A house on a tree

- Night falls, do we return to the city or continue the hunt? - I asked Lualia who closed her eyes again.

I had little knowledge of how much prey could be found without being skinned. A slight laugh from the girl's side was heard, raising an eyebrow I looked at her.

- We will return to the city in a few days, when we catch a few more animals. Why are you so eager to go to the city where we have searched everything? - I heard the girl's voice, she did not open her eyes but directed her head in my direction.

Thinking about what to tell her in response to her question, I had no desire to lie to her, but telling the truth was dangerous for her and me.

- One elder told me that I could find my own style of sword in the capital of Avel. - Answering her, I hoped that the spirit of the forest would not hear that I called him an old man.

I heard laughter from the girl, she opened her eyes and in her gaze you could see pity for me that I believed some old man.

- This old man deceived you, I hope you didn't pay him? Residents of the city have explored the entire city except for the part that is inaccessible to us. - The girl said in a cheerful voice, looking at me carefully.

I understood her reasoning, if that conversation had happened before I became the chosen one of the goddess Ges, I would also have had doubts and most likely would have thought that this was just a strange dream.

- It's precisely the part that is inaccessible to you that I probably need to get into. - I answered in a calm voice, looking into the girl's eyes.

I could see that Lualia frowned at my words but said nothing more. I could see from her look that she didn't really believe my words.

The evening began to get stronger, the birds singing began to subside, I was waiting for the girl to tell us what to do next.

I didn't want to rush her, but it seemed to me that it would be better to go, if not to the city, then to another place where animals or monsters would not attack us.

When I already wanted to voice my thoughts, the girl began to rise, leaning on the spear, having risen, she again grabbed the carcass by the leg with one hand and squeezed the spear with the other hand.

Without waiting for her words, I also got up and was ready to go. With a glance at me, she indicated with a nod which direction we needed to go.

Without waiting for my answer, the girl walked in the direction she had previously pointed with her head.

- Are you planning to drag the carcass all the way to the city? - I asked the girl as I followed her.

I was wondering if she planned to drag the carcass like this all the way to the city, then the smell of blood would attract predatory monsters and animals.

And if the girl was alone, she could become a victim because the smell of mascara would attract someone.

- Of course not, we are now going to my hunting house where nets and ointments are stored that will hide body odor. While we are hunting, the bodies of the prey will lie there until we return to the city. - Lualia said with a sigh, without turning to me and continuing to walk further.

I also had a desire to ask her a question about how she would find the way to her hunting lodge in the dark. It was already noticeably darker and I doubted that her vision had not been dulled by the night, but after thinking I decided to observe her behavior.

Continuing to follow the girl, I listened to the forest; unlike during the day, more animals and monsters were heard.

The girl did not hear many of the sounds of the forest and continued to walk forward; we walked in silence. Lualia sometimes approached the trees as if she was looking for something.

Watching with interest the girl's behavior and when she moved away from the tree, I saw small notches on it.

Were these marks left by her or by one of the other hunters? Sometimes I heard the sounds of the inhabitants of the forest who were next to us, Lualia also heard them but did not pay attention to them and continued to walk on.

Her approaches to the marks became more and more frequent and I saw that they were getting larger, I was wondering how she understands where to go without the light and improved vision of the elves.

I remembered how, as a person, it was difficult for me to see something in complete darkness, but Lualia walked with a confident step and never showed that she didn't know where we were going.

After one of the approaches to the tree, the girl stopped, looking back at me, I saw her green eyes in which fatigue was noticeable.

For her, as a mere mortal, it was probably a really tiring day; I didn't feel tired. Lualia turned her head back to the tree and, leaning her spear against the tree, began to climb up the branches of the tree.

I could hear the branches making sounds when she stepped on them. I didn't understand what the girl was up to and I could only wait for her to come down.

Raising my head and trying to determine where Lualia was, because of the foliage on the tree, I did not understand where she was, the sounds of the branches on which the girl stepped were no longer audible. Either she stopped or my hearing did not catch the sounds made by the branches from her actions.

A new sound was heard that was tearing leaves and branches, I had fears that Lualia was attacked by some kind of monster or animal that lived on the tree.

Listening and peering into the foliage of the tree, where was what was falling down, but because of the large foliage, I could not see whether the girl or her opponent had fallen.

I heard a new blow on the branch above me, and a wooden ladder appeared in front of me, frowning, placing my hand on the ladder, I felt with my hand the wood and what held them together.

Footsteps were heard from above, the stairs began to move from side to side, stepping back, I heard someone going down the stairs.

I didn't hear any voices or sound from Lualia; I was ready to call upon the sword of darkness and meet the descending one with a sword when the legs of the descending one appeared.

The one who descended was Lualia, having descended to the ground and looking back and seeing my wary face, the girl only chuckled, having descended to the ground, the girl began to tie the corpse of the animal and, having finished raising her head to me, it was clear that she was amused by the whole situation.

- Climb the stairs, or do you want to stay in the forest and check how dangerous the monsters and animals come out to hunt? - The girl turned to me; there was fatigue and cheerful notes in her voice.

Without waiting for my answer, taking a spear in her hand, she again began to climb the stairs, shaking her head at her behavior and approaching the stairs, I began to climb up.

I wasn't afraid to stay downstairs, but I didn't want to be tired tomorrow because I'd have to call on my tormentors again.

As I climbed, I noticed that the stairs were leading higher and higher, the sounds that came from the girl were already far above me.

How tall the tree is, I didn't pay attention to its height when we approached it, but now I was interested.

The ladder passed by the branches or between them, what I heard was most likely that the ladder was tearing up the leaves getting in the way.

Why didn't I see the leaves falling to the ground? Lost in thought and reaching the end of the stairs, I saw before my eyes something that I did not expect to see on the tree.

Before my eyes there was a small wooden house, the stairs leading up to the entrance to the house in which the girl stood.

A rope was visible in her hands and she was pulling something to the top, remembering her actions when she went down, she was doing something with the corpse of an animal.

More sounds of leaves and branches were heard, and then shiogi's hind legs appeared, dragging the corpse onto the tree, the girl glanced at me and nodded towards the house.

Looking around, I realized with surprise that we were not on one of the trees, but on the top of the tree itself. How did they build a house here?

The branches coming from the tree were thicker than those below. Approaching the house, I examined it with interest; I could see a small window that faced our direction, but it was covered with fabric.

The girl took the carcass and entered the house, leaving me alone, I was wondering what was inside this house. Entering the house, I looked around; it was dark, thanks to my heightened vision, I saw a girl who was dragging Shiogi to some large box that occupied half of this house.

Opposite the box on the floor was a pillow and a blanket near the wall was Lualia's spear.

Feeling the cold, I turned my gaze back to the girl who opened the box and threw the corpse there. Turning to me and seeing my gaze, the girl headed to her bed, finding herself near it and sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall, she looked at me.

- Make yourself comfortable, we will live here until we finish the hunt, every animal or monster we hunt will be kept in the frozen ground. You can't light a fire here. - The girl said looking at me.

I could only hope that tomorrow I could make a fire on the ground and cook food for myself. I was more interested in the box that the girl called permafrost.

Because I have not seen or heard of such a thing either in the Cray Empire or in the academy. Looking around and choosing a place, I headed to another wall opposite the girl, I saw how Lualia was looking at me.

Sitting down opposite the girl, I looked from her to the box, I thought about how to ask about this permafrost.

- Are you interested in permafrost? Isn't there something like this in the places you've been? - The interested voice of a girl was heard who saw my glance cast at her and the box.

Nodding to her confirmation, a sigh was heard and then the girl lay down on her bed and began to tell.

According to her, inside the permafrost there was an amulet of a bygone race, which she brought here before the hunt and took with her back to the city after the hunt and gave it to the elders.

The cold emanating from the amulet was short-lived; it lasted for several days if the permafrost was not filled too much, but if it was filled to the brim, the cold would last only a few hours.

The girl didn't know what the elders were doing to make up for her cold; according to her, every hunter in his house had such an amulet. Without the amulet, the hunter would have to return to the city and then go hunting again.

Listening to the girl's explanations, I wanted even more to be in the city as early as possible and go to the sanctuary of the gods.

Gradually I began to fall asleep, I felt that the wyvern had returned to the place from which we flew into the city; I was not tired of the fact that it was outside.

The girl fell asleep after she told me about the permafrost, I was uncomfortable, I felt the pieces of wood digging into my back, I had no desire to complain to Lualia, trying to settle in as best as possible and not paying attention to the inconvenience, I fell asleep.

Waking up from the screams, I quickly rose from the place where I was sleeping, calling on the sword of darkness and starting to look for the enemy, but I saw no one. In the house there was only me and a girl who screamed in her sleep, her voice breaking into a hoarse.

Recalling the sword of darkness and returning to the place, I listened to the forest and the tree, fearing that Lualia's scream might attract attention.

Time passed, but there were no sounds that would make it clear that we were in danger. In a dream, the girl called her parents by her voice, I heard that she was scared.

Trying not to pay attention to her screams, I settled down again and tried to fall asleep; I had no desire to sleep on the move tomorrow.

Gradually falling asleep, I heard the girl's cry quieter and quieter, and through my sleep, hearing a familiar voice calling me, I began to slowly wake up.

My body ached slightly in different places due to the fact that I slept on a tree, the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was the wooden ceiling, remembering where I was and lowering my gaze to where Lualia's voice came from.

By her appearance, I understood that she had long since woken up; there were no remnants of sleep in her green eyes.

Slowly getting up and yawning, I examined the girl, did she remember the nightmare she had that night or not?

It was noticeable from her gaze that she was tense about something; listening, I couldn't hear anything that could threaten us.

Remembering the wyvern, I tried to feel it, but I failed, feeling apprehension, I raised my hand on which there was an image of a wyvern.

Did she come back on her own or did my magic stop feeding her and that's why she came back? I did not feel the fatigue that the professor described when I used magic. Trying not to hide my thoughts, I looked at the girl.