Ch 58. The Dormouse
AN: Sorry for the unstable schedule these days. Please endure it a little bit more! I’m doing my best.
Sadly, there was nothing else we could do, and we needed to change this situation as soon as possible because Fynx and Kirwha were barely handling the attacks of the Leprechaun and Hare. Again, they weren't strong, but as odd as it sounds, there was no way for Fynx and Kirwha to win that fight.
I charged towards the Dormouse with the ghost girl floating by my side. I still have a lot to learn before I could call myself a proper swordmand, so I simply held my sword in front of me. It probably was the most awful thrust you’ll ever see.
However, we weren't attacking a simple Dormouse, we were about to open the Pandora’s Box.
I didn't notice it at first, but each step we took towards him, the heavier the sword and my own body felt.
My pace was turning more and more slower the closer we got. There was no way for this to be something normal.
Before I could notice, the sword was on the ground and so did one of my knees. My breathing was heavy and I was almost unable to move. Thankfully, there's no way for ghosts to turn heavier, so <The Maggot> was peacefully floating by my side, unable to understand what was happening.
“Your stamina is pretty low, Onni chan. You need to train or something!”
“No, that's not..”
“Come on, get up and do something! We need to help Kirwha and Fynx!”
“But I can't!”
“Come on, Onni chan! You are being pathetic!”
This is frustrating! Of course I'm tired, but it is not because I have a bad physical condition or something like that, I’m still getting hit by Fynx and Kirwha from time to time during those training sessions the Demon Lord forces on me.
Besides, <The Maggot>'s taunts are really annoying, especially because she is totally unable to understand what is happening right now!
“I can't move! Everything is so freaking heavy!”
“Guess I’ll save you this time, Onni chan. I'll take your sword, you don't care, right?”
The ghost girl pointed at the stone sword with her open hand, but nothing happened. I was able to see her face distorting for less than a second, but she regained her composure and repeated the gesture once again.
“...”
“Why…?”
Again, nothing happened and she was clearly irritated this time.
<The Maggot> started to desperately repeat the gesture she was making over and over again. Was she trying to make the sword float or something like that? But there's no way… Oh, I think I get it now, maybe she would be able to understand what's happening here.
“Why?! There's no way I won't be able to lift something like that!”
“I told you, everything is turning heavier the closer we get to that weirdo!”
The next sentence is weird, I know, but please let me have the freedom to say something weird, at least for this time.
The ghost girl turned pale when she heard my words, it seemed like she finally understood what was happening. Of course, she then understood that she was mocking me for no reason at all, and her expression changed from surprise to one of the most ashamed I’ve ever seen.
She tried to continue the conversation in order to change her chain of thoughts.
“B-But I can't even move the sword! It feels as if it's glued to the ground!”
“I-I know, this is bad. We won't be able to do anything!”
“This is bad, we need to go back now, Onni chan!”
“Why?”
I don't know why she is saying something like that, but even if I wanted to, there's no way for me to stand up and run away from that Dormouse. I'm totally unable to do something like that.
No, even if I was able to run away, I couldn't do that. We were trying to help Fynx and Kirwha in the first place, we can't run away with the tail between our legs, just like hurt dogs.
Sudleny, I felt my body turning heavier and my other knee hit the ground, so I was right now doing the orz pose.
“W-What?! But I didn't move!”
“This is bad, Onni chan. Really bad!”
Right when I was about to ask what she was talking about, I could feel my body turning heavier once again. My arms were hurting, and so did my back and knees. No, it wasn't just those parts, all my body was hurting, even the insides.
I raised my gaze and discovered what was happening, the reason why my body was turning heavier and heavier.
I saw it. The Dormouse was ready to get one step closer to us.