A tree that suddenly appeared destroyed the village.
The residents all turned their suspicious eyes toward Ryoku. Surrounded by a large crowd, he was scared. Furthermore, if he was being targeted by the escorts, he would surely be frightened.
“Wait, everyone, wait. First of all, Ryoku can’t hear. He’s bad at talking. Besides, he saved us from the dam’s collapse.”
“The dam’s collapse and the village’s destruction. Isn’t that too much of a coincidence? I also heard that a tree in the forest fell on its own.”
Is the escort leader going to blame Ryoku for the dam’s collapse too? The tree fell because he was trying to help us. That’s right, his family should be here too. I turned my gaze to the onlookers. They must be here.
Ah, there they are! It’s the mother who appeared when I visited. But as soon as she met my gaze, she disappeared into the crowd. Unbelievable, he’s her own son.
“It’s true that the tree fell. But it was to hold back the water. Right?”
Ryoku is so flustered that he probably can’t even hear my voice. His eyes are darting around, and his breathing is shallow. He looks like he’s on the verge of panic.
“Hey, Ryoku, calm down. Look at me, it’s okay. I believe you.”
As I reached out to touch his trembling shoulder, my hand was repelled by something. Looking down, I saw a thin vine growing from the ground.
“I saw it! Capture him!”
At the master’s order, the Serval Cat spirit leaped forward and lunged at Ryoku. He was startled and tried to flee back into the forest. The tree roots lifted, blocking the escorts’ path. Nevertheless, the agile spirit slipped through and reached out to capture Ryoku.
I rushed to follow the spirit.
“Hey, wait!”
I tried to grab him from behind, but he dodged as if he had eyes in the back of his head.
“Everyone, chase after Ryoku! Let’s catch him before they do. We mustn’t hand him over.”
Everyone followed me into the forest. But the path was already gone. Thick, hard vines covered the entire area, as if to say, “Don’t enter the forest.” The heart that had begun to open seemed to have closed again.
The forest rustled, and it felt colder. The sun was still shining, but it felt like clouds had covered it.
“Chase him! Don’t let him escape no matter what!”
The escorts scattered and entered the forest. What is this unease? It feels like I’ve lost something incredibly important. It’s not just me; it’s like something that covered this entire forest has snapped.
“Arisugawa, what are you going to do? Chase him?”
“No, it’s probably no use. We can’t catch him anymore.”
Once Ryoku truly decides to run, no one can chase or find him. I picked up some grass that had fallen on the ground. This was something that had been in his basket. It had a unique scent, like herbs. That’s right, he had been asked by the doctor to collect medicinal herbs.
He really didn’t do anything. But who in this place will be my ally? Nobody knows Ryoku, and even if they do, they aren’t his friends. Even his family has abandoned him.
“He’s gone.”
“Chieftain…”
The Chieftain appeared from the crowd of onlookers, likely having come to see the commotion, accompanied by spirits.
“Can’t you do anything? You should be able to stop the escorts.”
“It seems I was a step too late. What can I do to atone for this?”
A female deer spirit licked the tears welling up in her eyes. If she feels that strongly about it, she should stop the escorts quickly.
“Um, please stop them soon. We’ll call them back. I’m sure they’ll understand if we talk to them.”
“No, that’s not it.”
The Chieftain shook her head slowly and turned her back to the forest. At that moment, the escort leader rushed over. The Chieftain whispered something to him.
He showed a moment of confusion, but then he recalled the spirits and left with the other escorts.
“What should we do?”
“You are all uninvolved. Leave this forest immediately. My spirits will guide you.”
Huh? What? Wait a minute, what is going on? Things are progressing without my understanding. I tried to call out to her later, but she had already left with the spirits.
“Hey, what was that? Did anyone understand it?”
Everyone else was also tilting their heads. Then, the Chieftain’s husband approached my feet.
“Hey, Hiroaki. Sorry to trouble you.”
“What is going on?”
“Hmm, she always tries to handle everything by herself. I wish she’d rely on me a little.”
A fox spirit jumped down from her husband’s shoulder. Even though his wife had so many spirits, he only had this one. And they didn’t seem to get along very well. Even now, the fox was hissing at its master. And then it arbitrarily went somewhere.
“Hahaha, I’ve naturally been disliked by spirits since birth. Please don’t mind it.”
“Oh, uh, some people are like that.”
“By the way, I’ll tell you frankly what’s happening now. Then, you can think about what to do.”
