Chapter 84: Chapter 84:The Elven Forest [1]
Barely suppressing her laughter, Ruby replied.
"y-yeah, that tree really is just...I can't describe it in words."
"...we're in a tunnel... there are no trees..."
"...*PFFT*...."
"..."
Banging my head against the window to keep my laughter from leaking out, I tried to see if those three were still staring at us through the window's reflection, but once again, we were in a tunnel.
This timing is really starting to piss me off!
Well, at least I could look at the tunnel outside without getting a headache...
Why can't my damn luck choose a side? Be either good or bad, not both!
Raising my right hand to my eye, I activated the dragon's eye and used the slowing of time to sneak a peek behind me without being noticed.
Right next to me was Ruby, covering her face with the back of Lily's chair and her hands tightly gripping the armrest.
In front of Ruby was Lily, who was looking back at us through the gap in the chairs with a confused and interested expression.
Next to Lily was Kevin, who was completely oblivious to the situation. His gaze remained on Lily despite all the noise we had made.
Finally, Liam...
He was just staring at me with a disgusted expression...
...Aren't I screwed if the protagonist of the book hates me..?
What the hell did I even do to him!? I'm why he got that power-up on the cruise ship; he owes me his life!
Speeding back up time, I continued staring at the window... but we were still in the tunnel.
Seriously, how goddamn long is this tunnel!?
Regaining my composure, I braced myself as I turned around and casually took out my smartwatch, acting like the three main cast members weren't there.
At a loss for words, the three of them stared at me while I was casually scrolling on my smartwatch.
After a couple of moments, Liam and Kevin finally moved on as they turned to Lily.
"Why'd you sit all the way back here, Lily?"
Forced to answer Kevin's question, Lily reluctantly turned away from Ruby and I, allowing us to finally relax.
"I wanted to sleep, and it was quieter back here."
"Oh...ok"
Laughing at Kevin's sullen face, Liam's expression transformed from disgust to cheer as he said.
"Kevin, it's actually over for you. She does not lik-"
Cutting Liam off midsentence, Lily, being her kind soul, pointed at the seats across the aisle and said.
"You guys can sit over there."
"What was that, Liam? Sorry, I couldn't hear you!"
"Pity points, you know damn we-"
"shhh, Liam, didn't you hear? Lily said she wanted some peace and quiet."
"..."
As the two of them took their seats, Ruby finally regained her composure as she removed her head from the back of Lily's seat and turned towards me.
"Is that why you moved?"
Nodding my head at Ruby's question, I employed a sarcastic tone and replied.
"No, I just really wanted to sit with Lily!"
"..."
Receiving no answer from Ruby, I turned back to her, only to see her giving me the cold shoulder and completely ignoring me.
...this was supposed to be a relaxing bus ride for me, wasn't it?
After what seemed like ages, the bus finally slowed to a halt, putting an end to the awkward silence.
Following Ruby out of the bus, I looked around at the beautiful scenery of the wildness around me.
We had entered the Elven Realm and left the Human Realm.
Using my enhanced eyesight, I spotted the carriages in the distance and our travel club president beside them.
As the carriages stopped in front of us, I saw students split into groups of four before each carriage's entrance.
Of course, my trusty buddies, Jin and Han, walked over to a carriage with me.
Seeing our group, The travel club president narrowed his eyes before joining our group of four.
Were we really that untrustworthy..?
Looking at Ruby, who was glancing around, I was going to try to sneak her in with us, but before I could do anything, she was approached by Liam, Kevin, Alya, and Lily.
Alya had received her own personal carriage from the Elven kingdom so their group could be as big as they wanted.
Some sense of logic in my carriage would have been nice, but alas, it was expected.
After all, in the main cast's eyes, Ruby had saved all of them from dying to the teacher's djinn attacks.
Entering the carriage, I sat down next to the travel club president, facing Jin and Han, who were staring out the window.
Even as nobles, Jin, Han, and Ren had never left the human realm, so everything here was a new experience.
In contrast to the smooth bus ride, the carriage ride was much worse, as there was a bump almost every second.
Looking out of the carriage window and ignoring the pain in my back, I enjoyed the beautiful nature around me. The carriage was moving much slower than the bus, so my brain could actually process everything my eyes saw without giving me a headache.
The backdrop of the gigantic plains, which seemed to stretch forever under the resting orange sun, made for a painting-like scene.
The rabbits hopping around, the beautiful white birds elegantly gliding through the sky, and the lush green grass at the bottom.
In everyone's eyes, it was picturesque, perfect and beautiful
However, even though I couldn't see it with my eyes, I knew something was wrong.
In a couple of weeks, the problems would be visible: the vitality of everything was slowly decreasing.
Underground, the roots of everything were slowly withering, eliminating the food source of all the animals here.
The trees, the plants, the animals, and even the water of the lakes.
In a matter of time, all of it would be gone, turned to waste.
But that was just the start...
The Elven Forest was in a much more precarious situation.
After what seemed like ages, hundreds of trees that seemed to stretch up to the sky entered my sight.
We had arrived at the Elven Forest.
Like the plain before the forest, I couldn't see anything wrong even with my eyes even when I knew there was a problem.
After all, the problem was underground, and no matter how much I tried, I couldn't see through physical objects.
Leaving the carriage first, I stared at the thousands of trees before me, feeling like an ant in a world of giants.
Well, this ant was about to save the world!