The children were amazed by the incredible texture, and then were surprised by the scenery around them. Although flowers, plants, and trees were not uncommon, they were not separated by flower beds and fences. It was indeed rare to see such a vast expanse of greenery.
"All right, pay attention! I already told everyone about the rules for the nature tour yesterday. Does anyone remember?" Everyone raised their hands. "So, first let's talk about the 'Three Nos'."
"No running, no making noise, no pushing," everyone said in unison. "Very good. Unlike the streets here, it's easy to slip, so no running around freely. Also, while the creatures here are gentle, if the noise is too loud or too disruptive, they might be alarmed and attack. Everyone must maintain silence during the tour."
These were the repeated instructions since they decided to participate in the nature tour, but...
"Hey, why do we have to raise our hands like children too?"
Even if reminded to 'keep quiet,' it probably wouldn't have much effect, not only for the children themselves, but even the teachers understood that.
Therefore, on the day before the tour, Elena had already driven away all the dangerous creatures to other areas not on the tour route.
Although only gentle creatures were left behind, just in case, these creatures were guided to areas far away from the visitors' path.
It was said that this series of work was far more troublesome than simply removing the Evil Entity, but because Chiyori and the others were still in progress with the energy station, they couldn't remove it.
Of course, all this was heard from Yukari.
"Finally, there is one more important thing. There are many canyons and cliffs here, it's a very dangerous place. Although we have placed planks and ropes today, they are only along the tour route."
"So, everyone must never deviate from the tour route, and must listen carefully to the researchers guiding us, understood?"
But now...
Although I raised my hand along with everyone else, my gaze was fixed on the path we were about to take.
Across the lush forest, I could see towering cliffs and rugged rock surfaces.
Just the thought of entering this 'extremely dangerous zone' made my mood a bit heavy.
According to the planned route, visitors would go from the barren lakeside to the outer mountain range, then through the forest path before returning, and finally back to the lakeside for lunch and free time.
I thought if only those who were interested participated in the tour route, while those who didn't want to could stay behind, it might prevent them from getting phobias...
The barren lakeside was a beautiful place with various colorful flowers blooming, and tall ancient trees nearby. The shade looked very comfortable and refreshing, as long as you didn't deliberately choose to cool down under it in the summer.
Compared to playing outside, I actually preferred staying at home to play some games. Usually, I wouldn't go out.
"So, next, everyone should divide into several teams based on your family or friends. The tour route is quite narrow, so line up in a single file!"
Each class was assigned a staff member, responsible for guiding everyone like me, but unlike the teachers, they were probably not used to shouting loudly, so each leader had a mini loudspeaker hanging by their ear.
The children lined up, slowly moving forward. Although the number of people was not yet a hundred, when lined up, they still formed quite a long queue.
"What beautiful flowers," exclaimed the naive and innocent Yas stretching her hand towards a pale pink flower.
I quickly stopped her, grabbing Yas's arm mid-air.
"No, some plants here are not to be touched or picked without permission," I warned.
"Big brother is right, touching them could potentially cause skin irritations that are hard to cure," Yas nodded.
"I know, I just want to take pictures for memories," Yas said, pulling out her phone from her pocket and snapping photos of the flowers with a smile.
"Photos of flowers... Hmm, mom would surely love these, right?" Kyle remarked, taking out his own camera and heading off to have fun elsewhere.
Carrying a camera was essential for such activities. Elena's cameras, though small in capacity compared to regular ones, would automatically transfer photos to a server she set up, allowing selective retrieval of developed photos.
"Wow, why didn't I see these flowers last time? Are they a new variety?" Kyle hurriedly captured the scene of thin red petals being carried away by the wind, hoping to capture the beauty of the moment.
Not only by the lake, but the entire place was filled with exotic flowers and plants unseen in the city.
Not just flowers, but also rabbits with drooping ears in the distance, and all sorts of adorable creatures dwelling here.
Lost in the moment, Kyle clicked away on his camera, perhaps because of this?
Even the steep slope leading to the parking lot didn't feel tiring to him. Although it was tough for everyone to disembark so early, the road ahead was difficult to navigate, so for safety reasons, they'd decided to stick to the plan.
"Hey, does the air smell different to you?" Kyle remarked, and I too noticed the change.
The scent began shifting as they departed from the lakeside and neared the mountain road. What was that smell exactly?
"It has changed, is it an overpowering floral smell?" Kyle wrinkled his brow after sniffing the air.
"A floral smell?" I sniffed, feeling that was not quite it.
While Kyle and Yas could detect this very peculiar aroma, enough to make one dizzy, others remained oblivious to it.
"So strange!" I pinched my nose, puzzled.
"It's like the smell of the rice wine dad drinks, very pungent and sweet," Yas chimed in, having caught our conversation.
"Is it a green scent, the smell of soil and grass?" Kyle added.
Not just me, but all the other children who had come here exchanged puzzled looks.
Because there was no soil in the fortress, despite flower beds, some trees, and a lawn... None of them had ever smelled this kind of scent before.
"In our city, plants and such are all built using data; technically, they're not real foliage," I mused aloud.
That remark jogged my memory of the blackout incident when only Yukari and I hadn't covered our windows. During that time, I faintly glimpsed some streets in the dark.
Those so-called large trees were merely virtual images, and what stood there were just some simple props set up.
"Never mind, aren't we here to travel anyway?"
Their reminder brought back some unpleasant memories.
Rather than saying it's different, it's more like it's stronger. Just by getting a little closer to take photos, you could smell a strong, slightly choking sweet fragrance, maybe due to the soil.
"Ah! There's a monster!" One of the girls shouted.
Not far from the lake, there was a red thing wriggling relentlessly, looking semi-transparent and soft, like some strange creature.
"What kind of thing is that?"
Just as I was about to investigate, others were on edge, only the researchers were murmuring in puzzlement.
"It shouldn't be... there shouldn't be any Evil Entity-like creatures here, but if there are, it would be troublesome!" one of our guides blinked nervously.
In this situation, the children had to put their sightseeing aside.
After all, there were strange creatures here, and if it was really an Evil Entity...
"Teacher, you and the children should step back, let me handle this!"
In this situation, I was the only one with the ability to confront the Evil Entity. Why did I have to go forward and risk my life?
"It's probably better for others to step back first, but..."
"No, you can't!"
An elder in a white coat, which only researchers would wear, stepped forward and scolded me angrily.
"You have no idea how important this research is. Elena didn't pay you to come here just for you to show off!"
"Okay..."
What should I do? What should I do?!
This old man insisted that I go forward to investigate, but I didn't even know what I was facing, what if... I mean, what if!
That Evil Entity might not be as violent as we imagine, rather it could be just a simple-minded spiritual entity with no intent to harm.
Yes, believe in yourself, my thoughts must be right!
"It doesn't seem right, what if the other party is an Evil Entity of torrential rain level..."
"What's the joke?"
The bald old man was completely provoked by my cowardice, an S-rank guard unit actually fearing an Evil Entity that stands at 99.99% under torrential rain.
"We didn't pay you for nothing, you know how important this experiment is to us... Oh, anyhow, such a small thing definitely can't be on a torrential rain level!"
"Wait, I think Juxi has a point." Sister Yukari interjected beside.
"What? Are you believing his nonsense, too?"
The grumpy old man redirected his anger towards Sister Yukari, leaving her speechless.
"No, I mean, well... Juxi's words do make some sense, after all, not all Evil Entities are wicked villains, right?"
Sister Yukari surprisingly spoke up for me, she, like me, felt that this matter needed further consideration.
"... I really can't understand what's going on in your young people's minds!" Finally, the lead teacher on the side couldn't bear it anymore.
