CARRYING my socks and loafers in both hands, I wade through the lake. I could tell just by looking, but the lake is ridiculously large. Pushing forward endlessly hasn’t brought the opposite shore into view yet.
Water that comes up to only your knees slows and weighs you down the more you walk in it. I’m athletic, but even my legs are starting to feel like lead. Fortunately, no matter how much I slow down, Lex’s back in front of me doesn’t move farther away. He seems to be matching his pace to mine. I’m of the opinion he’s a nice and serious person, though I have no intention of changing my first impression of him being a weirdo.
After about twenty minutes of walking, we finally arrive at the opposite shore. I flop on the ground like I’m falling over.
“I can’t go any farther! My legs feel like logs!”
“Shall we tarry a moment?”
“Please…”
I gaze up at the sky while stretching out my legs. The series of surprises I’ve experienced since waking up stopped me from thinking about it before, but how do I get back home? To my world? Even an optimist can see that this is a dangerous world in every sense of the word. I want to go home right now and live in comfort. The problem is that I don’t have the faintest idea of how to make that happen.
I doubt I’ll get the answer I want from Lex, but I’ll try asking…
“Hey, what would you think if I told you I came from another world?”
“That it only affirms you are our holy priestess.”
And that’s why I didn’t want to ask him!
To my great misfortune, he’s entirely useless when it comes to this topic.
“How long will it take to get to the castle from here?”
“We will arrive in no time if we take that path up ahead. It shouldn’t take more than half a day.”
The path Lex spoke of is located on the raised ground beyond the lake. It’s not a walkway paved with concrete or stones, but a dirt trail created by many feet traversing it over time.
Anyway, how in the world is half a day arriving in no time?! I think we have drastically different standards for judging distance, but maybe that’s just the way it is in a place where you can’t travel by car or train. I’m starting to think I should be glad our journey will end in half a day.
“It figures it’d be rotting here too,” I comment, glancing around.
Purifying the lake removed the horrid stench from when I first woke up. But a purplish fog is hovering over the mainland, making the air stagnant and foul. The bark is peeling off from the tree trunks near the path. Naturally, there aren’t any leaves on the dead trees, and many of them have snapped in half.
“The Dark Djinn’s curse was cast on the entire world. However, we no longer have anything to fear—for we have Lady Mizuha’s spit on our side!”
“For crying out loud, stop bringing up my spit!”
If he continues treating me like a real priestess, I fear rumors will spread behind my back that I’m the Holy Priestess of Spit! That’s the one thing I never want to happen. EVER!
My feet had dried as we bickered, so I put my socks and shoes back on. I want to rest longer, but I fear relaxing here too long will make me too lazy to walk later. I shove to my feet and dust off my skirt.
“Okay, I’ve rested enough. Let’s keep up the pace until the castle!”