Chapter 128

A fact has been definite as we progressed through the Demon Zone.

[—The closer we go towards the depths, the stronger the monsters are.]

The monsters we encountered were getting stronger the further we go.

The variations of strength of the species living in that area have decreased.

They were still monsters that Seras and Eve could handle but…

My Abnormal State Skills still preserved its record of a hundred percent success rate.

However, we still haven’t encountered any Human-Faced.

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Step by step, stone by stone, I finally arrived at the opposite shore.

In the last step, Eve pulled my hand and helped me on my final step.

Eve had first hopped her way to the other shore and waited there for her comrades.

Saying my thanks, I placed down the luggages I’m carrying on the ground.

Currently, we have just crossed a river.

The water flowing in this river is slightly muddy.

The river has risen a bit due to the rain this morning.

There weren’t any bridge built around here.

However, there are some stones that we could use as footholds.

We would be able to cross the river and reach the other shore as long as I followed these stones.

Based on our light observations, it would take a lot of time for us if we were to pass through a detour.

Therefore, we decided to cross through here.

[The next one is Liz.]

Standing on the opposite shore, Liz looks down at the river surface at her feet.

Thinking of warning her, I called out.

[There were some slippery spots on the stone, so be careful with your steps, okay?]

[Y- Yes, Touka-sama.]

Liz stretches her legs and steps on the nearest stepping stone.

Eve groans.

[U- Umu… As I thought, I guess I should have carried her behind my back.]

[She herself wanted to do it. We should respect her decisions, however spontaneous it may be.]

[But Touka, what if she slips and—]

[I- I’m alright, Big Sister.]

Liz then leaps towards the next stepping stone.

[If I were to rely on Big Sister on just something like this, I would end up thinking that I’m useless—]

Slip

[Ah!]

Liz slipped on a wet rock.

[Pigii~!]

Catch—

Pigimaru stretched out its body like a rope and caught Liz’ body.

Liz managed to not fall and she stabilized her step on the stepping stone.

[Ah— Thank you, Pigimaru-chan…]

[Pinii~♪]

[…Also, sorry I’ve troubled you.]

[Pininii~]

The tip of his protrusion swayed left and right.

It’s kind of similar to how we shake our heads.

“Don’t worry about it~”

It seems that he’s trying to say something like that.

Recently, he has been showing what he wants not by his color but by his movement.

[Phew…]

Eve lets out a sigh of relief and relaxes her posture that looks like she’s about to jump towards the river.

She then looked up towards me.

[It seems you’ve already prepared a safety measure in case something happens.]

[Well, yeah.]

I’ve already given Pigimaru some instructions in advance.

If it looks like it would be dangerous for Liz, I want you to help her right away.

With that child’s weight, even Pigimaru’s own power is enough to pull her up.

[If Liz looks like she wants to do something herself, I want her to do it as much as she could.]

Eve looks like she wants to say something.

[Is it that strange that I care so much about Liz?]

[Umu, I’ve never thought you’d be. Do you like children?]

[…Liz kind of resembles me back then.]

With the assistance of Pigimaru acting as her lifeline, Liz gets closer to the shore.

Eve looks like she realized something.

[Now that I recalled about that time we stepped into the White Coin… Touka, that is to say you—]

[Well, that’s how it is. It might have been more for my self-satisfaction than you think.]

Eve looked quite troubled.

[Umu. I never expected that you also went through a harsh life, too.]

[I was helped out at some point in my life. Though I said that, I haven’t felt that I’m thoroughly free from my past even after I was saved.]

I held out a hand and pulled Liz.

Did she notice the changes in our situation?

Liz alternately looked at me and Eve.

[D- Did something happen?]

[It’s nothing— Also, you should pay attention to people who answer like that. Usually, it would be something that they don’t want others to hear.]

Hearing my advice, Liz turns towards Eve.

[Big Sister, is that how it is…? Umm… It’s because I failed to cross over myself…]

[That’s not it. We definitely weren’t talking about that.]

Eve decisively denies it.

Her impression of being stupidly honest had been quite prominent already.

However, she’s still quick-witted even at times like this.

That’s Eve Speed.

[I’ve never heard much about relationships between Elves and Humans… When it comes to High Elves and Humans though, information about them would be even more limited than the former. We’re talking about his question about what race would his child be if Touka had a child with Seras. However, it’s still early for Liz to hear— Hmm?]

Slip

It appears that as Seras was about to step into the final stepping stone before the shore, she lost her footing and slipped.

Splash!

Quickly turning around, Liz leans forward.

[Seras!?]

▽

[……Is it really alright for us to move without drying your body first?]

I handed a dry cloth towards Seras.

Receiving the cloth, she starts wiping her hair.

[My apologies. I mean, it must have been because I’ve lost the nervousness from the monsters we’ve encountered… that I have become negligent. I’m quite embarrassed.]

Seras looks a bit shy as she looks down on the ground.

Well, it wouldn’t be unusual for her to be disturbed when a conversation about my and her child suddenly jumps out of the blue.

And, that disturbance made her lose her footing.

Even I was thinking “Where in the world did Eve pull that out?”.

Even if you’re trying to deceive her, there should be more than one thing you could have said rather than that…

However, it seems Eve herself doesn’t understand what’s going on.

I don’t really know now whether this were-leopard is insensitive or quick-witted.

[Well, Eve and I thought that you’d be able to cross the river without any problem. I had believed that you could easily do it, that’s why we’re delayed when we finally realized what happened.]

Even Pigimaru never thought that Seras would fall down.

However, he immediately rescued Seras when she fell in the river.

Her clothes were still drenched though.

[Kushun~]

Seras sneezed.

[It would be bad if you get a cold. For the time being, wear this.]

I took off the Great Sage’s robe and gave it to her.

[No no, it’s okay.]

I forcibly pushed the robe to her.

I don’t think she looks or sounds like she doesn’t like it.

Her shyness was clearly visible.

Seras is the type who would typically say no if you don’t press her this much…

[Then… Excuse me, I’ll be borrowing it.]

Brushing past its nose, Seras comfortably snuggled into the robe.

[……………]

Her body shrank and she buried her nose on the robe.

Is she checking if it smells…?

I immediately expressed my misgivings.

[……I’m sorry if it kinda smells.]

[Ah—- No, there’s no problem with it.]

[Fuunnn… Are you saying that my smell isn’t that bad?]

[I guess so.]

[…….I see.]

I said that as a joke though…

I immediately go back to how I usually act.

Well, let’s just interpret this as she’s quite favorable towards me.

Eve is leading in the front right now.

Liz is standing behind her.

While walking alongside Seras, I looked around the vicinity.

When I checked the time earlier, it was just around 2 PM.

Usually, it would still be pretty bright outside around this time.

However, it was quite dark around us because of the denseness of the forest.

As we proceed, the number of large trees blocking our sight have also increased.

The large trees also had proportionally large leaves and thick branches.

Those trees were probably the ones blocking the sunlight.

Nevertheless, the change in scenery is proof that we’re advancing.

[Hey, Seras.]

[Yes? What is it?]

[I’d like to ask some questions about monsters… Back then, I encountered a two-headed were-leopard. And, that guy was also a Golden-eyed monster.]

(T/N: It’s those two-headed panthers back in Disposal Ruins. The characters of both leopard and panther were the same and I’m not sure about what exactly the monster is. I’m pretty sure Eve is a were-leopard though.)

[That is to say—]

Seras looked towards Eve.

[The difference between that monster and Eve… That’s what you want to ask, right?]

[…….Yeah.]

I’m afraid I still can’t guess correctly this point.

[The Golden-eyed monsters were said to be monsters that were created by the Root of All Evil. There’s a strong theory that the Root of All Evil has a strong connection with the Wicked King.]

[Then, why didn’t the eyes of ordinary monsters like Pigimaru turn golden?]

[There has been no conclusion that says that it’s impossible, but there has never been an instance where they’ve witnessed a primordial monsters turning into a Golden-eyed monster.]

That is to say, are the Golden-eyed monsters a creature like that right from the start…?

There were the primordial monsters living around the continent right from the start.

Then, there’s the Golden-eyed monsters that were created by the Root of All Evil.

It seems that they’re being categorized as this.

[I don’t remember encountering that many primordial monsters back then…]

I’ve certainly seen some.

However, they could only be counted in one hand.

Rather, the primordial monsters were rarer than the Golden-eyed monsters.

[Most of the Golden-eyed monsters had been hiding away and avoided the Humans. The reason is that there’s a Hero from Another World who advocated that the primordial monsters and the Golden-eyed monsters were dangerous beings. At that time, a plan to eradicate the primordial monsters was carried out. Because of this, most of the primordial monsters were hiding themselves.]

Fumu…

[After the Root of All Evil has been defeated, will the Golden-eyed monsters under its rule disappear?]

[I don’t think so. The rage-filled actions of the Golden-eyed monsters were said to be the final command of their master before it had fallen— or so, Eve told me. Excuse me, it seems we drifted away from our conversation.]

Switching topics, Seras continues her explanation.

[It was decided by Humans that those who were capable of speaking human language and capable of conversation were “Demi-Humans”. It seems they were recognized as “people in between humans and monsters”.] (T/N: Ajin)

That is to say…

Because Eve is capable of conversing with others, she won’t be treated as a monster.

And, those two-headed were-leopards at the Disposal Ruins were treated as monsters.

[However, most of the demi-humans were living away from human eyes.]

[How do they classify elves then?]

[By the regulations of the Humans, we are also categorized as demi-humans. The same is also true for the Elves and the Dark Elves who live away in obscurity. Though I say that, the Elves and Dark Elves still held a friendly relationship with the Humans compared with the other demi-humans.]

So that’s how it is.

I now somehow understand the treatment of the were-leopards in this world.

I also understand why I rarely see any other demi-humans.

Certainly, I haven’t seen any other demi-humans in Monroy.

The only ones that I have seen were these two people walking in front of me.

The Were-Leopard Blood Champion, Eve Speed.

The Dark Elf girl working in the White Coin, Lizbeth.

I remembered how these two were treated at Monroy.

In that community filled with humans, the demi-humans weren’t really treated well.

It wouldn’t be hard for me to guess it.

[Hmm?]

The vanguard Eve suddenly stops.

It seems something’s happened.

From her atmosphere, it was quite obvious.

She looks like an arrow that is waiting for the archer to let him loose.

[—-Step back, Liz.]

[Eh?]

[We’ve been discovered.]

[B- Big Sister…?]

[Touka.]

Eve called out my name.

Tapping Seras on her shoulder, I sent a signal with my eyes.

That I’ll be relying on her about Liz.

Seras beckons Liz towards her.

I then ran towards Eve who had already drawn her sword.

[What’s the matter?]

[It’s those things.]

[…Is it a monster you know?]

[Yeah.]

Eve’s breathing gets rougher and rougher.

[Sorry.]

Eve apologizes.

[Those things were something I can’t beat.]

She judged so.

At the time when she had just sensed them, Eve had already said that she would be defeated.

Even though she has yet to fight them.

[…………………]

No, it seems I’m mistaken.

It’s because she had already fought them before.

[I see, so that’s how you judged it huh.]

While her gaze was focused towards the far darkness, Eve clenches her teeth.

[Against those guys, I have no choice but to rely on your power.]

It became clear to me after “that”  began approaching us at an absurdly fast speed.

I could hear the sound of trees being knocked down as it charged through.

Towards our direction— it’s charging in a straight path.

I understood it based on the sound.

It was a gigantic monster.

I heard that Eve and Liz had once entered the Demon Zone.

And they said that they turned back halfway through.

Perhaps…

[That’s the monster that’s the reason why you and Liz escaped from the Demon Zone.]

Standing next to Eve, I firmly pat Eve on her shoulder.

[Am I right?]

And without taking out her gaze on her monster…

Eve slightly nodded.