I was tossing and turning around in my sleep and didn’t feel myself drifting off to a very comfortable sleep, nor did I remember having any dream before the blaring sound woke me up with a start.

As I processed my memories and recalled things such as who I was–no, haha, it’s not the time for me to be having any identity crisis, right?!

Anyway, as I collected myself again, I noticed that the blaring sound I heard before was Ein’s magical device that he brought to tell the time, that he set in advance to give notice to us when it was near dawn. 

 

“Maiara-san, Escha, are you two awake already?” 

Soon after I realized what was going on, Ein’s voice resounded. 

“Hmm? Ah, yes…,” I quickly answered.

“We’re getting ready now.”

Contrary to my half-asleep voice, Maiara’s voice was clear as if she hadn’t just woken up.

As I noticed Maiara who was already fully dressed to go outside once more, I swallowed any intention and words of complaints I might have in me.

I need to be more like her! I am already an adult for the second time, I can’t slack off!

 

I quickly got up and just as I was about to prepare…

“Eh? Where is Kuu-chan?!” I noticed that Carbuncle was not inside the tent.

She’s supposed to be resting after her turn, right?

I quickly went towards the tent’s opening and put my head through it so that I could see the outside and–

“What do you mean by ‘I was about to wake up but when you told me to wake up, I decided I probably should continue sleeping’?! It’s about dawn! Hurry and get out so we can tidy this tent up!!”

 

…I didn’t know that Clavis could yell at the top of his lungs like that…

“Quit yapping, won't you?” Carbuncle said.

“Grrr…!”

Ein shook his head as he approached Clavis and tapped on his shoulder. Clavis turned around to look at Ein.

“Let's just leave her be. Debating with her will only make it worse,” Ein said.

Clavis tried to calm himself down before agreeing with Ein and started not minding Carbuncle at all and proceeded to tidy up what he could. 

Sure enough, before long, Carbuncle went out of the boys’ tent and walked to the girls’ tent’s direction as she yawned.

Clavis stared daggers at Carbuncle as she passed by without even turning to him. 

 

As Carbuncle entered our camp, I also turned around to prepare myself. But before that…

“Kuu-chan, why were you in the boys’ tent?!” I asked.

“Oh. They are men, right? I figured they should be gentlemen and watch over together while letting me sleep there. If not, the three of us here… Isn’t it gonna be so cramped?” 

As Carbuncle said those words, I gazed to see the interior of this tent.

“...” It’s spacious enough even with the three of us, but… 

Rather than debating with her, it’s best to just agree with her and leave it be, yup.

I could understand both Clavis and Ein’s feelings now when they were dealing with Carbuncle…

 

After that, we quickly prepared ourselves wordlessly and walked towards the waterfall.

As we approached the waterfall, the sound of the water was getting bigger and bigger…

“Uhh, so… we… really have to go through… this?” I stuttered as I pointed towards the raging water that was the waterfall. 

For some reason, I felt a bit scared. Is this really fine?

Maiara laughed a bit before she answered, “Yeah. It’s fine. Its stream is just a bit more intense than the usual waterfalls we usually use during Purgatio, so it’s going to be fine.”

“...”

I paused.

What is Purgatio, again?

Why is she saying it as if it’s something normal?

 

As I began to sweat in my nervousness of not knowing what Maiara was talking about, our savior–the one and only–spoke to my rescue.

“Escha had drowned before, so she hasn’t been doing Purgatio for a long while. She’s better now, but still a bit scared, as you can see,” Ein calmly fabricated a lie. 

“Y-yeah, sorry…,” I quickly went along with the lie that Ein had fabricated for me.

“Ah, is that so? Poor girl…,” Maiara looked at me with concerned eyes.

“I’m fine! Fear is something to be conquered, after all! …But maybe I will go after someone has gone in first,” I first said bravely with my fist in the air, before slowly decreasing the clarity in my words and also putting down my fist.

“Alright then,” Maiara nodded. 

 

“Okay, let’s go!” Carbuncle excitedly readied herself to run through the waterfall, but…

“Hold on, not now. Wait until the first ray of sunlight hits the waterfall,” Maiara grabbed Carbuncle’s shoulder to make sure she didn’t run off before the right time.

“Aww, okay…,” Carbuncle slouched her back in disappointment.

“It will be soon,” Maiara said. 

So, all of us stood in front of the waterfall and waited until the sunrise.

As the sky gradually turned its hue to a lighter color, the sun peeked in slowly from the east, and finally, the first ray of sunlight hit the waterfall.

I twitched my eyes and focused real hard to see if there was any sign that this was really the sign and the right time and place. Eventually, I noticed that there was a sliver of gold shine from the waterfall, as if responding to the first ray of sunlight.

The others also seemed to notice this as I could hear faint sounds of surprised gasps that we couldn’t help but let out due to our awe. This was our first time witnessing something like this, after all. 

 

“That’s our cue. Now, we can go through the waterfall to find the hidden portal. There isn’t much time, so let’s go,” Maiara said as she walked closer to the waterfall, leading all of us who obediently followed behind her.

We’re going to enter the lake, is it going to be fine?

I thought to myself as I followed behind Maiara who was steadily walking towards the lake and the waterfall.

Perhaps it’s fine since it isn’t as deep as it seems like?

Just as I thought Maiara was about to submerge into the lake with no preparation and was worried because of it, I was surprised to see her walking on the water just fine?!!

 

All of us gasped in awe and stopped just before the lake.

Maiara didn’t notice it at first and continued to walk. But when she noticed, she turned around in confusion.

“It’s fine, just follow me. The magic’s activated on the path I walked on, so you’ll be fine.”

She said, seemingly noticing our concern.

 

We proceeded to walk on the path that Maiara had walked on. 

As Maiara had said, we really didn’t fall into the lake or get drenched by the water. As I experienced it myself, it felt as if we were walking on a glass floor. However, that glass floor was invisible…

Then, Maiara passed through the waterfall calmly.

We stopped once more, this time in front of the waterfall. 

“Wait, we’re going to get drenched then, aren’t we?” Clavis asked.

As of now, some of the water from the waterfall fell onto us, as if it was drizzling…

“We can just dry it with magic,” Carbuncle responded as she jumped straight into the waterfall, following Maiara.

“This is the only time I agree with what she said. C’mon!” 

“Wait–!”

But I was too late. Carbuncle had already gone in and ran straight through the waterfall.

 

“Tsk, tsk. Double C are rash, huh? As expected of a dragon and a beastkin, don’t you think? But worry not, Big Sis Lyra. I just happen to have an umbrella that we both can use so there’s no need for us to get drenched at all.”

Ein said as he opened an umbrella.

The ones left behind were now the two of us. 

“Wanna walk together?” Ein asked as he smiled.

“Uhm…,” I hesitated as I took a look at the umbrella, then towards the intensity of the waterfall, then at the fragile-looking umbrella, and…

“Can the remaining two please hurry up? The portal is about to close.”

Maiara’s voice could be heard from the other side, but it seemed to have gone through some sound amplifying magic as it seemed to not be bothered by the sound of the waterfall and could bypass through it clearly.

Yeah, it doesn’t seem like the umbrella can withstand the waterfall, so…

“Big Sis Lyra?” Ein peeked a bit towards my direction.

It was at that time that I finally decided.

 

“No need. The umbrella doesn’t seem to be strong enough to withstand the water. I’ll just cover myself with magic and go.”

Before I even finished my sentence, I had already covered myself with my magic and as soon as I finished my sentence, I ran through the waterfall.

And thus I completely didn’t catch Ein’s response, “Uhm, Big Sis Lyra, this is another magical device…”

 

I went through the water, unsure what I was expecting to see. I guess I kinda expected to find myself at the Vittae village or near it, but it didn’t make sense how Maiara’s voice could still be heard…?

Thank goodness I didn’t have to wait for too long to find out.

“L–Escha, are you okay? Are you not cold–huh?” Clavis’ voice made me open my eyes.

I noticed that I was in some kind of a cave with Maiara, Clavis, and Carbuncle. The waterfall was right behind me. It felt surreal as from the outside, it didn’t seem like there’d be a cave here…

“Dang, why didn’t you tell me about this trick earlier?! Even Maiara didn’t tell…!” Carbuncle clicked her tongue as she noticed that I was dry.

“I genuinely forgot to tell you guys, I thought you’d know what to do…,” Maiara looked like she was remorseful.

“You both bolted in here without waiting, why is that my fault?!” I puffed my cheek as I was also angry at both Carbuncle and Clavis for rushing off without waiting for me.

 

Oh yeah, what about Ein?!

I turned around to look beyond the waterfall when suddenly, someone passed through it with ease.

It was none other than Ein, who just walked in with the same frail-looking umbrella above his head, completely unscathed. 

Whoa, the umbrella really could protect Ein from the waterfall?! I mean, look at him, he’s dry…

 

“...! Why didn’t you say it earlier?!” Clavis seemed really upset when he saw Ein leisurely walking, still dry. 

Ein slightly took out his tongue and said, “Well, I wouldn’t want to have a fly when I’m holding this umbrella for Big Sis Lyra—”

“Who are you calling a fly?!” Carbuncle got agitated.

“But I passed through the waterfall on my own, using my magic to prevent myself from getting soaked,” I scratched my head. 

“...Right,” Clavis seemed oddly calmer after I said those words.

“You’re dry too, what’s the matter?” Ein feigned ignorance.

“That’s because I had already dried us up…,” Carbuncle said.

 

“Alright enough talking, let’s step to the portal before it’s too late,” Carbuncle reminded.

“Right!”

We all quieted down as we followed Maiara’s lead once more.

We didn’t even walk far enough before we found ourselves in front of a dead end.

But before the dead end, there were two old pillars that seemed like it’d crumble with a slightest bit of touch…

Just as I was thinking of that, I saw Maiara touching the pillar!

Blue light glowed from the cracks of the old pillar, spreading its way to the cracks of the ground, to the pillar on the other side, and to the wall that blocked our path.

A gust of wind and sprinkles of water could be felt suddenly, coming from the glowing light all around me.

Then, all of a sudden, several dancing forms could be seen right in front of me.

The glowing light changed colors several times that matched with the forms displayed in front of me.

From the imagery we all were seeing, I could somehow understand that it was telling us a story.

 

“The world… Gods… A goddess.. A village… Worship…,” Ein muttered.

“This is the tale of how the Vittae village came to be,” Maiara explained.

“Is this illusion magic?” Clavis asked.

Hmm, it seems like an illusion magic, but I feel like it’s different…

“It’s water! The water that comes out of the cracks, the wind, as well as the light… It’s a water play!” Carbuncle deduced.

“Correct. They could just use illusion magic, but they came up with this marvelous idea,” Maiara commented.

“How about the teleportation portal? When are we going to be teleported?” I asked in curiosity as I continued to watch the story that the water play wanted to tell us.

The imagery now showed a baby that had a peculiar mark on their arm. Then, it showed the mark in full. Afterwards, came the imagery of life blooming.

This must be something about how a saint will be born in the Vittae village, blessing them with life…

 

Just as I came to understand what the imagery was all about, suddenly the gust of wind and the sprinkles of water grew intense as the imagery faded, splashing all of us with water.

My eyes!!

I literally just blinked once, and when I opened my eyes again, I found us already in another place, no longer inside a cave.

Yes, we were suddenly inside a forest…?!

Can my life please slow down for a bit?! I have a difficulty processing stuff for the last several days!!!