Filled with Many Meanings, a Bow of No Meaning

With the rising sun at my back, I was running.

West, further west, I was running straight on.

I came out of the forest, crossed a river, and before I knew it, I was running across a grassland I didn't know the name of, one that went on forever.

I was running at full speed.

I wonder how much time has passed.

The dark sky has turned a lovely blue, and the sun has already made its way close to the zenith.

“......Hah, hah, hah......”

Feeling tired after all, I slow down in spite of myself and come to a stop.

In the summer heat, the sweat pouring off me won't stop.

Wiping my forehead, I look back toward the village...... toward the east.

They're not, coming after me.

<......Well, you did keep running for nearly half a day. You shouldn't have to worry about being dragged back to the village anymore.>

“Hah, hah...... haah......”

Bending over with both hands on my knees, I catch my ragged breath for a while, then raise my face again.

I'm exhausted.

Of course, at times like this, not a single breeze will blow for me.

It's hot.

I'm thirsty.

I try to gather water in my palm with 【Water Collection】, but whether it's because the air is a bit dry or my magic power control is erratic, it doesn't work well.

After a lick of the water I'd finally gathered, I started walking unsteadily.

◇ ◇ ◇

It was about 30 minutes after that when the sound of trickling water reached my ears as I walked slowly through the grassland.

In spite of myself, I rush over, and what's there is a small spring and a brook.

The water welling up from the spring is pure and clear, and very beautiful.

In spite of myself, I go to dive in, but a voice calls out to stop me.

“Ga...... goaaaaa!!”

When I turn around, what's there is a turtle so huge it looks like it could swallow me whole.

Not just its shell, but even its neck and feet are covered in something rugged, like ore.

Actually, it had been flickering in and out of my field of vision, but since it wasn't moving, I'd just ignored it.

<Th, this is the Tezonka Turtle's...... mutated variant!? Please be careful, Emi! This turtle's shell is said to be harder than any ore, with a defensive power that......>

“............”

It was noisy, so I punched it with all my might, and the shell shattered into pieces.

The turtle was blown away and died.

<......it's supposed to boast, but well, this is Emi we're talking about...... I suppose something on this level can't even be called an opponent for you anymore, ufufu......>

Omake-sama is laughing, sounding somehow happy.

But more important than that, water, water.

I want to drink water.

I dive into the spring with my clothes still on.

The cold water cools down my body, which had been flushed from running.

It feels great.

I gulp down the water just like that, then use 【Peel】 to remove the dirt from my body and clothes.

The dried blood clinging to me peels away, and the spring turns a murky black.

I float on my back, bobbing in the spring, and blankly gaze at the white clouds drifting across the blue sky.

“Shumimimimi...... shumimimimi......”

From the grass around me comes the cry of some insect I don't know<That is the cry of a snail called the Shumicappe.>Seriously? ......A snail's cry? That's, what I hear.

It's a cry I used to hear in Grounoddka Village too.

........................

<H, hey, Emi...... you aren't thinking that you want to go back to the village, are you?>

......No way.

I told you, right? I'm done with being brainwashed.

But.

But, even though I was brainwashed...... probably, it was because I was brainwashed, I guess...... the villagers there were kind to me, you know.

When I think about how I just left those people behind and ran away alone, it's just......

I feel kind of sorry.

<........................>

........................

<Hey, Emi. If you punched them, would the brainwashing, come undone?>

Eh? That's impossible.

I mean, if a normal human got punched by me, they'd die, you know?

<I thought so. Then it's impossible. Emi, you cannot break the villagers' brainwashing.>

......Hey, don't talk about me, like violence is all I'm good for, come on......

<My apologies. But you can't do anything about that village. That is a fact. There is no use fretting over what you can't do. It may be hard, but please, draw a line under it.>

........................

<........................>

........................I see.

<............Yes, that's right. Let's forget about that village. I'm sure the villagers have already forgotten about you too.>

........................I wonder.

<Even the death of the old woman they must have spent so many years with quickly sank, for the villagers there, into something ‘trivial’. Your existence is no different.>

........................I guess so.

<Surely they have already forgotten you too, and even now, unchanged, they are happily spreading their wheat fields.>

........................‘Happily,’ huh......

◇ ◇ ◇

Pyuu, one gust of wind blew.

Feeling it brush against her wet face, Emi finally realized that her body had become quite cold.

With a zaba zaba, she swam to the edge of the spring and slowly hauled herself out.

She shook her body like a dog to shed the water, then cast 【Desiccation】.

With the help of the sun's power, her body dried in an instant.

“............”

Emi turned her face toward the direction she had run from.

What she saw there was the grassland stretching on forever, and the summer blue sky.

Now, not even a shadow of the forest or the village could be seen.

But.

But, she bowed her head.

She bowed her head and remained still for a while.

It was a bow, filled with many meanings.

But it was a bow, with no meaning at all.

But.

But, that was the only thing she could do.

Next is the final episode of Arc 8.