New land-

The two followers of mine were rare among rare monsters.

Especially the mother.

She was technically the queen of all white lions and a S++ type monster.

But that begged the question- what was a rank anyway?

Magic among monsters was common.

Rare monsters were also somewhat often seen in the wild as the number of monsters vastly exceeded that of humans.

But-

Really- I'd never heard anything about ranks and stuff.

And more importantly- white lions were never supposed to have rare breeds in the first place!

'Then again this system is also something I'd never heard about…'

Thoughts- random thoughts- just going haywire.

Sweat poured while the day just kept on moving.

Enough worrying!

I had to confirm something first-

"Why are you guys following me? With you healed, it should be enough for you to just take care of him on your own and-"

"Mew!" I was speaking to the mother but the little one answered anyway.

And though he answered- I never understood him.

Contrary- just by staring at the mother and seeing her facial expression I could understand her.

Was something wrong with me or with them?

But- "So you guys are following me because- missing husband and father?"

"Mew!"

Now that I think about it- the father really was missing and not dead.

The siblings were no more.

Meaning these two were alone.

And as I was passing by and saved them- they concluded me as a strong person and decided to use me to get to their goal while also providing me with their services.

'Rather clever…'

[…]

It almost felt like the system was about to say something but didn't.

Anyway, I had to get all the monster parts and secure the meat.

Despite everything- this damn Sahagin was actually really delicious even without condiments. As long as I had enough, I could probably have a feast or maybe just sell it for a high profit margin…

There weren't any signs of monsters. I had a feeling almost all the monsters of this place was busy devouring the corpses I left behind. Who'd have thought the army dying would help me like this…

Sigh.

'Wait- is that a gem?' It never got to use its spear- a rather white spear with a narrow sharp tip.

But just below the tip- was a gem. A white gem.

White spear, white gem, hence I couldn't really tell if it was there or not.

I picked it up and yeah- this spear was definitely heavier than the one before and it even made me feel stronger- for no apparent reason…

Anyway- by skinning Sahagin- I got another magic pouch.

With all that done- we resumed the journey.

Silently.

We were almost at the border of Dorkanil.

The country I spent a good nineteen years of my life.

Most of my memories here were terrible.

So- I was probably not going to miss it as much.

But- 'Dorkanil is my birthright.'

'And I'm taking it back no matter what!'

***

The border.

There was no border.

Just an oak tree marking territory.

That's it.

No guards, no monsters, not even bugs or other dead trees.

This place was empty.

And the oak tree?

It was dead.

And I also heard this rather weird rumor a while back about how it was haunted and all.

Probably just a random spirit pretending to a vengeful one.

Besides, the sun was still up.

Then again- the fact that I hadn't seen even a single bird let alone a monster for over half a day- was proof enough that this place at least had something.

Or maybe everyone was just busy feasting back there…

Oh well.

"Let's rest for a bit and then leave."

I hated geography.

But by some miracle old man Herclan somehow drilled the maps of nearby countries in my head. Part of that miracle included beating the shit out of me and another part included me wanting to just end his whole life in a fire but- yeah, that was a different matter.

Sitting below a leafless Oaktree didn't really feel all that nice though.

The smoked meat was good though.

Both cats liked it too and they were quite content so far.

'But given how strong the mother is wouldn't she figure out I'm rather weak compared to her…'

Meaning, for the time being, I had to do a lot of pretending.

I'd just gotten a super ally- I couldn't lose her due to my stupid judgements.

[!!!]

[Alert! Superior Astral presence detected! User must evacuate the premises!]

Red lights and fast words reverberated.

So, singing, no mockery.

Just plain words.

And definitely urgent words.

And a screech!

[!!! Cat-1 used Divinity!]

The mother kitty lit up- literally.

Bright!

Like really, really, blindingly bright!

And with her roar, the light escaped her, lighting up the whole space.

[Emergency quest issued!]

[Quest- Escape to north!]

"Cats, we need to run!"

Asking questions could wait for later.

We had to hurry out of here.

And hurry we did.

Running straight north.

And of course, there was something behind us.

A literal husk of darkness- oozing through the light like some sort of-

Monster.

It had a head.

No face.

Enshrouded in darkness.

Yeah, that thing didn't look scary, no. It looked CREEPY!

'You sure we can't take it?'

[Analyzing!]

[Negative!]

Then running it was. I had no reason to test my strength or luck. I had other things to do with my life.

About some good ten minutes of running, we stopped.

The thing had stopped following us halfway and went back. Was it bound to that tree or something?

What- why- or how was the least of my questions.

Kind of panting, tired.

This was- perhaps one of the first time, I was this tired…

These clothes were also kind of drenched.

'Do you mind explaining?'

[…]

Apparently, that was a no.

Sigh-

Well, I still hadn't completed the tutorial and most of the options from the menu were locked.

So- all this was understandable.

Just because I understood it though, didn't mean I appreciated it.

The cats didn't offer any complaints and just followed me.

I guess they were intent on keeping on their end of the bargain.

Though I never made that bargain…

Anyway-

With all that done, we were finally in another country- the country of Blumrose.

A place of mixed blood.

Our only neighbor that technically wasn't allied with any country and was led by orcs.

[Confirmed: Quest complete!]

[Gained- 1 stamina potion; 2 potions!]

The barren lands beneath our feet gradually turned green- grass.

We were in another country.

Away from the danger.

Finally- I could restart.

I could rebuild.

Meaning- I'd finally achieved a goal I set for myself.

"Let's go find ourselves a harpy."