Chương 43: Familiar Sight of Greenery
Nila applied healing spells at herself, and I bandaged her arms and legs. It was a challenge to not look up at her half naked body as she shamelessly took off her orange cape and kurta. But just a peek at her deep wounds was enough to keep me at bay, and I methodically continued tending to her. If I contacted Solitaire from the get-go, would her state be any less extreme? Or was this outcome inevitable in the battle against Manuela, a harvester?
I shook my head, trying to get rid of unnecessary thoughts, however, one of them plucked into my mind deep enough to ask about it, "Who even are harvesters?"
I could hear only a quiet rustle of her clothes, since I looked away while she was dressing up. Eventually, she gave her answer with a huff escaping her lips, "They are monsters among humans. I am surprised that one of them made their way to Schöltum, as that region banned their entry."
I raised my brow and finally turned to her only to see a nonchalant expression that was not planning on elaborating on her words. We stood up, although Nila's legs were still shaking, thus, I had to lend her my shoulder. Her offhand was ready to summon the staff, while her suitcase rested in my left hand, it was heavier than I expected. Quite ironic that our position was completely reversed compared to our first meeting by the cliffside. I walked her out of the forest, and we returned to the grass field. I was scanning the perimeter to make absolutely sure that Manuela was no longer present around, so did Nila.
"And what did harvesters do to earn such status?" I asked casually. Judging by her previous answer, this organisation must have been quite well known, but I was from another world, thus could not know anything about them. Nila did not poke fun of my lack of knowledge, but instead raised her hand and fiddled with her ear before answering.
"They are harvesting… body parts of monsters, usually. But in some cases under special request they might harvest body parts of other races, like dwarven eyes, fairy's wings or… elven ears."
I gasped from the memory of her ear being cut, but then had a quick thought about this profession. So they harvested body parts of monsters and other races, huh. That was quite extreme, especially the harvest of dwarven eyes. What would you even use the eyes for?
I lowered my head and timidly asked, "Did one of them cut your ear as well?"
"So you noticed, huh?" She pointed at the silver jewellery at the tip of her ears, "Yes, I wear these to hide this injury, they are quite uncomfortable, though."
"Then just do not wear them, not like anyone would care."
"I would, seeing this scar in the water reflection or something is quite repulsive, you know?"
"Is that so?"
Nila hummed lightly at my question, but did not engage in the talk further. Indeed, I would not know how a person would feel about seeing this reminder of a horrible event every day. I only ever had bruises or a black eye whenever I misbehaved, but nothing permanent. At the thought of it, I lowered my sight to the ground beneath us. It was hidden by thick purple grasses of the monster realm, they were swaying by the find and trampled under our feet like any grass would. I was not a botanist to immediately notice any other difference compared to plants of the human world or my original reality, thus I got used to this weird sight quite quickly. As such, my persistent thoughtful gaze was still directed at the ground as we moved further and further through the so-called narrow strip of the monster realm.
Grasses, weeds and thorny flowers were skipped by my sight on our way, until Nila suddenly halted her movements. She was carefully observing the vast field that contained a bunch of trees at the very end of it, most likely overgrowing into another forest. I tensed up at her silence and asked, "Manuela?"
Fortunately, she shook her head and directed her emerald eyes at me, "Tell me, do you see anything strange about this part of the field?"
I narrowed my brows and followed the direction of her finger. She was basically pointing at the entire perimeter that was in front of us, but I really could not see anything out of place there, therefore, I only shook my head.
"I see." She nodded, then gazed back at the field or rather at a certain line that was visible only to her, "This is where the monster realm ends, once we cross the barrier here, we will end up in the Dlayla region."
My jaw dropped, and I glanced over the place once more, but still could not notice the spot of interest.
"Do you see it with magic?"
She smiled at my naive question and shook her head, "There is no need for magic to see, but let me assist you."
She extended her hand and a light cyan glow escaped it with a gust of wind that did not cut, but only gently grazed the field. All the grass was moving away from the flow, however, at one point it did not react to it what-so-ever, creating a clear line where her magic did not take an effect.
"The world beyond that line is not real, or at least not until the barrier itself fluctuates, then you would be able to traverse that part of the field as well. Maybe even reach the forest so far away from us. But currently, this is where the monster realm ends."
I nodded to her explanation, pretending that it made sense to me, but then, my eyes shifted from the place where her magic took place and I noticed tall grass being tilted to the side, while the one beyond the line that she showed me was looking straight up to the sky. This time I realised what she was talking about, but there was another unclear detail.
"What do you mean by barrier fluctuation?"
"The barrier is not fixed to one position, it can shift forward or backwards. Depending on the size of the realm itself, these shifts vary from a few metres to a couple of kilometres, making it impossible to mark definitive borders. This monster realm strip is way too narrow to have a significant shift. To think about it, I doubt it will ever reach that forest in the distance. But anyway, let's cross the barrier now and be on alert, as you never know if that sly snake of a harvester will lie in wait or not."
I nodded and despite the threat of Manuela being in ambush, I was still eager to leave this place. Not like that woman would be able to continue her pursuit, as Manuela's injuries were far more serious than Nila's.
We stepped into the barrier together, only to be separated by yet another bizarre place. This time, instead of a chaotic room with staircases and hallways that lead to nowhere, I ended up in something akin to the dining room. It looked like one due to the big table standing in the centre, but the lack of walls, or rather their horizontal placements at a slight angle, did not really make a room. I stood there all alone, or at least I thought that I was until I saw those glowing eyes yet again, glaring at me from the endless ceiling. I still had no idea what it, but as they did not try to approach or harm me, I did not really care and just went forward.
As a resuly, I traversed this barrier in a shorter amount of time, most likely with the reason being my knowledge of what I needed to do. Soon enough, my eyes were enveloped by darkness yet again, only to be hit with the amber light of a sunset mere seconds later. I was greeted with foliage of familiar green colour and even a trampled pathway that stirred through the hills until disappearing by the horizon. I was back to the human realm, and arrived at the place called the Dlayla region.
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