“They might just have gone there to observe the snake.” Narcha said.

The woman didn’t seem too sure of her own assumption, though.

Reinhart grunted. “Let’s explore the rest of the valley first. I’d rather not risk going near that thing if that’s not the way out.”

No one in the group protested against his suggestion. They circled the canyon walls, giving the snake a wide berth, and explored every inch of rock and ground. The place had plenty of protruding rocks and alcoves, but there were no hidden passages or tunnels, and worry started to set in their expression.

“Maybe there’s something in the pond.” Narcha pointed at the body of water.

Reinhart hesitated. “That’s already cutting it close to the beast. Who knows how far it can detect us?”

Eiwin shook her head. “There’s no need to worry about that, Mister Reinhart. If the monster is as strong as I think, then it most likely noticed us the moment we entered its valley.”

The knight grimaced, but he knew she was telling the truth.

They agreed to approach the pond, but this time Reinhart wasn’t too eager to take the lead, his eyes lingering on the colossal snake on the other side of the valley. Still, they eventually made it there without issue, much to his relief.

He crouched down beside the water bed and examined the pond with a frown.

The man looked over at Red. “Do you sense something?”

The boy shook his head.

Reinhart seemed more confident at his assertion. He scooped a bit of the water with his hand and examined it. The knight seemed to be half-expecting his hand to melt all of a sudden, but that didn’t happen.

“Normal water.” Reinhart said.

“Great.” Narcha nodded. “Now we can see if there’s something at the bottom.”

She looked at the knight with an expectant gaze.

Reinhart frowned and seemed on the verge of protesting. However, something seemed to change his mind and the man let out a sigh of resignation.

“Fine.” he nodded. “As long as you don’t steal my things while I’m down there.”

Eiwin shook her head. “Don’t worry, Mister Reinhart. I’ll make sure no one touches your belongings while you’re diving.”

The younger woman gave her companions a stern gaze.

Narcha frowned. "Why are you looking at me too?”

Red just nodded in response. They still needed Reinhart’s help, so there was no point in antagonizing the man.

Satisfied with their response, Reinhart put his items aside and dove in. It was hard to tell how deep the pond was from their position, considering the lack of light, and not even Red could see its bottom.

The knight was gone for over thirty seconds in his dive, but no one was worried. Someone who had opened their Lung Veins could hold their breath for a long time, and Red could still sense the man’s fluctuations from his position.

Finally, when a minute had passed, Reinhart reemerged. The man took a deep breath and walked over towards the group.

“Anything?” Narcha asked.

“Nothing.” Reinhart shook his head. “No plants or fish in the water, either.”

The woman frowned. “So, what’s left? Do we really need to go towards that snake?”

The knight shrugged. “We could also try climbing the canyon.”

This was an option they had ignored until now because of the constant lightning striking from above, and yet was it that much more dangerous compared to facing the snake? Red wasn’t sure anymore, either.

“We still have a large part of the valley to explore.” Eiwin said. “As long as we don’t get too close to the snake, I doubt it will bother attacking us.”

Reinhart frowned. “And can you be sure of that?”

She shook her head. “No, but it’s better for us to eliminate all other safer options before choosing a final course of action.”

Once again, the knight was stumped on how to respond, so he just nodded.

Eiwin looked over at Red. “Can you take us back to the tracks?”

The boy nodded.

A few minutes later, they were once more standing on where Red had last seen the footprints on the dusty ground. He led his companions in the direction the tracks were heading, pointing the way to Reinhart as they continued to explore their surrounding for anything that might give them a clue.

They found nothing, though, and now they were closer to the snake than they had ever been before. Red could even feel a breeze blowing against him, which he assumed was the monster’s breath that reached him even from hundreds of meters away. His body was threatening to tremble again.

“There’s something behind the snake.” Reinhart pointed out.

The women had a hard time seeing it, but Red was able to spot it with his dark vision. He saw glimpses of terrain behind the enormous curled up body of the snake.

“It’s a slope.” the man said. “Probably the exit to the canyon.”

It was an ascending slope, in fact - a large natural ramp that led up towards whatever awaited them above. It seemed to be too much of a coincidence for the snake to be resting at that exact spot.

“Is it guarding the exit?” Narcha frowned.

“I’d guess so.” Reinhart nodded.

The woman seemed angry. “And what does that bird expect of us? That we kill this monster guarding the exit? That’s absurd!”

“Patience, Miss Valt.” Eiwin said. “We’ve yet to see any signs of Rickard or the Imperials, so perhaps there is a way to pass through we don’t know about yet.”

“Or maybe they’re all dead.” Reinhart said.

Everyone glared at him, but the man only smiled in response.

Red continued to follow the tracks, which kept leading them closer towards the snake. It was at that point, though, that he noticed something strange.

“One of the tracks seems to veer off towards the cliff wall,” he pointed out.

“Just one?” Narcha was confused.

The boy nodded. “All the others keep going forward.”

“Well, what are you waiting for? Let’s follow it first!”

The warrior was eager to explore any venue other than approaching the snake.

Red pointed the directions to the group, and they were soon nearing a large rock pillar on the side of the canyon walls. It was at that point, though, that the boy noticed a fluctuation within his crimson sense.

He warned the rest of the group. “Someone’s there.”

“Hm?” Reinhart, who was in the lead, froze up. “Where exactly?”

“I think they’re hiding between the rocks.”

“They?” Narcha frowned. “It’s not a monster?”

Red shook his head. “It’s a person. Still alive, too.”

This revelation seemed to come as a relief to his companions.

“We need to make sure they don’t try to run.” Reinhart looked over at Narcha. “You circle from the right. Make sure not to kill him.”

The woman snorted and unsheathed her saber. “You don’t need to tell me that.”

Red also took out his bow, just in case, while Eiwin stood by his side. They continued to approach the fluctuation according to the direction the boy pointed out. Finally, Narcha and Reinhart circled the large rock pillar in a dash, closing in on this hidden individual.

Red expected the fluctuation to move as it noticed the two people approaching it, but that didn’t happen. No sounds of struggle or battle came from behind the pillar, either.

“What is going on?” Eiwin asked with a frown.

“Uh… You guys can come over.” Narcha said. “It’s safe.

Eiwin looked at Red and nodded, leading the way.

When they circled the rock, the scene they found surprised them. Narcha and Reinhart were standing to the side, while the individual whose fluctuation Red had felt was cowering on the ground, trembling. It was a bandit, with no apparent wounds, and the man didn’t even seem to notice their presence.

“What’s going on here?” Eiwin asked.

“We found him like this.” Reinhart shrugged. “He seems traumatized by something. Maybe the huge snake killed all his friends.”

“Ugh, we don’t have time for this!” Narcha walked over to the man and gave him a light kick on the side. “Hey, you bastard! Wake up!”

Her words seemed to finally have some effect on the man. The bandit stared at her, blinking twice in disbelief. Then, he slowly noticed the rest of the group surrounding him, and his trembling intensified.

He put his back against the wall in fear, seeing that there was no path of retreat. “W-Who are you?”

Narcha grunted. “Doesn’t matter. Just tell me who you are if you want to live.”

“I-I’m…” the man stuttered. “I’m Bjorn.”

“I don’t care about your name!” she raised her hand in anger as if to strike him.

The bandit cowered back in fear. “T-then what do you want to know?”

“Were you with Rickard’s group?” Eiwin interjected.

The man’s eyes widened in recognition. “T-That’s right, I was with them… B-But…” he trailed off, looking at the ground.

Narcha screamed at him. “Just get to it! Are they dead?!”

“N-No.” he shook his head. “W-Well, not all of them.”

Eiwin frowned. “Tell us what happened. From the beginning, please.”

“U-Uh, well…” the man frowned. “I always wanted to be an adventurer when I was young-”

“She meant from when you arrived in this valley, you idiot!” Narcha berated him.

“Ah! I-I understand.” the bandit nodded. “T-The imperial guys led us over with boss… W-When we arrived at the valley, t-that snake just appeared out of nowhere and blocked our way forward. W-We were almost scared to death.”

Reinhart’s eyebrows rose. “So it wasn’t there when you arrived?”

“N-No. T-The imperials said that this was a guardian of this trial, and we would need to prove ourselves to it if we wanted to continue.”

“How can you prove yourself to a monster?” Narcha frowned.

“W-We didn’t know either.” the bandit shook his head. “B-But the imperial said that as long as we didn't show fear in front of it, it would just let us pass.”

“And did it work?”

The man nodded. “It did at first. The imperials were the first to go, and they managed to just sneak by it and keep going. Boss went next… T-The snake showed some reaction when he got near it, but he still managed to pass through. When we saw that, we thought that maybe this wasn’t as hard as it seemed. Maybe all we needed to do was just walk over it and it would be done… B-But, but…”

The bandit started to tremble again.

“Are all your companions dead?” Reinhart asked.

“I-I don’t know…” the bandit shook his head. “A-After the first few died trying to cross through, I got too scared… I ran away, but I could still hear the lightning. T-They didn’t even have the chance to scream. All it took was them freezing for one step, or just looking at that thing in fear. T-The moment that happened, the snake stared at them and lightning shot out from its body…”

The man didn’t need to explain the rest.

Red, however, who was listening from the side, had a bad feeling. If the only way to get through was by proving yourself to this snake and the beast killed anyone who so much as faltered, what would the boy do about his crimson sense?

A feeling of dread rose to his mind.