TEOCH 70

On the second week of hiding on this island, all the sap on the island was finally depleted.

“It’s no good. These trees are useless now.”

“The sap seems to be coming out normally? What’s the problem?”

“Ah, I think I know what you mean! Before, the sap had a slight bit of mana in it, but now it’s just ordinary tree sap. It seems the mana this tree possessed has run out.”

Damian answered the tilting Rehas on my behalf, and I silently nodded at his words. The sap currently flowing from the tree had no ability to enhance parasites or equipment at all. It seemed the ‘game system’ had adjusted it that way to prevent endless equipment enhancement on this island…

It seemed that no matter how much longer we waited, we wouldn’t be able to obtain any sap that could enhance our equipment. I sighed and said.

“The time has come to leave this island. Let’s pick as many of the remaining tree fruits as we can and move to the next island.”

“Is it really alright to leave this island?”

“Of course, we will have to take some risks, Your Majesty. But we can’t hide on this island forever, can we? To reach the Demon King’s castle, we must eventually overcome this adversity as well.”

Tristan nodded with a worried expression. Of course, I was just as worried. Harsher adversities than we had faced so far would be waiting for us on the islands we would explore from now on. But it couldn’t be helped. We had to leave here someday anyway, and staying on this island wouldn’t provide any clever solutions.

“But it will be alright. We’ve certainly gotten stronger compared to before. The same goes for Your Majesty.”

“I-is that so? I’m still lacking a lot compared to all of you, but…”

I smiled silently, watching Tristan who was bashfully averting his gaze. Of course, I hadn’t said it as an empty compliment. Tristan’s swordsmanship skills had improved much more than before. The ‘Practical Swordsmanship’ skill he possessed had taken effect, but above all, his own enthusiasm was tremendous. Rikiel, who was in the position of having to draw out Tristan’s motivation, was rather taken aback by it.

‘It’s a wonder his arm managed to heal at all after all that.’

Thanks to that, Tristan was able to achieve decent results even in the short time of two weeks, and his swordsmanship skills and stamina had improved much more than before. Compared to Damian, who showed no effect at all even after Rikiel and Rehas clung to him for the same amount of time to train his stamina, it was truly a tremendous improvement.

‘When I think about why he’s so obsessed with training, it makes me feel a little sorry, but…’

I tried to pretend I didn’t see Tristan’s armor, most of whose abilities were focused solely on defense. Of course, I knew in my head. A problem would arise soon if I didn’t give him proper equipment or a parasite. I had to somehow prevent a situation where the people around Tristan feel dissatisfied with him, or where Tristan himself feels dissatisfied with his own situation. But, but…

“Then let’s finish preparing to leave the island by tomorrow morning. Now, let’s go.”

“Let’s do that.”

Well, I’ll give him some proper equipment or a parasite when the opportunity arises later. In the end, I could only let out a light sigh, having come to that conclusion. Though I’d prefer it if that ‘opportunity’ never came.

The next afternoon, we finally left the ‘Island of Trees’ and headed for the next island. I wanted to go to a safe island if possible, but unfortunately, among the islands we hadn’t visited yet, there wasn’t a single one that was easy to explore. The only somewhat safe places were the ‘Island of Grass’ or the ‘Island of Snails,’ but both islands made it difficult to secure food. The ‘Island of Mushrooms’ and the ‘Island of the Lake’ were among the more difficult ones even in the first playthrough. There was no way they would be easy in the second playthrough.

‘It would be truly the worst if we end up on the ‘Island of Spirits’… Well, it’s not like it’s up to my will, anyway.’

Since there was no way of knowing the island’s identity until we actually went up, we had no choice but to pick any one island and climb up. While riding on the back of the giant bird and waiting to arrive at the next island, we talked about this and that.

“By the way, I have a question. Doesn’t this giant bird take orders from the harpies? Surely it’s not unaware that we’re riding on its back.”

“I don’t know much about this bird either, but seeing as most monsters are reluctant to approach it, it seems this bird has a different status from other monsters. Perhaps that’s why it’s free from the harpies’ commands?”

“Well, it’s certainly a relief that it doesn’t just drop us into the harpies’ maws. Honestly, shouldn’t this bird be grateful to us? We caught every single flea on this guy’s back.”

“True, it must be feeling quite refreshed.”

I tried to focus on my companions’ conversation, chiming in appropriately. It wasn’t that their conversation was particularly interesting, but any topic was fine as long as I could ignore the anxiety and pressure tightening around my heart.

Will we be able to survive safely on the next island? Maybe it would have been better to wait a little longer? To prevent such complicated thoughts from filling my head, I had to engage in at least this kind of chatter.

‘Let’s not worry too much. In any case, we’re definitely stronger than before.’

I tried to pull myself together by looking at my companions’ equipment, which looked much more plausible than before. Although the only piece with a proper special ability was Rehas’s ‘Beastification’ gloves, everyone’s equipment had noticeably improved in performance, as we had poured the entire island’s sap into them.

With this level of performance, we can fight monsters much more easily. There’s no reason to be overly anxious. With that thought, I raised my head and confirmed that the giant bird was gradually approaching a new island.

“Alright, let’s go up now.”

We chose an island located in the northeast of the map and climbed up the vines. As soon as I got on the island, I looked around to figure out what kind of island it was, but like most islands, this place was also covered in a dense forest, making it difficult to properly observe the interior. However, seeing that there was no grass at all on the coast, it didn’t seem likely to be the ‘Island of Grass.’

‘Then are there six remaining candidates?’

With that thought, I drew a large magic circle on the coast. Tristan, who was silently watching what I was doing, tilted his head.

“That’s a return magic circle, isn’t it, Rohan?”

“Yes. You have a good memory, Your Majesty.”

I intended to draw return magic circles here and there on the island. I didn’t plan to activate the magic right away, but once the form of the magic circle was complete, it could be used by just infusing a little mana into it, making it very convenient for emergencies. Of course, the arrival point was our temporary shelter on the ‘Island of Trees.’

‘If it were like before, there would have been no reason to draw a magic circle like this, but from this island onward, we have to be as careful as possible…’

If this were the first playthrough, it would have been better to find a solution somehow on the newly moved island rather than moving to an island whose resources were completely depleted.

At the very least, that would have been more effective until we were discovered by the harpies. Not only can you not use return magic during a collapse, but it would also be too inefficient to return to an old shelter without exploring after going through all the trouble to stop the island’s collapse. But now the situation was different.

“Drawing many of these magic circles will be quite useful for escaping when the monsters’ vigilance is high. Of course, we won’t be able to use it in a full-fledged battle situation, but it’s good for secretly escaping when the monsters’ attention is focused elsewhere.”

“I see. We can’t make a commotion every time we leave an island like we did on the ‘Volcanic Island’.”

“That’s right. Ah, for your reference, not only I, but Damian can also activate this magic circle. If all five of us move at once, it’s too many people and easy to get caught, so if we move in groups of two or three, the probability of being caught by monsters will decrease slightly. That’s why it’s important to install magic circles here and there.”

My companions nodded as if they understood, and I completed the magic circle neatly in less than a minute. If we can draw just five of these magic circles, it will be a great help in safely escaping the island.

Of course, the magic circle on the coast would be the first to be destroyed as soon as the island’s collapse began, but if we were to be chased by monsters before the collapse even started, that magic circle could also be quite useful. And, perhaps…

“Now, then, let’s get going. In any case, we need an ‘Amplifier’ or a ‘Controller’ to stop the island’s collapse, so let’s move with the priority of finding those first.”

For a moment, an ominous thought occurred to me, but I desperately tried not to show it. Fortunately, my companions didn’t pay close attention to my expression, perhaps due to their anxiety about what was to come, and thanks to that, I too was able to quickly forget such an ominous thought.

‘Even if I get into a dangerous situation, Damian will somehow get him to a safe place.’

With cautious movements, we set foot into the dark forest.

It was a tension I hadn’t felt in two weeks.