Published: August 10, 2026
In conclusion, "it wasn't okay, but I forced it to be okay" was the right answer.
"Four human race members ahead. They appear to be Reytis patrols!"
"Hm! Enemy soldiers? There are a lot today!"
"I already told you to keep your voice down! It's not that there are a lot, it's that you're the one drawing them in!"
"Even if I did call them, why would I have any reason to fear? This is my forest, and I am here!"
"That still doesn't change the fact that soldiers from the Kingdom of Reytis are crossing the border and invading right now!"
Nanase-kun used wind magic to detect enemies other than us, and each time Nostalgia Monk would hide all of us with that barrier of his and let the Reytis soldiers pass.
For the record, this all happened after Nostalgia Monk's thunderous shouting, so there was no doubt the Reytis soldiers had heard him and were heading our way. In other words, this was all Nostalgia Monk's fault. And at the same time, the reason we could hide from the soldiers was also because of Nostalgia Monk. A truly outrageous case of firing and rescue by the same person. I wanted to thank him, but I couldn't quite feel good about it.
What's more, there was one time when we ran into Reytis soldiers coming from the opposite direction on a cliff path only a few meters wide, and we had to hurry back to a wider road. Nostalgia Monk's barrier could hide our appearance, but it couldn't erase our existence itself.
And after we slipped by them yet again a number of times, Ms. Ueno finally exploded.
It was only natural, considering she was a non-combat specialist with little stamina to begin with, and because Nostalgia Monk walked so fast she had been in a constant half-run the whole time. On top of that, she'd had to turn back along the cliff edge path she'd forced herself to walk despite her fear.
"Geez!! We keep getting found because of your voice! I've told you that so many times, and you still keep doing it—are you stupid!? Learn already!"
"Ah, stupid..."
Apparently he hadn't expected to be scolded by a child from another world. After that, for a while, he became dejected and quiet.
A primordial demonic beast would have existed since the time this world was created, perhaps for thousands or even tens of thousands of years, and yet it was a little funny how obediently he reacted to the words of beings who, to him, were closer to infants than children. For the same primordial demonic beast, he somehow felt more human than Hiraes, or perhaps less dignified. Was that just my imagination?
Even when talking to him, it didn't feel like speaking with an adult like Mr. Zeal. It felt more like talking to one of my brother's classmates. We could never be equals, but there wasn't really a wall between us either.
"Come to think of it, Nostalgia Monk, you don't speak in words like Hiraes, like a song, do you?"
"Hm? Oh, is that so! Come to think of it, if our language were not understood, Hiraes would not have given protection to you brats either. Indeed, I can also live here on Tengu Mountain, interacting with the people of the Kingdom of Reytis and the Yamato Country. 'Of course, I can also speak the language of the primordial beings.'"
That last line alone came out in that head-rattling, songlike language.
Maybe because I'd built up a little resistance after dealing with Hiraes, it wasn't quite as bad as the first time I heard the primordial language, but even so my thoughts briefly stopped.
Still, I panicked and looked back, thinking that if this were the first time, the others might turn out like we had back then. But not only Ms. Ueno and Tsuda-kun at the back, even Mr. Zeal seemed completely fine.
"The primordial language is basically poison to people who can understand it. To those who can't, it apparently sounds like either mere noise or a beautiful tone, but for those who, like those brats in the back, possess no resistance through protection and also have the 'Language Comprehension' skill, it can even drive them insane at worst. That is not what I wish, so I made it so those without Hiraes's protection cannot hear it."