Now that Alo has evolved, she’s trying to get used to her new body again. Right now, she’s wobbling as she walks.
And, that’s why it took us a while to resume heading out since I gotta look after Alo more vigilantly than ever now.

Seems like she can’t move her soil-like body as well as she thought.
Whenever she moves a joint, some dust powder falls off.

Alo’s rank right now is D.
Ball Rabbit also ranked up to D when I leveled him up before.
Leveling Alo up will be a bit more harder now.
In my case, I was only able to get this far because I had skills to help me gain more exp points and I had to experience life and death situations head on and barely made it out alive.
I had a goal in mind during those times, but for Alo’s case, this might take a while.

Though, from E to D, Alo evolved from bones to flesh (soil-themed).
God’s Voice did say that〖Revana〗will have more options for evolution the stronger its desire for living flesh are.
I think its species is something close to human. Hopefully assuming, that is.
I want Alo to get even closer to looking human when she reaches rank C. I don’t know about rank B though.

“A…… a, o”

While I was thinking to myself, I heard a voice.
I pause and look at Alo, where the voice came.

Alo’s slowly getting accustomed to her soil-like joints.
She’s able to walk without wobbling much now.
After Alo started getting used to it, she walks towards me.

And so, we resume heading out towards the direction where the Manticore ran.
The village shrine maiden, Hibi, did say【“the direction it ran to…… perhaps it’s for the best.”】.
Meaning that direction is probably where the Manticore used to live.

Then, the Manticore most likely ran straight, without turning back.
So, if I keep walking this way, I’m bound to arrive at the Manticore’s place.

With Alo, I walk straight while keeping〖Presence Sense〗on at all times.
The scent of new plants is overwhelming my sense of smell so I can’t rely on that, and there are a lot of claw marks on tree branches.
I’ll have to depend on〖Presence Sense〗at the moment.
It’s really rough having to wander around a place I’m not familiar yet. I feel like I could get lost easily here……

We’ve been walking for a while, and〖Presence Sense〗hasn’t picked up anything yet.
I put my snout on the ground and try to smell the Manticore, but what the heck, I don’t even know what the Manticore smells like, so what on earth am I doing?
I only smell earth and more new plants.

As I continue walking deeper into a forest I’m not even familiar with, I think I’m slowly starting to lose my sense of direction.
Aaaargghhh!!! I don’t get any of this! Should I just use〖Flight〗and risk getting seen then?

Besides, in the first place, I only decided to search for the Manticore as an added objective while leveling Alo up.
If I can’t find it, then I shouldn’t bother to. I’ll just go home then.
Hibi did say that it’s for the best.
I don’t want to scatter more of my〖Dragon Moth Scales〗when I use〖Flight〗after all.

If I do find it, I need an opening to actually catch it.
Its speed is not to be underestimated.
If I don’t hurry and get rid of it soon, it might target another village next.

I stop walking for a moment and look around me.
From my back, Alo is struggling to catch up with my pace.
Strangely, my footprints are getting thinner.
It looks like it’s mixed with the footprints of other smaller creatures, but how come I wasn’t able to sense them before?

Alo finally catches up to me.
I can’t tell how tired she is since her face is made of earth, so she can’t make flexible facial expressions much.
However, she does look rather restless.
She keeps on looking ahead and sideways.

As if remembering something, Alo acts like she’s been here before.
But, if that were true, then what was she doing all the way out here?
The Lithuvar Tribe avoids this area after all.
Plus, there are monsters around here too. I don’t see how someone from the Lithuvar Tribe would bring a child here.
Maybe I shouldn’t have brought Alo here with me. Haa~a, all this thinking is driving me crazy.

Keep going? Or, turn back?
While I was having trouble deciding, my eyes happened to glimpse about three clay-like creatures sitting on a tree branch, watching us.
If I remember right… those are the forest dwellers, Ralan. They’re even found this deep in the forest too, huh.

One Ralan, out of the three, stares at me.
I don’t know if those are eyes, they’re more like patterns that just look like eyes carved from their clay-like bodies…… and, the Ralan that’s staring at me is… scratching its head? It’s clearly trying to figure me out.
Then, it stood up and hanged from the branch.

Uhh…… what is it doing?
It’s quite an odd behavior, and the other two Ralans don’t seem to care.

After swinging from the branch a few couple times, it jumped off the tree.
A smoke of dust scatters. And when it cleared off, the Ralan who jumped down the tree slowly gets up. Looks like he didn’t land on his feet.
It then walked on the opposite direction from me. Then, after three steps, it disappeared.

While my eyes were focused on the Ralan who walked and disappeared, before I knew it, the other two who were sitting on the branch also disappeared.

I think they’re telling me to follow them.
Or, did they mean something else?
And, was that any way to tell someone to follow them? It felt too subtle.

…… I guess I’ll just go and see where they’re taking me.
This place is avoided by the Lithuvar Tribe, so I’m kind of feeling anxious from all this.
I hope they don’t lose their faith in me.

After following the direction the Ralan told me to go, they’re not showing up anymore.
I continue walking while thinking that the Ralan were just messing with me and they already ditched me, but then, my〖Presence Sense〗detected that Alo stopped moving.
I turn back and see Alo completely standing still while looking around.
It’s as if… she’s wary of something.

I pour more magic power on〖Presence Sense〗and expand its range.
Although far, but I sensed a human.
I can’t tell if it’s a lost traveler, or someone from the Lithuvar Tribe.
This human seems to be tall. Maybe someone in their 20’s, perhaps?

Hmm…… I don’t think it’s someone from the Lithuvar Tribe.
We’re quite far from their village already and this is the direction where the Manticore ran off too.
I don’t think they’d go so far as to enter this part of the forest just to hunt.
Maybe they have a ceremony or another ritual to take place here, but if there was something like an altar here, then Hibi wouldn’t have said what she said back then.

Still, it’s just one person.
I can sense the person trembling, but from the person’s movements, I don’t think he/she is injured.
Is it really just a lost traveler, then?
I want to see for myself, but I can’t really let Alo be seen.

What should I do…… and, while I’m still trying to decide, my〖Presence Sense〗picked up another human.
Then, another one. And then, another one.

Finally, my〖Presence Sense〗detected a total of five humans.
They’re divided into 1, 1, and 3 in different locations.
I-I take it they’re all travelers, then?
Did they split up to look for something? And, they ended up lost? I can’t really tell their situation other than guessing……

The group of three that stuck together halted, and the person in front… is running straight at me!
This is not good. I think they found us. One of them probably has a search skill too.

S-Should I run back the way I came?
But, I also want to find out their identity.
They could be from the Lithuvar Tribe, and they won’t attack me if they see me.
…… Right… Not likely…… But, I do want to know what they’re doing here.
And, of course… I’ll have to find a way to hide Alo before they get here……