Chapter 31

Geron moved toward the eastern hill, not west. It was when they were walking while glancing at the receding west.

“There’s always a watchman stationed over there.”

Geron said.

“Why are you helping us?”

Drich asked.

“I help things that want to live survive. That’s all.”

It was an answer whose true intentions were hard to gauge. Quilbion followed behind Geron while constantly surveying the surroundings.

In case another goblin was hiding somewhere, he needed to react quickly. But thinking about it a bit more, he realized there was no reason to set a trap.

Because goblins—those things—were strong.

No knight would arm themselves to the teeth to hunt a young deer.

“This way.”

Geron parted the bushes as if familiar with the path.

Relying on the flickering lamplight to advance for about twenty minutes. In the middle of a forest full of insect sounds, Geron stopped.

Quilbion caught his breath. His legs ached, probably from moving while tense. He glanced at Drich. He looked quite tired too.

“This is a place beyond the managers’ eyes. It’s a disposal site, so they don’t come often either.”

At the word ‘disposal site,’ his gaze naturally moved downward. He saw elongated bones. The moment he saw them, he realized they were human leg bones.

It felt like all the blood in his body turned cold.

“I know what you’re feeling. But we have to move this way to avoid getting caught.”

Geron raised the lamp.

Countless bones were scattered beneath their feet.

His sense of reality disappeared for a moment. Quilbion stared blankly at the white expanse before shaking his head.

“Fuck.”

The curse came out naturally.

Just how many had died here?

He recalled the feeders that had devoured human remains in the cafeteria. Had those things moved the bones here?

His legs trembled slightly. Once again he realized just how horrific this place was.

Was Drich okay?

“…Damn it.”

Drich was grimacing while looking at the bones. His hands were clenched so tightly that tendons stood out.

“You people are truly horrible.”

Drich said toward Geron.

“That’s how you see it. But when species are different, perspectives change too. Of course, I’m not hoping for your understanding.”

Geron crossed through the bone field.

Quilbion gritted his teeth and stepped on bones. He shuddered at the bizarre sensation transmitted through his shoes.

“Where are we going?”

He’d followed silently, but he needed to know the destination soon.

They’d come quite far from the dormitory, so if Geron harbored ill intentions, they’d have to handle it here.

“If you want to fight, do so. But if you kill your only ally, you won’t be able to return alive.”

“Ally?”

“Like I said, I only help living things that want to live. Just as you humans cherish and love cute dogs, I also quite treasure you. Of course, not more than my own life. If you’re going to fight, I’ll kill you. How can I trust a beast that bares its teeth?”

“We’re not beasts. You’re the beast.”

“Could you say the same to the chickens you eat?”

“Chickens are chickens.”

“Humans think they’re the most special. Humans are the only ones who casually say they were chosen by god.”

The words that burst out from defiance were harsh, but Quilbion was surprised.

The Ascetics.

He’d thought the Yellow Form goblins were all ignorant, straightforward monsters impossible to communicate with.

– Goblins are also different between individuals. Just like humans.

Al Terua’s words came to mind.

Not monsters impossible to communicate with, but monsters possible to communicate with. The more the conversation continued, the more he was no different from an intelligent human.

“The place where you were staying is a general livestock pen. An inferior cage. And the general livestock pen is installed at the eastern edge.”

Eastern edge?

Geron stopped walking again.

He raised the lamp high toward the sky.

Scattered clusters of light illuminated the surrounding area.

A forest thick with trees. Nothing special about the place, so why did he stop walking here?

“Ah.”

Quilbion looked straight ahead. At the same time, he grasped the meaning of ‘eastern edge.’

The light couldn’t advance.

It seemed blocked by a transparent wall. He walked forward while watching the light spread along the wall.

Getting closer to confirm made it more certain. Something invisible ahead was blocking everything.

Beyond the wall that light couldn’t pass through, two glinting lights appeared.

It was a young wild boar. It poked its head out from the bushes, then soon buried its snout in the ground while wandering around.

Following that, the mother appeared along with other young wild boars. Her bulk was the size of a cow.

Looking around, the boar extended its snout long.

It was toward the direction Quilbion was standing.

“I think it saw us?”

Drich standing beside him said.

At the same time, the boar launched its body.

A massive pig charging from the front. Quilbion quickly threw his body to the side.

And he saw it.

The charging wild boar disappearing right before his eyes.

“What?”

He turned his head repeatedly in confusion, but the boar was nowhere to be seen.

What is this?

It wasn’t like a phantom. The boar had definitely been right there. Even its snorting cry…

“Wait. Drich, did you hear that sound?”

“Sound?”

“The wild boar’s cry. And the charging sound.”

“Now that you mention it, I don’t think I heard it.”

The lamp drew closer. Geron spoke with an expressionless face.

“This is an isolated place. You can see it, but you can’t go there.”

“Can’t go?”

Quilbion extended his hand. His hand touched where the light couldn’t advance and spread instead.

He felt something viscous.

He tried to push through with force, but it wouldn’t budge.

“In your words, it’s called the living world and the afterlife, right? Perhaps the other shore. Or the surface realm. It doesn’t matter what you call it. What’s important is that it’s a place you can never escape.”

The mother boar’s snout appeared in the wall that had been empty. Following that, short ears, torso, and hind legs emerged as if jutting out from a painting.

“It shares the same form but is a completely different place. There’s no way to escape from here.”

“That’s impossible.”

Quilbion kept his hand on the wall while raising his head. Light was crawling up along the wall.

Sky wall.

The name of the cage that imprisoned humans.

“Aaaaah!”

Drich screamed while swinging his hand. The black hammer he’d somehow pulled out was gripped in his hand.

The black hammer created from a talisman touched the wall.

There was no intense impact sound, no rebound force.

Drich’s hammer simply sank softly like throwing a body onto a soft blanket.

No matter how many times Drich swung the hammer, nothing changed.

Gasping and stepping back, Drich released the seal. The hammer gripped in his hand shattered into small pieces and disappeared.

“You learned sorcery.”

Geron said.

“No matter what you do, escaping from here is impossible.”

Quilbion approached Geron.

“Why did you bring us here?”

“Because you need to know reality to give up hope. You have to live inside here.”

“Don’t lie. We’re getting out of here. There’s only a way in and no way out? I don’t believe that bullshit.”

“You’re just unlucky.”

“What?”

“We didn’t kidnap or lure you to this side. A gap just happened to form, and you fell through to this side.”

“Then if we find that gap thing and go back!”

“If you’re lucky, you might encounter it. But I’ve never seen a lucky human yet. How do I know? Because they all became the remnants you stepped on.”

The bones flickered before his eyes.

“If you’re sorted out, let’s move.”

They moved with the sky wall to their left. If he just turned his head slightly, the outside world he’d longed for so much was there, but he couldn’t advance.

It was maddening.

You could only meet the exit if you were lucky?

“Shitty fate.”

Even though he didn’t want to recall it, Al Terua’s fatalism kept coming to mind.

“Um.”

Drich carefully called out to Geron.

“What?”

“Walking around the dormitory every night, wandering around alone searching for something everywhere…”

“It’s to take away kids like you whose brainwashing has broken. Because if I discover them first, I can help. Of course, most kids don’t believe my words and die struggling.”

When brainwashing breaks, you see the true nature of the black porridge along with the monsters. At the same time, you also perceive the students living like they have no brains.

In that situation, exercising trust would be difficult.

“The people you saved…”

Quilbion closed his mouth.

A shabby house came into view. A roughly woven wooden roof and walls plastered with clay. It looked like it would collapse instantly when it rained, but this was a place where it didn’t rain, so would it be okay?

There were signs of people from the house.

The people who carefully stuck out their faces were ones he’d never seen before.

The woman who looked oldest seemed to be in her early twenties, and the rest looked around ten years old.

Seven in total.

They approached Geron’s side with relief.

“We were worried since there was no news for a while.”

“Sorry. The Pioneers came and went frequently, so I couldn’t leave.”

Geron bent his waist. The tail that had been rolled up inside the rags stuck out, and a bundle was gripped on the tail.

“Take it.”

Looking at it, it seemed to be food.

“You really are saving people…”

Drich stammered.

As if he couldn’t believe the scene unfolding before his eyes.

Quilbion examined the expressions of the children standing beside Geron. Every single one was bright. They clearly trusted and relied on Geron.

Was he really a goblin who treasured humans?

“You must be exhausted, so rest for now.”

Geron pointed at the house.

Quilbion and Drich entered while staying on guard. Unlike the shabby exterior, the inside was fairly decent.

“You also received Lord Geron’s help.”

The woman who looked oldest approached and said. The honorific ‘lord’ was grating, but he didn’t pick a fight.

“Were you all held in the dormitory?”

Quilbion asked a question.

“That’s right. We were trapped there with our memories removed.”

The woman who revealed her name as Lil offered seats. They were chairs made by fitting wooden pieces together.

They felt quite aged.

Looks like they were made quite a while ago.

Sitting in the chair, he looked toward the entrance. The children who’d stuck right next to Geron were staring intently this way.

Faces that showed unfamiliar humans were scarier than goblins.

“Here.”

Lil held out two cups as something to drink. Crude cups made by baking clay contained apple juice.

“Nice to meet you.”

He gulped it down in one go. The sweetness diluted the tension somewhat.

“I’ll go check around.”

Geron left. Lil went outside the house to see Geron off, then returned.

It was a strange sight. A human praying for a goblin’s safety.

“You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you?”

“Ah, yes.”

“It’s safe here, so relax.”

Lil gave a kind smile.

“But how long have you been here?”

Quilbion asked while scanning the inside of the house.

Not just the chairs, but all the household items bore the marks of time.

“I counted the days based on the sun that rises here, and it’s been about 4 years.”

“Four years?”

It was a dizzying number.

Along with amazement that they’d endured here for 4 years came the despair that they couldn’t escape this place for 4 years.

“I know what you’re thinking. But you have to be alive to do anything.”

Lil extended her hand and clasped Quilbion and Drich’s hands.

“Let’s endure together. Only by enduring can hope arise.”