Chapter 7 - Lake Of Silence (1/2)

Chapter 7: Lake Of Silence

‘Ack, wait a minute, what’s happening?’

As I reached out to Velkina, I suddenly lost my footing as well and started stumbling. Tripping like this was absolutely not part of my plan.

I quickly grabbed Velkina’s shoulder in panic, but it was a futile effort since I could not support both her weight and mine in this state.

Splash!

Together, we fell into the lake with a loud splash.

“Phew, huff, huff, huff…”

“Haah, haa, haah, cough…”

Raising my head above the surface, I sputtered and managed to get rid of most of the water that entered my nose. Fortunately, I realized the lake was not that deep since I was still somehow able to touch the lake bottom with my feet.

I whirled my head around to search for Velkina, who was coughing and flailing wildly nearby. She seemed to have gulped too much of the lake water and her delicate face looked at me with worry shining brightly in those sapphire eyes. Aww, I thought. Even while drowning, she still looks so pretty.

“I’m sorry, Miss Senephin…” she gasped, “you were going to tell me that there was a trap there, right? I must have lost my balance because I got caught.”

‘Yesterday I told you not to call me ‘Miss’ anymore. It must be hard for you to get rid of the previous mentality you had about me.’

“It’s okay,” I replied, trying my best to ensure I answered her as kindly as I could. “For now, we need to focus on getting out of here.”

I was about to kick my legs towards the shore, but I realized I could not move. Something was grasping both my arms and my legs.

“Huh?”

“Thi-This is…”

Velkina was also experiencing the same thing as me. Her face hardened. I looked down, trying to discern what was lurking beneath the surface.

Even though the water level was only up to my chest, I couldn’t make out anything holding my arms and legs. Not being able to move my body as I wanted was a strange sensation. I felt as if a transparent string had tied my limbs together.

“I can’t move my arms and legs,” Velkina fretted, a slight panic rising in her voice. “Its… it’s my fault, right? It must be mine, right? I’m so sorry…”

“Ca, calm down Lady Velkina.”

Despite my own concerns, I tried my best to calm her down.

Ah… But it was a bit of a hopeless cause because I couldn’t even calm myself down. I thought back to what had happened during the middle part of the game…