It had been seven days since we left the ruins.

　The tracks that the locals had walked on were so thin that we sometimes lost our way.

　Each time we would try to find it again.

'There it is,'

　It's usually Ms. Illtimina and Mr. Kilt who find them.

　I've only found it once, too.

　I'm beginning to understand that it's a process of finding the unnatural broken branches of plants and trees, the solidity of the ground, and other such discomfort.

'Merle is a good learner of things,'

　Illtimina-san laughed at that and patted my head.

(Ehehe........)

　And so we followed the path of the locals.

　Eventually we came to a river.

　The river is about 10 meters wide.

　The water depth does not seem to be that deep.

I wondered if this was a tributary of the river that separated the habitat of the Black Great Monkey.

　Mr. Kilt muttered, looking upstream.

　Ms. Illtimina crouched down and examined the ground near the river with her fingers.

　Then her gaze went downstream.

''The path follows the river, doesn't it?''
Okay.

　Mr. Kilt nodded.

　Then we started walking along the river.

　As we walked.

People on this continent, they walk a long way to visit the graves.

　Solstice blurted out.

(Yeah, right.)

　I've been walking for seven days from the ruins to here.

　The people of this continent have very healthy legs, I think.

　And I'm a little bit jealous that I can't meet the locals easily.

(I can't wait to meet them.)

　Yes, I looked up at the blue sky.

　That's when.

　I took a breath and my sense of smell caught it.

(!)

　I immediately put my hand on the hilt of the 'fairy sword'.

''It smells like the 'Black Great Ape'.

　I said.

　Everyone stopped in their tracks to react quickly and put their hands on their respective weapons.

　Wary of their surroundings.

'Where are they?'
Over there.

　In response to Kilt's question, I pointed in the direction of the river downstream, upwind.

　That's exactly the direction of our path.

　Solstice gives me a disgusted look.

　Poe looks at Kirto's profile to make sure.

　'I'm not following the path,' he says.

We're following the path," he says. We can't go around. We'll continue onward with caution.
Yes.
Yes, sir.
Okay.
.......................

　We start walking.　

　And in a few steps, we'll be there.

(...what?)

　I realized and stopped dead in my tracks.

"Merle?

　Mr. Illtimina calls out to me and everyone looks at me.

　I don't answer.

　Instead, I close my eyes and take a big breath through my nose, trying to make sure again.

　..........

　There's no doubt.

　I open my blue eyes.

'It smells like a person.'

　Everyone looks surprised at those words.

　Mr. Kilt asks in a serious voice.

'Are you sure?'
Yes.

　I nodded clearly.

　No other Knights of the Realm and no other adventurers have come this far into the backcountry besides us.

　That means...

Locals....

　Solstice murmured, her eyes sparkling.

　Everyone else's expressions brightened at the possibility of it, too.

　But.

"Beside that person's scent, there's also the smell of the 'Black Great Ape'

　I continued.

　The two are too close to each other.

　If this is the case, that person will be found by the 'Black Great Ape'.

　Or they're already targeting him........

　Kirt-san made a grim face.

''Let's hurry up and head over.''

　The three of them nodded.

　But I didn't nod.

　Instead, I took out the 'Rainbow Sphere' from my pocket and held it up.

'Coro, please.'

　In response to my wish, the 'Divine Armament' shattered into particles of light with a puff.

　It swirls around and forms metal wings on my back.　

　Bafu.

　Flapping my big wings, I floated into the air.

'I'll go first!'

　That's what he said.

　It's a time-sensitive situation.

　Flying through the air is much faster than running through the woods.

(Besides, here, we wouldn't be seen by other pioneer group members here.)

　Everyone looked up at me in surprise.

　But soon Mr. Kilt nodded.

'All right. Don't push yourself. I'll catch up with you soon.
Yeah!

　I smiled and nodded.

　Illtimina-san looked a little worried.

　I felt a little sorry for her, but I shook off the thought and spread my wings wide.

　Vo'on.

　My wings shone and my body flew out into the blue sky.


　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇


　The view of the forest trees and the winding river flowed below us.

　The wind pressure popped in my face.

　I was flying downstream, leaving an iridescent afterglow in the blue sky.

(There I was!)

　There's a girl running along the riverbed.

　This is a point less than a kilometer away from where Illtimina and the others were.

　About 20 meters away, a single 'Black Great Ape' is chasing the girl.

(We have to help her!)

　Or so I thought.

　But the distance between the girl and the demon that could be seen from the sky didn't shrink, strangely enough.

　It wasn't that the girl was particularly fast.

(????)　(What do you mean?)

　The answer to my question came from the forest in front of the girl.

A second "Black Great Ape" appeared to block the girl's path.

(I see, a pincer movement!)

　That's a highly intelligent demon.

　He guided his fleeing prey into a situation where he was sure to catch them.

　The girl's feet stopped.

　The two 'Black Great Monkeys' approached the girl from the front and back as if they were pinching her.

　There was a smile on the human face.

　I hit the atmosphere hard with the metal wings on my back.

　Boom!

　We're going downhill fast.

Just in time!

　Despair crushed her heart, and the girl crouched down on the riverbank.

　Nitali.

　With an ugly smile, the 'Black Great Ape' raises his stony palm wide and swings down at his frail prey.

　Just before, I landed on the girl, covering her.

　Gagiiin'

　A high-pitched sound rang out.

　My metal wings served as a shield and played off the demon's attacks.

(Alright!)

　I made it!　

　The two 'Black Great Apes' dropped backwards in surprise at the sudden intruders.

''Are you alright?''

　I call out to the girl.

　The girl was looking up at me, stunned.

　Her age was about fourteen or fifteen years old, not much older than me and Solstice.

　Her skin was tanned.

　Her clothes were made of a humble material, like linen.

　Her hair was a milky white color that flowed down her back.

　Her eyes are green like emeralds.

　Her cheeks were painted with red paint in a pattern that looked like letters, and in both of her ears, large earrings that looked like they were carved out of animal bones were swinging.

　We stare at each other for a moment.

(Words, you don't understand...)

　I realize that now.

　So I smile, trying to reassure the girl.

"I'll keep you safe,

　I tell him so.

　I figured that even if the meaning didn't make sense, the intent would.

　The girl gives me a surprised look.

　I laughed once more and sat up.

　Thwack.

　The metal wings spread wide.

　It reflected the sun's rays and glowed with rainbow colors.

　Jarry.

　Stepping on the pebbles on the riverbank at my feet, the two 'Black Great Monkeys' hit me with a deadly presence.

　They say I'm the enemy.

　They were trying to get in the way of my capturing their prey.

　That's what I understood.

(We're not going to lose.)

　My right hand draws the Sword of the Fairies from its sheath.

　Let's go!

　I say, getting fired up.

"--Release the divine!