"I feel like I'm going to die..."
It was literal. My legs ached, and I couldn't feel anything. I looked around with cloudy eyes. The world seemed to be painted in shades of dirt.
I hadn't realized that riding a horse was so difficult. The horse was doing all the running, so I didn't understand why I was having such a hard time. The ground was even bumpy, making me feel motion sickness. Oh, boy... Please help me.
"Just cheer up a little."
I made a whimpering sound, and Kyle, behind me, tried to comfort me. Of course, it wasn't comforting. I thought I would have to spend a few more hours on the horse, so I just wanted to turn off the 'load' and hang around in the hamster's house.
Ugh. It's my eighth. My tired, exhausted child.
I was barely holding the reins with a gloomy expression when a clattering sound rang out overhead. Northern crows circled the sky, chirping unpleasantly.
"Why are you barking, ominously?" "...Do you usually say that birds 'bark'?" "If they can't talk, everyone 'barks'."
I replied and lowered my head to look ahead. After leaving the castle and the plains, we had arrived at a forest filled with conifers. The terrain wasn't very good, and there were some ravines that required two horses to make their way in a single file.
"There is nothing to worry about." Kyle said bluntly. Apparently, my expression was dark, and he was concerned. "Since this is a reconnaissance with new knights, we will only take a light look at the woodland before returning. After making up your mind, unless you are subjugating or investigating, you don't often go beyond a small mountain."
"...A small mountain?"
Did the garden all freeze to death? If you are small twice, you will stumble and die as a group. I clicked my tongue as I looked at the steep cliff that stretched out a dozen steps away.
"What is beyond that?" "Demon beasts?" "Oh, no. Not really a demon beast... I thought there was something like a village."
Kyle laughed as if he was going to hear nothing wrong. "The only inhabitable place in the North is the Blake estate. Well, there must be a village where demons gather."
"...That's really unwelcome news. Then, what is the geographical area?" "Beyond this woodland, there is a black field, which is also called a rocky area because there are ice blocks and rocks here and there. Beyond that, the big mountain continues, and then the sea."
The wind blew so hard that he lifted his sleeve to cover my face. It was natural, as if his attention to detail was ingrained in his body. I tilted my head and looked up at him. Seeing that he didn't even bother to lift an eye in the cold wind, he seemed to be quite accustomed to the cold.
"I don't go beyond the frozen sea. It's hard to get there, and I can't see anything good when I go."
Isn't it just the sea when the sea is frozen? I thought it was weird, so I asked him about it.
"Why? Is it a lawless zone?" "Yes. It is not a place that the Meinhardt Empire can handle. Beyond that sea, even I have to save my life."
What the hell is there? As I thought about the number of different cases, the system that had been quiet the whole time came out and helped me explain.
[The area beyond the Northern Sea is called the 'Sorcerer's Territory.']
"The Wizard's Domain, D. The name sounds pretty gentle..."
But looking at Kyle's expression, it didn't seem like it was. Well, let's think about it later, later. I'm not going today.
"Your Highness. Shall we go back to the northeast road?"
Hearing a voice behind him, Kyle paused for a moment to gauge his path. The road ahead was divided into two. It seemed to be a path up the hill to the northeast and a path down to the canyon to the northwest.
The knights trembled at the word northeast. A murmur of anxiety drifted in the wind. Kyle said in a heavy voice.
"The area where the wyvern nest is located has not yet been resolved. Also, avoid the northeast because it is the spawning season. All the way to the west canyon!"
...If so, does that mean it takes more time? I nervously checked the 'load' time.
['Load' will be lifted after 20 minutes.]
You can't suddenly disappear in the middle of the canyon, so you have to keep your place... I'm going to rob you of all the miracles today. Oh, my life.
I quickly went into the 'nut shop' and bought some cookies.
[Lasting Acorn Cookie | Miracle Consumption 1% | 'Load' Time Extended by 1 Hour] [Current miracle value: 25.0%]
Let's keep it at 20 percent. Let's be diligent and get around, Your Highness. It would be nice if I could arrive at the territory within six hours.
I glanced at him and took out a cookie from my pocket and ate it. Kyle looked down at me.
"Why do you hide and eat like that?"
You have really good ears. Pretend you don't know.
"It's my life."
It was 100 percent pure sincerity.
"You hear all the stars."
Of course, Kyle heard it as a joke. It's serious. It's an acorn cookie that I bought by selling my life. It seems fragrant, but when you finish eating it, your mouth is a little dry...
"Well, I can't give it to you anyway."
Kyle's red eyes stared down at me. It is an absurd attitude.
"I don't need it. Rather..."
He squeezed my chin slightly and turned it to the side. I asked him in a mumbled voice, "What is it?" and Kyle spun around with his chin clenched into position.
"Over there. Do you see the bush?"
My gaze stopped at something shining in the bushes. A few pairs of round eyes were staring at me. It was a furry animal that would be just right to hold with both palms. It was smaller than a puppy and a little bigger than a mouse, and it had a small horn on its forehead between its round ears.
It's an animal I've never seen before, but it's strangely familiar...
"Northern vole."
Come again?
"When you grow up and have a gem in your heart, it will be like that. The northern Masugago is small."
No, if a normal rat is that big, it's a lot bigger.
"If you don't touch it first, it's relatively calm. It was around here that I first met cashews."
Kyle's tone instantly faded. His expression gradually softened, thinking of the soft and cute demon beast waiting for him in the castle... Hey, that's it. Don't you see that soft and cute demon beast is suffering from muscle pain in front of you?
[Current Holdings | ❤ ×198]
Cancellation. Miss it a lot. Just two more hearts.
"Shall we try a joint venture..."
...One minute. Crazy, what are you doing? I hurriedly replied to Kyle's mutter.
"Nope!" "..." "Absolutely not. Is it a combination of demons?" "Northern voles would normally work in groups." "It's a northern field mouse, and cashew nuts are pets. It grows slower than other individuals, so it hasn't even gathered magic in its heart yet, so can it be eaten by a single person?"
No matter how big the house is, I don't have the same desire to share it as I do with it. Opposition to roommate association.
"If you want to see the cashew nuts die and fall out, take one from there and put it in."
On that day, you die and I run away from home. You understand?
Kyle nodded regretfully at my bloody gaze.
"...Convincing. I understand. As soon as I get back, I'll have a meeting with the mages and infuse them with magic."
No way, there are no side effects, right? If he said he didn't need to inject magic, would he be too cheatful? I looked at him with a sad expression, and then looked at the northern voles for a moment.
'But I'm not an ordinary hamster?'
He doesn't have a magic stone in his heart, and he doesn't show any signs of growing. Maybe the day when I'm that big won't come... I don't know if I'm worried that it's not big.
"As expected..." Kyle looked at the northern voles. "There's nothing cuter than cashews."
He's like a hamster otaku.
[Current Holdings | ❤ ×200]
But it's okay because you're happy. Thanks to this, I was able to buy a demon beast book. I pretended to stretch and slipped out the "Demon Beast Encyclopedia."
"Let's see..." "What is that?" "A must-have and a textbook for demon mathematicians. It's the Demon Beast Encyclopedia. Master, who has a bit of a grumpy personality but is good at handling things, sold it for a lot of money."
[┗|｀O′|┛]
Honestly, it's not cheap. If you've eaten all my heart, be quiet.
He slowed down a little so that I could read the book comfortably. The deeper they went into the canyon, the darker it became, and the knights who were following them changed their formations, lit up the lights, and began to fill the blind spots.
Let me see...
"Goblins, Ogres, and Wyverns... Bear, unicorn? It's all there. Northern poisonous snake, forest mermaid? Why are there mermaids in the forest?"
There are really everything in the world. Korea was a very ordinary place.
"Oh, here it is. Northern voles."
Curious about the word "vole," Kyle lowered his gaze toward the encyclopedia.
"The northern vole is one of those animals that is not very threatening, and it boasts unremarkable physical abilities... Wow, you're talking too much."
System, do you want to work like this? Who's not doing much? This is definitely revenge.
[（￣︶￣）]
"And?" "The process of creating a gem is more complicated than other demons, but once it is established, it is possible to use simple magic. Mostly of the earth's attributes..."
I muttered and read the book, and I shut my mouth tightly. A foreboding had flashed through my mind. I think he'll ask me to use some kind of magic later... Not? It shouldn't be. It's sad that I became a hamster.
[(⊙ˍ⊙)]
'No, what are you surprised...?'
Bang!
Then, about ten paces ahead, a huge rock fell and the floor shook.
No way...
"Change to the defensive ranks!" Kyle stretched out his arm and covered my Demon Beast Book. "From now on, everything I say is a military order, and you must not disobey it."
I felt chilled all over my body. Before I could say yes, Kyle said in a subdued voice.
"No matter what, don't get off your horse."
With that, he jumped off his horse. The sword on his back slid out of its sheath and glowed pale.