Chapter 3: Gallar Blue
Is this the Gallar Blue Temple?
Looking around, the walls were crumbling and parts of the ceiling were missing. However, the area around the magic circle had been cleared of debris and rubble, making it clean. Perhaps when the monsters attacked, the survivors desperately cleared away the rubble, believing help would come.
“W-why is Sensei here?”
I turned towards the voice to see Kimijima standing there, her face pale.
“Kimijima. It’s okay, let’s go where there are people.”
“Where people are…? W-what’s going on? Where are we?”
I tried to reassure Kimijima lightly, but she was in a complete panic.
Kimijima didn’t know where we were. But judging from her reaction, she might have had a vague sense. I hesitated for a moment before speaking… but I had to tell her. I looked straight into Kimijima’s eyes and mustered up the courage to say:
“This is the Gallar Blue Temple. A city that was destroyed by the Monster Parade about fifty years ago.”
“…You’re… joking, right?”
“…It’s the truth.”
I stumbled over my words, not knowing what to say to the dumbfounded Kimijima.
Of course, Kimijima and the others must have heard about this catastrophe when they were given explanations about this world. There was no doubt about it, given that Kohinata had manipulated the stone tablet to set this as our destination.
I told her to hide in the shadows for now, but Kimijima clung to me, desperately asking questions.
“W-what about Domoto? What about the temple teachers? They’re coming, right?”
“No… No one is coming.”
I could only shake my head in response to Kimijima’s plea-like question.
“But… Sensei… was just a mob character…”
“That’s…”
“I heard that the Gallar Blue Temple… the livable area retreated nearly a hundred kilometers during the Monster Parade… A hundred kilometers!”
“We’ll escape no matter what.”
“…It’s impossible… Impossible…”
“Let’s try, okay? Before we give up.”
I waited for Kimijima to calm down behind what was left of the wall. I felt frustrated at my inability to say something comforting in times like these. While pondering what I could say, I adjusted the sword Domoto had given me at my waist.
When I opened the scabbard’s mouth, I could feel that it was quite similar to the swords I had handled in Japan. The resistance of the habaki felt right too. Satisfied, I practiced drawing and sheathing the sword several times to get a feel for its length. While the short sword was easy to handle due to its maneuverability, the long sword gave me a sense of security.
“What are you doing?”
Kimijima, who seemed to have calmed down a bit, asked as she watched me fiddle with the sword.
“Domoto gave me his sword when we came here. I only had a short sword, so he must have been looking out for me.”
“Domoto did?”
“Yeah, I’m sorry I couldn’t bring everyone. But I intend to do everything I can.”
“But…”
Looking at Kimijima, it seemed she had cried and felt a bit better. Or rather, her expression was closer to resignation. Still, I asked about her equipment and usable magic to get a grasp of our situation.
Kimijima’s weapon was a short spear. She had practiced naginata at a dojo run by an old woman in her hometown until middle school. Because of that, she had obtained two otherworldly skills: “Kendo” and “Naginata”. She thought she might be better with a longer spear.
“What kind of magic can you use? I’m completely useless with it.”
“The magic I had the highest aptitude for was plant manipulation. But it’s not suited for combat.”
“Not suited for combat? Well, we just arrived in this world and haven’t climbed the ‘ladder’ or whatever at all. Trying to attack with magic now wouldn’t make much sense, would it?”
“Then what should we do?!”
“Shh. Don’t raise your voice too much.”
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I calmed Kimijima as she started to get agitated. I understood all too well how she felt like exploding in a situation like this. Kimijima seemed to understand too, as she quickly quieted down.
“Listen, if you can manipulate plants, maybe you can hide us with vines and weeds, or mask our scent with flower fragrances.”
“Hide?”
“That’s right. Fighting should be our last resort. We’ll move quietly, trying not to be noticed by monsters. We’ll aim for places where people are. Isn’t that a good use for your magic?”
“Without being noticed by monsters…”
In reality, I didn’t know what kind of senses the monsters had. But if there was magic that could help us hide even a little, it seemed like it would be effective.
Then, trying to cheer Kimijima up, I took out a portable meal from my bag and handed it to her.
“Sakuragi and Nishina shared their portions with me.”
Hearing this, Kimijima hugged the packet tightly. After a while, as if she had made some decision, she put it in her bag. Kimijima had chosen a shoulder bag.
While glancing at Kimijima, I took out the map from my backpack and opened it.
“It’s morning now, so the sun should be… that way. Which means…”
It might be quite rough, but I estimated our general direction by looking at the sun’s position.
Staying positive. I smiled and made plans to give hope to Kimijima and myself. To be honest, the map was more like a world map showing two continents. It didn’t show detailed terrain. But right now, this was our only hope.
“How about it? Let’s start moving when you’re ready.”
While exploring our surroundings, we began to look for an exit from the building.
There must have been a prosperous city here originally. This place is a bit north in terms of latitude. The towering trees scattered about are mostly conifers. Although weathering had begun over these fifty years, many parts like the stone pavements still resisted the encroachment of greenery.
Looking closely, the ground was covered with a material similar to degraded asphalt. This is a world where transferees from various worlds gather. That’s probably why various technologies have been brought together.
Looking around, mountains can be seen to the north. The upper parts are quite high, with patches of white snow visible here and there. This place might be at a higher altitude than I thought. Rather than the stifling heat of a Japanese summer, the temperature feels crisp and pleasant, like when climbing a mountain.
I thought we’d be thrown into a place crawling with monsters, but I can’t sense any monsters nearby. Even when I strain my ears, it’s silent, as if we’re in an uninhabited forest. Only the sound of our footsteps echoes in the surroundings.
…Still, this is terrible.
There must have been quite intense battles here at the time. There are even destroyed barricades here and there.
“What’s this? Did a bomb fall here?”
As we walked, we came across a place with a large crater-like hole. It looked as if the surrounding buildings had been blown away. Weeds had grown in the hole, and the remnants of buildings blown away in a circular pattern gave a sense of the magnitude of the impact at the time.
As I peered into the hole, I noticed two places where the ground seemed to have collapsed, leaving gaping openings. Perhaps there was a shelter underneath. As I approached, I could hear a faint “trickle trickle” sound of water flowing.
“What could it be? An underground water vein?”
“I-I don’t know!”
“R-right…”
Kimijima must be on edge too, her response coming out a bit forceful. But she quickly softened her tone, as if realizing she had been too harsh.
“B-but… There’s nothing… here, is there?”
“You’re right. If there are no people, there’s no food… maybe that’s why.”
Still, as we proceeded trying to make as little noise as possible, we came out to a large plaza-like area. Perhaps it was the central part of the city. In the middle of the plaza was a fountain, and water was still trickling up, as if the mechanism was still working.
Around the plaza, there were lamp post-like pillars surrounding the fountain, some still standing.
Maybe the underground water vein we saw earlier was bubbling up here.
As I started to walk towards the fountain, Kimijima suddenly grabbed my sleeve. When I turned to look at her, she was desperately pointing towards the fountain.
What’s that? At first, I thought it was a rock or debris, but looking closer, it was moving slightly. It looked like a hippo-like creature with its rear end facing us and its head submerged in the water.
I hurriedly pulled Kimijima into the shadow of a building.
“S-sorry, I didn’t notice…”
“W-what is that? It was drinking water, wasn’t it?”
“I don’t know… But that must be a monster.”
“A monster…”
I peeked towards the fountain again, but it didn’t seem to have noticed us. Of course, we decided to slip past this area quietly.
Having seen what looked like a monster for the first time since coming here, I hid in the shadows and took deep breaths desperately. As usual, I quickly regained my composure.
Alright, I thought, about to move, when Kimijima grabbed my arm tightly. Clinging to me as if pressing her body against mine, Kimijima was shaking, her face pale.
“It’s okay. It hasn’t noticed us.”
I gently patted Kimijima’s head, whispering, and urged her to move away from the plaza.
We desperately tried not to make any sound as we entered an alley behind the plaza, carefully moving along the wall. As I moved, I kept touching the sword with my left hand, as if seeking reassurance from it.
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