For the record?
I do not like these elven robes. They have bigger pockets, that's useful, I guess. But they feel....I just feel stupid wearing them. Meera and Arin are magic users - even Elara uses magic at least as much as she fights with other weapons. And yet I look more like a mage than them in this damn thing. I get to look as silly as a wizard without even having the benefits. How vexing. But. I can't wear my normal clothes, because they've all been burnt to a crisp. So. The elven robes are the only option.
I sigh. Maybe I can try to sell that bracelet next town we get to and buy normal clothes. These are enchanted, but I clearly don't need enchanted clothes. And if I really can't sell that damn bracelet, I'll go forward with giving it to Meera.
Meera currently seems to be staring up at the sky as we ride out of the forest. "Oh, wow, look at the stars! They're so pretty. Miss Meowkins, are you looking? Look at the stars, Miss Meowkins, ohh..."
The cat, apparently annoyed at being invoked in vain, reaches a paw down from where she's riding atop Meera's head and rapidly smacks the girl in the face with her paw.
"Ow, ow, Miss Meowkins, that's not nice!" Meera whines, while the cat settles back down with an irritated flick of her tail.
I can't help but shake my head. It's at least a small blessing that cat wasn't in the Soul Plane as well. The last thing that damn place needed was extra feline chaos.
I watch them out of the corner of my eye as we ride.
I'm not the only one with a difficult partner. Meera and her cat are clearly in the same boat. I'm not quire sure if I'm on Meera's side, or the cat's.
But it's amusing to watch, at least.
"Ryo, you've been quiet for a while." Elara says, riding beside me. "Is something wrong?"
"No. I'm just tired." The earlier exhaustion hasn't abated at all. Even though it hasn't really been that long with any of us awake and the whole 'test' was just my soul, I'm feeling almost as tired as I was before, just a day ago after doing a whole dungeon and riding for two days straight.
I'm not about to fall off of my horse and pull a Meera, but I'm undeniably tired.
"You should get some rest, then." Elara replies. "It's not far to the next town, but we can make camp if you need it."
"I'll be fine. I'm not stopping until we're out of this damn forest."
"As I said, Liyana is not the type to go back on her promises," Kael says from ahead of us, "...But it's better not to tempt her into coming up with an excuse to drag us back for more torment."
If she does, I'm pretty sure at that point I'd be fully justified in fighting them all. But I don't get the impression that woman is planning anything like that. Not yet, at least.
"The Queen of the Elves is too impressed with you to attack you, Master! She will not dare."
I guess it's a good thing the annoying voice is wasting my mental energy telling me things I already know, rather than spoiling things I don't.
I grit my teeth in annoyance. What an aggravating life to be living if that's a good thing.
"Hey, Ryo, you sure you're not hurt?" Arin speaks softly as he rides up next to me. "You look pained. If you were burned at all, I can heal you."
That's because I am in pain! It's just not from an injury. Unless Arin has an anti-annoying voice spell in his book.
"Spells from this world can't affect me, Master. That's silly."
It was a joke. I was joking. To myself.
...Why am I even bothering?
I shake my head and focus on the road ahead. We're almost out of the forest. Just a few more hours and we'll be free.
Free.
That's not really the right word, is it? We'll be free of this endless forest, so that's something. But I'm still trapped in this world. I'm still weighed down by these abilities I didn't ask for. I'm still stuck with a party that just...well, I did go looking for them, but that was before I found out about the cruel twist of this world. And I'm stuck with an annoying voice in my head.
Meera's cat grumbles and smacks her on the face again. Unprovoked this time. Well, unprovoked except for Meera's long record of existence.
"Waugh! Miss Meowkins, no fair!"
She's not even upset. Even when her beloved cat chooses to be randomly mean, she just...doesn't seem to process it as malicious at all.
It's strange. It reminds me of how carefree she was in the Soul Plane. Arin was biting and rude, Elara was depressed, and Kael was a paranoid psychopath. But despite everything, Meera was just...like this. Hell, from what I can remember, she was practically as bothered by the deadly shadows trying to kill her as she is by her cat smacking her in the face. She's completely bizarre. Utterly unflappable except that she absolutely destroys herself on the regular.
I don't understand her at all.
But...it probably doesn't matter. I didn't ask her to be here. I asked for her even less than everyone else here. Her weird...quirkiness is just. Not my problem to puzzle through.
I focus on the road ahead, and eventually, we reach the edge of the forest. We're back. Back on the plains, and headed towards the next town. Finally.
"We did it!" Meera throws her arms open wide. "We made it out!"
The cat flicks her tail, but does nothing else. Which is impressive, because I'd think that's way more disturbing to a cat trying to sleep than her simply talking or existing.
...I really don't get either of them.
"There's a town about two hours from here if we don't drag." Elara says. "We can stop there for the night."
I recall someone mentioning it before. Possibly Kael. Well. Two more hours isn't that bad. I've made it this far, I can go that much further. Besides that, I feel invigorated from finally getting out of that damn forest.
"Ahh, it'll be great to spend the night in a tavern!" Elara sighs, stretching her arms over her head. "Way better than the dirt!"
Kael snorts. "Try not to get too drunk. It'll be a pain if you're hungover the rest of tomorrow."
"Pft-! Please! I'm never!"
...I'm. Absolutely not waiting for people who are hung over. If there's some kind of weird mini quest about that, I'm leaving any hung over people behind in the morning. Anyone who doesn't make it to the Death Zone with me I'll be doing a favor, anyway.
"Master, you're so cold and ruthless. They're your companions! Don't abandon them like that!"
Since when did we have a connection to keep...? I'd barely even call them companions at this point. They're just...people. Who travel with me because they insist on it. If they're not going to put in the basic effort of actually keeping up with me once they insist on it, why should I wait for stragglers? Especially the kind that will be complaining about headaches all day?
"But then you'll get lost!"
That's-! I'm sure not all of them will get drunk, so even then---!
...No. No. I'm not arguing with this voice. For the sake of my sanity. I'm not.
The two hours pass in relative silence, perhaps because even if they all don't remember, their souls still participated in that trial, too.
The town we approach is bigger than the one we left before. It's not a city, but it's more than a village. And it's well-fortified, with walls and a gate, and guards. Excessively so, given how empty the plains are around it.
"Answer: The town of Stilense is fortified because it holds a key position and regularly fends off attacks by the Demon King's forces!"
Well, that's a grim thought. Still, it's good to know.
Maybe I'll get lucky enough to have one of those attacks while I'm here.