Chapter 196

Inside the hollow, even when I shook the bell, it made no sound.

Melt probably tried ringing the bell and, when it didn’t ring, put it away again.

…The dungeon must have collapsed by now.

And since the bell isn’t ringing, Melt must think that I won’t appear.
She might have even stored the bell away inside her magic storage tool.

I decided to keep this Teleportation Bell on me at all times instead of storing it in my menu.
So that I can ring the bell Mel has whenever I want.
And so I can live while constantly shaking my own as well.

“Hmm… looks like my head won’t hurt unless I actually try doing any mixing.”

After leaving the hollow, I first began checking the condition of my body.

My height is not very different from my original self, Shizuma. Maybe a little shorter?

As for weight balance… well, it is a woman’s body, so the center of gravity feels a bit different.
But my physical strength is more than enough. After all, I had leveled up to max even as a spear fighter.

My body has the physical ability appropriate to that strength.

I took out my spear and tried holding it.

Immediately, faint memories of being a spear fighter rushed into my mind, and for just a moment, I felt dizzy.
At the same time, thanks to Rue’s vast combat knowledge, I became certain I could wield this spear freely right away.

Crafting classes cannot activate skills from combat classes.

But even so, I still have more than enough knowledge and muscle memory to fight.

I swung my spear as though dancing, like performing a kata.

Thrusts, sweeps, strikes, staff techniques—I could wield it freely, using my body as a pivot.
I could even manage acrobatic movements with ease, like baton twirling or nunchaku.

The spear’s total length is just shy of two meters.
It’s probably somewhere between a short spear and a long spear in classification.
A little longer than my current height—Seline’s height.

Spear of Deeds: “Saint’s Sin”
“A spear with extremely powerful secondary effects”
Equippable by warriors, mercenaries, spear fighters, knights, dancers, dance artistes
Skill power -10%, normal attack power +20%
Increases the natural recovery speed of HP, MP, and stamina while equipped
Movement speed bonus stacks with other equipment: Speed +50%
The spear itself has no healing properties

Since my main job is a crafting class that can’t use skills anyway, the demerit is effectively zero.

Incidentally, equipment written like “please use this with a crafting class” usually isn’t even that expensive.

After all, there’s no real reason to fight with this kind of class.

The only reason I had this weapon was because I happened to obtain it and never sold it.

Well, thanks to that, it’s proving useful now.

“…I can fight. This is more than enough.”

According to Still’s rough estimate, it will take several more days to get out of this forest.

If Melt rings the bell during that time, I can return instantly—but then I’d suddenly appear as an unknown woman.

Realistically, chances are no one will be around Melt at that moment,
but since we split up in the middle of danger, someone from Killcrawler might be with her.

I should come up with some excuse in advance.

Maybe something like:
“Shizuma returned safely, so I borrowed his bell to come inform you.”

That might barely pass as believable.

“Well, I’ll start walking and hope Melt rings her bell…”

This forest—monsters probably live here.
There’s no one around in a place like this; staying alert is best.

The Riseark continent… I never thought this continent was so huge that it had a forest this vast.

I had no idea which direction I should head, but I decided to follow the setting sun.

At the very least… that direction should be toward the Dusterfil continent.
Even if I drift a bit. And after all, beyond the eastern mountain range is supposed to be the neighboring country.

That should be the Shijuu Federation, probably.
The Konkon Company that helped us earlier is from that country too.

“I don’t know how long it’ll take… but if I run at full speed all day, I should get out in a few days.”

My stats are monstrous, after all.
Natural recovery is fast, and I have general-purpose movement skills.

Trying to hide my growing unease, I started sprinting at full speed through the forest.

Dodging between trees… it might be good training.

That was what I thought at first.

But no matter how far I went—it was still forest! Why!?
I’m probably moving close to 50 km/h!
Unless this is some kind of looping enchanted forest, this makes no sense!

It’s already been three days! Three! And I’ve been running almost nonstop!
Still… I guess it makes sense.

Even on Earth, a world-class large forest covers hundreds of thousands of square kilometers.

But if that’s the case… how did Fulerika travel here?
Maybe there’s a path that leads a certain distance into the forest?

“If only I could observe from above… But since it’s not inside a dungeon, I can’t open the map… Wait. Maybe—”

It’s too big.
Maybe this is like the Great Dreamhill Forest, where natural terrain turns into a dungeon.
If so—

“It appeared! Whoa… the entire screen is just forest.”

The map displayed, but… it didn’t solve anything.

But I see now—this is inside a dungeon.
Is there a dungeon master hiding somewhere?

“No, focus. Escaping comes first.”

I scrolled the map, searching for the nearest path or exit.

Every direction was forest for as far as I scrolled, but finally I found a thin road leading into the woods.

It was probably the closest sign of human activity, so I decided to head there.

“Good… so I wasn’t moving in the wrong direction… A little south of west… southwest.”

Even then, it looked like it would take another three days of running.

Fulerika… how did she travel through this alone?

She didn’t seem to be carrying much luggage…

Maybe she lived off the land… or maybe this dungeon has a secret.

Aiming toward the barely visible exit of the forest, I continued running today as well.

I’m glad I have this strength… honestly, if I were only in the woods, I’d be faster in Shizuma’s form with a speed-focused setup, but better safe than sorry.

“Hah… hah… hah… finally…!”

Even though I shouldn’t be able to get tired, my ragged breathing wouldn’t calm down.
This must be psychological. After being surrounded by endless greenery for so long, my mind had been worn down considerably.

I had no one to talk to. Even if there was no danger, I never knew when a monster might appear.
With that kind of constant, prank-like dread hanging over me, I would climb trees to rest at night.

While living like that, I finally saw—far off in the distance—what was clearly a large, human-made gate.

“People… I can talk to people…!”

Alone in a massive, empty forest.
Honestly, the mental exhaustion was enormous.

I had plenty of food and water, but mentally… it was agony.

It got so bad I started entering the mental world at night—not dreams, but that inner space—just to talk with my companions and ease the loneliness.

But now… finally—! A place with signs of human life—!

“IT’S A DAMN ABANDONED VILLAGE, ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? I WAS REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS, COME ON!!!”

What I had seen was the gate of an old, abandoned village.

It was probably a settlement near the forest that had been deserted when the area turned into a dungeon.

Judging from the state of the village, it hadn’t been abandoned just a few years ago.
Houses completely overgrown with grass, giant trees towering here and there…

Those probably grew after the village was deserted.
It might have been abandoned for centuries.

“But if people used to live here… the outside—the lower lands—should be much closer.”

Opening the map again, a narrow path extended from what seemed like the village entrance.
If I followed this path, I should finally make it out.

Judging from the map… it looked like the forest had expanded and swallowed the area around the village.
The path disappeared partway through, though—that’s concerning.

“Ah, but if I keep going straight, I should finally get out of the forest.”

During all my running so far, the bell hanging from my neck had shaken every day.
And since it didn’t ring once, that meant Melt hadn’t rung hers.

Or… maybe she gave up, put it away, or even threw it somewhere.

…She might have felt such despair when the bell stayed silent that she tossed it aside in frustration.

Thinking that, my chest tightened at the thought that I had once again made Melt suffer deeply.

“Melt…”

Unconsciously, I gripped the bell at my neck.

…Even if Melt never rings her bell again—

I’ll return to Lindblum on my own.

So I walk.
Down this ruined, grass-infested, almost beast-trail-like path that stretches endlessly ahead.

Two more days passed.
I noticed the forest growing thinner. The spaces between the trees were brighter—that meant fewer trees.
Looking at the map, it showed the forest’s boundary—its end.

The end of the dungeon.
The end of the forest.

With a surge of emotion, I ran—and then—

“I made it!!!! I’m out—finally out!!!”

For the first time in ages, I returned to a world where not a single tree filled my vision.

“Someone came out! It’s a girl!”

“No way! Why’s someone coming out from there!?”

Hearing the sound of other people’s living voices for the first time in so long, my heart leapt.
Turning around, I saw two people—probably adventurers—travel-ready and walking the road.

“Excuse me! Where is this? I’ve been wandering that forest for days!”

“W-wait, hey—what happened? That forest… normally nobody goes in there.”

“That place’s one of the ‘Forbidden Area Dungeons,’ y’know? If someone caught you there, you’d be in big trouble.”

Hmm… Forbidden Area?

I quickly improvised a story: “I was suddenly attacked by a mysterious group, and when I came to, I was trapped in a box deep in the forest. I escaped and ran until I made it out.”

“I see… kidnapping. It’s possible. Haven’t heard of it in years, though…”

“You’re a cute girl, so be careful, alright? Seriously, glad you made it out alive…”

“Yes, I was very lucky. So—where are we? I don’t even know how long I was asleep.”

“This is near the ‘Exhaust’ Forbidden Area Dungeon, close to the national border. It’s basically a natural border wall—you can’t cross through it to sneak into the country. Follow this road and you’ll reach the proper border crossing.”

“We’re heading to the Shijuu Federation. What about you, miss?”

“Um… I’d like to go to a port town, if possible.”

“A port!? From this inland? That’s a huge distance!”

Seriously.
Well… I did consider that possibility, given how close the border was…

“No, she should head to the southern port. From here, it’s about four days by carriage. Judging by your story, miss, you’re from another country, right? That’s what it sounds like.”

“Yes… that’s right.”

“Abduction from a foreign country, huh… I thought cases like that hadn’t happened for years now.”

“Could it be you came from another nation? This here is the Consold Empire.”

“Ah, yes. I… I should have been in the Holy Principality of Lendia.”

Since these were just people I happened to run into on the road, this much information would be fine.

I quietly asked them how I might return to the place I’d come from.

“First, head south. Just follow this road. There’s a small village along the way, and a shared carriage stops there regularly. Distances are long around the border, so if you want to reach the port, that’ll be the most efficient way.”

“…Alright! Hey miss, take this! The shared carriages to the port aren’t cheap. The roads near the border are long, so only the high-speed carriages run there. Use this to pay. And once you reach the port, take a regular ship heading west to another port town. That’ll cost a fair bit too. Normally, a single large gold coin would cover it, but lately many places won’t accept anything unless it’s ‘common currency.’”

Saying that, the man handed me a handful—no, two handfuls—of unfamiliar coins.

Refined, silver-colored coins. Not silver coins… possibly an alloy?

“That’s the new currency that’s been spreading—called ‘Rix.’ One coin is 100 Rix. Everything I gave you totals 5,000 Rix. That should be enough to get you on a shared carriage.”

“Thank you so much! I see, so the currency is different… Um, then please accept this in return.”

I pretended to pull something from my pocket and handed him a large gold coin.

“You sure? There are still plenty of shops on this continent that accept these, you know.”

“It’s fine. It’s my thank-you.”

“Then it’s basically an exchange, huh. Ships will probably still take large gold coins, so you should be fine paying for that part.”

“Yes, I’ll be okay.”

“I see. You’ve had it rough, miss… honestly, making it out of that forest alive is practically a miracle. Make sure you get safely back to where you came from.”

“Safe travels. Then, goodbye.”

“Yes, truly—thank you for everything!”

Meeting such genuinely good people after so long filled me with gratitude.

So even the currency is different… It really sinks in—I’ve come unbelievably far.

But now, I have all the information I need to return.

Wait for me, Melt…
I swear I’ll make it back to you—no matter what.