"Shall we head out?"

As I spoke, I turned to Rio, who had just finished storing the last of her items in her spatial box. Master’s departure had been as casual as ever, but it felt fitting for someone like him.

"Yeah."

Rio tucked the pouch containing the coins and brooch into her spatial box. That brooch bore what seemed to be a royal insignia—though I wasn’t sure of its authenticity. Still, Master had mentioned we’d need identification or money to enter a town. Maybe it could serve as a substitute for ID.

There was no reason to leave it behind.

"Let’s grab the game from the yard, too."

"I’ve got more space in my spatial box, but you should take some supplies, Shu."

"Got it."

I took care of packing up the game we’d hunted and bled the day before.

"Alright, let’s go."

"Yeah."

And with that, we left the Magic Forest behind.

The journey to the Arclight Kingdom was supposed to take around 20 days on foot. Thankfully, with gravity magic to lighten our weight and wind magic to fly, we could travel at roughly five times the speed of walking.

"Hey, look! A dodo bird!"

Though we weren’t in a rush, whenever we spotted game from above, we’d descend, swiftly kill it, drain the blood, and resume our journey.

We didn’t have camping gear, but that wasn’t a problem. With earth magic, we could easily create walls and a roof for shelter each night. After about a week of traveling, we finally emerged from the forest.

"We’re out!"

Before us lay an expansive grassland. Scattered trees dotted the horizon, but the landscape was mostly open plains.

"It’s amazing," Rio said, awe evident in her voice.

This vast, uninterrupted view of grasslands was something neither of us had seen back in Japan. The grass reached up to our necks, making it hard to see too far ahead.

"So, if we head straight through this plain, we’ll hit a road that leads west to Zain, the trade city, right?"

"That’s what Master said."

"Though he also mentioned it’s knowledge from fifty years ago."

"Still, a city doesn’t just disappear in fifty years."

"Fair point. He said the road wasn’t far, didn’t he?"

"That’s what he said, but who knows?"

"Alright, let’s put away anything too conspicuous."

"Good idea."

I stowed the dragon-scale shield I had been carrying, while Rio swapped her scaled robe for a plain one.

"All set. Let’s walk from here."

Flying over open plains could attract unwanted attention, so we decided to continue on foot. Cutting through the tall grass was unavoidable.

"Man, cutting this grass feels so satisfying."

Using wind magic, we created a clear path as we walked, slicing the grass at ground level. At one point, I even made a crop-circle-like design just for fun.

"…What are you doing?"

Rio, who had been diligently collecting the freshly cut grass into her spatial box, glared at me.

"Uh, gathering grass, obviously."

"…And what are you going to do with it?"

"I don’t know yet, but it might come in handy."

"Right… okay."

Rio’s practicality was surprising. Grass might be useful as animal feed, but we had no plans to keep livestock.

After about an hour, the grass grew shorter and less dense, and soon, we came upon a well-trodden path.

"This must be the road. My first look at an otherworldly highway," I said.

"Looks like compacted dirt," Rio observed.

The path, hardened from years of use, bore ruts from passing wagons.

"Alright, west is to the right."

Recalling the map Master had described, I oriented us toward Zain, the trade city. As we walked, I couldn’t help but wonder if a "map skill" might manifest soon.

"So far, we haven’t encountered any monsters since leaving the forest," Rio noted.

"Well, it’s called the Magic Forest for a reason. The place is crawling with them."

The absence of threats was a stark contrast to the constant danger of the Magic Forest.

"I wonder what the towns in this world are like," Rio mused.

"Hopefully more advanced than Master’s place," I replied.

"Yeah, let’s hope."

"You nervous?" I asked, noticing a hint of worry in her tone. She looked up at me, startled, her expression betraying her unease. She was taller than me, something I was painfully aware of whenever we walked side by side.

"Maybe… I guess I’m nervous about going somewhere new."

"Heh, well, I’m nervous too, but it’s not like when we first got thrown into the forest. As long as we don’t die, we’ll be fine."

Coming from someone who had nearly died several times, I figured my words carried weight. Patting Rio on the shoulder, I tried to reassure her, but her expression remained cloudy.

"Shu, you’re too optimistic for someone who’s actually been at death’s door," she scolded.

"Uh, sorry."

I guess I had been a bit too flippant. After all, this world was full of unknown dangers.

"But this time," Rio said with determination, "I’ll protect you. So don’t worry."

Her resolve was admirable, but it stung my pride a bit. Still, I tightened my focus. Dying again wasn’t on my agenda.

As we walked, we started encountering other travelers. Many looked like adventurers straight out of a fantasy novel.

Finally, after hours of walking, the walls of a town and its gate came into view.