Chapter Eighteen: For you Leila, I'll do anything

Why is it that nothing goes well for me in this world? If it had just waited a few minutes before showing up, I would have been long gone by then.
The monster that stood in front of me had no head. It didn’t have a neck. Its spine protruded from where the neck was supposed to be, and that was all it had to show for a face.
It was huge, taller than a well-fed horse. On its shoulders were golden wings, and its hooves were half buried in the ground because of its weight.
It then started moving toward me from the left. I moved to the right little by little, trying to read its movements. When it stopped, it had completely cut off my escape route.
I was able to see the side of its body as it moved. I could only say one thing about what I saw: “It doesn’t have a tail.”
Then, while the bone that served as its neck was pointed directly at me, I thought it was using that to sense its surroundings.
But then I saw a light hitting a wall half a meter from me……
“.………..!!??” I didn’t know what happened until the situation repeated itself again.
When the light hit for the second time, the force sent me flying into a tree.
It was after that that I realized I was being attacked.
The tree I crashed on completely broke into two and fell. The monster then slowly walked closer, with that bone pointed at me.
If my guess is correct, then that bone is like a magic wand where the magic comes out. And as for why I’m still alive, I have my armor to thank.
The attack coming out from the bone was stopped by an invisible wall formed by my armor. It seems to be a barrier that defends against magical attacks.
Then the first attack was probably a test, seeing as it wasn’t as strong as the second.
Bad-ump! Bad-ump!
With every step closer, my heart pounded, digging a hole out of my chest.
Can I fight this monster………..?
Sitting on the ground, I tried to snap out of it by standing straight and pointing my sword at it.
I felt a sudden impact, and just like that, I was 20 meters in the air.
My ribs hurt. It felt as though they had shattered from the severe pain.
I fell into a bush a hundred meters from where I was attacked.
“How…….. how can it move that fast……..?” My eyes couldn’t catch its movement.
Just like a wild bull using its horns, the power of its body colliding with mine sent me flying. It closed the distance between us before I could even blink.
Then I heard a flapping sound. Up in the sky, the monster was flying with its wings.
It looked so big and heavy. It was impossible for something of that size to fly.
My body trembled. My hands went numb. The sword in my hand was useless. I couldn’t even think straight.
Without this armor, I would have been long dead.Why am I so weak? Is this how I’m supposed to live in an alternate world with nothing to show for it?
And I even made a friend…….. a friend…….. I have to go back! I can’t die here! Leila is waiting for me!
All the strength I had lost came back to me. I grabbed hold of my sword. Without looking up at the monster, I sprinted with all my might toward the direction I came from, the direction of the capital.
“Flap! Flap!” The loud flapping sounds followed.
The flapping sounds got faster and faster. The wind turned into a powerful force. Huge trees, stuck to the ground, were being pulled out by the wind. When I looked below me, I was no longer running on the ground.
The wind was pulling me up toward the monster. My body spun in the air. I was at the center of the wind, and other objects were carried in a circular manner. I was the monster’s only target.
I felt a terrifying presence above me. My whole body faced the sky; I was directly below its large hooves.
Then the wind stopped. The monster stopped moving its wings, and all the objects in the air simultaneously fell to the ground. Only I and the monster remained.
In midair, I couldn’t run away. From that position, what if it decided to stomp me with its whole weight? My eyes nearly popped out. My mouth wouldn’t open, and my body wouldn’t move.
Then slowly, it came down until its hooves touched my body. I felt myself dropping rapidly.
“No……!!”
The pressure was suffocating. Before I reached the ground, a huge wave came from below and swept away all the trees that had fallen earlier.
Then I collided with the ground………..
The sky looked distant, a lot more distant than it used to be. When I came to, I was in a deep crater three meters deep.
My eyes felt foggy, and I couldn’t breathe. A wet feeling covered my body. I didn’t need anyone to tell me—it was my blood.
Then the flapping sounds returned. Directly above me in the sky, the monster gathered light from its horn.
I was slowly losing consciousness again when the sky became really bright. In an instant, I once again saw the green barrier protecting me from magical attacks. But this time, it was of no use.
The last thing I heard was a sound similar to breaking glass.
“.…………….?” It seems I have survived yet again.
Still……….. I’m starting to think something about this is strange. Is it really because I traveled with Milta for that short period that I became able to heal myself?
Well, whatever it is, I should open my eyes and check my surroundings. If the monster is still above me, then I’ll keep them shut and pretend I’m dead. It really isn’t possible to defeat such a thing.
“Blink…… Blink.” Opening my eyes, I glanced left and right.
It was amazing how I was still around. I was lying in a crater 10 meters deep and 50 meters wide. The scenery I fought in earlier had completely changed.
I then sat down and looked at my clothes. They were torn. There was a hole around the chest, and the right sleeve had torn up to the elbow.“Phew! What a day!”
And once again, my body showed no signs of injury. All the energy I had lost so far was replenished.
The most important part of this is that, even though a hole was made in my shirt, it didn’t reach the inner vest. The herbs were perfectly intact.
Making my way out of the crater was easy. Even though the slope was steep, there were plenty of roots to hold onto.
The second I set foot on the surface, I faced the area that was more damaged and dashed off. With all my might, I ran. I ran and ran until I reached the spot where I met the gazelle the other day. Even then, I didn’t stop. It was much harder to run in that area because a lot of trees were blocking the way. But nothing could stop a man in danger. If that monster shows up again, I didn’t want to think of how it would end.
It got brighter as I ran. I could tell I was near the exit. In a few seconds, I jumped over a knocked-down tree, and the barrier came into sight.
“Finally!!” I thanked whoever it was I could thank in that instance for not encountering the spiral-horned gazelle and dove into the barrier with my sword.
“Hahaha!!”
I lost the strength in my legs. I got on my knees and laughed like a madman.
I ran at full speed for over ten minutes straight without resting. I have to thank those rabbits for the endurance I’ve developed.
I spent a few minutes sitting there when I looked up at the sun. I wasn’t all that knowledgeable in discerning time using the sun, but I was pretty sure it was long past 3 pm. The sun was halfway down.
“Oh no!!” I panicked.
All this trouble was to give the items to Milta. She must be there waiting for me by now.
So I stood. Going in a straight line, I soon arrived at the woods near my mountain. The basket I left on the rock was still there in the sun. I immediately got on top of it and picked out the ten stones from earlier.
They were only the size of an egg. Because I had no pockets, I put them all inside my shirt where the herbs were and set off toward the town.
I had to meet her before she got tired of waiting. She came to the meeting spot around 5 pm yesterday. I’m sure she was already there by now since it was clearly past five.
Just as I ran out of the forest, I sped along the hills and slopes until I caught sight of the town.
A mile away, my eyes were fixed on the rock. The area where she stayed was down the hill from the rock, so it wasn’t possible to see her from where I was.
When I got close to the few houses that lay on the way, I could feel the residents’ eyes on me as I ran. Seeing a boy running full speed with nothing chasing him from behind shouldn’t be all that suspicious. I mean, that’s the joy of youth!
Then I arrived 60 meters from the rock. From there, I could see the town clearly as well as the fields below. The burned ground was also visible.
I stopped and looked around. I didn’t want to get close enough so that I wouldn’t see the truth of Leila not being there.
“I didn’t make it……..” From that distance, I dropped to my knees. I was too tired to continue.
It normally takes me around an hour to get here while walking. Because I ran full speed, I must have run for at least 20 minutes or so.“Ha..ha…ha…” I placed my hands on the ground to catch my breath.
Five minutes later, I tried crawling my way to the rock……
“Kyaaa!” I heard a scream as I got 50 meters from it.
“C-could it be……!!”
I felt energized all of a sudden. From my crawling position, I sprinted to check behind the rock.
As I ran toward it, the person who screamed ran away.
When I reached it, she was already down the hill, running through the burned field.
It was really her!
“Leila!!” With a big smile on my face, I energetically waved at her.
But she didn’t stop. Not until she was over 50 meters away from me.
She stopped and rested her hands on her knees before she finally turned around.
She was wearing different clothing from yesterday. This time around, she had a white rubber shirt, a black miniskirt, and black short tight pants underneath the skirt.
Turning around and facing me, her mouth was wide open in what seemed like shock.
Was she that happy to see me that she was speechless? How cute.
“I should try and act cool, then apologize,” was what I thought when I heard a roar: “What were you doing!! Look at your gear—it’s all messed up!!” She got angry at the sight of my new gear in bad shape after just a day.
Huh? Was she shocked about the gear?
“I-It’s…………!” I tried explaining, but she only roared out some more.
“What kind of monster did you fight for it to get like that!! Are you sane!!??”
“.…… I’m sorry!” I couldn’t explain my situation any longer. Calming her down was the wiser choice.
“Huuuuh……….? What good does your sorry do!!??”
I didn’t know what else to say. I looked away from her and started scratching my hair.
“.……. Sigh! Stay there, I’ll come and fix it for you……Kyaaa!!!” As she talked, she moved from the spot and entered the radius of my aura.
“I……. I can’t get close!!”
You only now remembered?
“Stay still!! I’ll see if I can do it from here!!”
She pointed both her palms at me. From that distance, my body felt warm. A feeling that was a bit familiar, yet I couldn’t remember what it was.
And as I looked, the tearing on my sleeve joined itself, and the hole in the chest slowly closed.
“Wow….. is this also magic?”
It took about two minutes before everything returned to normal again.
“It would have been much faster if I were able to get close to you. I still can’t believe how a powerful gear like that could get this damaged. You should………..??” She stopped and stared at my stomach. “What’s wrong with your tummy!?”
“Oh, right!!”
That’s when I remembered them. I was so happy to see her that I completely forgot.I undid the belt from my waist and let go of all the things I brought. They fell on the ground. I picked up a few leaves and showed them to Leila.
But when I showed them to her, she looked even more surprised than before.
“.……………….!!??” She was speechless.
Huh? Why was she just standing like that?
“.…….. How-How did you get those!?” she asked in a frozen state.
“What are you saying!? I told you they were in the forest outside the barrier, didn’t I!?”
“I don’t get it! It’s impossible for them to exist here. How can this be? Did you fight a powerful monster just so you could get those? But why!!??”
“Why……..!? Even if you ask me that………. you said you wanted the money, right!!??”
“You-You did it for me……..!?” From that distance, I could see her eyes tearing up. The tears rolled down endlessly, and she didn’t move a muscle.
Almost as if she’d lost the strength in her legs, she collapsed and sat on the ground. Her tears continued to flow.
Did I do something wrong!?
“Why would you go that far because of me!? I only met you two days ago! Why risk your life because of me!!??” she shouted a lot louder than usual.
“Well………… we are friends, right!?”
The moment she heard those words, like a sudden impact, her tears stopped, and she stared at me with all sincerity.
“Huff Huff……. that’s right. We are friends……..”
After the mood calmed down, I told her to come pick them up while I slowly walked away from the rock. That’s when I saw another food basket lying close to the rock.
She must have forgotten to tell me about it. She came to where I dropped the herbs and stones, then sat down.
Her face was full of a smile.
“That’s right. I really need the money. I need them to free myself from my owner…….”
Owner?
“.… You see, right now, I’m somewhat of a girl that has been bought because of the debt I have. I want to pay the debt and live a free life just like everyone else.”
“.……………… a debt?”