Iofi pov: As soon as we got back to level 0, we immediately left the council room and ran towards where Risu's tracker was pinging.
"Why is she in the mystical forest?" I asked out loud.
"Oh, hey, Iofi," Aki-senpai said.
"Hey, I'm looking for Risu," I told her.
"She went into the dark forest, so I'm kind of worried." Aki sighed
"Oh yeah, doesn't the all-mighty garlic witch live there?" I asked
"She's a stowaway," Aki-senpai sighed.
"Oh, by the way, why is she the garlic witch?" I asked
"Ah, because she looks like garlic," Aki-senpai said.
"Hmmm..." I said, "I'll have to see that myself."
"Well, who knows, no one has actually seen the garlic witch; usually, she stays in her little hut." Aki-senpai claimed
"Well, we will probably see her one day," I said happily.
"I don't think you understand that a witch is one of the most terrifying entities in the world," Aki-senpai said.
"Well, we'll just see about that," I laughed.
"Be extra careful; all the beasts should be prowling around." Aki-senpai stated
"Okay, don't worry, they have nothing they'd want to eat. Wait, I do have a dumpy on me," I commented.
"And that's relevant how?" Aki-senpai said
"Eh, don't worry about it," I laughed.
Without a second thought, I dashed into the dark forest, immediately running into a giant bear. It swatted at me, but I dodged and continued on my way. The ground shook as it chased me, but I just ignored it.
"Neeeeee! What the hell is all this noise!?" Someone cackled
"Sounds like the witch..." I commented
"Who is in my forest?" The woman said again.
"Interesting, it sounds like she's talking from every shadow in the forest," I said.
I saw a magic projectile shoot at me, and I dodged it before walking further into the tracker, which began to beep more and more as I got closer to Risu.
"There you are!" I said as I ran up to her and hugged her.
"Iofi, you are here?" Risu said it in shock.
"I wanted to see you!" I said
"I'm actually happy you are here because I got separated from pretty much everyone besides Reine and Oga," Risu sighed.
"Risu-senpai I found Ollie." Reine stated
"Oh, the one that is probably going to be the least helpful... Risu sighed
"Oi Risu I remember that ten of them went off on their own, so Matsuri-senpai and Anya are the only ones that are really separated. Oga explained
"I wish no one was separated at all," I said.
"Well, we get what we get," Oga said.
"That's true, and now that I'm here, I'm sure we'll make more ground," I said.
"Wait, when did you get here, Iofi-senpai?" Ollie asked
"Like a minute ago," I said.
"So, Oga, where did the group of ten go?" Risu asked
"Ah well, you see, Choco-sensei wanted to meet up with that garlic witch," Oga said.
"So they know each other?" Risu questioned
"It seems like it-she said it'd be a reunion for three of them," Oga said.
"We should trust them for now, so what's your goal?" I asked
"Find Anya and Matsuri-senpai, and also find Fubuki-senpai," Ollie said.
"That's going to be tough. Why would she be here?" I asked
"That is a fair question," Risu said.
"Last I saw of Fubuki, she went in here," Oga said.
"She could have left senpai," Ollie said.
"True, but I doubt that she has," Risu said.
"How do you know it's been years?" Ollie yelled
"Ollie, we have to check because we'd look like dumbasses if we checked somewhere else and then it turns out that she was here." Reine said
"But, babe, why don't we split off and look?" Ollie asked
"No, we aren't splitting off anymore." I told them then
"What happened?" Risu asked me
"Nothing that we didn't come back from. I was just in space," I said.
"Oh, was it fun?" Risu asked
"It actually was," I laughed.
"We probably should move faster since the garlic witch may attack at any moment," Reine said.
"Does anyone else think that the garlic witch seems lame to you, like she isn't a threat?" I sighed
"Did you run into her?" Risu asked
"Yes and no," I said.
"So you didn't see her?" Reine said
"No, but she attacked me," I told her.
"Okay, so you feel like she isn't a threat?" Risu said
"Not at all, she just seems like someone trying to be cool," I explained.
"Ah, so they should be fine, but we already deduced this," Risu said.
"Oh Iofi-senpai, how are Kiara and Mumei?" Reine asked
"Oh they are fine Apparently, they reunited with some old friends" I explained.
"Really, I'm glad they are putting themselves out there," Reine said.
"That is pretty good, I agree," I laughed.
"Let's push on; we need to go on ahead and find them already," Ollie said.
"Look, Ollie, you need patience; we are catching up," Risu said.
"So why the hell have things stopped trying to kill us?" Ollie questioned
"Convenience," I said.
"Damn, that is good!" Ollie laughed.
"So who should we find first, Anya or Matsuri-senpai?" Reine asked
"Anya," Risu said.
"I vote for Anya as well," I said.
"I vote for Matsuri-senpai," Ollie said.
"Anya, it is," Reine said.
"Wait, you voted for Anya as well!" Ollie shouted
"Of course she is my friend, whom I've known for years, Ollie..." Reine said
"Fine, I won't complain about it, even though I don't agree with looking for Anya first," Ollie said.
"Yeah, well, we don't really care what you think," Risu said.
"Wait, I didn't get to vote. I'll say let's look for Matsuri-senpai," Oga said.
"Well, Anya still wins three to two," Reine said.
"Fine, I'll accept it." Ollie said
"With that, let's go!" I said
The five of us ran into the forest looking for Anya.
YOU ARE READING
Love Far Beyond the Ashes
ActionCalli and Kiara have been separated once again after finally rekindling their flame of love. The two want to reunite with one another by all means necessary and will do anything to achieve that, no matter how hard it may be. They won't let anything...
