Magic Stone Workshop 1-7 part 1

 

Chapter 1-7 : The Girl, The Cat, And The Dark Red Night (part 1)

 

「It’s those villagers! They set this house on fire!」(Yoyo)

「No way… Why would they do that!?」(Elle)

Elle couldn’t believe what Yoyo said at first but then she heard people’s voices from outside.

「Kill them! Burn them to the ground!」
「Evil Monster Eater and his minions must die!」
「We are suffering because of your curse!」
「My family died because of you!」
「Die you wicked servants of the devil!」(villagers)

Elle peeked outside through the window. She couldn’t see their faces very well because of the smoke, but they were likely the villagers from the nearby village.

「What curse? What are they talking about?」(Elle)

「You may not see their faces clearly, but I can see black spots on their faces.」(Yoyo)

「Really? That means…」(Elle)

「Yeah. The disease you mentioned seemed to have spread throughout the village, and they thought it was a curse. Anyway, we have to leave now. Let’s go!」(Yoyo)

「Y, yeah, you’re right.」(Elle)

Fortunately, Elle had packed last night, so all she had to do was grab her magic bag she put next to her bed and crawl out of the window to the rooftop.

Elle’s room was in the attic, so it would take time for the fire to spread from the first floor, but still, she couldn’t waste any more time.

When she was crawling on the roof, she could see that not just the house was burning, but the surrounding trees were also burning. Those people had turned the area around the house into a sea of flame.

「No! What have they done!?」(Elle)

「Dammit! This entire forest will burn because of these fools! We have to run away as far as possible, or we will get burned too!」(Yoyo)

「Yeah, but we have to pass through this sea of flame first.」(Elle)

Saying that, Elle took out a water magic stone from her magic bag and activated it. She doused herself with water so that she could pass through the burning trees around the house.

「Alright. Yoyo, I’m going to jump now.」(Elle)

「Don’t worry, you can trust me.」(Yoyo)

「Un!」(Elle)

The villagers were gathering in the front yard, so Elle planned to sneak through the backyard where they couldn’t find her.

As soon as she jumped off the roof onto the backyard, Yoyo softened the impact when she landed with his telekinetic power.

His ability was not that powerful but it was enough to prevent Elle from getting hurt.

「You good?」(Yoyo)

「Yeah, I’m fine. Thank you, Yoyo.」(Elle)

「Great. Let’s hurry.」(Yoyo)

Elle nodded at Yoyo and turned her face around to see the house for the last time.

It hurt her feelings to see the house was being burned by the fire.

Since the fire would likely spread throughout the forest, it might burn her and her father’s house too eventually.

「…Goodbye, my lovely home…」(Elle)

She then turned her face forward and ran through the burning trees.

That night, Elle lost the home to return to along with all the precious memories she had while she lived there.

 

◇◇◇

 

Elle and Yoyo kept running through the forest under the cold night sky, trying as best as they could to escape the flames that continued to spread.

None of them knew how far and how long they had been running, but they finally found a river.

「Look, Elle, there’s a river! We might be able to escape the fire if we cross it! Just a little bit more!」(Yoyo)

The river was not that deep and the current wasn’t that fast, so Elle could cross it without a problem.

As soon as she crossed the river, she lay down on the ground with her limbs spread out.

「Hahh… Hahh… Hahh… *breathing heavily*」(Elle)

She had trouble catching her breath after running nonstop for who knows how far.

Her knees were shaking and her sight was turning dark. She almost fainted but she tried as best as she could to stay alert.

「Elle, are you okay?」(Yoyo)

「Hahh… Hahh… I’m fiー *cough cough*!!」(Elle)

Because she inhaled too much smoke, she felt like her throat was burning. She coughed aggressively.

「Do you want me to collect water from the river? You should drink some water.」(Yoyo)

「Hahh… Hahh… No ー*cough cough* …We don’t know if the water is clean or not… *cough cough*…」(Elle)

Elle had only been drinking water drawn from the well that had been installed with a special magic tool Moritz made. That magic tool killed germs and bacteria, so the water Elle had been drinking was completely safe and clean.

The water from the rivers flowing through the forest was hardly safe for consumption. It was kind of risky to consume it without boiling it first.

「Uhh, you’re right. It’s too dark to see if it’s clean or not, but you need to drink.」(Yoyo)

「Yeah… *cough cough* Don’t worry. I’ll just use a water magic stone…」(Elle)

「Oh, right! A water magic stone! Wonder why it didn’t cross my mind.」(Yoyo)

The water produced by a high-quality water magic stone was relatively safe to consume.

Although she wanted to lie down for a while longer, she couldn’t bear the burning sensation in her throat, so she raised her upper body and took a water magic stone and a wooden glass from her magic bag.

She held the magic stone above the wooden glass and rubbed the magic seal engraved on the surface of the magic stone with her finger to activate it and let it produce some water.

As soon as she filled the glass with water, she started drinking quickly.

「*Gulp gulp gulp*」(Elle)

However, her throat still felt hot and dry, so she drank more.

「*Gulp gulp gulp gulp gulp* ーAhhh…」(Elle)

After drinking five glasses of water, she took a deep breath, trying to slow down her heart rate.

「Have you calmed down?」(Yoyo)

「Yeah… Just a little… I think…」(Elle)

「So, what are we gonna do now?」(Yoyo)

Elle looked in the direction where she came from and saw the red light coming from the flames shining faintly in the dark sky.

「Hmm… Seems like we got far enough from the fire, plus, there’s a river separating us from the burning forest, so I think we will be fine for now. I’m really exhausted, so let’s set a camp here.」(Elle)

「Alright. But first, you should change clothes or you will catch a cold.」(Yoyo)

「Ah… Un.」(Elle)

Elle just realized that her pajamas were wet and covered with dirt.

She had been running in drenched pajamas on a cold night and crossed the cold river. If she kept going like that she would get sick for sure.

「No… My favorite pajamas are ruined… I hope this long night won’t get even worse…」(Elle)

「I hope so too.」(Yoyo)

 

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