part1 · 013-ep13

Episode 13: The Monsters' Nest

After that, more time passed. Ren had grown more cautious than before.

Even when he found a monster, he didn't approach right away. First, observe.

Where it had come from. Where it was going. What it ate. And where it returned to.

As he repeated this, Ren noticed something.

Each monster had its own fixed patterns.

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That day. Ren was following a small monster.

Not to kill it. He wanted to know where it went.

He followed at a careful distance. The monster stopped several times, checking its surroundings. Then it slipped into a narrow passage.

"...This way."

Ren followed, careful. After a while, the passage opened into a slightly wider space.

Ren watched from cover. There — quite a few monsters.

"...This many?"

Ren caught his breath without meaning to. More than he had ever seen at once.

The monsters weren't fighting each other; they were simply living in that place. Deeper in, there were small ones, too.

"Is this... a nest?"

Ren didn't move. Fighting had never been an option to begin with. Against those numbers, it would without question be dangerous.

Ren backed away quietly. One step. Then another.

Only when he'd put enough distance between them did he finally breathe out.

"That was close..."

If he had walked on without thinking. If he had wandered into the nest without knowing.

There was no telling what would have happened.

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Ren sat down a little way off. And organized what he had just seen in his head.

That passage held many monsters. Which meant crossing it was dangerous.

Looked at the other way—

"The other areas might have fewer monsters."

Ren recalled the terrain around him. Where monsters gathered. Where they didn't. Water sources. Places with food.

Places he could rest safely.

Little by little, the positions linked themselves together in his mind.

Ren didn't know yet. That this was the first step toward conquering the dungeon.

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That night. Ren rested in the shadow of the rocks. As always, he went back over the day.

Lately, more than watching the monsters. He had been watching the dungeon itself.

"...Maybe this place has rules, too."

There were water sources. Places monsters gathered. Places monsters avoided. Even in the passages, there were routes that saw heavy use.

It didn't seem like mere coincidence.

"I should look into it more."

Ren decided.

Not just killing monsters. Knowing this dungeon. That was necessary to survive, too.

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From the next day on. Ren changed the way he walked.

Instead of simply pushing forward, he observed his surroundings. The shape of the walls. The width of the passages. Monster footprints. The flow of water.

Changes in the air.

Anything that caught his attention, even slightly, he memorized. Then he returned to somewhere that seemed safe.

One day taught him almost nothing. Neither did two. Or three.

Even so, Ren kept at it.

Little by little. Coming to understand the place where he lived.

And in time.

It became a map that was Ren's alone.