Chapter 474: A Valley of Graves

"If I may ask, who are you guys?" One of the mushroom people stepped up, walking over to Aether, standing at the side of the River as he waited for an answer.

’Uh... how am I supposed to respond here?’ He couldn’t say the truth, since it would just make them attack him, and he didn’t want to fight everyone in this place. But at the same time, saying they were from a different world that got merged was really risky, since if he questioned them about it, he had no idea.

Aether opened his mouth, ready to say something, but before he could, Lilith walked over and spoke up. "We’re explorers."

The mushroom guy tilted his head, surprised by his answer. Aether was too, but he tried not to show it; after all, if he did, then he would figure out that they were lying. So instead he nodded, letting Lilith continue with whatever he had planned.

"We have been really interested in this merge of all of our worlds, so we decided to see it all, well, at least a big part of it, since it might be infinite. We come in peace." He raised his arms in the air, and Aether quickly followed.

"Hmm..." The small man murmured something to his companions in some unknown language before looking up at Lilith with a smile, extending his hand. "Well then, we are happy to show you our village."

Lilith took the hand of the man, shaking it. "That would be great. I’m Lilith." He turned to Aether with a smirk. "And that guy is Aether; he’s a bit... dumb, but he’s nice." He stuck his tongue out, which made Aether frown.

"Ted, the mayor of our town." The mushroom human said before turning away and signaling to them both to follow.

...

"Do you two come far away?" Ted said, turning his head slightly towards them.

"You could say, but we have only begun our journey a few days ago," Aether responded, adapting to Lilith’s explorer story.

Ted chuckled. "Well then, I’m happy to show you our village as one of your first." He stopped in place, gesturing to the village.

It was...

Interesting, very interesting.

Most houses were built into the mushrooms, some high up, held by pillars. The materials of the walls and roofs looked to be made entirely out of mushrooms; there was no wood. It was also very colorful, maybe because of the wide variety of mushroom colors around the forest. But still, it was quite cool to see.

It was also quite big; from where they were, he could see it extending over the river and up a small hill, all connected by a road that led everywhere around the town and was made of stone and vines.

"You’re lucky; we are going to have a very important event a bit later, so once we reach the town, you guys can explore for about twenty minutes before coming to the People’s House." He chuckled. "It’s the biggest structure, so you will be able to find it quickly.

"Um, sure..." Lilith said, as Ted guided them into the village.

The houses, now up close... were small, really small, probably because the people living inside them were small, but there were also some bigger ones, which made him wonder if there were many other types of mushroom people that were bigger than normal.

Also, to their luck, there were signs around to help them get around the place.

Once in the village, Ted turned to them once more, putting his hands on his hips. "Well then, I have some work to do before the events start, so I’ll let you guys explore as I said." He turned to his people. "Let’s go." He said as they left, leaving them alone.

...

"Did you see what I saw?" Lilith asked Aether... at first, he wasn’t fully sure what he was talking about, but then he remembered... earlier, when they were walking, they noticed a sign... ’Reader Graveyard... not a very good sign.’

"I did... you want to go there, don’t you?" Aether said, already knowing what Lilith was about to say; he saw it in his eyes.

Lilith nodded, already heading towards it.

It was at the end of the village, near its end... that was where the graveyard was... and it was quite big... There were a lot of graves, all having the names of those who had been killed under them. Some looked old... captured by nature, while some looked brand new.

Examining them... he noticed that he remembered some from the Academy, people who had been chosen for the Academy.

He froze, just staring at the names, before looking back at Lilith. The Vessel wasn’t moving, just standing in place, looking at the valley of graves, while clenching his fists tightly. It was probably a way bigger shock for him.

He wasn’t that attached to the Blue Rose, as he had made some friends, but they hadn’t been chosen, and neither would he say that he would grieve over them that much... after all the deaths he had as a Reader, he had learned not to get too close to people, just in case this happened.

Aether walked over to Lilith, resting his arm on his shoulder. "Are you fine?"

Freedom didn’t respond, at least not instantly, not before giving a long sigh... "I’m... not sure."

He loosened his grip, letting his hands relax. "It’s a lot to take in... we knew this was going to be dangerous... but never on this level. If so, then we wouldn’t have made the number of teams bigger..."

...

"I feel like It’s all my fault, even though I know it’s not. I just feel like it is, for whatever reason. I couldn’t protect them."

Aether chuckled. "Well, you shouldn’t; they chose this to help the Blue Rose, and more importantly, give yourself some slack. You can’t save everyone."

...

"As much as we try, death will always come... we just have to find more people; that way we can actually protect them."