Episode 260: A Small Shadow
Nine days after departing from India, Rui got out of the truck and photographed a road sign with his smartphone.
The characters in the image were automatically translated, and a Japanese place name was displayed. Rui took out a world map from his bag and compared it with the place name.
Since GPS was not available, the car navigation system was useless.
When traveling by truck, he checked the direction with a compass he had received in India, and confirmed the detailed location after entering a town.
It took time, but there was no other way.
Rui returned to the truck, got into the driver’s seat, and called out to Yuma.
“This is the Romanian city of ‘Deva’. We’re almost at the border, so we’re on schedule.”
“I see… If we keep going like this, how much longer until we get to Germany?”
“Hmm, let’s see. About four or five days, maybe?”
“Four or five days, huh? Well, as long as we get there safely.”
“Don’t worry. Let’s go!”
Rui started the engine and moved the truck forward. Seeing this, Yuma looked apologetic.
“Sorry for making you drive all the time. I can take over if you want…”
“It’s fine. You’re clumsy, Yuma, and I’d be in trouble if you caused an accident.”
Rui chuckled, and Yuma became disgruntled, saying, “What’s that supposed to mean!”
After that, various things happened. They encountered a deep fissure and had to make a large detour. The truck’s tire punctured, and they struggled to replace it.
They were attacked by a horde of Monsters, and it took time to defeat them.
Furthermore, when Yuma entered a thicket to take a dump, he lowered his pants and strained, only to have his butt bitten by a large rat, forcing him to run around covered in blood.
Overcoming these many troubles, they finally arrived at—
“Yes! We crossed the border and entered Germany!!”
Rui, who had confirmed the characters on the road sign with a map, raised his voice. Yuma also clenched his fist and said, “Alright!!”
Fifteen days after departing from India, they finally arrived in Germany, their destination.
This was all thanks to Dasha and the others who had prepared the truck, gasoline, and food. Yuma was deeply grateful.
“All that’s left is to contact the German government,”
Rui checked the map and drove the truck towards Berlin, the capital of Germany. Yuma, watching the passing scenery, was thinking about the future.
Even if he could get the “White Magic Gem” in Germany, it wouldn’t be enough.
He had to eventually go to England to acquire a Magic Gem to reach a Mana Index of 30000.
He didn’t know the details of what the German government would demand, but he had to take care of it quickly and go to England.
Suppressing his impatient feelings, Yuma thought about Berlin.
◇◇◇
Yuma and Rui, who got out of the truck, stood still in stunned silence.
The city of Berlin was devastated, exposing a miserable sight. The buildings were scorched and collapsed, losing their shape.
It was so terrible that they couldn’t tell where Berlin started and where a different city began.
“It was attacked by Monsters, right?”
Rui said, squeezing out the words. Yuma squatted down and picked up rubble lying on the ground.
It was probably part of a block wall. It was blackened with soot and partially melted. It wouldn’t have happened unless it was heated to a considerable temperature.
“Fire-attribute Monsters… huh?”
What came to Yuma’s mind was the Fire Drake he had encountered on his journey.
If a group of Dragons that breathed fire attacked, it wouldn’t be strange for such damage to occur.
He remembered when Tokyo was attacked by the 【Red King】.
The city was in a state of devastation at that time as well. Had the same thing happened? Yuma bit his lower lip and slowly stood up.
“Let’s look for people. We need to ask what happened to the German government.”
“…Right. There must be survivors.”
Rui and Yuma decided to split up and look for people. Rui moved by truck and searched the south side of the city.
Yuma transformed into an Ancient Dragon and tried to find them from the sky.
More than thirty minutes passed, and the two reunited, but neither of them could find a single person, not even a cat.
“Could it be that it was destroyed? Not just the government, but the entire country of Germany?”
When Yuma voiced his anxiety, Rui shook his head, saying, “It’s not necessarily the case.”
“The government in India was safe. The German government may have moved the politicians to another city. Let’s find them, as soon as possible!”
“…Ah, right.”
Rui and Yuma got into the truck and left Berlin. They changed their target to a large city on the map, but the scenery visible from the truck was miserable.
“It might be the worst of all the countries we’ve passed through so far.”
Rui frowned as he gripped the steering wheel.
Yuma thought the same thing. He had heard that England was close to the 【Blue King】’s habitat, so he expected the damage to be severe.
But he didn’t know what Germany was being attacked by.
The biggest problem was that he hadn’t met a single human since entering Germany.
And—
“Yuma, have you noticed?”
“Yeah, this country is bad news.”
Yuma looked out of the car with a serious expression. The fact that there were no humans was a problem, but an even bigger problem was,
“There are no Monsters. I haven’t seen a single one since coming to this country.”
The whole country had suffered so much damage. It wouldn’t be strange if Monsters were rampaging everywhere.
But what did it mean that he hadn’t seen any?
Yuma looked at the flowing cityscape with a puzzled face. At that moment, he caught something in the corner of his vision.
“Rui, stop!”
“Huh? Ah, okay.”
Rui braked suddenly and stopped the truck. Yuma opened the door and jumped out of the car.
“Yuma!”
“Someone was there! I’ll go look for them.”
Yuma ran as he was, went around the collapsed building, and stepped into a back alley-like place.
“Where did they go?”
As he looked around, he heard a noise about ten meters ahead. Yuma immediately ran and turned the corner.
Then, he saw another figure.
A small back. Not an adult, a child! Yuma chased after them, jumping over rubble and running through the garden of a private house.
The doors and windows of the house were broken, so he could enter.
Surprised, he saw the child go through the house and out the window on the other side.
“Damn it!”
Yuma also entered the house, passed through what seemed to be the living room, and went outside. When he turned his head left and right, he saw the back of the child running away.
“Wait! I’m not an enemy!!”
He shouted desperately. But if the other person wasn’t wearing an Earbud Translator, they wouldn’t understand his words.
The figure entered a small building. Yuma followed and entered the building, which was like a warehouse with various things placed in it.
The child was hiding behind a drum, peeking at him.
Yuma approached slowly and called out.
“It’s okay, come over here.”
He could see the figure of the child hiding behind the drum. It was a boy about ten years old.
What he was holding in his trembling hands was a Gun.
“Eh?”
A dry sound rang out, “Bang.”