Four days had slipped by since I left the first outpost. In what felt like the blink of an eye, I arrived at "The Frontline" of the Sea of Trees. My journey so far had been remarkably smooth; I had focused entirely on pushing deeper into the woods while avoiding monster encounters whenever possible. My routine remained much the same as it had been on the first day, and since the scenery was three hundred and sixty degrees of jungle, there was little visual change to mark my progress.
If I had to note a difference, it was that the Heat-Radiating Trees were gradually becoming thicker the deeper I went, and the distance between them was widening. However, it was a subtle enough shift that I only really noticed it when reflecting on the day’s travel.
On the other hand, there were two very distinct changes. The first was the monsters. Specifically, the variety and number of creatures had increased, and stronger specimens were beginning to appear. Even the Raptor packs I had seen from the start now contained more large-bodied individuals, and as of yesterday, it had become common to run into groups of at least fifty.
I was truly glad I hadn't entertained the reckless idea of just trying to fight my way through everything head-on.
The second major change was the state of the waystations. Considering the danger level of the Sea of Trees, it was only natural that camping in the open was considered suicidal. Because of this, the outposts were spaced so that one could reach the next in a few hours at the shortest, or a single day at the longest.
I had passed through six such outposts over the last four days, but the first one was the only one I had actually felt comfortable staying in. Up until the third base, I’d categorized them as "I'd rather not, but I could manage if I had to."
Every base after that, however, was plagued by extreme supply shortages and crumbling facilities. Worst of all, the people there were clearly on edge. To put it bluntly, the public order was non-existent. It was easy to predict that if someone with the appearance of a child like me tried to spend the night, I’d be attacked before dawn. They were lawless zones, plain and simple.
The Frontline base where I now stood was so dilapidated it didn't even deserve to be called a village. The dwellings were shacks at best, with a few poorly constructed tents scattered about. Defense relied almost entirely on the residents' own power—mostly sentries and whatever barrier magic someone had managed to cast. There were wooden fences and barricades, but they looked like they’d provide more of a psychological comfort than any actual protection.
According to Ashton, the guard back at the first base, very few adventurers actually made their home this far out. Most people might venture toward the Frontline for a specific task, but they usually operated out of the first outpost.
Apparently, anyone who went out of their way to live here—where the environment was desperate and life was cheap—was either incredibly powerful, a hardened misanthrope, or someone who "couldn't live anywhere else" for some unspoken reason.
And as for why I was currently pondering all of this...
"C-Rank? Hah! That don't mean a damn thing out here, kid."
"This ain't no playground for runts!"
"You've got food, don't you? Hand it over, now."
"This is our turf. Who said you could just waltz in here, huh?"
"I-It's reckless to head further in alone. I'm telling you for your own good—you should come with me—"
I was currently in the middle of being shaken down.
At first, three filthy men who clearly weren't the law-abiding type had blocked my path and started picking a fight. Then, a middle-aged man had cut in under the guise of mediating, only to start a creepy, one-sided lecture. While that was happening, more people had drifted over to watch, leading to this mess.
Dealing with this sort of crowd was a waste of time. It was exhausting to engage them, so it was easier to just ignore them until they got bored. In my previous life, I was looked down upon more often than I was envied; the approach to handling it was the same, so the difference was trivial.
"Heh, now that’s a rare sight."
"Dunno how he made it this far, but the brat’s done for."
"Of all the people to get caught by, he gets those three and the creep."
"Hey, want to bet on what happens to him? One piece of dried Raptor meat says the trio kills him."
"I'll put two pieces on the old man keeping him. If the kid made it this far, he’s gotta have some talent. It’d be a waste to just kill him."
"Then I'm going for the long shot. Four pieces says the brat manages to run."
"Pwah! No way, man!"
Given the location, there weren't even thirty people total in the vicinity. I’d thought most of them were just watching silently, but it seemed they’d started a betting pool instead. I could feel the air thick with gazes full of envy, discontent, and pure malice.
For a moment, I wondered if this was the effect of my curse, but I quickly dismissed the thought. This had nothing to do with magic; they were just terrible human beings.
Perhaps it would have been less of a hassle to take a detour and bypass this place entirely. But even a dump like this served as a vital landmark for tracking my position. Even in the relatively safe mountains of Japan, there were countless stories of hikers who thought "it’ll be fine" and strayed from the trail, only to end up dead.
I had been leaving Stone Slimes periodically along the path as a countermeasure, so in the worst-case scenario, I could use Space Magic to backtrack. Still, there was no reason to invite extra risk, so I’d tried to stick to the established route, but...
"Hey!"
"Oi, brat! Are you even listening?!"
"I'll kill you if you keep ignoring us!"
"Now, now, young man. You have to listen when your elders speak. It seems you need a bit of discipline."
It seemed they had finally run out of patience while I was busy conserving my mental energy. The intimidating trio and the slimy middle-aged man all reached for their weapons and took a step toward me. Their boots squelched in the mud—and then, a voice boomed.
"Out of the way, you lot! Don't go crowding the path! And shut your damn yapping!"
The shout was so loud it drowned out everything else. While keeping my guard up against the four in front of me, I glanced toward the source and saw a truly striking man.
He was a giant, standing over two meters tall, with hair as red as fresh paint. That alone would have made him stand out, but his clothing was even more bizarre for the setting. He appeared to be dressed in perfectly ordinary cloth clothes—something that wouldn't offer a shred of protection.
Even inside an outpost, safety wasn't guaranteed here. It was only marginally better than the open jungle, so everyone else was wearing some kind of armor. Yet he was just in cloth. The only thing he carried was a massive metal hammer slung over his shoulder.
I wondered who he could be.
"G-Glen..." someone whispered.
"Tsk, that pain in the ass had to show up now."
"Thinks he can act high and mighty just 'cause he’s S-Rank. What do you want, Glen?"
Wait, S-Rank Glen? Was this the man Sieber had mentioned? The one who reached S-Rank through nothing but pure physical strength? He seemed perfectly composed in this environment, so he was undoubtedly powerful, but his clothes were tattered and filthy, and his hair and beard were a tangled mess. He looked less like an elite adventurer and more like a vagrant.
"I told you to clear the path," Glen growled. "You're in my way."
"We're in the middle of something here," one of the thugs spat. "We can't have a brat doing whatever he wants on our turf."
"Hah? I don't give a damn about any of that. Whatever happens to him is his own business. As long as he isn't blocking me, I don't care. Now, move. Or do you want to fight? That’d be a lot faster."
"Urgh... Fine. We're moving."
As soon as Glen spoke, the onlookers scattered, and the men harassing me backed off without another word. I decided to take the opportunity to offer a quick thanks before making my exit.
"Thank you very much."
"Huh? I just wanted to go hunting and you were in the way. I didn't save you on purpose. Besides, you didn't even need it, did you?"
He spoke with total indifference, muttering that the whole thing was a nuisance as he stretched his massive frame. Then, in the next instant, he took off at an incredible speed.
"Whoa!?"
"Pah! Dammit!"
"That bastard did it again!"
His sudden dash was like a truck slamming into a puddle. A massive spray of mud kicked up, drenching me and everyone nearby. Judging from the angry shouts, this was a regular habit of his. I had questions, but getting out of there was my top priority.
Taking advantage of the confusion and the falling mud, I used Dark Magic to mask my presence and successfully slipped away from the Frontline base. I’d heard there were no more proper outposts from here on, so I decided that even if I found one, I’d stay far away from it.
I was already well outside the boundaries of human civilization. The things living out here were dangerous monsters—some just happened to look like people. I decided it was best to view them that way.
I continued my trek through the Sea of Trees for several more hours. I’ve always been fond of repetitive tasks, but even I found the scenery to be exceptionally monotonous as I walked on.
As the sun began to dip toward the horizon, I started my camp preparations before it got truly dark. Since I already had everything from a bed to a garden and a poultry farm tucked away inside my Dimension Home, my work out here was purely for security.
"This spot looks good... First, Cutter Tornado."
I chose a spot at the base of a large tree slightly off the animal trail. I used a combination of wind blades and a localized tornado to clear away the dense vegetation in front of the tree. It wasn't as powerful as Sieber’s version, but it worked perfectly as a magical lawnmower.
"Next, Dimension Home. Your turn, Huge Rock Slime."
I summoned the "Emperor" version of my Stone Slime. In terms of ability, it was an evolution of the base species, but the Stone Slime line had a unique progression: Stone, then Big Stone, then Rock, and finally Huge Rock.
Based on the names, the evolution seemed to be a simple progression of scale: pebble, large stone, rock, and finally a massive boulder. In fact, the Huge Rock Slime was so large it could easily pass for a landmark at a mountain tourist spot. And that was exactly why it was so useful.
"Twenty seconds from start to finish. The instant house is complete!"
I had the Huge Rock Slime position itself and use its Deformation skill to hollow out a space inside its body. Just like that, I had a one-room apartment surrounded on all sides by solid, sturdy stone!
It would keep watch on the perimeter, and in an emergency, it could seal the entrance entirely, creating a secure vault that no monster could breach. If I needed to leave, it could create a door anywhere on its surface. It was truly the ultimate slime for camping.
"Dimension Home is great, but it’s always a bit risky when you're actually stepping in or out..."
That spell was indispensable, but its one drawback was that it was hard to see what was happening outside the portal until you went through it. If I wasn't careful, I could step out right into the middle of a predator pack.
"But if I surround the exit with a slime, that worry is gone! ...Wait, who am I even talking to?"
I snapped back to reality, feeling a bit silly.
"I don't mind traveling alone, but I'm definitely talking to myself more. I didn't even notice I was doing it when I lived in the forest."
Perhaps four days of trekking through the humidity and temperature swings of the Sea of Trees had exhausted me more than I realized. While the time had passed quickly, I was only just passing the midpoint to my destination.
I decided not to push it. I’d go to sleep earlier than usual tonight and give my body a chance to recover.