Vol 1 Chapter 13 (2/2)

“It worked… This is coming from Hiyo-High’s camp, right?”

Touya turned around from clinging to the speaker, and senpai nodded.

“Yes, there’s no mistake.”

“It’s kind, of a, gloomy, sound, though…”

Homura panted as she turned the heavy handle.

“It would, have been, better with, some fanfare… Haaah.”

Senpai smiled wryly.

“The camp there is unmanned right now since the members have already gone back to Earth, so this is the best we can do.”

“What are they doing for electricity while they’re gone?” asked Touya. “Are they using a battery?”

“It should be using water-generated power. Storage batteries deteriorate very quickly. I’d like for us to eventually make an antenna tower and supplement our side with wind-generated power too, but…”

“That’s a, long road, ahead! All right, that’s hundred turns! Switch!”

“That was fast. Did you really turn it a hundred times?”

Touya clicked his tongue and switched places with Homura for power generation duty.

“At this rate, how long will it take until we can send even a single text or email?”

“It’s true that we have a long road ahead. We have to observe the condition of the transceiver next, so please keep working hard a little while longer, Touya-kun.”

While senpai checked over the procedure as she looked through the manual, Homura rested her elbows on the desk with the transceiver and listen to the cold and inorganic beacon.

Suddenly, she heard a voice mixed in with the noise from the speaker.

[………cq… cq…]

“—Senpai!? It’s talking! I can hear a voice from it!”

“What!? Switch places with me!”

“You’re so noisy, Touya-kun! Go on, keep turning it!”

[…CQCQ. This is Hiyos.h.i.+zaka High’s Exploration Club. Please respond—CQCQ, this is j.a.pan Hiyos.h.i.+zaka High’s Explorers2…]

The voice over the radio alternated between English and j.a.panese as it called out for a reply.

They had definitely heard the words ‘Hiyos.h.i.+zaka High’.

[…What… Is it not working…?]

The voice went on to mutter and complain.

Manipulating the transceiver, senpai handed Homura the phone receiver.

Though Homura tried to decline with her eyes, senpai pushed it onto her with a smile.

Giving up, Homura cleared her throat and nervously spoke into the mike.

“T-This is Seiran High’s Exploration Club. Over.”

[Oh, it worked, the radio signal arrived!]

The person on the other end seemed to be shouting at someone behind her.

The cheers from other members could be faintly heard over the speaker.

Homura’s cheeks slightly reddened as she felt as if she were witness to a historic moment.

[Slow! You’re so slow, Mayo! You really kept us waiting here!]

“Sorry. W-We got delayed.”

[Hmm? You’re not Misasagi? A girl? Not Touya-kun, right?]

“Y-Yes. I’m a new club member, Hinooka Homura.”

[Ah, the girl who came to my live concert! I see, congratulations on joining the club!]

“Thank you very much—wait, by concert, does that mean you’re… Kamikoma-senpai!? The one who played the saxophone?”

[The one and only. I’m Kamikoma Sara, the president of Hiyos.h.i.+zaka High’s Exploration Club. Nice to be working with you from now on!]

That husky voice was unmistakably that of the small-statured female uppercla.s.sman who had performed at that live music club along with Kujou Orie.

Other voices trying to name themselves could also be heard as they overlapped over the speaker, but Kamikoma fervently kicked them away.

[I said quiet down and move away, geez, you guys—So, haha, based on your words, did Mayo keep it a secret?]

Misasagi-senpai took over the receiver from Homura.

“This is Hinooka’s first mission.”

[Ah, Mayo. All right, so you Sei-High guys managed to all safely arrive at the relay camp?]

“Yes. Touya-kun is also here.”

Still not relaxing his hand on the handle, Touya moved his head towards the receiver as senpai held it out to him.

“Touya here! Koma-senpai, you guys use water-generated power over there? We’re using human power here, you know? It’s really tough.”

The other end was filled with laughter again.

Homura and the others also wryly laughed along with them.

[Hahaha, keep working hard. Then, until your dear power generator uses up all his strength, how about I do a broadcast about the story of Mayo’s berserk rampage at the live music club? This will serve as our commemorative first broadcast—]

“K-Koma-chan!? You can’t talk about that, you can’t—”

Clinging to the transceiver, senpai showed an open and unguarded expression that Touya and Homura had never seen before.

Both now third-year students, Kamikoma and Misasagi had gone through their school life while deepening friendly relations with each other as fellow members of the Exploration Club.

They had known each other for two years since they had entered high school, or perhaps even longer that than. Homura honestly felt envious of the two of them. And then she suddenly remembered Kujou-san. Even though there had been plenty of chances, Homura still had yet to form any friends.h.i.+p with her.

[Hahaha, well, I’ll stop the joking here… The truth is, there’s something I have to tell you while the transmission’s working. Did anything abnormal happen on your end?]

“……Yes.”

Misasagi-senpai briefly recounted the herd of beasts that Homura had encountered last night.

However, she didn’t mention the fact that a human-like figure had been seen among them.

[I see… The truth is, we also heard howling over here.]

Homura’s eyes widened.

[We also found corresponding footprints. According to one of our guy who’s knowledgeable on animals, they apparently belong not to wild dogs, but to wolves. And big ones at that.]

“Wolves…?”

Senpai frowned, but then recomposed herself and continued speaking.

“So you extended your stay here in order to wait and tell us that. Thank you.”

[Sure. For now, it’s fine as long as you’re all okay. I’ll pray for your safe return. Depending on the situation, you should also consider doing an emergency withdrawal.]

“Understood. Thank you for sharing your information.”

After that, the two club presidents exchanged information about the weather. There were many times when a bad change in the weather at the Hiyos.h.i.+zaka camp would also spread out and occur at the Seiran camp.

[Then, we’ll be going back ahead of you. We’ll also inform Fujimori-sensei about this.]

“Yes, please do.”

“U-Umm…! About what happened last night…”

Homura suddenly interjected from beside senpai.

[—What’s wrong?]

Guessing where Homura’s words were heading, Touya chided her sharply in a hushed voice.

“Leave it be. We’ll discuss it after we all get back.”

“You don’t believe it either, do you, Touya-kun? You think I saw a hallucination? But a herd of beasts really did come, you know?”

“I don’t know either way. But this isn’t something to lightly announce without proof. It’s like saying you saw aliens.”

“But…”

Sensing the change in atmosphere on their end, Kamikoma also seemed confused.

[…Mayo?]

After sinking into thought while gripping the receiver, Misasagi-senpai finally resolved herself and opened her mouth.

“The truth is—”

[……]

A human might have been seen among the herd.

Misasagi-senpai repeated Homura’s words to Kamikoma.

The previously lively Hiyos.h.i.+zaka club members who were listening in from behind there also fell silent. No one laughed.

Having expected at least teasing cheers if not words of praise, Homura felt completely let down at the anticlimax.

[—If that’s true, it’s our first contact with a Nutellan.]

Kamikoma strove to respond calmly.

[Mayo, you understand, right?]

“…Yeah.”

After watching senpai’s depressed expression from the side, Homura realized that she had stepped over the line here.

Senpai handed the receiver back to Homura.

[Hinooka-san—no, is it fine if I call you Homura? I’ll explain it so it’s easy to understand. This is really bad. News of this won’t just be contained in our country. This is information that self-proclaimed good and bad people alike throughout the world will tear out from your throat just to get their hands on it. Even if it’s true, this is something you should only tell to people you trust. This of course also has to do with the confidentiality agreement for Exploration Club members, but you can’t tell your family either.”

“Even my family?”

[Yeah, it’s better not to get them dragged into it. I don’t think you should tell Fujimori-sensei yet either, but… Well, this is just my opinion. You should discuss it with your club president. Of course, we won’t say anything either. That’s a promise.]

“Yes… Thank you very much.”

[Well, don’t worry too much. Just make sure to be careful. It might unexpectedly have been a witch that you saw.]

“A-A witch?”

[Yes. A witch.]

Having completed their mission, Homura and the others began their return journey.

They left the relay camp and headed towards the old castle of the base camp.

The sun had risen up high in the sky and the weather on the mountain ridge path was a bit clearer than yesterday. The speed of the low-hanging clouds moving across the sky was refres.h.i.+ng as well… It was just right for a picnic.

Though the atmosphere among them wasn’t gloomy, Homura felt worried by the lack of words between them.

“Umm… I’m sorry for b.u.t.ting in from the side and talking without permission earlier.”

She hung her hand shamefully as she walked next to senpai down the gentle slope.

Senpai shook her head slightly.

“It’s fine. It was a subject that would have been difficult for me to handle on my own. In the end, I actually felt relieved that you shared it with Kamikoma-san. I’m the one who should be apologizing for failing to act as a proper club president. At such a crucial time, I was…”

“No, I didn’t think that at all. Senpai, you, umm…”

“……”

She had also intended to apologize to Touya who was walking a bit further ahead, but he remained silent.

“It’d be best if it was just me mistaking what I saw, right? Everyone would be happier that way, right? Ahaha…”

“……”

Senpai made a complicated expression and failed to respond.

“I think we should proactively investigate it, though,” Touya murmured.

“Wait, just who are you siding with anyway!?”

Touya turned around with a serious expression.

“You saw it yourself, right? You managed to cut them with a knife?”

“Yes… I should have.”

“If that’s true, it’s really amazing. We don’t know who they are, but this discovery is much more significant than searching through graveyards. Because they’re actually alive.”

“Right, right!?”

“Were they male or female? Were they wearing clothes?”

“…Eh, clothes?”

When she tried to recall, the piercing fear returned in her chest.

Back then, the camp fire had been extinguished, but nights on Nutella were brighter than on Earth.

“I think they were wearing clothes… probably. I don’t remember the design, but… they were wearing something like a bracelet.”

“Then it wasn’t just one of the monkeys.”

Homura was taken aback in surprise.

“Ah… Ah~, I didn’t consider it might have been a monkey back then… A monkey, huh…”

“Hey, hey, seriously? Well, it’s true that mountain dogs and monkeys don’t seem to form herds. But we can’t say anything for certain about this planet. Well, I was more surprised at your guts for suddenly slas.h.i.+ng at an unknown opponent.”

“I’m already reflecting on how reckless that was.”

Touya dubiously shrugged and then turned to senpai.

“Speaking of which, what was that talk about a witch?”

Homura was also interested in the word that Kamikoma had mentioned at the end of the transmission.

Senpai nodded.

“The [Witch] is like a ghost story pa.s.sed down among the Exploration club members. When something mysterious happens, we often say that it was the doing of a forest witch. Of course, no one has actually seen the witch.”

“A superst.i.tion among the Exploration Club? What kind of mysterious events do you mean, for example?”

“They’re all silly and childish things, but let me see….”

As they walked, senpai talked about the superst.i.tious beliefs regarding the witch pa.s.sed down in the Exploration Club.

Examples included unimaginably huge fish was.h.i.+ng up against natural dams made of driftwood and rocks, scratch marks that looked just like letters being found on tree trunks, falling stars so bright they illuminated the night sky leaving behind strangely-shaped vapor trails after they pa.s.sed by…

“It’s said that when you meet the witch and are beckoned by her, you won’t be able to come back, so make sure to be careful, Touya-kun, Hinooka-san.”

“Ahaha, sure, I’ll be careful.”

“Those who see the witch never come back… is it? If that were true, that kind of rumor wouldn’t spread in the first place.”

“That’s exactly right…” Misasagi-senpai agreed. “But, if there really is a witch, I’d like to meet her.”

“……”

“Yeah, me too! I’d like to ask her the trick behind fire magic! Ah, but it’d be a problem if I wouldn’t be able to come back, huh?”

“You should just stick to smoke magic. Use it to smoke fish or meat.”

“What was that?”

Homura was relieved at the sight of senpai’s gentle smile, but that was precisely why she was concerned by the tense face Touya sometimes showed when he looked at senpai.

Just as senpai had said this morning, they walked back while crossing over the river shoals several times and avoiding places where wolves seemed to appear frequently like the campsite last night and where it would be hard to run away should the worst happen.

It was gradual, but Homura became accustomed to Nutella’s landscape as well.

Though it was hard to put into words, it was as if she could feel some faint human warmth in parts of the landscape which seemed completely natural and untouched.

They were walking on a slender path that only members of the Exploration Club should have pa.s.sed through.

However, the biggest boulders along the rough rock face were split in two as if they had been cut apart by a giant axe, lining up into a path and creating a natural sunken road.

The flowers that bloomed as if to decorate a particularly breathtaking spot looked like vestiges of someone having been buried there in search of comfort.

In the far past, someone had walked along this ridge and rested their body while looking at this very same scenery—perhaps it was just a delusion on her part, but thinking that way was wonderful.

Homura had only ever thought of mountains as inconvenient and unpleasant places with no cell phone reception… For her to feel human warmth in them was something that would have been impossible for her until now.

Once they were close to the entrance to the valley leading to the base camp, the three of them took one final break.

Their journey back had been going well, and they had managed to make it this far while there was still quite a bit of time left until evening.

The three of them sat down together on a big fallen tree.

While senpai and Touya conversed together, Homura absentmindedly recalled the events of these past two days, causing her to inadvertently groan and bury her face in her hands.

She kept sinking down until she had her face crammed between her knees.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s so embarra.s.sing… I made mistakes again and again. I caused trouble for everyone. Even though it was supposed to be my first mission and debut as part of the Exploration Club. If this were an exam, I’d be getting negative marks…”

“Yeah. You’ll be taking supplementary lessons in the club building.”

“But you said that the Exploration Club is exempted from supplementary lessons,” Homura whined.

Supplementary lessons are necessary. You only get exempted from supplementary exams, Homura-san3.

While Homura and Touya noisily argued over what had and hadn’t been said, senpai murmured with a sigh.

“A mealy primrose’s heart, knows the season, and waits for spring.”

“…?”

Homura turned to Misasagi-senpai in surprise.

“It’s the motto pa.s.sed down in my family. Everyone goes through hard times. So cheer up.”

“Motto…”

“Yes, my family’s motto,” senpai replied with a nod.

Homura opened her eyes wide in surprise at such a phrase that she had only ever heard in TV dramas before.

“The Misasagi family were originally samurai who received a stipend of 500 koku4 of rice, but then went through the bitter experience of having it revoked once. The family went through hard times, but later was revived as merchants.”

“Senpai’s ancestors…”

“Flowers that bloom beneath the snow aren’t seen by anyone. But when spring eventually comes, the snow melts. There’s never a time when spring doesn’t come. Even if the things you do and accomplish don’t go well, it’s a waste to let your heart wither as well.”

Beneath the dim trees, senpai looked at a small flower that was illuminated by sunlight peeking through the branches and leaves.

“There’s no need to rush. Homura-san, your good points won’t lose their brightness no matter what the time. You’re a flower that blooms beneath the snow.”

Homura nodded in a moved manner.

“So I’m the best remaining as I am, is what you mean, right?”

“Isn’t that wrong? Don’t conveniently interpret it.”

“…Maybe you should train your body a bit more at least.”

Senpai smiled wryly as Homura’s eyes glittered excitedly.

After linking arms and forming a circle together in the old castle’s bas.e.m.e.nt, Homura and the others managed to safely return home from Nutella with the power of the Transport Ring.

When they suddenly appeared in the transport room, Fujimori was there to greet them as if she had been waiting for them.

“All right, everyone, good work out there! Well done coming back!”

Using a remote control, she halted the flas.h.i.+ng lights that signaled an intrusion into the transport room—in other words, the return of the Exploration Club members.

“I heard about the wolves from Koma. You guys went through a lot, but don’t sleep in tomorrow.”

“…Isn’t being late not counted for members of this club?”

“That’s our official stance. It’s bait to lure in new club members.”

“Seriously…? You seem to have been sound asleep, though, sensei.”

Touya nonchalantly a.s.sessed Fujimori, who had terrible bed hair and visible imprints resembling the patterns from a mattress on her cheeks, but she just defiantly puffed up in pride.

“…Are you okay, Hinooka? Are you suffering from transport sickness?”

As senpai supported her, Homura shook her head with an absentminded look.

“I don’t feel so bad… Just, I got hit by weariness and drowsiness the instant we got back… I feel like I went a whole day without sleeping. Sensei, did you contact our homes?”

“I only told them that the welcome party went on late, though.”

“That’s pretty much a bald-faced lie, isn’t it?”

“It’s not a lie. We did welcome you, right? Keep up the confidentiality agreement!”

In the changing room, Homura sluggishly washed her head several times and somehow managed to change into her school uniform with senpai’s help.

Just as she was about to leave, Homura stopped by the illuminated stand-by room and was shocked when she saw the clock on the wall.

Homura’s first mission. Her stay on Nutella had amounted to thirty-six hours. That was—only six hours’ worth of time on Earth. It was still in the afternoon of the day that she had transported to Nutella.

To be continued.

Chapter 13 END

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