RTTFW CH 3.12

Paladin and Ent, bringing back the disappointed Ion to the inn, naturally got a severe scolding from Izel without needing to say anything.

“Please, for heaven’s sake, take better care of yourself.”

The reason was that they had recklessly ventured far away.

However, Izel ended up scolding Paladin the most – not Ent, who hadn’t even tried to stop Ion – for getting excited and going far away with him.

Though he was also being scolded, it was a slightly amusing sight to see the large, uncle-like Paladin getting lectured by Izel. Of course, he did laugh out loud, only to be told, “This is no time for laughter,” and then endure a long lecture from Izel.

“… So, I’m curious why Ion wants to go there.”
“How am I supposed to know that…”
“You can talk to animals, right?”
“Ah.”

At Ent’s words, Izel suddenly remembered the excuse he’d given and faltered. He didn’t possess any talent for talking to animals, but since he couldn’t reveal Ion’s true nature, he’d clearly made up that story.

“… Then I’ll go into the room and talk for a bit.”
“Can’t you do it here?”

Ent blinked his utterly innocent, guileless eyes. He was intensely curious about how Izel and Ion communicated. Did Izel speak human words, and Ion just ‘A-ong’ as usual? Or perhaps… did Izel speak animal languages?

“… No.”
“Too bad… Got it.”

Though he felt a bit sorry for his young master, whose eyes were sparkling brightly, Izel refused outright. There was no way he could show it. At Izel’s firm words, Ent didn’t insist further and quietly accepted.

Izel and Ion, who had entered the room, emerged again shortly after. Ent tilted his head at Ion.

“Huh? Why is Ion wrapped in a blanket?”
“Ah.”

Ion wasn’t particularly small, but the blanket was too big for him, dragging along the floor. Izel quickly snatched the blanket from Ion.

“Well, you know. He said he was cold.”
“Really? Our Ion was cold?”

Ent, who knew nothing, wrapped his arms around Ion with a slightly worried expression. The weight was still enough to make his arms tremble, but he could overcome that much with affection. Ion turned his head away with a slightly embarrassed ‘A-ong’.

‘Actually, it was just something thrown at Ion when he became human and naked.’

To witness an animal transform into a human twice already. That was one thing, but seeing the naked form of a man larger than himself was also a truly unfamiliar experience for Izel.

“Hmm, anyway.”
“Ah, right. Izel, why did Ion want to go into that cave?”

Izel pulled a chair up in front of Ent and nodded. How he’d spoken with Ion wasn’t important. The main point was this: “Ion said he caught a scent in that cave, a scent similar to his own.”

“A similar scent?”

Ent tilted his head, puzzled by the unclear explanation.

Izel hesitated for a moment. Ion wanted to hide the fact that he was a beastman, so he couldn’t reveal everything. However, explaining while carefully concealing the truth wasn’t difficult.

Wolves originally lived in packs and had once made their home in the Tetset Mountains, which were once called the kingdom of the beastmen.

However, years ago, an unknown group attacked and a massive fire broke out, causing countless animals living in those mountains to lose their homes and scatter. Ion happened to catch the scent of his family in that cave.

“It was very faint, but he said it was definitely his family’s scent.”

‘Though truthfully, it was more the scent of his clan than his family.’

Since the wolf tribe maintained much closer bonds than true wolves, calling them family wasn’t entirely strange. Ent nodded as if understanding, yet his face showed slight bewilderment.

‘Ion’s family is in that cave…?’

It wasn’t that Ion smelling his family’s scent or Izel’s explanation were in doubt. It was because Ent knew something.

‘There shouldn’t be anything alive in that cave besides Abril.’

Of course, he couldn’t bring himself to voice that thought aloud, so Ent just looked at Ion with a troubled expression.

“Lord Ent? Is something bothering you?”
“No, just… Paladin said it was a cave that looked suspicious to begin with.”

Perhaps the cave he had seen in that book wasn’t actually that one. Of course, some inexplicable feeling gave him the conviction that it was the right place, but who could say for sure?

“Lord Ent, if you really feel reluctant, you don’t have to go.”
“A-ong.”

Ion whimpered regretfully but nodded. When they’d faced the cave earlier, Ent’s state had been decidedly off. Izel had been hoping Ent would firmly refuse to go. This was because Paladin had discreetly hinted to Izel, “The young master seemed afraid of that place.”

“… Haa.”

There are people like that, aren’t there? The kind who want to do something precisely because you tell them not to. Ent wasn’t really that type, but with everyone worrying about him and saying he didn’t have to go, he found himself seized by the feeling that he should go.

“Ion, your family might be there, you know?”

It wasn’t just anyone, it was family. And not just any family, but Ion’s family, who had only recently become his family. How could he just run away from this situation, claiming he was scared?

‘What the hell is this shitty fate? What am I supposed to do about it?’

So what if fate was leading him like the book described? What did it matter? Ultimately, his actions were his own to decide. He wasn’t going to enslave anyone; he was going to find out about Ion’s family.

“Let’s go tomorrow.”
“A-ong?”
“It’s fine.”

That ‘it’s fine’ wasn’t meant for Izel or Ion, but for Ent himself. Truthfully, it was impossible to know if, as the book claimed, Abril was trapped in that cave being tortured right now. It could all be an illusion Ent had been chasing, and Abril might not even exist at all.

‘So it’s fine.’

No matter what fate led Ent down a thorny path, he would never act exactly as the book did. Because the Ent Harbilta in that book and the ‘real’ Ent Harbilta were completely different people.

The next day, despite yesterday’s resolve, Ent dragged his extremely reluctant feet and barely made it to the lower twin mountains of Shahel. In truth, he hadn’t walked at all; he’d been carried by Izel because his pace was too slow, so they’d arrived in less than an hour.

“… It certainly does look ominous.”

Carried by Izel, Ent approached the cave much closer than yesterday. Yesterday, they’d only glimpsed the entrance from afar, but up close, it definitely felt ominous, just as Paladin had said.

“So what exactly is ominous about it?”

What the hell? To Ent, it still looked like nothing more than an ordinary natural cave. Ent climbed down from Izel and looked around the cave entrance, but he couldn’t understand what the ‘ominous aura’ Izel and Paladin were talking about was at all.

“So, young master, I’m telling you this entire entrance is surrounded by a purple ominous barrier!”
“No, why is it only invisible to my eyes…”

Judging by Izel’s expression, that ‘barrier’ was clearly visible to his eyes too.

Why was it invisible only to his? Frustrated, Ent frowned slightly.

“Awoong.”

As Ion cautiously approached the cave entrance, Izel grabbed him abruptly. Ion whined and tried to scratch Izel’s hand with his claws, but the white gloves prevented any injury.

“Paladin, can you approach that entrance?”
“Oh, I’ll give it a shot.”

Paladin drew a dagger from his cloak. Gripping it tightly as if gathering his strength, he swung it toward the cave entrance.

“Ugh, ugh!”

But the moment Paladin’s dagger touched the cave entrance, a fierce spark erupted, violently pushing him backward. As Paladin, forced by the intense pressure, slammed into the wall, Ion seemed startled and rushed toward him.

“As expected…”

‘No, I have no idea what’s going on.’

Although he was startled when Paladin was suddenly pushed by an unknown force and slammed into the wall, to Ent’s eyes, it simply looked like Paladin had swung his knife at thin air and been abruptly repelled.

“Lord Ent. Though you cannot see it, a barrier shrouded in magic is deployed over that area.” “A barrier?”
“Yes. It’s likely a device allowing entry only to certain authorized individuals. When Paladin tried to force his way in through his weapon, the barrier activated and repelled him.”

Ent barely nodded at Izel’s explanation. No, truthfully, he could have figured that much out himself. What Ent was curious about was why that damn barrier was invisible only to him.

‘There’s a barrier here?’

After staring blankly at it for a moment, Ent slowly began walking toward the cave entrance.

Damn curiosity.

Well, a barrier invisible only to him? How could he not be curious?

“I could probably break through… Lord Ent, be careful!”
“A-ong!”

Izel spotted Ent near the entrance and urgently warned him, but it was already too late.

Ent, having approached the cave, reached his hand toward the interior.