"Nelly, are you alright?" Meil made sure to check on me first and foremost.
"That was... awesome!" I immediately started showering him with praise, "Meil, you just beat Olya at his own game! He doesn't have the Books anymore, we do!"
"Indeed, unless he has another way to do so, spying on everyone's current locations will be impossible for him from now on." Meil nodded, "Though that was not my main intention. I merely Went Solipsistic to get you out of harm's way."
That's nice to hear, but honestly... I don't find any comfort in that. Whilst it's true that he saved me, it's also a fact that I couldn't have saved myself if he wasn't there to take me away. Me, someone who just now boasted so much about how easily I could survive anything without Meil's protection. In short, I just feel so embarrassed right now...
"Hm? Where to now?" I noticed him begin to walk in a certain direction, "Wait, that's..."
"The Book of Fortune states Lemmy is southwest of this island." Meil looked onward, "He is safe, it says."
"Phew that's at least something good." I wiped the sweat off my brow, "But wait, the nearest southwest island from this one is the Tree island, no?"
The Tree island, as I refer to it, is the same island Showa showed me from the peak of the hill this morning. It's the island with the tree her ancestor survived in and built a home out of. Meil has a flawless internal compass, so I didn't even think twice to just assume the direction he was looking at was southwest. It seems Lem really did sneak off to the beach and sailed off to another island, but if that's the case then we're really gonna have a hard time finding him.
"For now, we can leave him be." Meil turned back around towards the peak we were just at, "His location has been revealed and his status is well, so he shall be placed into the "secondary worries" bracket."
"Don't tell me you wanna go fight Olya?" I held him back, "Hello~? He's immortal! You'll die, besides I already told you we should trust him!"
"Nelly, this has been bothering me for a while now..." Meil glared back, "Why is it that you trust that elderly fool so much?"
Why do I trust him? Well, why not? He's shown me multiple times that he really does just want to revive his friends at the end of the day, and though that may sound like a complicated ordeal, I don't see how it could harm anyone else. He's taken all the necessary precautions to ensure nothing goes awry, so there should also be no harm in trying as well. There's also the fact he promised to give my family a happy, danger-free fate from now on. Something like that just can't be passed up without hesitation on my part. If dad can revive, then Olya's friends should be able to as well. Hell, the only reason Shaid got killed was because I did things out of order and potentially could have jeopardized his entire plan. Ahem, all of these reasons are plenty to convince any normal person that the old man SHOULD be trusted, but Meil is anything but a normal person. If I had to pick one reason that would convince anyone, then it'd have to be...
"His face, when he doubted himself and asked me if it was alright to go through with all this." I recalled, "His face was so scared, so earnest. He didn't want to go through with it, in fact I think he's still deathly afraid of the one that forced him into becoming immortal and killing his friends over a thousand years ago. He doesn't want to bring any of us into his ordeal, but he's going through with it because I didn't stop him that one time."
"And why did you not?" Meil frowned.
"I didn't say anything." I shook my head, "I told him to weigh it down himself, and he did. In his heart, he knows that reviving his friends is worth it, and I just don't want to see him fail. I mean, when dad died, I prayed every day for someone to miraculously revive him. Now, I think it's my time to return that favor to someone else."
"...Nelly, he attacked us just now." Meil groaned, "Or at the very least he would have had I not escaped with you."
"He only attacked once you started doubting him and showing aggression." I refuted, "He was calm, albeit a bit snarky before that. Alternatively, you could have at least tried to write the wish down with me."
"Why would I do that?" He asked with a raised tone, "Who says it will work as expected?"
"Who knows?" I smiled, "Try it."
"...Is this a joke to you?" Meil finally looked like he reached his limit, "Nelly, Lee and I have been on the road searching for you for weeks! I had to endure countless sleepless nights, unable to look for you any faster because my flimsy body required rest! And even when we did arrive, we could not take a break because we had to sneak around until we found you, just... FROLICKING about with a random local!"
"Showa's my friend!"
"You have no friends on this island!" He finally shouted, "...You have friends at home, Nelly. Real friends who have helped you study, who helped you grow. You had your family to fall back on, who gladly took you back in for the summer to spend some time with them. You had Lem to protect and to cherish you."
Eugh, you're making it sound like that guy DIDN'T constantly mock me.
"And finally..." He bit his tongue, "You had me."
"Oh?"
"Nelly, I am not telling you to not trust Olyahim, but at least find the logic in me asking you to trust us." He pleaded, "Rising from the dead? Even your father does not know how he accomplished such a feat, and no one frankly cared to ask. There are some tidbits of information we humans are scared to learn, and that is for good reason."
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"Humans..." I looked down.
Ouroboras is a God, though. But... Meil is human. He has human worries and human beliefs, even though he sometimes may not show it. And right now, this is the most human he's looked in my Eyes.
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"Meil, are you scared of Olyahim?" I asked out of curiosity as we walked toward the southwestern beach.
"They say fear is a byproduct of ignorance." He explained, "An invincible old man is quite novel to me. I am afraid I do not possess enough data on him to not be afraid."
This is a surprising answer in and of itself. This Meil, it's like it's not him talking at all. Rather, I've felt this strange feeling oozing out of him ever since he and Lee found us. Could it be that this is what this journey has done to Meil? Or is it the sleep deprivation? He somehow feels more rigid on the outside, but way more vulnerable on the inside. Almost like, well, a human.
"My Lord should not fear him!" A strong gust of wind suddenly announced.
"Ah, I forgot you're here as well." I clicked my tongue, "Seriously, go blow off some steam elsewhere."
"Silence, little girl!" The gust of wind sent my hair flying everywhere, "My Lord, you said we should go back to the top of the hill to finish the job, so why are you going to the beach!?"
"Going in gung-ho as is would be tantamount to suicide." He replied, "We should remeet with Lee and Showa, exchange the info we got on our sides, and brainstorm a plan that will surely work this time."
"My Lord..." The voices heaved a very long and tired sigh, "We can't take any more planning. All you've BEEN doing this entire time is sit back and plan, when will it end!? Listen, the more time you take to prepare, the more time he will get to prepare as well!"
"Nelly stated before that he has already planned everything out." Meil retorted, "If he has reached his maximum planning value, and we are still on the rise, then the efficacy of brainstorming will have undeniably plateaued for him in comparison with us."
"We do not think she meant it like that, my Lord."
"I did, definitely." I nodded with a proud grin.
"See, my Lord!? That dumb stupid face of hers is clearly giving away that she's lying!" The voices roared, "There isn't a thought behind those Eyes of hers, even less so about whatever the hell you think she said!"
This ghost buddy is rude as hell. I wonder if Meil not taking his pills is somehow rubbing off on me. Hey, I always wondered what it felt like to drink his medication, but I wonder if it'll help me tune these meddling voices out.
"Nelly is extremely smart, voices. Do not slander her." Meil gave a sidelong glance, "Now please help us find Showa and Lee."
"They can do that?" I asked.
"Pssh! Of course we can!" The voices zoomed ahead of us, causing a ripple in the airflow behind it, "There, found them! They're just up front, sitting at the beach!"
"Whoa, I guess ghost friends can just fly around wherever they want." I grinned excitedly, "Hey, can you pass through walls and objects too!?"
"We are wind spirits, not ghosts." The voices scoffed.
Shortly thereafter, we made it to the beach and surely enough, found those two just lounging around without a care in the world. Well, not really, they were soaked from head to toe and visibly peeved.
"What happened to you two?" I chuckled, "I agree the water's clear and all, but this really wasn't the time to be having a splash."
"Not the time, Nelly." Showa groaned as she squeezed her chest to get all the water out, "Eugh, I hate wearing wet clothes. I'll so catch a cold at this rate."
"Please turn away when you do that." Meil volunteered to toss his jacket over her shoulders, "Here, wear this until you dry out."
"Good news and bad news, you two." Lee looked on yonder, "Which one you wanna hear first."
"Good news, please." I requested nicely.
"We found Lem."
"Eh!?" I then recalled what the Book said, "Ah, I think I know what the bad news is already, then."
"Bad news is—He got away." Showa sighed, "Damned idiot, he saw the two of us running after him and assumed we were enemies. We would have caught him too had I not jumped into the water after him."
"Wait, didn't you say you don't know how to swim?" I tilted my head.
"Hence why I'm wet as well." Lee made a deadpanned face, "I had to jump in and swim us back to shore. Thankfully she didn't inhale too much water, so just some coughing accompanied by a few good smacks on the back and she was fine."
"Once again, I thank you for that, Mister Lee." She deeply bowed her head, "And I am sorry for not being able to save your son."
"Meh, don't worry about it." Lee smirked, "I got a feeling he'll be fine."
"That is some incredible faith you have in your son, Lee." Meil asked, "Is it not irresponsible to be this relaxed about his predicament?"
"Isn't that what you did?" I asked.
"I am not Lem's father."
Incredible, what logic. Meil really has grown... into a hypocrite, that is. How the hell can a man so shamelessly put an endangered teen into the "secondary worries" bracket as he called it, and then immediately chew said teen's dad out for doing the same?
"Still, what makes you say Lem will be alright?" I asked Lee.
"Simple, I saw his escape." He smiled, "You might wanna sit down and listen to our entire story, cause when you do, I'm sure you'll be convinced!"