Hour Empty Child

Vol. 8 Chapter 4 The Mystery of the Hut Part 2

Noticing the strange atmosphere surrounding the hut, the E-Plus could gather at least one clue.

"This hut must be charged with mana," Hinota spoke her mind to her confused friends who looked at the strange hut surrounded by peaceful air rather than the turbulent fog outside its realm.

Kudo raised his head and whiffed with his nose. Being that he was raised in a clean-air environment, he felt that the space around the hut was nearly the same.

"It feels so calm here..." Kudo said to himself, but everyone else agreed with him.

"But this hut is surrounded by Roaring Monkeys. I can't imagine living here all my life..."

Raika gave her fair statement on the location. Kudo nodded in agreement as he also didn't want to do the same without feeling pressured by the ferocious monsters all around him.

"Still, it's no wonder why Sherald would think this place is special," Kuki spoke out, sheathing his guns into his holsters by his hips.

He knew that at this point, there was no reason to shoot anything. Everyone else followed his action and sheathed their weapons.

"Sure is," Mizuri followed up. "So, Hino, what do you mean by this hut is charged with mana?" Mizuri turned to Hinota for an answer.

"What I mean is, following Kudo's explanation, this hut is at the center of all the mana surging around us. The reason why the Ashspell Forest has ashes around is that underneath it is a surge of mana acting like a volcano—sharing its natural mana to this forest and causing this phenomenon. And so, this place, being at the center, is charging the rest of the storm outside. You could say that this space is what's called 'the eye of the storm'."

"The eye of the storm..." Tsuchi spoke in awe. "Nature is weird..."

"I agree..."

Hinota stepped forward carefully towards the hut after giving her surmised explanation. Everyone else followed her, the stillness around the hut making them nervous.

The hut was tranquil looking, to say the least, and was as big as a normal house. Stepping onto its porch, Hinota walked towards the wooden door. She saw the knob on the door, a golden-colored knob that had a round shape. She also noticed that there was a keyhole underneath.

"Kudo, you go."

"Eh? What for?"

"We might be lucky that it's unlocked."

"T-That seems kinda pushing it... but I'll try."

Kudo stepped forward under Hinota's order and placed his hand on the doorknob.

The moment he did, a sudden chill ran down his spine.

"Arh..." Kudo let out a sound as if he just whimpered. Hinota noticed it.

"Kudo?"

Hinota asked, getting the others to look. Kudo couldn't understand what just happened. He felt his sixth sense blaring in the back of his mind, and it made his stomach queasy, like he devoured something that's gone bad. His hands were visibly shaking, rattling the knob.

"Kudo, what's wrong?" Hinota asked again, growing concerned.

"T-This place... I don't know why, but I'm getting a bad feeling about this."

Kudo said the best he could. Everyone else also felt the same chill Kudo felt when he said those grim words, causing everyone to shrink back.

"...We got no choice. Even if we'll find something disturbing, it's our job to figure this out."