3 Chapter 03: The Journey Begins
The ice wall emits a bone-chilling coldness. It is so clear that one can see through it like looking through a crystal-clear glass chunk.
Not waiting any longer, I and the two men that just ran out, falsely understanding that it was an earthquake, rush back into the cottage.
We run toward the room that the third-year high schooler, Yukari, was resting last night.
As soon as I open the door, I see Yukari lying on her back, making a terrified face. In front of her is a strange scribble that is dimly glowing a cyan light. And when I inspect her more throughly, the end of her right index is also radiating the same light.
" Ha...haha..."
She let out a nervous laugh.
"I-is this really my doing?" She muttered silently, but as the surrounding was dead quiet, it was heard by everyone.
"How...?"
"How did you do it?" I, involuntary, asked Yukari; amazed by the 8-meter-tall ice wall. Is this something she got from her dream?
"I...I had a strange dream last night." She said, confirming my assumption that I made in the dream.
"It was a voice. I don't know if it was of a man or a woman though. But it taught me strange letters, saying that if I concentrate and draw them out, something 'cool' will happen."
A few seconds passed after the girl finished speaking, the 'letter' in front of her got dimmer and, eventually, disappeared. And as soon as the letter is gone, the ice wall melts, leaving only a large pool of water and a giant hole on the wall, no, it is more like the cottage wall and roof get completely deliberated. However, Yukari's skin got paler and she starts panting like she has anemia and asthma combined.
"I also had a dream last night..." Said Mr. Wyatt.
"I was in a room, a room which was surrounded with mirrors. And there was a girl..."
He then raises his left arm. Then a sharp mirror shard with the size of his hand appears over his palm, floating.
"Maybe this somehow relates to the strange occurrence yesterday." He continues as he looks at the mirror shard that is slowly rotating over his palm.
Mr. Wyatt then looks at me and Mr. Denis; his face gives a vibe as if he is asking us if we have both gone through a similar experience. I also feel the gaze of the girl looking at us.
"Well, I met a woman and this is the only thing I can do." I summoned the violet rod as I finished speaking, preventing the situation from getting awkward. Though, I intended to leave the information about the wishes out as I am still wary of them.
As the one who was quiet for the whole time, combined with the three gazes targetting him, Detective Denis, who has been carefully observed us then pressured to speak.
"I only got beaten up by a man that called himself 'The Challenger of Infinity' or something." He said while sweats drip down his face. So it really was a nightmare that this man had last night.
After minutes of silence, the four of us decide to make a move.
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The Sun is now completely visible and the four of us are standing in front of the cottage.
"I think we should find a way out of the woods." Said, Detective Denis. The reason I know that he is a detective was that he told us in the discussion last night. He said that he was working on a dangerous case and he was having a lead. That's why he suspected that had somehow got drugged and kidnapped, though that seems not to be the case here.
"But we know nothing and our phones don't work. How will we know that we are walking in the right direction?" I asked.
"Moreover, we are in another wor..." As I was trying to think, my mouth slipped making Detective Denis stare at me suspiciously. Silly me!
"A...ahh...I was told in the dream last night. Sooo...yeah." I had to tell the truth to avoid getting more suspicion. Though, I think that it is already too late.
"I was told the similar thing too." Said Mr. Wyatt.
"Me too..." Yukari said with a quiet voice.
"What!? Damn it, that bastard...He kept beating me to a pulp without saying a word." Said, Detective Denis while grinding his teeth. What kind of 'god' did he meet last night, I wondered (I will now refer to them as a god for convenience).
"Let's go up north." Mr. Wyatt suggested.
"If the forest gets thicker, then we will come back here and go the other way."
We all agree with him since he told us that he was working as a wildlife cameraman for a documentary channel in France. Hence, he should have more experience in this field than any of us.
Not waiting for so long, we start our journey. But before that, we decided to drink some water from the well in front of the cottage.
Fear that the water was unclean, we boiled it with a metal bucket that was attached to the well. After setting up the fuel for a fire using dry branches, Mr. Wyatt lit up the fire using the mirror shards that he showed us.
He even hunted some birds by using his ability — shooting mirror shards. At first, he was struggled to hit the target. But after some trials and errors, he shot the birds down like leaves. I don't know the full detail about his power, but I was starting to get a little envious of how convenient it looks.
After we finished eating and doing our own business in the toilet (Though I and Detective Denis took a leak onto some pine trees nearby). We start to get going.
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We have been walking up north for about four hours when the Sun is perfectly right above us.
Noticing that, I immediately adjust my watch to 12:00. Before that, the hour-hand of the watch was pointing at the area between the numbers 9 and 10.
In spite of having studied in the ROTC (Reserve Officers' Training Corps) and going to the gym 3 times per week to do a 90-minute session, hiking for real under hot and dry weather drained my stamina more than I thought.
As I get more tired, I am considering trying those 'wishes'. Let's start with the one that erases tiredness. Mm...what does it call...limit...Limitless stamina, yes. That should be it.
After I finished recalling the wishing steps, I then silently think.
'Limitless stamina. Me. 1 minute.'
"..."
Nothing happens. My legs are still sore and the tiredness is still there.
Ah
'Limitless stamina. Me. 1 minute. PLEASE.'
'How boring. Granted.'
As soon as I heard a familiar voice in my head, the tiredness I had felt all over my body completely vanished, though the soreness still remains. But what's with the 'how boring'. You set that example yourself, didn't you? Vela.
.
.
"Ouff!"
A minute quickly passed. When the effect wore out, the tiredness rushes back to all of my limbs, even more than I felt before. Causing a strange sound to let out of my mouth.
"Hey, are you OK? Wanna have some rest?" Hearing that noise from me, Mr. Wyatt asked with a worried face. What a nice guy.
"Nah, I'm fine. It was just some gas from my stomach." I lied. Even I am really tired, I just want to get out of this pine forest as soon as possible.
"...But I don't think she IS though." Said, Detective Denis as he looks at Yukari over his shoulder. Even though he volunteered to carry her handbag about two hours ago...
"Huff...huff...huff."
Yukari's shaky walk and crimson jacket make her similar to a rocking daruma doll. Though, it seems that if she really falls, she wouldn't get back up. And as soon as I had that thought...
Thud
She falls down on her face.
Three of us rush toward her.
Mr. Wyatt is the one getting to her first, despite being the furthest from her at first. And as he rolls her body up...
"It's a heat stroke. We have to act quickly." After he realizes that because of how little she sweats, he carries her to the darkest and coolest shade he could find. I could see his flexing biceps and triceps when he carried her.
'Is that the result of walking around holding a massive camera when he was working as a cameraman?' Seeing this reminds me of the moment I watch a documentary about a wildlife cameraman with my family. Sorrows start accumulating inside my heart as I was thinking of a peaceful time.
As I was thinking, Yukari got undressed, leaving only a soaking wet, white undershirt. When I noticed that I could see through her shirt, I looked away.
"She is not getting any better." Said, Detective Denis.
"Damn it, we don't have cold water, no, not even water." Said, Mr. Wyatt. Because carrying a bucket of water while taking who-knows-how-long hiking didn't seem like a very good idea. We decided to only bring an empty bucket just in case that we find other water sources.
Seeing that the girl might lose her life, I decided to lend her an invisible hand. I do not want to see anyone die yet, well, not when the journey only had started.
'Healing factor. Yukari. 10 minutes. Please.'
'What a gentleman. I like it. Granted.'
After my wish was granted by the great and beautiful Veliestla, the origin of wishes. Yukari's condition stabilizes in less than a minute. Seems like 10 minutes is too overkill, but whatever.
After we rest for 2 hours: hunting, eating, and --you know-- having some chit-chat, we continue our journey.
Luckily, we found a river after we had walked for the next 3 hours. We decided to walk downstream until it gets dark.
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It's 19:00 according to my watch.
We are setting a campfire about 500 meters away from the river. Because there is no sunlight, I lend Mr. Wyatt my violet rod (Just saying 'my rod' would give you a wrong idea) to light a fire. He successfully lit up the fire in less than 5 minutes. Looks like he is really familiar with this kind of situation.
We then agreed to set up a guard duty in the following orders: Yukari, Wyatt, me, and Denis. The reason why we follow this order is that, from my experience, the first shift is the least tiring shift while the third shift is the most tiring as your sleep gets interrupted midway. By the way, I volunteer to have the third shift myself as I can just use the wishes on myself if anything happens tomorrow.
After we had dinner which, again, was some birds, we sit around the campfire. Watching the burning wood branches and listening to the popping sound that the campfire makes, time flies and soon arrives at the time to sleep. And the beginning of the guarding duty.
"Hey Ms. Fujiwara, take this." I proceed to hand Yukari my wristwatch.
"Use this instead of your phone. By the way, you guys should turn them off. We don't know when we will need it later, so you lots better save your battery."
"And don't forget to return it to me later." I added as I descend my head onto my backpack, preparing to sleep.
Not long after I closed my eyes, I was completely knocked out and started dreaming, again.
It was the same starry sky and a vast mirror floor the only difference is...
"Hi there~, we finally meet again!" Said the voice that rang in my head two times earlier today.
Sitting on a violet mat (with legs tucked back to one side) is Veliestla. On the mat, there are a lot of bows and dishes containing my country's traditional dishes.
Gulp
I involuntarily swallowed my leaking saliva as the smell of those foods start kicking my nose. She really did peek into my memory. How shameless.
"You must be bored eating those birds all day, so come here and have some real food."
I walk toward her uncontrollably and eventually, I stand in front of the mat.
"Come, sit." Vela repeatedly pats the mat.
"We have lots of things to talk about." She said with a big bright smile.
