Vol 5 Chapter 15

"Yes, let's do that."

"Follow us. Be careful and just do as we do."

The men who had been shedding tears stood up and took the lead. Kapros noticed that they walked in a peculiar way. The one in front would step firmly, leaving deep footprints in the ground, and those behind would follow in the same order, stepping in those prints. Surprisingly, by following this method, even though the path seemed to change several times, he was able to avoid losing sight of the person in front.

Eventually, an unfamiliar cave came into view. The men entered without hesitation and lit the piled firewood with a flint, finally brightening the surroundings.

Inside the cave, traces of their life over the years were evident everywhere. Crudely made utensils carved from wood, ragged clothes, beds made from gathered leaves, and half-eaten fruits caught the eye.

"This is where we've lived for 10 years."

The red-eyed, one-armed man, presumed to be Remil's father, said bitterly.

"There are no other living creatures here besides us. All we have is water and fruit."

"..."

"Can you... tell us about the outside world? Anything will do."

The hairy men swallowed tensely, waiting for the words to come out of Kapros's mouth. He hadn't been in Rezul for even a few hours, so he didn't have much to say, but he thought it would be good to at least talk about the old woman and Remil.

"I'm an adventurer traveling the continent with a certain goal. I came thinking that something related to what I'm looking for might be in Rezul, and I was told that it's right here. The person who taught me how to enter the forbidden area was Remil's grandmother."

He explained that she, who had initially tried to dissuade him, helped after hearing that if he achieved his purpose of finding that object, there might never again be people disappearing like her son. He showed them the bottle of sand he had received then, lifting it slightly.

"Remil guided me on the way here. All the child asked for in return was to find her father's belongings inside the forbidden area. So I came here, and after wandering, I met you all."

After his explanation, silence fell for a while. The red-eyed man, who had been listening most eagerly, as if not to miss a single word, asked in a trembling voice.

"My daughter... When she last saw me, she was just crawling on the floor... Has she grown much?"

"Yes. She looked healthy."

"We are natives of Rezul. Even 10 years ago, the forbidden area wasn't this severely isolated from other places. I came here, as you heard, to buy a bracelet for my daughter, but it wasn't a simple mistake that brought me this deep."

The red-eyed man, who had started his story as if in return, reddened his eyes.

"At that time, I made a deal in advance with a jeweler from another village to earn money. But those bastards were just pretending to make a deal to steal the red sand that only people from our village know about."

He explained that the jeweler, who had promised to pay if he mined shining stones from the forbidden area, appeared on the agreed day with his low-quality henchmen. While fleeing from them, he ended up entering too deep into the forbidden area.

"The guys chasing us then invaded 'the place where one shouldn't go'... the 'real forbidden area.' At that moment, there was a flash of light, and when I came to my senses, I was the only one left alive. Since then, I've been trapped living here."

The other men said they had been trapped after entering without knowing that the maze of the forbidden area had worsened after that incident.

"It seems that as more people die here, the forbidden area becomes a bit more of a severe maze. So we thought the villagers must have closed it off to prevent anyone from ever entering here again."

This was quite useful information. It wasn't that this place itself was originally the forbidden area, but there was actually another 'place where one shouldn't go' inside. Moreover, the statement that it became more of a maze each time someone died was interesting.

"Um, did you prepare a way to get out of here? Which direction did you sprinkle that red soil..."

While Kapros was pondering the information he had gained, another man sitting beside him spoke up. Kapros shook his head.

"This is exactly as it was when I brought it. What I want is not to get out of here, but something I'm looking for that's said to be in here."

"What? So you voluntarily walked in here? Are you mad?"

Suddenly, another man who had been quietly listening stood up in disbelief.

"What is it you came to find that made you risk death to come here? We ended up living here for 10 years because we didn't know it would be like this, but you're different!"

They were NPCs, but Kapros was a user, so no matter how things went wrong, he wouldn't end up living here for 10 years. Knowing this, he could remain calm, but the men were clearly genuinely dumbfounded.

"Well... If I had known you were alive here, I might have thought about a way to return, but I'm not sure yet."

"Why are you so relaxed? You're trapped here too..."

"It doesn't matter. I have no intention of leaving here until I find what I'm looking for."

"Just... what are you looking for that brought you all the way here? What could you possibly find in this place with nothing..."

"Do you perhaps know about the Flower of Rezul?"

At that moment, the men's expressions changed very strangely. Especially the red-eyed, one-armed man who had revealed himself to be Remil's father; his expression hardened so clearly that it was visible even through his bushy beard.

"What did you say?"

"The Flower of Rezul. I heard it's here."

The men all remained silent as if by agreement. The atmosphere instantly turned as cold as midwinter.

"Don't you know?"

"No... we do know."

The red-eyed man answered.

"It's in the deepest part of this forest. But... it's a place you can never reach just by wandering."

"I see. Is there anyone who knows the way?