I gathered my belongings and placed them in the bag.
Then the journey began.
I walked… step by step.
For some reason, I kept looking back at the tent.
It was just another ugly thing in this world.
But I didn't hate it.
I had lived in it all my life.
I didn't really understand this feeling.
It's ugly, I'm supposed to hate it… right?
It didn't matter.
I was on my way to understand, to understand beauty.
I kept walking farther.
Farther away from it.
Then I turned, giving it one last look.
As if it were a person I wanted to say goodbye to.
Then I continued on my path.
---
I think an hour passed as I walked.
I could no longer see the tent.
And the weather was the same as always.
Not hot, not cold.
Not humid, not dry.
As if I were walking through nothingness.
The sky filled with gray clouds, as usual.
Like smoke had covered the world.
It was hard to tell if it would rain.
Rain came suddenly, impossible to predict.
The sun was barely visible.
And there wasn't even any wind.
A dead air, for a dead world.
After a while, night fell.
I laid down my grandfather's bed, which was nothing more than a pile of blankets on the ground.
And I lay on them to sleep.
Time passed… I couldn't sleep.
I found nothing to do.
So I grabbed the notebook and started reading.
Maybe it would make me drowsy.
As I flipped through drawings of creatures, I found one resembling what my grandfather once described as a parrot.
But this one had only one eye, and its beak was shaped like fangs. Written beneath it:
Name: Bagidactyl
Weight: Unknown
Length: About seven meters
Status: Predator, ferocious
Survival Method: Do not move. Stand still, for it cannot see what does not move.
It seemed that whenever the creature was dangerous, survival tips were written below.
I kept flipping through the notebook, reading about the creatures.
Then suddenly, a page stood out.
It wasn't like the others.
Strange shapes were drawn on it.
I stared, and then realized.
Wait… this was a map.
A map of this world… this ugly world.
I stared at it.
This world's shape was hideous.
Like a tornado devouring itself.
At its center, a massive black void.
It wasn't beautiful, but it was better than walking forward with no destination.
Yet it wasn't entirely useful.
I didn't know where I was on it.
And there weren't many landmarks.
All that was drawn was a massive tree.
Was that the place of the oasis?
I put the map back into the notebook and continued reading about the creatures.
And as I read, I remembered one of the days when my grandfather taught me to read.
Holding our notebook and pen, writing letters and simple words for me.
I hadn't understood why back then.
Why teach me something so useless?
But it turned out to be of use.
I had learned something valuable from my grandfather.
I remembered his voice, reading the letters to me, until drowsiness took over and I slept.
I think when I wake up, this will be the true beginning.
My beginning.
---
Morning came.
I awoke to a strange sound.
A noise from far away.
I squinted at the horizon to see.
Then suddenly, two figures appeared, running in terror.
A large muscular man, and a young girl.
I didn't understand why they ran and screamed like that.
But when I looked up at the sky, I knew the reason.
They were being chased… by that bird.
By the Bagidactyl.
---
To be continued…
Next Chapter: The Great Falkis-sama and the Helper, Flit