Shota's Isekai NTR Adventure Chapter 2054: Fell out of a tree

I pushed my senses to their utmost limits in hopes of detecting something, yet in the end, nothing came up at all.

Try as I might, the sole sensation that reached me was the eerie feeling of eyes upon us. Pinpointing the origin of those stares proved impossible, as they stayed perfectly concealed.

Yet Klein and his companions seemed utterly unaware of it.

Their expressions toward me betrayed clear skepticism about my claims, though I swear I wasn't imagining any of this.

At this very instant, those watchful eyes lingered from every side around us.

I was dead certain that some presence lurked in the distance, keeping tabs on us.

The problem was, I hadn't the foggiest notion of its true nature.

"Let’s head back," I blurted out suddenly.

The royal guards showed no resistance to this proposal.

Even without spotting the entity I described, they viewed it as a lurking peril. An unseen danger like that was bound to spell trouble without question.

Heading back to the clearing made the most sense, as it felt far more secure than lingering deep in these woods.

For my own curiosity, though, I burned to learn if those stares would trail us all the way to the clearing.

Prior to this, no such gazes had prickled at us in the clearing, so I knew for sure they hadn't started spying until we'd ventured into the forest. Pinning down the exact moment they began remained a mystery to me.

Our scouting run hadn't strayed too far from the clearing, so it took only moments to make our way back there.

As soon as we returned to the clearing...

"They’re still watching."

Not only did Klein and those who'd trailed me shoot me odd glances, but even the other royal guards who rushed over to check the commotion shared the same uneasy vibe.

They all stared at me like they feared madness had taken hold of me.

In truth, not a soul among them picked up on the same chilling vibe I did.

Unable to grasp what I meant, they figured the mounting pressure had me hallucinating ghosts that didn't exist.

Were it not for my solid history of reliability, they'd have pinned me down right then for my safety, king or no king. They simply wouldn't stand by while I risked harm chasing shadows.

Still, I got where their worries stemmed from.

I myself harbored uncertainties about whether this was real, given that all I had was this nagging sense of being observed, with nothing else to grasp onto.

After some deliberation, I reached a firm choice. "Let’s move out, we’re getting away from here."

Klein and the rest blinked in shock, since this marked the first time I'd shown such a rattled response. The old me had always been the stubborn sort, dead set on pushing to the finish no matter the slim chances.

Yet here I was, urging an immediate retreat.

They gazed at me like I'd transformed into someone entirely unfamiliar.

A sharp pang of resentment stirred in me at their stares, but I held my tongue on the matter. Recalling my former self, I could see exactly why they'd react this way.

Even so, they shook off their daze and stuck close as we finally departed the spot.

But just before we could truly pull away, a noise erupted from behind us.

It came off like nothing more than leaves whispering in a breeze, but deep down I knew that wasn't the case. One of those stares had vanished precisely as the sound hit.

I bolted in that direction without a second's pause, determined to uncover whatever hid there.

All the while, bitter scowls crossed the royal guards' faces at my impulsive dash. Still, they kept silent, hustling after me with clear readiness for whatever might unfold.

Upon arriving at the sound's origin, an unsettling sight greeted me.

A crater scarred the earth right where the noise had come from, though that wasn't all that awaited.

The thud had clearly been some massive weight slamming down, so the resulting pit came as no shock.

What truly stunned me was the object nestled inside that crater.

At first glance, I couldn't make heads or tails of the bizarre shape before me, but realization struck me swiftly enough.

"It’s a rock, isn’t it?" Klein voiced from over my shoulder.

This object was a rock through and through, yet far from an ordinary one.

No stone in this realm ever grew limbs like arms and legs, did it?

But Klein's offhand way of phrasing it screamed that he perceived something entirely different from my view. If he'd caught sight of the same oddity, his immediate bafflement would've zeroed in on those protruding limbs, just as mine had.

His complete brush-off of that detail...

"What are you?" I demanded of the rock, brushing aside the bewildered stares from the others.

They all fixed me with looks screaming insanity, yet I stood my ground, silent and expectant for the rock to reply.

Finally, the rock shifted as it realized I had no intention of backing off.

That said, the very second it twitched, my hand lashed out to seize it, fully anticipating its bid to flee.