Chapter 234 – Penance.
Thump, thud. Has it been raining since yesterday? I could hear the sound of rain hitting the ceiling in my ears. After all, the raft and the rugs on it didn’t stop all the rain, so the moisture got between my toes and my damp clothes. In addition to that, the nasty smell that pierces your nose from early morning and forcibly wakes you up. On a morning that could hardly be described as refreshing, Usher awoke with a groan. Perhaps because of this, he frowned at the stabbing headache and stood up hugging the bag he had slept on instead of the blanket.
“Oh, are you awake?”
“Okay, yes.”
It felt like my back was twitching, perhaps because I slept on the floor with only a rug in the narrow space made by tilting the raft, but it seemed to be okay. Even so, it was better than falling asleep lying on the floor oozing gray ooze. As I rubbed my eyes at the blurry sight, I could see that it wasn’t just him who had just woken up after falling asleep.
“It’s foggy here too.”
Because a thick fog was enveloping them. It was a fog that I was used to as I was already homeless.
“Ugh, the smell.”
I didn’t think I would get used to the disgusting smell of fog. Maybe thanks to that, I fell asleep quickly.
“What are you doing?”
Usher noticed Krikaliev’s figure and didn’t know what to say.
“What are you doing? I’m cleaning the Karambisque.”
Because he was polishing the upper of the Karambisque with a cloth to make the already shiny upper more shiny. Karam Bisque, as if it were uncomfortable, bumped his claw jaws and struggled, stirring his feet, but he was unable to fly and struggled because he had already wrapped his back with a rope made from torn fabric. As I watched him, Krikaliev held out something.
“Now, eat. It should be enough to eat.”
What he held out was a biscuit slightly smaller than the palm of his hand. It was the dry amount that Nausicaa had given them to eat. The surface was hard and warm as if it had been grilled over an open fire. However, the thumb-thick figure didn’t look appetizing either, but I could feel it crispy and crumbly when I took a bite with my eyes closed.
“Is this emergency food?”
I knew that Nausicaa was a good cook, but she ate it without expecting it because she was dry in the end. The crispy chewy yet easily crumbly surface, and the thin layers of flour piled up in layers were a bit damp, but crumbled together when you bit into it with your teeth, and the savory taste enhanced the savory taste. I couldn’t believe it when I thought that it was dry even though it had a feeling that it was less than freshly made cookies or bread.
“It’s a simple trick. What does it taste like if you just soak it in water? It takes a little longer, but if you bake it several times over a fire, the tongue will be edible.”
When Nausicaa baked her biscuits, she did sprinkle some more salt on them. As Krikaliev said, he also took a biscuit into his mouth. In front of him, he caught a glimpse of biscuits being moistened and browned by the blazing bonfire, scattering the fog.
– Podok Podog
In the meantime, watching Krikaliev steadfastly wiping the upper part of Karambisk struggling with his leg with a cloth, Usher burst out laughing. He pulled the rug and walked over to him, and the horse looked at him, flapping its ears in delight. Although it was not a sunny day, morning came today. After breakfast with biscuits baked over an open fire, they dismantled the shelter they had built. The rug and things were washed away in the light rain, and they were tied to a rope, and Krikaliev tied the rope and led them.
“Isn’t that enough for words to pull?”
“It’s still weak compared to Sbadil Ferry, but if you drag it to a place like this, you’ll get tired faster.”
The muddy ground is crushed with every step and sheds gray ooze.
“You’re on your way right now, right?”
Usher hit him on the head, then raised his shield against the rain that kept blocking his eyes and blocked the rain instead. The rain, which cooled and washed her head and body, was good at first, but as it went on, it continued to intensify, overlapping with the thicker fog, making it difficult to see ahead. The sound of the rain pounding on Krikaliev’s armor is also heard louder than before in the fog.
“There’s no need to worry about getting lost. Don’t worry.”
“Then I’m glad.”
I briefly questioned his strangely certain words, but I was just moving on, thinking there might be another way he knew. I heard him click his tongue.
“Tsk, I was going to keep going forward, but I need to turn the road for a while.
“Yes? Why suddenly?”
“For now, stop talking and follow me.”
There was no other way for Usher to rely on Krikaliev anyway, so I calmly turned around and started walking on the path he led, when I heard him tearing the fabric.
“What the hell are you doing?”
I could tell that he was right next to me, but I could barely see his shape because of the mist that filled my eyes in the pouring rain.
“Take it.”
“What is this?”
Soon, what he held out was a piece of cloth that could barely cover his face. He didn’t know where to use the piece of cloth until it was drenched in water, so he held it up and asked.
“Instead of a mask. Put it on his face and cover his nose and mouth.”
He didn’t know why, but Usher obediently covered his nose and mouth with a wide piece of cloth, stretched out a bit more, and tied it up so it wouldn’t fall off his face. I thought I needed a mask because of the smell that kept bothering my nose. It was when the wet cloth touched my nose and I felt the thick smell of water covering the stench, and I exhaled more comfortably. He felt the rain stop and the mist dissipate.
“Hi, it’s going to be more of a headache than I thought.”
“Yes?”
I thought I would be able to see a little bit now, but I heard some disappointing words from Krikaliev.
“Little boy. I have to run a little. Do you think it will be okay?”
“Am I going to run now?”
“Okay.”
-Pureuk!
Usher immediately tapped the horse’s right leg, and the horse soon picked up speed and began to run. It was thanks to the memory of riding a horse and running for practice. Still, he hadn’t been ridden for quite some time, so I was worried that the horse still remembered, but the horse still seemed to remember the cues he gave it. However, because the ground was so wet, even if the horse ran, it did not seem to come out as fast as it should.
“It’s slower than I thought!”
“It doesn’t matter! Run all the way forward!”
He cried out in case the problem was a problem, but there was no problem. He checked the figure of Krikaliev, who was running alongside the horse, and looked ahead. The amount of rain water decreased, but as I started running, it was painful to feel the heavy rain hitting my face. It was difficult to open my eyes because of this, but it was when I opened my eyes to the raindrops that soon became meaningless. A huge shadow was reflected on the other side of the road they were advancing on.
“Where are we going?!”
Even in a world full of gray light, the shadow big enough to reveal its presence looked like a giant spear blade. It looked like a mountain, with the top of its entire body barely visible when he looked up, but Usher had never heard of a mountain with such a strange and smooth shape. Also, although there are slight differences in size, it was questionable whether huge objects of the same shape were lined up in jagged rows, as well as pitch-black in the misty fog, whether they were really mountains.
“Once you go, you’ll know!”
At the tip of my nose, the smell of the water that the mask covered was still permeating.
“…What is this place?”
The place he arrived at after running was a strange place beyond Usher’s imagination. The rain that had been pouring down has already stopped and the fog has dissipated. A fluffy wad of cotton floats in front of him, and large things similar to it are rolling around on the ground. It looks like a space made of cotton balls, but when you lie down on it, it bothers you that the place where they are growing is soggy gray soil. Besides, it wasn’t just those cotton balls that stood out.
“Forest of Fungi. I’ve heard rumors that it’s in Ragado, but it’s the first time I’ve seen it myself.”
Usher realized that the identity of the musty smell that had been felt even through the mask from earlier was familiar. It was the same as the smell of mold that used to be an annoyance when it swept all over the house on summer days when it rained incessantly.
“You mean this is all mold?”
“Maybe not all of them. Mushrooms seem to be mixed in a bit too.”
I thought I knew why I was reluctant about things like that big wad of cotton. It was only large, but that appearance was the same as the white fungus growing. But even so, there were things I didn’t understand.
“Couldn’t that big pillar be mold?”
It was black, the top of which I could barely see when I came here. It was bigger than I thought. It was so large that even if several adults stretched out their hands, it would take dozens of people to surround it.
“It’s a fungus called Javelin Taxite. After all, it’s a colony of fungi.”
Usher looked at the pillar again in disbelief. It was bigger and taller than any tree he had ever seen, so he could mistake it for a mountain, but he couldn’t believe it was fungus. When I stretched out my hand and touched the glossy surface, it seemed like I was touching a hard cushion, not mold.
“Let’s stop watching and go inside.”
“Here?”
It is true that the appearance of a fungus larger than a tree is mysterious, but I wondered if it was a little strange to enter a forest where numerous fungi and mushrooms could be seen besides the javelin taxite, but I had no choice but to follow Krikaliev and go inside. As I entered the forest, I saw colorful mushrooms everywhere. It wasn’t as big as the Javelin taxite, but the size of them was formidable, and molds that danced with round objects hanging from their slender bodies like threads were visible everywhere.
The forest of fungi, which is so bizarre that it is unknown whether they have become smaller or whether everything has grown larger than them, and boasts more colorful colors than the green forest, is caught in the fog and makes the appearance even more mysterious. He hesitated before entering, but once he entered, he was distracted by the scene, and he heard someone else’s voice somewhere.
“…!”
The muffled sounds of conversation could be heard vaguely from beyond the forest of fungi.
“Do people live here?”
“Looks like they’ve already been chasing you.”
I thought that people lived in such a place, but I was frozen by Krikaliev’s words as he returned.
“Aren’t they the people who live here?”
“The people who live here will be right. The problem is they’re after us.”
“Why are they targeting us!?”
Usher couldn’t understand. Until they came here, they hadn’t met anyone and hadn’t done anything to cause harm. They haven’t done anything particularly targetable, so why are they targeting them?
“Do you remember the valley you saw when you just arrived in Lagado?”
“Ugh, yes. Why are you there all of a sudden?”
Usher didn’t care and the scene he had been trying to forget came up before his eyes and gave him nausea, but he swallowed it.
“Who do you think made that sight?”
Usher shuddered at the cold feeling on his arm. Certainly, it was too strange to be a natural place. The water in one place was full of corpses that made it rot, the black ropes connecting the valley, the corpses hanging between them, and the broken ropes that filled the walls of the cliffs. Everyone was saying it was done by humans, and I was wondering why I hadn’t realized it until now.
“It’s a slaughterhouse. It’s also a space where they decorate and show off the remaining loot after hunting.”
