Chapter 21 - The Trio's Decision
The next day, Lucan went to the basement house to find some clothes. He wandered through the nearby houses and managed to dress appropriately, although the clothes didn't match very well. He activated the Midnight Cloak, which covered his new attire, making him feel more presentable. Luke had also taken a bath using the water from the canteen. Upon waking, he discovered that the canteen was still filling up, which surprised him. They tested the water's purity by comparing its color with the lake water and checking the taste. They even boiled the lake water to try to purify it and found that the canteen's water was purer and tasted better. After taking a bath, he left the canteen with the girls and set out to find better clothes in the houses.
Luke discovered that they had cleaned the Peculiar Alpha Wolf's carcass, removing the edible parts and wrapping them in the wolf's skin to protect the meat. According to Alice, in the Oblique World, for some reason, the corpses took longer than usual to start decomposing. Hence, they were still feeding on the wolf's meat even days after its death, possibly due to it being a magical creature.
Alice had found Anna in her first days since arriving in that place, which was one of the reasons she remained reserved about her location. She spent days wandering alone, looking for survivors and leaving the little redhead alone, so she was cautious with Lucan. He understood; he would have done the same.
Now, they were gathered in the cave to discuss their next steps in the "Veil," a place where, according to them, it rained all the time. Lucan, observing the sunlit view in the distance, found it a bit strange but said nothing. He had already noticed that logic did not apply to that place.
Anna mentioned that on the first day, she only heard screams and groans of people being attacked and devoured. Sometimes she went out and tried to help, but the creatures were powerful and intelligent. She recounted that after what she described as the third day, things calmed down. Anna saw traces of people in the streets and even people moving between houses during the rain, hiding and supporting each other, but she wasn't crazy enough to shout and draw attention. She knew that if she did, the creatures would see her too. Anna followed their tracks in an attempt to find other people but always found them dead or missing.
Listening to their accounts, Lucan felt more and more like a fool and an ant in this world. Luckily, his area was the safest, being around the city and far from the "Veil," something Alice described that Lucan would understand once he passed through it.
Lucan had been through a lot, but at the same time, he felt lucky. He didn't know what he would have done in such a situation.
Sharing his experience against the Wendigo and omitting parts where he inadvertently performed a ritual to contact a malevolent entity, he realized he had been very lucky. There are monsters that are a type of bait. They have a weak form, and when 'killed,' their body reveals their true form. For Lucan, the Wendigo in its weak form was already problematic. These monsters control their transformation to reveal themselves; their weak form is a trap. By luring their victims, they show themselves and devour them. That's why he managed to kill the first form with relative ease, despite the difficulty he faced. The monster likely chose to transform into its second form, which is why Lucan could land some blows and kill it. In the end, it was just a trap the monster had set to reveal its true face.
Hearing this gave him chills, and internally he didn't know whether to thank that diary or not. It saved his life while almost killing him at the same time.
"I found a soldier from the expedition," Alice said.
"A soldier?" Luke asked, excited.
"This is the reason for the change of plans I mentioned yesterday."
At least some good news. After listening to stories of bodies and screams, at least there was something positive.
"We found him near the exit of the Veil, but he… didn't make it," Anna said.
I figured, otherwise, the soldier would be here.
"What happened? Did he at least explain our situation?" Luke asked.
"No. But he mentioned he was part of a group of soldiers searching for survivors. That's a good sign, we're not the only ones in this cursed place," Alice said.
A search party? Thank God.
"What happened to him and this search party?" Luke asked.
From their faces, this doesn't look like it's going to be good news.
"He wasn't part of a kingdom search party, but a search party of survivors. It seems more people were teleported to this place, possibly all the students and newly graduated soldiers who had to return from the expedition."
"All of them? A return error that affected so many people?"
Luke might not know much about the Oblique World, but he knew the situation was far from 'normal.'
"All he told me was that most were teleported to the vicinity, and many to the sewers. In the sewers, they have a Captain and even a unit of more experienced Deviants. They're dealing with the creatures down there and trying to save the scattered survivors. He was part of the reconnaissance group trying to help survivors up here on the surface."
He sighed, trying to absorb the information.
So there are more people and a Captain, that's good. A path might be found back home… the problem is they're in the sewers… I hope they survive.
The blonde girl seemed to understand his thoughts.
"He asked us to follow the standard procedure for situations like this," Anna said.
"Standard?" Luke asked, confused.
"We need to stay in a safe place and wait for rescue. They're prioritizing the sewer survivors; it seems there are many problems down there. There's still a small group of people who will be searching around here, but they'll try to first ensure a safe place to gather everyone," explained the archer.
Makes sense… what's the point of desperately searching for an exit if they don't even have a safe place to plan their steps and prepare supplies?
Alice looked at the two of them.
"The soldier and his group were mapping potential sewer entrances while looking for survivors, but they had the misfortune of one of those entrances being near a creature's lair… you know the rest. He barely escaped with his life… we couldn't do much for him when we found him," she said.
Luke sighed.
The little redhead looked scared as if she remembered the soldier's final moments. Luke understood that she wasn't as accustomed to this sort of thing, unlike Alice.
"What he said before he died scared me…" Anna said, looking down.
Luke felt uneasy at her words, the fear in that sentence was palpable.
Do I dare ask what the soldier said?
"He told us that… somehow the creatures of the Veil are getting smarter… as if they're adapting to how they want to kill us."
Damn… she didn't even wait for me to ask, now that's even more terrifying…
He paused for a moment while looking at the frightened redhead and glanced at what little he could see of the city in the distance.
Okay, now it's really scary. You've convinced me. I'll follow protocol and let the brave kingdom soldiers risk their lives solving the sewer situation, saving the survivors, and gathering everyone while I stay here enjoying my cave.
"Although I already talked to Anna, we haven't made a decision yet. I'll let you two make your choices. We can either risk going to the Veil and find an entrance to the sewers to deal with whatever is there until we reunite with the survivors… or we can stay here following protocol while we wait for more search teams. In the meantime, we can also look for other people who came out of the Veil, thus increasing our chances and also contributing our part," Alice said.
Anna looked at her and then towards the city. "I prefer to wait here…" said the little redhead.
They looked at Luke.
Do they even need to ask me? Of course, I'll stay safe here! I already have the assurance that there are survivors gathering and a Captain leading them, so I'll stay here… and it's not because I'm scared or traumatized after almost dying to a cursed diary. I'm thinking 100% rationally… I'm definitely not afraid to venture into that 'Veil.'
Luke looked towards the city with its chaotic scene, but somehow it was a comforting sight.
Definitely, this place is giving me a bad vibe now; it feels like a trap. I'll stay calm here.
"A part of me really wants to go help the soldiers and feel like I'm contributing… but I understand our difficult choice," Luke said.
The difficult choice of doing nothing… I definitely need a few days off anyway.