"Well, it's still a baby, so let's leave it alone. In the first place, it is better to let the baby of any living thing go."
Kayden shook his head, saying it was very strange to see me like that.
"Shall we go now?"
I pulled the hem of Kayden's robe.
"Hey, earthworm. Don't follow me anymore."
I glare at the earthworm-like baby snake.
Kayden lowered his head slowly and looked at my hand holding the hem of his robe.
"Margaret."
At the low voice calling my name, I raised my head. Kayden suddenly pulled my shoulders and hugged me tightly.
"I'm going crazy."
What......?
growl.
Suddenly, my hungry stomach announced meal time loudly.
Naturally, I remembered that I had thrown a fish trap into the valley last night.
"Shall we check out the fish trap?"
Looking at the baby snake wriggling while looking at me, I pulled the hem of Kayden's robe. Kayden grabbed my hand and smiled.
"Okay, let's go."
Trembling in fear that the baby snake would chase after me, I headed to the valley with Kayden.
Fortunately, there was plenty of fish caught in the fish trap.
We took a seat near the valley and made a bonfire. Then, after trimming the fish, they are skewered on thin branches and grilled.
Smoke rose with a savory scent. As I watched the fish skin sizzle, I picked up the ripe fish and ripped out the plump meat. The tender meat melted in my mouth.
Hah. It was hot, so I opened my mouth a little and looked up. After a while, I chewed on the soft meat and swallowed it.
"I think I will live."
Kayden smiled at my words.
Today, I caught a lot of fish, so I was the happiest to be able to eat as much as I could.
For a month, our staple food was fish, but even this has always been insufficient, so we are in a desperate situation.
Ruzef, who has a picky taste, seems to be nauseous when he sees fish these days, but Enoch and Kayden ate well, so let's leave that out of the discussion.
After eating, we walked back to the hut. As I was walking through the bushes with Kayden, I suddenly wondered.
It feels like I'm climbing a steep mountain. Why is the slope so steep?
"Is this the right direction?"
"When I calculated the angle earlier, it was definitely in this direction. First of all, if you go up the cliff, it will be easier to look around."
I nodded in agreement with Kayden's words. I'm sure it'll be easy to get back to the hut if we go up the cliff.
'My bag might have fallen on the cliff.'
I walked through the bushes with Kayden with such little hope.
And, sadly, a crossroads appeared before us.
"Which way should we go?"
At my question, Kayden stood in front of the crossroads, resting his chin on his hand, and pondered for a long time.
"Why don't you try your calculation again?"
"The fact that there's a crossroads like this means that there is a high probability that it is not a straight path, then doing calculations is useless."
At Kayden's words, I stood in front of the crossroads for a while and then pointed to the left.
"Then let's turn left for a bit and come back. It will be a little longer than the time you calculated, but we have no other choice."
Kayden nodded as if he had no choice but to turn left. It was then.
Something flashed past us. No, did it slither? I do not know. Anyway, I could guarantee that it was an invisible speed.
"What was that......? Ahh!"
I grabbed the hem of Kayden's robe and stepped back. Because right in front of my nose was a baby snake with shiny silver scales.
It looked at me and flicked out its tongue.
"Huh? Isn't that baby snake earlier?"
At the end of Kayden's words, it slithered quickly in the opposite direction of the way we were standing.
I'm curious what the baby snake is doing, but it stands at the entrance to the fork on the right and tilts its head.
"What? Why are you there?"
Kayden and I looked at the baby snake with puzzled faces and tried to go back the way we were going. We would have done it if the baby snake hadn't slithered quickly in front of us and gotten in our way.
"You know, Kayden....., isn't that baby snake too fast to be called an ordinary snake.....?"
As if to agree with me, even Kayden looked at the baby snake with a puzzled look on his face.
A baby snake blocked our way and tilted its head, then quickly slithered back to the fork on the right and looked at us, flicked out its tongue.
"I think that baby snake is telling us to go that way."
Kayden pointed to the baby snake and looked back at me. He even had sparkling eyes with a rather innocent-looking face. He seems to be quite interested in the situation now.
"How can you believe it?"
"He didn't speak, Margaret. Actually, it didn't matter where we went."
I couldn't refute his words. Because it was all true. If there was a clear answer, would we be wandering in the forest like this?
I sighed and stared at the baby snake with a complicated mind.
Whether the baby snake knew what I was thinking or not, it still tilted its head and flicked out its tongue.
Since it looks like a real earthworm and its color is also silver, I will call it silver earthworm from now on.
"It looks interesting, shall we follow it?"
I was terrified at Kayden's words.
"Then what if it leads us to the monster den?"
"Um, yes. That's dangerous."
Kayden agreed.
I'm so done.
I looked at the path we were going to take and the path where the silver earthworm was standing in turn.
"But Margaret, don't you think it is familiar?"
After so much thought, Kayden suddenly asked a question.
"It's similar in color to the ones we killed a few weeks ago......"
Among the monsters we killed, the only monster that looked like the silver earthworm was the anaconda monster.
"Anaconda? No way."
It's so small...... The anacondas we killed were really huge.
"It has the same silver scales as them."
I frowned at Kayden's answer. I don't want to have such a frightening doubt. But......
Come to think of it, they seemed to be preparing to lay an egg at that time.
"Then is that bastxrd a baby anaconda?"
"Margaret, I've asked you before, haven't I? Are you really a noblewoman?"
"I don't think you–who swear all the time–can ask that, Lord."
Kayden smiled and raised his hands. That means he gave up.
In any case, we are again thrown into chaos.
The silver earthworm looked at us like a puppy, spinning around on the ground, seemingly impatient as our silence grew longer.
'What is this, a baby snake that looks like an earthworm turns out to be a puppy......'
Even when it rubbed its body on the ground, its silver scales did not get dirty at all. As if it was waterproof.
I looked at the noisy silver earthworm with curious eyes, then turned my head because I felt Kayden's gaze.
"Why?"
"Isn't it cute?"
"What? Are you crazy? I hate snakes! I hate it so much! Ew.....!"
For a moment, I was reminded of a movie in which an anaconda appeared. An anaconda in the movie swallowed a human in one bite.
Tired of the eerie memories, I looked at the silver earthworm, which drooped down and glanced at me as if it had understood what I was saying.
Why does it feel like the silver earthworm is looking at me like I'm its owner?
"Let's just go," said Kayden to me.
I stared at him in astonishment. Then, with a carefree face, he shrugged his shoulders.
"It's suspicious, so let's try to find out first."
He seems to have made a more rational decision than me. Yes. First of all, it's important to figure out what the silver earthworm wants.
I sighed and nodded my head.
"Okay, let's go."
Kaden pulled out his dagger and held my hand with his other hand.
Eventually, we moved in the direction the silver earthworm was standing. Then, as if waiting for us, it took the lead.
As if excited, it slithers back and forth on the ground and flicks its tongue out. It seems that the tip of its tail is wagging like a puppy somehow.
Obviously, it was a monster, not an ordinary snake. Because the slithering speed was not normal speed. It was as small as the palm of the hand but moved much faster than us.
Then, if the silver earthworm felt we couldn't follow it, it stopped, looked back at us, and went ahead again.
"That's interesting. It's the first time I've seen a monster act like a pet."
While walking and staring at the silver earthworm's back, Kayden, who was gripping his dagger firmly, said so.
"Besides, it seems to recognize you as its owner?"