Everyone was beginning to feel that something was wrong as we walked through the forest for who knows how long. |
Orleans |
"According to what Rouen said earlier, it shouldn't be too far to the Mist Train... Right?" |
Rouen |
"Oh, d-did I say that?" |
Vivienne |
"You did!" |
Orleans |
"You have, oui." |
Paddington |
"I'm very sure you said it! I remember!" |
Rouen |
"...Sorry. I'm sure I said it." |
Conductor |
We have been walking for several hours now since we last spoke about it. And yet, instead of going through the forest, the trees have only turned denser. |
Orleans |
"Even though we must be quite far from the front line, I'm also concerned about the increased frequency of our encounters with Mist Monsters." |
Conductor |
Is Paddington right after all? Are we going round in circles in the same place? |
Vivienne |
"It can't be... but it's strange." |
Still grumbling, Vivienne carved another mark onto the tree. |
Orleans |
"The wounded are out of breath too. Let's review the map properly again." |
Orleans and us squat down on the spot and started discussing things, turning over the map on the ground. |
Orleans |
"Monsieur Conductor, your thoughts?" |
Conductor |
I thought we were following the map, but then we should have been through the forest long ago. I don't even remember ever seeing Vivienne's markers twice. |
Orleans |
"Exactly... Ah!" |
Conductor |
What's wrong? Not like you to yell like that, Orleans. |
Orleans |
"The marker - it's gone!" |
Everyone looks up at the tree Orleans pointed to. The mark that Vivienne carved earlier isn't there anymore. |
Why had the mark disappeared? What the heck is going on? Everyone split up to investigate the area. |
Rouen |
"Could this be the cause?" |
It was yet another hideous statue that had been hidden behind a patch of grass. Rouen immediately smashed the statue. |
*CLANG* |
Orleans |
"It could be that someone was using that statue to keep an eye on us..." |
Vivienne |
"Keep an eye for what?" |
Orleans |
"To keep us from escaping the forest... Isn't that why they removed the markers?" |
Rouen |
"What are we going to do? Do we go on looking for more statues?" |
Conductor |
There are plenty of places to hide the statue in the thick vegetatation and dimly lit forest. If we miss even one, we will be lost again.
The speed of our march will slow down considerably. I just hope the soldiers can hold out... |
Orleans |
"We don't even know how many statues there are. Let's cut off the source here." |
Conductor |
The source? What are you talking about? |
Orleans |
"La Pucelle says. A very disastrous, great force is approaching." |
Conductor |
What does she want us to do? |
Orleans |
"Let's have the voice guide us. That thing is trying to lead us astray. Then--" |
The source of that evil force is trying to lure us in. Orleans suggested that we should just follow the path and jump into the jaws of the source. |
Vivienne |
"I don't like the idea of being lured in by someone who uses such ugly statues, but that seems to be the only strategy." |
Orleans |
"I can sense the general direction of the evil presence. The closer we get, the thicker it gets, so we should be able to get to where the source is." |
Conductor |
We don't know what's there. But for now we had no choice but to trust Orleans and La Pucelle. |
The wounded soldiers stayed where they were as we started walking in the direction indicated by Orleans. |