As we head towards the top of the mountain, it starts getting harder to breathe, so our pace is slower than when we started. The winged people aren’t affected like us, probably because they’ve adapted so they can live high up on the mountain.
The spirits don’t look bothered at all, but it looks like the gryphons are having a little trouble with it too.
This is not a mountain we can climb in one day, so we move while making camp on the way. Mister Villa and the others say that when people camp here they’re often attacked by monsters that look like monkeys and deer, but that doesn’t happen to us. I hear the wing people say it’s strange, and that we’re lucky.
I think this is part of the miko’s power too. Both the forest where we built our village and this mountain are places where it would be normal for monsters to attack. That’s why countries don’t expand and try to develop these places. Our lives in the village are pretty normal, so it’s easy to forget what kind of place it really is.
“Climbing a mountain isn’t easy.”
“Yes.”
Says Gaius, who is sitting next to me. It’s his first time climbing a mountain too, so he’s tired.
Freinet is next to me too, but she doesn’t show herself, probably because she’s wary of Mister Villa and the other winged people.
“I wonder who their god is.”
“Your gods are the gryphons, and the elves’ gods are the spirits so… So I think Mister Villa’s god is something that flies too.”
“Yes, that makes sense. It doesn’t look like they care about people like us, who can’t fly.”
“Yes. But why does their god want to meet me?”
“It looks like their god only wants to meet you, so it’s probably because you’re the miko… But that would mean that their god knows you’re the miko…”
“Hm, I don’t know… The winged people say they can’t leave me alone, so it’s probably related to that too.”
I think their god might want to meet me because I’m the miko, but it could also be just because Mister Villa and the others talked about me, and their god is curious.
The idea of the miko is talked about in legends, and there are also old documents about it, but who knows how true they are. Miss Lan says the records she read could very well be exaggerated, and whoever wrote them could have left out parts they thought were bad or inconvenient.
I wish I knew who this god that apparently loves me is. In this world, the twelve months of the year are named after gods, but there are many more.
I learned about them from grandma when I got to the beast people’s village, but I still don’t know about every god.
“Yes. I wish we knew more about that god.”
“Me too.”
“…It doesn’t look like they revere the gryphons that much. That makes me kind of nervous to think about what their god is.”
“I’m nervous too but… I don’t have a bad feeling, so I’m looking forward to it too. We might learn more about the winged people after meeting their god, and I’d be happy if we got along better.”
I’m worried because I don’t know what’s waiting for us. Meeting someone you don’t know can be scary, but that can also go away once you get closer and know more about them.
We’re all wary of the winged people because we don’t know them very well, but I hope we can understand each other better once we meet their god.
“Well, I hope we can get along too. If we become enemies, they’ll start attacking us from the sky… But it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen as long as you’re around.”
“Yes. Getting along is a lot better than being enemies. Everyone’s happy that way.”
Gaius and I talk about the winged people and their god all day.
In the meantime, Freinet doesn’t say much. She just feels the magic energy of the mountain and sometimes says things like ‘it really is nice’. It looks like she’s just quietly watching the flow of magic energy. And it’s not just Freinet, the spirits contracted to the elves are also interested in this mountain full of magic energy, and look happy about it.
I’m still a little worried, but if the winged people’s god is the one filling this place with the magic energy that the spirits like so much, it’s probably not a bad being.
A few days later, we reach the winged people’s village.
—The girl heads to the top of the mountain – Part two
(The miko climbs the mountain filled with magic energy the spirits like.)
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