That's a village? I squinted my eyes— I could see some buildings just ahead of us. Unlike the villages or towns outside of the lands of Ard, this village had no walls— nothing
The air around us became tense; it was cutting my breath off… we should be able to relax? Right? Well… everyone else should, my cramping hasn't let up.
In fact, I had to take breaks more often due to them… which is normal to be honest. On a pain scale, they're definitely a ten. If I could go higher than a ten, trust me I'd have said it.
"How're you doing kid?" Shen had slowed her pace significantly. At first, she was leading our group, but James was at the front alongside Melinda. She's back in her old outfit.
Instead of a cloak, she held an umbrella; there was a cobweb design just below the canopy it created. Other than that, it was black with intricate design. She really loved that whole vampire-esque look huh.
I had my hand on my stomach for a while now— although my foot was healed, I couldn't walk for long due to this… Ahem, so I did respond.
"Terrible."
"Figured." Shen muttered before setting her hand on my head. "Get used to them, you'll live for a long time."
A warming sensation spread throughout my body, and the intestinal inflammation in my body reduced significantly. Without thinking I had to thank her… it wasn't piercing my body anymore, it just felt like a prick.
"Don't mention it. Just stay quiet here for a few hours."
And the downside of course. By now I expected the worst to happen later… I mean when does this life like to give breaks?
Paired with these memories and what's been going on? I'm surprised I'm not breaking down more often; of course I'm virtually… losing sleep at night. My mind keeps going until the moon has hit half way across the sky.
Every morning my bones creak and my head's foggier than the thickest smog during the day.
Sliding away from that, I tilted my head and gave Shen a smile. "Thank you either way."
"Don't mention it."
Shen retracted her hand which started smoldering due to the sun. A quick flick of her wrist and a blow on it— it was back to normal. Her white silky hand looked completely normal.
The moodiness I had was slowly going away— in addition to the slight fogginess. Then I closed my left eye… We were getting close to the village. I could see some people walking around.
Some of them saw us and started waving. Seems friendly, unlike everything before, ugh… Due to the pain going away in my uterus, we quickened our pace.
Just in ear distance now, I could hear the voices of those waving at us; an old man and an old woman.
"It's rare to see people coming from that direction!" The older man– a guy with a wrinkly face— somehow a very burly body, and a full head of brown hair shouted towards us. "Welcome! Welcome travelers!"
"You must be pretty tired traveling!" The old lady, his wife I presume exclaimed. Unlike his healthy form, she was slightly hunched over— the years were worn on her face, and her breath sounded airy. "Please take a stop here if you need."
James took a step back, I could see his head scan the area— his head turned a few degrees before responding. "Thank you… thank you— I have a question."
"Hm? What is it, young man?"
"How long has this village been here?" James's voice sounded firm— a slight deep echo was hidden beneath. "My party— excluding the two at the end are from Ard. We have never seen this village before."
Huh?
The old man clasped his hands, wrapped one firm arm around his wife and responded. "Seven years ago." His hand showed five fingers on one and two on the other. "This village has been here for seven years— Margrey and I run this village for Lady Lorraine."
Oh god… I don't want to hear a long story— it might actually put me to sleep! I could already feel the lead on my eyelids forming. I do-
"Alright. I think we should get going."
"Hold on, why don't you all stay a bit? I'm sure your party is exhausted from-"
Before I could comprehend anything, I felt a firm hand shake my shoulder. Shen looked directly at my eye, whispered into my ear, "make sure to wear these every day."
H-Huh- What ha-
Shen took a step forward, a necklace appeared in her hands and she pointed towards us. Someone yanked my arm and pulled me away.
"Yukina! Get running!"
"W-"
I felt every drop of blood turn ice cold— everything turned slow as I focused on Shen. She threw her umbrella towards the ground and a ruby sword formed in her hands.
"Want to say your true intentions?" Shen questioned them as she took a single heavy step forward. "Don't speak nonsense…"
"..."
Everything became a blur— all I heard was a sickening slicing sound— nothing else— I felt my body being pulled.
By the time I could think we were running. Running fast, someone was carrying me. I heard heavy breaths, and recognized the smell of this person.
Jin was carrying me— I felt his hand on my back and another under my knees. His face was completely drenched and his mouth was gasping for air.
What-
When I turned my head Verd was carrying his Sage.
What's going- They seemed-
"We'll…. Tell you… later…" Jin mumbled in between breaths.
"..."
Screams… multiple screams poked at my ears. I clenched my teeth when I turned my head; in just a few minutes smoke was pluming into the sky.
"Don't… look…"
Despite my curiosity, I listened to Jin's orders and turned away… We kept silent, I could only hear the huffs of the ones who were running.
I don't know what's going on— it's like they telepathically agreed to run.
*****
"Alright…" Jin coughed before setting me down. We were so far from the village
"We're good…"
"Mom, dad? W- what was that all about?"
"Don't worry about it."
Melinda was let down from James's arms— Allisa who was held by Shaun was set to the ground her face was full of fear. Everyone— mainly James, Verd, essentially every adult was panting hard.
"Everything's- everything is okay."
"Then why the heck did we run?"
"Yukina, you don't need to worry about it."
Then why the hell are you all freaking out?! Seriously?!
For literally the rest of the walk I tried pestering them— alongside Allisa to get answers to our questions. We couldn't get anything! Well, to be fair, I gave up pretty quickly. No use wasting my breath about it, still I was curious.
Reason being, I looked down at my hands and something wrapped was inside my hand. It was a small paper package, one that could fit in my new hands.
Honestly I could tell it was an uphill battle. Whilst Allisa did bother our parents, I started to unwrap this package.
When I carefully unwrapped this as much as possible.
Huh, they're, these are glasses. Just inside was a black framed pair of glasses. They didn't look much different than the glasses at home.
How are they supposed to hook onto my head?I don't have human ear- Oh.
A note?
[Make sure to wear these. They'll help you out more than you think. They'll hook onto your head through an enchantment. - Shen, The Cunning Fox.]
Huh.
Randomly, I heard James next to me. "She actually gave you them."
Well… Yeah, that's how Takeda's been. Always keeps his words…Let's try them on. After I nodded to James, I pried open the glasses. Will they actually help me? I still only have my good eye open, I can see through the lenses.
The ground looked normal with them facing downwards— there wasn't an alteration to the terrain or anything. In the end though, I just had to trust Shen.
"You gonna put them on or just keep staring at them?"
"Alright…"
With a deep breath, I brought them up to my face; there was a clicking sound as it attached to my "ear lobes". First, I tried taking my hands off and they stayed floating on my face.
So far so good.Now let's— huh? They- they actually work?
I opened my eye that was pretty much blind; I could feel my jaw drop as everything around me was crystal clear— there wasn't any blurriness… nothing- I could see.
Sure… sure it's only been a week to two since I almost lost all vision in my left eye. But I can see everything so clearly like before.
It felt surreal, and I couldn't help having a smile come across my face. My vision… Well, not a permanent solution is back for some time.