Forest Maze

Looking back at the house on the hill, I couldn’t help but wonder why someone would even live in a place like that.

Sure, the interior and furniture inside were miles better than mum’s house, but it’s just too lonely. Why would someone live without neighbours, far away from civilisation? What kind of person was the past me, the Hero who killed the Demon Lord? Sereya mentioned that I wanted a ‘slow life’ but, forget slow—with the forest surrounding this place, there was absolutely nothing going on here!

I mean, if I was the guy responsible for saving humanity, wouldn’t I stay in the biggest mansion in the city, with all the butlers and maids and the riches in the world? This past me, this, Hana-something fellow, he’s…

...he’s pretty dumb.

“Wait, you didn’t take anything?” Sereya’s question popped my bubble of thought.

She changed her clothes to something that adventurers would wear. Leather boots that stretched up to her thighs, a comfortable top made of wool, and a mantle that helped to hide her missing arm.

Underneath her mantle and around her waist was a thick belt. A sheathed sword hung by her hip. I hoped this trip wouldn’t be too dangerous. Having a woman act as my bodyguard was embarrassing!

“Oh right, I probably look pretty strange in all this, huh.”

Crap, I think she caught me staring.

“No no!” I scrambled for a follow-up, “I, er, you look more normal than I thought.”

“Normal? I knew it, I should’ve worn something bolder. This is just too plain, I guess.”

Wait, so did you think you look strange or normal? Why were women always so picky with their clothes?

“A-Anyways,” she said as she changed the topic, “beyond this woodland area here is the main road. We could walk all the way to the capital, but that might make your pinky toe worse, so we should hitch a caravan instead.”

“I’m okay with that, but how big is this forest in front of us anyway? This house is completely surrounded by trees. Wouldn’t there be monsters or wild beasts?”

“Nope, it’s a pretty small forest and there are no monsters.I think.”

You think? You mean there were monsters?!

“This forest is artificial, you know? You asked E—” she paused momentarily as her eyes darted around, “a f-friend to erect all this forest around our house.

Since she corrected her next line to ‘a friend’, I could only assume that it was someone ridiculous again. She probably didn’t want me to get shocked as I found out. What kind of monster could summon trees in the middle of nowhere, anyway?

“Wait, so what’s the point of putting so much effort into changing the scenery? Did the ‘past me’ have a hard-on for trees?”

“Hehe, that’s why you wanted this forest erected, hmmmm?”

Oh no.

I think I knew why past me left her hanging and never answered her feelings. If this was what I had to deal with, nope, sorry, I’m out.

“Boo, you could at least laugh. You really liked those jokes,” she pouted, “The reason why the forest is here is that if someone tried to enter and didn’t know the correct route, they would be stuck inside walking around in circles. It’s basically a maze to keep people out, so yeah. You really REALLY didn’t want the world to disturb your retirement.”

Wait a sec—

“So that means if I entered the forest earlier to chase you when you were running away, I would get stuck in the forest forever?!”

“Yup.”

Don’t answer so frankly!

A massive sigh of relief exited my system. If I didn’t explain myself properly to her, I would have gotten into real big trouble. First Sereya, and now past me? Why did everyone want me dead?

“So, just make sure to follow my lead,” Sereya gestured me to follow her as she started walking into the foliage, “If you get lost, scream. If it’s loud enough, I can probably find you.”

“Do I look like a child?” I shot a piercing glare at her smug face. Unfortunately, she didn’t re—

“HELPPPPPP!”

A high-pitched cry for help shot through the woods and towards our position. Talk about timing.

“Shall we make a move then?” Sereya asked with a gentle smile.

“Yeah! What are we waiting for? She needs our help!”

“Help? You want to help her?” Tilting her head to her side, Sereya seemed puzzled beyond belief.

“Isn’t it obvious?! I’m supposed to be the Hero, right? What are we doing standing here? Let’s go!”

I was about to run when I felt Sereya’s hand on my shoulder. Her hand jolted me to a realisation—rushing headfirst into the forest would only result in me ending up like the girl screaming for help. Only Sereya knew the way around the woods.

“Let me give you a warning,” she said in a stern tone.

“Yeah, I know. You have to lead the way. Sorry I overreacted.”

“No, it’s not that. For the past five months we’ve been here, you’ve ignored every single cry for help from the forest. Are you sure you want to help her?”

When she asked me that, I could feel my fist clenching by itself. My past self—

How could a Hero ignore these blood-curdling screams for help right outside his house?! For five months, how many people were trapped there, scared and all alone?

To think that the past me, a Hero who killed the Demon Lord, couldn’t even do the simplest, most basic thing that a Hero does—made my blood boil.

“Sereya,” I growled, “what kind of Hero ignores someone in need?!”

She let out a tired sigh, “I don’t mind leading you to the source of the scream, but only under one condition.”

“What is it?”

“Do not regret helping her.”

What? R-Regret?

My blood froze for a moment as I began to consider the consequences. Under what circumstance would someone ‘regret’ helping someone in need? Was the person who was crying for help an assassin? Was this a trap?

I looked at my companion beside me. Logically speaking, Sereya, a warrior of incredible power, harboured feelings for me. If something happened to me, she would undoubtedly prevent an attempt on my life.

Since this was the case, I wouldn’t have any issues helping this person.

“The only regret that I’ll have is if I didn’t help someone in need. C’mon Sereya, it’s time to be a Hero!”

She nodded at me, but I had a feeling that she wasn’t entirely convinced.

Casting my doubts aside, I trailed behind her steps. As we walked past the first few trees, I began to wonder—what kind of forest could double as a maze? I paid particularly close attention to the trees and I could tell that they were not looping or repeating themselves. Even the small shrubs and the ground were different.

However, Sereya’s path seemed oddly random. She would walk like 8 steps in one direction, before turning a different way and walking another specific number of steps. Even if I forgot the number of steps she took, her footprints made it obvious—I just needed to walk the exact same path.

It had probably been about ten minutes or so. After all this aimless walking, I completely lost track of where the cry for help came from. With such a disorienting route, I just hoped that Sereya knew where to go.

Just as I thought of that, Sereya came to a halt, nearly causing me to collide into her.

“There,” she whispered to me as she pointed right in front of her.

Looking over Sereya’s shoulder, I could see a girl in light armor slumped on the ground, quietly sobbing. Just how long had she been lost in this forest?

“Hey!”

Just as I called out to the lost girl, Sereya immediately jammed her palm at my mouth, muffling my next few words. I was surprised it didn’t hurt, but it was still rather uncomfortable.

“Hello? I’m here!”

Looking right at us as she said that, the girl ran towards our position, but—

I didn’t really know how to describe this, but she faded out of existence. The cold sweat dripping down my forehead was freezing. Did I...kill her?

“Hello! Please say something!”

Hearing the girl’s voice once again helped me gain my composure. She was still alive. However, the source of the voice was so near, It sounded like she was just ten steps behind me. I turned around, but there was no one there.

“Don’t take another step further!” yelled Sereya, “Stay completely still and we’ll find you.”

I was beginning to have an idea of how this forest served as a maze. While sound travelled normally, our vision was heavily distorted. At our position, I was able to see her, but it appeared that she was unable to notice us.

“This isn’t just a simple illusion,” Sereya explained, “This is spatial magic. It’s completely impossible to traverse by relying on any of the five senses.”

“Then, did you find the way with magic?”

“No, silly,” she leered at me, “I’ve completely zero affinity towards magic, remember?”

Okay then, so she was the pure muscle type.

“So what’s the trick?” I asked.

“The oldest trick in the book.” leaning close to my face, she tapped the side of her head several times, “Memory.”

After boasting how great her memory was right in front of my face, she turned left, walked several steps and made a few more random directional adjustments after set distances. Before I knew it, we were standing behind the lost girl, her back faced towards us.

“Turn around,” Sereya instructed

“Y-Yes!”

Startled by the emergence of the voice behind her, the girl performed what was commanded of her.

As Sereya was right in front of me, I leaned to the right to have a better look at the girl. It was at that moment, we made eye contact.

Blue, yellow?

Her eyes were of differing colours. I have never seen something so unique yet intriguing in my whole life.

“Are you...the Hero?” she asked.