Erika had a clearer view of her future after her talk with Tabitha. Like a fog had lifted from her eyes, she finally knew what her real ambition was and that tingling feeling she had when she realized it was not a lie. Still, that wasn't enough to trigger her awakening. She still lacked the drive, the catalyst, that Marian mentioned. 

She needed something to act as the catalyst, perhaps emotion, but she had no idea where she could find such a thing.

The village was peaceful, and nothing happened. Every day moved like clockwork. If she wanted a catalyst, then going outside the village was her best bet. To do that safely, though, she first needed to have awakened an ability. It was a cyclical dilemma she couldn't find a way past.

Racking her head about that problem, she left Tabitha's house and headed toward her thinking place: the fields. As soon as she arrived, A fluffy ram ambled over, nuzzling her hand. "Sorry, no salt this time," she said, rubbing its horns. "I'll bring a bit the next time I come over. Maybe."

Salt was expensive. They had to import it from outside the village.

The ram butted her a few more times insistently before finally stopping when it realized that she wasn't going to give in. It didn't leave, though, but lowered its head and began to graze, looking over every so often as if waiting just in case she really was hiding a treat. Erika sighed helplessly.

Suddenly, a loud bang sounded in the distance, high in the sky. It wasn't thunder; it didn't sound nearly as sonorous. Erika scrambled to her feet while the ram by her side skittered away in surprise at her movements. 

Did it not hear the explosion?

Erika looked in the direction of the source, and in the forests of the west, a red light flickered and faded, falling apart in tiny crimson sparks.

Something in her howled, pulling her. The light called her, and she felt the same feeling she got from the monsters and Marian's ability from the crimson sparks. A small flame seemed to flare to life within her.

West… West was the direction that Marian went!

Erika took off sprinting, leaving the fields behind, and headed for the western entrance to the village.

"Where are you going, running so fast?" a villager called behind her, but Erika didn't answer. As she passed a few more houses, more people idling on the streets asked her the same question, but her mind was already jumbled.

No one else knew what was happening. If they had, they would not be asking her those questions! They'd instead be heading in the same direction she was. 

She was the only one who saw and heard the mysterious explosion, but she had no idea what it could be. However, she still felt uneasy, and her heart raced. It wasn't just from the running.

Erika skidded to a stop at the edge of the village, just behind the fairy rings. She couldn't take another step forward. She felt multiple presences in the forest, most of them crushing against her, hostile, and bringing terror to her heart. However, one of them was different. It was the same feeling that Erika felt when Marian used her ability.

Slowly, Marian's presence moved closer to the village, but the other presences seemed to be trying to obstruct her. 

Monsters— There was no other explanation for those terrifying presences.

Erika knew that she had to help Marian somehow, but she had no idea what she could do. She was just an ordinary village girl! 

Even if she gathered all the men in the village, they still wouldn't stand a chance against so many monsters. It seemed to be a miracle that Marian was still standing while holding off so many by herself.

Besides, even if she could rally the men, what would she say? "I saw a red explosion that none of you saw, so you have to go into the dangerous forest and fight some monsters." They'd probably laugh her out of the village or lock her somewhere until they were sure that she wasn't possessed by a demon of madness.

Erika rubbed her hair. Why did she have to be the one to see it anyway? That strange howling and tugging within her… It's like the red light was calling her soul.

Her best option was to just sit tight and pretend nothing happened and simply let Marian die, but Erika refused to even consider it. She owed Marian too much to even consider the idea of being a bystander. 

But no matter how much she wanted to help, she was powerless.

Before Erika realized it, she was standing in front of the inn. She needed to get the other travelers to help Marian. She charged up the stairs, her calves burning, but when she ran into guest rooms, all of them were empty. The beds had been made and sheets changed, ready for other guests.

The travelers were nowhere to be seen.

As Erika rushed into the kitchen, she almost bumped into Ronja.

"What's the rush?" the woman asked, steadying her, and Erika was almost too out of breath to speak.

“Ronja, do you know where the other travelers are? You know, the three that came in a group.”

“Them? They left this morning after breakfast. Why?”

The world spun around Erika as she almost fainted from the despair that flooded over her. No wonder the travelers didn’t respond to Marian’s call; they weren’t even here. But what about Marian? She was still in danger.

The smell of the boar meat cooking in the kitchen wafted over, and an idea came to her. It was stupid, and t was suicidal, but it was still a plan when she had no other options. 

"Ronja! Can I borrow a wheelbarrow, that big boar's skin and fur, and some of the meat? I promise I'll pay you back. If I can…!"

Ronja looked at her, confused, but when she saw the panic on Erika's face, she nodded. "Sure. What do you need it for, though?"

Erika shook her head. There was no time to explain. "Thank you, Ronja!"

Next, she found rope sitting around in the inn's storage, which she used to tie chunks of leftover boar meat together inside the barrel. The meat smelled strong, and while the crushing presence that monsters exuded was no longer rpresent, she could still sense the vibrant life essence that made monster meat so much more valuable than normal coming from the flesh.

The plan was, without a doubt, the dumbest idea she ever had. It wasn't even a plan, really; it was just something she thought of out of the blue while desperate. But she didn't have any better ideas.

It occurred to her to question why exactly she was putting in so much effort for Marian, but she couldn't answer it beyond "to return a debt." If Marian died now, then what Erika owed her will never be returned. She still remembered what Marian said about eventually seeing her outside of the village.

It was a silly thought. Foolish. Utterly stupid.

Yet, Erika was pushing that wheelbarrow loaded with skin, meat, and rope toward the western entrance of the village.

As she used all her strength to keep the cart moving, ignoring the gazes of the people around her, she saw a familiar figure running toward her, calling her name. She didn't even need to think about who it was. It was Ian.

She bit her lips and ignored him as well. But even if she ignored him, he wasn't going to let her go quietly.

"Erika, what are you doing? I heard the others talking about you!"

Erika kept pushing. As Ian came closer and reached out with a hand for her shoulder, she whirled around and swept his hand away. "Didn't I say to leave me alone? Don't touch me! Not now!"

The fury in her voice, amplified a hundred times by her impatience, sent Ian recoiling. For a moment, Erika had a moment of peace and quiet away from Ian's presence, but it did not last long. With a look of pain and sadness at her hostility, Ian came closer again. He kept a certain distance away but hovered around her.

"Alright, alright, I won't touch you, but can you at least tell me what you're doing? I can help, maybe…."

"…Please?"

"…Just give me a chance to make things right!"

Like a fly buzzing around her ear, Ian continued to pester her. Normally, Erika would have gone home or to Tabitha's and closed the door in his face, but she couldn't this time. Ian knew that too, and he became more and more suspicious.

He was not usually this insistent, and even Ian sensed that something was different from usual.

"How far are you going to go? Where are you going?"

Erika didn't answer. They were almost at the edge of the village now, and Ian's face paled.

"Erika, you…!"

She stepped out of the boundary of fairy rings and into the forest, doing her best to ignore Ian. However, while words were easier to ignore, it was much harder to do so when Ian jumped at her and grabbed the handlebars of the wheelbarrow. The cart veered and almost flipped over if it wasn't for Erika doing her best to keep it upright. 

"Ian, what the hell are you doing? Let go!"

"No, what are you doing, heading off into the forest?! Don't you know it's dangerous in there?!" he cried. The muscles on his thick arms bulged and strained to keep his hold on the cart while Erika tried to push him away. He wouldn't budge no matter how hard Erika tried.

She was weak; she couldn't even help Marian when Marian needed her. Tears flowed to her eyes.

"Let go! She's going to die! I need to help her! Ian, please!"

"Who is 'she?'" Ian demanded. "That traveler? It's that traveler, isn't it? Since she arrived, you've been acting strange."

"No, you're wrong!"

"What thoughts did that woman put in your head? She's the one that made you want to leave, right?" As Erika clawed at him, trying to pull him away from the cart, Ian began to untie the rope tying everything in the wheelbarrow down. No matter how hard Erika tried, Ian simply held her at arm's distance while he dragged out the pelt cover off the barrow and tossed it onto the forest floor.

"Please, stop!"

"In that case, it's good that she dies!"

Something in Erika snapped at those words. A thread— a string inside her had been pulling tighter and tighter with everything that Ian said and did, and finally, it broke. She gritted her teeth, red mist filling her eyes. "You don't understand! Leaving has always been my dream! 

"I hate you, Ian! I hate this village! You're always trying to control me, telling me what I can and cannot do, and I already did my best to be what you wanted me to be! I can cook, I can sew, I can garden. I can do all those and more, so why do you have to make all my decisions for me?! Why won't you let me do what I want?" she screamed.

All of the feelings she had repressed burst forth and focused on Ian, whether or not it was his fault. He was her only outlet.

With strength she had never felt before, she shoved at Ian and sent him sprawling. Surprise filled Ian's eyes as he fell back, but she couldn't care less. "Don't follow me anymore! I mean it. I won't listen to you! I-if you do… I won't hold back!"

Anger simmering in her, Erika righted the wheelbarrow that had topped over when she pushed Ian. She gathered everything that had fallen out, wasting precious minutes where Marian could be getting hurt, and put them back inside. After checking that nothing was missing, she set her mouth in a firm line and began to push the wheelbarrow.

The wheels dug into the soft ground, but she managed to move the wheelbarrow with surprising ease.

For a moment, Ian laid there on the ground behind her, dazed. But as Erika's figure began to disappear into the darkness of the forest, he jumped to his feet and followed her.

"Erika, wait!"

Ian's voice sent a sharp pain shooting through Erika's head. She winced. Her breathing grew faster as Ian's loud footsteps grew closer and closer. Once more, his hands reached out toward her, and before he could touch her, Erika whirled around, her eyes red.

She slapped aside his hand and kicked out at him with all her strength. Ian's eyes bulged, full of disbelief that she would actually kick him. That surprise remained on his face as he staggered back, hands on his stomach until suddenly his eyes rolled up into his head, and he collapsed on the ground folded in half in a pile.

Erika stood there, breathing hard. Her hands shook until she clenched her fingers into a fist and dropped it to her side. With one last breath, she turned back to her wheelbarrow and continued her way.

"Sorry, but don't blame me."