time to long for parents she couldn’t remember.
Madeli had taken in Kuna, saying she couldn’t keep a freeloader in her home, and had drilled her relentlessly in herbs and plant knowledge.
Everything she experienced in the forest and everything Madeli taught her became part of Kuna’s flesh and blood. Like dry white paper absorbing ink, knowledge became her weapon.
The forest, now entering spring, was dyed in a refreshing green.
But toward the center, the colors grew darker and deeper. The tall trees formed thick layers of branches and leaves, blocking most sunlight. Because of that, it was easy to move even in morning or noon—which was a benefit.
“This looks completely different from when I used to live here.”
Kuna advanced along a path that couldn’t even be called a path, checking for beast footprints as she went.
At the same time, she marked trees with a knife she held in her hand. The knife had been found with the clothes; its tip was chipped, but it was still usable. The magical beasts of the forest were all quadrupeds, so they wouldn’t disarm her of a handheld weapon.
In the forest, landslides could occur if rocks fell, and the ground itself could shift.
There was even a theory that the “Forest of Death” slowly changes its terrain over time. Kuna had once heard the village chief and Madeli say that the forest itself might be expanding.
Since no true route exists, the best method is to remember paths traveled and eliminate options one by one.
“Oh! Safro fruit!”
For once, Kuna raised her voice brightly.
High above on a massive tree stood large red fruits.
They were juicy, sweet like sugar, and rich in nutrients. They were Kuna’s favorite food from when she lived in the forest. The moisture inside was also used as an ingredient for cold medicine.
It was her first proper meal since entering the forest.
Kuna picked up a suitable stone and threw it upward.
The stone struck the targeted branch perfectly, and Kuna caught the falling fruit in both arms.
She had aimed for fruits with brown spots—those were the ripest and sweetest.
She opened her small mouth wide and bit into a fruit as big as her face.
A wave of sweetness flooded her mouth, and her lips relaxed slightly.
“Mmm—delicious!”
She had barely eaten anything sweet for years.
In fact, her meals in the forest were far more luxurious than anything she had eaten while living with Dorf.
—This is a forest inhabited by countless powerful magical beasts.
Once you step inside, you never return. Adults in Ako Village would threaten misbehaving children by saying, “If you do bad things, we’ll leave you in the forest.”
But that also meant that if humans did not enter, there was almost no harm at all.
(They call it the Forest of Death, but…)
Even magical beasts were not stupid.
They understood that if they attacked groups of humans, extermination squads and knight orders would come to wipe them out.
For the beasts, humans were not especially tasty prey either, so they rarely came down the mountain. The forest had abundant food and water sources, making hunting humans unnecessary.
The reason Ako Village suffered almost no beast attacks despite having no proper fences was because the villagers themselves feared the forest and avoided it.
“Grandma used to stay here often because of the rare medicinal herbs…”
That was a secret known only to Kuna and Madeli—both of whom were once found in this forest.
