IWSE 4

According to Elodie’s perfect memory, before her regression, Stefan and Robert had said exactly the same things. However, there had been no attack by a monstrous bird this time. The group had simply defeated the wolves and begun butchering their carcasses.

[This much should be enough for you, right?]

[You didn’t do anything, and you’re not even that hungry. Right?]

If she had simply stayed there, she would have had to put up with comments like these from the jerk, Stefan.

Instead, she had naturally found a way to separate herself from the group. While replaying her memories, she had happened to notice a small monster in her field of vision.

‘Gem Crow!’

It was flying too far away for her to see clearly, but its size, color, and the feathers falling from its body were unmistakably those of a Gem Crow. It was a creature Elodie hadn’t even known existed in her previous life.

The aspiring thief decided to take advantage of the characteristics of the bird-type monster that had happened to be flying overhead.

[Something’s coming.]

While everyone was distracted by the Quino Wolves, Elodie angled the small hand mirror she had borrowed from Sylvia toward the sky.

It was precisely the moment when the monstrous bird was about to circle around and disappear.

‘Shine, shine.’

She thought that if she adjusted the angle and waved the mirror enthusiastically enough, it would surely react.

After all, it was a Gem Crow.

‘You’ve probably never seen a mirror before, have you? It must look fascinating. Sylvia almost got carried away by one before, too.’

Its proper name was Metalclaw, but Robert called it a Gem Crow.

Naturally, that was because of its peculiar habits.

“It was lucky that the bird-type monster that happened to show up was a Metalclaw.”

If you possessed something shiny and managed not to let go of it, you were almost guaranteed to end up at its nest. It was stupid enough to think that shiny objects and the things attached to them were one inseparable package.

“Everyone must think I’m dead by now. That’s quite a natural way to disappear.”

Being captured by a Gem Crow actually gave her a high chance of survival. Because it hated the thought of its ‘shiny treasures’ breaking, it made its nest exceptionally soft and comfortable.

“Ughhh.”

Elodie pressed down firmly on her shoulder with a trembling hand. Blood seeped from the spot where the bird’s talons had dug in.

It was a fairly deep wound, but there was no need to worry too much.

‘I’ve got an emergency potion in my backpack.’

Long live the academy’s supplies!

“Phew. Now, let’s hurry down.”

The crow would return to its nest at sunset. She needed to get away from the area before then.

“It’s a little short, but if I overlap it twice……”

Elodie took a rope out of her small survival backpack and securely tied it to a nearby branch.

‘So far, everything is going according to plan.’

“Good. Let’s climb down.”

Just as she had read in books, Elodie pressed her body tightly against the tree trunk.

She slowly maintained her balance and carefully……

Carefully.

“Uuuuh……”

The academically gifted girl, who had hardly ever needed to exert herself physically, suddenly wrapped both arms around the tree trunk.

“No. I can’t. Time won’t wait for you……”

After squeezing her eyes shut and struggling for what felt like an eternity, Elodie finally completed her descent.

“Ahhh!”

The final jump was a little terrifying, but at least she had managed to keep both legs intact.

“Now……”

Her now-hollow violet eyes gazed up at the blue sky.

It was probably around four in the afternoon. If so, she had approximately two hours before sunset.

Elodie held her breath and began drawing a map in her mind.

The academically gifted girl, who had nothing but determination to rely on, had even kept her eyes wide open and studied the ground below while she was in the air.

[KYAAAA! I-it’s too high!]

Her mind had been half gone, but her memory was accurate.

She had landed farther away than expected.

‘At this rate, I’m running out of time.’

If she wanted to spend her first day safely on her own, she had to find the Resting Tree.

Elodie gritted her teeth and chose a direction.

Then—

“Ugh.”

She began crawling forward.

……There was no helping it.

This place was crawling with monsters, and she was still weak.

One day had passed.

Elodie Fontaine had survived.

All by herself.

“Pwah!”

Elodie panted as she pulled the thick layer of green vines away from her body.

‘Greennet.’

It was a wild-growing plant that had also proved useful in her previous life.

Although it was unbearably heavy and uncomfortable, if she bundled it together and covered her body with it, monsters would instinctively pass her by because of its distinctive smell.

‘In the end, I failed to reach my destination before sunset.’

She had moved desperately, but the Dragon’s Graveyard was no easy place to navigate.

“Black Rats and Scrollers, too…… I almost died right away.”

She had been forced to take long detours to avoid the monsters, making it impossible to reach her destination in time.

In the end, Elodie had no choice but to spend the night with her body awkwardly covered in Greennet.

“Ugh, my whole body aches.”

Naturally, she had been plagued by nightmares.

Perhaps she had been more anxious than she realized, because even the memories of the troublesome people she hadn’t reunited with yet appeared in her dreams.

[Hey, bookworm! Move out of my way!]

[An explanation? Are you making fun of what I just said?]

There was Louise Charmant, who displayed her terrible personality every single day.

[Hmm. Are your legs merely decorative? Run, Elodie Fontaine.]

[How dare you cause trouble for His Highness the Prince!]

And even Tristan Flang, the very embodiment of an arrogant knight.

Elodie closed her eyes and rolled her stiff neck.

“Not things like that. Something good. Let’s think about something nice.”

Instead of dwelling on her gloomy past, the aspiring thief began imagining a new future.

[My darling daughter! I’ve missed you so much!]

She would endure everything and reunite with her parents.

Once she got out of here, she would shut herself away in her hometown and never think about Robert’s group again.

Perhaps she could even go on a journey.

Elodie gave herself an energetic pep talk.

“Good. It’s only another hour to the Resting Tree.”

The Resting Tree.

Once she reached it, she would finally be able to relax.

Elodie nibbled on an energy bar while anxiously surveying her surroundings.

“Hurry……”

Grrrr……

Her stomach growled.

“……Hang in there, Elodie Fontaine.”

She had to conserve her food as much as possible.

Searching for something edible would significantly increase her chances of encountering monsters.

“Let’s just make it to the Resting Tree. Then……”

A map unfolded in her mind as clearly as if it had appeared right before her eyes.

“There’s a strawberry bush thirty minutes away.”

With her current abilities, the only things Elodie could obtain were fruits and vegetables.

Even then, she had to carefully distinguish the poisonous ones from the edible ones.

There was a reason she had chosen the Resting Tree as her first base.

There was a strawberry patch nearby!

Elodie energetically took another step forward.

“Just a little longer.”

And exactly thirty minutes later—

‘Talk about having the worst luck.’

In her previous life, Elodie had spent all her time at the beach.

She had been busy listening to Sylvia whining about wanting someone to make her a blanket out of wolf pelts.

How could she possibly have known that a monster like that was wandering around this area?

‘Poison Scorpion!’

Barely fifteen minutes away from the Resting Tree, an enormous black insect, as big as a house, was menacingly waving its tail.

“Kiik, kirik.”

Elodie immediately steadied her breathing and pressed her back tightly against a thick tree.

‘I mustn’t move until it leaves……’

Crack.

Her violet eyes flinched as she looked down at her brown boots.

A tiny twig was rolling helplessly across the ground.

“KIIIIIK!”

Following her instincts, Elodie immediately threw herself to the side.

KAGAK!

The monster’s sharp legs pierced straight into the tree trunk where she had been standing.

‘Eek!’

Flattened against the ground, Elodie hurriedly threw her backpack in the opposite direction.

“KIIII!”

At the dull thud of the backpack hitting the ground, the black scorpion turned around with a series of rapid movements.

Poison Scorpions hunted their prey by sensing vibrations in the ground.

Their eyesight was practically nonexistent.

“Kiik?”

Elodie swallowed nervously as she watched one of the scorpion’s legs pierce straight through her precious backpack.

If she hadn’t thrown something to distract it, that would have been her fate.

Carefully, she took the green plant she had attached to her waist.

Elodie Fontaine couldn’t burn the scorpion like Robert, nor could she heal herself like Sylvia.

She had neither offensive magic nor healing magic.

The only thing Elodie could rely on was her memory.

That was all.

Rustle……

Something tough and resilient silently spread over her entire body.

“……Kirik. Kik.”

The presence of the approaching monster grew stronger.

The rustling sound gradually drew closer.

‘Breathe…… I need to hold my breath, too.’

A menacing leg waved right in front of her eyes.

“Kiiii……”

Then the sharp leg passed in front of Elodie once again.

It hadn’t noticed her.

Her trembling hands pulled the enormous leaf more tightly around herself.

‘It’s a good thing I picked up a Leaf Cloak along the way.’

Leaf Cloak.

Ordinarily, it was an ordinary leaf rolled up to about the size of a forearm. However, once its surface was scratched, it immediately unfolded and wrapped itself around its target.

It was originally a terrifying plant that suffocated its prey by refusing to let go once it had wrapped around them.

But if you cut off its stem beforehand, you could use it just like this.

‘Monsters aren’t particularly interested in plants. And since I’m covered in Greennet, they shouldn’t be able to smell me either.’

The Poison Scorpion slowly passed in front of Elodie.

Tap, tap, tap.

Its sharp legs gradually moved farther away.

‘I survived.’

Just as she slowly exhaled and squeezed her eyes shut—

Grrrrrr……