part1 · 014-ep14

Episode 14: Ren's Map

During that day's exploring. Ren found a passage he didn't recognize.

"...I've never been through here."

He hesitated a little. Go on. Or go back.

Ren checked his surroundings. No sign of monsters. No smell of danger, either. Even so, he advanced carefully.

Ten steps. Twenty. Thirty.

Before long, an open space came into view at the end of the passage.

"...What is this place?"

Ren stopped. A number of large rocks stood arranged there. And beyond them grew plants that gave off a faint light.

"...Are they edible?"

Ren didn't approach. First, observe. Smell. Color. Shape.

Similar to a plant he'd eaten before. But that didn't mean it was the same.

"...Better not."

Ren didn't reach for them. He wanted food. But eating something unknown was dangerous.

What Ren ate now were the nuts he had confirmed as safe over time. They didn't taste good at all. Some were sour, some bitter. Even so, he was grateful just to have something edible.

Meanwhile, he couldn't eat the meat of the monsters he killed. Early on, unable to endure the hunger, he had put raw meat in his mouth just once.

The moment he bit down.

"...Awful."

Tough. Smelly. A foul taste clung to his mouth.

No matter how much he chewed, he couldn't swallow it, and in the end he spat it out. Since then, he hadn't touched monster meat.

"...Could I eat it, if I had fire?"

He'd thought about it before. But Ren didn't know how to make fire. So for now, all he could do was search for edible nuts.

Ren looked once more at the new plants he'd found.

"...I'll leave these alone for now, too."

There was no need to force himself. If he knew things he could eat, he should look for those instead.

Ren left the place.

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On the way back. Ren happened to stop.

He looked behind him. He could see the way he'd come. And he recalled the location of the space he'd just found in his head.

"Memorized."

When he got back, he'd add it to the map. Even that alone helped him understand the dungeon, little by little.

　　　　　◇

Night. Ren studied the map he'd drawn on the ground, adding the places he'd found that day.

The map that had been small at first was spreading out, little by little.

"From here, this way."

"Water source here."

"The monsters' nest is around here."

And.

Where he still didn't know, he drew nothing. He didn't turn the unknown into the known. That, too, was something Ren had learned in this place.

When he finished the map, Ren took out the day's meal. Nuts he'd found yesterday. He put one in his mouth.

"...Sour."

Grimacing, he ate it anyway. It didn't taste good. But he needed it to live.

When the nuts were gone, Ren stared at what food remained.

"...Gotta find more things I can eat."

Then he looked at the monster carcass lying a little way off. There was meat. But raw, he couldn't eat it.

"...If only I had fire."

Ren murmured it softly. Those words set him thinking.

Fire. How could he make it? What should he use? He didn't know anything yet.

But.

Starting tomorrow, he would think about fire, too. Ren put the map away with care. And went to sleep again.