Return of the Fallen Volume 2 Chapter 50
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Author: Blue_Rat
ch50
The villagers were at first hesitant to leave the cave. After all, once they left it would be nearly impossible to reenter with the void surrounding it due to the Magnitium barrier. Nunully convinced them though. With Mei and her mother dead, the harm from being turned and controlled by little Mei vanished.
Could they trust her 100%, no, but the fear of being manipulated and controlled was underweighted by the starvation they felt. Being so hungry that you contemplate eating the bugs in the dirt and then becoming so hungry that you actually eat the bugs in the ground. After that, you’re crying and gripping your stomach in pain at night, begging to the heavens above that you fall asleep sooner so you don’t have to feel that twisting empty agony in your gut.
At this point, with the promise of a small hill of food from Nunully and being told they can soon return to their village and live in their own homes again, these people truly wished that Nunully’s words were true and they bravely stepped out of the cave in hope.
Nunully and Sam stood in front of a large pile of meat and vegetables. As soon as the people saw this, their eyes glowed bright and a bit of drool fell from their mouths. The children were the first to run over jumping and shouting in joy.
“Yay! Yay! Food!”
“Mommy mommy, look, there’s lots and lots of meat.”
Some of the villagers wanted to attack the raw meat and devour it right then and there but they were swiftly smacked on the head.
“You big idiot, we have to cook it first or you’ll get sick.”
The crowd broke out in celebratory laughter.
Nunully smiled through her bronze mask.
(It seems these people went along with it, just like Ryuta said they would.)
Most of the meat was frozen in large stacks. Nunully had done this so the food wouldn’t spoil while it sat outside for days. Nunully placed her hand on a stack of meat and willed the ice before her to melt.
Sam was busy as well. Since the Acadian crystal that Tsura’s husband stole had not been found, the Magnitium within the entire forest was still being powered. Kazuki and Nunully’s estimates were around the same, and they figured the Magnitium would continue to be powered for another day or so if it was nowhere near a natural energy source such as a river or something like that. If they were right then the Magnitium void surrounding both the cave and the village would dissipate in that same time frame.
The two could tell they were right on track as Mei and Tsura had reported that they felt the void around the cave was shrinking just a day or so ago.
Still, if it was gonna be a few days, the villagers would need a few things. Sam continuously pulled at the ground and using his power he began to shape pots, bowls, cups, etc. To make a few of these would require as little as a few seconds but to make a few hundred…
*Phew*
After 45 minutes or so, Sam exhaled deeply. By the time he had finished, the villagers had already used some of the meat Nunully had thawed and cooked it over skewers. Sam sighed depressingly but he didn’t mind. Later on, they could still use all of these dishes how they pleased, it didn’t bother him too much.
With their job completed, Nunully wished the villagers a goodbye and turned to leave. A few villagers though who seemed desperate called out to her.
“Miss Nunully, please wait. What are we to do now? Chief Atoh had led us for more than 2 centuries but now we have no leader. What are we supposed to do now?”
Nunully wasn’t sure herself but following along Ryuta’s thought process she said.
“I don’t know but with the power of the Magnitium fading, very soon you and your people will be able to leave this forest freely. You all will need to have to come to a decision. Interact with humanity and reveal your true selves, interact with humanity and keep your Mangshi transformations fully hidden or hide yourselfs even deeper within this forest and never come in contact with people again. All of these decisions come with a risk of some kind but the safest one would be to stay hidden.”
The villagers all shared similar looks before the old lady said.
“I think our best option would be to hide once more. What does everyone else say?”
Murmuring could be heard amongst the crowd until one after another a voice of agreement stood out.
Nunully couldn’t tell them whether this was the right decision or not but there was something she thought she should remind them of.
“If that’s what you think is best, I will not speak badly of it. However, there is something I am curious about.”
“Yes, please speak.”
Nunully thought for a moment before she just honestly told them her thoughts.
“You say you will hide yourselves but I’m wondering what will you all do the next time a Mei is born into your village? What will you do when someone wishes to leave the nest once more and travel out of this forest. Will you stifle them, hold them back and try your best to keep them from leaving? I’ll be honest with you all, to try and bind someone against their will, well that will never work out. If I were you and another Mei appeared, I would simply wish them good luck and send them on their way in good spirit. Otherwise, won’t you all just be repeating history?”
The villagers went silent. The whole Mei situation was an absolute disaster and they all knew it. At the same time, none of them had even considered that another Mei would appear but as soon as Nunully mentioned it they all thought differently. If it happened once, why could it not happen again? Some of them really began to think deeply about it. Could everything have been solved had they simply let Mei and her mother and father go? Could things really have worked out that easily? None of them knew the answer but one thing was for sure. The way things played out this time was absolutely the wrong way to deal with the situation.
The old woman and the other villagers were indebted to Nunully and Sam and bowed in gratitude, wishing them a safe journey.
Nunully and Sam simply turned and left. There was nothing more to say nor do and with that, they made their way into the forest.
A few miles away, Nunully and Sam came over a small hill and were instantly greeted with a shout of joy.
“Mama mama, it’s them! Big sis and big bro are back. Look look, they’re on that hill.”
Mei was jumping up and down until finally she could no longer sit still and raced up the hill to greet them. Grabbing both of their hands she swung them happily while the three came down to the bottom.
Asuna smiled.
“Welcome back, did everything go OK?”
Nunully kept her mask on as she spoke, making Asuna wonder if it was a slight against her.
“Everything played out exactly as Ryuta said it would. By the way, where is Ryuta, I don’t see him anywhere?”
Asuna shrugged her shoulders but didn’t answer.
(Hmph, you don’t wanna remove your mask to speak to me then I don’t have any answers for you as well.)
Shin could see the tension and chuckled.
“Hahaha, Ryuta said he had something to take care of and he would meet us back here in a bit, that though was almost 30 minutes ago, so Asuna is getting worried as you can see.”
“Hmph, who’s worried about that inconsiderate…”
“Oh, so now I’m considered inconsiderate, haha. Well, maybe I am just a little.”
Kazuki stepped out from the trees and greeted everyone.
Asuna became slightly red, however, since Kazuki admitted himself that he was inconsiderate she didn’t feel guilty calling him that.
“Just where have you been all this time, huh? We were starting to think something was wrong.”
Kazuki smiled and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.
“Haha, well I had to pinch a loaf.”
Asuna’s face which had only become slightly red a second ago flushed a deep crimson.
“Wha wha wha…What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you telling me that?”
Kazuki’s face went blank.
“Eh, but you just asked me, didn’t you?”
“You freaking idiot, I asked where you were, not what you were doing. If I wanted to know about that…I, I…no what am I saying, I would never want to know about that.”
Asuna could see that everyone was staring at her as though she were odd and she quickly turned to leave.
“Let’s…Let’s hurry up and go. I don’t want to be in this forest for a second longer than necessary.”
Kimi giggled slightly and caught up to Asuna.
“Hahaha, Asuna, it’s okay to be interested in your man’s bodily functions. It’s only natural for those you like right?”
Asuna who was originally walking suddenly started to speed walk while shout/whispering to Kimi behind her.
“Whose man? Him, no…no way.”
Mei ran ahead as well and was laughing joyfully next to Asuna.
“Haha, big sis, why are you so red thinking about big bro’s poop.”
Asuna punched the top of Mei’s head and ran forward. Mei gripped the top of her head in pain and rolled around.
“Ow ow ow ow ow ow, big sis you meanie!”
Tsura walked over and helped Mei up.
“Mei, you shouldn’t invade someone else’s conversation so easily, especially adults, it’s considered rude behavior.”
Tsura grabbed Mei’s hand and dragged her along.
Everyone began to go ahead while Kazuki slowly followed behind. Shin laughed at Kazuki for a moment before whispering.
“Hahaha, so what kind of stomach problems do you have?”
“Stomach problems, who says I have stomach problems?”
Shin laughed even harder before walking forward.
“I say you do, why else would your hands smell like blood. 30 minutes is a long time to be crapping, don’t you think?”
Shin laughed some more before running ahead to tease Asuna and Mei.
Kazuki’s eyes narrowed as he stared at Shin’s back. He rubbed his ring with his thumb for a moment.
(Shin, sometimes you are clever. It’s not like I could have told them the truth especially in front of Tsura and Mei. Were they to know I just got finished butchering Tsura’s husband’s corpse and taking his Beast core, well, that would not be a good start to our relationship.)
Kazuki rubbed his storage ring again before sighing and walking forward.
Shin’s teasing voice could be heard from the front.
“Asuna, why are you in front when Ryuta is the only one with a map? Tell me, do u kno da way?”
Asuna’s brows scrunched up in fury.
“Shin, shut the hell up!”
Although she said that, her pace visibly slowed as she waited for Kazuki to catch up.
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Ugandan Knuckles inbound.