A couple of hours went by without us noticing.

Despite the tall tree leaves, we soon came to realize that the sun was about to set, so we headed back to the manor.

"Say, Syrius, why do you think the warthogs were so close to the barrier?" I asked.

"I don’t know the Young Lord, even I was very surprised to see them so close to the barrier."

"Do you think there could be something wrong with the barrier?"

"I don’t know... but it would be… very problematic if it were." Syrius mumbled, as for himself alone, since noticing me looking at him, he immediately said, "Please don’t mind what I said."

"I see."

I arrived somewhere where the barrier could already be seen from a distance, so after finding an appropriate tree, I hid my backpack.

I couldn't risk being caught with two daggers and bloodstained clothes on my back, especially since there isn't a single safe place in the manor other than the library, and that's only if I don't get caught midway. As such, hiding my backpack along with my blades came across to me as the safest and wisest alternative.

It was while doing so that I ventured my question, "Say, I know today way too much has happened, but in the future can we return here?"

"That’s…"

Before he could say anything, I added, "I was too confident when I said there would be no danger. From what happened today, it showed. Today, I wasn’t ready, but it doesn’t mean it would be forever the case."

He looked at me with serious eyes before reaching for my head, "If that’s the case, then, why not?"

"Thank you, Syrius," I said genuinely grateful.

With these words and feelings, we both headed for the barrier.

It was then that I heard Syrius, at my side, shouting, "Young Lord!"

Something I immediately registered why.

I saw the barrier ahead react strangely for a split second before spatting lightning bolts at me less than a second later. But then Syrius stepped in front of me, knocking me back and receiving the lightning bolts with his sabre.

The lightning bolts dispersed when they made contact with Syrius' blade. And then Syrius, wasting no time, grabbed me and dragged me back into the forest.

Earlier this afternoon, the barrier looked like a watery wall, but when it did attack us, or to be exact, me, its appearance went fog-like.

Arriving at a distance, I, still shocked by what had just unfolded, asked, "What was that?"

Dropping me to the ground, Syrius explained, "That was the barrier's offensive way of operating."

Naturally, I knew, but what I was wondering exactly was why me?

Why did it attack me?

As soon as I enhanced my body with aina, a lightning bolt flew from the barrier to me.

I managed to avoid the light, but it was a close call.

The first bolt of lightning was quickly followed by five more.

I ran with all my might and, with great difficulty, managed to avoid them all.

I rushed back into the forest with all my might, and after a short while, I noticed that the barrier was no longer sending lightning bolts after me.

The barrier's primary goal is to protect humanity, a task which it accomplishes in three distinct ways.

In a defensive way, the barrier force field obstructs almost everything from going in or out.

In a repulsive way, the barrier, rumored to be a byproduct of how it was cast, is well-known to be despised by monsters.

The barrier was designed to attack any monsters that came too close to it. When used offensively, the barrier changes its appearance to a fog-like appearance and attacks with the appropriate elemental attack based on the elemental weakness of the considered invader, which in this case was obviously me. For these shots were unmistakably aimed at me.

So now I'm considered an invading monster, huh?

The barrier must have made a mistake of some sort, this can’t be.

"Why did it attack me?" I asked, desperate for answers.

The warthogs were nothing but that thing. It really scared the crap out of me.

"I don’t know, Young Lord. I thought that maybe you would’ve had the answer. "

"It didn’t react like that earlier."

"I…" Syrius started.

"What is it, Syrius?"

"Young Lord, your backpack… and…" reaching for my shirt, he made me notice something was missing. "-your pendant."

It was only then that it snapped and came across as obvious to me.

When I entered the barrier, I had my backpack and my pendant on.

"Could it be?"

I immediately rushed to the trees and retrieved my pendant and backpack, and with Syrius's acknowledgment, we both went to confront the barrier.

We carefully approached the barrier, ready to flee at the very moment it would assume its foggy appearance.

As we got closer and closer, even going beyond where it generated an offensive reaction from the barrier, nothing happened.

After exchanging eyes with Syrius and receiving a nod indicating to me that I could proceed, I went ahead to reach my hand onto it, and soon, through the process I used to get in earlier, my entire body went through the barrier.

Looking back, the barrier was this time behind me.

I was on the other side.

I was finally back on the Human Continent

Falling on my knee. "Fuuuuu!" I vent out a sigh of relief.

For a moment, I thought I was going to be locked in this forest forever. The chase from earlier was nothing compared to the fear I felt.

If it weren’t for Syrius following closely behind, I would have kissed the ground. Never in life would I’ve thought I would miss the human continent so much.

"It seems it was either the Young Lord’s daggers or pendant that allowed him to…"

"To pass through the barrier, not just the fact that I am a noble."

Nodding, "I suppose you now have your answer whether nobles need or do not need a special object to pass through the barrier," Syrius teased.

"That frightening experience wasn’t worth it."

But as Syrius said, at least now I know I need my blades or my pendant to make it through the barrier.

Looking at my pendant, I thought, "I wonder which on- All things considered, I’ve had enough for today."

"Young Lord?"

"I’ve had my fair share of this place for today. Let’s get to the manor." I announced.

I tucked the backpack away in a bush out of sight and made my way to the manor.

Soon, the tall fence enclosing the manor domain came into view, and as we got closer, we came to notice two or three men's voices conversing on the other side of the wall.

"Are you sure she saw something?" asked one voice, almost certainly one of the manor’s guards.

"How am I supposed to know? It was her who saw it, not me." replied a second voice.

"Makes sense. And even if it were true, how are we supposed to deal with that? A column of fog rising into the sky, huh? We’re guards, not firefighters. " This time I recognized the voice. It belonged to the new guy who replaced the fired guard.

From what they described, it seems like the barrier reaction was observable from the manor.

"Hahaha, yeah, but you gotta watch your mouth in front of the harpy, man."

Syrus and I exchanged glances.

‘I wonder who this "harpy" could be.’

A third voice retorted, "Yeah, she won't feel the slightest bit of regret firing you if you ever get caught slacking off."

Aha! I suppose I see now who the famous "harpy" could be.

"Yeah, you guys don’t have to worry; I know that already."

"Okay, guys, I think that should do it," solemnly declared one of the voices. "There’s nothing here."

After a while, they all just left.

These guys appear to have been sent to see if the fence was in good condition. Because otherwise, I really can't fathom what they came here to do.

Seriously, what were you guys trying to do? Wasn’t the problem coming from outside the domain? Then why are you just stopping at the fence?

Ah~ whatever, time to go home.

"What about you, Syrius?" I asked.

"I’ll head back to the manor later." Syrius reassured, "I don’t think it would be a great idea for me to sneak in with the Young Lord.

With Syrius' help, I leaped over the fence and landed safely on the other side.

I started inspecting my surroundings right away. Noticing that no one was in sight, I dashed to the manor.

It was only when I got closer that I noticed that the window I came out of had been closed—no, in fact, it was all the back windows that had been closed. Leaving only the door to the kitchen open on this side of the manor,

I came to a halt a short distance from that door and entered the kitchen. Kitchen, in which I casually walked through the back door, where if I had been lucky enough, I would have gone unnoticed, but having used up all of my good fortune for the day, it certainly wasn't what happened.

"Monsieur?" said someone in a not-so-manly tone.

"Oh, Mathéo, how are you doing today?"

Matheo was the name of the cook of the manor.

When I was younger, the perfect word to describe the man was "beer-bellied," but he has evolved. The beer-bellied Matheo was no more. Today’s Matheo was what one could call a chubby man.

"I couldn’t be better, sir," he said, while caressing his belly. "What brings monsieur to my humble cuisine?"

"Nothing~ nothing, I was just passing by," I said, pointing to the door leading to the adjacent room.

"I see," said Matheo with a nod.

Just as I was about to take my leave, "And now that I think of it, Matheo, have you ever cooked a warthog? "

"Warthog?... There are two or three recipes that come to my mind, but I've never personally cooked one.

"I see, but I’m sure that as long as it’s Matheo who is cooking it, it will be tasty."

"Merci Monsieur, It makes my day to hear that. "

I gave Matheo a two-finger salute and made my way to the library or my room.

Just when I was about to climb the stairs, I stumbled upon Maa, who was, instead, just going down the stairs.

"Weren’t you supposed to be in the library?" She asked me, confused, "May I ask where exactly the Young Lord was all this time? " Maa asked, in a rather inquisitive tone.

"I left the library earlier to relieve this humble one's bosom, then went to the kitchen to have a quick chat with Matheo, but here I am now." I lied.

"I’m not really fond of the order in which you did all this, but whatever. You should stay within the manor. I earlier saw something strange coming from the forest," she said as she descended the stairs.

"Something strange?"

"Yes, a wall of fog. It happened twice, but it didn't last long before it disappeared into thin air. "

When she said that she had already reached the ground floor, where I was.

"I wish I could’ve seen it. It must have been very impressive to see, " I said with a smile.

"Yes, it wa-." She stopped mid-sentence and began to sniff around. "What is this smell ?"

"What smell ?" I said innocently.

"Something smells like wet dogs," concluded Maa, with disgust painted all over her face.

"You know what I think I-" My sentence was cut off by the noise of the entrance door being opened.

The ones who opened the door were the three guards from earlier.

" We’ve investigated the place and we haven’t found anything strange, Ma'am."

Seizing the opportunity, I immediately climbed up the stairs with the intent of going straight into my room and taking a bath before Maa noticed that the "wet dog" smell came from me.

"I see. You may go, but remain vigilant during your rounds, I have a bad feeling about that thing. "

"Yes ma'am." said the three of them in unison.

They were about to come out of the door through which they had entered when I asked Maa aloud from the top of the stairs. "Say Maa, do you know what a harpy is?"

When I said those words, I, from where I was, saw the backs of the three guards straighten as they all simultaneously peered back at me.

"I do. What of it?"

"Oh, nothing, it’s just a new word that I’ve learned, so I was wondering if you were to happen to not know what it meant. Obviously you knew. " I said while addressing a gentle and warm smile to the guards.