Chapter 12

"Mom, are we going to climb that mountain?"

Nona pointed to the direction of Mount Shibiru, which must have spewed fire in ancient times. Now, it is a lush, peaceful mountain with a broad base. How many kilometers do we have to go before we reach the waterfall? Well, I can only think that if Mr. Elmar can do it, I can too.

We are riding horses toward the waterfall. Nona is riding with the driver, Lead.

The slope gradually becomes steeper, and the rocks on the forest floor range in size from as big as a person's head to as large as a table in a dining room. Perhaps because few people come here, rabbits, foxes, and deer occasionally stop to stare at the unfamiliar intruders.

"Victoria, shall we have lunch soon?"

"Sure."

We decide to have a meal while letting the horses rest. Jeff slices the meat that we had grilled the day before. I mix flour and water and fry it thinly with olive oil. Nona chops the carrots and onions that we pickled two days ago. In our family, the rule is "those who can move, move when they can." Lead is taking care of the horses.

"Teacher, it's really convenient to move by horse like this."

"Yes, we couldn't carry so much food and equipment on foot."

"Alright, let's eat."

We wrap the hot, thin slices of meat and pickled vegetables in the flour dough, saying "hot" as we eat. The dough, which catches the juicy meat and pickled vegetables, is delicious. Lord Clark boiled water and made tea for us.

"Lord Clark, you're really good at making tea."

"Thank you. My mother always said that men should be able to make good tea, but watching Uncle, I realized that it's better to be able to do anything."

"Mom always says that it's more fun to be able to do things than not."

"Yes."

Eventually, we decide to abandon the horses and climb the slope on foot, and Lead returns to the stone house with the horses. We only told them that we would return in two days, whether we find anything or not.

Nona is in a good mood the whole time, humming a tune as she nimbly steps over tree roots and rocks. Lord Clark is walking energetically behind her, and Jeff is striding along, paying attention to our surroundings.

(I'm having fun. I'm glad I came), I feel like humming a tune too.

After a few hours of walking, Nona hears something first.

"I hear the sound of water."

Everyone perked up their ears at Nona's words. Indeed, the sound of flowing water could be heard in the distance. However, the sound seemed to be reflected by the trees, and there was no slope leading to a river nearby.

Still, everyone's pace quickened. Since there wasn't much time left before dark, we decided to head north rather than search for the river. As we climbed the slope and moved through the forest, the view eventually opened up.

There was a waterfall.

It wasn't a very high or large waterfall, but it had a steady flow of water. The pool at the base of the waterfall looked deep, and the water that flowed out from it carved a narrow, swift stream into the mountain.

The river we had been following had veered west, far from our route.

"I see. We couldn't use the river as a guide because of this. If we had followed the river, we would have had to go around the mountain."

"We reached the waterfall in the shortest distance by following Elmar's words."

"Mom, let's look for a marker."

"That's right."

Lord Clark took out a piece of parchment from his backpack.

"It only says 'Look at the wind, be brave,' Nona."

Saying this, Lord Clark looked at the waterfall. We all looked at it too. The waterfall, with its abundant water, was making a loud rumbling sound. The courage must be related to this waterfall.

At that moment, I remembered something important I had been taught long ago.

"Nona, there's one thing I need you to promise me. You must never, ever approach the pool at the base of the waterfall."

"Eh? Why? I thought if I jumped in with courage, I might find something."

"Just wait a moment."

I entered the woods and found a dry branch, which I broke with my sword. Holding a branch as thick as an adult's arm, I aimed it at the pool and threw it. The branch was pushed into the water by the waterfall and sank, then floated up and was sucked back into the pool, spinning around.

Nona and Lord Clark were surprised as the branch repeatedly floated and sank, eventually breaking apart and flowing out of the pool.

"Often, there are such swirling currents in the pools at the base of waterfalls. If you get caught in those currents, even the best swimmer will keep floating and sinking, and will drown quickly. So, don't get close to the pool."

"I understand."

Nona finally seemed to understand the danger of the pool. Her expression was tense.

In fact, I had only learned about the dangers of such pools at the training facility, and this was the first time I had seen such a swirling current. I can swim reasonably well because of my training, but I doubt I could handle such a current. It's wise to respect the violent power of nature and stay away.

Nona and Lord Clark searched the area for a rock with a marker, while Jeff went to look for something to eat. I took out the parchment with the cryptic message from my pocket and examined it.

The parchment had no illustrations, so I had to decipher the message from the text alone, but no matter how many times I read it, it made no sense and seemed to have no key to a code.

"Teacher, what's wrong?"

"This text doesn't make any sense, Lord Clark. I don't think it's related to the marker. I have a feeling the marker for the path to the crown of the fallen kingdom is something else."

In the end, we didn't find the marker that day, so we cooked and ate the food we had brought.

Perhaps due to the fatigue from climbing the slope all day, everyone fell asleep in their sleeping bags at night.

We had set up a thin cloth to protect us from the night dew and were sleeping in our sleeping bags under it. I got up because I wanted to try something.

The fire was burning well. Jeff and I had been taking turns adding wood, and I took one of the branches and walked toward the waterfall. There was one spot where the flame flickered violently.

During the day, I had only thought (there's a strange wind here), but with the burning branch, I noticed that there was one spot where the smoke was blown away forcefully.

There was always a slight breeze because of the waterfall and the river, but this spot was clearly different from the others.

"Anna, did you find something?"

"You scared me! Were you awake?"

"I'm not young enough to sleep soundly in a place like this."

"Cold wind is blowing from here. During the day, the wind was blowing in the opposite direction."

Jeff looked at the flame of the branch I was holding.

After staring at it, Jeff approached the cliff next to the waterfall and drew his sword.

"Stay back."

Saying this, Jeff started cutting the thick vines that were attached to the wall. There were sounds of slicing and cracking, followed by a hard thud.

When I brought the flame closer, I could see a wall of stones that clearly looked like it had been built by human hands. There was a gap about the size of two apples in the upper right corner of the stone wall, from which cold wind was blowing. The wind had been less noticeable before because the vines had hidden it, but now it was clearly blowing through.

"The stones are about the size of a door."

"From the way the vines were covering it, it seems like the stones have been there for a long time."

"Let's move the stones and see what's inside when the sun comes up tomorrow."

"Sounds good. Let's get some sleep now."

"Yes, you."

I lay down next to Jeff and added a dry branch to the fire.

"At the training facility..."

"Uh-huh."

"Today, when I saw the branch in the pool, I realized something I had been taught."

"Really?"

"The mission we were given was illegal, but there was something the instructors always kept in mind when teaching us children, and now I understand what it was."

"What was it?"

"I think it was simply 'don't die. No matter what happens, don't die.' The instructors always wished and taught us this."

My voice trembled again.

He was a man with an unremarkable appearance and glasses.

He had been injured badly during a mission and left the field, but he had been teaching the next generation. He must have seen many comrades and seniors and juniors die. Thinking about what he might be doing now, my chest tightened.