* * *
Bang!
I stand in front of a stone placed in the shade of a tree, bring my hands together, and close my eyes.
This stone is Master’s grave.
I don’t know how to mourn the dead in this world.
Well, if you ask if I know how it’s done in my previous life, I’m not sure about that either.
I doubt many Japanese people could perform a proper funeral service if they were left alone with a corpse and told to mourn.
Even Extra, who should know from watching isekai broadcasts, had a vague memory about funeral practices.
Well, it seems like dignity for the dead isn’t much of her interest…
After all, she thinks since everyone just reincarnates anyway, how the funeral is conducted doesn’t really matter, right? That’s how Extra thinks.
<To be spoken of as if I lack humanity is quite disheartening, though…>
No, I’m not blaming you.
It’s just that even after being together for so long, there are some differences in values that we can’t do anything about.
But, you’re not human to begin with, right?
Well, anyway.
Since I don’t know the proper way to mourn, I decided to do it in the way that felt most heartfelt to me, and so I made this grave.
This stone was cut from a cliff where I once practiced jumping.
Using 【Grasshopper】 and 【Silverfish】 to climb to the middle of the cliff, and then cutting it out with 【Mantis】, it’s a beautifully square stone.
This stone is filled with the techniques Master taught me and my gratitude towards him.
“Myogo… Myogomyogomyog… Shugoooooooooo…”
From far away, I hear the cry of the Myogomyogoshugo, slightly different from the one I heard in the Forest of Naso.
I feel that summer has finally arrived, even on this unknown mountain.
When I open my eyes and look up, I see a beautiful, shining blue sky through the gaps in the tree leaves.
In the distance, large cumulonimbus clouds are forming.
<Well… then, Emi>
Yes, you’re right, Extra.
…It’s time for a new departure.
* * *
Wearing the clothes Master made for me, carrying some dried meat and other essentials.
And with nothing else in my hands.
I left Master’s house behind.
Of course, I have a fond attachment to that place.
There are enough beasts that I don’t have to eat bugs, and there’s no shortage of food.
However, there are several reasons for leaving this place.
Firstly, if people like that bald guy’s comrades come looking for Master, I still can’t handle them on my own.
After all, who was Master?
I couldn’t hear it from him directly… but given that bald guy’s reaction, Master seems to be a legendary figure.
Crazy, powerful people might come looking for Master.
But now, there’s only me.
To be killed out of spite.
…I think it’s not an impossible scenario, considering the behavior of that bald guy and his group.
Next, I want to eat delicious food. It sounds extravagant, but I’ve grown slightly tired of the barley porridge, hunted meat, and edible wild plants that Master prepared for me. Not that I’m complaining about Master’s cooking.
But one of my life goals is “to eat a feast with Extra in a warm home.” Unfortunately, if I continue hiding in Master’s house, that goal seems unachievable.
So, I’m off to search for delicious feasts.
Another reason is Master’s last words: “Hang in there.”
What was Master thinking when he said that to me?
What did he want me to persevere in?
Since Master passed away without saying anything more than “hang in there,” I can’t know for sure.
But…
Continuing to live in Master’s house, fearful of assassins who might come for Master—whom I’m not even sure will come—doesn’t feel like I’m really persevering.
I want to become strong.
Of course, this was something I felt even before meeting Master.
Because I need to be strong to survive.
But this desire became even stronger after spending six months with Master.
I want to become strong.
I want to learn many different skills.
Like Master.
No, someday, even stronger than Master!
I want the strength to overcome any injustice!
That’s why I’m setting out.
To see various things and absorb them.
That’s how I want to live.
I think that’s the kind of life Master would have supported.
“Hang in there.”
* * *
Pushing through the bushes, I make my way on a pathless path.
I don’t know where I’m headed.
Since I had no particular destination when leaving Master’s house, I knocked down a stick and headed straight in the direction it pointed to.
I fend off attacks from poisonous insects and plants with 【Body Strengthening】, and if there’s a cliff, I overcome it with 【Silverfish】 or 【Grasshopper】.
And then…
<…Emi, they’re coming.>
Yes, I know, Extra.
In the mountains, there’s a clearing that suddenly opens up.
It seems to have been created by a storm that knocked down a large tree.
As soon as I arrived there, I was surrounded by those who had been tracking me here.
Their name is the Grim Reaper Wolves.
Before I met Master, these monsters chased me all the way to the mountain where Master lived.
There are five of them.
They encircle me, snarling as if mocking.
…I thought I had deployed 【Presence Concealment】 properly, but it seems I couldn’t fool the wolves’ noses.
I’m still inexperienced.
“「Gyaooh!!」”
Two of them leap at me, one from the front and another from directly behind.
The slight delay in their attack timing shows a cunning intelligence only a beast could possess.
The plan likely was for the one attacking from behind to strike at the moment I was distracted by the one in front.
But, unfortunately for them,
“「Gyaoh!?」”
I bisect the Grim Reaper Wolf attacking from the front with a hand-chop.
【Mantis】.
The one that attacked from behind, hoping to exploit a moment’s delay, splits into two in mid-air, even before reaching me, in what should have been empty space.
This was thanks to the 【Magic Slash Thread】 I had deployed beforehand.
While I can’t freely control it yet, setting it up as a trap is enough to make it one of my key offensive methods.
The remaining three, meant to torment their prey but instead finding themselves countered, are surprised and bewildered.
You know, you guys.
You’re out hunting, right?
This is a matter of life and death.
There’s no time to be dawdling.
For beasts, you’re soft.
I quickly scoop up a clod of earth from the ground and launch it with 【Stone Throw】.
Bang, bang, bang! The wolves’ heads burst, and their bodies collapse to the ground.
Thanks either to 【Solidify】 or 【Body Strengthening】, my 【Stone Throw】, which was ineffective six months ago, now possesses enough power to kill even Grim Reaper Wolves, reflecting my growth.
And with that, the fight is over.
<…The sun is beginning to set. Perhaps it’s a good time to rest for today?>
That sounds like a good idea.
With that decision made, it’s time to prepare a meal.
I decide to process the fresh meat lying around.
I’ve heard in my previous life that carnivorous animals don’t taste good, but at least Grim Reaper Wolves are tastier than naked mole rats.
They’re perfectly edible.
And there’s plenty of it.
As I disassemble the Grim Reaper Wolves, I wonder how Master would have defeated these five.
Maybe he would have decapitated them in the blink of an eye.
I can easily imagine him doing so.
…Ah.
No good, tears are welling up.
Master.
Master, Master, Master…
I’ll become even stronger.
Please watch over me.
Support me.
Promise me?
The souls of the deceased are sent to the underworld, where they undergo several processes before quickly joining the cycle of reincarnation.
The underworld is merely a soul-processing facility, and there’s no “afterlife” as commonly imagined—places like heaven or hell where the dead exist with their memories intact—in this world.
Even though Extra explained this to me,
Even though I understand that Master no longer exists anywhere,
I still can’t seem to stop talking to Master.