◆ Chapter 22: I Wish Someone Else Knew How I Feel

 

 

 

◆ Chapter 22: I Wish Someone Else Knew How I Feel

 

“THE dragon is nowhere in sight, m’lady!”

“Good! Then let’s hightail it outta here before the miner zombies catch up!”

We scramble out of the dark cave into the sunlight. We weren’t in there more than an hour, but it feels like an eternity since I was last outside. As much as I would love to rest, the zombies are still an immediate threat. After making sure the dragon isn’t around, we resume running to escape the miner zombies.

“Th-Think this is far enough…?” Exhausted, Rosso flops down on the ground after we’ve run for a while.

If it wouldn’t dirty my school uniform, I would be all for rolling in the grass and leaves right about now. Nady comes up beside me and puts her arm around my shoulder to support me.

“Are you all right, Mizuha?”

“Yeah, thanks. You—seem like you still have plenty of energy to spare.”

“I was trained to run through forests and mountains…”

Sounds like a Spartan upbringing to me. I won’t judge if it’s a good or bad way to bring up a kid, but at least all that training is paying off right now.

At any rate, I’m surrounded by people with serious stamina, including Nady, Iris—who is intently staring at me with a euphoric smile—and a completely unfazed Lex. Rosso is the only normal one.

“Our destination is near here, so this is a good spot to collect ourselves,” Lex says, looking into the distance.

Trees span out in every direction. I have no idea what he’s looking at, but I hear running water, although it was hard to tell at first because heavy panting drowned out the sound. We seem to be close to the water source.

Knowing we don’t have far left to go has the curious effect of giving me an extra energy boost. The rush of water grows louder as we advance. We pass through the trees that had formed a sort of natural gateway into the next area, and we’re greeted by a lake that reaches farther than the eye can see.

Looking to the far left, I see water overflowing from the many rugged rocks in the ground. In Japan, there are places where several tons of water pour out daily, and this spot is comparable to that. It’s continuously flowing into the lake.

“It’s amazing…and reeks…”

“Iris believes her goddess should spit saliva right now.”

“Please don’t place your hands under my mouth. I’ll spit directly into the water, thank you.” Am I the only one who doesn’t want to touch other people’s spit? No, the majority of people think that way. Repulsed by Iris’s disturbing fetish, I redirect the conversation toward Lex. “I just have to purify the land around the spring, right?”

“Yes, m’lady. That should do the trick if Master Pino’s experiments are anything to go by.”

It doesn’t matter how clean the pooled water is if the water flowing into it is infected. Pino did a bunch of experiments to solve that problem. Like Lex and I just discussed, purifying the land around the spring source should purify the spring water in the process.

“The only catch is that the purified state can only be maintained by a holy flower, but the purifying effects of the flower dwindle with time,” Lex points out.

“In other words, it’s a race against time. Everyone, face the other way. No looky-loos. You hear me?”

“Loud and clear. Please don’t mind us.”

Everyone offers the same assurances as Lex, so I immediately start the purification process. After purifying the surrounding area by wetting the ground, I spit into the lake. I hear a droplet hitting the water. As the ripples spread, the poisonous color instantly turns a crystal clear blue. The lake’s purification is completed in the blink of an eye. Clean water flows from the spring without issue as well.

“You can look now! …Ugh.” I go ramrod stiff when I turn around. The others are scooping up the purified lake water and drinking it from their hands.

“Freshly made holy water is exceptional,” Lex remarks.

“I’m alive again! My throat was hella parched!” Rosso exclaims.

“Incredible. So this is how purification works… It tastes amazing too!”

“Goddess! My goddess’s… Glub, glub, glub!”

Everyone looks so refreshed their exhaustion is nowhere to be found. There’s nothing better than for them to be reenergized. However, I wish they understood how I feel watching them drink from what I just spat in. For now, I settle for pulling Iris’s head out of the water and shoving the traumatizing incident out of my mind.

“All that’s left is planting the holy flowers nearby and we’re finished, right?”

“Yes, m’lady, that should prevent the surroundings from rotting.”

“Let’s hop to it then. Help me out, guys.”

Everyone takes a holy flower out of their bags and plants them all over the ground. It doesn’t take a lot of effort, so the job is completed without a hitch.

“The floodgate is the only thing left,” I say, dusting the dirt off my hands.

“The other side of the floodgate connects to the Noor River, which gently descends the Bebetor Mountains. And this side connects to the Cladorca Canal.”

As I listen to Lex’s explanation, I look at the two floodgates built at the edge of the lake. Both seem to have a mechanism to raise and lower the wall. The Cladorca Canal side is slightly down, while the river side is almost halfway down.

“I wonder if this is how they have always had it set to stabilize their water supply.”

“I heard from Master Pino that even taking a minuscule amount from here is more than enough to supply their whole city.”

They probably came up with this idea after desperately thinking about how they could live comfortably with the technology available to them. My world is more technologically advanced, but I honestly don’t know how most of it works. The floodgate is a fairly simple mechanism once you figure it out, but I’m genuinely impressed by what it can do.

“And now we are going to flood their city with it.”

“Yes, m’lady. We will fully open the Cladorca side and close the river side.”

I can’t imagine what an entirely flooded city will look like. Even though it’s for saving people from being zombies, I have mixed feelings about causing a disaster like this.

I can’t stop now though.

“This next part takes physical strength. Sir Rosso, may I ask for your assistance?” Lex asks.

“Sure thing. Time to put the last bit of elbow grease into it.”

I guess we’re going to start opening and closing the floodgates now. I roll up my sleeves, saying, “Let’s do this,” but Lex stops me.

“Please rest, Lady Mizuha.”

“Why? I know I’m not that strong, but the more help the better—”

“We left our horses behind, which means we have to run as fast as we can down the mountain. I suggest you recoup as much stamina as possible.”

“Ack… Good point. I g-guess I’ll take you up on that then.”

Putting up a strong front here and becoming a burden to them later voids the point. I feel bad for sitting this one out, but I’ll leave it in their capable hands.

Lex smiles at me, then adds, “But it might be tough with just Sir Rosso and myself, so may I ask for your assistance as well, Miss Iris?”

“No. Iris wants to stay with her goddess,” she declines on the spot.

I bet Lex brought Iris along for this one job, but his gamble backfired. He directs me a look that pleads with me to do something about it.

“I’ll give you more head pats if you help out.”

“I’ll do it!”

Making her help with a simple reward makes me feel a tad guilty, but since she’s happy about it, it can’t be such a bad thing.

Meanwhile, Nady has walked over to Lex. “Excuse me, Sir Lex, but I would like to assist as well. I believe I have enough strength to be of service.”

“Thank you for your offer, but please rest, Lady Nady. You should reserve your strength for when we need it most,” Lex says, his eyes on the bow hanging from her shoulder.

Vanquishing the dragon is to be handled by the Lucors with the main force. But we might randomly encounter it again. Lex wants Nady ready in case that happens.

“…I will do that then.”

Lex nods to Nady, then enters the stone building built next to the floodgate with Rosso and Iris. The mechanism to control the floodgates is inside.

“Is it really okay for me to sit this one out?”

“Lex said it is, so don’t worry about it. Besides, I feel bad being the only one who gets to rest, so I’m glad you’re with me, Nady.”

The floodgate on the canal side moves while we’re chatting. It slowly descends, and the sound of rushing water increases.

“Look, Nady! They’re lowering the floodgate.”

The gate continues to slowly come down until it locks in place, and the dammed-up water aggressively spills out with tremendous speed. The water roars as it cascades through the opening.

Because of the distance to Cladorca, it’s impossible to see whether the water arrived safely from here. But the momentum is so strong, it’s a sure bet to flood the city.

“Wow! It’s more powerful than I thought.”

“I wonder what would happen if you closed this side without closing the river side…”

Nady and I are worried about the same thing, but everything is going according to plan. Even more water rushes into the canal once Lex and the others completely close the river floodgate. The sound is so intense it’s almost as if there have been constant thunderclaps.

“…This will definitely flood the area,” I mutter with my cheeks twitching.

“Y-Yeah. I wonder if the buildings will survive…”

Japan, where I’m from, is an island nation surrounded by the ocean. I’m all too aware that water poses a terrifying threat unlike anything else. Water rushing in on a city with strong momentum can easily bring down buildings. I wish we could’ve avoided this path, but we are doing it to purify Cladorca. Besides, buildings infested with zombie rot will eventually have to be knocked down and rebuilt anyway. We simply sped up the process… Yeah, I’ll just keep telling myself that.

Nady and I are watching the tumultuous water with bated breath when we hear footsteps behind us. Lex and the others are back.

“The plan went well, m’lady.”

“Yeah. Frighteningly well,” I respond and gasp when I glance behind me. Rosso looks like he’s about to faint and I can see the whites of Iris’s bulging eyes.

“I didn’t think it’d be that heavy…”

“Goddess, pet me…pet me…”

“G-Good job, guys.”

Those were huge gates holding back all this water pressure. I doubt it can normally be moved with the strength of just three people. Rosso and Iris’s fatigue is to be expected. Only Lex, who looks completely unfazed, is a superhuman monster.

Speaking of Lex, he’s staring into the distant sky. I follow his gaze to the setting sun.

“We don’t have much time. I’m sorry I can’t let either of you rest… We need to make haste down the mountain and regroup with the main force.”