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The Mist Vol 5 Chapter 12
🕑 Added 2024-11-16 03:33:39 +0000 UTCVol 5 Chapter 12
The child tilted her head, but when no more words followed, she silently continued walking.
Upon reaching the outskirts of the village, a quiet forest path appeared. Decaying leaves crumbled heavily underfoot, and the cries of animals could be heard in the distance. Following the child who fearlessly entered deeper into the forest path, Kapros uttered a spell to light up the darkness.
"Fireball."
As soon as the words ended, a spark ignited in the air and a large flame rose above his head. The child walking ahead turned back in surprise.
"Fire...!"
"Don't mind it and keep going."
"Did you do that, uncle? How?"
"...It's magic."
"Magic? That's magic? Is that your 'better weapon' then?"
"Yes."
"I didn't know you were a mage..."
As Kapros had guessed, the child said she had never seen magic or a mage before. Judging by how she kept looking back, she seemed truly amazed by the Fireball.
In the slightly relaxed atmosphere, when they had gone somewhat deeper into the forest, the child who had been constantly looking around stopped walking. Then she began to busily examine between the bark of the surrounding trees, as if trying to confirm something.
"Found it! This is the place!"
The child shouted loudly as if she had discovered something. As Kapros approached, he saw a faintly glowing white X mark drawn between the tree bark.
"Here...?"
"Yes. This is what the adults drew to tell us not to go beyond. So from beyond this point is the forbidden area. I'm sure of it."
Kapros raised the Fireball higher and looked around, but he couldn't see any difference between the forest they had come through and beyond the X mark. After a moment's thought, he decided to summon another Fireball and throw it beyond the X mark into the so-called forbidden area.
"Fireball."
Whoosh-
"Wow, two fires..."
Fly to where I want you to go!
Responding faithfully to the image in his mind, the Fireball flew between the trees, beyond the X mark, into the land called the forbidden area. Sparks flickered, tracing a tail in the air.
The strange thing happened at that very moment.
When it had flown a few meters past the X mark, suddenly the flame disappeared as if sucked into the darkness.
"Oh!"
The child cried out in surprise. Kapros was equally shocked.
'The Fireball going out on its own...?'
He tried throwing another one just in case, but the result was the same. Only then could Kapros be certain that this place was truly the forbidden area. Though it looked like a normal forest on the surface, there was clearly something there.
Kapros stretched his coldly tensed shoulders and bid farewell to the child.
"Thank you for coming this far. I'll see you when I get back."
The child said nothing for a while, then looked up at him with desperate eyes.
"Uncle. You really won't take me with you, right?"
"..."
"I know... Then I'll really trust only you, so please make sure to find my dad's belongings. My dad's name was Rex. And when he was young, his left arm was eaten by a bear, so other people called my dad 'One-armed Rex'. So it shouldn't be too hard for you to recognize my dad. Right?"
To be honest, Kapros couldn't be certain whether he would be able to fulfill the child's request once he entered that place. But seeing the child desperately telling him what she knew, he suddenly felt he should make a reckless promise unlike himself.
"...Alright."
Hearing a definite answer, the child smiled broadly for the first time, befitting her age. Kapros took out the bottle of sand he had received from the old woman from his item window and gripped it as he stepped forward. Just as he was about to cross the boundary of the forbidden area, a loud shout came from behind.
"Uncle, you must come back! My name is Remil! Remil! You have to remember and come find me when you return! Do you promise?"
Goodness, how noisy. Kapros turned back and smirked.
"Okay. Then... next time, don't call me uncle, call me by my name. My name is Kapros."
Was that a bit cheesy? Kapros scratched his head and carefully advanced to where the magic had disappeared. Thinking he had probably crossed the line by now, he stopped and waited for a new reaction, but even after a few seconds, nothing in the surroundings changed.
Wondering if this wasn't it, he turned back and was startled to find that the child who should have been there was no longer visible. It had only been a few seconds. There was no way she could have gone anywhere in that time, so for the child to have disappeared...
'Have I properly entered...?'
Ding!
- Failed to recognize map. This is an area with unknown coordinates.
- Status ailment, Heavy Motion is being applied!
As if they had been waiting for the right moment, two notification windows popped up in front of his eyes. At the same time, his body suddenly felt limp, as if he had put on wet clothes, and even raising his arms felt difficult. Kapros immediately called up the map window.
"Map window!"
In response to his call, the map window that spread out before his eyes should normally have shown the full map of the Mist continent with a black dot indicating his position, but now nothing was visible.
'It's good that I've entered the forbidden area... but a status ailment is applied and my location can't be determined. How am I supposed to find my way?'
"Fireball!"
He tried using Fireball to light up the area as it was too dark, but nothing appeared.
'Don't tell me even magic...?'
"Inferno!"
He tried using Superior's magic just in case, but it was equally silent. Kapros tried calling out a few more magic names before giving up and frowning.
Not only had his body become heavy, but even magic didn't work. Most of the weapons he could use were gone. And now he didn't even have a sword to face enemies with...
'This is harder than expected. What should I do?'
The time for deliberation was long, but the decision was short. Having come this far, Kapros had to reach some conclusion before returning. It seemed impossible to return this status ailment to normal no matter what he tried, so he decided to just keep going. He took a deep breath, uncorked the bottle the old woman had given him, and tapped it experimentally.
