Chapter 9: Camping.
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Sometimes, ignorance leads us to make the wrong decisions.
———
Liu continued on her way without much change.
She followed the river, taking difficult paths she was familiar with.
She had taken these paths many times with her grandparents. Walking them again without them made her recall the first time she had ever gone through them.
'How long has it been?'
The first time she had taken this path, she was eight years old.
'Why am I remembering this now?'
At that moment, she arrived in front of a massive rock the size of an entire house.
'Hhaa, at first I thought it was impossible to get through here.'
The rock was embedded in a mound filled with trees.
It could easily be bypassed, but that wasn't how Liu and her grandparents did things.
'Now I climb it even more easily than Mimie. Even without my right arm...'
Liu got past the obstacle in a matter of seconds, as if it were nothing.
Her bag didn't bother her at all.
'I know every grip by heart.'
She felt rather satisfied with herself. Once she reached the top, she took a few steps, then turned around to look for the Form.
'Can it climb straight up without actually climbing the rock?'
Liu didn't see the Form at the bottom of the rock. So she looked at the shadows of the trees around her on the mound.
'Mmh… just as expected.'
The Form was in the shadow of a tree about ten steps to Liu's right.
'Time for a break.'
Liu walked a little across the flat area of the mound until she reached a spot she knew perfectly.
'I should bring Pasha here someday.'
The area was somewhat open, with an uprooted tree that Liu sat on, using it as a bench.
'Makes me want to go swimming, like every time.'
She took off her backpack and placed it beside the tree.
In front of her, the river flowed below in small cascades, forming several pools perfect for swimming.
The scene was beautiful. Almost as much as the boro berry clearing during the Obscurity.
'Grandpa Mo could stay here swimming for hours.'
The memory made her chuckle.
Liu began snacking while reminiscing about the good memories tied to this place.
'I should've come here more often with Yumi too.'
She glanced around briefly, until her gaze stopped on the Form.
"Hhhaa…"
She sighed.
'Right… what time is it?'
She checked her watch.
———
04.01 / 10.00
———
'It's fine…'
'It should be fine…'
She felt down thinking about Yumi, who would arrive at the chalet and find it empty.
She felt down thinking about Pasha, who would go back to living alone in her own house.
'I can't keep any of the promises I made to them…'
'That hurts.'
She felt bad. Her own actions bothered her.
She regretted her words.
It felt like the "her" from earlier that day had been naive and unpleasant.
'Why did I do all that?'
She was starting to feel more and more disgusted with herself.
'But… what else could I have done…?'
But… it was inevitable. Just a fatality like any other.
'Alright! I've still got about two and a half hours before I get there.'
She stood up and grabbed her sports bag, putting it back on her back.
Then suddenly, the same horrible chewing and cracking sound echoed again.
"Wh..!"
Liu's head snapped around so quickly she nearly lost her balance.
'What, what, whatnow?!'
She almost fell, but managed to stay upright by leaning on her bag.
The sound stopped.
Liu almost threw up.
'Where is it again? I can't even tell anymore.'
Her head was spinning, and the more she turned around trying to find the Form, the worse her nausea became.
"Ugh…"
'There!'
She found it.
The Form hadn't moved. Liu was just disoriented.
'What went inside it this time?'
She wanted to know.
To understand what had just happened.
To reassure herself, in a way.
But she hadn't seen anything.
'Damn it! It didn't even move. Was it another mush-mush or what?'
"Ffffou…"
She took a deep breath.
'Let's see.'
She stepped forward five steps toward the Form.
The Form vanished and reappeared in the shadow of another tree.
'Right! No point wasting time on this.'
She went back to her bag, put away the flask and the camping rations she had taken out.
Then she immediately resumed her journey.
'Just a few more hours.'
———
...
The rest of the journey passed without incident.
Liu finally arrived at the ruin after two hours and thirty-six hundredths of an hour.
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06.38 / 10.00
———
'Okay, not too long.'
The ruin was an old church abandoned a very, very long time ago.
But no one knew exactly when it had been abandoned. Some said hundreds of years, others thousands…
Liu turned her head and scanned the shadows of the surrounding trees.
'Okay…'
She stepped forward to enter the ruin.
'I hope the place isn't a mess.'
Other people sometimes came to camp here, and some didn't clean up after themselves.
'How long has it been?'
she wondered as she passed through the large entrance where the door had long since disappeared.
'Huh?! Damn, people!'
An old man had already set up camp inside the ruin.
Liu quickly turned around, trying to avoid contact and leave immediately.
But…
"Hello!"
The old man had seen her before she could move.
'Damn!'
She turned back again to face the old man, who was walking toward her.
And she said weakly:
"Mm… hello."
The old man approached, observing Liu and her bag.
"Were you planning to camp here?"
Liu glanced behind her before answering.
'Damn it, it's way too obvious!!'
She stepped closer to the old man so he wouldn't move any further forward.
"Uh… yes, that was the plan, but I still have a lot of energy, so I'm going to keep going a bit before setting up my tent."
She continued quickly so he wouldn't have time to suggest anything.
"Hoho, I see. Young people these days have a lot of energy, huh?"
But contrary to Liu's expectations, the old man didn't stop in front of her. He walked past her and exited the ruin.
'Huh??!! What the..'
Liu started to panic. She turned around and followed him outside.
"What are you doing?!"
She couldn't help but raise her voice.
'Damn it, it's right in front of him!'
The Form was directly in front of the old man.
"Hmm, I'm gathering wood. You see, I'll be making my meal over a fire this evening."
But the old man didn't seem to see it.
'Old people really do talk weird.'
Her grandparents didn't talk like that. They had a more… modern way of speaking.
'But… he can't see it??'
Liu stepped in front of the old man, her heart beating faster and faster.
And she asked him directly:
"You… don't see that, right there?"
She pointed clearly at the Form.
"Mmmm…"
The old man thought for a moment, staring intently at where the Form stood.
Liu's heart pounded even harder.
'Come on!! Answer!'
"What are you talking about, little one? That's just a tree's shadow."
'…hhhhaaaa…'
Liu let out the longest sigh of her life.
"No. It's nothing. I thought I saw a snake."
'He must have bad eyesight because of his age.'
The old man nodded and was about to continue speaking when Liu suddenly ran off.
"Goodbye!! Enjoy your camping!" she shouted while moving away as fast as possible.
The old man stood there, watching her leave.
Liu turned around and saw the Form following her from shadow to shadow, without the old man reacting at all.
'Okay! Looks good.'
She didn't stop running along the river for at least ten hundredths of an hour.
'I need a break.'
She looked back, and seeing the Form still there, she set her bag down, took out a flask and a piece of sausage.
'Why was someone camping there today?'
The sausage was a type of Arbority fruit that lasted a long time and was very nutritious.
'Hhaa… I should've thought that other people besides students might come there.'
Liu remained standing as she drank from her last flask and ate her piece of sausage.
'Alright! I need to move a few more thousand steps away to be safe. What time is it?'
She looked down at her watch.
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06.50 / 10.00
———
'Maybe I can keep going for another half hour?'
She looked at the river in front of her.
'I've never camped anywhere else but the ruin. Alone…'
"Hhhaa… let's go."
She quickly packed her things and resumed her journey.
'Another half hour…'
...
Half an hour later, Liu found a quiet spot a few steps away from the river.
'This should be good…'
She hadn't encountered anyone, nor crossed any paths.
"Ffffoouuu…"
She sat down on the ground without even taking off her bag.
'I can finally rest.'
With her back leaning against her bag to stay seated, she twisted her neck as much as she could to catch sight of the Form.
'Still there…'
"Alright! One last effort!"
Standing up required more effort than the entire journey she had made that day.
"Ugh…"
'I already ache everywhere.'
She immediately began setting up her tent.
She was too tired to do things efficiently, but she was so used to it that the tent practically set itself up.
'Haah… it was so nice when Grandpa Mo set up the tent for me.'
She unhooked the mattress and sleeping bag from her backpack.
"Hop!"
And tossed them carelessly inside the tent.
'Okay, good. The entrance faces the Form.'
She had positioned the entrance so she could easily keep an eye on it.
'Finally done. I don't even feel like eating.'
Leaving her bag in front of the tent, she threw herself onto the mattress and slowly began pulling out her sleeping bag while lying down.
'The river's so loud… first time I've camped this close to it.'
She stuck her head out of the tent to grab her pajamas from her bag.
'I hope it won't keep me from sleeping.'
She changed, put on her pajamas, and slipped halfway into her sleeping bag.
'Okay…'
"…good night," she murmured softly.
Of course, no one answered.
'I shouldn't be too far from the Luschen road… I'll see tomorrow.'
She was too tired to think about anything, and… she fell asleep almost instantly.
...
Meanwhile, on Yumi's side.
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[Yumi's POV]
'It's already seven…'
Yumi had done exactly what Liu expected. She went straight to Liu's house after theoretical class.
But not finding Liu, she quickly searched the house and noticed that Liu's pajamas were missing from her room.
She had already more or less understood at that point, but she still went to administration to find Pasha and ask if Liu had passed by.
Since no one had seen her, the conclusion was quickly reached: Liu had run away.
Security immediately began patrolling the village and its surroundings to find her.
After that, Pasha cut her workday short when Yumi asked her to come to the chalet to wait in case Liu returned.
They headed to the chalet, stopping by Yumi's house on the way to inform her parents that she would be sleeping at Liu's place.
Upon arriving at the chalet, Yumi and Pasha searched the house from top to bottom.
Pasha, who had cooked something for Liu the previous day, noticed that the camping rations were gone.
After that, Yumi and Pasha remained in the dining room in silence for a long time.
Until Yumi directly asked Pasha what Liu had told her.
Pasha explained everything. She also told her everything else that had happened on her side with Liu. And Yumi did the same from her perspective.
Until the seventh hour of the day arrived…
"Damn it! We'll never catch up to her at her speed."
———
Sometimes, ignorance leads us to make the wrong decisions.
———