The other side.

Early next morning.

"vomit--!"

Erina held her hand on the wall and spit out the acid water.

Then, he coughed again.

"Are you okay, Erina-chan?" Nao handed over the kettle with a worried look on her face: "I didn't expect morning sickness to be so severe..."

"I'm not pregnant! Stop joking!" Erina grabbed the kettle angrily and gargled her mouth with it: "This honey-soaked beetle is too disgusting! It's not something humans can eat at all!"

"Huh? It tastes okay to me." Nao disagreed with her point of view: "Erina-chan is just not used to the taste."

"Hmph... Anyway, I won't take another bite!" Erina muttered, grabbed the map, and started studying it again: "It's all my fault that I lost my appetite for breakfast... I still feel it in my throat.

It smells weird! It stinks!"

"This can't be considered smelly. It can only be said to be... a special smell? Just like some people hate durian and some people like it very much." Nao smiled and walked closer to Erina and looked at the map: "How is it?

Have you figured out where to go next?”

"...No. Na na na, let me take the cat bus again." Erina looked at the map, her expression gradually became depressed: "After the battle last night, which way should we take now?"

There is a risk of being intercepted."

“But taking the Maomao Bus doesn’t guarantee safety?”

Nao thought for a while and said this.

"Although the bus takes some small roads, they may also guess our choice and set up roadblocks... If you ask me, it is better to ride on horseback. At least get out of Hawke City's sphere of influence, and then consider taking transportation."

"A horse? That's right. It's hard to get a horse, so it would be a pity to lose it like this."

Erina grimaced, remained silent for a moment, and then took out another map of the nearby area.

"Let's decide our next destination first. We can't just wander around without any goals, right?"

"Hmm, we have to investigate the strange dream syndrome. Although there is no evidence to connect them, this curse may have some connection with nightmares. So we should maintain the previous pace and continue to go to places that are seriously contaminated by nightmares.

investigation……"

"Now, wait a minute - I've already said that strange dream syndrome is not a curse! Curses must meet certain conditions before they can be counted!" Erina corrected her seriously: "This is just a phenomenon. It would be more appropriate to call it a plague.

."

"Oh, it's just a way of saying it." Nao said with a smile, "Just like when I said I wanted to eat Sayo-chan, I didn't mean it literally at all."

Erina: "No, I think that's what it means literally."

Erina: "...Forget it, let's look at the map. I remember marking the severely polluted areas with a pen... Now, here we are."

Erina: "There is a very deep hole in this town. There used to be spiral stairs leading to the underground cemetery. Then there was a plague and many people died. In order to quickly dispose of the corpses, people began to throw the corpses directly into the hole...

"

Erina: "...As a result, those corpses transformed and began to walk up the stairs and attack the townspeople. People used explosives to blow up the stairs. After that, there was only some debris left on the stairs, which was completely useless.

Already."

Erina: "It seems that in order to steal things from the underground tombs, some tomb robbers would build ladders and ropes to go down. But many people never came back... Legend has it that there are many monsters in the underground. Not only zombies."

Erina: "Because the stairs were demolished, monsters have not climbed out of the cave for thousands of years. Until a year ago... nightmare monsters began to pour out of it. Strange things began to happen in the town."

Erina: "Some people suffer from strange diseases, some people die tragically or go crazy because of seeing terrible things, and some people become trance-like and eventually jump into a hole by themselves..."

Erina: "I don't know if the information I got is reliable, but anyway, the townspeople tried to exorcise the evil spirits with bombs and scriptures from the Tianyi Sect... but it didn't seem to be of any use."

Nao: "Yeah, yes!"

Nao: "But speaking of bombs—poof! Can that be considered a means of exorcism? Physical transcendence?"

Erina: "It seems that pages from the Tianyi Bible were added to the bomb, saying that it would be effective against the undead and nightmares. It's just superstitious."

Erina: "Anyway... they can't do anything about the big hole. No one dares to go down to check it out, and no foreign aid can be invited to help dispel the nightmare... It seems that this thing can only be sealed at best, and it cannot be completely solved.

So now, their solution is to board up the entrance..."

Erina: "But I think this is just a trade-off. A mere pile of wood cannot stop the threat of nightmares. Sooner or later they will spread and eventually pour out of that hole."

Nao: "I think so too."

Nao: "No one thinks it's really safe to seal the entrance with some broken boards, right?"

Nao: "Everyone must be living in fear every day. They are always worried about whether the nightmare will spread from the hole..."

Erina: "Well. That's all we know now."

Erina: "I don't know if the wooden board is working."

Nao: "Even if it works, everyone won't be able to live in peace, right?"

Nao: "Although the nightmare is deep in that hole, there is such a threat hidden under my feet. I would definitely want to move away as soon as possible."

Nao: "Erina-chan thinks so too, right?"

Erina: "Well... I can understand what the townspeople think."

Erina: "They must not want to leave their hometown for various reasons."

Erina: "Therefore, even if you have to withstand these threats, you have to stay..."

Erina: "...And, what's more, if they move, there's still a problem where they can go."

Erina: "Is there a good place to go? Will they be able to find jobs, fields for farming, and waters for fishing? Will there be enough financial support to escape from here? These thoughts will stimulate a sense of luck and make them feel that they are staying in the town.

It should be fine, so I might as well not leave..."

Erina: "...It is difficult for many people to just leave the hometown where they have always lived."

Erina: "Uh... what's the word that the servant said? Is it social productivity? When the productivity is not developed enough, it will be difficult for people to survive once they leave their hometown... especially those who bring their families with them.

Those who care too much may endanger their own lives."
Chapter completed!