Sandbox Tree

"The suburban areas aren't far away; I believe we'll get there sooner." Shan took the lead this time, with Gretta remaining in the middle and Leon in the back.

"It's not far from town, but Luke's house is quite far." Suburbs, I mean near the end of Orlin."

Leon already knows how Luke is; he said it's in the suburbs, but don't imagine it's in Vollericham's suburbs. Leon had toured the city numerous times and had never seen a house. So we know the edge Luke is talking about is at the very end of Orlin.

"At the very least, we'll arrive before the sun rises, right?"

Leon agreed with Shan's statement. At the very least, they would arrive before the sun rose and the crowds began to gather. As long as there are no interruptions during the journey.

They walked hand in hand in the early morning silence of Orlin. It's not as cold as Wadegan Wilds, but it's cold enough to make your mouth smoke when you breathe.

Gretta had begun to adjust to the city's weather, and she no longer shivered as much as she had the first time she set foot there.

"It's not as cold here in the Wadegan Wilds, are you okay?"

Gretta looked at Leon. "I'm fine," she said curtly, "this coat is warm enough for me anyway." She continued on her journey.

She's not sure if it's just her emotions, but Leon's attitude toward her shifts frequently. Sometimes she is very friendly, sometimes she is indifferent, and sometimes she is possessive to the point of making Gretta fearful of herself. Perhaps it's in his nature, or perhaps all werewolves are moody.

Shan, on the other hand, is a man true to his character.

"Sometimes you care a lot, sometimes you really annoy me," Gretta continued walking quietly.

Leon didn't react, as if he hadn't heard her, but he could hear her even without Gretta speaking.

Gretta almost fell because her right foot got stuck in the grass her left foot stepped on because the road was quite grassy and slippery with dew. An arrow shot from the left at the same time. If Leon didn't quickly pull Gretta back, the arrow would hit her in the head.

Their attention was drawn to the arrow that had become lodged in the tree trunk to the right. Shan tries to figure out who is hiding behind the bushes, but Leon orders him to run as fast as he can. It came from the town of Vollericham.

They appeared to be stalking Leon, Shan, and Gretta on purpose. They were most likely aware of the three of them's whereabouts yesterday.

"Run, Gretta!" Leon took Gretta's hand in his and began running.

It's nothing; the arrows used in Vollerincham are usually poisoned at the tip. The number of those who attacked was large, and Leon couldn't face them because Leon's job was to protect, not attack, the people of Orlin.

They dashed towards the redwood forest, taking the most appropriate shortcut to avoid the arrows. At the very least, they could be deceived by the tree trunks.

Leon and Shan had already transformed into werewolves after passing through the thicket. Gretta couldn't keep up with their pace and nearly fell several times.

Leon drew Gretta's body in closer. "Hug me!" he exclaimed as he held Gretta in his arms.

It can save Gretta from having to run and can also protect Gretta from any attacks. She was tucked into Leon's arms.

Shan forges ahead, leaping into a ravine teeming with shrubs and Clitoria-like vines that adorn the sandbox tree.

Leon grimaced once he reached the bottom because the surface of his skin was covered in thorns. Slowly retreat and seek refuge beneath the eroded dome of the cliff.

"Where exactly are you taking us?!" Leon muttered to Shan, who was squatting next to him.

"I don't know, I just jumped," he replied, his gaze fixed on the cliff. "Why are you following me anyway?" he continued, guiltlessly.

Despite the fact that Shan had led them at the front from the start. They were now trapped between the sharp thorns of a sandbox tree, having followed in his footsteps. Fortunately, the chase had come to an end, possibly because of the thorn tree.

Gretta let go of Leon's neck, but the back of her hand was pricked by a thorn because Leon's back had directly scratched the tree earlier. Leon continued to give Shan a silly look.

"Well, I was wrong, but we're still safe from them, right?" Actually, he felt guilty for seeing Gretta's hand pierced with thorns, not for Leon.

"Why are you two staring at me like that?" Gretta inquired, noticing the two men staring at her. "It's only a minor ache, but at least we're still alive."

Being alive after jumping from such a great height and still being able to breathe was a miracle to Gretta. Consider that you can only see the fruit of the thorny tree from above, whereas the sandbox tree can grow to be 30 to 40 meters tall.

"Do not touch your eyes until you have rinsed the wound." Leon forewarned.

Sandbox tree has poisonous fruit and sap that can cause blindness if it gets into the eyes. Leon forewarned Gretta of this.

Gretta nodded in agreement.

"You don't want to warn me as well?" Shan asked.

"No, just pour the sap into your eyes. If you can swallow it all," Leon grumbled.

Gretta was amused by their conversation and laughed. They can still joke after what happened the other day, it turns out.

They returned to human form when they felt safe again. The only change was to keep up with the speed of those archers who were clearly werewolves and were chasing them in wolf form.

Leon extended his hand to assist Gretta in following him.

"There's going to be drama along the way, wherever it goes." Shan murmurs to himself. From where Luke had been, he grabbed his carry-on backpack.

"Does the backpack still exist?" "How do you change without getting lost while carrying something like that?" Gretta inquired. The reason for this is that the Hulk will be completely naked when they transform from hulk to human form, but they can still carry their own belongings.

"I can simply conceal you.  So, what's the big deal about such a small backpack?" Leon was the one who responded to Gretta's question.

That is correct.

Leon took a look around. How will they proceed on their journey?

If it goes up now, they have a good chance of being waited on up there. If you continued down that path, the narrow ravine would be overrun with thorny trees.

"Let's try to keep walking along this path, which is leading up to the cliff on the right."

"No, going back to back is safer. We're going upstream, so there's a slim chance they'll show up. It's also not a common route, so it'll be relatively safe." Leon proposed an opinion with a higher likelihood.

"Hm, they must be up there," Gretta remarked on the spur of the moment. She had no idea how the forest felt because it was her first time there.

Shan agrees, and the two of them walk in the opposite direction.

Gretta had previously washed her hands with potluck water. Leon bandaged his wound with a bandage given to him by Luke because Gretta was with them.

"Don't you just adore the bandage? After all, it will be bandaged again after washing it, so just open it."

"Be quiet."

Gretta eventually relented and quietly allowed Leon to bandage the wound on his hand.

Just in case he's concerned about the girl touching things she shouldn't. Gretta's hand, which was similar to her lips, wouldn't stop moving.