By the time Nathan and Natsu finally reached their destination, the sun had already begun its slow descent, sinking halfway toward the horizon as if it, too, was tired of the day's nonsense.
Golden light filtered through the trees, stretching long shadows across the ground.
Nathan, however, was not appreciating the scenery.
He was appreciating his suffering.
"I thought you said 'it's not that far'?" he asked, his voice laced with the kind of betrayal usually reserved for broken promises and bad game updates.
Natsu glanced back at him, completely unbothered. "We've only been walking for about two hours."
Nathan stopped.
"'…Two hours,' she said."
He looked down at his feet — bare, unprotected, and emotionally devastated.
"I hope you took my barefoot status into consideration when you said that," he said flatly.
Natsu turned away again.
"More importantly," she continued, ignoring him with expert precision, "how is a river supposed to help us against monsters?"
Nathan stared at the back of her head.
"…Did you just ignore me?"
No response.
"…Wow." He sighed. "…Fine. Be that way."
…Why the shop didn't sell any foot-ware while selling something less important like AA batteries? Nathan complained internationally.
I just can't understand how this system works…
Then, as he stepped past the last line of trees, he stopped, stunned by the scenery before him.
"…Okay, hold on."
The river wasn't just a river.
It was massive.
It stretched across the land like a natural barrier, easily around fifty meters wide. The water was astonishingly clear — so clear that Nathan could see fish gliding lazily beneath the surface, their silhouettes shifting over smooth stones along the riverbed.
"…This is not the scale I thought it would be," Nathan muttered.
Natsu walked up beside him, arms loosely at her sides.
"It's just a river."
"No," Nathan said firmly. "This is the kind of river that gets named and worshipped in fantasy stories."
She blinked. "…You're strange."
"I'll admit that."
They walked along the riverside for a bit, scanning the area.
Eventually, they found it.
A wide clearing with relatively flat ground — and more importantly, the riverbank dropped into a steep cliff about three meters above the water's surface.
Nathan nodded slowly.
"…Yeah. This works."
Natsu crossed her arms. "Explain."
Nathan gestured around.
"With the cliff-lined riverside covering one side, that's one less direction we need to defend from," he said. "Zombies aren't exactly known for their swimming skills. At least… I hope not."
"…You're not sure?" Natsu asked.
"I'm choosing optimism," Nathan replied immediately.
She frowned slightly.
"…But the downside is — we also lose maneuvering space. If things go bad, running becomes harder."
Natsu nodded slowly.
"…So we're trading flexibility for control."
"Exactly."
She glanced at him. "…And you're confident this is better?"
Nathan grinned slightly. "I can build another set of walls if you give me two hours to work — safety guaranteed."
Natsu stared at him in silence.
"…You say that like it's normal."
Nathan shrugged. "It is normal for me."
She held his gaze for a second longer. Then looked away.
"…Right."
I've given up questioning it, she thought.
And honestly?
That was probably the healthiest decision she could make.
• × • × • × •
Nathan got to work immediately.
He stood near the riverside, then began placing the material together.
Yes, 'placing' is the key word here.
Wooden blocks.
Planks.
Beams.
Stack upon stack.
Chunks of wood appeared in midair, aligning themselves by unnaturally snapping together like pieces in a physics-defying simulation.
He worked without tools.
Without nails.
Without logic.
The wood simply… fused.
Like a builder game that had forgotten collision detection existed.
Natsu stood off to the side, watching in silence, her ears twitching slightly.
Her expression?
Blank.
Not because she wasn't impressed — but because she had reached the point where being impressed required too much energy.
This again…
Wall segments rose steadily, forming a trapezoid-shaped structure along the edge of the riverside.
Nathan moved efficiently, occasionally stepping back to adjust angles or reinforce certain sections.
From Natsu's perspective — it looked like reality itself was cooperating with him.
"…This is ridiculous," she muttered under her breath.
Nathan, meanwhile, decided for small talk every so often.
Because silence… had somehow become his enemy.
"So," he said casually while stacking another section of wall, "I've been meaning to ask."
Natsu sighed internally.
"…What now?"
"Why do you want to hunt beast-type monsters for food?" Nathan asked. "There are animals like deer in this forest. Fish in the river."
He gestured vaguely toward the water. "Wouldn't that be easier?"
Natsu didn't answer immediately. Instead, she watched him place another chunk of wood into existence.
Then she explained.
The animals in this forest were difficult to find — and extremely sensitive. Even the slightest hint of killing intent would send them fleeing before she could get close. Without a ranged weapon, she had no reliable way to hunt them.
And the fish?
Same problem.
She lacked the tools.
They were too fast to catch barehanded.
And because of the slave collar she had before, she couldn't use her magic at all.
She had tried — managed to catch some — but it was unreliable.
But last night, she'd heard explosions — clearly not from monsters or animals. When she approached the source this morning, she found a wooden structure.
When she climbed up and looked inside, she saw a human sleeping peacefully.
So she did what any beast-kin encountering a human would naturally do—
Violence.
She would argue it was a very reasonable first impression.
She had tied Nathan up with sturdy vines she found in the forest, planning to use him to fulfill the condition needed to spawn a certain type of monster.
Nathan listened quietly as he worked.
"…That's rough," he said finally. "For you… and for me."
• × • × • × •
As Nathan worked on placing the final layer of wooden blocks along the top of the wall, carefully aligning each piece with the focus of an overly serious building-game player, he glanced down toward Natsu.
"…I'm a bit curious about something," he said.
Natsu, who had been watching him with a mix of fascination and mild disbelief, tilted her head. "What is it?"
Nathan adjusted one last block before continuing.
"Back when we first met — you were using that… disguise, right? The one that made you look like a guy. But your mana was sealed because of the slave collar, wasn't it? So how were you maintaining it?"
Natsu frowned slightly at the wording.
"It's not a 'disguise' that changes my gender," she said. "I've always been a girl."
She paused, then added more quietly,
"And… I was very lucky they never properly checked my body during my time as a slave."
A brief silence passed before she continued.
"It's a form of body manipulation magic unique to fox-kin. I can alter certain aspects of my appearance — like shortening my hair, reducing my chest size, or forming a visible Adam's apple — to look more man-like. Once the change is made, it stays that way until I consciously reverse it."
Nathan raised a brow. "So it doesn't require constant mana?"
She shook her head. "Only during the initial adjustment. After that, it's… permanent, in a sense."
"…Huh. That's actually pretty convenient."
With his work done, Nathan climbed down the ladder. He stretched his arms slightly to ease the strain—
Then, under his breath, he muttered:
"So you can adjust your chest size too… Interesting…"
Silence struck.
A very dangerous kind of silence.
"…Why," Natsu said slowly, her voice tight, "is that the part you focused on?"
Nathan shuddered.
"That's sexual harassment!" she snapped, immediately crossing her arms over her chest, her face flushing red.
Crap—!
Curse you, teenage hormones!
"I-I'm sorry!" Nathan blurted out quickly, hands going up in surrender again — apparently becoming a habit at this point. "I didn't mean it like that!"
Natsu narrowed her eyes. "Then how did you mean it?"
Yeah… no escape route here.
Nathan let out a small sigh, scratching the back of his head.
Alright, just be honest. Honesty worked earlier. Mostly…
"…Yeah, that one's on me," he admitted. "I should've kept that thought to myself. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable."
Natsu blinked. The immediate, straightforward apology caught her off guard.
"…S-so you are going to have those kinds of thoughts," she said, trying — and failing — to sound properly annoyed, "you're just not going to say them out loud?"
"…When you put it like that, it does sound worse," Nathan admitted.
"…It is worse," she muttered, though her voice lacked any real bite.
Because honestly — she found, somehow, that she was… happy, if Nathan saw her that way.
What am I thinking?! She hurriedly shoved the thought aside.
Meanwhile, Nathan hesitated for a second — then decided to just commit fully.
"Well, I mean… I'm a guy," he said with a small shrug. "It's kinda inevitable. Especially when there's a cute girl around — that's just how our brains work."
Natsu's ears twitched. Her face went from slightly flushed…
To a full, ripe tomato.
"I—I don't know if your honesty is a good or a bad thing…" she mumbled, looking away. "Maybe I'm just… not used to humans calling a beast-kin 'cute' instead of… other things."
That shift in tone made Nathan's expression soften slightly.
He crossed his arms, frowning.
"Seriously though," he said, "what's wrong with human in this world? Calling your kind 'filthy' and all that."
Natsu didn't respond immediately.
So he continued, voice quieter — less joking:
"In my world, people would go crazy over animal-eared girls. You'd basically be… top-tier reverence material. Like… adored, not treated like trash."
Natsu looked at him, surprised.
Then her gaze dropped slightly.
"…I don't know," she said after a moment. "That's just how things are here. It's been like that for as long as anyone remembers."
Nathan clicked his tongue softly.
"…Racism, huh." He exhaled through his nose, his gaze drifting for a second. "Guess no matter what world you're in… humans don't really change."
A brief silence followed — not the awkward kind from earlier.
No.
This one was just… heavy.
Then, Nathan clapped his hands together lightly.
"Alright! Enough depressing world commentary for today," he said, his tone lifting again. "We've got survival to worry about."
Natsu blinked, slightly thrown off by the sudden shift.
Nathan grinned faintly.
"So — about that thing you mentioned this morning," he continued. "Monster spawning. You said something about beast-type monsters only appearing when there are two people around?"
His eyes narrowed slightly, curiosity kicking in.
"I'm definitely going to need an explanation for that."