The hope and praise for Arata’s ability was long since gone, travelling through the woods only served to leave the men in a more miserable state. The soldiers were in disbelief at their misfortune; the most they could do was look for a scapegoat.

  Arata thought for a second. He had just learned a lot of new things about these monsters and as cruel as it sounded, these men were dead weight. Morale was low, he had no idea how to lead them out of here, he wasn’t a real commander. Their mental toll was too high to fight the alraune effectively and they’d quickly become dead weight.

  Ravenna floats her way over to Arata, keeping it short, “Arata, ditch them, these men will not hesitate to betray you.”

  Arata’s eyes widen, he states his objections, “Maybe that’s a good thing, if someone else kills me I can go back… if I had a second chance I could-”

  “Enough… the theater doesn’t just work by who you kill. The theater exists so that your actions can drive the world forward, it creates the point you return to based on the last thing you’ve changed in the world. You chose to lead them down this road so if they die, that is the change you made.” Ravenna shouts out in an almost confession-like manner.

  The truth hits Arata like a brick to the gut, he knew this was his fault but he forgot for a second there, the lives of the people around him were singular. Not all were as brave as Selena or a mercy kill like the fairies. They feared death, a grim reality. More than any of that however, he had failed Morgan and the rest of the squad. Arata told them to follow his lead, he thought he knew the only path forward yet he had never considered another option.

  Even worse than all of that, his face failed to express the guilt he felt internally. It believed in it's ability to go back, denying reality in favor of the indulgent idea he could remedy the outcome.

  Arata’s body felt nothing, he tried to punch himself in the gut. He hit himself hard enough to vomit, a facade that would serve to fool not even the naive rabbits that would swarm Arata. He wanted to feel more, his brain felt too disturbed yet his heart was too empty.

  Ravenna bends down, looking at Arata’s form, slouched over, reaching out her hand yet someone graces Arata’s shoulder first. Morgan speaks to Arata, “The dead don’t need your remorse, the living need our help… rendezvous with that kid, please rest your mind and strategize on how to take out the Erlking.”

  Morgan gets closer, her lips brush over Arata's ear.

  “Sorry in advance but play along.”

  With that, Arata feels her hands graze away his tears in a heavenly warmth, before a loud, painful slap pulls him back down to the hell he calls reality. Morgan begins to shout, “Alright listen here you piece of shit! You led these men to their death, you have not what it takes to lead us! We shall part ways.”

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  On queue, the rest of the knights in the squad get behind her, chanting insults at Arata yet they show no animosity at Arata's failure. Rather, they are opmistic for his future. They quickly assume their acting roles as more and more of the surviving soldiers flock to Morgan’s side, all convincing Arata to leave alongside Chive and her elves.

  When Arata packs his stuff, he feels something in his gut. My god, I didn't realize I was this hungry. I only skipped a few meals that would otherwise delay me.

  Arata hears as his stomach cusses out Arata for his forgetfulness.

  Arata sees something among the stuff he was going to pack, a sash of lunch, prepared by Alexander reading: “good luck being demoted from second in command down to 112st in command.”

  Taking it, Arata meets up with Chive, the fairy floats there in silence, clearly she hasn’t had a good time since they were staying at the mill by her recommendation. Nonetheless, she still whistles for the elves and gets onto the road with Arata.

  A day passes by quickly, Arata meets up with Rachamah the next day. Everyone seems to be doing fine yet something was off. Arata is first confronted with this reality upon asking a single question, just some unprompted small talk spawned from learning the people of this world did not eat mushrooms.

  “What kinds of fungi can grow in this forest?” The elves slowly stare towards Arata as though he had just said something horrifying.

  Lyra responds, “They uuuh… the mushrooms in this forest are cultivated by the Oni. They were taught to grow them by a demon. Legend has it that those oni all were consumed by the mushrooms, either their sanity or their nervous system as a whole.”

  Damn, no wonder no eats mushrooms… I loved eating them on pizza or in hot pot but go ahead and ruin everything I love. Arata lets out a sigh, continuing deeper into the woods where he sees something.

  A horned humanoid creature dashing through the trees alerts the other elves. They ready their bows to shoot when Arata places his hand out in front of them. “Someone fire a shot, not a killing blow, we’re following the creature. An oni right?”

  It’s ogre like appearance makes it stick out, strange that the creatures choose to live in a forest… not my first choice of camouflage. I wanna get my hands on some of those mushrooms, I’ll examine them. The Erlking probably… he’s these Oni’s dealer? So far i’ve only seen him affect fairies but he does whatever the hell he wants from what it seems.

  With that, an arrow flies as the Oni retreats, luckily the creature is as dumb as a brick or high, likely both considering the Oni has a newfound penchant for shrooms. Arata sees their “base” in the distance, crude wood structures erected around a pit and one large hut in the back.

  A cry alerts the guards, yet no one comes. Everyone was preoccupied, men, women and children all watching the Mycelium Might Mayhem tournament. Another quick arrow and the Oni drops dead on the floor. Now it’s up to Arata to investigate.

  There is an obvious point to start an investigation. Arata makes his way into the village, more of the pit slowly comes into view. Encircling the hole are thousands of vague humanoids, varying in color and expression like an on running ukiyo-e piece.

  The pit had crude stone walls and a floor made of sand. Corpse granular rocks interwoven with metal sheets, presumably which were used to be weaponry.

  Down at the bottom of the pit was a red and blue oni. The red one had a kabutowari wedged into his eye socket yet seemed to be in less fear than the blue oni whose weapon was stuck. It was as though pain fueled these creatures as when the red one swung down, the blue oni was bisected.