Kamigami – 61 Part 4

Aside from the footsteps of the wolf walking over the dry and dead leaves, there were no other sounds to be heard inside of the forest.

Fi held onto the reins as he looked around.

Young leaves were dense above, creating cool shade. The tall pine trees weakened the rays of the sun, but the dragon’s eyes could still see clearly through the dimness.

“Fi. Is the mountain, close now?”

Yuneri asked while sitting in front of him.

“I’ve seen this place before. We’re almost at the spot where we used to… Oh!”

They came out into a clearing then. The side of the mountain where there were only a few trees and any boulders.

“Hey! What’s that! The big rock!”
“It’s not a rock. It’s the remains of a golem.”

It had only been about  two months since he was last here. And yet, it already felt nostalgic.

When he approached the spot where they had cooked, there was already new grass growing there. Animals had dug up the holes where they threw away food waste, leaving the empty pits bare.

“Fi! Can I see it! The Golem!”

“Fine. But don’t go too close. It’s falling apart.”

The kobold child jumped off of Guto happily and went running. Fi also dismounted and stretched his limbs.

“We’re finally here…”

He took off the saddle and then the star wolf shook its fur before dashing off into the forest.

Fi organized their things and built a small stove so that they could cook.

“What should…we do now…”

He had accomplished the task of taking Yuneri to this mountain. However, he couldn’t just leave the young kobold here.

They had eaten most of the preserved food. And the kobold was too young to go hunting. Fi would have to catch fish and gather fruits first, so that they would be able to live for some time.

The other kobolds were supposed to gather here as well. But how many would have been able to survive in that chaos?

He had thought about it many times on the way here. The worst case scenario. What would he do then?

“…”

Fi decided that he better not think about it.

There was nothing he could do. Outside of asking the dragon god…

“Yuneri?”

The kobold had been running around close to the golem’s feet a moment ago. But now, even when Fi concentrated with his horns, the kobold had no detectable breathing or footsteps.

“That idiot!”

Children had too much energy. And now that they were in a place where they could relax, the kobold had gone off somewhere.

“Yuneri. Where are you!?”

His voice echoed in the forest. Birds took flight from the trees.

“Yuneri! Answer me!”

But there was no reply.

“You have to be kidding me…”

Fi took out his smartphone and looked at the map of the surrounding area. The dot that represented Yuneri was not there. This suggested the kobold was out of range. Even Guto’s marker was gone.

“You better not be too far away…”

The surrounding area was mostly gentle slopes. However, it grew steeper near the river. And there were also mountain animals and poisonous snakes.

Besides, it was also possible that there could be humans in the area.

“Yuneri! Answer me if you’re there!”

He climbed down to the river and looked around. Yuneri was still nowhere in sight.

“Please…don’t do this to me…”

He wanted to believe that it was just a child moving around on a whim. Perhaps it had come here to drink water or catch a fish.

“Could it be…”

The current was not too strong. Still, near the center, it was too deep for a kobold child to stand in.

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