Volume 8 - CH 7

Chapter 7: Lodgings

Atlantis  4:27 PM

By the time the second group arrived at the hostel, it was about two hours later.

As soon as they entered, when Chifuyu saw senior Gasai together with us, he was obviously stunned for quite a while.

“So you actually got here a step before us.” Greeting Gasai, Yido gave a friendly nod.

“Nn, I thought you guys would head over here, so I came here first to determine the lodgings.” Unconcerned with Chifuyu’s intense gaze, Gasai was still very relaxed as he returned the greeting to Yido. “I’ve already set up a barrier around the hostel. I believe it shouldn’t be a problem to stay here for a night.”

There’s a grown-up conversation going on by that side. Xiao Ting and I were standing at the other side.

All of a sudden, Leido, who was originally standing in the back doing something, rushed forward. “Yado~! You guys found the luggage!” Once he said that, I noticed that behind Yado was a huge rolling luggage, which just so happens to be the same one Leido was dragging along before we’d set out.

“What did you bring to need such a huge luggage?” I watched as Leido dragged that huge luggage inside and curiously asked.

“Some supplies for a person’s livelihood.” Leido put the luggage on the side, “It can be quite helpful when it’s necessary.”

When it’s necessary?

For example, when the whole town gets blasted until there’s no supplies left?

“That’s right, you guys didn’t find anyone else?” Looking at the group of people, Gasai suddenly spoke.

“No, they’re probably on the other side. We did encounter Prince Icy Flame earlier, but he went down into the drainage channel to investigate.” The one who answered him was Yado, “He was even traveling together with us before.”

“I’ve heard this from Leido just now.” Gasai nodded and then silently thought for a long time. “Since there are quite a lot of people staying here tonight, I’d like to also go down into the drainage channel to help Icy Flame. I’m afraid he might not be able to handle it all by himself.”

He really does deserve to be called a “partner,” immediately thinking of going to provide support and whatnot.

“This could work too. Otherwise, we are also worried about what might happen to Prince Icy Flame…” Yido followed by pondering for a while and then nodding.

In fact, I also want to say that I’m very worried about Senior and wonder whether I could tag along. But the people who are going seem to be all experts. If I, this unlucky newbie, go with them, I’d probably get in their way, so I swallowed down the words that came into my mouth.

“No way!”

Breaking in on everyone’s decision, the one who said that was Chifuyu, who had stayed silent from the beginning. He looked at Gasai, and in a firm tone, he said: “Starting in the afternoon, the lake water will rise up again. Right now the water has already been building up outside, so the same would go for the drainage channel. I don’t agree with you going into the drainage channel at a time like this.”

Everyone looked at him and then looked at Gasai.

Gasai’s expression didn’t change, maintaining that unchanging smile as he looked straight at Chifuyu. “What you’ve said is true. However, a mere counterflow of the water in the drainage channel isn’t going to affect me.”

“But the situation underneath is currently unknown. You should make sure that there aren’t any extra factors and that it’s under the best conditions, before you conduct further in-depth investigations.” Completely unwilling to give in, Chifuyu very stubbornly replied, “As of now, the drainage channel is flooded, the unknown fogs could also appear at any time, and later it will be nighttime. No matter how you assess it, I believe the most dangerous time to enter the drainage channel is right now.”

Actually, I feel that Chifuyu’s analysis makes a lot of sense. No matter how you put it, going into a unfamiliar place at night is indeed the most dangerous thing to do. And if anything happens, it’ll also be difficult to get help.

Gasai tilted his head as he thought for a moment, “Then when do you think would be the best time to go in?”

Unexpectedly, he actually asked for Chifuyu’s opinion.

Clearly stunned, it took Chifuyu a while before he recovered. “I believe we should enter together with the others during the day, when the water has receded, so that we can take care of one another.”

“Then alright, tomorrow morning, I’ll go into the drainage channel.” Gasai simply changed his decision, so simply that there was an instant where it caused Chifuyu, who seemed like he had already thought of a comeback, to once again become stunned for a while before he recovered, nodding foolishly.

Perhaps senior Gasai is actually someone who is easy to communicate with.

***

“Well then, since it’s been decided that everyone will be staying here tonight, let’s all help arrange the room!”

Breaking that brief strange silence, the oldest among us, Yado, clapped his hands, and everyone immediately followed by looking over. “To prevent us from being attacked individually at night, I suppose everyone will just have to bear with this for a night. We’ll combine all the beds and sleep in the same room.”

Which means that we’ll be sleeping on a big wide bed?

After I grew up, I didn’t sleep on something like that anymore, so this felt rather weird.

“Pillow fight!”

Already treating this as a outdoor class, Leido let out a cheer. Then, his brother beside him directly covered his mouth to stop him from sprouting out any more nonsense and dragged him off to the side.

“I have no objections.” Gasai curved into a smile.

If he doesn’t have any objections, then of course Chifuyu wouldn’t have any objections either. Heaven knows how long he’s been hoping to develop a good relationship with his brother, and he even looks a little excited.

“What’s a pillow fight?” Xiao Ting bounced up and down and raised her head as she stood near Gasai’s feet. Her small face curiously asked, “If I win, I can eat all the losers?”

“No, you cannot.” Using an extremely normal tone, Gasai very seriously answered her question.

“Oh.” The little black snake MeiMei dejectedly walked away.

After determining that everyone was fine with it, Yido continued the unfinished topic, “We’ve collected some ingredients from outside just now, and at the same time, we’ve also ensured that there are no problems with them. I think we should divide into two groups, one group to arrange the room, and the other to prepare dinner. How’s that?”

Naturally, everyone agreed.

And then, the problem arose.

“Who knows how to cook?”

As soon as that question was asked, everyone looked at each other.

“Yado and I can make simple dishes, but they’re not that good, so you can’t expect too much.” Clearly knowing themselves well enough, Leido was the first to jump out and say, “Yido is the same as us, but he’s a little better.”

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Chifuyu cook before.

But I know that Miao Miao is very good at cooking, because every time we travel, she always prepares lunch boxes for us. It’s just a pity that she isn’t here right now.

“Master is amazing, Master knows how to cook!” The little black snake MeiMei glued her whole body to her master’s leg and very proudly proclaimed, “Master also knows how to make desserts after meals…”

“Alright, that’s enough.” Gasai patted her head, and Xiao Ting immediately shut up. “In that case, Yido and I will prepare dinner, and the rest of you guys can arrange the room.”

“Then instead of talking here, let’s get going right away.” The key to the largest room that was taken off just now was hanging on Leido’s finger. “You little ones, come and follow Uncle Leido!”

I suddenly felt that he was a bit like a certain someone, a certain someone with a palette for a head.

“Who’s the little one!?” Yado knocked the back of his head, and while he was in pain, he snatched the key and walked upstairs. “Chifuyu, Yang Yang, come on.”

Chifuyu looked at his older brother for a moment and then turned to go up. I hastily ran up trailing behind them.

“Hey hey, wait for me!” Getting abandoned in the back, Leido instantly followed us. Overtaking both of us, he caught up to his twin brother and hooked his arm around his neck hard. “You’re trying to ruin my social life!?”

“Am not.” Very used to dealing with him, Yado flung his arm away.

Following Yado’s footsteps, we went straight to the fifth floor. Different from the other floors where the doors were closely packed together, the doors on the fifth floor had a good amount of space between them, and you could definitely tell that there was a big difference in the size of the rooms.

Very quiet.

There was not a single sound in the long spacious corridor.

Using the number on the key to find the room, Yado lightly knocked twice on the door. After waiting a few seconds or so, he took out the key and opened the door.

As soon as the door opened, the whole room automatically lit up.

A hostel in a small town wouldn’t be a high-class hotel, so of course, this isn’t as good as the place that Senior and I had stayed in last time.

However, the whole room looks quite warm. The wood veneer walls and floors gave one a very cozy feeling, and inside the room were some very comfortable-looking spring beds. Just one look, and you’d know that this room was probably designed for families and small groups. At the side, there was a TV, a dresser with a mirror, and the like; there were even some simple toiletries neatly placed on the cabinet, a total of eight.

“Big bed~” Xiao Ting flopped onto the bed, and it was only then that I realized she had followed us upstairs.

“Seems pretty nice.” Leido peered around for a moment, “Let’s combine the beds!” He looks exactly like some kind of crazy excited person on a graduation trip, who’s the first to rush over and start pushing all the beds together.

“Can I sleep alone by the side…” Seeing all the beds getting lined up into a row, Chifuyu issued a faint protest.

Leido turned around, with a serious expression, “You’re unsociable.” He let out an accusation.

“I’m not!”

I feel like even if Chifuyu is skilled in retorts, he might not be a match for these types of people. You can’t just use normal communication to understand them.

“You are. See, you’re the only one with a different opinion, wanting to sleep alone in a corner. And from that, it can be seen that not only are you unsociable, you’re also reclusive! This sort of bad habit has to be changed!” Leido started to preach as if he was actually being serious.

Honestly, I kind of want to laugh. But after seeing Chifuyu with an expression like he wanted to drag him and throw him out the window, I didn’t dare to let out even a bit of noise and could only desperately hold it in.

“Don’t mind them. Let’s start arranging.” Obviously already accustomed to this scene, Yado patted my shoulder. Then ignoring the two people in the middle of the room who were about to start fighting, he went to the large wooden cabinet and took out a blanket.

I hurriedly went over and helped him take them out.

The blankets that were taken out were completely soft. So soft that it was like I wouldn’t be able to hold onto it and it was going to slip out of my hands. There was even a faint scent on them, causing one to really want to sink into it and gently rub it.

It was very easy to make the beds and tidy the blankets, and by the time Leido and Chifuyu were getting ready to go out into the corridor for close quarters combat, we’d pretty much finished arranging everything.

“Alright, stop playing around.”

After throwing out those words, Yado walked out the door and even dragged his brother away in such a natural way.

Probably didn’t want to be entangled with him either, Chifuyu walked into the room and sat down on a random bed, without saying a thing.

I’m starting to hesitate on whether I should help someone prepare his funeral.

***

“He’s not angry.”

The person who broke the silence in the room was Xiao Ting, and she was bravely hugging Chifuyu’s back.

Wait a minute, what did she just say?

Glancing sideways at Xiao Ting behind him, not being angry and instead curving into a faint smile, Chifuyu

Looks like Chifuyu really isn’t angry.

Chifuyu pushed up his thick glasses. “And how would you know I’m not angry.”

Looks like Chifuyu really isn’t angry.

“Of course I know, because Master…Ah!” Xiao Ting suddenly jumped away, and then she covered her own mouth and leaped off the bed. “Xiao Ting didn’t say anything! I’m going to look for Master!” Finishing her words, and before Chifuyu could call out to her, she rapidly whirled past like a gust of wind as she made her escape.

To tell the truth, it’s usually when you speak like this that people would get suspicious.

I exchanged glances with Chifuyu. He didn’t intend to chase after her and simply sat in the same spot and pondered for a while, as if he was thinking about something. “Yang Yang, don’t you feel that it’s very quiet tonight?” All of a sudden, he raised his head and directed such a question at me.

Night?

I glanced at my watch. It’s indeed close to becoming dusk, about five o’clock.

“Quiet?” If no one’s around, then wouldn’t it be normal for it to be quiet? And besides, you guys were not quiet at all a moment ago.

“Starting at four, Lake Town will start to accumulate a considerable amount of water. At five, it will start flooding, and by six o’clock, it’ll reach knee height. And after seven, it’ll be impossible to go outside. Right now it’s time for it to start flooding, so why is it so quiet outside?” With the information engraved on his mind, Chifuyu issued a question. Of course, he also knows that I definitely wouldn’t be able to answer him, unless I’m a god.

“Uh…Just now, senior Gasai said that he had set up a barrier. Could it be there’s a connection between them?” I’m sorry but the very ignorant me could only think of this possibility.

“It’s possible.” Chifuyu nodded, which is considered to be agreeing with me. “What do you think Xiao Ting was going to say before?”

I was stunned for a moment.

Isn’t the change in topic a little too big?

Or could it be that boss, you were planning to ask this from the start, and the ones before this were just a cover?

“Uhh, I don’t know either.” I’m not a tapeworm in the little black snake brat’s stomach. Who knows what she was going to say before. But according to common sense and all the light novels’ plot to infer, even someone as dense as me would feel that she was probably going to say something about senior Gasai or Chifuyu just now. It’s just that I don’t know what it is.

If I could think up to this point, then Chifuyu definitely would’ve thought of a lot more things than me.

Maybe he has already played out three-thousand different versions in his heart.

“That’s right, what happened to your hand?” Finally noticing that there was a pile of unknown paper towels wrapped around my hand, Chifuyu puzzledly came over.

“Oh, I came across something strange downstairs just now.” I told him about the matter of the white fog and the yellow fog, and the expression of the person in front of me grew increasingly ugly.

“You touched the white fog and got hurt?” Suddenly snatching my hand and removing the two or three layers around it, Chifuyu narrowed his eyes as he peered at my fingertips that seemed to have been corroded.

“This wouldn’t cause tetanus, right?” To be honest, if he hadn’t mentioned it, I wouldn’t have thought of this. Right now his face is so serious that I have a feeling I might get some kind of disease.

Chifuyu rolled his eyes at me.

Alright, I know I said something stupid.

“This is strange. Just now, I touched the yellow fog, but the yellow fog doesn’t hurt people.” Taking out simple dressing supplies from his backpack, Chifuyu pulled my hand and began applying medicine and bandaging it. “The yellow fog can destroy buildings though.”

The yellow fog can destroy buildings?

I looked at my hand that was all wrapped up. My hand was injured by the white fog.

“Just now when I was halfway through with activating the tracking technique, a yellow fog suddenly came and melted my things. Later, that piece of fog fled into a building, and in order to put an end to future problems, I simply blew it all up.” Quickly finished dressing my hand, Chifuyu gave me back my hand, then folded his arms and started walking back and forth. “White fog hurts people. Yellow fog hurts things…Isn’t this…”

He suddenly stopped.

“Acid’s and alkali’s characteristics?” I raised my hand to speak.

“…” Chifuyu was speechless.

“I’m sorry, pretend I didn’t say anything.” But I really do have a bit of that sort of feeling.

Clearly thinking about that as well, Chifuyu sat down on the nearby bed. “This seems to be…Something like this had once happened before…”

“Is it the one that Senior mentioned?” I suddenly remembered what Senior had said before we departed. “In the past, before the whatchamacallit Ghost King appeared, there were towns where this incident had occurred too.”

“The one you’re talking about is the elvin incident. But there’s also another one. This matter should be something that even Senior doesn’t know about. It’s our Yukino Clan’s secret case.”

Secret case?

The legendary only-clan-members-are-allowed-to-know-about-and-if outsiders-know-they-would-be-killed kind of thing!?

“That…Am I allowed to listen to that?” I cautiously asked. If he says that I can’t, I’ll cover my ears and run out of the room at once.

“Basically, you’re not. But I can still tell you about it. However, you’re not allowed to tell a third person, or else…”

I know what comes after “or else,” because he said the same thing to me before.

It’s followed by a throat-cutting motion.

“About ten years ago…”

I didn’t even have time to cover my ears and escape when Chifuyu had already started his storytelling. “The Yukino Clan had once received a peculiar case. A half-rotten corpse and a bottle filled with white gas was sent to us from another place.”

Oh no…I have a really bad feeling about this.

“It’s said that the dead person seemed to have gone out on a mission, but soon after entering the location, he was immediately killed. Those working together with him saw with their own eyes that when he touched the white fog, he was quickly corroded. His companions were only able to salvage his body before it was completely melted down, but they were unable to save his life.” Chifuyu raised his head and very seriously looked at me. “Because, from start to finish, it took only three seconds to happen.”

Three seconds!

Three seconds!?

This brother, did you leave out a zero at the end?

I suddenly had a sense that I just escaped from a great disaster. Sure enough, it’s still better if people don’t know too much. Now that I heard this, I’m pretty sure that next time the white fog appears, I definitely wouldn’t be plugging up the pipes. Instead, I’d be screaming while running away.

“Afterwards, this incident simply ended without a conclusion. As time passed, people stopped mentioning it, so I was only able to suddenly think of this just now.” Shrugging, Chifuyu said, with a tone like it wasn’t anything important.

If that was possible, it would’ve been better if you hadn’t thought of this.

Nn…Wait, it seems like something’s not right?

“You said someone sent over the white fog? Then did anyone analyze what that thing was?” I remember that Chifuyu’s clan is a big whatchamacallit big information center and the like, so it should be impossible for them to directly throw the bottle into the garbage truck and then send it off to be buried, right?

“They did, but since I was only half-a-month-old at that time, no one told me about it. And later on, it was also not recorded in the books, so I don’t know if it was successfully analyzed or not.”

I looked at Chifuyu and suddenly felt moved.

Turns out there are actually things that he doesn’t know about.

“That’s right, maybe Gasai would know!” With a clap of his hands, Chifuyu abruptly shouted out.

Speaking of which, if you were half-a-month-old at that time, then Gasai would only be about one-year-and-half-a-month-old, so there probably wouldn’t be anyone telling him something like this either, right?

“Yang Yang, you can try asking him.”

Me?

I’m going to ask?

“Why am I the one who’s going to ask?”

“You know as well as I do that we don’t have a very good relationship. It wouldn’t be that awkward if you go to ask,” Chifuyu said very seriously.

“But this is equal to telling a third person!” I wonder who it was that told me I’m not allowed to tell a third person!

“He’s also a member of the Yukino Clan, so he’s not included.” Directly pushing me to urge me on, Chifuyu, who probably wanted to know more than I do, didn’t give me a chance to protest as he continued pushing me, until he pushed me out of the room.

It’s best if senior Gasai does know.

“What if he doesn’t tell me?” I feel like there’s a ninety percent chance that he wouldn’t tell me.

“He’ll definitely tell you.”

“It’d better be that way!”

“He really will, trust me, just quickly go!” Chifuyu directly pulled my hand out of the room and desperately dragged me down the stairs. “Besides, the sooner we know, the sooner we can solve this incident. And it’s not like you’d get hurt if you go ask a question or two.”

What he said does seem to make sense.

“Then I’ll go ask. If he doesn’t know, then there’s nothing we can do about it.” I can’t just tell him to randomly give birth to an answer for me, right?

“Of course.”

I took a deep breath, “Well then, I’m off.”

“Good luck!”