Helmut

Chapter 4

I would get poisoned as well if I had any cuts.

Helmut grew somewhat immune to a number of things after many years in the Forest of Pahe. Still, he was likely to fall unconscious in the water if the poison seeped into an open wound. He couldn’t afford to take any risks. He carefully inspected his body, which was capable of quickly healing shallow wounds.

Thanks to that ability, the scrape he got from the rocks while dodging the fish earlier had already healed.

Phew.

He made cuts in the vine to make sure its poison would flow out quickly and tossed a bunch of other vines into a spot where the water pooled before continuing downstream. The fish started getting noticeably slower. The poison was particularly potent against those who breathed through their mouths.

These creatures weren’t smart enough to act weak just to lure something into the water.

My plan worked, he thought. The underwater creatures had little immunity to the flowering vine’s poison, and some even started bobbing on the surface as if they were about to die.

Helmut gathered the remaining vines and slowly stepped into the water. After a few steps, the water was already at waist level. The fish twitched when they saw him in the water, but they could do little more than glare at him.

He moved cautiously while keeping his eyes on them. The water soon rose to his neck, so he pressed the vines under his arms and started swimming. It wasn’t hard to float in this stream. He thought he would easily make it across the stream at this point, but right when the water started getting shallow on the other side, he slipped on a rock.

He made a big splash as he extended his other leg to prevent falling back into the water.

Squish.

He felt a strange sensation under his foot. He immediately looked down and saw a set of sharp teeth. A fish had been woken from its sleep, only to be offered a tasty meal right before its eyes.

Helmut’s heart dropped, and his blood ran cold. He desperately shoved the bundle of vines downward and splashed toward the riverbank, but the fish seemed immune to the poison. It simply chomped down on the vines and sprang back up.

A large ripple of water rocked Helmut like a leaf floating on the surface of a river, but he managed to keep his head above the water. Right then, another strong current lunged toward him from behind.

He froze in place, knowing there was no escape this time.

Splash!

Out of nowhere, something flew in like a meteor and crashed into the stream. The impact created a massive wave that pushed Helmut out of the water.

“Ahhh!”

His mind went blank from the shock. The massive object that fell into the water seemed to be shaking its body like a giant cat.

“Whew! It’s so refreshing.”

Helmut came to his senses and spat out the poisoned water. His body was throbbing, but he managed to stand.

He looked up in disbelief. “Elaga?”

It turned out to be the leopard who was the culprit behind the big splash. The thick layer of demonic energy around her made the paralyzed fish snap back to their senses and dart away in fear.

“What are you looking at? I came here to take a bath, okay?”

Elaga slapped the water with her tail. There was no way she could take a proper bath in such shallow water. The menacing stream Helmut had struggled to cross now seemed like a happy little brook.

Elaga looked down at her paws and grinned. “I’ve never seen this kind of fish before. It looks tasty.”

She then dunked his head into the water and made another big splash. Soon, the green stream turned crimson.

Elaga lifted her head out of the water, smacking and licking her lips.

“Hmm, not bad.”

Helmut covered his face with his hands when he saw Elaga approaching. He nearly died back there. His body finally relaxed, but every part of it hurt as if he had been badly beaten. Nonetheless, he got to his feet.

“Elaga.”

You were watching over me. Helmut felt moved and was just about to express his gratitude when Elaga ruined the moment.

“Why can’t you ever do anything on your own?”

Her gaze seemed to express her pity for the boy’s lack of power and competence—along with a hint of gloating.

“Well? Go on now.”

The giant leopard gave him a little nudge on the back, but the soft push nearly knocked the boy over. Helmut frowned and decided not to thank her after all.

If she was around this whole time, why didn’t she help me earlier? It would’ve been much easier if Elaga had simply jumped over with him on her back. Helmut lamented, but he didn’t bring it up because he knew Elaga would start complaining that she wasn’t some horse for him to mount.

“I’ll get going now.”

Helmut waved his hand and continued on his path as if nothing had happened.

“Is that his way of asking me to follow him?”

Elaga snorted and slowly started walking after him.

* * *

Helmut walked upstream and reached the other side of the spot he had marked. He sensed Elaga quietly following him, even though the leopard didn’t show himself.

Why won’t she just join me instead? Elaga didn’t seem to like the idea of Helmut or herself meeting the human, but she didn’t stop him either. Why can’t she just be honest with herself?

Helmut questioned the leopard’s ways but soon decided to stop worrying about it since he had more pressing concerns. Am I even going the right way?

He glanced around. He should have reached the location by now, but he didn’t see any signs of people inhabiting the area. Humans left distinct traces in their surroundings because they walked on two legs and used tools, but nothing stood out.

Is the man really dead? Or did he go somewhere else? Helmut felt disappointed since he risked his life, hoping to meet another human in the forest. Maybe I should look around a little more.

After walking for another ten minutes or so, he finally saw something in the distance. It was a fence made of various types of branches and stood nearly twice as tall as himself. Magical beasts never put twigs together to make fences, so it had to be a sign of human presence. His discovery briefly delighted him, but he soon realized something odd about it.

It’s pointless. Any magical beast in the Forest of Pahe could easily jump over that fence. Perhaps it isn’t meant to keep them out. Then, Helmut realized what it was for. It’s a territory marker. If anything or anyone damaged the fence, the human would notice something had entered their territory.

I’d better let them know I’m here before I enter. Even Elaga hated it when Helmut touched her precious collection of worthless junk, so it occurred to the boy that the other human might get angry if the fence got damaged.

“I’ll go alone from here, Elaga.”

Helmut talked aloud for her to hear. He didn’t want to take the leopard along and make the other human think he was hostile. He hesitated briefly before putting his hand on the fence.

It was woven tightly with large and small branches and sturdier than he initially thought. Helmut put his limbs to work and climbed up the fence. Once he was over the fence, he slowly climbed down instead of jumping off the barrier since there could be traps on the other side. After all, this man had survived in the forest for several decades.

This must be the way. He saw a narrow path ahead through trees that looked like they’d been deliberately cut down. It was probably best to follow the path since he had no malicious intentions. Still, he also had to consider the possibility that the other person might be aggressive toward him.

Helmut carefully walked down the path. It was starting to get eerily quiet. Too quiet, in fact. Something doesn’t feel right. A shiver ran down his spine, causing him to turn around, but it was too late.

Wham!

Something dropped down from above and pinned him to the ground. He barely managed to turn his head sideways to avoid ending up face down on the ground. A hand gripped him by the back of his neck and held him down—the same way Helmut had made his first kill a few days ago. But this time, he was the one being hunted.

“Child.”

A rough voice growled and rang in his ears.

Helmut squirmed about, but the hand pressing down on him remained firm. He couldn’t move at all, and there was nothing he could do, even if the man decided to crush his neck. He was at the mercy of this powerful man. His heart pounded wildly.

“What is your name?”

The hand loosened slightly, letting Helmut answer promptly.

“I-I’m Helmut!”

“And your last name?”

“I don’t know.”

“Who sent you?”

The grip tightened again, squeezing his throat with a painful sensation he had never felt before as his consciousness began to fade. Helmut barely managed to blurt out an answer.

“I-I came here... on my own.”

Right then, the pressure on his neck vanished. Helmut rolled over and raised himself up, only to feel the cold edge of a blade at his neck.

“Don’t get any ideas.”

The person had a thick beard and the wrinkled face of an elderly man, but his eyes gleamed fiercely like those of a predator. A powerful force flowed through his massive and muscular body and the forceful arms that had gripped Helmut.

There was a reason why Elaga had called this human strong. Helmut felt a chill go through his body, and he started to tremble.

He, indeed, is a strong human.

Since Helmut was abandoned in the Forest of Pahe as an infant, he was used to the deadly glares of magical beasts even though he had the protection of Elaga. But the force he felt from the man before him was different. It was suffocating. It hardly mattered whether he was simply being hostile or he truly intended to kill Helmut. The feeling of being near him alone seemed to deny his existence altogether.

In a raspy voice, the man said, “Answer my question if you wish to live, boy. How did you find me?”

“Elaga told me that I might find you here,” Helmut quickly blurted out. He was only able to answer because his attacker had reduced the pressure of his hold.

“Elaga, you say?” The man frowned as he repeated the creature’s name and released Helmut. He stood there in silence before finally asking another question. “Why did you seek me out?”

Why? Helmut was at a loss for words. This man was a human, and a particularly strong one at that. Helmut sought him out simply because the presence of another human in the area had sparked his curiosity. But for some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to say that.

Why did I seek him out? His curiosity led him here, and he managed to meet him in the end. But for what purpose?

Helmut led a fairly simple life up to this point. He learned to hunt so he could eventually feed himself, asked questions whenever he had a question, and thought things through to educate himself. Simply wanting to meet another person was the purpose that led Helmut here. But now that he achieved his goal, he no longer had a purpose.

Or perhaps he did.

There was something beyond his curiosity that had led him here. Something deeper and more intrinsic in nature. Yet, he didn’t know how to describe it.

What had made him seek the man out?

A wave of confusion gripped Helmut.