Chapter 84: Echoes of Oheyo (Part 2)
The memory continued.
"The next morning..."
"We learned what drifters were."
Alice leaned back in her chair.
The office had become unusually quiet.
Even Andre had stopped interrupting.
For now.
"The village elder explained what little he knew."
"He said people like us were called Drifters."
"People from other worlds."
"People who occasionally appeared in the Forest of Summoning."
Alice tapped her finger against the desk.
"He also said we weren't the first."
"Far from it."
"The last recorded group before us appeared over three hundred years ago."
Kai listened carefully.
"The elder didn't know much about them."
"Only stories."
"Some became heroes."
"Some became monsters."
"Some fought each other."
"And eventually they all disappeared."
Nish crossed his arms.
"So basically the usual drifter story."
Alice nodded.
"Pretty much."
"The elder wasn't stupid."
"He knew we were strangers."
"He knew we could be dangerous."
"But he also knew throwing eight confused teenagers back into the forest would probably get us killed."
Raj nodded.
"He was a good man."
Alice continued.
"So he made a deal."
"If we wanted to stay."
"If we wanted food."
"If we wanted shelter."
"We worked."
Andre immediately groaned.
"Eww."
Alice pointed at him.
"Exactly what Brennan said."
The room laughed.
Days turned into weeks.
Weeks into months.
The group slowly became part of village life.
Alice smiled faintly as she remembered.
"Tchoco helped with farming."
"He somehow made friends with everyone."
"Even the people who didn't trust us."
Raj nodded.
"Tchoco could make friends with a wall."
"Literally."
Alice continued.
"Chocomint spent most of his time helping in the kitchens."
"He was weird."
"He looked like a girl."
The room nodded.
"Fair."
Andre said.
Alice shrugged.
"We genuinely thought he was a girl."
"For three days."
Noah nearly choked on his drink.
"What?"
"Three whole days?"
"Three."
Raj answered immediately.
"He never corrected us."
"It wasn't our fault."
Andre laughed.
"That is entirely his fault."
Alice pointed at him.
"Exactly."
"What about Taai?"
Kai asked.
Alice smirked.
"Taai was Taai."
Nobody understood what that meant.
Except Raj.
Raj immediately nodded.
"Yeah."
"He was Taai."
The room remained confused.
Alice sighed.
"He was energetic."
"Loud."
"Always wanted to fight something."
"Not because he hated people."
"He just liked testing himself."
Nish raised an eyebrow.
"A martial artist?"
Alice nodded.
"He already practiced martial arts before coming here."
"He adapted faster than most of us."
Raj added.
"He also flirted with literally everyone."
"EVERYONE."
The room erupted into laughter.
"And Brennan?"
Kai asked.
The laughter slowly died down.
Alice looked away.
For a moment.
Then smiled.
A genuine smile.
"He was our leader."
Simple.
Direct.
Certain.
"He wasn't the strongest."
"He wasn't the smartest."
"He wasn't the most talented."
"But whenever something happened..."
Alice paused.
"...everyone naturally looked at him."
Raj quietly nodded.
"We trusted him."
Alice continued.
"He always had a plan."
"Even when he didn't."
"And somehow..."
"It usually worked."
Kai could already picture him.
The type of person who kept groups together.
The type of person people followed without realizing it.
"What about you?"
Eric suddenly asked.
Alice blinked.
"Me?"
"You never talked about yourself."
Alice groaned.
"Do I have to?"
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
Alice stared at the ceiling.
Then sighed.
"I was already a mage before arriving here."
That got everyone's attention.
"A real mage?"
Noah asked.
Alice nodded.
"A small world."
"A lot of magic."
"A lot of idiots."
"A lot of paperwork."
Andre looked horrified.
"Magic has paperwork?"
"It always has paperwork."
Alice answered immediately.
"Everything has paperwork."
Raj nodded in agreement.
Nish nodded too.
The office collectively agreed that paperwork was evil.
"So unlike everyone else..."
Alice continued.
"I adapted quickly."
"I already understood mana."
"I already understood casting."
"The magic here was different."
"But the principles were similar."
Kai quietly listened.
Another small piece of the puzzle.
Alice hadn't become powerful after arriving.
She had already been powerful.
The memory continued moving.
Months passed.
The group grew stronger.
Villagers became friends.
Life became normal.
Then one day—
Everything changed.
"The elder told us about Oheyo."
The room immediately focused again.
Alice's expression shifted.
The playful mood disappeared.
"Oheyo."
"The city that supposedly knew everything."
"The greatest city in the world."
"The most advanced civilization anyone had ever seen."
"The place where answers existed."
Kai leaned forward.
"What kind of answers?"
Alice smiled bitterly.
"The same answers everyone asks."
"Why are we here?"
"Who summoned us?"
"Can we return home?"
The room fell silent.
Alice continued.
"The moment Brennan heard that."
"He made the decision."
"We were going."
Not everyone.
Tchoco stayed.
Alice smiled slightly.
"He wanted to help future drifters."
"Same reason he still stays near Yggdrasil now."
Nish nodded.
That sounded exactly like something Tchoco would do.
The group shrank from eight.
To seven.
Then another person stayed.
Akshay.
Or rather—
King Akshay.
Though back then he wasn't a king.
Not even close.
Alice laughed.
"He saw Yggdrasil."
"And immediately fell in love."
Andre blinked.
"Just the mountain?"
"Just the mountain."
"What?"
"He spent ten minutes staring at it."
Raj nodded.
"Actually happened."
The room stared.
Alice shrugged.
"He said."
'One day I'm building a kingdom there.'
Everyone thought he was joking."
A pause.
"He wasn't."
Now only six remained.
Alice.
Raj.
Brennan.
Taai.
Akari.
Chocomint.
Together they left Yggdrasil.
And continued east.
The journey lasted months.
Forests.
Mountains.
Trading towns.
Dangerous roads.
Monsters.
Bandits.
Everything.
Alice spoke while staring out the office window.
"We became stronger."
"Closer."
"Like family."
Kai noticed the wording.
Not friends.
Family.
They eventually arrived at a growing trade settlement.
A place called Inhayle.
A name almost nobody used anymore.
Because centuries later—
It would become Asphyxia.
They gathered information.
Bought supplies.
Received directions.
Then continued east.
Through mountains.
Through forests.
Through danger.
Until finally—
They reached an open plain.
Alice's voice softened.
"I still remember it."
The office became quiet again.
"We exited the forest."
"And suddenly..."
She smiled.
"There it was."
Fields.
Endless fields.
Golden fields.
Green fields.
Food as far as the eye could see.
Windmills.
Roads.
Stone towers.
Magical lights.
Massive buildings.
Structures unlike anything they had ever seen.
At the center of it all—
A city.
A truly enormous city.
Alice closed her eyes.
As if seeing it again.
"Oheyo."
Nobody spoke.
Even Andre.
Because for the first time—
The legendary city felt real.
Not a myth.
Not a name.
A place.
A living city.
"We thought we'd finally get answers."
Alice said quietly.
"We had no idea."
Her smile vanished.
"That Oheyo would become the reason we'd lose almost everything."
The memory stopped there.
Back in the present.
Kai sat beside the river.
The forest surrounding him remained silent.
The memory slowly faded.
The cold breeze returned.
The sound of flowing water returned.
"Oheyo..."
He whispered.
The name felt heavier now.
More real.
More tragic.
And somehow—
He felt the worst part of the story hadn't happened yet.
Not even close.
The river continued flowing.
While somewhere deep within his mind—
The next memory was already waiting.
To Be Continued...