Ronata decided to spend the rest of the day dissolving all of his hunted prey.
While he was doing so, he continued to idly practice his magic and watch his surroundings using the eyes of Water Stink Bugs.
It was at that time that he saw a movement coming from the vortex through which the girl had returned before.
Ronata initially thought it was the girl, but then he mentally frowned the moment he saw the full display of what had stepped out of the vortex.
Through his Mana Eye, Ronata could see its characteristics.
Dark, elongated limbs. Long black hair that extended from its head down to its stick stomach. The most eye-catching about the creature was its big palms and fingers, with its over 10 cm long claws.
But when Ronata deactivated his Mana Eye, the creature suddenly became invisible to him.
'What kind of monster is that?'
He looked back at the vortex. Now he began to worry about the girl's condition.
'This creature came out of the same vortex, so it was highly likely that it had made contact with the girl. That's mean...'
Ronata had nothing that could make him attached emotionally to the girl like what he felt towards Whitey and its mate.
However, that girl was...
The same as him.
At least, he was familiar with the desperation the girl had in her eyes.
Ronata thinks it was such a shame if the girl lost her life just like that after she had tried that hard for whatever reason the girl was chasing after all this time.
'May your next life be a good and easy life...'
While Ronata offered a silent prayer for the girl, he noticed that the creature had turned around and walked back toward the vortex. Its eyes widened back when it found itself in this plain, as if it had lost.
The creature then stepped into the vortex, returning to Earth.
Ronata looked at the vortex, his mind weighing the thought of sending one of his Water Stink Bugs inside the vortex. In the end, he shook his mental head, dismissing that thought.
He had already obtained his ideal life. He won't approach Human society anymore, no matter how curious or enticing the thought sounds.
He was about to focus back on his idle magic training when another figure showed up from the vortex.
Short figure, with bob-cut hair, and youthful face.
It's the girl.
'Oh? So she's still alive?'
Ronata was wondering how the girl could still be alive, since she came out of the same vortex the creature just entered.
The girl didn't linger beside the vortex long. She looked restless as she rushed forward with her backpack and immediately went out of the small clearing where the vortex was located.
About ten minutes after the girl had gone, the creature showed up again from the vortex. It assigned its surroundings, calmly observing the ground, before following the girl.
The creature didn't rush. It slowly strolled its way, casually following whatever trails the girl left behind.
Ronata narrowed his mental eyes at the creature.
'As expected... It is indeed aiming at the girl...'
...
Saki pushed the grass blades blocking her way apart as she navigated her path through the plain.
She had dismissed the idea of setting her camp near the Gate again because she thought that 'thing' might follow her. She wouldn't want to end up being killed while sleeping, so she wanted to find a new clearing that was a little far away from the clearing where the Gate was located.
Saki doesn't want to face any monsters while looking for her new campsite, so she sneaks down, trying her best to avoid any encounter with monsters even though the monsters were the ones she had once or twice killed before.
By now, she had spent a quarter of the day and still hadn't managed to find any other clearing except the ones that had been occupied by the mice.
Saki looked up at the sun, which had reached its peak.
She takes out a bottle of water from her backpack to drink and rehydrate herself.
Although it was autumn and rather cold here in the world beyond the Gates, which differed from the season her country, Japan, was currently experiencing, where it was at the most violent season of winter, it was still exhausting to spend a quarter of the day wandering aimlessly around this tall grass plain.
She stored her bottle back into her backpack before Saki continued. It was only after the sky turned orange that she finally found a suitable clearing for her.
It was indeed suitable, but...
Saki vigilantly stared at the clearing, which had already had a pair of tents set up on it.
'There are people here!?'
Saki slowly stepped out from the grass formation and showed herself into the clearing, her eyes looking at her surroundings in search of other signs of civilization other than the tents.
'So it was true, that the world beyond the Gates also had its own residents. The only question is whether they are friendly or hostile, Human or inhumane...'
Saki set her focus on her hearing sense. When she confirmed that there aren't any sounds, even the faintest, from the tents, she immediately rushed to open the curtain of one of the tents.
The tent was the traditional one, so they had no zip locking them like Saki's tent. The tent was quite sizable, capable of housing three people inside, clearly bigger than her tent.
Saki entered the tent interior, curiously looking at a pair of bags and fur beds placed inside.
She narrowed her eyes at the dust that had covered the surface of the bags and the beds.
'Whoever the owners of this campsite are, they have already left this tent untouched for at least a week, or even longer.'
She had already experienced watching how her basement began to develop piles of dust the last year after her parents left her forever firsthand, so Saki could immediately see that this tent had already been abandoned by its owners.
'That means it's safe for me to use it, right?'
Saki had rushed back to the Gate the moment she saw the state of her room this morning, so her preparation this time is clearly lacking if compared to her previous dive.
She had only two days' worth of canned food as rations now, while her medkit box still hasn't been restored, lacking bandages, ointments, and medicines she needed in numbers.
Saki placed her backpack on the ground as she approached the two bags that were left inside the tent.
Saki, caressing the surface of the bags, recognized that the ingredient of the bags was real animal hides. She then opened the knot of the bags, opening them.
She began pulling out what was stored inside one by one.
The first thing she found inside the two bags was two daggers. A pair of real, combat-purpose-made, lead daggers. Compared to her kitchen knives, which were clearly unsuitable for combat, it was a chance to upgrade her weapons.
She sheathed the two daggers back in their sheaths before draping them over her waist. Knives and daggers were similar enough that she wouldn't have a problem handling them.
Saki continued to pull out the things stored inside.
Small bags of coins, dried meats, books, and...
"What is this?"
Saki looked at the piles of blue crystals of varied sizes in front of her.
The moment she touched the surface of one of them, her skin tingled. She felt a faint warm and cold energy emanating from the crystal. Since she had experience in using Magical Skill, she immediately identified the crystals as something that contained Magical Energy, or Mana, inside them.
"I don't know what the use of them is, but I'll keep them for now," Saki muttered as she stored the crystals inside her backpack.
She chewed a dried meat before storing the rest of the items back in the bags.
She then went out of the tent to enter the next tent.
There were two other bags inside this tent. The bags contained small bags of coins and dried meats, but there weren't any crystals in them.
However, inside one of the bags, Saki found another book. But the language was something she didn't know, maybe this world's residents' language, so she immediately dismissed it.
'I wonder whether there's a skill that could make it easier for me to understand or learn this world's language?'
Saki was pondering as she gathered the bags inside the tent, where she stored her backpack.
Saki looked up after she had done all of that.
Soon, nighttime would come.
For the first time, Saki began to feel the fear seep into her body the moment she realized the darkness would engulf this place.
Before, since she had set her camp beside the Gate, she at least could retreat back into the Gate the moment any monsters attacked her at night, but here, only a vast expanse of plain surrounding her.
The monsters of this plain, of course, were more familiar with this place than she was. So if a monster attacked her at night, she would definitely be at a disadvantage.
'If only there were a skill that could hide my presence—'
Saki stopped.
She recalled that there was indeed a skill that could help users to conceal their aura and make it hard for their opponents to notice their presence.
The Skill was called Hide.
'But I needed 4 points to buy that Skill...'
Saki gripped the handle of her new dagger at her waist. She hesitated for a while before she made up her mind and immediately entered the grass formation.