Wishmaker Chapter 4: Chapter 4

Read chapter 4 of Wishmaker by Larch on NovelPedia.

Crunch! "Eugh!" I let out a yelp, almost slipping and falling down a sloped hill. As I crossed over a bush, something cracked under the heel of my boot. Supporting myself on a nearby tree, I lifted my leg to see fragments of shells sticking to it. It was a dead snail. A low grunt escaped from beneath my lips. They just keep and keep on going. I guess it did rain since everything is soaking wet, but come on! With a sigh, I put my leg down and took another step forward, from beneath which another crunch came out, muffled by the wet moss. It had been over an hour already since I left the cabin and the unconscious man behind, or maybe it had been longer; the sense of time seemed really strange when out deep into the woods with no sights of life showing up. The temperature dropped slightly with the sun hiding underneath a blanket of dark clouds; if not for the clothes I stole, I would have fallen sick the minute I stepped out of the cabin and tried to escape. The weight of the keys in my pocket kept reminding me of how real everything was, forcing my eyes to stay open. I still couldn't believe that I was kidnapped moments ago and escaped just like that, rubbing my knuckles, which hurt more than I would have expected them to. At the very least, I could figure out how far I'd gotten, counting my steps in my head, which should be around half a meter each based on the teaching from middle school. 1.7 kilometers. (A tiny bit over 1 Mile) It was a little hard to concentrate on walking and counting at the same time and then stopping for a moment to wonder if I had said that number already, but that was the only thing that could keep me distracted from the pain. My pace is incredibly slow, but this terrain... I don't think I remember any place like this. I'm not sure if there's anything like this even in my country. It had to be manmade. All of it. The trees still covered everything in my sight, but beneath them were dozens of thick bushes that reached for the top of the tree bark, full of bugs that I could barely shake off my clothes; not only that, but the ground, which would usually be just plain grass, was covered entirely with wet, slippery moss with seemingly no end to it. The terrain itself wasn't very flat, as many short hills and slopes that kept slowing me down even more were scattered all over the place, obscuring my vision and preventing me from looking further into the distance. Everything looked incredibly peaceful, like something that would be put on a canvas the moment an artist laid their eyes on the green forest, but... It was exhausting, both mentally and physically. And my leg... Damn it, I really should have been more careful. Maybe I could have gotten further if not for my leg, which I had to raise every so often. I briefly looked around, wary of any wild animals that could appear at any moment. But seeing that the only living creatures here were swarms of bugs and a few birds that chirped above my head once or twice in a while, I relaxed. Haah. My back, pressed against a nearby tree, felt like it would break if I had kept going for a minute longer. I had to rest as many times as I could. I wasn't really fit in the first place, only occasionally going out to the park or spending some time with friends, but walking through an unknown forest with an empty stomach and a limping leg, I had no idea what to do about it. If only I had enough money... Then I might not have eaten that stupid rotting pork. I knew this old guy was bullshitting me when he said it was cheap and fresh. As I didn't have any allowance and had to work part-time, my financial situation forced me to frequently visit the shady part of the town where everything was cheaper and easier to get. But it seemed that even after being a loyal regular, I was fooled just like that. And to also get kidnapped at that. It was laughable. To be fooled so easily and end up in a secluded place like this. It made me think of my family and the time I spent together with the