Chapter 308 Great Judge Of Character, I
Due to the sun setting, the Monsters that used to reside under the water had no problem stepping onto the land and following the group.
Huff-
Huff-
Tiredness and sleepiness were starting to weigh on them as they continued running.
It was now completely dark. Still, they could see.
But that was no reason to stop or slow down.
The three would keep going until they lost the Monsters following them.
"Isn't it fine now?" A sighing Elisa whined.
"No. We keep going."
"But we've looost them! Probably..."
"We're running."
"But why??"
"We decided to run." Mark said coldly. "So we're running."
"Seriously? What's that about?" Elisa grumbled to herself.
The Moonlit Feline was pretty tired too, but it continued running.
It seemed pretty important to the white-scaled Monster, so the Lioness kept her sighs and yawns to herself.
An hour passed, and none of them could run any further.
Still, Mark kept walking.
"Are you serious? We can take a break now." Elisa complained.
The white-scaled Monster didn't answer.
The Moonlit Feline tripped, but stood back up right away.
Only then did Mark take a stop.
'Finally...'
Elisa let her body collapse to the ground, and so did Krista.
Mark, on the other hand, remained standing.
'Huh... Feels like something has got him down. Is it just a feeling or...?'
'Can't see the sky, or the moon...' Mark thought it was a bad omen somehow. He didn't really believe in such things, but it was night yet the dark sky was hidden by countless clouds.
'He's just standing there... Staring at the sky... Did that Commander hit his head one too many times?' Elisa stared, a slight frown on her face. 'I can't tell...'
The Moonlit Feline had closed its eyes, resting as much as possible for as long as possible.
The Princess wondered.
And the Monster remained standing.
Fifteen minutes passed.
"Let's go-"
"ALREADY?"
"We can rest once we lose them completely."
"You mean when the sun is up."
"That too. They won't sneak up on us then."
"But sleeping during the day is so... Counterproductive."
The white-scaled Monster shrugged.
"Sleep isn't as deep when the sun is out. Especially if we're out in the open."
"Exactly!" Elisa shouted as she pointed at him.
"Which is why we'll wake up right away if something gets closer." n(-o).V-/E)(L-)b--I.(n
"Geh! Can't... Can't argue with that."
Elisa sighed before approaching Krista. She, ever so gently, pushed the latter awake, but the Moonlit Feline still woke up startled.
'Something... Something is going on...' Elisa thought to herself as the three started walking deeper into Lust's Territory.
She silently stared at the white-scaled Monster who walked while staring ahead.
'Anger? Frustration? Fear? All of them? We did just closely dodge that Calamity... I guess mixed feelings are to be expected.'
Elisa crossed her arms behind her back and grabbed her left wrist with her right hand as she walked.
Sigh-
'We've been together for a long time. And yet...' She raised her gaze towards the sky for a bit. 'Feels like I barely know him.'
Elisa suddenly came to a stop.
"Anything wrong?"
"No... No, nothing." Elisa answered as she shook her head.
Mark continued walking.
So did Krista, though her eyes were closed.
Elisa remained unmoving for a couple of seconds more, before she started walking again.
'Barely know him? That's not true. I know him. I know him... A lot! Yes. I know... I know that... He has a Name, for one. He cares for Krista. For Levi, Light, and the others. Yes, I know that. He... Likes looking at the sky. Nature? Is that something he likes? Mmm... With how it went with Yarnha...'
She shook her head.
'Wonder if he likes flowers. I'm sure he does. I think he does? Okay. Focus. What do I know, not what I think. Uh... He likes eating stuff. Yes...' Elisa thought, a helpless expression on her face. 'He's funny. He makes me laugh. And I make him laugh. Ugh... When I think about this way...' Her gaze moved towards the white-scaled Monster walking a couple of steps in front. 'He's pretty normal. Why do I feel like I know so little then? I'm a good judge of character... No. I'm a great judge of character. Yes! I could tell from a glance when it came to that Commander. Then... Why not him?'
Elisa pondered for a bit.
'No grass, trees, or anything else. This is a weird place...' Mark thought to himself. 'You won't have Monsters like Alris or other herbivores. And if you don't have those, you won't have Wolves and the like. No grass... No herbivores... No Wolves...'
While Elisa was thinking silently,
"Hey, Elisa."
"Yes?"
"Since there's no grass here..." Mark more or less shared his thought out loud.
"I guess so."
"Which one do you think left first?"
"Huh?"
"The Alris eat the grass. The Wolves eat the Alris. Once the Wolves die, they feed the grass. Which do you think disappeared first, causing this place to become like this?"
Elisa stared with a twitching eyebrow for a bit.
"Huh?"
It was enough to make her doubt her -judge of character- abilities.
"Well, one had to be the first to disappear. I'd bet on the grass."
"Right..." Elisa scratched her head and followed along, not really knowing why or what the point was. "The Wolves disappearing wouldn't change much, so it would have to be the other ones."
"No. The Wolves disappearing would be the cause of the grass disappearing. Since the Alris would be too numerous to feed on the limited land, you know?"
"Balance, huh?"
"Yeah. Guess you can call it that."
"Do you like Nature?" Elisa asked suddenly.
"Nature as in...?"
"Nature. In general."
"I guess...?"
They started walking silently again.
'I can't read him at all...!' A desperate voice inside Elisa resonated. 'When we're fighting, I can totally see what he's trying to do. But now... When he's in this kind of mood. Huh? This kind of mood...?'
She brought a hand to her chin.
'If I want to understand him better, I can't keep reasoning from my point of view. I have to see it... As a Monster? Yes! The part of him that is a Monster! The part of him... Part...'
Elisa looked the white-scaled Monster up and down.
'Which part is that?'
