"Sorry, it took longer than it needed." Souta apologized to Bryan after he came back. He cleaned the bloodstain on his body. That's the reason why he took a long time.
"I'm curious... What did you do?" Bryan asked Souta with a curious expression.
"It's not that worth mentioning." Souta waved his hand and walked beside Yuko. He stretched out his hand and patted her head.
"So where should we go, Souta?" Bryan asked. Souta was the only one who knew their exact goals, so he needed to depend on him.
"We will go back to the village and come back this night," Souta said.
"Huh?" Bryan exclaimed.
"What's wrong?" Souta asked him when he heard Bryan's loud voice.
"Why?" Bryan said one word. He was asking why they should go back to the village.
"I said before that we will scout this area first," Souta said as he shrugged his shoulders.
The girl called Cluster just looked at their interactions. She didn't know why but she felt afraid of Bryan and Souta. She didn't know why but she felt a powerful presence behind the two. It was especially towards Bryan.
Souta noticed her looking at Bryan with slight fear in her eyes. Although it was just a second, it didn't escape his eyes.
"Oi, what's your name?" Souta asked the girl. He asked her name to avoid suspicion in case he blurted out her name.
"Um... Cluster." The girl replied in a low voice.
"Oh! So your name's Cluster, huh? You don't need to worry now, I will protect you." Bryan said as he patted his chest.
"...thank you for saving me!" Cluster hesitated for a while before she bowed her head and thanked Bryan and Souta.
'Cluster, huh? It felt familiar to me...' Souta thought while looking at her. He smiled at her and said, "My name's Souta Ieshi and this guy is Bryan Dagruel, a comrade of mine."
Bryan smiled and patted his chest proudly.
Something caught Cluster's attention in Souta's words. She tilted her head and said, "From Ieshi Clan?"
"Ieshi Clan? What's that?" Souta asked her when he heard her mentioned Ieshi Clan. It was the first time he heard a clan in this world that has the same surname as his.
"Um... They are a family with the power to see the future." Cluster lowered her head and said in a tiny voice.
"I see..." Souta nodded in understanding. It was the first time he heard that someone has the power to see the future in this world. Even in the game, he hasn't heard it at all. Especially, the Ieshi Clan. He looked at her and asked, "So where are they?"
Cluster shook her head and said, "They are an ancient family and some people said that they all died in the Great War."
'So that's why I didn't know about the Ieshi Clan.' Souta thought. The happenings in the Great War was still a mystery even to him. He only knew little details about it.
"Where did you learn about that?" Souta asked.
"In the place where I lived. There's a lot of books there and I don't have anything to do, so I kept reading books." Cluster replied to him.
"Hmm..." Souta guessed that it was the books from the True God's Holy Kingdom. It's within his expectations that the Three Great Countries have some records of the Great War. After all, they were founded for a few thousand years ago.
Souta squatted down and asked, "Can you tell me more about the Great War later? I'm curious about what happened in that war."
"...okay." Cluster nodded.
'This girl really has some value.' Souta smiled contently.
...
Souta's group including Cluster went back to the village. They met some monsters on their way out but Souta and Bryan eliminated it. They successfully got out of the forest without having any problem.
The group was walking in the market looking for something valuable.
"What should we do now, Souta?" Bryan asked Souta with a bored expression.
"Rest," Souta replied while checking the fruits that were on the stall.
"Rest?!" Bryan couldn't believe what he heard.
"Yeah, rest." Souta nodded and he bought the fruits that he picked. "It's important for an adventurer to be cautious. It's also important if your energy is full."
"Yeah, yeah." Bryan dropped his shoulders. He was clearly bored and was itching for some action.
"Hais... You really don't get it." Souta picked up the fruit he bought from the plastic bag and placed it close to Yuko's mouth.
Yuko looked at the fruit for a moment before she opened her mouth and bit the fruit. She ate the fruit in just a second, so she looked at Souta and opened her mouth as if she was asking him to feed her.
"Here." Souta picked another fruit from the plastic bag and put it inside her mouth.
"Mu." Yuko happily ate the fruit that he gave her.
Bryan looked at him and Yuko back and forth. "...sucks to be you." Then, an idea came into his mind. "Ah! I know! Maybe I will tame a monster myself and raised it to become the strongest! Hahaha!"
Souta looked at Bryan with a dumbfounded expression. "Oi, how did you come to that conclusion?"
"I saw how Yuko fought, so I think I should tame some monster for myself. Then, I'll become a tamer too." Bryan laughed.
"Do what you want. I'll tell you that it's not easy to raise a pet." Souta said and he continued to feed Yuko the fruits that he bought.
...
Souta's group went back to the inn. They rent another room for Cluster. She's a girl so Souta thought that it's not a good idea to let her stay with him or Bryan.
Bryan rested in his room while Souta called Cluster to come into his room. Cluster came in his room and Souta asked her about the Great War.
Cluster told him everything she knew about the Great War. Her knowledge about the Great War was limited but this was enough for Souta.
Twenty Thousand Years Ago, the demons tried to destroy the world. Various races joined hands to repel the demons. It was said that the technology of ancient civilization was more advanced than the current technology in the current era. They have different powerful weapons and the people from ancient times knew how to create the Universal Grade Equipment. They also have connections to many different worlds. They used that force to pushed back the demons from the edges of the world.
That's the normal story of the Great War which was passed down through generations.
But... From Cluster, the story was quite different.
The demons were searching for something that's why they launched an invasion. They were looking for a door, an entrance to a different realm. It was because they said that the world, no, the whole cosmos was going to end soon. The Ieshi Clan also said that the world was going to end in the near future.
Of course, the other races didn't let the demons roamed in their territory, so they forced back the demons.
Then... Something entirely different appeared all of a sudden. It caused chaos in the whole cosmos. They thought that the end was coming, so the demons joined hands with other races. Cluster didn't have much information about this part, so her description was vague. But Souta understood that all the forces of the whole cosmos suffered great casualties. The Ieshi Clan disappeared, the Founding Gods of the God's Continent died, the Supreme Dragon God died, the Vajra race was annihilated, powerful leaders of Humans and Elves died, and also the progenitors of different monsters died.
Souta was shocked when he heard this. All those powerful existence died from unknown existence that came out of nowhere. He was curious about what really happened that day.
"Really... This world is getting interesting. There's really a lot of things that I haven't know in this world." Souta's mouth cracked into a smile.
He looked at Cluster and said, "You can rest now. Thanks for telling me this."
"...no, you saved me so it's natural that I help you." Cluster shook her head. She then hurriedly left his room.
Souta looked at her retreating back before he lay down on his bed. After fulfilling the requirements of his next evolution, he would try to acquire more combat arts so that he could level it up to two in his next evolution.
He rested for a few hours before he got up and went to Bryan's room.
Knock! Knock!
"Bryan we're going to depart now. Prepare yourself we're going deep in the Desolate Forest." Souta said.
"Okay!!" Bryan replied in a loud voice.
Souta then went to Cluster and said the same thing.
In just a few minutes, Souta, Bryan, and Cluster went out of the inn to fetch Yuko.
The group departed and went to the Desolate Woods.
The sky was dark and the night breeze was cold. Soon, they were going to meet a lot of people after the Mystical Light Cherry.
It seemed that it's going to get chaotic in the Desolate Woods tonight.
