The Forgotten (Arifureta x original character)

Chapter 69: Luna's Family

The group spends the next several hours following after Luna as she leads them through the fog to the nation of Verbergen. Based on how thick the fog is, Zane is rather sure that he would never be able to find Verbergen through all of the fog. He doubts that he could even find his way out of the forest if he tried at this point.

During the day, the group is attacked by several monsters. Each time that they show up, Zane, Shizuku, Kaori, and Luna are able to take care of them very quickly. As a result of them being able to kill the attacking monsters quickly, the group's progress is not slowed down much by these attacks.

The sun is just going down, as Zane and the others reach a massive door that is in the middle of a group of large trees. When they reach this place Luna says, "Alright we are here. We have to have someone open the gates for us, so give me a second to let them know who we are."

At this point, Luna walks towards the gates. She then shouts, "Hello! I am Luna, the daughter of Gouto! I would like to come in with my companions."

There is no response for a second. However, before long a gruff voice calls down from the trees saying, "Is that really you Luna?"

"Yeah, it is. Can I please come in with my friends?" Luna calls back.

Right after this, the large wooden door starts to open. As this is happening Luna calls back to Zane and the others saying, "We can go in now. I need to go and talk to my dad to tell him everything that happened."

At this point, Zane, Shizuku, and Kaori start to walk towards the entrance to the nation of Verbergen. They only make it a few steps when some beastmen soldiers rush out towards them. Based on this response, Zane is guessing that he and the others are not welcome in the city.

Luna sees this as well and says, "They are with me. You can let them in."

"We cannot trust humans," one of the beastmen says. He then states, "You should not have led them here."

"They saved me though. I need to repay them somehow for saving my life," Luna states.

Hearing this one of the tigermen with a spear pointed at Zane asks, "What are you talking about?"

Luna says, "While I was out hunting with Jen and Haily, we decided to play hide and seek. I was hiding and ended up getting captured by some demons. They were going to take me back to their land. But before they could, Zane came along and saved me."

"Is that true?" the tigerman asks Zane.

Zane replies, "More, or less. I just happened to be in the area of Reisen Gorge and saw what was going on. I did kill the demons that had captured her. I also removed the bindings that were on her and healed her." He then adds, "If you don't want to let us into the city that is fine. We will just leave."

A bearman states, "It is not that simple. Now that you have been to Verbergen, it would be dangerous for us to let you leave."

Kaori says, "We wouldn't be able to find it again even if we tried, so I doubt that letting us go would be a problem."

"You can't just leave," Luna protests. She then says, "I need to make sure that you get rewarded for bringing me back here like I promised."

"It is fine. If your people are not willing to let us in, then we can just leave. I don't mind if I don't get a reward," Zane states.

At this point a wolfman that is wearing armor reaches the gate. When he sees Luna he runs to her and gives her a hug. He then says, "Oh thank goodness you are back. When you did not return with Jen and Haily I feared the worst had happened to you."

"I am fine dad," Luna says. She then asks, "Can you tell the guards to let my friends in?"

Hearing this the wolfman looks out to see Zane, Kaori, and Shizuku surrounded by beastmen soldiers. He says, "You know that we do not let humans come into the city except under extreme circumstances."