Territorial Warning

Ensi’s pipe twitched irritably between his fingers as a suppressed, yet unmistakable giggle reached his ears.

“What’s with that laugh?”

“Oh, nothing. Just thinking… anyway, Agniele seems to be taking quite a while. Should I go look for him?”

Lily got to her feet, feigning innocence despite Ensi’s pointed question. She moved toward the tent entrance with a casual air, taking a moment to check the state of the wood by the fire pit.

“Wow, the firewood is already dry! I’ll go find Agniele, so please take care of the fire, Ensi!”

Happy to see the logs were sufficiently dry for a fire, Lily grabbed her hanging raincoat and lifted the tent flap.

“—Whoa!”

She let out a loud shriek, startled by the figure standing directly in front of her. Reflexively tensing into a defensive stance, she only relaxed once she realized who it was.

“What’s wrong?”

“No—nothing. Agniele just startled me. But why are you just standing out here? Why don’t you come in?”

Startled by the scream that filled the tent, Ensi had jumped to his feet, but he eased back down at the explanation.

“…It’s nothing.”

Returning to his cot, Ensi sheathed the sword he had gripped in his left hand. He shifted his gaze surreptitiously to observe Agniele. The voice Agniele used to answer Lily sounded similar to when he was feeling dejected.

“Wow! With this much wood, we can last until tomorrow. Anyway, go dry your hair first.”

Lily gave Agniele’s soaked arm a light tap—despite his raincoat—and took the stack of firewood from him. While she neatly piled the logs on a thick cloth to keep the dampness away, Agniele pulled off his drenched gear.

“Ensi, the Sun Grass.”

“Ah, right. Here.”

Was I just imagining him being tired?

Ensi glanced at Agniele, who seemed unusually drained, before handing a handful of Sun Grass to Lily as requested.

“The rain’s going to keep falling tomorrow, isn’t it?”

“Most likely. It doesn’t look like the type to stop overnight.”

“Then should we wait until the rain clears to check the potential habitats near the valley?”

Ensi laid down his pipe and sat before the fire pit, taking the artifact Luke had provided to handle the fire while Lily was busy with the wood.

“The valley water will rise and become dangerous. That’s probably for the best.”

“Ensi… us…”

Agniele, who had been drying his hair with a towel, reflexively called out to Ensi upon seeing him work, but his voice trailed off.

“Yes?”

“No… it’s nothing. Should we explore just two locations tomorrow?”

The thought that he shouldn’t repeat the same mistake—interfering with Ensi’s tasks—hit Agniele belatedly. He shook his head and changed the subject. Ensi tilted his head at the vague response but focused on tending the fire instead of pressing further.

“That would be best. Ensi, how about you? Can you move?”

“I have a raincoat, so I’ll be fine.”

“That’s good. Then we’ll scout the habitats tomorrow and do the subjugation the day after?”

“Harpy are monsters sensitive to their territory. We have to consider the possibility of them attacking first.”

The three continued their conversation smoothly while focusing on their respective tasks. Thanks to the artifact, Ensi started the fire without difficulty and immediately retreated to his cot, pulling up the blankets.

“Oh right, they are territorial animals. Would it be better to fight on a rainy day? It’ll be harder for them to pinpoint where Ensi is shooting from.”

“I have to consider that my vision will be limited too. I’ll have to shoot from cover, but with so many obstacles and poor visibility, it’ll be difficult.”

Ensi answered Lily faithfully while placing the censer filled with Sun Grass by his bedside to burn through the night. Having finished organizing the wood, Lily was about to get up when she noticed a subtle drowsiness in Ensi’s voice. She whipped her head around.

“Are you sleeping already?”

“I’m just going to close my eyes.”

“How is that different from sleeping? What about dinner?”

“I ate jerky.”

Sensing a lecture coming, Ensi lied to end the conversation and pulled the blanket over his head.

“Wake me for the second watch.”

“What? Ensi!”

By volunteering for the most exhausting shift instead of sleeping first, Ensi effectively silenced Lily. Despite her loud call, he fell asleep in the blink of an eye. Lily was stunned by how quickly he drifted off, but she soon understood. Ensi was always exceptionally fatigued when his health was poor, so she assumed today was just one of those days.

“Agniele, you’re eating dinner, right?”

Lily gestured to Agniele, who had emerged from behind the partition after changing his clothes. Agniele, who had been staring at the sleeping Ensi, nodded silently.

“Ensi said he’d take the second watch. When do you want to do yours?”

Since it didn’t involve waking up in the middle of the night, taking the first or last watch was essentially the same. Lily left the choice to Agniele and focused on skewering the meat Ensi had prepared onto iron rods to roast over the fire.

“I’ll go first.”

“You will? Okay then.”

Having settled the watch order, the two finished their dinner quietly and quickly, then followed Ensi into sleep.

Refreshing. Like he had slept deeply.

As soon as Ensi opened his eyes, he sat up, surprised by how light and limber his body felt, without a single stiff muscle.

“Oh, you’re up?”

“…What time is it?”

“The sun just came up.”

Lily, who was sitting near the entrance, lifted the tent flap slightly to show him the outside. Seeing the sky bright with dawn, Ensi rubbed his face with his hands.

“You didn’t wake me?”

“I think Agniele covered for you. He probably thought you looked tired.”

Lily rested her chin on her hand, a knee pulled up, and smirked. Ensi narrowed his eyes at his friend’s clearly amused expression.

“Wha—t?”

Lily drew out the word, offering excuses as she saw Ensi’s sharp gaze. She babbled about how it was a relief he got some rest thanks to Agniele, and how she was excited for the subjugation. Ensi let out a sigh and rubbed his temples at Lily’s slightly off-target excuses.

“So you took the last watch.”

“Yeah, that’s right. Agniele woke me up.”

Lily, who had woken up to Agniele’s stoic face rather than Ensi’s familiar one, had burst into a giggle even in her groggy state. The thought of teasing Ensi since morning made her lips curl upward. Having had a “fun” wake-up call thanks to Agniele, she avoided Ensi’s gaze while laughing, then asked in a suggestive voice.

“Should we move a bit slowly today?”

“…We should.”

Ensi tried to avoid Lily’s mischievous eyes, only to notice that smoke was still rising from the censer at his bedside.

“Lily, did you add more Sun Grass?”

“Hmm? No. I didn’t touch it.”

“Right, of course.”

Lily was someone who had once experienced sweltering heat in the middle of winter after messing up the dosage. She never touched the Sun Grass unless it was an absolute emergency. Knowing this, Ensi inhaled sharply and tilted his head.

Then why is it still smoking? I’m sure I adjusted the amount to run out by the time the watch changed.

Ensi wondered if his memory was playing tricks on him. After trying to recall the details but finding them vague, he gave up and asked Lily.

“You didn’t see anything unusual when you were getting water yesterday?”

“Mmm, not really? Why, you going to wash up?”

“We’ll move as soon as Agniele wakes up. I should go wash now.”

He cleaned up the still-smoking censer and rummaged through his bags to pull out a change of clothes and a towel.

“I’ll be back.”

“The valley water will still be cold, will you be okay? Plus, the current will be strong because of the rain.”

“I hate feeling sticky more than the cold.”

Having spent his whole life dealing with the chill, he was used to it. As for the current, he figured he just had to be careful. With that somewhat complacent thought, he left Lily’s worries behind and stepped out of the tent, only to be met by a mountain shrouded in fog.

“Oh dear.”

He had thought it was a relief the rain had stopped, but it seemed it was too early to relax. The path ahead was obscured by thick fog. Ensi moved forward, relying solely on his intuition. He used his dagger to mark the trees so he wouldn’t lose his way back.

His mind, accustomed to the maps of his previous life, struggled to find its way without this kind of help—especially in a place like a deserted mountain where paths were poorly defined. Annoyed by the cold, damp air of the fog, Ensi quickened his pace as the sound of rushing water grew closer.

Because he couldn’t wash last night due to the rain, his discomfort was greater than usual. His waist-length hair was a tangled mess, and his clothes, soiled from trekking through the mountains, smelled musty. Every single thing was grating on his nerves. He felt hurried, but he forced himself not to rush, just in case. After navigating the fog while faithfully leaving markers, the valley finally came into view.

The water had risen from the overnight rain and was muddied. The fierce current signaled that the area was dangerous, but he couldn’t just turn back. Thinking he could simply purify the water for use, Ensi was searching for a flat spot with a low risk of falling in when he froze.

It wasn’t certain because of the fog, but on the cliff across the valley, he spotted artificial gouges that looked like they had been made by sharp claws. Then, on the muddy ground, he found long, twin drag marks that looked like something had been pulled by ropes. Instinctively, Ensi took a couple of steps back.

These were all markers indicating a creature’s territory.

“Kii-yooooh—!”

As if to confirm his grim suspicions, a sickening screech echoed through the entire valley. Ensi let out a hollow laugh.

Lily, you brat. You didn’t do your job properly.