In the deep, heavy darkness. The lantern, which cuts through the darkness with its white light that contrasts with the darkness, is in his left hand. An iron spear in his right hand. Only this white figure silently moves through the forest at night.

Perhaps afraid of this white figure, the inhabitants of the darkness refused to show themselves.

What does the white figure think as it tries to make its way through the forest in the dark of night?

It was impossible to tell from the faceless figure, clad in a white robe that reached down to his feet and a deep hood.

Who is this white silhouette?

“…well, it’s me.”

It’s terrible when I’m on my own, I just keep thinking about something that doesn’t matter.

With that in mind, I lightly jump over a stone in front of me.

Since then—after escaping Elem—I’ve been walking in the forest along the road for a while.

Even though it was a forest, the areas close to the town had a certain amount of human presence, making it easier to walk.

The trees had been thinned so that they were lined up at moderate intervals, and there were no fallen trees.

The firewood used daily in the town of Elem must be provided by the surrounding forest, including this place.

Even so, I really wouldn’t want to walk through the forest at night, but if I walked along the road, I could see the lanterns from Elem. But if I turn off the light, I won’t be able to see what’s ahead. In order to compensate for this, the range of the magi’s location could be reduced back to the original 10 meters or so, which would allow me to keep track of my surroundings to a certain extent, but I would not be able to spot enemies at a distance. And if I am going to walk outside alone, I would rather use [Holy Fire] magic, which is more effective at repelling monsters than [Light Source] magic.

In the end, I had no choice but to walk through the forest with the lantern.

But—

“Is it far enough?”

By now, I would be out of sight of Elem.

I changed my direction of travel towards the highway road, then out onto the road, I continued south along the road.

When I thought about escaping from Elem, there were four possible routes. The first was the east road.

First, the East road. This was the road to Rankfurt, and I rejected it first. There was no point in going back, and I might cause trouble for everyone by bringing problems with me.

Next was the north side. Apparently, if I continue this way, I will reach the Royal Capital. I was interested in the Royal Capital but decided against it. Anyway, I want to get out of this country now.

Next was the west side, but I hadn’t heard any good rumors about it from the taverns, so I decided to leave it out for now.

Then, the remaining south side.

On the south side, there was another country.

“Phew.”

I took a small sip of thin wine from my canteen and took a breath.

When I looked at the sky, it seemed to be a little brighter.

The sun must have risen, though it was obscured by the trees in the forest that bordered the road.

I took out a thin bottle of wine from my bag and carefully transferred it to my water bottle.

I knew it was a good decision to buy the wine, even if I had to force myself to do so.

That was the day I realized that I might have made a mistake by selling the Light Magic Crystal to the Adventurer’s Guild. I thought that I might have to flee the town. The next day, I decided to buy as many supplies as I could.

As it turned out, I didn’t buy as much as I had planned, but it was enough for now.

I continued walking and arrived at the village before noon, but I decided to skip it.

There was no point in lingering in this village now. I was a bit tired after walking all night, but I should probably head for the next town now to get a bit further.

I continued walking along the road, filling my stomach with dried meat, and arrived at the next village before the sun went down.