Chapter 115: Southern Jungle (10)
“Star.”
When Ariel answered, Theodoras paused for a moment.
It was as though Ariel had answered too easily, leaving him flustered.
But soon, a confident smile spread across Theodoras’ face.
“Wrong.”
“?”.
Ariel tilted her head.
Something that shines at night, twinkles in the sky, and can be wished upon.
It was definitely a star.
But he said it was wrong?
Theodoras slowly opened his mouth.
“The correct answer is magic. Magic shines at night, twinkles in the sky, and can grant wishes…!”
Theodoras giggled to himself.
His laughter was so slow that it seemed as if only he was experiencing time moving slowly.
“……”
Ariel’s expression hardened.
This was clearly unreasonable.
Of course, magic can also shine at night, twinkle in the sky, and grant wishes, but if that was the case, the riddle would have no end.
Most of all, when Ariel said “star,” Theodoras definitely looked flustered.
That meant Theodoras himself thought the answer was “star,” but when Ariel got it right, he was denying it.
Shameless and cowardly.
“Seriously, what kind of guy is this? This is so petty!”
Lu once again stomped on Theodoras’ shell with force, but Theodoras didn’t budge, only flashing a bright smile.
“Too bad, elf child. Now it’s your turn to ask a question.”
At Theodoras’ words, Ariel sighed softly and opened her mouth.
“Short arms, but cute, with a nice beard, and excellent at crafting weapons—what race is this?”
At Ariel’s riddle, Theodoras became serious.
He looked deep in thought.
Without thinking, the answer was clearly dwarf.
It was an easy riddle that even a child could solve immediately.
But Theodoras kept pondering.
A silence descended around them.
Lu, with his arms crossed, anxiously tapped his feet, and Ariel waited patiently.
It took a long time before Theodoras spoke.
“Could you give me a hint?”
“……”
For a moment, Ariel’s lips trembled slightly, and Lu began to feel tense.
“You… if you don’t want to become turtle stew, do it right… our sister gets really scary when she’s mad…”
Despite Lu’s warning, Theodoras repeated once more.
“Could you give me a hint?”
“…They live in mines, and they don’t get along with elves because they destroy forests.”
Ariel gave a blatant hint, but Theodoras still couldn’t answer.
Well, he couldn’t answer, but what was worse was that he shamelessly kept asking for more hints.
“Could you give me a hint?”
“The answer is dwarf.”
Eventually, Ariel gave the answer herself, and Theodoras wore a delayed, surprised expression.
Theodoras looked at Ariel with a slightly aggrieved look but soon smiled again.
“Since we both couldn’t answer, it’s a draw. Then I’ll ask another riddle…”
***
In the end, the riddle game with Theodoras went on for three rounds.
And each time, it ended in a draw.
Because Theodoras cleverly changed the answers to avoid admitting defeat.
For example, when Ariel answered “rain” to the riddle “What falls from the sky, wets the ground, and flows into rivers and seas?”, Theodoras changed the answer to “snow.”
And when Ariel asked riddles, even very easy ones, Theodoras couldn’t get them right.
“We always drink this to live. It’s invisible, but it’s everywhere. Without it, many creatures can’t survive. It suffocates you.”
The answer was “air,” but Theodoras only asked for hints while thinking deeply.
Even when Lu shouted, “What you’re breathing through your nose right now!” nothing changed.
“Another draw. Then I’ll ask another riddle…”
“No.”
Finally, Ariel decided to give up on the riddle game.
It seemed like it would never end at this rate.
“Forget the riddle. I want to cross the river. If you take me across, I’ll give you this.”
Ariel took out a large chocolate cake from her inventory.
The rich, dark-colored cake looked extremely sweet.
It was a cake Ariel had gotten from the capital, Delight, and had treasured.
“……!”
Theodoras’ face brightened at the sight of the cake.
His eyes sparkled, and his mouth opened in a wide grin.
“That, are you really giving that to me?”
Theodoras asked in an excited voice.
Ariel nodded.
“I’ll give it to you. But first, take me across the river.”
“Then, I’ll eat it first…”
“No. You’ll get it after we cross.”
No matter how divine Theodoras was, Ariel still didn’t trust him.
He might eat the cake and then challenge her with another riddle.
“……”
Theodoras had a conflicted expression, and Ariel used telekinesis to make the cake hover in front of him, enticing him.
“That cake? It’s full of rich chocolate cream inside. It’s so smooth that it melts on your tongue the moment you bite into it.”
The cake floated slowly around Theodoras, circling him.
In response, his eyes spun in circles.
“All you have to do is take me across the river. Then, the cake is yours.”
Ariel whispered languidly.
“What do you think?”
Her sweet, tempting voice.
Even Lu, who normally didn’t care about desserts, was staring at the cake absentmindedly.
Theodoras closed his eyes for a moment.
Then, as if making a decision, he nodded.
“Alright.”
Upon hearing the answer, Ariel smiled faintly and stopped the cake.
It was at that moment.
ZAP!
Theodoras swiftly jumped up, snatched the cake with his mouth, and started running away.
Ariel and Lu were left blinking in confusion.
“…That guy… he’s incredibly fast, sis?”
Just now, Theodoras’ movements were extremely quick, and even now, he was running at a very fast speed.
His feet were almost invisible, moving that quickly.
Of course, it didn’t matter.
Ariel lightly stamped the ground, and in the next moment, she appeared in front of Theodoras.
“!!”
Theodoras hastily stopped, quickly swallowed the cake, and smiled brightly as if nothing had happened.
Ariel asked in a trembling voice.
“Theodoras… you’re going to take me across the river now, right?”
Then Theodoras blinked his large eyes once before speaking to Ariel.
“Let’s play another riddle game.”
At those words, Lu quickly hid inside Ariel’s hat.
***
Deep within the jungle, the Siland River was an extremely quiet place.
The soft sound of the wind rustling the leaves, the distant chirping of birds, and the gentle flowing of the river created an eerie silence.
Sometimes, the sound of fish jumping to the surface could be heard, but it quickly disappeared into the quiet again.
The Siland River flowed slowly, as if time had stopped, and the only thing visible was the pure, untouched nature…
BOOM!
Suddenly, a huge explosion tore the sky and shook the earth.
A shockwave spread along the river, as if the world itself was splitting in two.
The surface of the water violently churned, sending a column of water into the air, and the surrounding trees shook, screaming as they were uprooted.
The peaceful calm of the Siland River instantly turned into a scene of raging disaster.
At the epicenter of this change stood a single girl.
Her silver hair fluttering in the wind.
It was Ariel.
As usual, Ariel wore a calm expression, but if you looked closely, her eyebrows were slightly furrowed.
She looked slightly angry.
In Ariel’s hand was a sword larger than her body, which was half-embedded in the ground.
It was the sword she had drawn after Theodoras suggested another riddle game.
The aftermath of that was the disaster that had just occurred.
Ariel pulled the sword out of the ground and began dragging it behind her as she walked toward Theodoras.
Scrape…
The eerie sound of the sword dragging on the ground echoed ominously.
It seemed to foretell Theodoras’ fate.
Theodoras, with his large eyes wide open, stared at Ariel without moving.
The shameless smile he had been wearing vanished, and only fear remained in his eyes.
Ariel slowly, but surely, approached Theodoras.
Her elf-like cute face remained the same, but the aura around her was cold and merciless.
Every step Ariel took seemed to shake the earth, and it felt as if even the air was being pushed away by her presence.
Theodoras opened his mouth to speak, but only a short, dry groan escaped his throat.
Finally, when Ariel reached Theodoras, she stopped and stared at him intently.
Her eyes were red, as if filled with blood.
Her gaze seemed to pierce through Theodoras’ very soul.
“Theodoras… you’re going to take me across the river, right?”
Ariel asked once more.
Her voice was gentle, but inside it was an undeniable, chilling power that one could not resist.
Theodoras trembled and barely nodded.
Ariel stared at him for a moment, then slowly sheathed her sword.
The heavy aura that had been pressing down began to dissipate.
“Good.”
Finally, Ariel smiled faintly and hopped onto Theodoras’ shell.
“Please take care of me, Theodoras.”
“……”
Theodoras, with trembling legs, began to move forward with difficulty.