The Boa Orcs told us to head towards the Melusine tribe’s village.
We rested for a day, but my feet still felt sluggish with the heavy luggage and the obstructing grass. The plants were so dense, I felt like they were growing back as soon as I cut them. Furthermore, the ground gradually became muddy. I wondered if the nearby river was flooding.
As we advanced, the moisture increased, and the softened mud made it even harder to move. Elana, being light on her feet, jumped over tree roots to avoid getting her legs dirty. For the first time, I envied the body of a Lion.
“Hey, look over there! Something’s moving!”
Piyo suddenly stopped and pointed ahead. Through the uniquely shaped trees, I could see a round animal hopping around in the mud. “Round” was truly the word; it was flabby, like a deflated ball.
When we got closer, it looked like a fish, about the size of a soccer ball. It was like a puffed-up fugu washed ashore. Piyo immediately started chasing them. The ball-fish, attacked, scattered and fled.
“Don’t play around too much in the mud, you’ll get dirty. And those fish might be dangerous too.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine, look, I caught one!”
Piyo held one up with a wide grin. Upon closer inspection, I saw something like an antenna growing from above its small eyes. The fish flapped its body between Piyo’s wings, trying to escape.
“Ah, it got away.”
“Of course, it did. Ugh, your feathers are covered in mud!”
Since there was nothing else to do, I wiped off the mud with a towel for the time being. Meanwhile, the ball-fish disappeared into the gaps between the trees, as if burrowing into the mud.
Beyond that point, the water level rose further, submerging everything below the knees. It was truly muddy water rising up to here. I wondered if we were really going in the right direction. The inability to see into the water, coupled with our sluggish movements, brought about the fear of not knowing what was lurking beneath. In the depths of this deep forest, it wouldn’t be strange to find plenty of carnivorous fish and crocodiles.
Furthermore, the distance to our next destination might not be covered in a single day. If that were the case, we would have to spend the night in the water. When the water reached past my knees, I grabbed Pauline and Piyo to prevent them from getting separated.
“Hey, is this really okay? The water keeps getting deeper.”
“I was thinking the same thing. Perhaps we took a wrong turn somewhere.”
“Or maybe we were tricked.”
As Nina replied grumpily, Lauren let out a strange sound from behind.
“S-something just touched my leg. M-maybe it’s a man-eating crocodile?”
“All crocodiles are carnivorous, you know. Well, everyone, be careful, there might really be something there.”
Despite Nina’s sarcasm, Lauren started walking, lifting her legs, mumbling complaints.
