58 . I arrived at the Great Forest….
Is it because I slept with the window open out of frustration?
At the salty smell of the sea blowing from the beach and the cries of seagulls tickling my ears, I twisted in bed and slowly opened my eyes.
If it was like usual, it would have been a refreshing morning, but it didn’t really touch me now.
In a situation where there were still many problems to be solved realistically, there was no time to enjoy leisure time.
What has been bothering me since morning was the transition from Brah to the Great Forest.
It is unreasonable to use a wagon when bandits block the road. Walking was even more nonsensical.
“Whoa….”
Naturally, my head bent down, and a helpless sigh flowed from my mouth as I sat on the bed.
When I see myself in agony, I hear a woman’s voice beside me, as if I’ve been waiting for it.
“Dad? What’s the matter?”
I raised my head slightly and saw four children looking down at me with worried expressions. How long have you been in my room? There was no time to ask such questions.
I couldn’t show my spirits in front of the children. To always stand tall and be a person they can rely on. Because that is the role of parents.
I tried to smile brightly, shook my head as if nothing had happened, and stood up.
“Nothing. Shall we go get some breakfast?”
Did he even notice my attitude of trying to gloss over it? The children’s expressions were different from usual, not so clear.
Even so, it felt only admirable to see him nodding his head and showing that he was willing to follow my opinion.
I gently patted the head of Elia, who was closest to me, and opened my mouth.
“Go wake your sister, and come downstairs.”
Nodding my head and looking at the scattered children and the empty room, I got up and headed downstairs, dragging my weak legs.
When I came down to the first floor, half of the tables were already occupied by people eating.
After I finished asking the hostess to prepare a meal, I sat down to spend some time, when I soon saw Rihanna and the children descending the stairs.
Rihanna didn’t even have time to tidy up her hair. Her hair was quite messy as if she had been led by the children.
My eyes met hers, and as I waved her light greeting to her waving her hand with her sly smile, Rihanna naturally came and sat down in front of me.
Because the meal was ordered in advance, the food came out in good time as soon as the children sat down, and the children started eating with a light greeting.
When I saw children eating with happy faces, I felt something warm rise in a corner of my heart, but dyeing them black was my concern.
As I was wasting my time eating breakfast prepared at the inn, I overheard the conversation of two middle-aged men sitting next to me drinking from the morning.
The man, his face slightly reddened, raised his voice as he raised a bloodstain around his neck.
“Ah, so it’s true!?”
The man sitting across from him snorted and drank from his glass.
“Does that make sense? No, isn’t it funny when you think about it? That the bandits that were such a nuisance were all wiped out overnight?”
The man started hitting his chest with his hands as if he was frustrated.
“Ah! I don’t trust real people. Then let’s just drink this and go to the entrance!”
After reaching an agreement, the two quickly emptied their glasses and left the inn.
The bandits have been wiped out? It was something I couldn’t take lightly, no, it was something I had longed for.
I hurriedly finished my meal and spoke to Rihanna.
“Can you look after the kids for a second?”
Rihanna stuffed her mouth full of food, puffed out her cheeks like her rodent, and she nodded her head in bewilderment.
I quickly left the inn and followed the men who had just been drinking.
Brach’s Gate, it’s normally a peaceful place except for when people come and go, but today it was crowded with huge crowds.
Asking for their understanding and heading forward, a scene unfolded that made me doubt my eyes.
The corpses of bandits piled up like a mountain, each without a sound place, looked like they had been attacked by someone.
Guards who started to clean up the corpses while swearing at each other, and ordinary citizens who came here out of curiosity and then vomited here and there at the state of the corpse, which was much more miserable than they thought.
I went through all the prenatal battles and saw countless human corpses, but I was fine at least, but people who lead a peaceful daily life might not be used to this.
There was no reason to stay in this city any longer.
I went straight to the inn, and the children greeted me warmly after finishing their meal just in time.
Elia waved at me and asked a question in a bright voice.
“Dad, where have you been?”
“Ugh, I thought of something urgent….”
Since I couldn’t confidently say that I had seen a dead body, I made up a moderate lie by blurting out the end of my words.
Elia nodded her head without question, and she came over to me and crossed her arms.
After accepting her aegyo, I hinted at Rihanna, who was hurriedly disposing of the leftovers.
“I’m leaving soon, so get out of the room and pack your things.”
Rihanna hurriedly swallowed her food and said, keeping her mouth full of sauce.
“Huh? Already? Apparently, because of the bandits here….”
Rihanna pursed her lips in the middle of her words, as if she had realized something.
Well, she probably didn’t just eat at the warrior’s party either. If I didn’t notice this much, wouldn’t it be obvious that I would have been weeded out and kicked out a long time ago.
After Rihanna told me to finish her meal, I went up to my room and immediately started to pack my things.
●
Up until yesterday, the carriage hadn’t even been seen poking its nose, but today it was different.
Already outside the city, many people started to travel by carriage or on foot.
Brach is a big city, but being confined in this and not being able to go anywhere else was nothing short of torture.
In the meantime, the dissatisfaction of the people oppressed by the bandits grew like a wave, and the suppressed emotions were immediately expressed outside.
As if the coachmen had been waiting for this day, they moved numerous customers to other cities, and all the wagons that were useful were gone, leaving only shabby wagons.
I didn’t want to give my kids a ride like this, but I had to ride this to get there even a day faster. The coachmen, who said yesterday that they would not go even if they offered a lot of money, changed their attitude and confidently demanded a higher amount. I had no choice but to pay for their torch and loaded myself into the hard luggage compartment.
Brach, who left farther than planned with the coachman’s whipping, I cast my gaze blankly toward the sky, feeling the discomfort of the dirt road vividly conveyed from my buttocks as I gazed at the big city by the sea.
Olivia, who was seated next to her, rested her head on my shoulder and held her hand cautiously.
I whispered quietly as I stroked Olivia’s head.
“Sorry, if I had come sooner, I could have taken a nice carriage.”
Olivia shook her head from side to side as she leaned her head on my shoulder.
“It’s okay, we like anything when we’re with Dad!”
It wasn’t just Olivia. The other kids also denied my comments mixed with self-help.
I was energized by the kids who said they would like anything to do with me, but Rihanna, who was sitting across from me, naturally couldn’t afford to feel those feelings.
The uncomfortable feel of the rattling carriage was bound to turn into pain as time passed. Rihanna put on a pained expression and she kept asking me questions.
“Ahin, how far do I have to go?”
“Since we decided to go straight to the front of the Great Forest, it will take at least half a day. How about getting some sleep?”
Rihanna still frowned, slurred her words as she grabbed her ass.
“I can’t sleep in this situation….”
Dissatisfied for a while, Rihanna said that by the time 30 minutes had passed, she was already snoring and sleeping.
At first, the children who were chatting with each other stopped talking as the time got longer and each one of them lay down on my thighs and went to sleep.
By the time her person was slowly disappearing and the dense trees were starting to fill her void, her coachman suddenly stopped talking to her.
Under the influence, Rihanna, who had been sleeping as if she had passed out until now, as well as all her children who had just fallen asleep, awoke.
Daesurim is the end if you go a little further. There was no reason to stop here.
As if answering my question, the coachman turned her head and looked at us with trembling eyes.
“I’m sorry, sir, but I think we’ll have to go this far.”
I didn’t understand. Surely they would have given me more money as a condition of going to Daesoorim? I couldn’t help but think that it was a ploy to do this now.
“What is that….”
Before I could finish my words, the coachman pointed to the sky that was beginning to darken and said,
“It is a red moon. A phenomenon that can only be seen near the Great Forest. I didn’t know the day would come when I would actually see it….”
The coachman, who was staring at the sky, was making an expression as if he was possessed by something in her.
It’s definitely more red than usual, but what the heck is that?
As I was about to ask a question, the coachman unloaded us before we knew it, and turned alone and left for the place we had come from.
In the blink of an eye, we came to an unknown forest near Daesilim, where we stared blankly at the carriage leaving.
Since I had to get off the carriage while riding, the map was meaningless.
There was no way to know where this place was. In other words, we got lost near the Great Forest, where monsters are known to be active.
In times like this, you have to keep calm.
I took a deep breath and looked at the surprised children.
However, being there was a different scene from what I expected.
The four children were looking at the same moon as if they had talked about it beforehand.
If it was just that, I wouldn’t have been so surprised.
There was an uncontrollable anger on their faces that I had never seen before, never seen before.