Xinahiru Forest

Chapter - 34

Moreira’s lips pressed tightly together. He did not know how to respond, and he believed that whatever answer lingered in his mind right now would not be trusted so easily.

After thinking it over for a moment, and feeling increasingly uncomfortable as Zavi and the woman sitting beside him kept staring his way, Moreira was forced to open his mouth.

He let out a slow breath, then spoke in a stammering tone. “S-So, earlier, when I was sitting on the bench and casually looking around the station, I saw that woman coming down the stairs and staring at me with a terrifying expression, like a wild beast that had found its prey. Then she came straight toward me. I do not know how she realized where I was, but I immediately asked her what her purpose was in coming here.”

Zavi did not immediately believe his words. To be certain, he turned directly to the woman. “Is what he said true?”

The woman slowly turned her head. Behind her cold expression lay a hidden terror as her gaze met Zavi’s. Even so, she tried to remain calm. Her human form must not fade, or she would be dragged back to the ruined world where spirits resided. With composure, she answered his question to conceal that fear.

“Yes,” the woman replied, drawing in a breath before continuing. “The man beside me is very unique. I want to stay with him a little longer.”

Moreira frowned, unable to understand what was going through the woman’s mind, fear creeping in as he observed her behavior.

“But may I join this journey?” the woman asked, seeking confirmation.

“Do whatever you want,” Zavi replied reluctantly.

“Okay,” the woman murmured, raising her thumb.

As the two of them already knew, the woman, who was in truth a third rank evil spirit, Nammeridya, had been wandering across Moran, passing through seven districts in search of a worthy prey.

Eventually, she arrived in the Chapena district, walking calmly along Road No. 10. After not long, she sensed a pressure of energy that she judged to be suitable prey after such a long search, and that was what led her to enter the café.

She felt it, and she saw it clearly. There were two presences. One was faint yet powerful, while the other was spiritual energy overflowing so violently that it filled the room and enveloped the entire café building.

The door opened, and an unpleasant sight greeted her at once.

“Impossible. A fifth rank is here?”

Those words crossed her mind as the two of them glanced at her after the bell rang, signaling that the door had closed on its own once she was fully inside the room.

...

After passing through the city of Minehold, located in the southeastern part of the kingdom, and stopping at station after station according to the city’s standard operating procedures, they finally arrived at a region with a small station that looked deserted in the late afternoon. The station stood at the very edge of a village, directly bordering a vast forest called Xinahiru, which marked the boundary between Minehold and Greysia.

This afternoon.

The journey through the forest was far from easy. The woods, rumored to be filled with terrifying monsters, evil spirits, and strange creatures roaming everywhere, carried an air that felt vastly different, heavier, colder, and oppressive to the soul.

Earlier, a coachman had been involved in trading herbal concoctions in Minehold, concoctions meant to restore the body’s health. The transaction took too long, and he failed to notice that the day had grown late. The goods were not his; he merely worked for someone else.

With no money to stay the night, his resolve hardened. He planned to cross that dreadful forest with nothing but a knife and his courage. His child and wife were waiting for him at home, and that alone drove him forward.

In the end, he encountered the three of them at the village border and offered them protection, under one condition: free passage. The coachman considered the offer. No one would lose, and both sides would benefit. Without hesitation, he accepted.

“Thank the gods. They helped me.” The man thought in relief.

The presence of strong spiritual energy within the forest caused some animals to mutate into monsters of terrifying strength. Among them were creatures capable of spewing fire, water, or wind from their mouths, and they often attacked humans if they felt their territory was threatened.

Throughout the journey, the three of them witnessed strange phenomena several times. Fruits were thrown toward the carriage, screams echoed, trees collapsed, and cries for help rang out, coming from other evil spirits dwelling in the forest.

Yet none of those disturbances ever escalated into a serious attack. It was as if those spirits were aware that among these humans stood a third rank spirit.

Among those spirits, a question arose. Why was she traveling with humans? What was she planning?

It was not only the disturbances that made their skin crawl. Their hearts pounded when they were forced to confront a group of fox monsters, creatures that had transformed into monsters called Chalog, capable of launching fireballs from their mouths.

However, thanks to the woman’s presence, the group of Chalog was subdued within seconds, even before their fireballs could reach their targets.

The woman’s goal was simple. To protect them. Or perhaps… it was her interest in Moreira that became the reason behind her actions.

“Wow. Miss, you’re amazing to be able to defeat a whole group of Chalog!” The man said, unable to hide his admiration.

Zavi and Moreira both showed expressions of astonishment.

“Thank you,” the woman replied indifferently.

Around twenty minutes after passing through the terrifying forest and facing the unexpected situation of battling a group of Chalog along the way, their destination finally came into view. From afar, the bright lights of Greysia welcomed them, causing the tension and fear they had felt earlier to fade away.

“Ugh. I cannot imagine what would have happened if I had not brought that woman along. Thank you, Moreira, for your cooperation!” Zavi thought, unable to dispel his panic as he recalled the earlier incident with a Chalog that had once been a wild forest cat, which had tried to pounce on him and failed, yet still managed to bite off his little finger.

After entering the city, they were all able to breathe in relief as the memories of the forest faded behind them.

“Ah, damn it,” the man said as he pounded his chest. He then turned and looked at Zavi with a pale face, worried, sympathetic, and too uneasy to ask directly about his condition.

“Sir… are you alright?”

Zavi’s jaw tightened as he recalled the incident.

“Ah. It’s fine. Just a bit of pain from losing this finger,” Zavi replied, his lips trembling violently.

“Do not pretend to be strong, Sir.”

Zavi’s eyes widened. He turned his head and stared deeply at the man’s back, his thoughts drowning in the words that had just been spoken.

“Huh. If you are willing, would you all like to stop by my house? As a token of thanks for protecting me, and I want to treat that wound,” the man murmured, his mind easing.

Moreira and the woman sat side by side, watching Zavi, who sat across from them with his gaze lowered, his left hand wrapped in bandages still seeping blood. They waited for an answer to leave his mouth.

Zavi slowly lifted his head. His feelings were a tangled mix of sadness and irritation.

He realized it clearly after leaving his home, after directly testing his Prisoner ability on people passing by on the streets.

As expected, the ability did not activate if there was no malicious intent toward him.

But why did that creature not trigger the Prisoner ability? Was it not trying to attack me? Or do I not truly understand how Prisoner works? Those questions spun endlessly in Zavi’s mind.

After thinking it through carefully, he chose not to reveal the truth about his Prisoner ability.

He decided to refuse the man’s invitation, either because his ability did not function as he had expected, or because something was blocking it. He remained wary, in case the man harbored murderous intent toward him and the two people sitting before him, who were watching him intently, waiting for an answer.

Zavi glanced at the two of them, then said in a frustrated tone, “No. Thank you for the offer.”

After saying that, he let out a soft hiss, not expecting the wound to burden both his body and his mind. Several minutes later, in the Luand district of Greysia City, on Road No. 5 near the forest area, the horse drawn carriage they were riding came to an abrupt stop.

It halted beside a row of warehouses with wide yards, warehouses belonging to the man’s boss. He came here to return the horse to its stable and feed it. After that, he began unloading the remaining wooden crates containing herbal concoctions.

Before leaving the place, the two of them, Zavi and Moreira, expressed their thanks for the ride. While leading the black horse into the warehouse, the man raised his left hand, and his figure slowly vanished, swallowed by the dim light cast by the gas lamps outside the building.

They turned away, their gazes fixed ahead as they walked through the city streets at night with a single goal, to gather information about herbal concoctions in this district, and one additional purpose, to find a remedy so that Zavi’s nightmares would disappear and the strange sensation Moreira felt at night would vanish from his body forever.