87
Woohoo-
“Again.”
Dojin raised his head at the sound of the forest crying.
The stars in the night sky can be seen here and there between the dense trees.
At this time, the forest would always cry like this.
“I knew this sound was the sound of the forest’s structure changing.”
When he first entered the
But the watchman said that when the forest cries out this sound, the structure of the forest changes completely.
‘Maybe this sound is why this forest is called the Forest That Sings Eternity.’
Dojin turned his gaze straight ahead, listening to the song of the forest that sounded sad and eerie.
There was a bonfire burning there that Dojin had lit.
“Is today also a waste of time?”
I wandered the forest alone for three days. I wandered with the watchman for another two days.
There was no harvest for a total of five days.
Now, after a full 13 hours of searching, we’ve just lit a campfire to rest.
“I can’t stand feeling depressed. I need to eat something decent today.”
Up until now, I’ve been lazy so I’ve just been eating calories, but today, I thought I’d be too depressed if I kept chewing on dried beef jerky.
So, Dojin took out various ingredients from his inventory with the intention of making a simple meal, even if it was a bit of a hassle.
The menu for today was a mixed stew made with water, milk, cheese, beef jerky, and potatoes, seasoned with salt and spices.
As the stew slowly boiled, Dojin looked into the dark forest and said.
“I guess you went far this time.”
The direction I looked was the direction the watchman disappeared in, saying he was going to search.
Since the watchman joined them, he had been searching the forest even when Dojin was resting.
But now it’s almost time to come back… … .
To my horror, I saw something like a whitish shadow approaching quickly from a distance.
A silhouette like a silver wolf running through the forest.
He is a watchman.
“Are you here?”
The watchman nodded at Dojin’s greeting and question.
Then he looked up at the sky and said.
“It’s about time for you to go to sleep. Don’t worry about danger today either and get some rest. I’ll be on guard duty.”
There was no other reason for the watchman who had been searching without rest to return at this time.
It was to come and take care of the sleeping Dojin, who needed to rest.
For Dojin, who needs a certain amount of sleep time to recover from fatigue in his in-game avatar, this was a great help.
“I’m glad I can sleep comfortably, but I feel a little sorry for you.”
The watchman tilted his head as if he didn’t understand Dojin’s words.
“What are you sorry about? I don’t need to sleep anyway, and I’m not tired. But you don’t. In terms of efficiency, it’s natural for me to watch the net, and for you to rest and gain as much stamina as possible.”
If you only consider efficiency, then yes. But then again, the human mind doesn’t always work that way.
If you find yourself in a position where you are unilaterally indebted to someone, it is natural to feel a little bit of debt.
Moreover, he was a poor person who wandered through the forest while his opponent was dead… … .
‘But I can’t openly show my sympathy.’
Dojin swallowed the sigh that was about to come out and silently transferred the stew that had started to boil into a bowl.
And then you spread it out… … .
“… … .”
The watchman’s gaze was very sharp.
Is this what a monkey at the zoo feels like?
The watchman was staring intently at the sight of them eating food, as if he found it extremely curious.
It was very disturbing to see him wearing a gloomy mask made of tree bark rather than a human face.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
When Dojin asked with a burdensome gaze, the watchman flinched.
“Um, sorry. It’s been so long since I’ve been with someone else that I just forgot that it’s rude to look at them like this. I just thought it was strange to see them eating warm food.”
Dojin put down the bowl as he watched the watchman talking nonsense in confusion.
You watched someone eat without even realizing that you were staring at them.
There is a limit to saltiness.
Dojin felt as if the food he had swallowed from a few spoonfuls had gotten stuck in his throat.
“Do you want some too?”
Dojin, who felt uncomfortable eating alone, took out another bowl and filled it with a generous amount of stew.
Then the watchman blinked and said,
“I’m dead?”
At this, Dojin, as if he was okay with it, got up and forcibly handed the bowl of stew to the guard.
And Dojin, who had returned to his seat after giving her a spoon, said while taking a spoonful of stew.
“You weren’t just looking at it because you were curious? Then just try it. You’re dead anyway, so you won’t have eaten any more food. Just try it as an experiment to see what it tastes like. Now you won’t have to worry about getting a stomachache, right?”
“There’s no need to worry about stomachache… … .”
The watchman muttered and clutched the bowl of warm stew tightly.
“That’s true… … .”
The corpse wouldn’t have a stomachache. The watchman, who had lost his words on the tip of his tongue, carefully scooped up some stew and brought it to his mouth.
chin.
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But the variable was that I didn’t think about the mask.
It was impossible to eat food while wearing a bark mask with only eye holes.
“… … .”
The watchman watched Dojin’s expression.
But soon he made up his mind and took off his mask.
The revealed face was horrifying.
His entire face, except for his eyes, was covered in scars.
Only the fine jaw bone proves that the watchman was once a girl.
The watchman glanced at Dojin again.
But Dojin was only focused on eating his stew.
The watchman scooped up some more stew and brought it to his mouth.
He put the stew into his mouth, which had large scars on both sides.
I couldn’t taste anything.
however.
‘It’s warm.’
I felt a little warmth.
‘So this is what chewing food feels like.’
I could also feel the texture, albeit dull.
You can feel the jerky splitting and moving around, and the ripe potatoes splitting and breaking into crumbs.
I pressed my tongue on the soft piece of bread that had been blown on in the stew, and it felt a little strange but soft.
And then gulp down what’s in your mouth.
‘My heart feels warm.’
The hot stew passing through my esophagus warmed my chest area a little.
The watchman stared blankly at the stew, which had only slightly reduced in quantity.
It’s scary. I was scared that this stew would shrink in quantity.
I wanted to feel this feeling, this sensation, just a little more.
“how is it?”
Dojin asks while eating his share.
Still his gaze was not directed at the watchman.
The watchman hesitated for a moment and then answered.
“… so delicious.”
Yes, this is delicious. All I can feel is a dull texture and a very slight warmth.
The watchman said that the stew Dojin gave him was much more delicious than the food he ate while he was alive.
“Really? That’s good.”
If you want more, eat more. There’s plenty.
The watchman looked at Dojin for quite a while as he spoke naturally, as if he were making a suggestion to an ordinary friend who was having a meal together.
“Don’t you find me awkward, scary, or weird? I’m… … .”
He’s a dead person.
The watchman was taken aback by the words that came out unconsciously.
Why are you asking this?
The watchman, whose words were late, tried to muddle through by saying it was nothing.
“Not really.”
But Dojin’s answer was faster than that.
“What makes a person human is not whether or not they breathe. What matters is the content. In my view, you may be a bit strange, but you’re not a bad guy. So whether or not you breathe doesn’t really matter. At least to me.”
As he spoke, Dojin’s eyes met the guard’s eyes as he raised his head.
The watchman thought.
I’m embarrassed to show my face.
Dojin said to her like that.
“It’s better if you take off your mask. I felt suffocated the whole time I was watching.”
No other words were spoken.
That was all.
The watchman quietly ate the remaining stew.
After she finished eating, Dojin gave her a new stew while watching her.
As they ate and ate and ate and the stew was almost empty, the watchman asked quietly.
“You… what’s your name?”
Dojin and the watchman have not yet mentioned each other’s names.
“Dojin.”
Dojin. The watchman, who had rolled the name around in his mouth, whispered very quietly as if talking to himself.
My name is… … .
But the whisper was not completed.
“uh……?”
What was my name?
When I tried to think of a name, my mind felt like it was going to burst.
「-■■7■, mission-」
A jumbled, tangled memory surfaced.
He heard someone’s voice calling him from within, but it was so roughly erased that he couldn’t make out anything.
“what’s the matter?”
Dojin approached, startled by the sight of the watchman suddenly tilting his head back and looking distressed.
The watchman spoke to him in a trembling voice.
“… I don’t remember my name.”
Dojin’s expression became bitter.
‘It is common for undead resurrected from the dead to have memory or personality defects.’
But this knowledge did not help comfort those who were confused because they could not recall their own names.
Dojin, who was choosing his words for a moment, decided to offer some realistic consolation.
“It’s okay. Tegran will know your name.”
Dojin couldn’t tell if these words were of any comfort.
Because the watchman has kept his mouth shut ever since.
In the end, Dojin fell asleep for tomorrow.
The watchman gazed blankly at Dojin, who was sleeping in the pitch-black forest night.
* * *
From that day on, the watchman never wore a mask again.
There has also been a slight decrease in the number of times I go on distant expeditions.
Instead, he would hover around Dojin and strike up a conversation.
It was mostly the watchman asking questions and Dojin answering them.
Sometimes Dojin would take something to eat out of his inventory and hand it over.
Every time that happened, the watchman would happily accept it.
“I like warm food.”
When he grumbled that he liked hot food better than things like jerky or bread, Dojin sighed and said this.
“I’ll boil it for you tonight.”
Then the watchman would wait for the night with secret anticipation.
At some point, the watchman stopped wanting to look for Tegran.
Dojin said he knew his name… but that didn’t really matter.
‘When everything is over, Jin will leave the forest. I will have to stay here.’
Even if you find Tegran and use the energy of the egg to return the forest to its original state, you will never come back to life.
The undead themselves cannot follow Dojin.
I guess I’ll have to guard the forest alone again.
The watchman hated Dojin.
I didn’t even know I was lonely.
To know the extreme loneliness.
It makes me realize how enjoyable and happy it is to talk and walk together with someone.
‘… I wish the forest could return to its original state and I could fall asleep with it.’
You made me want peace rather than be alone again.
But even though I felt hate towards him, when I saw his side profile, those feelings disappeared.
It makes me want to walk through the forest with you a little longer.
So the watchman began to hope.
‘One month… no, just one more week.’
I wish the exploration was a little longer.
But her wish was not fulfilled.
The day she became fully aware of her own mind.
The time she looks forward to the most is when she and Dojin light a campfire and eat a warm meal.
-Ghhhhhhh.
The cries of Tegran Begriff were heard.
