Chapter 38: New Guide

As we were trapped in a net a few meters above the ground, the cracking sound of dry leaves drew our attention.

“Onii-Chan…” words slipped from Coco's mouth as fear showed on her face.

“Shush…” I covered her mouth with one hand. “It will be better for us not to make any noise. If we don't draw its attention, maybe it will pass without noticing us,” I told her as I stayed cautious, our eyes fixed in the distance where the noise was coming from.

Rustle, rustle.

The bushes moved and our eyes widened with fear, but as the sound came closer, the figure of a person appeared. It was like a child's figure—short, with blond hair, blue clothes, and eyes with pointed ears.

“An elf…?” I muttered as the elf boy looked toward us and sighed.

“Again…? How many times will I catch these stupid humans instead of actual food?” Saying that, he took aim at us.

“Wait! Let us—” Panic-stricken, I tried to explain, but he released the arrow. Fortunately for us, it cut the rope.

Slam.

Coco and I fell. I landed on my face while Coco fell right on top of me, sitting on my back.

“Augh… At least give a warning before shooting an arrow…” I muttered as Coco stood up. I got up too and dusted myself off.

“So…” I started, “you're an elf, right? Are you from the Frozen Forest?”

“Are you sure this is the first thing you want to ask? You need to introduce yourself first,” he said, seeming annoyed by our presence.

He's an elf, that's for sure… I wonder if every elf in this world is this arrogant.

“Yeah… right,” I nodded to myself.

“Huh? What are you nodding for?” the elf spoke.

“Nothing,” I smiled at him and took a step forward. “I am Zacken, and don't be on guard around me because I—” As I took a step, the ground beneath me slipped and I fell straight into a pit trap.

Slam.

“Ouch!! Now who dug a hole here?” I raised my voice, rubbing my back.

“Onii-Chan, are you alright?” Coco peered into the hole and asked.

“Heh…” The elf smirked. “That’s why humans are so stupid…”

“Hey!!” Coco turned on him. “Don’t be so rude! I know he looks stupid and lazy, but he is my brother.”

“Coco, I know you want to defend me, but you don’t have to explain that part to a stranger,” I muttered.

“Anyway! Hey, elf kid… will you help me get out of here? I’ll explain everything later,” I raised my voice for help.

“Why would I—”

“Please…” Coco looked at him with innocent eyes, causing the elf kid’s cheeks to turn red as he averted his gaze.

“If you say so…”

He looked around, jumped up a tree, cut a long branch, and lowered it toward me. I grabbed it tightly as both of them pulled me out.

We were all panting hard, trying to catch our breath.

“Thank you. So, what is your name?” I asked.

“Name's Dawn. And like you said, I am from the Frozen Forest…”

“That’s good… actually, my friends and I were heading there too. It would be great if you could guide us.”

“Guide you? But—” Just as he was about to refuse, he looked at Coco, scratched his nose, and said, “Okay… but you have to follow my lead.”

“Alright. Let me get the others; they might have finished gathering things by now,” I said.

With that, we headed back to where we had set up camp, finding Valkira finally standing up and gathering their things to march ahead.

“Yo, finally up,” I said.

“Zacken and Coco, welcome back… and…” Valkira’s eyes went to Dawn as she gestured for me to explain who he was.

“Dawn, meet Valkira, one of my team members. Valkira, this is Dawn. He’s going to guide us toward the Frozen Forest since he’s a native resident there.”

“I see… Thank you, Dawn, for helping guide us.” Valkira bowed and gave a gentle smile.

Dawn blushed seeing her smile at him and stammered, “It… it is nothing. I was going there anyway, so… you don’t have to thank me… hehe.” He scratched his head while glaring at me through the corner of his eye.

Who the hell is this guy? Why is he traveling with two beauties…

As he was thinking, a voice called out to us.

“Zacken-Sama… hehe…” Liriel smiled, calling my name as she raced the familiar frog in our direction.

“Eh…” I gasped, taking a step back.

“Oh, you found Zacklina back!” Coco ran toward them and patted the frog’s head.

“We’re back! It took some time, but we were able to gather as many fruits as we wanted…” Alira walked toward me, and Dawn looked at me again.

Two more…?? How the heck did these girls follow him? Two demons, one human… and wait, he looked at Alira specifically, noticing her pointed ears. An elf…? She doesn’t look like she’s from the Frozen Forest, but she seems familiar.

“Hehe… Hmm?” Alira looked toward Dawn. Their eyes met for a second before Dawn quickly averted his gaze.

“Hmm… Oh, now I remember! Dawn! Is that really you?!” Alira cheerfully called out his name with a bright smile on her face.

“You… you? How do you know my name?” His face blushed as he felt confused.

“Well, right! You might not remember me since a long time has passed. When I first saw you, you were just a toddler learning how to walk… So, how is Aunt Elsa doing?”

“Aunt Elsa…? You… you know my mom?” He looked amazed.

“Yup! Your mom and my father are siblings! So, I’m your cousin… Also, you’ve really grown a lot, hehe.” She reached out and patted his head as he hid his blushing face in the ground.

“It really is a big coincidence, right, Alira-nee-san?” Coco jumped with excitement.

“Hehe…”

I smiled and clapped. “Okay, now we’ve gathered everything and have one new member—”

“Two…” Liriel interrupted.

My eyes narrowed as Liriel pouted, leaning the front of the frog forward. I thought about ignoring her and continued, “As I was saying, we have one—”

“Two!!!!!!” she raised her voice, rubbing the frog against my cheek.

“Okay!! Now we have two new members, so let’s go! We have to reach the Frozen Forest before sunset!!”

“YO!!!!!!” Everyone said in unison, except Dawn.

A moment later, he looked around and raised his hand a little. “Yo…”