Episode 24: The forest of Naro

Before the entrance to the forest, Sidra, Nagye, Shizuka, Ari, and Taro stood, rehearsing the plan and making sure they had everything ready. Taro was wearing his good old cape and hat; it was a real adventure after all

Sidra: We have the food, water, blankets, what else?

Ari: the map, I’ll carry it

Nagye: and the description page for the plant we’re looking for, I-I have it with me

Taro: we go, Naro forest river

The team of adventurers went into the forest. The trees were tall and straight, their leaves were already dry and their branches pointed at the sky resembled hands praying for the rain of the raneh season

Nagye: amazing, I’ve only ever visited here with my bird when I was looking for the blue flower trees, thought I n-never really came here myself

Shizuka: didn’t know their flowers turned white after withering, I feel bad for them. but it looks beautiful, like s… snow? (how do I know what snow is again?, perhaps it’s a memory from the other world)

Ari: You mean the white thing on the mountains? I've never seen it in person. so this is how it looks huh?

Sidra: I’ve heard other places have snow in the wyvern season, supposedly everything gets covered in snow and its near impossible to get materials or food

Nagye: I’m glad T-Taro collected materials for me before too late into the season, now they’re probably impossible to get

Shizuka: That's my best forager for ya ha-ha!

Taro: haha, you sound, very mazter

trees of all sizes and in all sorts of dispositions made it impossible to distinguish east from west, it had become a labyrinth of trees. Nagye was flying her bird for both orientation and threat detection while walking with her eyes closed and her hand held by Sidra

Ari: now I see why we’re advised not to come into the forest in the seasons when trees lose their leaves, it’s so easy to get lost here

Sidra: I’ve also heard orsos like to live in forests, may the goddess show us the path to avoid them

Taro: or-sos?

Shizuka: I've heard that word a couple of times. Is that some kind of monster?

Sidra: I’m afraid so, they are taller than 2 persons and have the strength of 10

Ari: they’re also very aggressive, or so I’ve heard

Sidra: indeed, but only if they think they can defeat you, if you can manage to scare them, they will flee

Taro: Sidra, you know, lots, monsters, very tough

Sidra: back in the same town with the bruo problem, we also had an orso problem. that town was in serious trouble, all the strong adventurers wanted to work in the capital, and left their town defenseless

Ari: how did they deal with the orsos?

Sidra: they found their cubs in a house, they were stolen and going to be sold, that's why the orsos were angry

Ari: So the strategy is to not mess with their cubs huh?

Taro: (they live in the forest, strong, huge, protective of cubs… is it just me or, do orsos sound a lot like bears?)

Nagye: uh-oh, s-speaking of orsos…

Shizuka: wh-what, did we jinx it?

Nagye: if orsos stand on 4 legs, are full of fur, have big claws, and are very fat, t-then, that thing ahead…

in the distance, a big black blob could be seen, it was just standing under a ray of sunshine

Ari: good thing we brought Nagye, we might have seen that too late if not for her bird

Taro: we, go, not fight orso, not bully, so we, not bully

Shizuka: I agree, look at that cute little thing, just enjoying the sun

Sidra: It might not look so cute and little when it approaches us, perhaps we would be wise to go around it?

Ari: that might throw us a bit off course, but it's a risk worth taking, we shouldn’t fight unnecessarily

The team moved around in a wide circle to avoid being in range of the orso. As they walked, they tried to be careful, but they could not prevent branches and leaves from crunching. eventually the orso noticed the noise and stared at the team, who kept eye contact with it, gripped their weapons tightly, and kept walking away. The orso was uninterested and returned its gaze elsewhere

Shizuka: whew, that was close, it really did see us, but sunbathing was more important I guess

Ari: you were right, despite its claws, it looked very cute and chubby

Nagye: no w-wonder people are willing to buy them

Sidra: they don't look so cute when they bring entire houses down, may the goddess grant them a lot of sunbaths to keep them entertained

Taro: (I knew it, they are like bears!, though orsos have huge claws, and they have this blonde mountain-shaped hump, I guess that’s their natural camouflage)

The team kept advancing, realizing that they expected cold weather, but the season of the raneh was warming things up so they ended up taking clothes off. Hunger also started to kick in, but neither the warm weather nor the hunger were distressing. They had lunch while sitting on a fallen tree, and then continued their journey

though they struggled for a bit to find the point marked in the map, they managed to find it, a huge tree with abundant brown and orange leaves, just in time to prepare for nightfall

Ari: we found it!, this is the rest spot

Sidra: blessed be the sight

Shizuka: thank goddess because my legs were getting tired

Nagye: m-mine too, I’m n-not used so walking so much, s-sorry

Taro: it ok, I, tired too (this reminded me so much of my first adventure in this world. the little hunger, the sun, seeing new things, it truly is our first adventure together, we’re officially adventurers)

the team prepared the terrain to sleep; sticks poking out of the ground to serve as fence and as intimidating structure to keep creatures away, they hanged their blankets, put their gear close by, and prepared for their first night in the wilderness

Ari: we’ll take turns to sleep so we’re not caught off guard, the secretary wrote that down on the backside of the map. hmm, I’ll go first, I’ll wake the next one when all the sand in this relic falls to the bottom

Taro: (oh! an hourglass, didn’t expect to see one of those in this world)

Nagye: umm, wouldn’t it be better if 2 of us stayed awake each turn?, I-I remember I read a story of adventurers that got eaten one by one because they would not see the monster stalking them

Shizuka: Nagye! don’t jinx it, just when I thought the trip was going to be relaxing

Ari: she has a good point though, didn’t think about it

Sidra: I will stay up with you for this turn, then we’ll wake up the next ones when the time comes

Everyone went to their hammocks, but they had a hard time sleeping since it was an unknown place. The night had also brought back the cold and whispering winds, which made everyone wake up to pee at least once. They had survived their first night out, but it was harder than what the warm weather of the day had made them expect

Taro: goomornin (my back hurts, I don't know how to sleep on an improvised hammock yet)

Shizuka: more like ba’ mornin’, I couldn’t sleep until I don't know when

Nagye: I n-nearly fell asleep during guard, I-I can’t let it happen again

Sidra: goddess gracious, I’m not used to this kind of thing, now my stomach demands me for food? this early?

Ari: me too, perhaps we should eat something before we move to the next point?

Shizuka: Let's cook something!, a soup! because it's so cold

Sidra: according to the notes under the map, we should dig a hole to put the fire in, so we don't end up burning the whole forest down

The team dug a hole deep enough to light fire and not see its tip sticking out, arranged some sticks, the pot, poured water, and the ingredients, which ranged from dried meat, nuts, to dried fruits, roots, and grains. the meal that came from that was exotic, but warm and hearty

they all ate their first breakfast together, seeing their breath steam in the air, eating the best soup they have ever tasted, around the warm bonfire