Chapter 47 – Deception.
Currently, Usher and Belka are having a late dinner with Donnar’s group. I didn’t have to go looking for it, I ran into them on my way to eat, and I ate with them, whether I wanted to or not, but it wasn’t too bad. It was better for him to be with Donnar, the one he was most familiar with.
“It’s because I have something to check, but what are you guys doing so late?”
“I have a little business.”
Usher evaded Donnar’s question. He even asked the girl not to reproach him anymore, although something unpleasant was about to happen. For some reason, he seemed more frightened than he was about to do such a thing, so he didn’t even think about telling anyone. If it happened one more time, it would be a different story.
“I don’t think you guys have anything to do. What’s the job?”
Donard said so without bothering to ask them. Usher had a rough conversation with him, then took a cooked fish from him and took a big bite.
“By the way, these fish have a rather peculiar taste.”
“Fish?”
And at Usher’s words, Donnar put on a strange expression.
“Yes, because it feels like I’m grilling and eating something like a chicken, pheasant, or bird rather than fish.”
Usher didn’t notice that his expression was strange, and he was wondering about the taste of the grilled fish for dinner tonight. It didn’t taste like fish at all, but the texture, like eating bird meat, was strange.
“I would have thought there was a place other than the Holy Land where fish could be called fish.”
When Usher, who finally sensed something strange about Donnar’s words, looked at him, his expression revealed through the visor caught his eyes.
“Why are you looking like that?”
“You, no, nothing.”
He shook his hand and tore open the freshly cooked fish. Thinking about how many he had eaten this time, Usher wondered.
“But I can’t see any water around here. Where did you get all these fish from?”
The number of fish served as a meal was more than enough for the people here to eat. He wondered where all these fish came from, as they seemed to be okay even though they were eating a little more, like the welcome food that people hadn’t eaten in a long time.
“Oops, just in case.”
Donard muttered something, but it was so low that he couldn’t hear it.
“Where is it? I caught it in the sky.”
“Yes?”
Usher stared blankly at him, not knowing how to react to his words that continued after a brief sigh. He said he caught fish from the sky. What kind of buzzing noise is this? Usher thought he was making fun of him.
“Or where do you think all these fish came from?”
“That’s why I found something like a lake nearby.”
“If you’re talking about Oasis, I bet you’ve never seen one while driving a wagon.”
In Donard’s words, finding an oasis while roaming the wilderness is said to be a great fortune that can be called a miracle even if you find it once in a lifetime. There are many stories of people saying that even the oasis they found quickly disappeared due to natural factors such as sandstorms, and even if they went looking for an oasis there again, they could not find it again.
“Even in that oasis, there is only water, but fish don’t live well.”
It’s just that things like groundwater come up from time to time, so it seems that it’s not a good place for fish. And he pointed to the sky.
“Look at the sky. Don’t you think something has changed?”
“Uh?”
Usher, who followed his words and looked up at the sky, made a dumbfounded noise. There was a huge barrier in the sky that I remember not seeing a single cloud. It was not an illusion. A huge wall of clouds that shines as white as unstained cotton in the moonlight, making one wonder why it was discovered just now. Who was the huge wall of clouds in the sky built to block? If it wanted to block people, it should have been built on the ground, but the barrier of pure white clouds that started from a not very high sky and eventually did not take root on the ground soared up to the invisible lofty sky below.
Is it only high? It wasn’t even that. It is seldom seen from either side. I could vaguely feel the curved shape as if drawing a circle, but that huge barrier makes even the existence of the curve faint. It was a huge, white barrier that no matter how hard people tried to build a wall the same size as that one, they couldn’t build it. As he stared blankly at the majestic and beautiful sight, Donard, who had eaten the entire grill, said,
“How is it, isn’t it nice?”
He said it was a sight he would never get tired of seeing, and Usher agreed with him.
“These fish live in the sea of clouds formed like that.”
However, it is said that the fish caught this time are not perfectly caught there because they have not yet fully entered the sphere of influence of the sea of clouds.
“Then how?”
“Observe more closely.”
As I followed his words and looked at the barrier of clouds, I realized the existence of small shadows that escaped and reentered between the barriers. The shadows are so small compared to the huge barrier that you cannot see them unless you narrow your eyes and focus. Then, seeing the shadows that had completely escaped the barrier and wandering around the night sky in groups so clearly visible, I realized that the outlines of the shadows were almost identical to those of the fish I had seen in the forest. It felt a bit more spacious though.
“As you can see, sometimes it pops out of the clouds like that and then goes back again.”
During the day, the sun’s rays are so hot that they don’t come out very far and come out infrequently, but at night they come out so often. The fish they are eating now is the same thing.
“But how do you catch that thing in the sky?”
“Usually, I catch floating stones with a hanging net.”
“A floating stone?”
Another unknown word appeared.
“It is literally a stone floating in the sky.
Even the people who stopped by the village had heard many stories about the outside world, but the story of stones floating in the sky was a story that Usher had never heard before. It was while Usher was concentrating on Donnar’s story, thinking that there are really many wonders out there. As the story came to an end, I felt a small force pulling at the hem of his clothes. He wasn’t strong enough to pull him back with certainty, but he was able to turn him around.
“…Usher, I know that.”
The girl was wearing a mask, but Usher was aghast at the sulking expression that could be felt through the mask. Her girl seemed to be pouting, probably because she had asked her many other questions of her that normally she would have asked of her. Watching the pouting girl and Usher comforting her, Donnar laughed. Then he raised his head and looked up at the sky where the white giant wall stood. Wonderful and majestic at all times, the wall of clouds is formed in many places around the world.
No one knew the detailed reason for the sea of clouds, but it was true that fish that could be food lived and those clouds that sprinkled rain had a great effect on people’s survival. For that reason, cities and countries are usually built near that sea of clouds. It was a story that their destination was not far. Their hometown, Paciphenia, was also near a sea of clouds like that. It was a pleasure to taste fish after a long time, so people’s dinner took longer than planned.
However, no matter how long it was, the end came eventually, and I saw those who took the children to the wagon while preparing for the trial one by one. It is true that the contents of the trial are inappropriate for children to hear. As an exception, these children decided to watch the trial. I understand that feeling.
“It’s not even a grandiose trial.”
Yeah, it wasn’t a grand trial. The circumstances were clear, he and Sif were witnesses, and Truth makes no excuses. Above all, due to the nature of the guild, the trial cannot be prolonged, so even if there is insufficient evidence, the guild must make a decision. Ermis, who was in charge of the top liquor, had a gentle personality, so he just wanted to find more solid evidence. There was no one who did not know that this trial was held as a formality. It was a time when I was watching the preparations for the trial with a bitter heart. What caught his eyes was the look of a boy familiar to him.
“Huh? It’s Rogi, right? You haven’t returned to the carriage yet, what are you doing?”
Being a mischievous kid, he was often scolded by Donnar, so he was one of the most memorable children. Almost all the other children went back to the wagon. I’m watching it because I’m curious as to why it’s still there. I looked around and saw him looking where Donar was. But he didn’t seem to be looking at him.
“Aha, was that thunder-naked guy also a prisoner after all?”
Following Rogi’s gaze, he was heading towards Belka with Usher. It wasn’t anything particularly strange. That’s because the girl’s appearance was fatally beautiful. And even a mysterious atmosphere that makes you want to hold on to her involuntarily. It must have been enough to capture the heart of an immature boy.
‘The biggest obstacle is always by my side, I don’t know if it’s possible.’
Was it because her Rogi tripped over his own feet the first time they met? Or did she intuitively recognize that she was a nemesis? Donnar remembered Usher, who was especially wary of Rogi. The two even had a big fight about what happened yesterday. When Donar smiled, expecting that he would become a tough first love for Rogi even though he grew up fighting with other children.
“Donar!”
He heard someone calling him. Looking back to where the voice came from, Shalby was approaching him calling out to him. What’s so urgent, running fast.
“What’s going on? You’re running like that.”
Donar asked with a curious mind, since Shalby, who has a calm personality, is not in a hurry to run. Even when she felt her doubts grow bigger as she looked around first before answering his words. At his whisper, Donnar hardened his face.
