RTTFW CH 3.11

How far had they walked?

Ent felt a bit alarmed as he realized they’d ventured deeper into the forest than he’d expected. Seeing Ion stride along as if he knew the way, it was clear they weren’t just wandering aimlessly. But what on earth could be in such a deep forest that he’d brought Ent this far?

‘It feels like we’re almost near Mount Shahel.’

No, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration. Ent chuckled softly. At his slow pace, it would probably take him a full four hours just to reach the foot of Mount Shahel, if he even made it that far.

“Where on earth is our Ion going?”
“Exactly.”
“A-ong!”

At the cry that seemed to answer that they were almost there, Ent tilted his head. Was there a pretty lake or a flower field? It was a deep forest where people rarely ventured, so imagining what might be there had its limits.

‘It is in the direction of Mount Shahel.’

Though obscured by the dense trees now, a large peak stood at the end of this direction. That was Mount Shahel. A mountain that was simply large, lacking any particularly embedded minerals or special features.

“… Huh?”

Ent halted abruptly, his feet stopping dead as a sudden thought flashed through his mind.

“Young Master?”
“Uh, uh.”

Paladin and Ion, looking puzzled as if asking why he stopped, prompted him to start walking again. But each step felt significantly heavier than before. Ent felt uneasy, as if an unusually loud danger signal had gone off in his head.

Abril had rather unpleasant memories associated with the Kingdom of Kerban.

Why was that book surfacing now?

He had no choice but to tear down the existing, rotten magic tower. They weren’t human. They were merely demons wearing the skin of humanity.

Abril, King of Mages, who had destroyed the rotten old magic tower with his own hands and built a new one. Born with exceptional magical power, he had been captured by the old mages and subjected to relentless experimentation.

“Fade, meeting you makes me think perhaps being captured as a slave by that Harbilta young master was actually my good fortune.”

To escape that place, even while his magic power was completely bound, Abril devised a new spell and sealed his own magic power.

With his magic sealed, making him indistinguishable from an ordinary person, the mages sold him at a slave auction. Like a leaf caught in a current, he eventually became the slave of Ent Harbilta. That was how he met Fade, the hero destined to save the world.

When Fade chose Mount Shahel as his first target for the assault on Kervan, Abril stepped forward for the first time and volunteered to lead the mission himself.

It was a stark departure from his usual self, the man who had always nodded blankly to others’ commands with an unreadable face.

In the mid-to-late sections of that book, Ent Harbilta had already been killed in a single blow by Fade’s hand. The heroes had begun their offensive to thwart the schemes of the evil forces. It was then that Fade designated Mount Shahel as the first strike point to bring down the Kervan Kingdom.

Abril grabbed Fade’s finger pointing at Mount Shahel and pulled it downward.

“This place.”

It was a nameless mountain. If he had to recall memories he’d rather forget, he knew those people had called that place by a specific name.

“A-ong!”
“… Shahel’s Lower Twin Mountain.”

Ion emerged from the long, dense forest into an open clearing. At that moment, Ent couldn’t help but feel a vague sense of futility. Normally, the mountain’s entrance would have been hidden, making it impossible to find.

“I didn’t know there was another mountain like this beneath Mount Shahel.”

The mountain beneath Shahel, where the genius mage Abril had endured torture and experiments for an incredibly long time before being captured as Ent Harbilta’s slave.

“A-ong, A-ong!”

Ion had stumbled upon this place by chance a few days ago while fleeing, misunderstanding Ent. At the time, fearing someone might be chasing him, he hadn’t dared to examine it closely before leaving. Yet, a lingering sense of unease had compelled him to return.

“Ha, ha ha…”

Ent unconsciously took a step back, his legs giving out until he collapsed right there. Startled, Ion approached Ent, but Ent, unlike usual, didn’t even notice Ion, his gaze fixed on one spot.

The entrance to a large cave. Ent knew what that cave was, and what had happened inside. He unconsciously clasped his head.

“Young master?”

Paladin’s words didn’t register. Ent was confused. Why had Ion come here?

‘Why here of all places? Why bring me?’

“… No.”

Wasn’t that like saying it was a predetermined path?

Ent bit his lip hard.

This was why he hated it. This was why he didn’t want to come to this damn Kerban Kingdom, and why he hated the village of Sharo even more.

‘What the hell kind of situation is this?’

Omb, that damn God of Time, Omb.

He felt like grabbing him by the collar and shaking him right now. No matter how much he vowed not to buy slaves, no matter how much he swore he wouldn’t get entangled, what good did any of that do?

In the end, it would all flow like this, regardless of his will.

‘What the hell am I even doing?’

Could this journey itself be Omb’s scheme? A revelation telling him to move according to that book’s contents, to dare not dream of survival? Was his will, his destiny, being manipulated by the Gods?

‘Then what the hell is the point of all this…’

“A-ong!”
“Ah…”

Ion gently bit Ent’s finger, as if he’d suddenly panicked. Startled back to his senses, Ent jerked his head up. Ion rubbed his face against his hand as if asking what was wrong, and Paladin’s firm hand wrapped around Ent’s shoulder.

“Young master, are you alright?”
“Uh, uh…”

The momentary sensation of floating slowly gave way to reality. Right, he had to pull himself together. Especially in a situation like this. After all, it was just another bout of despair he’d endured countless times before. He couldn’t just keep treading water in this sea of hopelessness.

“You were quite startled, weren’t you? Well, I suppose, a cave that looks that suspicious… Don’t worry. This Paladin will protect you.“
”Huh? What?”-

Paladin’s words made him glance back toward the cave entrance. Sure, unimaginably horrific things might lurk inside, but on the surface, it looked like nothing more than a natural cave too small for a person to enter. What was suspicious about it? Ent looked at Paladin with a puzzled expression, and Paladin tilted his head slightly, looking a bit flustered.

“Weren’t you startled by that strange barrier?”
“Barrier?”

Ent turned his head again, following Paladin’s gaze. Sure enough, he was pointing at the cave Ent had spotted.

‘Barrier? What barrier? I don’t see anything like that.’

Ent frowned, wondering if his eyesight was failing him, and stared intently at the cave. Sure enough, it looked like nothing more than an ordinary natural cave.

“Where… is the barrier?”
“Huh?”
“Huh?”
“… Uh, well. It’s just blatantly purple, and the space is all wrinkled up. It’s a really unpleasant barrier.”

Ent looked at the cave again at Paladin’s words. Wait, so… Where exactly is it?

“Part of the entrance? The whole thing?”
“The entire entrance. Young master, you truly can’t see it?”
“Ion, can you see this barrier thing too?”
“A-ong.”

When Ion nodded as well, Ent grew even more confused.

Was it because he was an old soul who’d lived in Park Jaeyoon’s body for so long that he couldn’t see such a fantastical barrier? No, why couldn’t he see a barrier that even an animal’s eyes could see?

“… Anyway, you mean it looks suspicious?”
“Yes. It would be best not to go near it.”

“A-ong! A-oong…”

But at Paladin’s words, Ion jumped up and bit onto Ent’s sleeve. The tugging gesture, as if begging to go in together, left Ent a bit flustered. The cave didn’t look particularly suspicious to his eyes anyway, but Ent already knew what was inside.

“… Hmm, Ion. Wouldn’t it be better not to go in?”
“A-ong…”

At Ent’s words, Ion’s ears drooped and he flopped down flat in front of Ent. Ent felt extremely perplexed. Why on earth did Ion want to go inside there?

‘Inside there is something terrifying you absolutely must not get entangled with.’

“Ion, are you worried about what’s inside?”
“A-ong! A-oong, a-ong. A-ong!”
“… Hmm.”

Naturally, Ent couldn’t understand a word of Ion’s explanation. But he couldn’t just ignore Ion’s strong desire like this. Of course, he didn’t want to go anywhere near it himself, and he wished he could just pretend he’d never come here.

‘Still, Ion brought me here, so he must have something in mind.’

“Then, let’s go get Izel and come back.”
“A-ong?”

Ion seemed to be asking, ‘Why Izel, specifically?’, but Ent just gave an awkward smile and didn’t really answer. He needed to gather his thoughts first, so he wanted to get away from that cave area for now.

Plus, Izel was a formidable being who could converse with animals, so Ent figured he might understand why Ion wanted to go there.