Chapter 73 - Chapter 73: The Slingshot - Part 2

Chapter 73: The Slingshot – Part “This is ridiculous. How is it this hard to find a strong ‘Y’ shaped branch in a forest!”

That sentence was shouted at the top of Olivia’s lungs, multiple times for that matter, as she scoured the surrounding forest for the branch that would make up the slingshot. The sun was peaking right above them signalling it was lunch time, and yet, she had not found what she was looking for.

There were plenty of trees, hundreds even, but finding the right branch seemed an impossibility. They had found a good number that were shaped correctly and some…not so correctly. Many were crooked, didn’t for a symmetrical ‘Y’, the list went on. It may have been possible to use them, same with the ones that were shaped almost perfectly, but even then they were either too thin, too small or worse of all, too brittle. That one annoyed Olivia the most, mainly because the first time she found a branch that looked exactly how she pictured it, she was elated. But that all changed very quickly when she placed the vine around the top and gave it a tug to see if it worked right…and then the whole top just snapped off.

So many of the trees looked the same, and going off of that, it was very likely they would all end up having branches that broke just as easily.

She would have to keep going, a fact that both Lyrika and Philly were annoyingly aware of, having been dragged into the forest to search as well.

But thankfully for them, Olivia had had enough for now and knew it was time to stop. Especially when she found out lunch was calling, given the very loud rumble from Lyrika’s stomach.

…

Heading back into the village, Lyrika wondered whether there was somewhere else they could eat. Just because they stayed at the inn didn’t mean they were obligated to eat there all the time. It was very much a pay-as-you-go kind of place, the first night having had to pay for dinner and the room, and the morning a separate breakfast fee. So, why not dine out for the meal. This was probably the last time they would have lunch in the village for a short while. As tomorrow, they would be heading out and travelling west in order to reach the road that Ameril would be travelling down.

Saying this though, it wasn’t like there was a café or restaurant they could go to. Things like that did not exist here. It was just a village, which is one of the reasons why this was the case, but it was also possible that not even towns would have such things. With it being close to Medieval times, the only place you could go out to eat would be an Inn. Other than that you just ate indoors, especially if you couldn’t afford it, which was probably the case for most people.

But, as Teagan had told them before, there were a few Inn in the village. So, off they went to find one of the others, all the while wondering if the food would be different, new or exciting.

…

But it wasn’t.

It tasted just like the dinner they had at the other Inn, where it was just some Gootra meat alongside vegetables. It was very disappointing.

Sure, to Lyrika this was probably amazing. Having been stuck with Effler meat and hardtack for so long, to be able to eat food similar to what she had in her village must have been lovely. But for herself and Philly for that matter, it was just not for them.

‘I definitely need to buy some spices or something.’

Unfortunately, there had been none in the general store or the grocer, so she would have to keep an eye out in her travels. She needed something, anything, to make her camping cooking taste better. But for now, she could make do with food from the Inn, until he could improve her culinary skills.

…

They all chatted with each other as they ate, and occasionally passed along some of the meat to the resident Zentora, whose name was still up for debate between the three of them, and before long, they had finished their meal.

Before Lyrika’s bowl had even hit the table, she was up and ready to go, very eager about the next activity for the day.

“Come on, come on. We have to get there before they take them back inside.”

“Yes, yes, I get it. You do recall Milly saying to visit after lunch right? They aren’t going anywhere.” Olivia responded to Lyrika’s hurrying.

“You don’t know that… now let’s go.”

With a groan, Olivia stood and headed out the door of the Inn with Philly trailing behind as they followed Lyrika. Her pace was almost twice as fast as it normally was, meaning she was well ahead of them as she headed towards the stables.

It was only a short walk through the village in order to get back to the stable, and they got there just in time to see the stable hands bringing the Umbrea out of their stalls.

“You made it, that’s great.”

Turning to the voice they were all greeted by the sight of Milly with open arms, welcoming them to come and see the Umbrea. While Philly and Lyrika just had smiles on their faces, a look of confusion clouded Olivia’s as it felt like her mind was spinning.

Images flashed through her head as if a whole series of memories just popped into it. It all happened so fast and ended up incomplete. She had these odd memories of seeing Milly, and learning things about her, but what happened before and after were just blurs. But, one thing she could tell was that they were somewhat pleasurable memories, even if she couldn’t picture them properly.

She could however remember that the girl in front of her was more than she seemed. That she was able to cast magic and knew about how Olivia came from another world. And that it was the two goddesses from whom she learnt about it.

But, there was something in her mind that told her she wasn’t a danger, and that Milly had some other motive. She couldn’t however quite tell why or what that was though.

“Hello, are you in there Olivia?”

She was broken out of her stupor as Milly waved her hand in front of her face.

“Ah, sorry. I was just…thinking about something. It’s good to see you Milly.”

“And it’s very nice seeing you again Olivia.” Milly responded as the all too familiar lustful face appeared on her face as quickly as it disappeared. Olivia was the only one to see it, Milly having gotten up close to and personal with her, so that her back was to the rest.

“Well, we’re just getting the last of the Umbrea out of their stands. Shall we head over?” Milly asked as she turned back to Lyrika and Philly, putting on a normally happy face.

Lyrika was the first to agree and joined her as she started to walk out of the village alongside the Umbrea. Philly and Olivia ended up trailing a little behind.

They headed towards the front entrance of the village, and were very quickly let through. Milly told the guards that they were with her, so no permits needed to be shown, which got them out of that hassle again.

They then travelled past several of the fields that were still being harvested for crops, and eventually came to an open area filled with just grass and wildflowers. It was surrounded by fences, all of which were likely to ensure the Umbrea didn’t just jump out and run away.

They lead the Umbrea to the side of the area, where the stable hands opened the gate, and brought them inside. Once there, they then removed their leads and let them run free.

“Wow.”

Olivia looked over and saw Lyrika just in awe at the Umbrea galloping around the field.

The Umbrea ran around stretching their legs. Some ended up playing with the others, galloping around almost like in a race, bumping into each other as they moved, trying to get ahead of one another. Some spent the time just grazing, nibbling away at the grass and wild flowers getting a couple of their five a day. It was a lovely and majestic sight.

“They’re beautiful aren’t they?”

To her side, Milly was leaning up against the fence looking over at the six-legged unicorns galloping around. If Olivia didn’t know any better, it looked like she had the same sort of shine that Lyrika did. She guessed you don’t go into caring for them, without truly caring about them.

“They’re lovely.”

All four of them just watched them run around and mess around with each other. Even Philly who had been engrossed with writing about them, stopped a few minutes in to just watch and be in the moment. It was a lovely way to pass the time, and it truly made Olivia forget at the hardships they had since coming to this world.

…

But, as they say, all good things must come to an end.

They had stood around for a good couple of hours, the time just flying by given how enjoyable the moment was. True to Lyrika fashion, she really didn’t want them to leave and head back to the stable. But after some words from Milly about them needing to get some rest and that she was more than welcome to visit them anytime, Lyrika stopped her embargo at the fence gate.

Milly left them soon after, saying her goodbyes but all the while saying they should meet up again. The sun was still shining bright in the sky, but before long it would be heading below the trees.

As Olivia looked around to see the sun, trying to judge how much time they have till they should get back for dinner, she spotted something in the distance.

Thankfully, it wasn’t a shadow or silhouette moving amongst the trees, like she had seen when the goddess paid her a visit. But what she saw was a tree that was much larger than all the rest they had been searching around.

She started to wander over, and after a quick shrug of the shoulders from the girls, they followed after her.

As she got closer the tree just grew larger in scale. It was a massive thing, covered in bright orange leaves. The best bit of all though, was that there were a good number of low branches, many of which looked almost like ‘Y’s.

Dashing over, she got to work, taking some branches off the floor and snapping a few from the lower branches, and then gave them a test. She attached the vine to each and it a pull, the outcoming being … that nothing snapped. Even when she took it off and just tried to bend it herself, she hardly felt it move. When she put in a lot more strength, it snapped very easily, but it was definitely strong enough to handle the vines.

She moved around, looking for any more sections of the tree that had a very nice-looking ‘Y’ shape section… and she managed to find several.

‘I could make slingshots for each of us.’

And that’s what she decided to do. It wouldn’t hurt to have a backup weapon, especially it being a ranged weapon. Even Lyrika who had her bow could make use of it, as who knows when she may run out of arrows. Plus, with the slingshot being so small, it would be easy to carry without adding much weight.

As she gathered three of the branches, she saw that as a job well done, which she followed up by turning around to head back to the village to rest, relax and then grab some dinner. As tomorrow they would be setting off to go save Ameril.