Chapter 505: The End of the Great Grassland of Beginnings 4

The End of the Great Grassland of Beginnings 4

* * *

A few hours later… Shimegamamo was running through the Great Grassland of Beginnings, carrying the man who had been floating in the test tube.

Her destination is the edge of the grassland.

A place where, if you walk a little further, you’ll reach First Town… that sort of place.

Although it’s close to a human settlement, even in the Great Grassland of Beginnings, where most of the monsters are weak, there’s no one who would willingly go into a monster’s habitat at night.

Even here, no one would probably see her monstrous form.

“…Alright.”

Finding a suitable place, Shimegamamo gently laid the man she had been carrying with her vine-like arms on the soft grass, and laid him on his back.

She had already dressed him in the common traveler’s clothes she had prepared in the hidden village.

Preparations are complete.

There’s nothing more for Shimegamamo to do.

As soon as she thought that—

She realized that the thread-like thing that had been hanging from the sky, giving her strength and allowing her to move, had snapped, and she fell backwards.

“…………”

The starry sky, filled with countless stars, shines brightly in her vision.

A gentle breeze, carrying the scent of blue grass, caressed her cheek.

That’s all she can feel now.

She can no longer move a single vine.

She can’t even move her head.

But she can blink.

And her mouth can move.

“…There’s no one to talk to, but…”

Shimegamamo muttered, and chuckled quietly, but—

“I’m not very good at talking, but do you want to chat?”

She was surprised to hear a response to what she thought was a monologue, and her eyes widened.

The next moment, blocking out the light of the starry sky, what entered her vision was—

The black-haired, black-eyed girl, peering down at her.

It’s Emi Rune.

“…You followed me?”

“Yeah.”

“I thought… you had lost interest… since you didn’t come out of the Yumushi meat…”

“I was a little interested, but I was hungry, so I prioritized the meat. I finished eating, so I followed the scent.”

“Kuku… I see… But… Haa, this is troublesome.”

Shimegamamo sighed, chuckling wryly.

Because Emi saw the man she brought here.

According to the rules, showing him to anyone other than her clan, ‘before he awakens’… is strictly forbidden.

Originally, she should kill Emi immediately, to silence her.

But it’s the wrong opponent, and the wrong situation.

Emi is stronger than Shimegamamo, and she can’t even move a single vine right now.

There’s nothing she can do.

“‘Troublesome’? What? Who is this man?”

“…Are you curious?”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm…”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Shimegamamo pondered.

The option that immediately came to mind was to keep her mouth shut.

Even if the devil in front of her gets angry and harms her, it doesn’t matter.

She’s going to die soon anyway.

Or rather, she’s already dead, but she was given power and forced to move, to perfectly fulfill her mission, that’s the correct way to put it.

So it doesn’t matter now.

But… she doesn’t want the devil to lay a hand on this precious man’s body.

Then…

“Ah… well… nevermind…”

Thinking that far…

Shimegamamo suddenly stopped thinking about all this complicated stuff.

She doesn’t feel any pain.

But her head is gradually getting hazy.

So she’s finding it incredibly tedious to keep thinking about these details.

Above all, she wanted to distract herself.

She wanted to move her mouth, to look away from her approaching death.

“O strong one, do you swear that you won’t tell anyone what you’ve seen and heard here?”

Shimegamamo asked Emi that, and after confirming that she nodded—

“This… man… is a vessel for a soul that descends from the heavens at dawn.”

…She finally revealed the secret that her clan has been keeping.

“He’s the fifth… and the last… ‘protagonist’… who will begin his journey from the Great Grassland of Beginnings.”

She began to speak.