As the night grew deeper, the small path in the woods revealed itself intermittently beneath the moonlight.
Asakura and Tsurumi Rumi walked side by side, returning toward the direction of the campsite.
Asakura went into action light-packed, checking the time on his phone from time to time—actually, it was already past eight o'clock, which was the time initially agreed upon with Hiratsuka. However, on the way, Asakura had already contacted Hachiman, telling him that he had already found Tobe, Miura, and Tsurumi Rumi, and was currently on the return journey, telling him to go out and sell his looks to keep Hiratsuka stable.
Hikigaya replied with a 'Me?' emoji and then went silent. However, judging from the fact that the small snake Asakura left at the edge of the campsite saw no police appearing, and furthermore, Hiratsuka had not contacted him either, it seemed that no matter what method Hachiman used, he had truly managed to keep Hiratsuka stable.
It couldn't be that he really sold his looks—leaving aside the fact that Totsuka Saika was still there, a person can't exactly sell something they don't even have.
The surrounding tree shadows silently receded, and the fallen leaves beneath their feet flipped gently in the night wind; the entire forest seemed to have returned to its usual tranquility.
Asakura's pace appeared exceptionally leisurely.
His gaze was not always fixed on his feet, yet he could always avoid protruding tree roots and scattered rubble at just the right moments; every step he took was precise and natural, without even the hem of his clothes being snagged by the low-hanging branches and leaves.
That smoothness was not a result of deliberate caution, but resembled more of a matter-of-course action, as if he had already walked this path before and knew exactly what he would encounter within at least the next three seconds.
In comparison, Tsurumi Rumi seemed to be struggling a bit.
Without the guidance of the Bowtruckle and the old tree spirit, the forest terrain had clearly become quite unfamiliar to her all at once; her pace was sometimes fast and sometimes slow, her attention constantly dragged away by the barriers that kept appearing.
Not to mention that at this moment, the girl had two snakes wrapped around her head like a heavy scarf, which undoubtedly made her movements increasingly difficult.
Nevertheless, Tsurumi Rumi did not complain even once, being mature to a degree that hardly seemed like a child of her age.
She carefully bypassed the slippery moss, yet almost stepped on a tree root hidden in the shadows.
Every few steps, her body would sway slightly, as if she were trying hard to maintain her balance.
All of a sudden, the tip of her foot accidentally caught on a protruding root. With two snakes resting on her head, her center of gravity was already entirely different from usual, and since she was completely unaccustomed to it at the moment, the little one's body immediately tilted forward uncontrollably.
Yet before the sensation of weightlessness could fully spread out, a hand had already reached over steadily.
Asakura reacted almost right before she lost her balance, his arm naturally supporting her shoulder and wrist, scooping her up and easily bringing her back to a stable, standing posture.
The movement was crisp and accurate without any superfluous hesitation, as incomparably practiced and nimble as if he could foresee the future.
The brief panic quickly vanished, replaced by an emotion that made Tsurumi Rumi feel inexplicably uncomfortable, or rather, vexed; she felt that her presence was truly getting in Asakura's way.
"...I'm sorry," the girl said in an incredibly small voice. "I'm like a burden."
"Oh, don't worry about it," Asakura said with a smile. "Because I'm super strong, everyone is like a burden to me anyway."
"Is that supposed to be a consolation..."
The girl muttered, not feeling her heart ease up at all.
"Well, let's use an analogy then. Do your primary school girls' uniforms have bows on them?" Asakura asked.
"Yes," Tsurumi Rumi nodded.
"What about the boys' uniforms then?"
"It seems they don't?" Tsurumi Rumi tilted her head, answering with some uncertainty.
"So when you play a sport like ping-pong with the boys, would you blame the reason you lost on your uniform having an extra bow?"
"Of course not..." Tsurumi Rumi muttered in a small voice, clearly guessing what Asakura was trying to say.
"Then it's the same for me," Asakura said in a perfectly solemn manner.
"Therefore, even being compared to a bow doesn't make a person happy at all..."
"Huh, but as for ornaments that a primary school girl can wear, aside from a bow, isn't there only cat ears and a katyusha headband left?" Asakura had a face full of astonishment. "Tsurumi, do you want to become a catgirl or a maid?"
"Why is the scope of choices so narrow! Big brother, what exactly do you want to turn primary school girls into!" Tsurumi Rumi, who had just stabilized her body, stumbled again and almost fell over.
Asakura halted his steps, turning his head to look at the girl: "What did you say?"
"Um..." Seeing Asakura's expressionless face, Tsurumi Rumi couldn't help but feel a little scared inside: "Are you angry?"
"No, what I mean is, what did you just call me?"
"B-big brother?"
"Don't call me big brother," Asakura declared loudly. "Call me Asakura-nii!"
"Eh..."
Tsurumi Rumi felt that she would probably never be able to keep up with this fellow's train of thought in her entire life.
Tranquility returned to the forest once more; the moonlight filtered down through the leaves, stretching the shadows of the two side by side.
Asakura continued to step forward, his rhythm remaining unchanged, while Tsurumi Rumi subconsciously drew a few inches closer.
The road back to the campsite was still long, yet it inexplicably became reassuring and steady before anyone realized it.
After quite a while longer, the little one suddenly asked in a small voice: "Um... Asakura-nii?"
"What is it?"
"What... will happen to me afterwards?"
"You will forget all of this, change back into the original Tsurumi Rumi, and obediently stay until the day after tomorrow to be sent back home."
Asakura replied casually.
"...Is there something wrong with the current me?" Tsurumi Rumi asked softly.
"Well, sharp-tongued, barely any expression on your face, acting like a know-it-all, clearly a little brat yet fond of pretending to be an adult, and far too easy to blindly trust others—"
"The little wood thing isn't even human..." With every sentence Asakura spoke, Tsurumi Rumi's gaze dimmed a bit more, though in the end, she still couldn't help but defend herself in a small voice.
"Something whose brain you can't see is all the more reason to be on guard," Asakura retorted.
"...Asakura-nii, what time is it now?" The little one was silent for a moment, and just when Asakura thought she had given up, the girl suddenly asked.
"8:20." Asakura replied after pulling out his phone to glance at it.
"Aha!" Tsurumi Rumi said loudly: "Didn't you believe it too! Something whose brain you can't see! Ouch..."
However, before she could finish speaking, Asakura chopped her on the head.
"Can that be the same!" Asakura said with an air of righteous confidence.
The little one followed crestfallen behind Asakura like a defeated rooster.
Watching her dejected appearance, the Bowtruckle perched on Asakura's shoulder seemed unable to bear it; it suddenly hopped from Asakura's shoulder onto the girl's shoulder and gently rubbed against the little one's face.
Then, it was elbowed down by the tail of the snake wrapped around the girl's head.
The little wooden person immediately became displeased. Like Silver Chariot, it pulled out a toothpick from god-knows-where and launched an attack on the snake, which was either Miura or Tobe.
Asakura paid no attention to the little ones making a fuss behind him and began to check his system page.
After the previous mission was completed, the reward obtained was three pages of the 'Half-Blood Prince's Potions Notes'.
Each page recorded one or two potion recipes and brewing steps. Asakura counted them roughly, and there were five potions in total.
These five potions were the old friend Polyjuice Potion, Elixir to Induce Euphoria and Pepperup Potion which seemed quite useful, Shrinking Solution, and Wolfsbane Potion whose use was unknown.
Leaving the recipes aside for a moment, after having the experience with the knock-off Essence of Dittany, Asakura knew very well that things like brewing steps could only be used for reference. After all, the medicinal ingredients in reality did not possess magic themselves, and the effects were worlds apart from what was recorded in the recipes. If he wanted to brew a proper potion, he would have to study it slowly by himself.
The only regret was that this reward, unlike the Essence of Dittany back then, did not come with the original ingredients, to the point that there was no standard answer to use as a reference. Asakura estimated that even if he really brewed something, he wouldn't dare drink it directly; he would have to conduct biological experiments first.
The one Asakura was most optimistic about was the Elixir to Induce Euphoria. Compared to the other potions, this thing was uniquely simple and should be the easiest to replicate among the current five potions.
Then there was the Pepperup Potion. In Harry Potter, this thing is the wizard's cold medicine (and can also be used to prevent colds). Because the effect is immediate, and aside from white steam puffing out of the ears, there are no other side effects, its practical value seems quite high.
All in all, the Elixir to Induce Euphoria and the Pepperup Potion can probably be settled before this semester ends.
According to the description, the Shrinking Solution is a potion that can make things smaller. Starting from this thing, the remaining three potions become incredibly and absurdly complex. In the short term, Asakura sees no hope of reproducing them in reality.
After all, the more complex the steps, the more experiments are required in reality. If a brewing fails, it's also hard to determine which step went wrong. Being able to make these three potions before graduating from high school would count as a victory.
'Should I just drop the supernatural rumor tour for the rest of the summer vacation, stay home, and brew potions instead? No, that fellow Shiina will come over to help clean the room... the Rabbit House isn't very convenient either. Then go to the school's club cabin? Forget it, I'll think about it when the time comes.'
Asakura tossed his worries aside and began to check the text that followed.
[Mission: Discover a Supernatural Landmark]
A supernatural landmark?
Does it refer to something like the Chiba Port Tower during the anomaly?
Once that kind of thing appears in the world, it will cause quite a massive change, right? Where on earth is he supposed to find that kind of thing...
Tch, it looks like his supernatural rumor tour has to continue after all, Asakura muttered helplessly in his heart.
They walked for a little while longer.
"Are there more fireflies?" Tsurumi Rumi suddenly said in a small voice.
Asakura lifted his head to take a look, then shook his head and said: "No, look closely, that isn't the light of fireflies."
"Ah..."
Hearing him say this, Tsurumi Rumi realized that what she saw indistinctly was the light coming from the campsite through the thickets and bushes—in front of the clearing at the campsite, there actually stood a light pole with a fairly high wattage, but it had been turned off previously because there were no night activities during this volunteer work.
But now, counting Asakura, four people had disappeared from the campsite. Even if it was just to let the missing students find their way back by following the light, Hiratsuka naturally wouldn't choose to keep that big light turned off.
"What do we do now?"
Tsurumi Rumi clutched the Bowtruckle somewhat nervously.
The latter was probably pinched painfully by her (or perhaps it was about to be snapped), so it poked the girl's finger with its toothpick. Only then did Tsurumi Rumi snap out of it, loosening her hand while apologizing, letting the Bowtruckle hop and skip back onto Asakura.
Only, before Asakura could say anything, the flower bud on the Bowtruckle's head was plucked off by itself. Immediately after, its arm slowly elongated, winding into a small loop around that flower bud, turning into a ring that looked slightly a bit too large.
The Bowtruckle glanced at Asakura. Asakura did not object, so it stuffed the ring in its hand into the little girl's hand.
This left Tsurumi Rumi somewhat at a loss: "Little wood thing? This is?"
"It's a gift for you," Asakura explained on behalf of his pet. "Just like what you said, it is your first friend. But conversely, it's actually the same. The animals in this forest were clearly not affected by the miracle and mystery that fell from the sky; they are still just ordinary wild animals—don't look at me with that kind of expression, those animals back at the tree spirit's place earlier were guided over by the tree spirit's power, they didn't truly develop spirituality. Don't underestimate the matter of enlightening sentience!"
Tsurumi Rumi shrunk her neck back.
Thereupon, Asakura then continued: "In short, you are also its first friend in a true sense... That ring is the gift it's giving you, and a proof of friendship."
"But I don't have anything... Ah, wait a moment."
The girl suddenly seemed to think of something and pulled out a compact object that looked a bit like a mobile phone from her pocket.
Asakura took it on behalf of the Bowtruckle to take a look, only to find that it was an entry-level digital camera meant for newbies.
"This is also my treasure, I'm giving it to the little wood thing now!"
Tsurumi Rumi said seriously.
The Bowtruckle carried the digital camera it took from Asakura's hand with some effort, nodding its head frantically with joy.
"Well, since the Bowtruckle... tch, why do I also feel 'little wood thing' rolls off the tongue better? Forget it, let's just call it that... In short, since it accepted you and even gave that to you, then I'll give you a choice too."
Asakura said, "Do you want to forget everything and become an ordinary person, or come over to 'our side'? As a side note, if you choose the latter, your life in the future probably won't be particularly peaceful, you know?"