TEOCH 19

While grappling with how to handle the conflict with Rikiel, I continued the sixth day’s exploration. The silver lining was that today’s haul was significantly larger than previous days.

We obtained the “Paralysis Sword III” and the “Vampiric Sword II,” along with the “Chaos Gem II.” When I handed the gem to Damian, he examined it curiously.

“There’s a strange energy coming from this gem. It feels like some kind of mental magic, but why would a gem have this kind of energy…?”

“It’s specifically a chaos spell. If you embed it in your staff, you’ll be able to use that magic. You’re skilled in fire magic, but you’re not familiar with mental magic, right?”

“Yes, exactly as you say, Mr. Rohan. Normally, I’d need to borrow magic scrolls made by other mages to use mental spells… This gem is practically a complete magic scroll in itself. That’s fascinating.”

“There are quite a few gems like this in the demon realm. Swap them out as needed, and you can use the right magic for the situation. Of course, there’s a limit to how many times you can use them, and the mage’s own skill in casting the spell matters too.”

Damian nodded silently, removed the decorative gem from his staff, and embedded the one I gave him. The chaos gem fit perfectly, as if it was made for that spot. Judging by its size, it could probably be used about thirty times. That was high-grade.

I set down the sword I was carrying and strapped the vampiric sword to my waist. At about eighty centimeters long, with a wide blade and a sharp tip, the short sword was my preferred type. In terms of enchantments, the paralysis sword was slightly better, but since it was a long sword, it would suit Tristan better than me.

After gathering everything we could carry for now, I stared at the large ladybug’s carapace in front of us. We’d already stripped the protein from inside, but the carapace was pristine, without a single scratch, making it very tempting.

The only problem was that it was large enough to house about ten people. Rehas asked.

“Are you planning to make armor out of this? It’s too big.”

“No, this isn’t for armor. It’s for a temporary shelter.”

“A temporary shelter?”

“Yes. Once the safe zone disappears, a tent won’t protect us from demonic beast attacks. A roof this sturdy is necessary to guard against nighttime ambushes.”

“Even if the color’s a bit gaudy, how do you plan to carry something this big?”

I shrugged lightly and pulled a parasite from my bag. Among the mostly unidentified parasites, this was the only one that came pre-identified.

I inserted the “Transformation Parasite” into the ladybug’s carapace. The infested carapace writhed violently, then shrank rapidly, like a balloon pricked by a needle. Rehas stared, wide-eyed. Fully merged with the parasite, the carapace had reduced to the size of an ordinary shield.

“Well, that’s impressive.”

“When I want, I can expand it back to its original size. Like this.”

I lightly kicked the carapace with my toe, and it expanded back to its original size at an astonishing speed. When I shrank it again, Rehas, intrigued, tried to pick it up. I quickly added a warning.

“Oh, by the way, the weight doesn’t change. Only the size does.”

“You couldn’t have mentioned that sooner?!”

Muttering about its surprising heft, Rehas set the carapace down. It hit the ground with a loud thud. Unlike in reality, a ladybug’s carapace here was incredibly heavy, weighing at least twenty kilograms, making it quite burdensome. Rehas was already carrying a load of meat stripped from the ladybug’s corpse, so he didn’t have the capacity to carry the heavy carapace too.

“We’ll come back for this with Sir Rikiel tomorrow. Let’s move on.”

We scoured the area for another hour and finally completed exploring the eastern section of the tutorial stage. If we retrieved the items left here tomorrow, there’d be no need for further exploration.

Carrying our loads, we silently headed back to the base. Rehas, weighed down by his burden, grumbled softly.

“If that return spell or whatever could be used more often, it’d be nice.”

“I know. If I had more mana, the trip back would be much easier.”

I nodded with a wry smile. In truth, the return spell was one that shone in the later stages. It consumed so much mana that it was nearly unusable at low levels.

Since this game’s system increased mana capacity and recovery speed with leveling, using the return spell at a low level meant waiting at least three days for mana to recover, leaving you struggling. The day after using it, you couldn’t even cast something as simple as “Incision.”

Of course, at higher levels with faster mana recovery, you could use the return spell two or three times a day, but that was a story for after the tutorial stage. For now, no matter how exhausted we were, we had to minimize its use.

‘Yeah, if I could use the return spell that often, yesterday’s mess wouldn’t have happened.’

I sighed quietly so Damian and Rehas wouldn’t notice. Thinking about the return spell brought yesterday’s events back to mind.

Damn it, I don’t want to make Tristan a porter either! If I could, I’d use the return spell freely and transport all the gear to the base instead of burdening Tristan with heavy loads.

But that’s not possible. Since we have to carry the gear ourselves, Tristan needs to pitch in. That way, he’ll get used to tough tasks and survive longer here.

The demon realm is a place where you barely survive by struggling through the worst moments. A mindset of “I hope you don’t have to suffer” won’t cut it.

‘But that guy will never understand that. Damn it.’

I know Rikiel well. His ironclad stubbornness doesn’t bend under ordinary hardships. No matter how much he struggles, he won’t act against his beliefs, and no matter how dire the situation, he won’t do what he thinks is wrong.

It’s his nature. It’s been ingrained in him since birth, a knight’s essence that won’t change no matter what I do.

What am I supposed to do with that man? I mulled over this as I silently walked toward the base. While I stayed quiet, Damian and Rehas chatted about various things.

“By the way, today’s exploration was pretty easy. Days with so few beasts are rare, aren’t they?”

“Yeah. Just two days ago, there were tons of wasps and bumblebees, but today, there wasn’t a single one. Just some honeybees buzzing around…”

I sighed heavily, worrying about tomorrow’s exploration. The safe zone’s campfire in the distance didn’t feel very welcoming right now.

*

The next day, I took Tristan and Rikiel to the eastern region. Once we transported all the items today, we wouldn’t need to return here. From now on, it’d be more efficient to hunt silkworms or giant larvae in the south or practice fighting spiders in the north. The bees here moved in groups, making them too risky to hunt. There was no need to linger in a place where the risks outweighed the rewards.

I handed the ladybug’s carapace to Rikiel early on. Struggling under the twenty-kilogram load, Rikiel staggered unknowingly, and I smiled with satisfaction as I gave the paralysis sword to Tristan. Tristan, catching my intent, accepted it readily. Rikiel shot him a displeased side-eye but didn’t say more.

Today’s exploration went fairly smoothly. Laden with the heavy carapace and other gear, Rikiel could only watch as Tristan and I shared the load. Tristan walked with a rare satisfied expression. I didn’t know how Rikiel felt, but I was quite amused.

Unfortunately, that amusement didn’t last long.

“Are you tired, Your Majesty?”

“I’m fine, Rohan. I can handle this much.”

Despite resting yesterday, Tristan looked quite exhausted. Whether it was the heavier load today or accumulated fatigue from the past few days, I couldn’t tell. What was clear was that he seemed more tired than usual. Seeing him dripping with sweat didn’t put me in a great mood either.

I wondered if I should take some of his load, but unfortunately, that wasn’t possible now. Because we’d found so many items yesterday, Rikiel and I were already carrying near our limits. Taking on Tristan’s load would make it too heavy to walk properly.

“Since today’s exploration is done, let’s head back. Please hold on until then, Your Majesty.”

In the end, I chose to abandon the remaining items and return to the safe zone. We couldn’t linger long with such heavy loads. If a beast attacked, we’d be unable to escape and would get mauled. Since we’d gathered the necessary items, it was better to return to the base, rest, and come back tomorrow.

As I reached that conclusion, Rikiel, who had been silent, spoke up.

“Can’t we take a short break before heading back?”

I frowned instantly. I agreed that Tristan looked tired and could use a rest, but the issue was we’d already rested thirty minutes ago. Taking another break so soon after walking for only thirty minutes wasn’t a good idea. It’d be better to get back to the safe zone quickly and rest properly.

“No, I’m fine. It’s just…”

“No, Your Majesty looks very tired right now. Even ten minutes of rest would help a lot.”

“I’m really fine, Rikiel. We rested earlier, so another break…”

Rikiel carefully wiped the sweat from Tristan’s brow but sent me a menacing glare. It was as if he was threatening to draw his sword and delay our departure if we didn’t rest for ten minutes.

I felt thoroughly annoyed. It wasn’t new that this man disregarded my opinions, but this…

“It’s better to head back quickly. This place is dangerous. Resting when we don’t know what beasts might attack isn’t a good decision.”

“There aren’t many beasts around here, are there? If you’re really worried about beasts, resting is the better option. Is it better to face a beast while exhausted or after recovering some energy?”

I sighed quietly. Rikiel’s words weren’t entirely wrong. When I scouted with Damian yesterday, I’d gotten a sense of the beast distribution here, and as Rikiel said, this area had so few beasts that encountering even a common wasp was unlikely. Logically, resting made sense. But…

‘Something feels off.’

My instincts, honed from years of facing beasts, were screaming that this situation wasn’t safe and we needed to leave now. I looked at Tristan cautiously. He noticed my gaze and smiled wryly, looking apologetic.

“I’m fine, Rohan. Do as you think best.”

“…No, we’ll do as Sir Rikiel says. Let’s rest briefly.”

Tristan didn’t seem eager to rest, but sweat was pouring down his face like rain. I saw the blisters on his palms had burst messily. They must sting and burn, yet he didn’t utter a word of pain.

Maybe Tristan was pushing himself too hard. He said he was fine, but he might be on the verge of collapse…

“We’ll rest for exactly ten minutes. After that, we head straight to the safe zone without stopping.”

“…Thank you.”

Rikiel left a brief word of thanks and set down his load. He took holy water from his bag and applied it to Tristan’s hands, who endured the stinging sensation without a single groan.

I sighed and scanned the surroundings. Tristan sent me an apologetic look, but I avoided his gaze and diligently kept watch.

Fortunately, no beasts appeared during our nearly ten-minute rest. That should have been a relief, but for some reason, the unease in my heart wouldn’t subside.

Something’s wrong. It doesn’t add up. Why? Why am I so uneasy? I should be grateful there are no beasts attacking, so why does this situation feel so unnatural?

Thankfully, it didn’t take long to realize why.

‘Why are there almost no beasts in this area when there are so many beast corpses?’

A chill ran down my spine as the thought hit me. It’s a simple matter of logic. In areas with many beasts, there should be many corpses, and in areas with few beasts, there should be few corpses. Though this is a game world, the demon realm has an ecosystem. If there are no living beasts, there shouldn’t be corpses either.

But this place isn’t normal. There are plenty of beast corpses, yet not a single living beast. Even scavenger beasts that should swarm to feed on the corpses are absent. It’s like the calm before a storm, as if all creatures sensed an impending danger and fled, leaving the area eerily silent.

The next moment, I realized I’d experienced this situation before.

“Get up now. We need to hurry back to the safe zone.”

“What’s wrong, Rohan? Why so suddenly…?”

“My instincts are bad. I’ve been through this before. This place isn’t safe!”

“What are you talking about? There’s not a single beast around…!”

“Yes, there aren’t any now! But don’t you think it’s strange there are no beasts? When we scouted yesterday, there was definitely a beehive nearby! So why isn’t there a single bee here?!”

“…!”

“Damn it, why didn’t I think of this sooner? I should’ve realized earlier!”

“Rohan, I don’t understand what you’re…!”

I grabbed Tristan’s hand and pulled him up. He reached for his load, but I stopped him immediately. If my guess was correct, if what we were experiencing now was the same as what I’d faced before, we needed to abandon the gear and leave this area immediately.

Because.

“The wasps here don’t hunt small fry—they periodically raid other bees’ hives! They were conserving energy, which is why they weren’t moving…!”

“Rohan, look over there!”

Tristan stared southeast with a look of horror, and I realized my instincts were spot-on. Rikiel, following Tristan’s gaze, turned pale as a corpse. I began to deeply regret my decision to rest here.

From the southeast, a black cloud was rolling in.

It was a swarm of wasps.