MTFBMP Chapter 4

My head immediately turned toward the inn.

 

“Antheia, what, you’re not entering? Are you leaving without seeing your grandfather?”

 

“Not now!”

 

There was much to be done right now.

 

Entering the inn through the back door by the kitchen, I headed straight for the storeroom and pulled out all the parchments. I could see the blazing flames of the fire pits in front of me. Without hesitation, I threw the parchments into it.

 

“Antheia!”

 

Iris, who was kneading the bread, shouted, “What are you doing!”

 

The parchments burned quickly and dissipated. Except for one, the five quests in the bottom stack, which I tucked inside my shirt collar.

 

“We’re closing down the shop.”

 

Iris looked at me, blinking in confusion.

 

The woman who had saved my life by fleeing from the imperial palace, unable to kill an infant. Iris was probably a little older than me then, at most.

 

I quickly left at once and began to climb the stairs to my room.

 

As I ascended the stairs, a bell chimed, ringing at the same time.

 

[Welcome, adventurer!]

 

Antheia was no longer there to say it.

 

💫

 

The first thing I did was pack.

 

Several essentials, emergency food, and most importantly, money. I deliberately divided the money into various pockets and stashed them in various places.

 

‘If there’s a shortage of something, I can get it anywhere with money,’ she thought.

 

…There’s no such thing as the perfect suitcase. I tighten the straps, and it’s just the right size to sling across my side.

 

Should I leave now, or how long could I stay here, but there’s no ship to board yet? The question loomed over my tiny suitcase.

 

“If I were the main character, the quest window would have popped up by now.”

 

Tracing a square in the air on the right corner of my forehead, the reflection in the window caught my eye. For some reason, it looked like I was twirling my finger in the air like a lunatic.

 

“But I can’t stay here, can I?”

 

My nerves got the better of me and I flung the window open. There was a wide beach and a few small boats.

 

“It’s times like these I need to be calm.”

 

Leaning against the window, I closed my eyes and took a breath, inhaling the familiar scent deeply.

 

The announcement had unexpectedly made me impatient.

 

“Let’s find a ship.”

 

Although I hadn’t found a ship I liked, I knew I couldn’t wait any longer.

 

Pulling myself together, I looked again, and just in time to saw a ship approaching from the horizon. It was a ship of some size, even from a distance.

 

It looked familiar. At the same time, I realized,

 

“What?”

 

At the same time as I was musing, my body suddenly felt heavy, as though it was being weighed down, and then collapsed.

 

Every time I blinked, the ship seemed to be getting closer by the second. 

 

No, it was actually moving towards the shore.

 

Like a screen from a camera, the image zoomed in on itself and unfolded before my eyes.

 

It felt like I was playing the game all over again.

 

‘What the heck?’

 

Meanwhile, a ship had landed at the dock: a fairly large model sailboat. It was no ordinary ship. No, it was a pirate ship.

 

‘I’ve seen this ship before!’

 

Beneath the deck, further down. I knew what was down there.

 

There was a prison.

 

Another blink, and I stood before it. I could feel the beast’s stirrings in every dark, dreary cell.

 

As I walked down the underground passageway. Nearing the end of the corridor, I heard faint breathing.

 

The very last cell. I halted right in front of it. I could hear the beast growling and something crackling and banging. If I listened closely, I could hear the claws of the beast.

 

‘What is it?’

 

Everywhere else was dimly outlined, but this corner of the cell was plunged into darkness. The shadows surged once, then faded.

 

‘It’s breathing.’

 

It was the shadow of a great beast.

 

No creature existed in this world that I didn’t know, but I couldn’t make out what it was from the cowering shadow.

 

‘What kind of beast is this?’

 

I peered into it, trying to get a better look. Then, as if I were some kind of ghost, I stepped through the grate and entered it.

 

At the same time, the beast shuddered and held its breath. Then it crawled further into the corner, but there was no more room for its huge body.

 

Perhaps it was holding its breath to avoid me.

 

‘I don’t think it’s going to hurt me.’

 

The sight of it looked pitiful, but it also piqued my curiosity.

 

‘Should I touch it?’

 

Slowly and cautiously, I approached the beast’s body, thinking it might be like a prison grate. When I stepped right up to it, I realized its size was enormous: it was huge enough to cover everything around me, despite crouching as tightly as it could.

 

Even this close, the beast looked as if it had been painted black with ink.

 

Feeling like I was pushing my hand into a giant pit.

 

‘It breathed,’ I realized.

 

I could feel the faintest hint of life. My hand almost touched it, and I could feel its fur bristle as it sensed the distance between us.

 

‘It was injured.’

 

Only after I knew it was not in perfect condition did I realize what I was seeing.

 

‘Poor wounded flying beast.’

 

The name of the game quest popped into my head and I muttered it out loud.

 

The beast opened its eyes in the darkness at that moment. Only the beast’s eyes shone clearly in the darkness.

 

A pair of vertically slit eyes gazed at me with precision.

 

Those eyes seem so powerful, so intense, like they could pounce on me at any moment and devour me in one bite.

 

The moment I looked directly into those eyes.

.

.

.

… I was thrown off the window sill of the room.

 

“Ahh!”

 

It was an eerily realistic sight.

 

Blinking rapidly, I opened my eyes. The beast’s eyes still glistened in my vision.

 

The sailboat outside the window hadn’t disappeared. In the distance, I could hear the waves crashing against the shore.

 

“That’s the ship.”

 

I barely had time to think about what had just happened. I pulled the parchment out of my arms.

 

Not only that, but I wondered if this abrupt start was okay. Normally in games, when a quest came in, I could accept or decline it as I pleased. Like deciding whether to play.

 

After taking a deep breath, I clenched the parchment in my hand into a tight fist.

 

“I guess that only happens in games.”

 

💫

 

The lowest compartment on the ship was a prison, shrouded in darkness.

 

The flying beast squinted at the sound of the sea rippling. Its head was still buried in its furry body. The beast sensitively scanned the surrounding air.

 

It could feel someone’s gaze.

 

A faint, fierce instinct pounded at his heart as if it were vanishing. The blood of the beast rushed through every fiber of his being.

 

The gaze was not hostile. It merely observed him quietly.

 

Perhaps it was its imperfect form, but the beast hadn’t sensed any signs of approaching. It was strange that it had gotten this far thus far without obstruction, given the constant tension in his nerves.

 

‘I never allowed it to approach, what kind of fearless creature is it?’

 

What was even more surprising was that as its gaze drew closer to the beast’s body, its reasoning was sharper than ever.

 

His mind was clear. Reason had returned to him after a long time. Proof that he had not yet completely turned into a beast. The realization filled him with joy.

 

The humanity he had forgotten while living as a beast had awakened within him. He wanted to open his eyes and see who it was that had woken him, but the moment he did, the being was gone.

 

‘Perhaps it wasn’t human.’

 

At first, he wondered if it was for nothing, but both reason and his old beastly instincts insisted that it was not.

 

The flying beast wrapped its scarred wings more carefully around its massive body. It scratched at the same spot over and over again, its sharp claws clawing and digging into the already-worn wooden floor.

 

It needed to recover quickly.

 

The restraints made it difficult to move, but somehow there was an inkling that he might be able to escape. Somehow, even the pain seemed to dissipate.

 

‘There was definitely a word for this.’

 

Surely there was a name for it. The beast racked its brain for the word.

 

‘That’s right, hope.’

 

He wanted to say the word, but all that came out was a pitiful wail.

 

He couldn’t wait to get to the person who could hear it, and he tried to recall the image that had just flashed through his mind.

 

‘It was…’

 

The figure was surrounded by a shimmering mass of light. It was a brilliant silver.

 

It resembled the moonlight that occasionally slipped through the cracks in the trees.

 

And the eyes looking back at him were…

 

‘They were glowing, a beautiful coral color…’