Chapter 32
At that moment, Ethan and I, without waiting to see who would react first, quickly shed our relaxed expressions and assumed battle stances.
As the forest was called the Beast Forest, there wasn’t a single moment to let our guard down.
“…Scary, scary. Really scary!”
What if a huge beast suddenly jumped out?
I trembled inwardly, filled with fear, but I couldn’t bring myself to show it to Ethan.
The strange tension between us was weighing heavily on me when a presence nearby suddenly burst through the tall grass.
“Ah…?”
Startled by the sudden movement, I instinctively let out a scream, then stopped mid-way, tilting my head in confusion.
It was because a figure had come rushing through the grass.
“…Is that a beast?”
When I spoke in a slightly relieved tone, the red-eyed rabbit that had darted through the grass flinched in surprise.
Even its startled look seemed cute to me, but the rabbit quickly scurried back into the grass.
“…Do all beasts these days rely on cuteness to make an impression?”
It wasn’t even as scary as the monsters that occasionally appeared in the Mage Tower forest.
I had forgotten my earlier fear and muttered in a somewhat deflated voice.
Ethan, who had been watching me, relaxed from his battle stance and stepped slightly closer, his demeanor softening.
“Even though it looks that small, it’s still a beast. It had red eyes, didn’t it?”
At Ethan’s calm words, I turned my head to look at him.
“Do all beasts have red eyes?”
“Yes. The deeper the red, the stronger their magical power, I’ve heard.”
After saying that, Ethan stared at me intently with his deep, glowing red eyes.
Even in the darkness, his gaze radiated a chilling light.
I could feel the crimson glow slowly tightening around me, and I quickly shook my head.
‘Now’s not the time for other thoughts.’
Shaking off my wandering thoughts, I focused on Ethan once more.
“Wow. But that rabbit just now… no, that beast’s eye color was pretty deep. So…”
“Right. Even though it looked weak, the magical power it contained must have been considerable.”
“….”
“If we had shown even the slightest hint of danger… a fight might have broken out right here.”
Hearing Ethan’s chilling words sent a shiver down my spine.
What if I’d tried to reach out because it looked cute?
Goosebumps ran over my entire body, and I thought I had to get out of this dangerous place as quickly as possible.
“Let’s… finish quickly and get out of here. A forest where a beast could jump out anytime—I don’t want to stay here longer than necessary.”
I grabbed Ethan’s coat, urging him forward.
“What was it that Theodor told us to bring? Some kind of blood, right?”
“Majō’s blood. It’s the blue blood of the Majō that supposedly inhabits this Beast Forest.”
“Hah! Why the hell do we need Majō’s blood to make a flying broom?”
This damn Mage Tower master!
Even if I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, he made it impossible!
I shook my head in disbelief, unable to understand Theodor’s logic.
Ethan, apparently intrigued by my spirited complaint about the Mage Tower master, watched silently and then added in his usual calm tone:
“Majō’s blood is effective in magic that makes objects lighter. Though, it’s not something you’d really need for such a low-level spell.”
Ethan criticized Theodor’s ambitious project mercilessly, as if it were nothing special.
This time, I couldn’t argue, as I agreed with Ethan’s assessment, so I didn’t make the foolish mistake of defending Theodor.
“Wow. Just came out of the Mage Tower, and now you’re trashing the master?”
Of course, that didn’t mean I was siding with Ethan.
Forgetting my earlier complaints about Theodor, I latched onto Ethan’s words like a predator who had caught its prey.
When else would I get to tease Ethan like this?
With a face full of baseless confidence, I looked at him.
“Who just shouted ‘damn Mage Tower bastard’ a moment ago?”
“Hah! When did I ever say that! I said ‘damn Mage Tower master,’ not ‘bastard’… Ah.”
…It seemed I wasn’t the predator, but the prey caught by a predator.
Ethan’s teasing tone had me so riled up that I stopped mid-retort and realized my mistake too late.
He looked at me with a face that seemed to say, “See? I told you.”
I hated how much he was enjoying this moment, so I crossed my arms and snorted in mock defiance.
“Anyway! When we get back, I’m telling Theodor everything! Ethan, you—”
“…”
“…Praised Theodor’s ambitious project, didn’t you? Hahaha.”
My bold threats toward Ethan evaporated, and in the end, I had no choice but to lower my head before him.
Ethan’s sharp gaze slowly tightened around me.
‘You said you wouldn’t threaten me! And yet you’re still glaring so fiercely!’
I realized once again that I had been outmaneuvered by Ethan and decided not to argue with him further.
Once things had settled somewhat, Ethan and I slowly began walking toward the center of the forest.
As we ventured deeper, it became immediately clear why this place was called the Beast Forest.
“Looks like… the deeper we go, the stronger the magical energy here gets…?”
“Good eye. They don’t call it the Beast Forest for nothing. It’s a perfect place for beasts to thrive.”
“…Damn Mage Tower master.”
I muttered my habitual complaint about Theodor while scanning around, looking for any sign of lurking beasts.
But it wasn’t easy to detect the presence of beasts in a forest so dense with magical energy.
After a while of scanning nervously, a faint glimmer caught my eye in the dark distance.
It shone like a single beam of light in the darkness, enough to draw my gaze.
‘…What’s that?’
I stepped toward it as if entranced.
As I approached, the glow gradually dimmed.
By the time I reached the source of the light, the glimmer had vanished.
“A dahlia.”
I realized that the bright light I had seen was actually the faint glow of a small white dahlia blooming in the darkness.
Feeling a strange sense of relief, I instinctively bent down to look at it more closely.
“The more I look, the more amazing it is. Even in such a harsh place, it bloomed?”
It reminded me of myself—struggling to survive, even under Ethan’s cruel grip.
Ah, thinking back, surviving the hands of a madman was truly an incredible feat.
Even now, Ethan was behind me…
Huh?
“…Where did Ethan go?”
I tore my gaze from the white dahlia and quickly stood up, scanning the surroundings.
Just a moment ago, he had been walking beside me, but now he was nowhere in sight.
More accurately…
‘…I ran ahead and left Ethan behind.’
Ethan had been walking along fine, but I got distracted and ended up falling behind.
“…I’m doomed, seriously.”
To have lost Ethan in a place this dangerous!
I frantically scanned around, trying desperately to sense his presence.
But I wasn’t usually very sensitive to presences, and the dense magical energy in the forest made it even harder to detect anything.
Rustle—.
“…Again?”
Like before, a faint presence stirred in the thick grass.
I tried to calm my nervous heart, hoping it was just another small rabbit.
But unfortunately, my desperate wish was swallowed by the darkness of the forest.
Grrrr…
From the bushes emerged a massive beast, easily twice my size.
And… it had blood-red eyes.
‘Do all beasts have red eyes?’
‘Yes. The deeper the red, the stronger their magical power.’
…I’m really doomed.
