A thick tree appeared in Ariante’s sight. Behind it was a gently winding downhill path.

Ariante, holding onto the tree, carefully leaned down the downhill path. Then, at the end of the path, Silas suddenly appeared. His clothes were covered in mud, and there were scratches on his cheek. His hair was disheveled.

Silas, locking eyes with Ariante, smiled with a relieved face and waved both hands.

“Ariante!”

“Silas! Why are you there! Just wait a moment!”

When she let go of the tree she was holding, Ariante’s body slid down the slope as if on a sled. Silas said, “Be careful! It’s a steep drop!”

Ariante quickly touched the ground and grabbed the grass stems as she slid. Although the sliding speed slowed down a bit as she pushed the soil with her heels, when she reached the end of the downhill path, her body jumped into the air.

“Oof!”

The edge of the downhill path was cut off like a cliff. Ariante floated in the air, then tumbled forward when she landed.

“Ouch.”

Ariante groaned, holding her forehead.

“Ariante! Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”

Silas rushed over and patted Ariante’s forehead. Thanks to the soft and loose soil, there were no injuries, but it seemed likely that a bump would form.

Ariante said, “Where’s Cici? Where’s Cici?”

“Over there.”

Turning her head, Ariante saw a small figure crouching under a thin, twisted tree. A whimpering sound came from Cici, who was huddled with her forehead on her knees and covered in tears and snot.

Silas said, “She slipped from above. I’m fine, but Cici seems to have hurt her ankle when she fell. She says it hurts, and she can’t walk.”

Ariante looked alternately between Cici and Silas with a furrowed brow. She couldn’t express whether she was worried or angry.

“Why did you come so far!”

Silas, looking sullen, sighed deeply.

“Sorry, it’s my fault.”

Then, Cici shouted in frustration.

“I didn’t tell Silas to come! I said I would come! Why are you mad at Silas?”

Ariante rolled her eyes, looking at Cici as she kicked her feet.

“Doesn’t it all end up the same way! What if we come this far? We don’t know where the way back is, and how are we going to climb up that hill!”

“How would I know! Why did you even play hide and seek? I hate it! That’s why I said I didn’t want to come here!”

Either she had been holding it in until now, or she had regained her energy after resting a bit, but Cici, who had raised her head again, started crying loudly. The sound of branches rustling came from above, suggesting that a squirrel or something similar had been startled and ran away.

“Don’t cry, Cici. It’s okay. Ariante found us. Other people will be able to find us.”

Silas tried to comfort her, but Cici continued to cry unabated. Frustrated, she first punched the air and kicked her feet, then, as if her injured ankle hurt more, she screamed louder.

“Don’t cry! It’s okay. Father and Maiana will definitely come to find us.”

“How do you know that? What if we can never go home again!”

When Cici objected, Ariante retorted sharply.

“If you cry so much, wolves might come, and then we won’t be able to go home! If you want that, keep crying! If not, stop it!”
Cici’s eyes widened, and a whimpering sound escaped her. Silas, too, looked at Ariante with surprise, as if questioning the presence of real wolves.

Cici, still sobbing heavily, stared at Ariante. It was evident that she was so shocked that she had forgotten to cry.

Silas said, “Ariante, stay with Cici. I’ll go and call the adults.”

However, Ariante immediately objected, “No. If I get lost alone, it will be a bigger problem. I can’t find my way here either. But how will Silas find the way?”

“I think I can make it.”

He replied, but Silas’s voice sounded less confident, with a hint of doubt.

After all, being older than Ariante and Cici, he might have some baseless confidence that he could find the way. Along with the worry expressed by Ariante about getting lost, Silas’s expression was mixed with uncertainty.

Silas said, “You’re right, Ariante. The three of us should stay together.”

Ariante sighed somewhat like an adult, as if to say, “Now you understand.”

“Exactly. In stories where kids go on adventures, they always stick together and don’t get separated. It’s safer that way.”

Then, Cici whimpered again and made a sobbing sound.

“I’m thirsty. My feet hurt. I don’t want to stay in this place. I want to go home.”

Ariante replied, “Hold on a little longer. We can’t go now. And don’t cry. If you keep crying, it will be even harder.”

“What does it matter to you!”

When Cici shouted back, expressing her frustration, Ariante, instead of responding angrily, looked around.

“Just wait a moment.”

Ariante, with a twinkling eye, said, and both Silas and Cici, still crying, looked up with puzzled expressions.

Ariante ran to a tree in the distance and took off her shoes. Then, under the watchful eyes of the two, she started climbing the tree. Although her body was not very thick, fortunately, the surface of the tree was smooth enough for her to climb with her bare hands.

“Ariante, what if you get hurt doing that!”