Chapter 9

Feeling the light behind his eyelids, Rio woke up.

"Damn... it hurts!"

He couldn't help but cry out in pain as the coldness of his drenched clothes and the intense pain from even the slightest movement of his body hit him. With tears in his eyes, Rio managed to sit up and looked around.

"...I'm still alive, somehow."

The scene before him was one of devastation.

Felled trees, large rocks covered in mud, and the dead body of a deer that had been unfortunately swept away along with Rio. Rio himself was not unscathed. His drenched clothes were mud-stained and torn in places, with a deep gash on his right arm and his left ankle swollen. The mixture of muddy water and red blood trickled down his forehead. The body reinforcement he had applied at the last moment when the floodwaters engulfed him had probably saved his life.

Carefully avoiding putting weight on his throbbing left ankle, Rio walked to the shade of a tree and leaned against the trunk, looking up at the sky.

"It's already morning... The rain has stopped, which is lucky, I guess."

The sun, which had been setting when he lost consciousness, now seemed to be rising. Using the mountains in the distance to orient himself towards the village, Rio looked at where he had been lying. Water was trickling by. Following this stream might lead him back to where he had been separated. However, the flood that had swept him away might not have been a one-time event. If he carelessly approached the stream and got swept away again, it could be fatal this time.

"My dad would probably say to stay put and wait for rescue in a situation like this."

He had been taught survival techniques by his father, Baldo, during hunting trips. But in his current situation, he couldn't afford to wait for rescue.

If Rio's assessment was correct, he had been carried quite far downstream. The flood had followed an old river, but it was unclear how many tributaries it had. For Baldo and the others, the search area would be vast, and it could take several days to reach Rio.

On the other hand, Rio had no food or water. Covered in wounds and the scent of blood, he was an easy target for carnivorous beasts, which had been avoiding hunting due to the influence of evil beasts and were now starving.

"If I wait, I'll die."

The situation was quite desperate, and a dry laugh rose in Rio's throat.

"Oh, I have food, though."

Seeing the unfortunate deer that had been swept away with him, Rio thought. He picked up a suitable stone and threw it with all his might at a large rock. The stone broke with a crack, and he used the pieces to dismember the deer's leg.

One leg would be enough to sustain him for a while. He removed the hind leg by dislocating the joint, held it in both hands, and looked upstream. Since he had been carried by the flood, he would have to climb up the slope from here. Considering the state of his swollen left ankle, he had to be careful not to overexert himself.

Rio left the flood site and entered the forest, marking the tree trunks with the stone as he slowly climbed the slope. The temperature wasn't too low, so he didn't feel too cold as long as he kept moving. Wincing at the pain and heat in his left ankle, Rio climbed the slope with heightened vigilance.

Suddenly, a sound from above made him jump, and he braced himself against the tree trunk. Hearing the flapping of wings, Rio looked up and saw a bird staring down at him, causing him to relax.

"Don't scare me like that..."

While his body was weak, his mind was even more fragile. He reminded himself that this was a matter of life and death. The more he lost hope, the closer death would come. He cautiously continued, feeling uneasy about his slippery footing. Occasionally, he saw wild birds, but there were no signs of the carnivorous beasts he feared.

From time to time, he emerged at the site of the flood to check his direction and marked trees with arrows. Although it wasn't necessary for him to follow the stream upstream, it was a precaution to avoid missing the search party coming from upstream.

"Ah, a fork in the road."

Arriving at a point where the flood's path split into two, Rio let out a deep breath. The discovery of a significant change gave him a sense of steady progress. Most importantly, the fact that water was still flowing was a relief. If the stream had been blocked upstream, the water would have stopped flowing.

Still, he had to remain vigilant. He was also increasingly concerned about his mud-stained clothes. Most importantly, he needed to wash away the blood to avoid being attacked by beasts attracted by the scent. Rio took off his raincoat, washed it with water, and hung it on a branch to dry while washing the blood from his arms and head. The water, though not clean due to the recent rain, was less risky than the threat of beasts.

Deciding to rest until his coat dried, Rio looked up at the sky from the shade. He vaguely recalled something from the previous day and tilted his head.

"...Why was that evil beast the same size as a regular weasel?"

What came to mind was the sense of unease he felt when he saw the dead body of the evil beast rolling in the rain. Despite its aggressive and greedy nature and its use of magic, it didn't seem to be well-fed. Perhaps it had become an evil beast recently and hadn't had enough time to accumulate fat.

"But, what's bothering me is something else..."

Rio didn't know much about evil beasts. It was possible that they didn't accumulate unnecessary fat. The sense of unease he felt when he saw the evil beast yesterday was of a different kind. Unable to grasp the source of the unease, he put on his damp coat and ended his rest.

He tried to switch his thoughts to something he could consider after returning, but walking alone left him with too much time to think. Gradually, his thoughts drifted towards the source of the unease. As he cautiously advanced through the forest, Rio stopped to carve a mark on a tree trunk.

"Right, the wound."

The wound on the evil ape that his father, Baldo, had killed. According to Kalil, a former adventurer, the wound was caused by a sharp blade swung from above. The depth and angle of the wound suggested that the attacker was about the same height as Rio.

The evil weasel from yesterday was the same size and shape as a regular weasel. It seemed unlikely that it could have swung a blade from above. The magic it used involved shooting branches at high speed, which would pierce or penetrate rather than cause deep cuts. If it had caused any cuts, they would have been shallow.

Realizing this, Rio's blood ran cold.

"There are still evil beasts in the mountains...?"

If the evil beast that had wounded the evil ape was still around, it would explain why he hadn't seen any carnivorous beasts.

He tried to think quickly. Was it correct to follow the flood path upstream, now that it was more visible? What about the deer meat he was carrying? Should he see it as emergency food or a dangerous item that could attract beasts with its raw meat scent? Eating it here was an option, but he couldn't eat it raw. Starting a fire would take time, and he couldn't afford to set up camp here. The area was too open, and there was no place to hide.

Despite his thoughts, Rio didn't stop walking. He knew that standing still wouldn't solve anything. While remaining vigilant, he searched for a place to camp where he could hide. That's when he noticed something.

In the gap between the trees, under the dappled sunlight, was a white figure. The white skin, illuminated by the cool, filtered light, seemed to reflect the light. The remnants of rain that had fallen from the leaves touched the skin and dripped to the ground like a slide. Despite the figure's ethereal presence, which seemed to blend with the surrounding nature, there was a unique presence that instinctively confirmed its existence. The only thing that proved it wasn't an illusion but a real presence in this world was the mud on its two white, slender legs. Still, Rio couldn't believe his eyes.

The figure, a girl in her natural state, turned her head silently and looked at Rio with emotionless eyes through her gray hair.