"That was amazing!- Since when did I have such power in me?!-" I shouted to myself loudly as I walked closer to the crater that I just made, "Woaaaahh!! Look at the ground! It's crumbled from the impact!- That's so cool!"
How did this possible? I never had that kind of ability in me all this time. Back then, my speciality when I was in the army was nothing more than sword fighting. I can't manifest magic nor supernatural powers like mage or sage. I was just an ordinary Commander.
This led me to think that the attack I just did might be coming from this ruby. The sensation coming from this thing sure is weird. It's warm and feels like it calling for me, and my mind feels a little lightheaded too, but somehow, I really like it. So, I decided to make the same move as before onto another wolf that I saw over the distance. Just to make sure my speculation was on point.
Without further ado, I went on with it. It didn't surprise me when the same shockwaves occurred once again. It was complete destruction. That attack when right through that wolf and cut it in half as well as exploding whatever hard surface it gets into contact with afterwards. My shallow smile slowly widens up as the excitement from this power get into me,
"Hohoho! I can quickly kill any monsters that get in my way now! So the others won't think that I'm useless!" I spoke loudly, "But- they need this stone to get us all out of here, though... I won't be having this ruby if they take it from me..." my ears gradually pointed down to the ground,
But a few seconds later, "That's it! I know what to do... no one would take it from me if they didn't think I had it in the first place... Hehehe..."
"Wait- No! I can't do that! If I don't give it to them, there's no chance for all of us to get out from this place alive," I realised how stupid I was thinking before,
"Well... Who cares about leaving this place anyways? As long as I can have this for myself... I rather stay here for the rest of my life..." I muttered,
Eventually, my mind slowly gets tangible. I can't really put my thoughts straight and differentiate what's good or bad. Part of me wanted to let the others know that I have the ruby, but my deepest dark thoughts tell me to keep this to myself. I was struggling to make my choice right now. For minutes has been wasted with me arguing with myself. I wasn't able to take it any longer, and I shouted,
"Fuck! Okay!- I'll let the others know I have this ruby... We really need this thing to get out of this place... There's no point in having crazy powers but can't utilise them for the greater good of this world," I gripped onto the ruby tightly in my palm and closed my eyes shut,
"Alright, better get moving now," I sighed. When I was about to move one foot ahead, my mind went totally blank. I didn't feel like myself now,
I looked through this beautiful red gemstone in my hand and whispered, "Before going back to the campsite, it won't be hurt to play around with this a little longer, right?"
From that point onward, I roamed the field for hours and hours. I slay every wolf that I have in my sight. Every minute passed, I felt so happy; I already lose track of time by now. Well, whatever. I don't really care about going back.
"Take this, you stupid dog!" I shouted,
Every attack that I do make me feel so alive. I was practically invisible. "Hahahaha! This is amazing! I'm unstoppable!"
"Yes! Die! You're nothing more than a lowlife hound!-" I kept rampaging like a lunatic, left and right, the blood of the wolves spilling onto the grassy field and turned its colour from green to red,
Until eventually, I was consumed by my own greed, "Ehe... Hehehe! This ruby is mine!- I will never let anyone have this! It's, mine, mine, mine, mine, MINE, MINE! AHAHAHAHAHA!"
"NOW WHO'S MY NEXT TARGET WILL BE!-" I screamed my lungs out with such a horrific look on my face,
[Ellisa's POV]
"Haaaahhh- I haven't found the ruby at all now. It's been like, what now? Six hours? I slowly doubt myself about the stone in the wolf right now," I said to myself while I lay my head down onto the ground and stared at the smog in the sky,
Apparently, that was the last wolf I've been dealing with here. It's slowly emitting a foul smell when it starts decomposing. I haven't seen any other wolf right now. I don't know what's the point of staying here anymore. I'm tired and hungry. My body reeks of blood from the wolf that I had torn their insides. I wanted a fabulous bath with Nyoko like a few days ago. That time sure was a blissful moment,
"Maybe I should head back to the camping site and meet with others..." I muttered,
I gradually sit up straight before stretching my arms in the air. "Well then, let's not waste more time here."
And my journey back to meet the others began. Along the way, I kept on wondering if the others had found the ruby or not; I hope they did. Then, I remembered that Kiseki told me we only had three days worth of food left in our supplies. So if things get too drastic, I don't want to be eating rotten wolf meat as a routine.
While I was daydreaming, I heard a voice calling me out from a distance. As I turned my vision towards the direction I was called from, it was none other than Ichijou. His face speaks everything about what happened on his side; gloomy and annoyed. I bet he failed to track down the ruby as well.
"Ellisa, any good news?" he asked me,
I gently shook my head and replied, "Sadly, no. I can't find any ruby whatsoever. Heck- I even killed every single wolf in my area..."
"Same..." Ichijou replied as he sighed,
"Now now- We better not feel down about this yet. Kiseki and Nyoko still haven't told us about their findings yet. We might get lucky soon," I softly comfort him,
"Yeah, right... We'll see about that," said Ichijou,
Actually, I'm probably in the same shoes as Ichijou too. The way he answered what I said sounded like he was not confident about it at all. That goes the same way for me too. I only said that to make us both feel better about this. Never mind, maybe I should have some hope on both of them.
We walked towards the campsite together the entire time. However, when we saw it over the distance, I soon realised that our chance of finding that ruby were getting slimmer. Kiseki was already there by himself. He's currently lighting up the bonfire to get warm and to make some light.
He smiled as he looked at us and waved his hands when we began to move closer to him. "Oi~, come here, you both! I heat up some food for us to eat!" he shouted happily,
When we took a seat beside him, he eagerly handed us a bowl of soup and said, "Dig in!"
We were baffled about what was with his giddy attitude right now. He chomped in the food like he was really starving, to begin with. As I was about to say something to him, Ichijou cut through my words,
"What the hell is up with you?" he said plainly,
"Oh! Come on, man! I feel so refreshed that everything has finally ended!" Kiseki replied with his mouth full,
"Wait- Ended? The heck are you talking about?-" Ichijou asked him,
He had this casual look on his face and said, "What? We managed to kill every wolf in our area, didn't we? So now we just have to wait for Nyoko to finish hers too."
I quickly interfered with the conversation and said, "So... Have you find the ruby yet?"
Immediately, he stopped. He was stunned and just realised what we were talking about, "E- Eh... Oh yeah... I forgot we have to find that ruby,"
That answer really put a palm on our face simultaneously, "Kiseki... Don't tell me you didn't check the wolf carcasses after killing them...?" I asked,
He swallowed the food in his mouth and said, "No, no! Of course, I did! I just forgot that the ruby is really important for our mission,"
"How the hell did you forget about that!?" Ichijou replied to him angrily,
He innocently smiled and said, "Hehe! Well, I was getting bored finding that thing, and I tried to make myself optimistic to the point I was playing around when killing those wolves,"
"Something your idiotic can be somewhat stressful to endure, you know that..." Ichijou responded,
I softly chuckled and said to Ichijou, "There, there. What Kiseki did was good. We've been too stressed out about this to the point that we get moody easily. Just relax, okay?"
"Hehehe! I know, right!" Kiseki muttered, "Perhaps Nyoko will be the one finding that ruby if what Ellisa speculate was true!"
Ichijou eventually agreed to calm down, "Fine, fine- Anyways, talking about Nyoko, don't you think she's been too long already? Like- How long has it been since you arrive here?" he asked Kiseki,
"Like- I don't know. It's hard to judge the time here. But I think... Maybe two hours?" answered Kiseki,
"Do you think she's okay out there?" I asked,
Kiseki quickly nodded confidently, "Yeah!- She's a strong girl. I bet she's taking a nap right now at her location. I mean- the wolf wasn't even that hard to fight with."
"True," Ichijou agreed, "I've seen how she fought before. She's not the type that can be easily beaten by some normal creature. You know, she could kill Trelmir without even breaking a sweat,"
"If that's the case, We should wait for her just a little bit longer. I'm sure she'll be back soon," Kiseki replied,
I know Nyoko isn't weak at all. On the contrary, I bet she's much talented in fighting close-combat compared to me. Nevertheless, I don't really have a good feeling about leaving her alone out there. Who knows, she might be in trouble?
The sky eventually turned grey. I assumed that it was already nighttime by now. However, Nyoko's presence was still nowhere to be seen. Did she get lost or something? No. That's quite impossible. She could easily find her way back with her smelling sense. She's a Cat-girl, right? Ichijou seems to be a little frustrated and bothered right now. He can't stop walking in a circle while waiting for Nyoko to show up,
"I- I think we better look for Nyoko. I think something bad might had happened to her," I said to them,
"Maybe...We need to find her now while we still have time," Ichijou responded,
I quickly stood up and replied, "You guys can stay here for a while. I'll check out for Nyoko instead. We can't just leave the camping site empty. Who knows she might come back? And if she saw that we weren't here, things might go in a loop, and she starts looking for us instead,"
"Ah- that's true. But why not allow me to come with you too? Can't really let a girl walk all by herself, can we?" said Kiseki as he began to wear his equipment again,
"Hey! I'm an independent girl, okay!" I stated while pouting a little, "Just get some rest and wait for me here like a good Sinner,"
"I- Okay! Sorry! I didn't mean to say it like that!-" Kiseki replied,
"Good, I'll come back as soon as I find Nyoko, okay? If something bad happens, I'll put on a signal in the sky using my magic," I smiled at him and patted his head,
He kindly complied with me and nodded. I need to get moving now. If Nyoko really is in trouble, I have to find her soon!
Finally, I headed east. It didn't take me long enough to locate Nyoko, actually. I was walking about six meters away from the camping site, and I could already see her in the distance. It was pure relief to find out that she was okay. However, something is bothering me. As I moved closer to her, I heard that she was chuckling all by herself there. And when I was few feet away, her body was entirely covered with scratch mark and blood. So what the hell happened to her just now?
I tried calling out to her, eventually. Before that, she was holding something in her hand. I don't know why but she quickly hid it when she realised my presence.
"Hey, Nyoko. What happened to you?! We've been worried sick!" I said to her,
She swiftly turned to me and smiled. Both of her hands were tied up to her back as if she were hiding something. "Oh! Oh! Ellisa! Sorry didn't see you there!" she said to me,
"Uhm... Are you okay? There's a lot of scratch marks on your body... Did something terrible happen to you?" I asked,
She deliberately shook her head. "No, no! It's nothing serious! I was getting kinda bored with the search and end up taking a nap. Before I knew it, I was assaulted by the wolves sometimes later, and that how I ended up like this," she replied,
"Oh- okay... Anyways why aren't you back going back to the camp yet? Ichijou and Kiseki have been waiting for you, you know," I said,
"I was uh- Killing some wolves! Yes. Wolves..." she responded,
Something really feels different with her. She said she's been killing wolves but, there's seems to be none around here right now. Like- not a single living soul can be seen except for her and me. But, not only that, though, there also seem to be no dead body too, if what she said was true. So, why do I feel like she's lying right now?
"By the way. Why don't I patch you up? Seems like we need to stop those bleedings. I don't want you to get infections on those wounds." I said as I approached her slowly,
Though again, her hands didn't seem to move away from her back. "Did you have something in your hand right now?"
She quickly denied it. "No! There's nothing!"
"If that so, come on. Stretch your arms wide. We need to heal those wounds down there too," I said,
Her eyes were very menacing when I asked her to do that. She didn't want to move her arms at first. But after few trials of confronting her, she eventually showed me. There was nothing there. Maybe I am overthinking right now.
"Alright. That seems to be the final spot. You can relax now," I said to her,
She cheerfully smiled while swaying her tails left and right afterwards. "Thank you! Hehehe..." Nyoko chuckled. Was her behaviour always been like this before? It's kinda unsettling if you ask me,
"We should head back to the camp now. They probably left you some soup that Kiseki cooked before. You must be starving," I said as I gradually walked in the direction of the camp,
"What are we waiting for! Let's go!" She happily followed,
For the entirety of our journey, I believed that Nyoko was staring at me intimidatingly. Her eyes didn't falter even for a second. But, whenever I turned around and took a glance at her, she always pretended like nothing happened.
"Is something been bothering you?" I asked out of curiosity,
"Huh? What? No! Nothing," she replied,
This feels really uncomfortable right now. But thank god I finally arrived at the camping site safely.
"There they are. Finally, someone decided to show herself. Where the hell have you been?" Ichijou said to Nyoko,
Nyoko didn't seem to answer his question, nor was she interested in telling him the story that she told me. Instead, she walked past Ichijou and headed straight to her sleeping bag.
"Oi... You know we've been worried for you. At least explain to us what took you so long to come back," said Ichijou,
Again, she didn't bother to answer him.
"Just give her some time, okay? She's tired from all the fight she had with the wolves, apparently," I responded to Ichijou instead,
"Don't say like I'm weaker than you, damn it!-" Nyoko suddenly burst in anger and shouted at us,
That confused us instantly. Why did she get so mad about that? I'm just trying to help her out!-
"Sure, sure. Though, did you find the ruby or not?" asked Ichijou,
She immediately startled for a moment before proceeding to wraps herself in the sleeping bag, "No- I have no idea what you're talking about," she stated,
"Don't tell me you forgot about our reason for fighting those wolves like this douchebag," Ichijou replied,
"H- Hey! That's mean!-" Kiseki entered the conversation,
Nyoko eventually fell asleep. Meanwhile, Ichijou, Kiseki and I were discussing our mission and what will be our next move.
"Look- Somehow, your answer was wrong about the riddle. We can't find a single ruby from those wolves before," Ichijou said to me,
"Yeah- I guess so..." I responded morosely,
Kiseki softly patted my head and pulled me closer, "There, there. Don't be so hard on her. We've been putting a lot of burden for Ellisa to carry alone. From now on, all of us should think of the answer together, okay? More brain makes everything impossible possible, right?" He said,
I'm glad Kiseki is trying to help me out here. If I don't have him to rely on when I'm gloomy, I doubt I'll stay sane for this whole journey. Slowly my cheeks blushed as red as a cherry. Anyways, since Nyoko had already fallen asleep, maybe I should tell both of them what I felt when I found her.
"Both of you... I think... Nyoko has been acting weird lately," I said,
"Like how?" Kiseki asked,
"I don't know how to explain this thoroughly, but, somehow I felt like Nyoko changed when we left her alone in the field." I continued,
"What did you found out just now?" Ichijou asked me,
I slowly looked at Nyoko. "When I found her, she was covered in tons of scratch marks and wound. But she didn't seem to be in danger, though. She was laughing hysterically when I came closer to her."
"And?" They both said at the same time,
"You see, I doubt Nyoko could get hurt that easily from a wolf. Those things are not even a big threat to us. So, why is she get injured like that? But, when I asked her. She gave excuses that she was doing something else and being a little clumsy. I doubt someone with a high discipline like her can make that can of mistakes," I explained.
"So, are you saying she's hiding something?" Kiseki asked me in seriousness.
"I hate to say this, but yes," I replied,
"It's nothing new for me. She was clumsy before when we were at Fairdrift too. She almost gets our battalion wiped out because of some stupid reason," Ichijou said,
"I- I see," I replied softly,
"You know, doubting on your teammate is not a good habit to have right now. Try clearing all your doubt from her, okay?" he said,
I slowly nodded and complied with him but didn't verbally say anything,
"We should get some rest. It's already midnight, I think. We can study the riddle first thing in the morning tomorrow. This time, we all gonna help you out too," said Ichijou as he stretched his arm and crossed them together,
"Yeah. We definitely gonna find our way out of this place," Kiseki agreed,
After that, we all began to sleep soundly after a few hours from that conversation except for me. I can't really put this feeling away somehow. My eyes were constantly peeking out towards Nyoko from time to time until I got bored. As of now, Ichijou and Kiseki are sleeping really close to each other. Meanwhile, I was lying down right next to Nyoko at the moment.
The moment I was about to close my eyes, I heard a rustling noise came from Nyoko. She woke up, I think? And much more creepy is that I can feel her eyes burning right at me for a few minutes. I was too scared to take a glance at it and kept pretending that I was sleeping. Fortunately, that eerie look she had ultimately stop and I could hear that she was moving away from me,
When I was confident enough that Nyoko wasn't beside me anymore, I softly took a quick look towards her. She's walking away from the camping site right now. Where is she heading to?
"Nyoko... what are you really hiding from us right now," I whispered to myself,