Chapter 17: Deciding Route

On a high hill, looking over at the small trees in the distance, I couldn't help but ask, "Why did we come here again?"

"Good question." Tskuta's cold voice sounded in agreement as we stared at the one that led us all the way here.

Embarrassed by this, Kina hurriedly said, "Although you don't remember but we used to come here often."

"Did we?" I asked in doubt.

"Yes, Tskuta should also know." Mentioning Tskuta's name, Kina became angry and stared at her while loudly saying exaggeratedly "So I don't know why she's acting like she doesn't!"

Listening to her, I started sweating from my head and quickly diverted the topic. "Anyway, what did we do here?"

"We mated." Kina said with a natural tone, but hearing this, I was extremely shocked and embarrassed.

Tskuta's face also became a lot colder.

Looking at our reaction, Kina burst out in laughter. "Hahaha, I'm kidding."

(Phew)

"But losing your memory really made you, well, hmm, nongobliny." She said in thought, with a look that I found kind of cute??

"But the real reason we're actually here is to scout the terrain." 

"Huh, what does that mean?" I looked confused when I heard this. Not that I don't know what it is; it's just, why do goblins who have lived on this land for years need to scout the terrain??

Instead of answering me, Kina pointed towards the sky.

Following her finger, I looked up at the sky but noticed nothing unusual.

"What's wrong with the..." Just as I was about to finish speaking, an incredible scene appeared in the skies.

The sky itself started twisting and folding as if it were a blanket blowing in the wind, but shortly after it stopped and everything changed to normal.

"What was that just now!" I shouted in shock. Knowing that having two moons itself is exhausting to the brain, but the sky is becoming a blanket!!

Looking at how shocked I appeared, Kina let out a chuckle. 

"It is..."

"It's the Everchanging effect; it appears every morning in the forest, and the reason for its appearance is because of the labyrinth that's located in the heart of the forest." Tskuta's voice interrupted Kina.

"Wait, then what does it have to do with the terrain?" I asked in confusion.

Holding in the anger of wanting to shout at Tskuta, Kina grits her teeth and says, "Every time it..."

"Every time it happens, the inner part of the forest changes. In order to track the number of changes, one needs to keep track of how many times they appear."

"Hey!! Kuta asked me, not you!" Kina shouted, no longer holding in the anger she had.

In response, Tskuta only shrugged. 

"Uhh, so the Orc village is in the inner part of the forest?" Seeing them like this made me not want to ask any more questions, but considering I don't know much. I'll just ask.

Not giving the answer yet, Kina turns her head towards Tskuta with narrowed eyes.

"What? I didn't say anything." Tskuta replied with a weird look on her face.

"Good, keep it that way." After saying this, she turned her head towards me and finally answered my question along with a few useful pieces of information.

"Yes, the inner forest is home to at least three humanoid creatures: Trolls, Ogres, and Orcs. Out of all of them, only the Orcs have a village and can be regarded as a group. The rest, although not completely leaving their area, still wander the inner forest."

(Ogres, like the one Kina said, Tskuta compared her to.)

"So what rank are they?" I asked.

"They're 2nd-rank creatures, but don't worry, most of them are super dumb."

"How will we know what changes appear in the inner forest?"

Slightly embarrassed by my sudden questions, she replied. "Uhh, that I don't know, but we have a map." 

"Actually, it's pretty easy to know what changes occur in the inner forest. There's 3 ways to find out." Tskuta said while showing three fingers.

"1, the most basic is to find a map. A sky map, to be precise. A sky map is capable of recording any land area as long as the position of the target is entered. If the target changes, such as this one, its position needs to be entered every time it changes."

"2, if one has the ability to track their surroundings. An ability like this is only owned by someone who is experienced in hunting. This ability allows them to locate their prey, even without having to know where they're going. It can be regarded as relying on instinct's."

"3, this is probably the most simplistic one. As long as you're strong enough, what items do you need? For the strong, this ever-changing effect has absolutely no effect on them."

Listening to Tskuta's detailed information, after thinking for a while, I said, "Guess the only one we can go with is the sky map." 

"Tsk, that's not even useful information." Kina muttered with gritted teeth.

Ignoring this, Tskuta said. "In order to reach the Orc village, we'll need to go through the fores..."

"What!!" Kina shouted loudly before saying, "No, we're not going through the forest. We're first going through Dead Man's Valley."

"Passing through Dead Man's Valley will take more time." Tskuta calmly said.

"The safest route is passing Dead Man's Valley, then crossing the river of blur, and finally sneaking past the Ogres lands. So we're going through Dead Man's Valley!!"

"And that'll take 7 days, but going straight through the forest only takes 5. Which will obviously save us time."

"You!! Are you trying to kill us!!" Kina shouted angrily.

Listening to them argue again caused my head to ache. (We haven't even started yet, and they are at it again. Sigh, I should try calming them down.)

"Kina, why is the path you chose safer?" I asked Kina first.

Hearing me, Kina turns around and says while pointing towards the mountains. "Our village is close to the northern mountains, where Dead Man's Valley is. Although passing through it will take longer, but it's much safer than just strolling into the forest. The creatures there are only Rank 1 and attack only humans. So it's much safer."

Listening to Kina, I felt reassured of its safety, but I could also tell why Tskuta didn't want to go through it.

(So now let's ask Tskuta.)

Turning my attention towards Tskuta, I swallowed. (She's angry again; maybe I should just go with her plan. I mean, although safe is well safe, it's not better than being quick, right?)

"My husband needs to train, going through the forest is the best option. Although the dangers are higher, completing my father-in-law's task is a priority. So, if you'll excuse me, we need to go." After saying that, she walked away. I have to say, Tskuta spared no effort in angering Kina.

Looking at her back, I turn towards the furious Kina and say, "Let's just go through the forest; I'll be fine."

Listening to me, Kina's anger still did not come down, but at least she was a bit reasonable. 

"If anything happens, I'll only protect you, and she can protect herself." She said this while gritting her teeth.

"Phew, sure." (Although I don't know if it'll be her protecting herself or her protecting us.) I smiled, then stretched out my hand.

Kina's face suddenly glistens upon seeing this, but it quickly vanishes and is replaced with a pretentious, angry face.

"Okay." She said with little resistance as she took my hand.