Need Answers

As he was sitting looking at the little guy. The red screen flashed in front of him.

[You have met many locals of this world.]

[You have succeeded in talking to one of them.]

[Mission Complete.]

[Mission Reward Given.]

[Congratulating on Receiving the Skill]

[Vocal Translation Skill]

Each screen stood there for some seconds as it was replaced again and again by the subsequent messages. Finally Miguel saw the last message. It said that the reward had been initiated, the vocal translation skill. The screen only told him about the skill name but nothing more about it. But from what he could guess, it must be a skill to simply translate the voices, but how would it happen during a real conversation. Will someone else come to translate for him?

Miguel didn't have to wait for long, before he got the answer to himself.

"Gosh, what is this little thing, it is so pitiful that it doesn't even have intelligence." The little guy said, shaking its head very slowly looking at Miguel.

Miguel had to stand back from the ridiculousness of the situation. Was this guy thinking that he didn't have any intelligence, it was seriously pitying him.

"Who would tell him that he is going to die soon?" The little guy said as it continued, "Run you little creature before, those savants kill you for your transgression. I will have to pay the price for talking to you, still I couldn't resist my own stupidity."

There was no force in the little guy's voice as he said that. Almost calmly, like it was nothing of consequence. But it was enough to create a chill inside Miguel.

Miguel turned to look at those bizarre creatures, he had certainly passed them many times. They were still looking at the same location. But inside Miguel could just create the vivid imagination of what those creatures could do. Now it was time to grieve himself in his own stupidity.

"Ah, look at this guy, he will go again, who will stop him. Little guy, I pity you more than waiting for the wheezlers." The little guy said, as he saw Miguel turning to look at those creatures.

Miguel couldn't help but ask the little guy, he was half expecting that the skill would apply both ways such that the jelly man could understand him.

"What are wheezlers," Rather than asking about those other creatures, Miguel couldn't help but ask it first, because it felt more relevant at the moment.

"You can Talk!" THe high pitch from the jelly man, Miguel guessed this must be because it was surprising to the creature. The jelly man didn't stop after that.

"Then why did you provoke those tyrants?" The jelly man asked. Miguel didn't know when he had provoked them.

"I didn't provoke them." Miguel said with certainty.

"You idiot of a creature, you don't even know the gravity of your mistakes," the little guy said with a grim expression. The jelly deepened around its face.

The little guy sighed as he said, "I should not talk to you. No one can save you now" He stopped speaking, staring again at the far distance.

Miguel looked frowning at the little guy, who had resumed its previous position. Miguel certainly felt like the thing was overestimating these guys, and as he knew he hadn't done anything wrong did he. So why would he need saving from them. They were more peaceful looking, certainly scary but peaceful too. Otherwise, they might have done something to him, when he had first appeared here.

Because they hadn't killed him then, there must be something more important than him being here. "It must be related to those wheezlers, the little guy had said.' Miguel thought he wanted to ask some more questions to the creature, but even as he waited for an answer after asking several questions. The jelly creature remained still as if it hadn't even talked to Miguel before.

Miguel thought that the wheezlers might be an answer to him returning to his home and so despite the danger, He decided to try asking those creatures once again. And now that he had gained the skill to talk with them, they might even respond to him.

He passed the creatures again. He would ask them questions each in turn, and wait for a few minutes for them to answer, but his questions would remain answered as he had to go to the next one.

Despite the several candidates to answer Miguel's questions. Not one of them said anything. They just stood still, he was frustrated by them just standing there still, so he decided to ask them differently. He would even ask them why they were all standing still, but still they ignored him as if he didn't exist.

After many of the failures, that led him to reach the fire creature. Miguel had to reevaluate his decision on whether to approach it, to ask or not. And after measuring that he didn't have options, he decided to approach the circle of fire. Each step leading him further into the circle.

The more he moved closer to the circle the more he burned under the temperature of the fire. At start it was just a little bit uncomfortable, but as he moved closer and closer the rise in temperature was exponential. At one point he couldn't handle the temperature and thus he decided to back out from the circle.

There was only one of those bizarre creatures left. He looked at the majestic looking creature that was sitting on the ground. It wasn't the bizarreness that separated him from the rest. It was its beauty. The soft white fur danced among the winds, the red shine of the moon reflected from its horns.

Miguel approached the creature slowly, he knew that animals weren't scary when you could gain their favorability. So despite having no experience on what he should do, he still made a decision and sat beside the creature.

He decided to wait, if the creature would have any reaction against him sitting nearing it, but there was none. Even if somehow he had gathered the courage to approach this bizarreness around him. Miguel couldn't help but feel scared inside. The fear that made him want to run away from all of them. Even as he showed that there was confidence inside him as he was going through all the creatures, his heart was under his mouth the whole time.

"Hello," Miguel said with a bit of enthusiasm, almost hoping that the creature would replicate it .

A few seconds that passed the creature had no reaction to it. Miguel had almost decided to head back to look for the jelly guy again, when he saw that the creature's head was facing in his direction.

The round horns, that didn't look like they were just for show, its fur that looked sharp under the night, its body, that looked bigger than even an average elephant on the planet, curled calmly as its face was now gazing at him. Miguel saw that the creature's eyes were black but there was a redness to it, the sharp edges of its eyes as that of a snake.

They both stared at each other for a few moments. And when he saw that creature was looking as if it wanted him to continue. Miguel decided to say it.

"I have come far away from home. I don't know how to head back, can you tell me how I can return home." What he wanted was to ask about a safe place, but all he asked the creature now was how he could return home. Miguel felt stupid after asking that question but he was still hopeful that the creature would answer it positively.

"Baaooooooullllll" The creature's thunderous voice resounded in the air. Miguel was frozen solid by the sound. Even his thoughts didn't hold themselves together at the moment. It felt at that moment, as if he would get torn away just from that sound.

"I don't know ," the creature said calmly to Miguel. But why did it feel like even the creature was helpless as it said that.

Miguel couldn't help but be disappointed at that. He had thought he could get some answers from the creature. He was even terrified by it. He had another question.

"Then where are you going? It feels like you all are waiting for something, what is it?" Miguel wanted to ask the creature Baoul as he himself named the creature if he was correct in his assumptions.

"The Conductor." The creature snorted.

"The conductor who is it. Or what is it?" Miguel said confused about whether the conductor was a person or a thing. Though the name definitely sounded like a person, he didn't know if his logic was still valid in this world.

"I don't know." The creature turned back in denial and started looking at the far distance.

"You don't know," Miguel murmured to himself as he saw that the creature had turned back.

He was grateful that the creature had responded to him and his questions, but he still had many more questions to ask and he didn't know if there was anyone else who would respond to him.

"Then what is the wheezlers." Miguel asked again.

"Wheezlers?" The creature looked at him with a puzzled gaze.