Argh...stupid...light...!
I wake up early to the feeling of sunlight shining on my face, along with the horrid sensation of my left arm tingling like crazy. At some point during my sleep, I had turned and ended up lying on top of it, and now the mere act of flexing it made it hurt.
Man, is this what arthritis feels like?
As I moved to get up, I noticed that I wasn't feeling well rested despite having slept through the entire night. Not only that, but a very unpleasant sensation that I had not felt in a long time was making itself known inside my chest. Despite all that, I powered my way to the kitchen.
There, Rin was already sitting at the table, eating breakfast and getting ready to start the day as usual.
"Oh, good morning, Naka!" She greets me on sight in a surprised tone.
"Morning..." Sitting on one of the chairs, I greet her back, albeit not as energetically.
"You've woken up quite early today. Did you sleep well?" Using a pair of chopsticks, she grabs and eats bunch of cooked rice from her bowl.
"Yeah, I guess I did." Considering I don't remember waking up once.
"Hmm..." She hums in acknowledgement while eating, her eyes fixed on me.
"Er, is there something wrong?" I ask her, slightly weirded out.
"I should be the one asking you that," She points her chopsticks at me. "Are you feeling alright?"
"To be honest, not much. Do I look terrible?"
"Nah, you only look tuckered out and..." She stops for a moment, focusing her hearing. As I silently wait for her to continue, her eyes slightly widen as she appears to notice something. "And your breathing, too. Are you wheezing?"
"Yes. You can blame my asthma and allergic rhinitis for that."
"Y-you have asthma? Is it grave?!" She concernedly asks me,setting down her bowl and moving to get up from her chair.
"No, not that much." I turn my head to the side and, with my hand covering my mouth, cough to try to alleviate the intense itching sensation in the back of my inner chest. "As long as I don't run or jump too much, it tends to go away after a while."
She slowly settles down on her chair again after sizing me up. "Then why is it attacking you now? I don't remember you doing any of that yesterday."
I nod. "Yeah, but there are a few rare instances where I still wake up like this anyway."
"That sounds rough. Since when have you been dealing with that?"
"Ever since I was born, but things have gotten really better compared to before. I don't remember any of it, but I was told that my asthma attacks used to make me be constantly rushed to the hospital when I was very little; being born and raised where I was didn't help, too."
"What do you mean by that?" She asks, paying close attention to me as she eats her breakfast.
"Before moving to the countryside to study, I lived in a very big city; that very city neighbors the biggest city in my country-really, they are literally next to each other. And what do you think tends to come with a big city?"
"Hm..." She lowers her gaze and stares at her now almost empty bowl of rice, trying to come up with an answer, then looks up at me again. "A lot of people?"
"Y-yeah, that too, but that's not what I'm talking about here. I'm talking about pollution."
"How polluted is it? Is it that bad?"
"Unlike here, where the air is clean and the sky is clear, the air there was so bad that I usually could see a thick layer of brown smoke above the city in the horizon. Wherever I looked, there were only buildings made of concrete in the horizon, with a few trees here and there and the occasional park. Not the best place for those who happen to have respiratory problems."
Her expression changes to a frown as she sets down her rice bowl and chopsticks. "That 'city' sounds like a terrible place to live."
"Eh, it has its ups and downs. It's important from an economic point of view, meaning the higher-paying jobs are concentrated there; also, being a very big city, it has everything you need close by. Oh, and it has a good basic sanitation system and free healthcare-no, wait." I stop myself as I remember something. "From what I've heard, the free healthcare system doesn't work that well. People on hospital beds resting inside hallways because of the lack of rooms and loads of people waiting for a treatment that would probably take ages to arrive, some of them even dying in the process. Too many people to take care of and not enough infrastructure, you know?"
"Ah, that's...interesting." Is all that she says to me, her tone now somber.
Sensing the air surrounding us becoming tense, I try to ease things up a little, only to pause as my mind draws a total blank. "Anyway, I-uh… What was I talking about again?"
"Your asthma." She replies flatly.
"Ah, yes. That." Geez, got real sidetracked just now. "Don't worry about it. It has happened to me in the past and it's nothing grave."
"Alright then, if you say so. Would you like to eat too?"
I shake my head. "Thanks, but I'll pass. I usually skip breakfast."
"Oh, okay." She gets up from her seat and goes to the sink, taking the rest of her food with her.
"Hey, aren't you going to eat the rest of it?"
"I..." She pauses for a brief moment, then sets them down. "I'm already satisfied."
I also proceed to get up, "Well, as long as you don't thro-" and my words are cut short by another coughing fit.
"Are you sure you should be up in the state you're in right now?" Rin asks as she approaches me, worried.
"I'm not really sure. My asthma attacks never come with fatigue as a free prize." I reply between heavy breaths.
"Excuse me, let me check something." She extends a hand to me and touches my forehead with the back of her hand.
She's checking my temperature, isn't she? "So, how bad is it?"
"Hmm. I think your forehead feels a bit hot."
"Does it, now..."
She pulls her hand back. "Yeah. I suggest you stay in bed and rest for today."
"Maybe that's for the best. Well, you know where to find me if you need anything. Excuse me." I turn and start lethargically walking back to the bedroom.
"Wait, let me take you there."
"No need fo-aah!" I yelp in surprise as I am unexpectedly lifted off the ground. Looking at my right, I see Rin carrying me in her arms without appearing to make much of an effort. When we get to the bedroom, she gently lays me on top of the bed and covers my body with a blanket.
"Er, you do know that I could have just walked here, right?" I fidget about to make myself comfortable.
"Just wanted to make sure you wouldn't lose your footing. Now make sure to rest a lot, okay? I'll be back later." With that, she exits the bedroom, leaving me alone.
Damn, so much for having a day off. Instead of lying on a bed, I could be doing, uhm, anything else other than lying on a bed. Guess I'll just have to deal with it and wait.
Thus, I laid there and waited for her to return. The monotony of being alone inside a quiet room where nothing special happened made me relax quickly, and also want to find something to do to pass the time. Since I couldn't get out of bed, I went with staring at the objects in the room; I even put on my glasses to see things better, although I still wasn't able to see the small details from afar. Maybe my nearsightedness got worse ever since I got my lens, or maybe glasses in general don't restore a person's vision to what it normally should be. I've never asked other people about that, so I don't know for sure.
While taking a look around, I also happened to notice that, even though Rin's shack wasn't in a very good shape from the outside, the inside was pleasantly neat and tidy. It almost made me forget that there was an unintended garden growing on its roof.
I clear my throat again to relieve the itching sensation inside me.
Can't believe that sleeping a single night outdoors did that to me, if that's what did this to me, that is. By the way, aren't I supposed to go to work tomorrow...? Oh crap, I'm in for an earful when I get back, and that's if I not get fired instea-no, just stop. Alright, yeah, I'm not in good conditions to work and there's no changing that. Okay. At the moment, all I can do is lie here and rest. Mhm, I'll worry about it later when I'm better.
In the meantime, Rin was quietly working on her little plantation, steadily pulling a ginger root out of the ground. Having just been unearthed, it was naturally quite dirty, so, after removing a few clumps of soil that were attached to it, she took it inside the house. Thoroughly washing it in the sink, she slowly became distracted as she held the rhizome under the cold water flowing out of the faucet, her mind drifting to what her friend had told her during breakfast.
Though he didn't know about it, his words took her back a long time ago. How much time had passed since then? Two decades? Three decades? Four or maybe more? No matter how much she tried to remember, the exact quantity always slipped her mind in the end. And yet, though she tried to move on from them, the events from long ago always caught up to her in the end.
(Why did it have to be this way? Couldn't things be different?) She thought to herself.
Sadly, the one thing she wanted the most was the one she couldn't ever have, for more than one reason. She had resigned herself to that truth long ago, but the passage of time had done little to nothing to make her feel better.
At least now she had that human outsider to stay by her side and keep her company. There were a few instances where she felt like she was taking advantage of his unfortunate situation, but seeing him appearing to be truly enjoying being around her pushed those thoughts aside. It was extremely lucky of her to have found someone like him out there. Had fate finally smiled on her for once in a long time? Whether short or long, she would try to enjoy every moment of this new experience while it lasted, though she hoped it would be the latter.
(... Ah, the water!) Focusing back on the open tap in front of her, she snaps out of her daydreaming and quickly turns off the faucet.
(You got this, Rin. You've trained for this. If you do your best and take care of him, he'll recover for sure.) She thinks to herself to try and calm down her worries. Taking a deep breath, the youkai leaves the ginger root on top of the sink and goes back outside to grab a few more.
A few days later…
"Tch, crap." Rin says as she finishes checking my temperature, a tired expression on her face.
"Wh...haah…what is it?" I ask her as I lie on her bed.
It had been a few days since I started feeling sick, and the symptoms weren't getting any better. In fact, my limbs felt like they were made of lead due to how heavy they felt and it was getting even harder for me to inhale the proper amount of oxygen I needed, my breathing sounding like someone moaning in pain.
"Your temperature doesn't look like it's lowering." She pulls back her hand and touches her forehead with it. "I think it's still the same as before, if not hotter."
"Ugh, you gotta be-nngh!" I stop speaking as another coughing fit interrupts me.
"Here, use this to cover your mouth instead of using your hand." She gives me a handkerchief from a nearby drawer and hands it to me. "I'll go get more water for you. Stay put, okay?" She grabs an empty glass jar and quickly leaves the room.
"Okay, thanks…" I say to no one as I closely examine it.
It was just a plain white handkerchief without anything grand about it, though it had a really nice texture and smell. Doing what I had to do to that lovely piece of fabric didn't feel very good, but that's what it was made for. Once I'm done, I quickly fold it, put it beside me and stare at the wooden ceiling, completely catatonic.
How many days have passed since I've started feeling sick again? I can't believe I would ever think something like this, but staying indoors is so damn boring! I wanna walk around and see all this place has to offer, but no. Instead, I have to stay here coughing my lungs out…
I close my eyes as my thoughts start to drift aimlessly.
… Man, I could really go for some food from back home right now. A big bowl of açaí with every addition I can think of, a big burger with fries or maybe even a juicy steak. Haah, yes, that would be really nice. I can even feel the taste of that last one in my mouth, though it tastes kinda...raw.
…
Wait a minute.
Coming back to reality, I gather some saliva and focus on the taste in my mouth, which was a bit salty and…like iron?
Oh no. Oh, hell no.
Apprehension overcomes me as I feel my heart skip a beat and, after grabbing the handkerchief again, I slowly unfold it with my hands trembling and take a look at it to make sure I'm not going crazy. There, sticking out like a sore thumb in the middle of the cloth, was a red-colored slimy substance.
Crap, when I said 'coughing my lungs out', I didn't mean it literally! What the hell is happenin-GAH!
The sound of footsteps coming close make me jump a bit as Rin comes back, this time with her jar full of water. "What's the matter? Did something happen?." She puts the jar aside and comes to my side, only for her face to go almost instantly pale upon seeing the blood stain. "Wh-what is this!? Naka, did you just cough BLOOD!?"
"Y-yeah. Sorry for staining your handkerchief. ...Rin?" I stare in confusion as she turns and leaves the room without saying a single word, and then comes back with her erhu strapped to her back.
"C'mon, let's go." She says while picking me up from the bed. After we leave the house in a rush, we take to the skies.
"Umm, where are we going?" I shield my face with my hands, the wind quickly blowing past us.
"To the Human Village. There's a medical center there; I'm sure the physician will be able to tell what's wrong with you."
I turn my head to look at her. "Wait, but what about the medicines you've been giving me?"
"I don't-" she initially hesitates to finish her sentence, but then speaks up again with a grimace on her face. "I thought they would help you, but I don't think they had any effect in the end."
"N-no way! So, what do you think I have?"
"I wish I could say for sure, but I don't really know." She glumly answers my question. "Alright, we're here." Our altitude lowers uncomfortably fast until we land near the village.
As we're about to enter it, a guard approaches us, like I was expecting to happen. "Excuse me for a moment, is he alright?" He asks with a tone that seems to show both curiosity and worry, but no animosity whatsoever.
Completely ignoring his question, Rin very audibly says in a commanding tone, not willing to stop moving for anything, "MOVE IT!" Such action made not only the guard let out a frightened yelp and jump to the side to get out of her way, but it also made me jump a bit and look at her in shock as we entered the village unimpeded.
"So, er, where is the medical center located?" I ask Rin as we pass by several buildings.
"Last I remember, it used to be around the village square. I'll start by searching from there just to make sure." She answers while looking around.
When we arrive at our destination, she slowly lowers me down on a wooden bench under the shade of a nearby tree.
"Stay here and wait a bit, okay? I'll be right back." She then sprints away into the distance.
If she needed to find that place, couldn't she have just asked for directions? No, nevermind that. Now that I'm here at the village, I gotta give this to her...!
I reach into my pocket and pull out the folded notebook page, which was still in one piece since I was careful enough to put it away when it was time to do laundry.
Mustering all my remaining strength, I stand up from the bench and slowly make my way to the school. Ignoring the hot sun, my asthma and the fact that I was walking barefoot on hot ground with legs whose strength rivaled that of a newborn calf, I'd say it was pretty enjoyable. Finally, after going through what felt like a marathon, I arrive at the school. Paper in hand, I knock on the front door with the last of my strength before my legs give out and I fall to the ground, coughing a bit more blood on my free hand. Not too long after, I hear the doorknob clicking and the door opens inward, revealing Keine.
"Yes, may I help yo-huh? Mr. Nakamura, what's wrong?!" She crouches by my side, alarmed at seeing me like that. "What happened to you?"
"L-letter...take it!" Is all I'm able to say as I gasp for air.
"You mean this paper?" She reaches out for the paper I'm holding and takes it from me.
"Yes. Read it later." I struggle to sit up straight.
"Stop, you should save your energy." She puts one hand on my chest and makes me go back to lying down on the floor. "Rin's the one who brought you here, right? Where is she?"
"Still around here."
"Good, then she can find you some much needed medical attention." Something catches her eye as she looks forward, "Ah, speak of the devil. Hey, over here!"
I hear footsteps coming closer until Rin enters my view and crouches down at the side opposite to the schoolteacher.
"H-hey there, Keine. Sorry for the bother; I left him on a bench for a moment, but when I came back, he was missing." She says as she catches her breath.
Keine shakes her head. "Don't worry about it. What concerns me the most is his condition. What happened to him?"
"I don't know; he got sick a few days ago and I tried to nurse him back to normal, but he only got worse as a result!" She says in a hurry as she picks me up, "Anyway, we should be going now. Goodbye and have a nice day!"
"Hold on! Where exactly are you taking him?" The schoolteacher asks as she's about to run off carrying me.
Her back facing Keine, Rin turns around just enough to look at her with her peripheral vision. "To the Village's medical center; the physician there should know what to do, right?"
"Yeah, but he would be better off if you took him to Eintei instead. Compared to there, the hospital we have here at the village isn't nearly as resourceful."
"Eientei? Where's that?" Curiosity piqued, she turns around completely.
"It's somewhere inside the Bamboo Forest of the Lost. You know where it is, don't you? Turn to the Youkai Mountain right here from the village, then go in the opposite direction; you should find it eventually."
"Are you crazy!? How am I supposed to find it if I don't know how to navigate there?" She asks, extremely uncertain of Keine's suggestion.
"Don't worry, a friend of mine lives there. She knows the place like the palm of her hand, and will show you the way if you ask her."
"But that's only If I manage to find her to begin with!" Rin shoots back in a flash, still skeptical of her friend's suggestion.
With her eyes closed, Keine takes a deep breath, then opens them again to stare at her. "Yes, that's true, and I know it might seem like a stupid decision at first glance, but waiting for Reisen to arrive with medicine from there will take a few hours, so that's your best shot if you want him to make a full recovery."
Keine's words seem to sink in as Rin remains silent for a moment before speaking again. "Okay then. What does that friend of yours look like?"
"She wears a brown shirt, red baggy pants, has very pale hair, and wears a ribbon on it—there's no way you can mistake her for someone else. Her name's Mokou; she'll help you if you explain your situation to her."
"Got it. Thanks for the help, Keine."
The schoolteacher bows in response. "You're welcome, Rin, and I'm sorry. I really wish I could come with you, but I'm teaching the kids right now." She motions to the inside of the building, unaware that a group of children was eavesdropping on us, their heads poking out of a nearby doorway. "Now go, you can't afford to waste any more time!"
Rin gives her a nod, then turns around and we take off to the sky once again. Doing just as Keine instructed, we make our way to the so-called Bamboo Forest of the Lost. Halfway through, she uses the opportunity to have a word with me in private. "Naka, why did you run off like that after I told you to stay put?" She asks me, upset with me.
"I needed to give a letter to Keine. It was really, really important." I honestly answer her.
She raises an eyebrow at my response. "Even then, you could still have asked me to give it to her, couldn't you?"
"I, uh…" My words halt in their tracks and my brain stops for a moment as if the words hit the top of my head like an anvil. "Now that you mention it, yeah, but the idea never really crossed my mind in the first place." I avert my gaze and let out a chuckle while covering one side of my face with my hand.
A sigh escapes her lips, "Listen, I don't mind taking care of you; in fact, I quite enjoy it, but you also need to work with me here if things are to succeed. Understood?" She reasons patiently with me.
I awkwardly look back at her and nod. "Y-yes. It won't happen again."
"Good, now hang on just a little longer. We should be almost there!"
Eventually, we arrived at the Bamboo Forest of the Lost. It didn't seem like it would be much of a problem to navigate there, especially since I had the company of someone far more capable than me this time. Unfortunately, our problems were far from over. The place looked nothing like the Forest of Magic when viewed from the inside, yet the feeling of disorientation that grew on me the longer we stayed there was the exact same. The sunlight could illuminate the place well, but the lack of any landmarks coupled with very tall bamboo sticks protruding from everywhere in the ground and a terrain that was practically a superflat Minecraft world made it so that trying to locate our position based on our surroundings was damn near impossible.
"Oh, heavens," Rin huffs and stops moving, leaving us hovering above the ground "Why did I decide to go with this plan?"
"Because it seemed like a good idea?" I take a guess at her question.
She looks at me, annoyed. "No, it didn't! Now look at us: we're right back at the beginning!"
"S-sorry about that." I sheepishly apologize.
"Why are you apologizing? I was the one who decided to bring you here."
"Er, okay, sorr-I mean, sure. At any rate, let's get going. Keine's friend lives here, so we just gotta find her."
"Easier said than done." She replies in an apprehensive tone. "They could be anywhere!"
"Just keep moving forward while randomly turning left and right from time to time; took me a few hours, but it did the trick for me back at the Forest of Magic."
"But we may not have all that time; you need to be treated as soon as possible!"
"If you have a better plan, now's the perfect time to try it. Nothing else's coming to my mind.
"Well, I do, but-argh, to hell with it!" Her patience having reached its limit, she sets me down on the ground and pulls out her erhu from her back, "I've had it up to here with this place!"
"U-uhh... What are you gonna do?" I ask, taken aback by her outburst.
"Don't worry, this will be quick. Just stay still as a statue, and you'll be fine." is all she says as she starts to take distance from me.
Once she's very far away from me to the point of being barely recognizable by her appearance alone, Rin starts to slowly ascend, stopping roughly at half the height of the tall bamboo stalks. Paying attention to her, I hear a low but familiar sound coming from her direction, which I manage to recognize as a very sharp note from her musical instrument; unlike the last time I heard her playing it, however, there was no melody to it; only a single note was being sustained and nothing more.
As I laid on the ground distracted and trying to wrap my head around what she was doing, I felt an air current blow past my body in her direction. What was a gentle breeze at the start gradually picked up speed and became stronger as the time went on, its increasing force kicking up a big cloud of dust, sucking in dead leaves and even loose bamboo stalks; it didn't take too long for me to lose sight of Rin in the opaque tornado, though I could still see the various objects flying around it, albeit barely. By now, the only sound that I could hear was a sharp whistle caused by the harsh winds tormenting our surroundings that, amazingly, sounded identical to the note from before; in fact, that resemblance made it seem as if it was amplifying it instead of drowning it out.
Then, just as I least expected, the tornado suddenly exploded, sending a wall of dust and debris flying in every direction. In reaction, I was able to close my eyes and brace myself just in time before hearing a ringing shockwave zoom past me, its sheer speed violently shaking the vegetation unfortunate enough to stand in its path; as I waited for the dust to settle with my eyes closed, I could feel the ground start rumbling a bit, the sound of many objects crashing to the ground in quick succession.
When all the noise died down, I heard Rin's voice calling out to me in the distance, "Naka, are you still there?!"
"Yeah, I am still here, wherever that is! I can't really see with all this dust floating around!"
"Hang in there," she says and I feel another air current; it flows toward my back and, although fast, it's not nearly as violent as the one from before. I hold my breath and keep my eyes shut as long as I can to not breathe it in, only resuming breathing when I'm almost out of air. When I open my eyes again, I'm met with a scene that chills me to the bone.
A large part of the forest that was around me had been completely decimated; tens of dozens of bamboo stalks that towered over me before were now sliced and laid scattered all over the forest's ground, some of them having fallen dangerously close to me; by a stroke of luck, I managed not to get hit by any of them while lying on the ground. Their lower parts still remained firmly rooted to the ground though, pointing their extremely sharp tips everywhere, making it seem as if I was shrunk and put inside an ecologically correct, but poorly made bed of nails.
"Ah, there you are." I hear Rin say in the distance as she hovers closer to me.
"Holy shit, did you really do all that?" I trail off as I look around, still in disbelief of what happened.
She takes a quick look at the 'masterpiece' she's made. "That, umm… Don't worry about it, bamboo stalks grow really fast once cut. And besides, you're the priority here. Now, don't move a single muscl-AH!" She yells out in surprise and instinctively jumps back as a fireball hits the ground a few meters in front of her, creating a loud explosion and scattering embers in the air. After quickly recovering from it, we turn our heads towards the direction it came from.
"You…!" Rin gasps in surprise as her gaze locks with her would-be aggressor's.
That person turned out to be a girl whose characteristics matched the description given by Keine. She defiantly stood in plain sight with her arm outstretched. Due to the sunlight, her open hand didn't seem to have anything special going for it at first, but after focusing my vision a bit more, I noticed that the scenery around it was being slightly distorted, probably due to the intense heat radiating from it.
"The hell you want with him?" she goes right to the point.
"Wait, it's not what you think it is! He needs to go to Eientei and Keine from the Human Village told me you could guide us there!" Rin desperately tries to explain herself.
Her response elicited a furrow of the brows from the girl, her blazing hand still aiming at Rin, who kept her erhu at the ready in case things escalated more than they already had. Not a single word was spoken as they both stared each other down, neither side showing any signs of standing down.
Not good, she thinks Rin's going to hurt me, and now they're one twitch away from fighting each other. I'd better clear up this misunderstanding before it gets out of hand, and fast!
"Er, h-hey, she's telling the truth. I really need to see a doctor." Meekly speaking up, I try to reassure her that Rin meant no ill-intent towards me from the beginning.
Her intense gaze then shifts to me before double-checking Rin.
"... Fine." After what feels like an eternity, she lowers her arm and stuffs her hands in her pockets. "Come on, pick him up so I can take you there."
Initially, Rin looks at her in disbelief, not having expected her to believe us, but she quickly pulls herself together, straps her erhu to her back, and bows down in gratitude before rushing to my side and carefully picking me up. "T-thank you so much!"
And with that misunderstanding over, we made our way deeper into the forest together with that girl, whose full name I got after a little bit of small talk: Fujiwara no Mokou. Other than that, there wasn't much conversation, if any. Nevertheless, with her help, we managed to get to Eientei safe and sound.
Although it didn't look like what I expected it to be, I had to admit that the concept of a modern looking hospital being located in a place like this was absurd in and of itself. Deep inside the forest, a mansion with an architecture like that of traditional Japan stood proud surrounded by the local flora, with only a few rays of sunlight showing off its pristine condition. It was really beautiful to look at, but I could only hope that the treatment I would receive there would be just as good…
Author's note: So, uh…hello! It's been a while. A very long one, I'd say, since it's been two whole years (and a day) since the last update. To begin with, I'd like to apologize for the radio silence. A lot of things have happened in my life during all this time, and while we have been enduring a pandemic for more than one year, the main reason for me taking so long to release this chapter is my motivation, which was already down in the dumps months before that mess started (of course, the pandemic didn't help in the slightest). Anyway, I've been working on this for sporadic periods of time, and while I'm not really satisfied with its end (it felt a bit rushed and I didn't really know what else to write), I've given it my all and don't really want it to take even longer than it already has.
To everyone who took the time out of their day to read everything up to this point, thanks a lot, and sorry again for making you wait so long for an update and not having anything special to show. No, I've not given up on this story, and I'll try to make it so the next chapter doesn't take as long to release.
Until next time, and please take care of yourselves, okay?
Fun fact: When I finished the first draft for this on my phone, I was sitting on a rock with my feet dipped in the cold water of a river near my home. Across it, I could see a very tall patch of bamboo stalks preventing the sunlight from reaching me, so I had a really good material to use as reference. I tried measuring it by eye, and it was something around 19 to 25 meters (62 to 82 feet) tall.
Writing start date: 14/03/20
Writing end date: 23/06/21 (-_-)
Post date: 23/06/21
Total number of words in this chapter: 5972