At the End of the Hidden Greenery - Chapter 220
Things seemed to be getting stranger by the minute.
“Would you like to try this?”
After a moment, Solmih brought out the box of antidotes that the sea tribe had prepared and given earlier.
“The Akarna power isn’t gone, but maybe you’re poisoned by something?”
“Could be.”
Jiwoo struggled to take the medicine properly. Though her limbs weren’t paralyzed, the sensory confusion made it difficult for her body to move correctly.
In the end, Solmih opened the medicine and fed it to her.
When taken out of its paper wrapping, the medicine gave off a very tempting sweet aroma. But once inside her mouth, it tasted extremely bitter.
“Ugh… it’s bitter.”
Seeing her grimace, those around her became restless.
“Me, medicine’s usually bitter, you know…”
Skiass offered a pointless remark.
“Then, want to kiss me? It might get rid of the bitter taste…”
“No… if it gets any sweeter here, that’d be weird.”
While kissing Kaman, a fragrant floral tea scent did spread in her mouth, but it wasn’t the kind of sweetness that would neutralize bitterness.
“Then do you like sweet things? Who among us is the sweetest?”
“Solmih…”
Usually unhesitant to tempt others, Solmih said firmly.
“Using illness as an excuse for such behavior is inappropriate.”
“…Yes.”
“No, I didn’t say that out of selfishness.”
Hearing Kaman grumble, Jiwoo forgot about her condition and laughed. Solmih placed a small candy in her mouth.
While Jiwoo rolled the candy around, her husbands checked her limbs for any improvement.
But her condition barely changed.
“The medicine should act quickly… it’s probably better to head back soon.”
Instead of detoxifying, her dizziness worsened, and Jiwoo barely managed a nod.
Kaman, who carried the least luggage, lifted Jiwoo onto his back.
Lanset and Arven, accustomed to clearing paths through the forest, started leading but suddenly stopped abruptly with a start.
“Wait.”
“The path seems to have changed.”
Having been focused only on Jiwoo, they hadn’t noticed their surroundings until now.
They looked back at the route they had taken and tilted their heads confusedly.
“How could this happen?”
“No way…”
Muttering something between themselves, Lanset and Arven told the group,
“Don’t move from here. Wait.”
“We’ll go check around.”
So they decided not to move for the time being and waited there.
***
Sitting quietly in the dead of winter in the middle of the forest, waiting for Lanset and Arven, time seemed to pass incredibly slowly.
Normally, Jiwoo wouldn’t mind that, but just sitting like this, her condition seemed to worsen.
“The sky looks like it’s flipped upside down.”
Seeing the darkening sky spreading across the ground, Jiwoo found it increasingly hard even to keep her eyes open.
Only now did Jiwoo realize that even the smallest movements relied on her body’s basic sense of balance. Attempting to move even slightly made her tense and break out in cold sweat.
With her eyes closed, she leaned against her husbands. Fortunately, she had brought enough blessings from the tree, so she wasn’t cold.
Soon, she heard Lanset and Arven returning and slowly opened her eyes.
“This is a bit troubling…”
“This place is completely different.”
They spoke seriously as soon as they returned.
When the group asked what had happened, Lanset and Arven eagerly recounted what they had seen.
“The path we came back on is gone, and going back the way we came won’t lead to the beach.”
“…How can something like this happen?”
Jiwoo heard Solmih’s serious voice respond.
“So that means…?”
Kaman’s shocked voice followed as he guessed the situation.
“No way… but our condition is…”
Skiass murmured in disbelief.
“How about we check again?”
“No… there’s no need.”
When Solmih suggested confirming once more, Skiass said again.
“The stars don’t match what I know. It’s probably true…”
“Really?”
“Unbelievable…”
Listening to them, Jiwoo began to understand the situation. She quietly asked after opening her eyes.
“Could it be that we’re lost in the forest?”
The group suddenly fell silent.
Had she said something too absurd? It was hard to believe the children of Ellandos could get lost in the forest.
But her words seemed to fit the situation.
“I’d rather it be something like that…”
After a moment, Skiass approached Jiwoo and explained.
“I told you before…”
“Hm?”
“El Ragneil experiences periodic miasma overflow, like natural disasters such as storms or floods.”
It sounded like they were caught in such miasma and that’s why things were like this.
“Could it still be the miasma that crossed over from Caranazion?”
“No, it’s a different kind. That one directly harmed the tree… This is more like a magic that’s always present in small amounts where the tree grows…”
“Make it simple, Skiass.”
Skiass began to explain at length but was silenced by Kaman’s nagging.
“In this world, dimensions overlap… Seo Jiwoo.”
“Yes.”
“And Akarna are beings that can survive there.”
Jiwoo nodded to show she understood. But Skias looked flustered.
“…You don’t get it?”
“No… I nodded, but it came out wrong…”
Jiwoo nodded but it looked more like she was shaking her head side to side.
Lanset and Arven saw that and frowned, stomping their feet.
“This is really bad.”
“What do we do? Because of us…”
“Because of you?”
Thankfully, communication was still possible since language wasn’t an issue.
“Unless you’re Akarna or a female being, you can’t survive being caught where dimensions overlap.”
She had heard that explanation before.