Chapter 49: Aarkra's Target

Doing so, Yuuta didn't feel the ominosity in the atmosphere anymore and he thought that maybe his actions worked against the Evil Spirits.

He didn't think twice about breaking in into the Black and White Shrine.

The interior of the shrine passed by in a blur as Yuuta rushed to the source of the voice. He knew that he couldn't stay for long. And also, he didn't want to incur the wrath of Aarkra itself. Even though he hasn't seen an S-rank Evil Spirit, he already concluded that someone low-level like him wouldn't stand a chance against it.

From one room after the other, Yuuta vigorously checked every nook and cranny of the shrine for any signs of the missing girl. Since he was doing everything instantaneously, he wasn't sure whether his approach is counterproductive or not but he went through it nonetheless. He was hoping that the girl would show up in one of the rooms sooner than later.

Sob. sob.

While Yuuta was checking out the fifth room, his ears detected what seemed to be weeping from a nearby portion of the shrine. Without a moment's hesitation, Yuuta went towards the room. The thought of it being a trap didn't even come to his mind since he was getting rather desperate.

It wasn't just the nerves, but the fear that he was in an unfamiliar place where powerful beings freely roam. Yuuta realized that the longer he stayed in this realm, the riskier it gets for both his life and the girl's. Thus, he decided to 'make it quick' and get the blazes out of there. '

Once he let himself into the room, he saw that the girl was in the middle of the room, weeping. Upon further inspection, Yuuta realized that he just interrupted some sort of an important ritual. His first impulse was to get out of the place but then he recalled hearing about Aarkra's ritual for a vessel or whatever it was it was trying to accomplish. Foiling the S-rank Evil Spirit's plan is one thing, rescuing the girl is another.

The girl was on the dead center of something like a magic circle with ancient writings of unrecognizable symbols around it. A foul stench of iron and dead game entered Yuuta's nostrils, making him cough and gag. That's when he realized that the magic circle and the writings around it were actually written in blood. Yuuta wondered if the blood came out of a human but he dismissed the thought. Something unnecessary could be done later. Right now, saving the girl and getting her out of this dimension is of utmost priority. The rest of the details doesn't matter since Yuuta is not an expert at 'seeing things'. Even if he recognized something, he decided not to take everything at face value since what you see isn't always what you get.

Before Yuuta approached the girl, he further scanned the room for clues that will help him rescue the girl. But after seeing the dead rabbits hung on the ceiling, and the collection of candles in one corner of the room, a crippling fear overcame him and his feet wanted to take him somewhere far away from the place. There was just something sinister in seeing a group of rabbit's corpses, a magic circle composed of blood, and candles.

"Hey, are you all right?" Yuuta asked as he cautiously approached the girl. Aside from the obvious creepy items, there was also an assortment of unidentifiable objects scattered around the room. For fear that it might trigger the unknown, Yuuta dodged all of them whilst getting nearer to the girl.

The girl, who was staring on the ground and weeping all this time, flinched after hearing someone's voice. With renewed hope of being rescued, she lifted her head up and scanned the surroundings. At first, he was hoping that the Sacred Stones or a formidable group was in the proximity... however, after seeing the semi-muscular teenager in front of him (and he's approximately just two or so years older than her), she was disappointed. Her first thought wasn't to lash out at the teenager though, her first thought was to help the teenager escape since he had the intention to save her instead of leaving her alone. "Y-y-you have to get out of here, right now! Aarkra is coming!"

"Ah, that S-rank Evil Spirit?" Yuuta casually brushed off the topic even though he was genuinely scared of the unseen. He didn't want to appear uncool in front of the girl. "Don't worry about it. Just tell me how you can safely get out of that magic circle."

The girl darted her head around, trying to sense the presence of the Evil Spirit. After perceiving nothing, she sighed in relief and decided to impose on the teenager in front of him. "It's a meticulous process. If I were you, I'll just leave me behind and get out of here before Aarkra finds out. It's too dangerous here, you have to get out."

"Look here," Yuuta said, stepping forward so he could have stronger eye contact with the girl. "Your mom has been looking for you for three days now. And out of desperation, she hired me to rescue you. I don't care about the rewards and I don't have any ulterior motives. It's just that it will leave a bad record on my name if I don't see this quest through. And also, I don't think anyone wants to help your mom after everything they've done. Almost the whole city searched every nook and cranny of the Revalia Forest, you know." I explained. "So if you want to stay here, then fine. But I won't let you. I need to get you to your mom no matter what."

Upon hearing my explanation, the girl sniffled and then a tear fell from her eyes... and then another, and then another... until she was already quietly bawling her eyes out. Yuuta wanted to comfort her but he didn't know I stepping into the magic circle was safe. For all he knew, he might also get trapped had he done so.

Then, the girl shook her head.

"No, I didn't get lost. I willingly went to the Spirit Jungle. That's why you don't have to rescue me. Instead, can you take a message to my mom?" She asked.

Yuuta didn't answer.

"Can you tell her not to worry about me, and to know that I always love her?" She continued.

Judging from the girl's expression and her unease breathing and heart rate (Yuuta is blind so he's especially perceptive on those things), Yuuta realized that the girl didn't want to be here either. But for some reason, an unknown force or will is stopping the girl from leaving this place. After a few seconds of contemplation, Yuuta concluded on something... well, sort of.

"Wait a second... the quest didn't say to bring her back to her mom.. the quest states to Save Hirasaw Yua... " Something clicked in Yuuta's mind, further proving the conclusion he came up with.

"Yua, tell me." Yuuta began. "You're not Aarkra's target, are you?"