Faraway Survivor

Farah's POV

My scenery around me suddenly changes again.

-It's not it... (Farah)

It's still the same as the hut where I first find the child and the mother.

-The mother... (Farah)

I look down and find the mother still lying alone on the ground. But she is closing her eyes and looks like she is having a hard time. I also notice my body has become normal again.

-I can't find the child. (Farah)

I look around the room, and can't still find the trace of the child inside the room. There is only one conclusion I can come up with.

-Maybe she is outside. (Farah)

I shake my head and leave that topic out of my head for now. I turn to the mother on the bed and try touching her.

-Will the time flow once again if I touched her body? (Farah)

I have no choice but to test again, since it will be the child or the mother who can trigger this phenomenon. I slowly put my hand on her forehead.

-Hot! Is she sick? (Farah)

I keep my hand on her forehead for a while.

-The temperature doesn't show any sign of going down at all. (Farah)

I nod as I put my hand away from the mother.

-So, someone really stops the time in this village. (Farah)

But if there is a magic circle of time installed in this village, how could I not notice any fluctuation in the mana?

-Urgh! (Farah)

I can't understand anything. The phenomenon inside the dungeon is not something I can explain with common sense.

-But everything still froze when I touched the mother. That means the child was the one who triggered that phenomenon. (Farah)

I sigh since I can't help the mother in her current state.

-Let's find that child. (Farah)

I go out of the hut and decide to wander near it.

-She is not here. Maybe she is inside the village? (Farah)

That is the only possibility that I can come up with. Since the child can't be too far from here with her physical.

-Muh, I need to walk to the village again to confirm my theory. (Farah)

I make up my mind and head to the village again. I am quite tired because the curse had reduced my physical to a terrible state.

-Umuuu, almost there. Huh, Is that...? (Farah)

On the way to the village, I find a familiar figure.

-That is the child I found in the hut. Huh? (Farah)

The child is not alone, but there are other children beside her.

-Is...she being bullied? (Farah)

The child lies on the ground and shields herself by shrinking her body. I hastily reach out and touch the child. Once again, the time came back to this world when I touched her.

-Hey, witch!

-Where do you get that clothes?

-Urghh... (Little Girl)

The other children keep kicking at the child's body. I try to stop them, but I can't touch them in this state. At this moment, I can hear a sneering voice in my head.

-Tchh... (Hale)

-Hale? (Farah)

-I'm here, Farah. I have watched this drama until now. (Hale)

-Drama? What do you mean by that, Hale? (Farah)

-This world, everything you have seen so far, is made artificially. (Hale)

-Well, we all know this is the work of the goddess. (Farah)

-That's right. But all those puppets you have seen so far. Do you think these puppets are much different from ordinary humans? (Hale)

Puppet? Does Hale mean these people?

-...I think they act like ordinary humans. (Farah)

-That's right. The goddess barely injects the fake memory into them. They are just puppets who will dance and die in her hand. (Hale)

I stared at the bullied child and felt bitter in my heart.

-You want to save the child, right? (Hale)

-... (Farah)

-That child was like us in the old time. Those guys must have let you see some fragments already... (Hale)

-I... (Farah)

-You must feel sympathy when you look at her. (Hale)

-Yeah...Can I...? (Farah)

-I know what you want to ask, Farah. But the answer will be no...You can't save them. (Hale)

-Why? (Farah)

-The little girl in front of you and the people in this village. (Hale)

-Yes? (Farah)

-They are destiny to die the moment this dungeon collapse. Let me show you... (Hale)

Hale asks me to give her control over the body. I don't hesitate at all and pass my body control to her.

-Let's start with a simple experiment. (Hale)

Hale reached out to one of the children and said out loud.

-Conquer! (Hale)

The energy comes out from Hale's palm and swallows the child.

-Let's see... (Hale)

A golden life suddenly comes out from the child's body and disperses Hale's energy. The child turns to us and speaks in a monotone voice.

-First caution: Don't intercept the subject in the trial without permission. (???)