The Cave

Aiden and I walked towards the north at a speed that would not cause everyone else to feel weird.

The shops were becoming sparse, and once we saw that there weren't any more pedestrians, we dashed down the stone steps at the speed where we were almost going to fall off. After spending about 5 minutes walking towards the bridge above the river, we got past the eyes of the guard in the sentry post before running out of the village.

Unlike the wheat fields that stretched down the horizon in the south, the north of the village had a thick forest. A river circled the hill that formed the village and headed through the forests, extending out of both the north and south of the village. There was a small path with thin grass growing on the river bank.

No matter how far we moved, the scenery of the river on the right and the forest on the left never changed. Along the way, we passed by a lake and a slightly sloped region. I could no longer hear the sound of the bell on the tower of the village which was used to announce the time, and could only deduce the time from the sun that rose bit by bit.

Aiden and I continued to jog down the river, and if it were me from two years ago, I'd be completely breathless in less than 30 minutes. Luckily, now I seemed to have rather high resilience, and I felt that it's more comforting than tiring to move my body. I once suggested to Aiden to go a little faster but Aiden said that if we moved too fast, we might get too exhausted, and we wouldn't be able to move if we don't stop and rest for a long time. Well, his father is a hunter so he probably has far more knowledge regarding such a subject than me. So, I decided to follow his lead.

Just like that, we kept running for 2 hours at a suitable speed, but there was still no sign of the 'thing' in front of us. Speaking of which, based on the time now, it might already be time for lunch. If I don't turn back and return now, My family might become suspicious. The restlessness and anxiety spread through my mouth with a slightly metallic smell. Just as I was about to call out Aiden to head back, he broke the silence.

「I see it, Claude.」

I lifted my face, and as he said, at the break of the forest, I could see greyish-white rocks lining up.

Both of us dashed down the remaining few hundred meters left and stopped at the grassy patch that became gravel. I panted in a slightly heavy manner and looked up at the scene in front of me in a dumbstruck manner.

I am probably dreaming—the changes in area were too clear-cut, causing me to think of saying such a thing. There was only a very narrow buffer zone splitting it, and abruptly, it became a rocky mountain that was almost vertical. The amazing thing was that if I raised my hand, the places I could touch were covered with thin snow. I didn't know how tall it was, but there was pure white light flashing nearby.

The snowy mountains extended out to both left and right sides of where I stood until I could no longer see them.

「Is this...the Mountain range at the Edge?」

I whispered with disbelief. Aiden nodded.

「But wait.....isn't the Mountain range the start of the deeper part of the forest? How did we end up here?」

I was at a loss of words. It's just like he said, the Mountain range is the start of the deeper part of the forest. I have heard the village hunters and soldiers discussing that their weekly patrols always end near the Mountain range as the difficulty of monsters exponentially increases past this point.

「...It's so close to us.」

I sighed as I continued and subconsciously tilted my head. It was a road that had no obstacles, no split paths and a distance that could becover in 2.5 hours just by walking faster. It was like— like it was luring us, luring the residents over to the area. Or it may be the other way around, inviting monsters from their territory to invade...

Aiden turned to me, who was trying to look relaxed and said anxiously.

「Then, let's hurry. Once we find the 'thing' and we pull back, we might even be able to go back to the village while it's still bright.」

「Ah, ahh... you're right.」

Well, I am already late for lunch. If I am going to get scolded anyway, might as well see this to the very end.

I looked over at where he was pointing at, and I could see that the river we walked down was being sucked in —or rather, flowing out—from a protruding hole in the wall.

「Is that it...」

I muttered.

We jogged in. The height and width of the wall weren't small, and on the left side of the trail of water that was flowing, there was a stone path wide enough for two people to walk side by side. The hole was completely covered in darkness, and there would occasionally be acold wind blowing.

「Oi, Aiden...how do we light this place?」

I had completely forgotten about the necessary items needed for exploring a cave and panicked when I said it. I mean I never expected to reach this far in the first place. Aiden nodded with an expression indicating to leave it to him and raised a piece of grass that even I didn't know when he had picked up.

What are you going to do with a bristlegrass?

Just when I looked forward in a dumbstruck manner, Aiden took out a match and started lighting the grass.

Just when I was startled—

The tip of the grass Aiden grabbed onto letting out a bluish-white light with a *swoosh* and the brightness was enough to illuminate several meters of darkness. Aiden raised it and stepped into the cave.

My surprise didn't fade at all as I hurriedly followed him and walked beside him, asking,

「Ai-Aiden... just now, that was?」

Aiden frowned sternly, but showed a delighted expression as he answered,

「I already brought a box of matches just in case stuff like this happened. I have been planning this from last night you know?」

So he had been planning all this without knowing whether I would accept to go or not? Talk about counting your chicks before they hatch. Well, I am not the one to say anything since I came along anyway. In such an eerie place, the thought of playing a prank on him came to my mind but I gave up for now and stared at the darkness in front of me.

The moist grey stone path was meandering forward. The icy cold wind that could cut the skin blew over at me from the front. I had an ally with me, but I didn't even have a wooden stick, let alone a sword, which worried me.

「I say... Did something fall last night in such a place...?」

I couldn't help myself from muttering. Aiden silently used the glowing bristlegrass to light the ground.

「Ah...」

The bluish-white ball of light showed a shallow frozen puddle. The centre of the puddle was trampled upon, creating cracks all around. I tried to step on it, and the ice let out a cracking sound as the cracks became bigger. Aiden and I laughed at such a peculiar sight.

My back that had been tensing up for some reason relaxed at this point— and this moment.

There was a strange sound that came with the wind coming from the darkness in front of us. Aiden and I glanced at each other.

*Gii*,*Gii*

That sound seemed to be some cry from a certain kind of bird or wild beast.