Alright, gently… gently… now decelerate and off the engine. Oh hey, we made it. I took a peek outside of the boat, and Rose had leapt off from the boat and tied the rope to the dock exactly how those lizardmen captains taught us. A couple of them even offered to bring us over, but I turned them down, saying that it was not safe at our destination currently. I guess I can officially take my driver's boat licence now, seeing that I managed to drive us safely from one continent to another.
The weather was still beautiful here in the City Of Lilies, Dahlee. Is it really possible for the Vessel on the northern continent to affect the weather all the way to this city? I must investigate here. We disembarked and headed towards the city. Danny came to greet us as though he somehow knew about it. Every single detail is starting to get more suspicious to me now.
"Hey, you guys are back early. Planning to stay the night before heading back?" he asked us with a smile.
I turned my attention elsewhere and inspected the surroundings of this place while Rose talked with Danny. It felt surreal for such drastic changes to happen in just a few months. Too drastic, as a matter of fact.
I scooped up some dirt on the ground and watched it fall bits by bits from my hand. I did it once again and watched the dirt fall. If Rose were watching me right now, she would have thought I had lost it. I scooped the dirt one last time and made sure to pay extra attention to how the dirt fell. There, I saw some discrepancy in the way it fell. Some dirt was falling slower than the others. It would seem like my suspicion might be right.
"Rose, do you mind casting Mind Fortification on me?" I asked her as I wiped the dirt away from my hand.
"W… what, right now? Are you sure?" she asked me.
"Yes. Now, if you don't mind?" I asked her firmly.
She hesitated a little but began chanting the spell on me. It felt as though my mind was getting lifted from her spell. This is a strong spell that is capable of blocking the effects from a Higher State of Mind. Which is why this is considered an intermediate spell that Peter taught her during our training at the East.
I can feel the warmth of the spell enveloping my head. It is calming and serene and seems to clear my mind of thoughts except for one thing.
"Ohmigosh! It's so fucking cold!!!" I started shivering horribly as the spell fully protected my mind.
"W.. what are you talking about?" asked Rose as she saw me rushing over to our bags and started wearing all of my winter clothing.
I did not answer her until I had worn all of my winter clothing properly. Rose was still chatting with Danny, wondering what was going on with me. I tossed Rose her winter clothing, telling her to put it on.
"Onii-chan, are you seriously asking me to wear this right now?" she asked with disbelief in her face.
"Yes, Rose. Right now. And stop talking to Danny, he is not there," I told her.
"W.. what are you talking about? He is standing right here. Can't you see him?" said Rose as she swung her hands around where Danny was supposedly standing.
I walked closer to her and placed both of my hands on her face so that she focused on me.
"Rose, listen to me. What you're seeing is not real. Please, trust me when I tell you to wear your winter clothing now and cast mind fortification on yourself," I said firmly to her, and she nodded gently.
Rose did as she was told and casted the spell on herself. And true enough, after a few seconds later,
"Why is it so cold??!" shouted Rose as she started shivering.
***
We sought shelter in one of the houses that was covered up with snow and started a fire at the fireplace. Is this city completely abandoned or something? What is going on? Was what we saw just an illusion? But everything felt so real. Even the food tasted real when we ate the meal Darcy had made. But wait, if it was an illusion, how did the captain even brought us midway and disappear? Hmm, things just doesn't make sense.
There is limited firewood in this house for our usage. We have some supplies from our trip to survive the night, but we will need to check for survivors in this city the first thing in the morning. What happened to everyone? What I'm seeing now must be real and not an illusion as Rose had cast mind fortification on us. Rose cuddled next to me as we sat close to the fireplace. Even with our winter clothing, the weather was extremely cold right now. We placed a rug nearby that was frozen solid in an attempt to warm it up so that we can wrap ourselves in it. We got to survive the night with whatever we have. I guess it's going to be meat jerky and cold water for tonight, I guess. Maybe I can find a pot to start boiling some hot water. I hope it snows much lighter tomorrow so that we can head to the tavern to retrieve our supplies and start investigating what happened to this city. May the above listen to my small request.
***
Thankfully, we were able to survive the night. It was snowing much lighter now, so we quickly went out to seek supplies. Rose will be looking for firewood while I retrieve our supplies, all the while keeping an eye out for any survivors.
I stood in front of what is supposedly the only tavern in this city. I only recognised it by the roof's design, as everything else was covered in snow. Goodness, just a few months, and the whole city is engulfed with snow up to the roof. I will need to find a way in. I inspected the surrounding snow around the building. Alright, it is not frozen solid, but I should expect ice to be formed at the bottom. I stood in front of what I believe is to be the tavern's front door and summoned Tengu-kaze. Rose is nowhere in sight, and I do not hear her, which is a clear sign for me. I took a few steps backward and began focusing power on my left hand. The wind element began wrapping around Tengu-kaze, and I slammed it on the ground. Strong winds emitted from Tengu-kaze, pushing much of the snow away around me. I fell a few metres closer to ground level. I was right, there was a layer of ice, but it was thin enough not to cause me an issue when opening the door.
I reached out to the door knob; it was frozen solid, alright. Good thing I boiled some snow earlier, so I have relatively warm water by now. Time to have some fun splashing the door.
Yosh, got to quickly… there! Finally got it opened.
SMASH!!!
The hell was that?! It sounded like some glass was smashed inside as soon as I opened the door. I crouched low as I sneaked into the tavern, wary of what had just happened. It looked abandoned as far as I could see, and I no longer heard anything. I headed to the storeroom where we had left our supplies. I really hope it is there despite us walking into an illusion the previous time. I reached the storeroom at the back and noticed a window was broken. I inspected the scene and was puzzled.
There was just a giant hole in the window as snow was pushing against it from the outside. But what is strong enough to break through a window covered deep in snow? Not to mention it had to burrow out of the snow from the window. Hmm.
I decided to ignore it as there is no way I am going to follow the small hole from the broken window just to find whatever it was. I opened the storeroom door and oh sweet mother of lord, our supplies are here! I grabbed all of our supplies quickly and decided to check upstairs for any possible survivors. I came up to the first floor where I believe only Darcy stays at this level as only her room is located here. Guest rooms are at the second floor which is the highest. I knocked on her door and listened for any possible sounds inside. It was absolutely quiet. I checked on the door knob and it was locked. Hm, should I kick it down? No, let's keep things subtle. I summoned Inazuma and decided to slice through the door near the lock itself. That way, the lock remained untouched but I can open the door without needing to touch the knob.
I pushed open the door. Everything is so quiet aside from the wind being blown outside and the creaking sound as I opened the door. "Here's Johnny?" I whispered as I tiptoed into her room. Is she even here? I opened another door which looked like a bedroom. Darcy was on her bed, which I rushed over to check her condition. She had a pulse and seemed to be breathing normally. But she looked extremely frail as though she had not eaten in months. But I can confirm that she is still alive. I couldn't wake her up no matter what I did, so I tried to lift her up, but… what the? How much does she weigh? It seems as though she is stuck to her bed. There is no way I can lift such a slim woman. Hm, nothing I can do for now, I guess. Let's check upstairs if there is anyone.
There were a couple of survivors upstairs in the guest rooms, while some were unlucky to be found dead, all skinny-looking. Damn it, what is really going on here? I should check up on Rose just in case. I hate to be separated from her in such a weird situation we are in.
I heard her calling out to me after I stepped out of the tavern. It did not sound like she was in distress, judging by her tone. I met Rose midway as I went looking for her. On her left was a little girl that I sort of recognised. She was the one who told me to get out of town.
"Hey little girl, I am surprised you are still here since you asked me to leave. What's your name?" I asked her.
"I am surprised you remembered me seeing as you only saw me for a few seconds. My name is Moi," she said.
Moi? Now that's an odd name. Is that even her real name or a nickname she gave herself?
"Are your parents around? Or are you alone?" I asked her.
"My parents are no longer around. Only my teddy is left. He protected me," she answered.
"Y… your teddy protected you? From what exactly?" I asked her curiously.
"From the nightmares," she answered.
Strong winds blew against us as though they were trying to warn us about the danger we were venturing into. We thought of seeking shelter in the abandoned house that we had spent the night in, but Moi told us to stay over at her place if we wished to actually wake up tomorrow.
Rose and I decided to follow the little girl's advice, seeing that she had managed to survive in this place for a couple of months now. Let us make haste and bring over our supplies.
Moi's house was… surprisingly well maintained. How did she even clean the roofs of her house in the first place? Very impressive indeed. She gestured us to enter her home, which we were astounded by. How is a little girl keeping this place in such good shape? Everything felt homey and warm when we entered. The fireplace was lit and surprisingly strong enough to keep the whole house warm despite the fire looking as though it was about to die out.
"You two can sleep here tonight. I have my bed upstairs," said Moi as she pointed towards the two mattresses on the floor. Did she prepare this in advance? How did she know?
"Aren't you going to be cold if you sleep upstairs?" I asked Moi.
She replied by saying that she had a mini fireplace in her room to keep her warm. Wow, why didn't I think of adding that to our personal room in the city?
We settled down and had our conversations by the living room's fireplace. In such cold weather, it is only appropriate to keep ourselves warm if we are going to have a long chat. Moi brought us some warm tea before we started. I took a sip and was surprised by the flavour; it's rose tea. Did she know what my favourite tea was, or is this purely by coincidence? Why does it feel as though Moi has predicted so many things accurately so far?
"I believe we had not introduced ourselves, I'm…"
"Zen Hawthorn and Rose Starr, I know who you are. The two of you are famous in both the East and the West," interrupted Moi.
"I'm… surprised that such a young girl had heard about us, not to mention in such a backwater place," I said with my mouth agape.
"What happened here, Moi? Do you have any idea?" asked Rose.
"Everything was relatively peaceful until one day, everyone failed to wake up from their sleep. I would have been stuck as well if it weren't for my teddy," she hugged her teddy bear.
"Are you aware of the illusion being cast here?" I asked her.
"There is something bad inside the city. It makes those people who are asleep think they are living in real life. It is as though their subconscious became a reality," she explained.
"How did you know that teddy protects you?" asked Rose.
"Teddy was the one that rescued me from that dream. Which is why without his protection, we will all be trapped in the nightmare," she explained.
"Um, can you elaborate on that? How exactly did he save you?" asked Rose with an awkward expression.
Moi kept quiet as she stared at us. Is there something she doesn't wish to tell us?
"Let me refill your tea," said Moi as she stood up.
I stared at Moi as she headed to the kitchen while Rose adjusted her seat. What… what was that? How is that even possible? I went up to the mirror that Moi passed by earlier. How is it possible that something walked by the same time as Moi when she is too short to reach the height of the mirror? I checked on the mirror and it seems like a normal mirror.
"Rose, can you check to see whether there is anything on the mirror when I crouched by?" I asked her.
"W… what?" asked Rose with a confused look.
I crouched to the height of Moi and moved across the mirror.
"Onii-chan, what're you doing? You know full well that nothing is going to appear on the mirror at that height," sighed Rose.
Hm, I was certain I saw something when Moi walked by. It sort of gave me goosebumps from what I recalled. Moi might not be the little girl that we were led to believe.
Moi returned from the kitchen and refilled our tea. She decided to tell us about Teddy. What she experienced in her dream was that her brother, that she had not met before, is now residing in her teddy, protecting her. She cannot explain much further as he had only appeared once in her dream, and she no longer succumbs to the nightmare.
"Hm, but if Teddy is willing to protect us, then we can't get back into that dream. We need to help those people. I found Darcy, Rose. She was extremely frail and petite, but I can't even carry her. It was like she was rooted to her bed. Any longer, and they are going to… die in their sleep? Hang on, as I recall, there was a report about this happening elsewhere," I tried to recall of the report that was handed to me before.
"T… there was? What did it say?" asked Rose.
"There wasn't much information on it from what the guildmasters told me. It just states that some adventurers found a village where everyone had mysteriously died in their sleep. They looked thin as though they had not eaten in a while. It was concluded that those villages died of malnutrition. But… they were living in a place not too far from the city, it was not as though food was scarce for them to not afford or even grow on their own," I explained to Rose.
"So they were stuck in a dream without realising that they are dying in real life. We need to save them, onii-chan," said Rose as she tugged on my sleeve.
"Hey, I'm up for it, but how? Go back into the dream and try to wake them from there? Is that even possible?" I asked both of them.
"You need to defeat whoever is responsible," spoke Moi.
"W… what do you mean? Are you saying someone is the root cause of this?" asked Rose.
"Yes. Teddy would be able to defeat it if it shows itself, but ever since Teddy rescued me, that thing has been extremely wary of Teddy after that," said Moi.
"We will need to lure whoever it is out into the open. I will be the bait. Rose, you stay with Moi tonight. Rose?" I asked her as she was staring at something.
I turned to stare at what she was looking at.
*Loud rustling sound
Holy fuck, what the hell was that!! Something black was peeking in on us through the window. I could only see two eyes, ears, and a long nose before it ran. I rushed out the door to see what the hell it was. All I managed to see was a four-legged creature with a white patch on its body before it disappeared among the bushes. Was that what I saw before at the corner of my eyes? Something tells me that creature has a role in this.
I headed back into the house to continue with our discussion. I asked both of them whether they saw whatever that thing was. Both of them shook their heads and said that they had never seen such a creature before.
I told Rose what I said before, but she quickly stopped me from sleeping alone. She is worried that I will end up getting stuck in that cursed dream and remain trapped there. At one point, she even suggested that we head back home and forget about this place. Moi did warn us that there is no guarantee that Teddy can protect all of us, so there is a chance we might be trapped in the dream forever. Upon hearing that, Rose started pulling my arm, trying to drag me home. What happened to saving these people here?
I calmly spoke to Rose that we cannot abandon the people here. These are people that we know, and I need to help them. These are not Son's flock that I won't give a shit about, but people we had been acquainted with before. Yes, I had thought about the possibility that I might not be able to see Rose or Daisy anymore, but I can't just let Danny and Darcy die in their sleep.
Moi commended my determination and told me that there is a room in this house where teddy cannot protect me. I guess that is where I will be sleeping tonight. Wait, why am I so hung up about a teddy bear being able to protect me or otherwise? I should count on myself to get out of trouble. It might all be Moi's illusion that teddy was protecting her in the first place.
I guess I should spend the remaining daylight with Rose. It might be the last time I will ever see her in real life should I fail. I sure hope it is not.