Venerate sits up from the stool he was sitting on not too long ago. "Well, it was a nice chat with you, but I'd better get going. I've got some of my own work to get to."
And with that, he walks out the front door, leaving nothing behind but me, the crackling fireplace, and my thoughts. I lean back in the bed , take a deep breath, and let it out. "Man it's been one hell of a day.." I think back to all of the events that led up to this moment so far. Who would've thought that a simple school trip could lead to something so drastic… And Hiroki, after our… Incident, he just up and disappeared..
I turn to my side as I drift off to sleep. "I sure hope Hiroki's okay…" I wake up several hours to sunlight shining through the window frame. I get out of the bed and stretch. An unfamiliar girl with shoulder length brunette hair, that has slight white accents at the ends, and gray eyes, wearing a white shopkeeper's apron with navy blue trims on the ends of the apron and of the pockets, a powder-white undershirt with bronze buttons, and purplish- black trousers.
"Looks like you're awake." She says with a neutral facial expression. I turn my head towards her. "Uhmm, who are YOU?" With a pestered look on her face, she crosses her arms. "*sigh* Pretty bold for being in MY home..
But, I guess I can tell you. The name's Airie, Aerie Trafsing. I assume you've already met my mom and dad.." "Hey, Airie, eh.. I'm sorry about that.. I kinda came off as a jerk.. huh ? My name's Kawai Sano by the way." "hehe, apology accepted." "Now that I think about it, you've never really left this house ever since my mom hauled you over here, did you ?"
I scratch the back of my head. "Hahaha… No, not really…" God that response made me feel so awkward, I thought. A facial expression which can only be described as a mix of curiosity, confusion, and a bit of perplexion. "Hey, it's not your fault you know, just don't worry about it. Follow me and everything'll be fine ! And besides, I kinda need to stop by town anyway, so it's two birds with one stone."
She stands up and dusts herself off. "Y'ready to go ?" I smile. "Hell yeah you bet I am !"
"All right, let's get moving !" she says as she walks out the front door. I follow suit. When I walk
out the door, the same snowy landscape unfurls before my very eyes. A thought runs through my mind- Man, it never seems to stop snowing here, does it ?
I guess it's not the Winter Kingdom for nothing. Airie turns around."Hey, we gonna go or what ?" After Airie pulls me back to reality, I sprint forward to catch up to her. About 10 minutes into our walk, we run into Agloria who notices us. With a smile, she looks up.
"Oh hey you two! Where are you headed ?" "We're taking a hike down to the village. Airie's going to show me around, and she has a few other things to take care of at work". Agloria attentively nods. "Mhmm-mhmm… right, right… Well, just be sure not to stay out too late, okay ? It's pretty hard to see through the darkness late at night. And none of us know how to use fire or light magic, so be careful !"
"Sure thing, we will mom ! See ya !" Airie waves goodbye joyfully. We continue on our path. "Airie, you seem awfully joyful now.. " "Well yeah ! It may be a bit weird, but hearing my mom's concern for my safety just makes me feel… safe ? happy ? Something like that. Does that make sense ?"
I let out a loud laugh. "haha !~ What are you a kid ?" She pouts. "What's wrong with loving your mom ?" I wave a hand at her, "Oh it's nothing. Just kidding really." "Some joke". She says. After traversing the rocky and snowy terrain for a while, an arch of cobblestones, wooden picket fences, sharp on the ends. Behind the gates and fence lied buildings with snow-capped roofs. Airie stretches out her legs and arms.
"Nghh… we're finally here.. Come on, let's go." As we get closer, two young men standing guard at the gate take notice of us and step forward. Both of them were redheaded, the one on the left with blue eyes, the one on the right with purple eyes. Both of them wore a light red-orange undershirt, a protective chestpiece, brown thick cloth trousers with animal furs at the leg holes, and armored boots.
The young man on the left speaks up. "Oh, Airie, it's you ! Come right on through." When he looks at me, his face shifts to an intimidating glare. "And, who's… this person ? He isn't some foreign spy, is he ?" "Oh come on Ruige-kun, please let him through ! And plus, he's not a spy ! The nation's in a time of peace.." "But Airie, you never know, he coul-" "Yeah-yeah alright already.. Enough with your stupid babbling for Aldafadr's sake…" He turns towards us and bows. "Sorry about Ruige there stranger. With our daily routine being so repetitive, he tries coming up with out-of-pocket fantasies to null the pain of boredom.. You can just call me Feyr, have a nice day in town."
And with that, Feyr moves out of the way. As we walk past the gate and into town, I can still see Feyr scolding Ruige for causing a ruckus. I chuckle to myself. "Well then Kawai-kun, here we are, Hoarfrost Village !" She claps her hands together in an apologetic manner.
"Look, I know I said I'd show you around, but I REALLY gotta go and take care of my business here ! I'm so sorry !"
"Hmph.. how could you leave me all alone in an unfamiliar place like this ?" I expected her to fall for my teasing but she just gives me a look of disapproval, but a friendly wave comes after.
"You really are a trickster, arent you Kawai-kun ? Anyway, see you later !" And then she runs off. Well, here I am… all alone in some place I know nothing about all over again… Seems like
this strange phenomenon is targeting me especially, huh… I sigh. "Well, I might as well make the most of it.." I mutter nonchalantly.
I take a look at my surroundings. I'm standing in the village center, which has a water fountain, situated in a stone brick circle spewing water which somehow isn't frozen. The rest of the ground was cobblestone. Four buildings, all 1 storey, encircled the town square.. They were log cabins with light red-orange roof tiles which are barely visible due to all the snow
covering them.
The doors were ice blue, with brass handles shaped like half-circles. They had circular-shaped windows. Either of the four streets aside from the Northern one which led to the village gate, led to the residential areas, which were sparse in terms of numbers of buildings. Most of the
village's stores were in the town center.
Several people were scattered around the place, talking to each other, or just biding time on their own.I wanted to explore town, but now that I finally had some time to myself, I wanted to look for Hiroki. He was my childhood friend,
I couldn't just leave him behind, wherever he was whisked away to.. If it even was in this world to begin with.. I cracked my knuckles and let out a deep breath I took. "Alrighty, guess it's time to play the searching game.." By the time the sun is setting, I feel the exhaustion in my very soul.
"Haah-hahh.. God… If I talk to one more old lady, or annoying brat, I'm going to kill myself ! i didn't even get any leads on Hiroki.." I clench my fist in frustration.. "Oh well, I guess it's time to head back now.." I reluctantly walk balk towards the village gate to meet up with
Airie again..
When I reach the village gates, I see Airie, Feyr, and Ruige together. I run up towards them. When he hears me, Feyr turns around and motions over to me with a worried expression. ".. Kawai-kun… there you are, this is something you should probably hear…" When I look at
Airie, her face is beet-red, drowning in tears.. " K-kawai kun … Something t-t-terrible happened !! It's awful !" My heart sinks as it always does when I have a premonition…
"Airie ! What happened ?"