Chapter 11

"Did you walk here on your own? You've got some guts."

Furau began treating Rio's left ankle, impressed. The strain of using Body Enhancement to force his way here had taken its toll, and Rio's ankle was swollen. He had tried not to pay it much attention, but now that he had rejoined Kari and the others and felt a sense of relief, the pain seemed to intensify.

"Why did you know I was here? We should still be quite far from the village."

To take his mind off his left foot, Rio changed the subject. Kari, who had been leaning against a tree trunk and keeping watch, answered.

"Since you were in the mountains with Bald, I thought if you were alive, you would leave markers as you moved. So, I traced the markers and followed the river upstream. Bald and the others are searching thoroughly from behind, so even if we missed something, they would find it. The biggest danger was being caught by beasts before we found you, so we decided to search widely and quickly. Then, we saw the smoke from the campfire and rushed over."

"Got it. Thanks for coming."

If Kari hadn't arrived in time, Rio might have been killed by a wildcat. Kari turned away, embarrassed by Rio's gratitude.

"You did well to survive. I was worried that the village would lose a decent kid."

"By the way, what about Yudo and the others?"

"I found them and handed them over to Bald and the others. They should be getting scolded by the village chief right now. When I heard that Rio had been swept away, I came to search with Furau and the others."

"Kari was really flustered when he heard that Rio had been swept away. You must really like him."

"Shut up, Furau!"

Kari, annoyed by Furau's teasing, glared into the forest and nodded at Rio.

"Rio, who is that girl?"

Faced with Kari's reasonable question, Rio was at a loss. He knew nothing about her.

Currently, a female adventurer from Furau's group was taking her into the forest to dress her in spare clothes. She would probably return wearing loose-fitting clothes.

"I found her naked here when I was following the river upstream. She doesn't seem to be able to speak, and she was reaching for the campfire, which was dangerous. But when I threw her a coat, she started to put it on after looking at my clothes."

"…I don't understand. From what you've said, she could be a newborn divine spirit or a demonic spirit, but the atmosphere is strange."

"Divine spirit? Demonic spirit?"

"Yeah, you probably don't know. It's not knowledge that's necessary unless you're an adventurer or a knight."

After mumbling about how to explain, Kari continued.

"Evil beasts and divine beasts are transformed from ordinary animals. But divine spirits and demonic spirits are born out of nothing. Famous examples include the evil god Kazha, who destroyed the country of Shweito, and the Night Stalker."

"I've never heard of them."

"If you haven't left the village, that's to be expected. I only learned about them when I went to town. What do you think, Furau?"

Kari asked for Furau's opinion. Furau, while bandaging Rio's left ankle, shook his head.

"I don't know. I didn't hear any rumors of missing persons when I left the guild. Besides, even if she was kidnapped, why would they bring her in this direction? And she didn't have any external injuries."

"From what Rio said, she doesn't seem to be from the village. We might as well take her back to the village and see what we can find out."

"We might get some information if we ask the villagers."

With that, they reached a tentative conclusion. Rio asked about something that had been bothering him.

"Hey, what happened to the evil beast?"

"We recovered the body of the weasel evil beast."

Furau answered, and noticing Rio's expression, he smiled wryly and looked up at Kari.

"This guy, even in this situation, he noticed. I can see why Kari likes him. He's a good scout."

"I don't really like him. Rio, are you worried about the monkey evil beast that injured you?"

"Yeah. It wasn't the weasel evil beast, right?"

"I heard the story and saw the body of the evil beast. That evil beast is not involved. There's at least one more evil beast lurking around."

It seemed Rio's guess was correct.

From Kari's tone, the identity of the evil beast was still unknown.

Rio looked into the forest, in the direction where the girl had gone to change.

"That girl, she's about the same height as me."

"She's not the culprit."

"Did you judge based on mud splashes and injuries?"

Kari laughed softly at Rio's question.

"What, you weren't really suspecting her, were you? You're right, if she were the culprit, she would have been hit by yesterday's heavy rain. She wouldn't be so clean. There are a lot of strange things, but I don't think she's the culprit."

"That's a relief."

"Already attached to her? You fall for people easily, don't you?"

"Stop teasing me."

Caught off guard, Rio glared at Kari.

Kari looked at Rio with amusement and laughed.

By the time Rio's treatment was finished, the female adventurer had returned from the forest with the girl.

The sun had set, but Rio was carried by Furau, and the girl by the female adventurer, as they set off for the village.

Kari went ahead to ensure their safety as they moved upstream.

Despite carrying Rio and the girl, Furau and the others, being active adventurers, ran through the forest without showing any signs of fatigue.

Rio spoke to Furau, who was carrying him.

"Have you known Kari for a long time?"

"He was a former party member. He only reached C-rank, though."

"But he's so strong?"

"Adventurers don't fall behind wild animals. Against large evil beasts, he might die, but that's about his level. You mentioned Bald? Your father, if he had been an adventurer, would have been around C-rank."

Hearing that his father's strength was comparable to that of an average person, Rio felt a mix of emotions as he looked at Kari's back.

Noticing Rio's feelings, Furau smiled softly.

"With experience and knowledge, even without talent, you can efficiently hunt beasts and evil beasts. Kari seemed dissatisfied with that."

"What do you mean?"

"Just that. He became an adventurer to make a name for himself with a sword, but he hit a wall with his talent and couldn't give up, so he kept going to different dojos."

Now that he thought about it, Kari occasionally visited Rio's place and gave him accurate advice, probably due to his experience with dojos.

Rio understood, but Furau had more to say.

"I thought he would settle down after losing his arm on a mission, but then he started drowning in alcohol. The guild branch manager thought it was a waste of Kari's knowledge and hired him to work in the village. I came to check on him when I heard about this mission..."

"Still just drinking and disappointing, huh?"

"Yeah, but he's better than when he was in town. He hasn't reformed, but I was a bit relieved to hear that he rushed out to search for the village kids. His core hasn't changed."

"--- Stop talking nonsense back there. It's distracting!"

Furau shrugged at Kari's angry shout.

"You haven't changed, hiding your embarrassment the same way."