The Jiraiaooks
The young girl’s big pair of lovely round eyes suddenly opened.
At first, she looked like she was still half asleep, but the moment she saw me, she snapped out of it right away.
「――?!」
She looked like she wanted to say something, but nothing came out of her mouth. She flinched and her expression changed into a frightened one in the next moment.
She probably just realized that she couldn’t move her body at all.
While the small girl was moving her head left and right in a panic, I spoke out to her as slowly as possible.
「Can you understand my words?」
There was no reply to my question.
However, the girl’s face stiffened and she pursed her lips tightly sealed after she heard my voice.
She probably understands me then, I think.
「You…Well, me as well. We were both attacked by a king of flies and it brought us to this nest. Do you remember?」
「….」
The girl shut her eyes. It looks like she is trying to remember about the time when she was attacked.
「I’ve killed the monster. Its corpse is over there」
I pointed to the king of flies’s corpse that had its wings cut off and its head split open.
The girl’s eyes opened wide and froze.
「I think we’re probably in the mountains somewhere, but there aren’t any side exits to this place. If we want to get out, the only way is through up there.」
When I pointed to the hole above us, her eyes followed my finger as if it was lured there.
The sun had already begun to rise while I was smashing the maggots. The girl squinted her eyes as she looked at the sunlight that was shining in.
Her face stiffened probably because she could see the distance between us and the hole up there.
「I’m going to leave this place」
The girl stared at me with her big, round eyes.
“You…Is there even a way out?”
She knitted her brows and looked at me as if I said something unreasonable.
「I can carry you out of here if you want my help. If you don’t want a human’s help then we will part ways here. What do you want to do?」
She looked away, seemingly confused at what her answer should be.
「Oh, by the way, I think the paralysis on your body will take at least a day before it wears off. Well, that’s how it was for me, but I don’t know how long it’ll be for a kijin」
The girl suddenly became wary and looked back at me after she heard me say kijin.
…To be able to communicate with humans just with expressions…this little girl is skilled.
Well, I can understand why she would be cautious of me.
I will put my hand out there for her. It’ll be up to her to decide if she wants to take that hand or not.
「For the time being, I’m going to try climbing up this wall. I will come back down once if I can get about half way up, let me know your decision by then」
With that said, I got away from her and bent my knees slightly. Then, I mounted up the wall.
The way up the wall is almost completely vertical but there are countless parts on the wall that I could use as footholds.
The problem would be some areas of the wall are slightly slanted, so I have to use my hands to pull myself up as I climb.
Even if I climbed with kei enhancing my entire body, I wouldn’t be able to stick to the walls like a bug while I’m climbing on a negative angle.
I focused up and started to climb the wall…as I felt a long stare that was coming from behind.
…Then an hour later, I succeeded in escaping with the girl on my back.
We escaped with nothing special that was worth talking about. Well, it’s because nothing special happened that we managed to escape safely.
The exit was on a small cliff.
The vast Titis forest was below us. I could hear the loud noise of the strong wind as it blew across my face.
Suddenly, I heard a quiet voice of gratitude mixed in.
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「U-um….Thank you…」
「You’re welcome」
I responded to the fragile voice that came from behind.
Speaking of which, this was the first time the girl opened her mouth.
A little while ago, she had a spooked look on her face when she was confirming whether or not she wanted to get on my back… But I guess she was surprised when I was swiftly climbing up the cave, then she was just nodding approvingly.
「So, is there somewhere you want me to take you? If you tell me where you live, I’ll take you there」
「…Um…」
She replied in a hesitant and perplexed tone.
Well, even if you were saved by your enemy at the bottom of a pit, you still wouldn’t want to tell them where you lived.
「It’s fine if you just want me to leave you by some rock or tree or on a mountain or something」
「In that case… the third largest camphor tree…on your left hand side…」
「…Uhh, I’m sorry. They all look about the same size to me」
I could see about ten of those trees.
After the girl went into thought for a little bit, she tried a different approach.
「Umm, the Jiraiaooks 」
「…I’m sorry. Jiraiaooks? I have no idea what that is」
「…Go down the cliff here and I’ll explain to you where it is, okay?」
「…Thanks. Sorry for the inconvenience」
The girl giggled when I lowered my head and apologized to her.
「Why is the person getting saved being thanked?」
「Oh yeah, why did I say that? Well anyway, I’m going to run down from here on, be careful not to bite your tongue」
After letting her know, I casually ran down the cliff with the girl on my back.
I think I heard some screaming by my ears several times on the way but I paid it no mind.
Those screams of joy during our way down made me feel like I became a riding toy for children but I decided to not mind after all.
After that, we arrived at the Jiraiaooks, but it seems like this tree wasn’t a landmark for anything, but rather the fruit of this tree has the ability to neutralize poison.
The sourness of the fruit makes it not ideal for consumption, but that sourness is what seems to cure poisons.
As a matter of fact, even though the girl’s mouth turned into an “X” as she ate the fruit…she couldn’t walk again right away of course, but she was able to move her fingers already within an hour.
From that point on, she was able to freely control her limbs in the next hour, then she was able to stand up normally as if she had received recovery magic.
The Jiraiaooks is amazing, I thought.
◆◆◆
Afterwards, I learned how to get back to the city of Ishka from the girl after she had fully recovered and I was on my way back.
Just like she told me, I had no problem finding my way after I went down the river.
In the end, I didn’t learn where she lived or what her name was, but I was still plenty satisfied.
How should I put it? I’m in a really good mood after helping someone out for the first time in a long while.
For the past few months… or past few years rather, I’ve only been gathering herbs. I haven’t felt this feeling of satisfaction you get from helping others for a long time.
Speaking of which, I was never attacked by any demonic beasts or anything when we were waiting for the girl to recover.
The depths of the Titis forest should be a dangerous area where adventurers lose their lives though, so how come?
To be honest, I wanted to test out my soul equipment a few more times but I guess it’s fine… Let’s prioritize returning to the city first.
I further increased the amount of kei across my entire body and kicked off the ground at full speed.
