Volume 2 - CH 3

The atmosphere around her changed dramatically as she stepped into the forest after passing the school building.

The moonlight is blocked by the trees, and the temperature seems to have dropped slightly.

The trees were shaking incessantly, and they could hear the sound of the trees swaying.

The two of them rushed to the place where Liltie had already planned to go. For her, it was a familiar path.

Fortunately, it was relatively close to where they had entered the forest.

Lilti had come here after school today with other girls to pick up some wild plants to use in the next practical training for healing magic . She said that she had probably dropped it at that time.

"All right, let's split up and look for it. What color is your handkerchief?"

Almark asked, and Lilti immediately answered, "White."

Lilti handed Almark her own lamp.

Almark took it.

Before he had time to say, something ," the magic of the light lit up in Lilti's left hand. Compared to when he first saw it in the magic practice lesson, she is able to produce light far more quickly and smoothly. Moreover, she has fine-tuned the size of the flame to match the darkness of the forest.

Almirk knows that he should not be in a hurry, as he has been told many times by Yilmaz, but every time something like this happens, he feels a pang of impatience in his chest.

(Will I really ever be able to use magic ......? )

For a while they went around silently, lighting up the ground around them. The white handkerchief should have stood out, but it was hard to find.

"Are you sure it's somewhere around here?"

"Yes, you know, I picked up some high curly black claw grass over there, and you know the ivy is growing there ......"

Lilti levitates the magic light slightly above her hand. As she did so, her field of vision opened up and she saw the tall black claw grass growing in a tangle of trees.

"I got it."

Once again, the two begin their search. They searched silently for a handkerchief, but still no sign of a white handkerchief.

A sniffling sound was heard. Almark saw that Liltie was in tears.

"What should I do ...... if I can't find it?"

It couldn't be a mere handkerchief. The most important thing is that it's a very important thing for Liltie. The most important thing is that she must to find it.

"Don't worry . We'll find it."

Almark told Liltie with confidence. Of course he had a feeling inside that

they might not find her, but he never showed it to Liltie.

“We' ll find it, I promise,"

He said patiently.

Liltie was afraid to go away from Armark, so even though it was just the two of them , they could not search in a very large area.

" Lilti, look that way."

" have you looked in the bush there yet, ?

The two of them kept talking to each other as they continued their search.

How long had they been searching in the darkness?

"Here it is!"

Liltie shouted.

"It's there!"

Almark ran up to her. handkerchief, which Lilti held up happily, was ...... not exactly white. At best it was gray, at worst black. ......

Come to think of it, Liltie said she slept with it every night,...... Almark recalled. The original color was probably white. ...... That's why they was not able to find it. ......

Whatever it was, he was glad it had been found. Clutching a piece of cloth that had once been a white handkerchief, Almark returned home, cheering a tearful Lilti along the way.

At that moment, he heard a whistle-like sound in the distance.

Almark felt his whole body grow furious unconsciously at that moment.

As if that sound was a signal, a fresh, lukewarm wind blew through the forest. The forest rustled.

It is always an unpleasant sound. Almark frowned.

He said, "It's time for the. monsters to appear . Let's go home fast.”

"What?"

Liltie turned a stiff face towards him.

" What are you talking about? Don't be afraid."

Don't you hear it? If you hear that sound in the forest, ......"

As he said it, he remembered that it was common knowledge in the north .

(Did she ever ...... hear that sound in the forest from the midlands to the south? )

(No, now is not the time to think about that.)

Feeling the atmosphere of the forest change dramatically , Almark pulled Lilti's hand and they left the forest and hurried to the dormitory.

On the way, he came across a group of people with lamps coming from the dormitory.

" Hey, who's there?"

A voice called out to them. That voice was ......

“Nelson! Hey, hey, it's just me , Almark. Lilty's with me."

"Almark and Liltie? There you are, guys!"

A group of people approached them with a bang. They are all from the same class.

When Lilti did not return home until late at night, her roommate Norish was worried and came to look for her.

Since Almark was in a single room, no one had noticed his absence.

"Thank God, Lilti. We were worried about you."

Norisch hugged Lilti, and Lilti also apologized for worrying her.

"Thank God, that's all over now,"

Almark sighed in relief, and Nelson poked him in the side with his elbow.

"Almark, where have you two been? That seems fishy."

“Well . .......'

He was about to answer when he realized that he would cause Lilti a disservice if he answered truthfully.

“We just had a long meditation training," he said. Lilte and I just happened to be together there."

He hurriedly made such excuse.

LiltiE was also made a bitter excuse, saying that she had forgotten something at school and had gone to get it, but it turned out to be her own mistake.

"I would never go back for it," and everyone laughed, and the conversation was nicely diverted. Nice one, Mogen," Armark muttered to himself. .

( I guess we were able to fake this somehow.)

When the others' attention had shifted, he called out, and was about to give the lamp back to her when Liltie leaned in close, to Almark' and said in a quiet voice with a hint of a smile,

"Thank you, Almark,", but don't tell other about the handkerchief."

When they returned to the dormitory, Almark and Lilti got a good lectur from . Maia.

They learned that in addition to Nelson, Norrisch, and the rest of the group, Wendy, Leila, Wallis, and even Torque had been searching for Lilti.

"Whatever the case may be, everyone cooperates with each other when someone is in danger. It sure is a good thing ,, right "

Wendy is right. Almark thought.