[Author’s Note] Thank you for your support, favorites, comments, and everything! I read every comment, so feel free to point out any typos too, hehe. Chapter 21
7. The Witch’s Request #2
I was cautiously wandering the rocky cliffs and the treacherous valley with my raccoon buddy, Leaf.
━What does the keystone look like? Can you explain it again?
I questioned the raccoon to confirm our target. Leaf illustrated the stone’s size with his tiny hands.
━As I said earlier, it’s the size of a fist, all shiny and glittery. When two rocks bump into each other, they make a sound like a chicken.
━That alone sounds hard to find.
I frowned. Just based on how it looked, a shiny stone could be a big clue.
But the real problem was that the rocky cliffs were filled with dazzling stones of all kinds.
From tiny pebbles to boulders the size of my head, they all sparkled as if they were precious gems.
‘I don’t really care about ores, but aren’t they worth a pretty penny?’
I picked up one stone and examined it closely. It looked more like a violet crystal than just a rock.
‘If it’s purple crystal, is it amethyst?’
If I had found something like this while wandering in my previous life, I would probably have picked one up out of sheer curiosity. But here, they were everywhere, making them seem not rare at all.
Tap, tap, the sound of solid things colliding reached my ears.
Leaf, who was squatting on the stone floor, was tapping the stones together, his ears perked up.
━You find it by tapping them one by one. There’s gotta be one that sounds like a chicken in there somewhere.
━A rock makes a chicken sound, huh?
I had no idea what that felt like, but now I had no choice but to follow Leaf’s lead and start clinking the stones together.
━Hmm, a rock makes a chicken sound… a chicken sound from a rock…
After what felt like an eternity of this mindless labor, I started to wonder if something was going wrong.
━Are you sure there’s a rock that actually makes a chicken sound?
━Yeah, usually by now, you’d find one… but strangely, nothing’s come out yet. We need to get out of here before the madman catches us. Did Belger eat them all…?
Leaf, looking nervous, perked his ears as if sensing an impending disturbance lurking within the valley.
I decided to leave the jittery raccoon to his worries and continued my search.
‘This rock feels a bit light.’
Although they all sparkled the same, their weights varied widely.
Some were surprisingly heavy for stones, while the one I was holding felt almost hollow and light.
I clinked the light rock against another. The moment they made contact, a loud ringing noise tickled my ears.
‘That’s a weird sound.’
It seemed the impact resonated from inside the hollow stone.
━Finally found it! Lucky, aren’t we?
Leaf jumped over to me excitedly. He grabbed the light rock from my hand, grinning from ear to ear.
━Let’s get out of here quickly! It didn’t even take half a day, so this wrapped up earlier than expected.
━Wait, is that a chicken sound?
━Of course!
Leaf clashed the supposed keystone against another one, making a sound that, no matter how you slice it, was not a chicken sound.
━That zinging sound isn’t a chicken! You don’t actually know what a chicken is, do you?
━No, um, well. The chicken sound is zinging. Yeah, chickens make that noise.
I pretended to know more than I did while scratching my chin.
The chicken I knew and the chickens here appeared structurally different.
Leaf stuffed the keystone into the vine bag slung at my waist. I was a bit dumbfounded but thought, “Good is good,” and turned to leave.
In that moment, Leaf suddenly yanked me by the shoulder. I lost my balance and plopped down on my b*tt.
━What was that for?
I protested, raising my shoulders at the raccoon.
He pointed nervously at my feet.
━Something flew in!
━What the heck is that?
Right where I was about to step lay a thick, long thorn. It looked like it had flown in like an arrow.
I guessed its trajectory based on its shape. It must have come from above the cliffs.
When I looked up, there was a strange beast with dense purple thorns growing all over, gazing down at me.
━It’s Belger… I’ve been spotted.
Leaf’s voice shook as he confirmed the creature’s presence.
I dusted off my backside and stood up.
Belger, the forest madman, curled his body into a tight ball. Then, he rolled down the rocky slope like a bizarre purple ball.
━Whoa, is he Sonic or what?
I certainly didn’t expect him to come rolling down that steep slope.
Before I knew it, he was right in front of Leaf and me. Soon, his deep, gravelly voice boomed.
━Well, well, well, if it isn’t the liar Leaf. Sniff, sniff.
Belger stood proudly on his two legs in front of me.
He was at least a head taller than I was. His body was as rotund as a fat pig, possibly weighing anywhere from several hundred kilograms to a ton.
He kept sniffing around definitely because he had some extra meat clogging up his nostrils.
‘Can I win if I fight him?’
I calmly evaluated the skill difference between us. It was obvious he was bigger, but there were two of us.
‘Those thorns are annoying, but you can’t beat a pack.’
I deemed it doable. Still, Leaf was trembling and trying to hide behind me.
━Uh, hey, Belger! Long time no see, haha…
━Leaf, what are you doing here? I heard a chicken sound. Have you found a keystone, perhaps? Sniff, sniff.
Belger continued to nudge his head toward the raccoon hiding behind me.
Leaf spun around me to avoid his gaze, as if escaping from Belger’s interrogation.
A peculiar chase unfolded, and all I could do was raise my eyebrows at the awkwardness of it all.
━The keystone? I don’t know what you’re talking about.
━Don’t kid me. I clearly heard a zinging chicken sound. You’re not trying to steal rocks from my cliffs, are you? Huh? You little thief Leaf, what are you stealing this time? Sniff, sniff.
Belger’s sharp paw ultimately grabbed the scruff of Leaf’s neck.
Due to the size difference, Leaf flailed like a stolen kitty.
━Wha, stealing? That’s absolutely not true! I—I just found a rock on the ground!
Belger released Leaf, leaving the raccoon glumly cradling his own neck on the ground.
━Is there a keystone in that vine bundle? Can you show me?
Sniff, sniff, and after a snort, Belger moved closer to me.
*
The forest madman, Belger, was untouchable in these woods.
All animals pointed their fingers at him in fear, and he reveled in it.
The title of a figure of terror was truly a beautiful echo.
Having received two gifts from the World Tree, he was convinced he was destined to be the master of the forest.
Especially since the queen snake of the southern forest had vanished, it was a golden opportunity for him.
Belger grew increasingly vicious and ferocious. Other beasts would run at the mere sight of him, except for one.
‘That raccoon, Leaf. You humiliated me.’
Belger recalled the moment when he had barely escaped from Leaf’s pitfall trap.
How he had suffered days without food!
He could never forget the faces of the other beasts that mocked him while looking down at him trapped.
One day when he became the ruler of the forest and took possession of the World Tree, he swore to take vengeance on every last one of them.
And in particular, he planned to tear Leaf apart and munch on him.
Although he didn’t enjoy eating flesh, since he munched on stones, he had vowed to chew on Leaf’s big liver with great delight.
For several months, he scoured the forest searching for the raccoon, but it was as if Leaf had vanished into thin air.
To catch him here in his own territory was surely destiny and fate.
Yet, the white-furred beast beside Leaf was a considerable annoyance.
‘That guy looks pretty tough.’
Having fought my way through many battles, Belger could instantly sense the power of the white-furred creature.
It emitted a thick, strong scent of wildness.
The smell that comes from beasts that fight tooth and claw without looking back when bl**d rushes to their head.
Not like Leaf, who schemes; only the beasts that’ve fought their way out of the hellish slaughter can emanate such ferocity.
‘If I fight that guy, I won’t come out unscathed.’
The sharp claws concealed within his front paw were visible.
Sharp and hooked like his thorns; getting scratched might mean losing a piece of flesh.
Most of all, that unwavering stance of the creature, unafraid of him, riled Belger’s mood.
In a show of his vicious, predatory nature, Belger decided to further torment Leaf.
━Sniff, where are you hiding it? Huh!?
━It’s in that bag.
When Leaf pointed to the vine bundle tied around the waist of the white-furred beast in response to the question about the keystone’s whereabouts, Belger couldn’t help but frown.
Using vines? It was as if he were mimicking a human, or perhaps that witch?
Such an un-beastly action made him scrunch his nose in irritation.
No doubt Leaf was behind this.
Belger stepped forward, puffing up his chest in front of the beast.
His proud thorns bristled as if ready for a fight.
━Is there a keystone in that vine bundle? Sniff, do you mind showing it to me?
It was a haughty and arrogant request, almost inviting a fight, but Belger had no intention of backing down.
In this forest, showing weakness would mean meeting a humiliating end.
━There’s my stuff in that bag, right? Sniff. The keystone you picked up from the ground. If you return that, I’ll let you go, though your foolish raccoon friend might not be so lucky.
━I’d rather not.
━What? What did you say?
Belger couldn’t believe his ears.
The white-furred beast smiled, raising the corners of his mouth.
━What’s yours and what’s mine? If it’s on the ground, then it’s up for grabs! That means it belongs to me now. That dumb raccoon is my emergency ration, you know.
The gleaming teeth of that beast looked incredibly long and sharp.
