35. Jury’s Dream of a Place with Books

35. Jury’s Dream of a Place with Books The 6 caravans voyaged on into the unknown, following a carved, dirt path that twisted and turned at the seams. It scaled mountain sides and descended from similar heights. The elevation here varied greatly. But even when they were faced with a cliff on one side of their path – “You can’t even see the bottom.” Alice’s voice oozed with awe as she peered the half-wall. “Mom... how far high up are we?” “Not that high, darling. Come, sit down. There’s nothing to see out there.” Hellen quietly spoke. Alice followed her mother’s instructions without protest. “She’s a good girl. A lot easier to handle than my Ignis.” Calfasio sounded amused. “It’s because she’s quite frightened right now. You should see her when we reach Little Tais.” Hellen hummed. The world slowly grew darker as they travelled further into the bowels of this forest. The pine trees seemed even larger now, to the point where it was impossible to see their branches anymore, let alone a single leaf. After 12 long hours they finally parked their caravans along a flat stretch of land. The mountainous part was over, and now its was just a matter of going forward. If it were up to Frost, she would have powered on. But these people were not like her. Even Jury required some rest as she found herself occasionally yawning into her cloak, expertly hiding her many jagged teeth. The woman eventually found herself asleep, her head resting on Frost’s shoulder. She held her hand from underneath the cloak, causing Jury to mutter something in her sleep. “... thank you... Frost... Warm...” “For a guard, she’s awfully close to you, isn’t she?” Hellen hummed. “She’s... well, she’s a lot of things to me actually.” Frost softly admitted. She refused to elaborate further despite how Hellen’s eyes urged her to continue. “Hmm~ Do you have children yourself?” She then asked. “N-No thanks. I’m not even remotely interested in having any either.” “What about love~?” What is this supposed to be? An initiation of some kind? I feel like I’m being interrogated. “Love is... I guess I have Jury already, so I think that’s enough for me.” Frost tried to dodge the question. Unfortunately, it was like trying to dodge a bullet. “So you are close for a reason. Talk about forbidden love.” Calfasio chimed in. “But you look more like a mother and child. I think that’s what Hellen was getting at.” “Hmm~ Give it time and it’ll blossom nicely.” Hellen clapped her hands together. “Wait, wait just a second. You said forbidden love. Why, is it because we’re both women?” Frost curiously asked. They were confused for a split second. Like she had just said something odd. “No? It’s because she’s not human, is she~?” Hellen pointed out. Well... it was obvious from the start. Frost smiled to herself, shaking her head. If it was ‘new’ then I wouldn’t have tried to save Jury from those children in the first place. I wouldn’t have fought to keep her by my side at all costs. And... I wouldn’t have cared about that village. She held tightly onto Jury’s hand as the woman roused awake, rubbing her cheek alongside Frost’s face. “Morning... I had a... weird dream... Frost.” Jury whispered groggily. “That I was in... a place filled with books. Many, many, many books.” Frost’s heart skipped a beat. “Huh? Jury? A-are you feeling ok?” She did not know how to react accordingly to Jury’s sudden mannerism. Her voice was fluent. Too fluent. She even managed to place an emphasis on one of her words. The Jury who tried mimicking her words only yesterday had a voice that was entirely that of her own now. “You’re supposed to say morning back. Am I wrong, Frost? Ah... you’re so warm.” Jury snuggled close unexpectedly. She needed to unironically pinch herself. This was Jury, right? The warmth was still the same. Her appearance hadn’t changed either, and the golden eyes she adored since the start undoubtably belonged to her. Frost found herself holding onto her more tightly than before. Thankfully, no one else was lucid enough to see what was happening. “Good morning... Haaah. Jury, where did you learn how to speak like that?” Frost went straight to the point. “My dreams. I was in a place with lots of blank books.” Jury said muffledly as she spoke into Frost’s stomach. “... that’s all I can remember.” “A library?” “Is that what a place with lots of books is called?” Jury looked up at Frost with curious eyes. Yeah. This was Jury alright. Just a Jury that can finally... finally speak to her like a normal person. She placed a warm hand onto Jury’s cheek and tenderly smiled. “Mhm. It’s called a library.” * * * Suddenly, something moved along the trees. Her omnidirectional vision managed to catch a rapid shadow appear and disappear almost at will. It was a tiny creature, roughly about the size of Frost’s palm. But she didn’t know what it was exactly. Its speed made it impossible to track. However, she managed to pull up its status before the critter could disappear further into the forest. But not without the sound of a camera shutter playing in its absence. Our Happiest Moments < We must never forget them > LEVEL : 25AFFINITY : HopeORIGIN : Trauma HP : 100 ATT : 0MAG ATT : 0AGI : 1,500 There was a Corrupted here. Only a low-leveled Corrupted. But one with the Affinity of ‘Hope’.