Chapter 247 – Under the Sanctuary.
“I can go fishing now.”
As Usher ducked the girl’s greyness, Krikaliev raised his fishing pole and nodded her head in satisfaction. Seeing her like that, she suddenly remembered the food she had received with Erica, and he asked her.
“How did you get the food?”
Most of it had already flowed away, and not much was left, but what remained was what remained. Could I just throw it away? I thought about doing it, but I still can’t forget the sight I saw on the way back.
“That’s okay, since it’s not intended for eating.”
Saying so, Erica took her bowl and went.
“Isn’t that for eating?”
Krikaliev said she was puzzled because she had gone into a secret base before Usher’s question could reach her.
“I’m going to use it as manure.”
“Manure?”
“Did you eat anything yesterday?”
It reminded me of the mushrooms the size of a grain of wheat, which the girl had served me the other day and were so full that I could put them all on the plate. The popping feeling when chewing was a little different, but as I ate it, it broke into pieces and I could eat something like wheat dough with chewy taste. I could understand if it was to be used as manure, but the problem was when to eat it. It usually takes a few days for a plant to grow. At what age can you eat it?
“Isn’t it more nuisance than we thought?”
It was when they remembered how much they had eaten yesterday and wondered if they had unintentionally caused a nuisance to the girl.
“I know what you’re thinking, but I don’t think you’ll have to worry. If you spray it now, you’ll have one for lunch and one for dinner.”
“So fast?”
Contrary to what I thought, it was surprising that the harvest was very fast.
“It’s a characteristic of Laskippa.”
The overall growth rate is slow, but the rate of sprouting is fast, so you can cut it as it is and use it as stock, and even if you cut it, it will continue to grow and if you give it manure, you can continue to grow it and eat it.
“Why don’t you use it for serving?”
If the time to harvest was so fast, it could have been distributed to many people. It wasn’t like a mixture of such strange food scraps and inedible things.
“It’s not like I didn’t think of that either, but it’s impossible.”
But Krikaliev shook his head. It is said that Raskippa can be picked and eaten right away only when the buds have just sprouted. Besides, even if the sprouts are stored separately, half a day is the limit, so after that, they will self-destruct and cannot be eaten.
“Do you plant and grow?”
“Unfortunately, Laskippa can’t even plant new sprouts.”
To further increase productivity, the only option is to plant seeds that are directly disseminated by grown adults. The problem is that it seems to take more than 20 years to become an adult. After all, there was a reason why the food was the way it was.
“How did you get that, uncle?”
This place originally belonged to Krikaliev. If that’s the case, it must mean that he also saved Laskippa’s seed.
“I snuck it upstairs.”
“Upstairs…”
Usher looked up. Numerous gears were rolling there, casting cold light down through them. Did you say that the adults who were distributing the meals also came from upstairs? It was a fact that I kept forgetting, but this place was underground. If so, that place must be a place you must pass through to save Belka.
“Then how’s up there…?!”
I tried to ask how to get up there, but he was cut off.
“Hee hee, what are you talking about other than me?”
Because the girl’s tingly touch clung to his back. Erica, as if she had climbed back up before she knew it, was clinging to Usher’s back. Even before her touch had been forgotten, the soft touch was so stimulating that it was a struggle to quell her ever-inflating desire.
“Wait a little bit, I’ll catch something to eat.”
Krikaliev, either ignorant of his situation or pretending not to know it, took his fishing rod and sat down on the water’s edge nearby and threw the line he had dangling from it. Seeing that, Usher spoke hastily.
“Um, don’t we have anything to do?”
“Well, there’s not really. Instead, it’s dangerous, so stay away.”
Usher wanted to say something at his words to stay away for a while even though he seemed worried.
“Huh, then it’s like the two of us are together for a while, right?”
With her chin resting on his shoulder, Erica’s voice whispered in her ear, giving her goose bumps. It’s not that I feel bad, but I feel like I’ve become a herbivore that has encountered a hunter.
“What should I do?”
In particular, the feeling of her fingers poking and riding his arm like a person walking with the index and middle fingers intensified that feeling.
“Hey, is there an uncle here?”
“You can do it secretly.”
She reminded him that even if he was looking back to fish, Krikaliev was right in front of him, but he didn’t even bother. It was when she was trembling, shrinking her body as she climbed up his arm and finally his hand tickled her neck.
“Aha ♪ What did you expect?”
Erica’s breath in her ears made Usher blush. She couldn’t figure out why he was so helpless to her. She had never been like this to Luboshi, whom she met on her way here. The fact that she couldn’t say anything sternly was so dizzy and confused that it was hard to say. Fortunately, at that moment, the sound of splashing water wakes him up.
“Hey! I caught one!”
“Ooh, you caught it too soon.”
Krikaliev’s voice grumbled her, but Usher was very fortunate. If it took a little longer, she broke into a cold sweat at the thought that Erica might do something. When she turned her gaze away from her and looked at her Krikaliev, she saw her strange fish fluttering.
“What kind of fish is that?”
It was a large fish, as tall as Usher, but its flat body, with its shiny white scales, was so thin that it was barely visible from the side.
“…I don’t even know the requirements.”
“You say this is your hometown?”
“I’m not a master of all things. And there are so many kinds of guys living here that most of them eat them without even knowing their names.”
As they were contemplating whether to eat it or not, she opened her mouth as if thinking of Erica.
“I’ve seen fishermen take it, saying it’s something they can eat.”
“That’s fortunate.”
The fish was grilled and eaten in the kitchen of the secret base, but the taste was so subtle that it was difficult to describe. It wasn’t that it wasn’t tasteless, but the flesh was so crumbly that it didn’t feel like it had been chewed, and the occasional thorns were painful enough to pierce your gums if you accidentally pricked them. But even in the middle of it, Erica didn’t touch her fingertips with her fish.
“Hehe, I can’t eat something like this. I’m used to not eating breakfast.”
It was again. Again, a sense of deja vu touched him on the back of the back, but he shook his head and decided to attribute it to his mood. Otherwise, it seemed that she would never be able to turn away from the dull gray light that was pouring over her.
“So who did you sell all the junk you had here?”
After having a smooth breakfast, Krikaliev asked Erica.
“To the old man who used to come here often and hang around?”
“No, don’t you know his appearance and name?”
“Ugh, it was just jagged.”
“Hi and my God.”
Krikaliev touched his forehead at the unexpected difficulty. Erica tilted her head to see if she really didn’t remember, she was thinking but she couldn’t seem to think of it.
“Gee, that’s a big deal. I don’t know anything else, but I really need a self-supporting power generator.”
“Why?”
“Isn’t it because you need it when you go upstairs?”
Usher bit her lip at those words and asked the girl again.
“You really don’t remember?”
“Is it important to Usher?”
“It’s really important.”
When she asked, her gray light blinking, Usher nodded her head. So, she hoped Erica would remember quickly, but she shook her head even as she grunted and groaned.
“Ooh, I’m sorry. I’m not good at memorizing faces.”
“I can.”
He sighed and sat down. He has to go rescue Belka somehow quickly. He was in a situation where he seldom followed. So what should he do to get him to go upstairs? I looked at the walls in the distance with a frustrated heart, but I was discouraged because I couldn’t even see a curve that I could climb on that high wall.
“Still, he always visits me once a week. You don’t have to worry too much!”
Hearing Erica’s words again, she suddenly raised her head.
“When will you come in a week?”
“Eh, I came 5 days ago. Are you coming back in two days?”
Krikaliev thought about something and nodded his head.
“It can’t be helped. If we make a mistake, we might get mixed up, so it’s better to wait for the man here.”
In the end, he had no choice but to stay at Erica’s house for two more days, and Usher went with her to the place where she had received her food to return her bowl. Fortunately, the number of children who returned the bowls was still small, and none of them had quarreled with them, so I was able to quickly return the bowls and get out of there. She could have sent Erica alone, but no matter how she looked, she couldn’t send her girl alone in a place full of old, weird-looking adults.
“But why is Usher trying to go upstairs?”
Then Erica asked.
“Why does he go up…Why is that?”
Her real Usher couldn’t understand her asking such a thing any more. If it’s cold enough to make your body tremble just by standing there, it’s hard to find food, and you can’t even see the sky, don’t you usually want to escape?
“But people here don’t really want to go up there.”
Usher kept his mouth shut when the girl said that all she did was talk about how to make a living tomorrow and how not to starve. He only thought that he had to get out of this place as soon as possible and go to rescue Belka, but people were living their own way even in a place like this. Usher pondered what to say so she could understand, then opened her mouth.
“It’s because there’s someone I want to meet again.”
“Who do you want to meet?”
“Oh, my name is Belka…”
“Huh, are you a girl?”
Upon hearing her girl’s name, Erica opened her gray eyes and looked at him. Seeing that kind of jealousy, Usher had a good idea.
“He’s the one I like.”
Because she thought that if she knew she had someone she liked, she might give up. It wasn’t her, but she thought that she would be successful at the sight of Erica staring at him puffing out her cheeks.
“Chi, then does he like you too?”
“…Maybe.”
However, unable to speak confidently, Usher avoided the gray light that faced him.
“If you can’t be sure, why are you trying to save me?”
“There is something I really want to apologize for.”
“Did I do something wrong?”
“…Uh, really stupid.”
Even now, the last time I saw Belka was clearly visible. Even though she knew the girl still liked him, she stopped hurting her. Even though he was the one who threw her away for sacrificing and suffering for her, even though he decided to always be with her. Nevertheless, he came all the way here because he wanted to meet Belka once again.
“So I’m sorry. I can’t accept your feelings either.”
So, too, Usher wanted to let go of her hand that she had held her. If only the girl’s fingers hadn’t entwined his fingers and clung to each other. So when he looked at Erica, he was surprised to see a gray light with a warm light still looking at him.
“I think I know why Verdi likes you.”
“What is that…”
Usher wanted to ask what he meant, but he couldn’t. Erica started running somewhere while holding his hand tightly.
“Hee hee, I’m sorry, but I’ll take a little of your time. Then, while you’re here, you can make Usher fall for you, right?”
At the same time, Usher was dragged away without even thinking about resisting at the girl’s bright smile.
