![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
At Mount Guren, Where the Beloved Child Plays - Episode 5
← last episode | Episode 5 | next episode →
[ Swoosh… ]
Mithra: Look, we’re back.
Akira: I-I thought I was going to die out there…… I didn’t think we’d literally go halfway up a volcano and then dive into the sea…
I wheezed, trying to steady my breathing as I recovered from the sublime views I’d just seen. It’d been an exhilarating escapade that was way more realistic than any of those 4DX rides.
My knees gave way, and I folded uselessly onto the ground. Nonchalantly, Mithra glanced down at me.
Mithra: Are you already nauseous from just that? What a weakling you are.
More importantly, now that I’ve done all the sweating and cooling you prescribed, I wonder if I’ll be able to get a good night’s sleep.
Mithra stretched and then flopped over onto a large, black slab of rock.
Saccie wriggled itself dry by his feet, shaking out the seawater that had soaked into its fur.
As the warm breeze blowing down from Mount Guren tousled Mithra’s hair, I crawled across the ground to sit by his side.
And then, just like him, I cast my gaze up to the skies.
Akira: Ah, what clear skies…
Mithra: Yes, the weather’s nice. Is this what they call an ideal day for a vacation?
Akira: Ahaha, it seems so. It sure feels good looking up at the Northern skies on a beautiful day.
It’s just so much more vividly blue, compared to the other countries. It just feels so much bigger and brighter.
I took a long and deep breath. The Northern air here was fresh, with none of the usual icy bite to it.
Akira: (When I first heard of this place, it sounded terrifying, but in reality, besides for that ordeal just now…)
(It’s rather strange to just kick back and relax like this. It’s nice though.)
Akira: … I had no idea there was a place like this all the way in the North.
Mithra, you said you’d honed your magic here, so I couldn’t help but wonder, how long ago was that?
Mithra: Who knows… It was too long ago for me to remember it very well.
But it feels like it happened when I wasn’t even a hundred years of age.
Akira: Isn’t that fairly young for you?! Ah, no, young is…?
Is ‘young’ the word to describe someone who’s under a hundred years old… Man, I guess I’ve already gotten used to how it’s like for you all……
Mithra: I was just like a child. At that time, as part of learning how to use magic correctly, I was dragged along everywhere throughout Northern Country…
And this was one of the places that she brought me back then.
Akira: You mean, to fight the djalgr?
Mithra: Yes. It was quite the formidable opponent. It had been the first time I encountered something quite so massive…
I spent a fair few days here battling it to the death.
Mithra tilted his face to look upwards at Mount Guren, which was puffing out black clumps of smoke in the distance.
In the reflection of his green eyes, I could see the reflection of the red magma flows. Yet those eyes were also brimming with the nostalgia of the memory of an old playmate from bygone days.
Akira: (The fight between little Mithra and the monster, djalgr, was surely a fierce and magnificent one…)
(The way Mithra talks about it, it somehow feels like he’s opening up to share these memories of his distant childhood with me…)
They say that wizards of the North communicate via a clash of might.
I’ve spent days observing them at the manor and at various locales for missions. On one hand, it’s like playtime for them, but on the other, it really does look like they’re genuinely trying to kill each other…
I’m sure that little Mithra was also doing his best to kill the monster while still happily playing around.
Akira: (giggles)
Mithra: What are you laughing at?
Akira: It’s nothing. I was just thinking about how you must have always been this indomitable.
Also, I’d like to thank you for telling me about the encounter you had here, on this very same land.
Did you manage to defeat the djalgr, Mithra?
Mithra: ………
Mithra did not immediately give me an answer.
Just like how he had looked back in his room the other day, the blue skies were reflected in his irises, and his gaze slowly wandered as he tried to recall the details.
Mithra: I think I most likely did not defeat it.
Akira: What…?
Mithra’s answer came as a surprise to me. It might’ve been a recounting of what happened long ago, sure, but presently, in terms of power, he was the wizard second only to Oz. It was shocking that he’d say that out loud.
Mithra continued to lie back against the rock bed. Wearing an expression of displeasure, he stretched a hand out to reach up to the skies above.
Mithra: My memories of that time are spotty. Even now, I can’t recall them in vivid detail.
But I don’t remember turning it to stone.
Akira: … Mithra, you’d said that you had something you forgot about that was related to this place, didn’t you?
Maybe that’s, you know, related to what happened during that encounter—
[ Rustle… ]
Chloe: Murr, it’s over there~!
Murr: Hold it, staaaay~!
Rustica: Ooh, what swift legwork. The rocky landscape poses no challenge to it at all.
At that moment, I heard energetic voices come from behind me.
I turned around to see a rabbit-like creature dashing our way, and right before us, it sprang up into a mighty leap.
Akira: Ahh…!?
Mithra: Hn?
The rabbit that was in mid-air a moment ago landed on Mithra’s stomach and promptly curled up in a ball of fur.
It let out something of a little sigh, and that drew Saccie’s curiosity. Saccie pushed its snout closer to give the rabbit a good sniff.
Akira: (stifles a laugh) Fufu… Nice catch, Mithra…
Mithra: Please do not laugh weirdly at me.
Akira: I’m sorry, it was just so… adorable… (stifled giggle)
Murr: Kenja sama, Mithra!
Chloe: Soooorry! We were trying to catch that little one, but it ran right towards you guys.
[ Chloe CG ]
Akira: Whoa, that’s a large animal…! Was that big guy lurking around too?
Chloe: Mhm! It started lurking around here when I was at the grill.
I don’t think it likes meat very much, so I gave it some vegetables, and then we became friends…
W-Woah, hey, that tickles!
Akira: It’s all over you, Chloe! You two sure are fast friends. I’m happy to see that you’re all making the most of your vacation here.
Murr: It’s tons of fun~! Mount Guren’s the best!
I’ve had so many opportunities to play around with the local wildlife, and I’ve made wonderful progress with my exploration and specimen collection!
Look, I’ve even managed to find something like this!
Akira: Isn’t this… a branch? No, it’s got something over it…?
Mithra: Isn’t that a bone?
[ No BGM ]
Chloe & Rustica: A bone…?
Mithra: Yes, it’s an animal bone.
Mithra pushed the rabbit off of his abdomen. With his long fingers, he began to inspect the items Murr had laid out on top of the rock he was resting on.
I could hear the sounds of volcanic smoke spewing out of the mountain in the distance, but perhaps that’s why I could hear so clearly the sound of the animals, their squealing cries, the breathing and panting.
Mithra: This long and thin one comes from the arm, and the short one is a rib bone…
This large shard was part of the skull. It looks newer than the others.
Chloe: These bones look like they could be from the same clutch as the animal we were chasing…?
Akira: Murr… Where did you find these?
Murr: Just a bit up the mountainside! The ambiance is kinda different there though.
I’ll show you the place, so come along!
[ Mount Guren - Mountainside ]
[ BGM starts ]
Akira & Chloe: No……!?
Rustica: This is all rather…
We followed Murr by broom until we reached an open stone field a short way up the mountain.
There was neither hide nor hair of any living animal before us. The barren state of affairs made the landscape look like it had been simply abandoned. All that was left were white fragments.
Mithra: Ah, I knew it. They’re all animal bone.
They’re not that old or anything though. If I had to pin down a timeframe, I’d hazard it’s only been a few months since.
Murr: Doesn’t seem like the skeletal remains were simply worn down by time then.
There’s traces of blood and flesh still left on the bone, and from that we can deduce… that whatever this creature used to be, had its skin and flesh forcibly ripped off its bone, else it wouldn’t result in something like this.
Looking across the stone field, I noticed that it wasn’t just one or two skeletons. There were skeletons in all sorts of shapes and sizes, like they’d all been subjected to an untidy feasting and then left cruelly scattered into many, many pieces.
Chloe: Some of these bones are as large as a cow’s… Does that mean there’s a predator here capable of eating all of this?
Akira: All the animal friends we’ve met so far seem like herbivores though…? Still, it’s plausible there’s a more fearsome animal around here somewhere.
Rustica: We cannot discount that possibility, but even so, the sheer number of bones is……
Cain: There you are, Kenja sama! You’re with the others.
Owen: What’s this place? There’s bones everywhere.
Chloe: Oh, hey everyone!
Oz: What happened here.
Snow: Kenja, Chloe, you two don’t look too good.
Akira: Umm, so here’s the thing…
I gestured to our surroundings and explained everything.
After listening to me, everyone exchanged glances and then their brows furrowed and the expressions on their faces turned cautious.
next episode →
[ Swoosh… ]
Mithra: Look, we’re back.
Akira: I-I thought I was going to die out there…… I didn’t think we’d literally go halfway up a volcano and then dive into the sea…
I wheezed, trying to steady my breathing as I recovered from the sublime views I’d just seen. It’d been an exhilarating escapade that was way more realistic than any of those 4DX rides.
My knees gave way, and I folded uselessly onto the ground. Nonchalantly, Mithra glanced down at me.
Mithra: Are you already nauseous from just that? What a weakling you are.
More importantly, now that I’ve done all the sweating and cooling you prescribed, I wonder if I’ll be able to get a good night’s sleep.
Mithra stretched and then flopped over onto a large, black slab of rock.
Saccie wriggled itself dry by his feet, shaking out the seawater that had soaked into its fur.
As the warm breeze blowing down from Mount Guren tousled Mithra’s hair, I crawled across the ground to sit by his side.
And then, just like him, I cast my gaze up to the skies.
Akira: Ah, what clear skies…
Mithra: Yes, the weather’s nice. Is this what they call an ideal day for a vacation?
Akira: Ahaha, it seems so. It sure feels good looking up at the Northern skies on a beautiful day.
It’s just so much more vividly blue, compared to the other countries. It just feels so much bigger and brighter.
I took a long and deep breath. The Northern air here was fresh, with none of the usual icy bite to it.
Akira: (When I first heard of this place, it sounded terrifying, but in reality, besides for that ordeal just now…)
(It’s rather strange to just kick back and relax like this. It’s nice though.)
Akira: … I had no idea there was a place like this all the way in the North.
Mithra, you said you’d honed your magic here, so I couldn’t help but wonder, how long ago was that?
Mithra: Who knows… It was too long ago for me to remember it very well.
But it feels like it happened when I wasn’t even a hundred years of age.
Akira: Isn’t that fairly young for you?! Ah, no, young is…?
Is ‘young’ the word to describe someone who’s under a hundred years old… Man, I guess I’ve already gotten used to how it’s like for you all……
Mithra: I was just like a child. At that time, as part of learning how to use magic correctly, I was dragged along everywhere throughout Northern Country…
And this was one of the places that she brought me back then.
Akira: You mean, to fight the djalgr?
Mithra: Yes. It was quite the formidable opponent. It had been the first time I encountered something quite so massive…
I spent a fair few days here battling it to the death.
Mithra tilted his face to look upwards at Mount Guren, which was puffing out black clumps of smoke in the distance.
In the reflection of his green eyes, I could see the reflection of the red magma flows. Yet those eyes were also brimming with the nostalgia of the memory of an old playmate from bygone days.
Akira: (The fight between little Mithra and the monster, djalgr, was surely a fierce and magnificent one…)
(The way Mithra talks about it, it somehow feels like he’s opening up to share these memories of his distant childhood with me…)
They say that wizards of the North communicate via a clash of might.
I’ve spent days observing them at the manor and at various locales for missions. On one hand, it’s like playtime for them, but on the other, it really does look like they’re genuinely trying to kill each other…
I’m sure that little Mithra was also doing his best to kill the monster while still happily playing around.
Akira: (giggles)
Mithra: What are you laughing at?
Akira: It’s nothing. I was just thinking about how you must have always been this indomitable.
Also, I’d like to thank you for telling me about the encounter you had here, on this very same land.
Did you manage to defeat the djalgr, Mithra?
Mithra: ………
Mithra did not immediately give me an answer.
Just like how he had looked back in his room the other day, the blue skies were reflected in his irises, and his gaze slowly wandered as he tried to recall the details.
Mithra: I think I most likely did not defeat it.
Akira: What…?
Mithra’s answer came as a surprise to me. It might’ve been a recounting of what happened long ago, sure, but presently, in terms of power, he was the wizard second only to Oz. It was shocking that he’d say that out loud.
Mithra continued to lie back against the rock bed. Wearing an expression of displeasure, he stretched a hand out to reach up to the skies above.
Mithra: My memories of that time are spotty. Even now, I can’t recall them in vivid detail.
But I don’t remember turning it to stone.
Akira: … Mithra, you’d said that you had something you forgot about that was related to this place, didn’t you?
Maybe that’s, you know, related to what happened during that encounter—
[ Rustle… ]
Chloe: Murr, it’s over there~!
Murr: Hold it, staaaay~!
Rustica: Ooh, what swift legwork. The rocky landscape poses no challenge to it at all.
At that moment, I heard energetic voices come from behind me.
I turned around to see a rabbit-like creature dashing our way, and right before us, it sprang up into a mighty leap.
Akira: Ahh…!?
Mithra: Hn?
The rabbit that was in mid-air a moment ago landed on Mithra’s stomach and promptly curled up in a ball of fur.
It let out something of a little sigh, and that drew Saccie’s curiosity. Saccie pushed its snout closer to give the rabbit a good sniff.
Akira: (stifles a laugh) Fufu… Nice catch, Mithra…
Mithra: Please do not laugh weirdly at me.
Akira: I’m sorry, it was just so… adorable… (stifled giggle)
Murr: Kenja sama, Mithra!
Chloe: Soooorry! We were trying to catch that little one, but it ran right towards you guys.
[ Chloe CG ]
Akira: Whoa, that’s a large animal…! Was that big guy lurking around too?
Chloe: Mhm! It started lurking around here when I was at the grill.
I don’t think it likes meat very much, so I gave it some vegetables, and then we became friends…
W-Woah, hey, that tickles!
Akira: It’s all over you, Chloe! You two sure are fast friends. I’m happy to see that you’re all making the most of your vacation here.
Murr: It’s tons of fun~! Mount Guren’s the best!
I’ve had so many opportunities to play around with the local wildlife, and I’ve made wonderful progress with my exploration and specimen collection!
Look, I’ve even managed to find something like this!
Akira: Isn’t this… a branch? No, it’s got something over it…?
Mithra: Isn’t that a bone?
[ No BGM ]
Chloe & Rustica: A bone…?
Mithra: Yes, it’s an animal bone.
Mithra pushed the rabbit off of his abdomen. With his long fingers, he began to inspect the items Murr had laid out on top of the rock he was resting on.
I could hear the sounds of volcanic smoke spewing out of the mountain in the distance, but perhaps that’s why I could hear so clearly the sound of the animals, their squealing cries, the breathing and panting.
Mithra: This long and thin one comes from the arm, and the short one is a rib bone…
This large shard was part of the skull. It looks newer than the others.
Chloe: These bones look like they could be from the same clutch as the animal we were chasing…?
Akira: Murr… Where did you find these?
Murr: Just a bit up the mountainside! The ambiance is kinda different there though.
I’ll show you the place, so come along!
[ Mount Guren - Mountainside ]
[ BGM starts ]
Akira & Chloe: No……!?
Rustica: This is all rather…
We followed Murr by broom until we reached an open stone field a short way up the mountain.
There was neither hide nor hair of any living animal before us. The barren state of affairs made the landscape look like it had been simply abandoned. All that was left were white fragments.
Mithra: Ah, I knew it. They’re all animal bone.
They’re not that old or anything though. If I had to pin down a timeframe, I’d hazard it’s only been a few months since.
Murr: Doesn’t seem like the skeletal remains were simply worn down by time then.
There’s traces of blood and flesh still left on the bone, and from that we can deduce… that whatever this creature used to be, had its skin and flesh forcibly ripped off its bone, else it wouldn’t result in something like this.
Looking across the stone field, I noticed that it wasn’t just one or two skeletons. There were skeletons in all sorts of shapes and sizes, like they’d all been subjected to an untidy feasting and then left cruelly scattered into many, many pieces.
Chloe: Some of these bones are as large as a cow’s… Does that mean there’s a predator here capable of eating all of this?
Akira: All the animal friends we’ve met so far seem like herbivores though…? Still, it’s plausible there’s a more fearsome animal around here somewhere.
Rustica: We cannot discount that possibility, but even so, the sheer number of bones is……
Cain: There you are, Kenja sama! You’re with the others.
Owen: What’s this place? There’s bones everywhere.
Chloe: Oh, hey everyone!
Oz: What happened here.
Snow: Kenja, Chloe, you two don’t look too good.
Akira: Umm, so here’s the thing…
I gestured to our surroundings and explained everything.
After listening to me, everyone exchanged glances and then their brows furrowed and the expressions on their faces turned cautious.
next episode →