Chapter 120
"Reply once in a while."
Cecil lightly hugged my waist and patted me. Over her shoulder, my eyes met Trisha's.
"Sis..."
Trisha fidgeted and tugged at Cecil's collar.
Only then did Cecil release her hold.
The atmosphere is a bit chaotic. I wondered what had gotten into Cecil to suddenly hug me, and had no idea what to say in this situation.
"L-Lilith!"
Suddenly, a boy urgently rushed toward Lilith. He grabbed both her wrists with his hands and poured out jumbled words.
"Lilith, I'm so glad you're safe. Back then I was too desperate... I didn't know what to do. I..."
Lilith firmly knocked his hands away without a word.
Both came looking for their friends out of concern, yet the scenes were complete opposites.
Just as I was wondering how to handle this atmosphere, a tall woman approached us.
Jet-black hair reaching her thighs. Dark eyelashes. Though not as tall as Silverin, she was a mysterious beauty tall enough to be considered statuesque.
From the circumstances, this must be Professor Candinella.
Though it was our first meeting, she seemed to know me.
"There are two days left in the practice period, will you continue?"
Everyone's attention turned to Candinella.
She continued, "I'll award bonus points considering the circumstances for those here. It's impressive enough coming this far eating squirrels and mushrooms while suffering from plunderer groups. You can expect high rankings."
Cecil quietly exchanged glances with her group members and then spoke, "We'll stop here."
Victor stepped forward and said, "I apologize. The fault is largely mine for leading my team members down the wrong path. I'll accept any punishment."
Candinella shook her head.
"This isn't your fault. Though you'll need to come with me to investigate the incident, there won't be any punishment. Don't worry."
Candinella looked at me with a gentle smile.
"What will our mystery-loving masked friend do?"
Trisha giggled beside me.
"'Masked friend,' how cute!"
Cecil discreetly covered Trisha's mouth while reading the atmosphere.
Continue further?
Even if others tried going further, they would be rejected by the circulatory system. If we turned back here too, there would be no point in having eaten high energy density food after crossing the dangerous zone.
Above all, we had gained the forest spirits' favor. Though practice was nearing its end, we should at least use this before finishing.
I looked at Luna briefly. She sensed my intention and nodded.
"We'll continue."
"How confident, good."
Candinella turned sharply and walked a few steps, then turned her body as if remembering something unsaid.
"Ah, and I'd like to see you personally after practice ends."
"...Understood."
I wonder what she wants to talk about. I suppose I should wear the mask?
Speaking of Professor Candinella, it suddenly reminded me of Silveryn. Being a young, impressive-looking magic professor, it was inevitable she would remind me of Silverin.
I wonder how Silveryn is doing. Is she still staying in the Holy City?
The situation was wrapped up like that with the professor's appearance.
Professor Candinella prepared to leave with roughly twenty students excluding us two.
Soon they began moving in line like ducklings following their mother.
Cecil broke from the line and ran back to me, "Candy!"
Is she determined to get left behind?
"Go quickly. You'll get lost like that."
"It feels like I won't see you for weeks again after parting like this. Don't disappear and keep in touch often, okay?"
Though I could meet her anytime if I just took off my mask in daily life, from Cecil's perspective, one friend would disappear without a trace again.
Now I understand her attitude of trying to build intimacy urgently. Looking at the people she kept around, she seemed somewhat weak to emotional attachments.
"See you again."
"I like how you're like a stone."
"...?"
"I'm going, see you later."
Cecil waved and went back.
I checked on the others. Trisha was no different from Cecil, and Sion had disappeared somewhere when I briefly looked away.
Lilith stood far away and looked my way once with an expression full of unspoken thoughts before moving on.
Luna and I turned in the opposite direction from where everyone was going. Though we missed warm blankets and soft beds, we couldn't end it like this.
After entering the forest and advancing for a while, doll-like forest spirits revealed themselves and walked alongside us.
Some of them tapped my feet before rushing to Luna in panic.
"Can we trust these fellows?"
"...Yes."
These forest spirits had offered to give us a “gift” in return for helping them.
We planned to check this final gift before returning.
Though we asked the spirits repeatedly, they said they couldn't arrange a meeting with the phantasmal beast, so we had half given up on the “love potion”.
We could only hope their gift would have value comparable to that potion.
The spirits led the way guiding us.
"How far do we need to go?"
"They... won't tell."
I thought it wouldn't be much further and didn't take it seriously, but this was a mistake.
After four or five hours, even after the sun had completely set and dark clouds filled the sky, we had to keep walking.
Though I wanted to complain thinking they might be playing with us, I held back because Luna firmly trusted the forest spirits.
Just as Luna trusted me, I needed to trust her too.
Finally, relying on the light from Luna's summoned fire orb until nearly midnight, we encountered new terrain.
It was a forest made of luminescent plants.
Unknown flowers as big as palms bloomed here and there, giving off gentle light like lanterns.
When the wind blew, the trees swayed and shed silver powder-like clusters of stars. The lights seemed to create waves.
Even Luna, who rarely showed emotional reactions, let out a small exclamation.
"Wow..."
"..."
The forest spirits saw this and jumped up and down happily. Then, they stamped their feet as if to show there was more.
We continued walking.
And a small lake appeared before us. It was an incredibly beautiful place.
Though moonlight didn't reach it, aquatic plants growing at the bottom of the lake glowed, making everything sparkle with emerald light.
The spirits stamped their feet and pointed to one spot.
A large rock protruded like an island in the center of that lake.
And there laid a snow-white furred deer.
With golden antlers protruding.
It matched exactly the phantasmal beast's appearance we had learned about in circulatory system class.
Luna and I briefly exchanged glances. Then I first entered the lake, and Luna held my hand and followed.
The water was shallow enough to only cover our lower bodies.
And several spirits followed us swimming in the water.
Like that, creating ripples on the calm lake, we headed toward the rock island.
Luna and I slowly climbed up and examined the deer.
There was no movement, and its body was sunken like a deflated doll.
Looking carefully, its back skin was split in half and the inside was completely empty.
"So it's not dead."
"...Yes."
This was the shell left after molting.
Though the spirits couldn't help us meet the phantasmal beast directly, they accurately knew what we needed and repaid us.
"Is it okay to take the antlers?"
Luna nodded at my question.
I drew my wooden sword and carefully cut off one antler.
"Let's leave the other one for our juniors to find."
This time Luna smiled and nodded.
"Yes...!"
Our juniors should get a chance too, and the spirits should have one negotiating card to use with humans.
Then, a faint blue light leaked from under the phantasmal beast's fur.
The forest spirits jumped up and down sending me some signal.
Lifting the fur, blue herbs lying underneath caught my eye.
It was Blue Soul Herb. Though I wasn’t sure what meaning finding this had now.
Luna listened to the spirits and relayed to me with a puzzled face.
"They say... though we don't need this now, it will be very helpful in the next journey."
"Next journey...?"
What do they mean?
Though I might set foot in the Soderton circulatory system again someday, I wouldn't have business here anytime soon.
Perhaps they were speaking to Luna.
"Luna, will you come here again?"
"No... They seem to be talking about you, Damian."
Could they see my future? I'd like to avoid living in the wild for a while. I'd prefer my next destination to be the Holy City where Silveryn was. I've been missing Silveryn a lot lately.
The spirits laughed brightly and waved to us.
Spirits on the other side of the lake we had crossed also stood and waved together. As if saying goodbye.
A light breeze blew, and the spirits' forms slowly vanished.
It felt like the world stopped for a moment.
I quietly looked at where the spirits had stood, gathered the Blue Soul Herb, and stood up.
Then, entering the water, I extended my hand to Luna.
"Let's go."
That night, while camping, I had a dream.
A young deer with small antlers like sprouts walked into our campsite, bowed its head in greeting, and disappeared into light.
It wasn't a particularly meaningful dream.
Strangely, when I told Luna about the dream in the morning, she said she had the same dream.
Putting aside the dreamy feeling, we continued our steps toward the outside of the circulatory system.
Our steps were light with all tension released.
"I'll... show you... something fun..."
"Hm?"
During a brief rest, Luna played by placing the phantasmal beast's antler on a wolf's head. She suppressed her laughter, seeing the wolf stick out its tongue and pant with a bewildered expression.
Though I couldn't relate to her sense of humor, seeing her more relaxed state put me at ease. Seeing her unguarded appearance made it feel like we had grown somewhat closer.
Like that, we retraced our path with unhurried hearts.
Around noon, Luna's wolf that had gone scouting came running back to us, barking urgently.
Luna, after conversing with the spirit, said with a slightly surprised expression.
"They say there's someone collapsed."
"Let's go."
We hurriedly followed the wolf to where the person was. It wasn't far from the path.
Like that, somewhere in the forest, we found a girl who had lost consciousness and fallen face-down. Looking carefully, it was on top of our footprints from the previous day.
Inappropriate clothing that exposed her lower body completely. Familiar black hair. And a blue sword handle.
It was Sion.
Her clothes were damp, perhaps from morning dew. Though her body was ice-cold, fortunately, she was still breathing.
Looking at the circumstances... she had fainted while pursuing us.
The words “Let's just leave her” rose to the tip of my tongue.