“Ah, ah… these crazy rabbits…!”

About 10 minutes later, I was completely exhausted.

Is this what it feels like when you ride on the back seat of a motorcycle on the highway…?

These insane speeding rabbits knew no bounds. Rushing at such a crazy speed, my vision was spinning, and I felt like I was going to be sick.

Of course, it was only me feeling that way; Grayan, April, and Tiberi were fine.

“Darn… why only me…”

As it turns out, Gloria seemed to have a constitution that easily gets motion sickness. Is this not a complete mess…?

“I must have been a catfish person…”

“Huh?”

Grayan asked, hearing my muttered soliloquy like a ghost. I forced a smile and shook my head as if it was nothing. Darn, I feel like I’m going to throw up…

“Madam… are you okay?”

“Yes, well… I feel a bit dizzy, and my stomach is churning.”

Grayan looked at me sternly and then let me rest my head on his shoulder.

I stood there for a moment, calming the dizziness and nausea. Closing my eyes and standing still seemed to make it a bit better.

“Kiyaung.”

“Kyaa.”

“Ungky!”

“Kiya~.”

Meanwhile, the snow rabbit boss and April were having a conversation. They exchanged a few words, and soon after, they exchanged what looked like a handshake and turned away. Perhaps it was a greeting. I’m not sure…

“Our rabbits are good at socializing, too…”

Just then, April, who was looking this way, widened her eyes at me. …Why are you opening your eyes like that? It seems like something is not right.

Anyway, after my motion sickness symptoms improved, our party was able to move towards the end of the maze. The snow rabbit group that brought us here disappeared again. If I hadn’t been sick, I would have interacted with the snow rabbits too.

“Ak ak!”

How far had we walked along the path? Tiberi started barking towards the thick fog. April, who was sitting on Grayan’s shoulder, looked down at Tiberi and cried, “Kiya.” It seemed like she was telling him to be quiet.

“It seems like something is in the fog. April, can you feel it too?”

“Ungkya.”

“Yes, let’s be careful. We don’t know what might jump out.”

Grayan tightly gripped my hand with a tense expression. I also gripped his hand tightly, feeling on guard, and took a step forward with a somewhat rigid motion, swallowing dryly.

{Ahahaha!}

{Hahaha!}

{Karrurur}

That strange laughter, which I had heard just before being swept into the maze, echoed again. Involuntarily pausing, I turned my head to find the direction of the sound, but… the laughter was coming from ‘all directions’ around us.

And very close to us.

‘…Eeeek.’

What is this! What is it! It’s scary!

Feeling me shiver, I could sense Grayan’s arm tensing. He pulled me a little closer and spoke calmly.

“It’s okay, madam. I’ll always…”

That’s when it happened.

{Be careful, Gloria!}

{It’s a spirit!}

{A nasty spirit!}

The fog slowly lifted from the front, and something huge revealed its shape.

It… at a glance, took the form of a beautiful woman. However, it was not exactly like a person. What made it up was… an innumerable number of shining stars in the night sky.

It was incredibly large and emitted an oppressive aura that seemed to crush me. Overwhelmed by its immense presence, I was stunned until Tiberi’s “ak ak!” barking brought me back to my senses.

That, that guy, he’s incredibly brave! In the form of a little wolf pup!

{So noisy…}

The female figure made of the night sky spoke. The heavy resonating voice undoubtedly came from that mysterious entity.

{Children, stop playing and come here.}

She… should I call her that? At least for now. Her words caused the surrounding fog to lift, revealing small shapes.

These shapes were like the night sky, without clear contours, irregular like haphazardly shaped dough.

{There they are.}

{The spirits of the World Tree.}

{They’ve made another contract with humans.}
Small figures approached the lady of the night sky and whispered to her. I realized that the bizarre laughter I heard was coming directly from those small figures.

They began to be gradually absorbed into the large woman’s figure, looking like fragments of the broken night sky. The pieces referred to the woman as ‘Mother,’ and sometimes called her ‘Nyx.’

‘…Nyx? I’ve heard that name somewhere before.’

Gloria tried to recall from her memory, and finally, the night sky lady who had absorbed all the pieces slowly approached us.

‘Heeek.’

Terrified, I quickly hid behind Grayan. She seemed to laugh softly at me. Laugh, laughing…! How cruel! People can be a little scared, too!

{Human chosen by the spirits of the world tree… It’s been a long time since I’ve seen one.}

…Is she talking to me? Should I say something in return…? As I was pondering, I saw butterflies flitting around me and gathered the courage to open my mouth. Whoever the other person may be, these butterflies would protect me.

“Ah, hello there…”

{Speak with more confidence, Gloria!}

{That’s right! You’re the world’s Tuner that we’ve chosen! Have confidence!}

{Don’t get nervous in front of the spirits!}