Indeed, I wasn’t mistaken.

The grass that seemed like weeds at a glance had many delicious red berries on it.

They were raspberries.

After confirming the identity of the berries, I quickly began to pick them.

In my current situation where I couldn’t hunt animals or make a fire, even these small berries were as precious as gold for food.

Fortunately, there were plenty ripe nearby, so I was able to gather two handfuls of berries in an instant.

I picked up one appetizing raspberry and put it in my mouth.

I expected the sweet and sour juice to soon fill my mouth.

“…Ptui.”

Contrary to my expectation, the berry was bitter.

It wasn’t sour from being unripe, but literally bitter like medicine.

The meaning of this was simple.

Corruption.

In other words, the poisonous energy flowing from the rift had begun to taint the surroundings.

Originally, when corruption began around a rift, all the plants and animals in the area were affected.

Animals died, the land became desolate, and fruits that should have been sweet became bitter as if filled with poison.

The unnaturally bitter taste of the raspberry I just ate… There was no doubt. It was the taste of fruit from a corrupted area.

Is there a rift nearby?

I suddenly recalled Willich’s warning not to go to the western coast because it was dangerous.

With a sinking feeling, I continued walking, and soon found out that my fears were correct.

“A rift…”

On the western coast that I had reached with difficulty.

There was a small rift there.

I leaned against a nearby tree with a feeling of despair.

Was this why they told me not to go to the western coast…?

Not because of ships…?

Of course, it’s interesting that there’s a rift on this small island.

But this wasn’t what I wanted.

I needed a ship to escape from here.

It was as if the only rope to escape this desperate situation had been cut.

But misfortune didn’t wait and overtook me.

“Found her!!”

I heard a soldier’s shout from behind.

It seemed they had been waiting nearby, knowing I would come here.

With no strength left to run away, I slowly turned around.

Willich was glaring at me with a face flushed with anger.

“I’m sure you were prepared when you ran away? I clearly warned you. If you attempt to escape, you might lose your arms and legs.”

Hearing those words, I could immediately anticipate.

That if I were caught now, they would immediately amputate my limbs.

In that case, rather…

“Capture her.”

While my thoughts were still forming, Willich ordered his subordinates in a cold voice.

They began to slowly approach me, who was cornered, as if taunting me.

Thump. Thump.

Suddenly, my heart started beating so violently it was almost painful.

It had beat fast before when I moved intensely, but this was different.

It was pounding as if it was about to burst, as if trying to explode out.

What’s this?

I was puzzled, but now wasn’t the time to be distracted by my heartbeat.

I had to make a decision.

“You always seem to underestimate my resolve.”

Willich frowned at my words.

I smiled and explained to him, who seemed not to understand what I was saying.

“I’m not just risking my limbs, I’m risking my life to escape right now.”

Yes, just half a day ago, I willingly threw myself into the raging river to escape from Ernant.

I did so knowing I might die.

I have always been willing to risk my life, and now was no different.

I was prepared to plunge towards death.

“Farewell.”

With those last words, I turned my body. Towards the rift that was gaping menacingly behind me.

Realizing what I was about to do, Willich shouted urgently.

“The rift! She’s trying to jump into the rift!! Grab her immediately!!”

He shouted so, but the soldiers only hesitated.

Only awakened ones with magical power can withstand the poisonous energy beyond the rift.

For ordinary people, just breathing in a little of that poison could endanger their lives, so the soldiers who valued their lives were just hesitating.

Thus, there was no one to stop me from jumping into the rift.

I heard Willich’s scream-like shout from behind.

“No!!”

Jumping into a rift full of monsters with my abilities sealed, I might soon lose my life.

I might be torn to pieces by the claws of monsters.

But even so, I had no regrets.

There are many ways to commit suicide, but if asked to name the most horrible method, I would say without hesitation:

Throwing oneself into a rift without weapons or abilities is the most horrific and stupid way to commit suicide.

Should I have bitten my tongue instead?

That was the first thought that came to my mind right after I jumped into the rift.

They say biting your tongue just hurts and it’s hard to actually die from it, but the situation was so bad that even that seemed preferable.

What was spread out beyond the rift was a dark tunnel.

A tunnel with no sunlight, winding like a maze.

It seemed like a tunnel dug by insect-type monsters… probably ones with habits similar to ants.

At that point, I tried to shake off the regret that kept flooding in.

Right, there was no need to regret now.

It was better to wander through tunnels than to be caught by them.

Hadn’t I resolved not to regret it right up until I jumped into the rift?

It wouldn’t do to have my resolve shaken already.

Besides, the situation wasn’t entirely hopeless.

There were glowing stones embedded in the walls, so I could see ahead.

The tunnel was quite wide, so it didn’t seem like there would be trouble moving.

Yes, let’s move for now. Then I might be able to return to the original world through another rift.

Thinking this, I stared straight ahead.

Fortunately, the world spread out beyond the rift was, literally, a ‘world’.

It wasn’t just an enclosed space.

Like the human world, this place stretched on endlessly, and if I kept going, I might find another rift.

And if I could find that other rift, I would be able to return to the original world through it.

Of course, finding another rift wouldn’t be easy… but there was no other choice at the moment.

If I went back through the rift I came in from, I would only encounter Willich again.

Step, step.

Having made my decision, I started walking into the mysterious tunnel spread out before me with heavy legs.

“Tell me again. Did Yulia really disappear beyond the rift?”

Willich swallowed dryly at Ernant’s cold command.

One hour ago, Ernant, who had arrived on the island, received a report that Yulia had disappeared beyond the rift.

However, he didn’t believe it.

Yulia, with her abilities sealed and without even a single sword, threw herself beyond the rift.

That she committed an act tantamount to suicide because she disliked falling into his arms.

So, despite his retainers’ dissuasion, he came here to inspect the rift himself.

It was in vain that he had believed it might be a false report – Yulia was nowhere to be seen.

She had really disappeared beyond the rift.

Having so fleetingly lost what he had briefly held in his hands, Ernant was now standing near the rift, questioning Willich.

“Did Yulia really… really throw herself beyond the rift? Did you witness it clearly with your own eyes?”

“…Yes. We all witnessed it clearly with our own eyes. I’m sorry we couldn’t prevent it in advance.”

Hearing Willich’s affirmation, Ernant let out a long sigh.

It was when a silence so thick it was suffocating had filled the place that he opened his lips again.

“I will enter the rift myself.”

“Your Majesty!”

As soon as they heard Ernant’s words, his advisors stepped forward.

“That’s out of the question. Only those with magical power can withstand the poison beyond the rift. Ordinary people will lose their lives the moment they step in-”

“Lose their lives, you say?”

Ernant, who asked this, suddenly wore a grim smile on his lips.

“Yulia will also lose her life. With her abilities sealed, she will be brutally torn apart by the monsters beyond the rift.”

“…”

“I cannot allow such a thing. She is my knight. My sword. Therefore, she cannot die without my permission.”

At Ernant’s words, all the knights, including the advisors, bowed their heads deeply.

They couldn’t even make a sound of breathing.

It was rare for the Emperor, who usually acted in a way that made it difficult to know his true intentions, to reveal his desires so clearly.

However, they couldn’t let Ernant enter the rift like this, so the advisor painfully opened his mouth.

“But Your Majesty, a sword is ultimately just a tool.”