I show the harp to Matthew and Maggie, who stayed behind.
“Whaaaat, it’s playing by itself?”
Well, of course they’re shocked.
“Selina bought it for me in the royal capital,” I say.
It’s not exactly a lie… but not exactly the truth, either.
“So the forest witch has magical tools too?” Matthew asks.
He’s clearly got the wrong idea, but it’s better that I don’t correct him.
Silence technically means I’m not lying... right?
I mean, I could lie, but Maggie’s my one and only friend. I’d rather not, if I can help it.
Matthew’s not my friend, so maybe it doesn’t matter?
Still, with both of them standing here, it’s kinda awkward.
“Isn’t this the summer festival song?” Matthew asks.
Well, yeah. It is.
“More importantly, let’s hurry back! We’re going to get soaked,” I say, reaching out to grab the harp so we can head back to the cottage in the Great Forest.
“Wait a minute!” Matthew stops her. “If the song stops, won’t the rain stop too? We need it to keep raining!”
He seems to think more rain is a good thing.
“But we can’t stay here forever. I don’t know when Selina’s coming back,” I say.
I really should’ve told her about this.
“Can’t we just leave the harp here till morning? The forest witch probably won’t notice it’s gone for one night, right?”
“That’s a problem! I can’t just abandon a harp out in the rain!”
Rain is awful for instruments. And I put so much magical power into turning it into a magic tool!
“I know! As long as the harp doesn’t get wet, it’ll be fine, right? Matthew, why don’t you cut some branches and make a roof?” Maggie suggests.
“Maggie, even so...”
Rain would still drip through, even with a pile of branches.
“I’ve got it! We can put it inside the shrine!” Matthew exclaims.
Ugh. Open the shrine? That’s a terrible idea!
“The shrine houses the water goddess, remember? I don’t think we should touch that!” I protest.
Honestly, I’d rather leave the harp sitting out here than go messing with the shrine.
How strange! I came here planning to take the harp home, and now I’m stopping Matthew from committing what feels like a sacred offense.
“Selina probably won’t notice...” I murmur to myself.
I want to believe that, so I give in.
But I can’t shake the weird feeling I get from that shrine. Like it’s sealing away something we’re not supposed to touch.
“I’ll come get the harp tomorrow morning!” I declare, making it clear to both of them that I won’t leave it any longer than that.
Then I turn and head back to the cottage in the Great Forest.
Inside the Great Forest, the weather’s never as bad as it is outside.
When Lang Village gets buried in blizzards, we only see light flurries.
Today, it’s raining lightly. My clothes are soaked, so I cast the utility spell Dry Up♪, but—as usual—it barely works.
Is it because I’m not drawing in enough mana? Or am I just bad at controlling magic?
Either way, the harp did drain a lot of my energy...
I give up and change clothes. When Selina comes home tonight, I’ll be honest with her about the rain ceremony.
“She’s definitely going to scold me. She might even ban me from visiting Lang Village for a while...”
But when I go outside to put Merry and Ben in the goat shed, I’m stunned by how heavy the rain’s gotten.
“If it’s raining this much already... this might be getting out of hand!”
If it’s this bad here, in the Great Forest, then outside must be a full-blown storm!
“If it storms until morning... this could turn into a disaster!”
I have to go get the harp now and stop the rain!
I’m heading toward the Waymark when Selina comes home—at the worst possible moment.
“Zoe! What have you done!”
She’s furious. Right out of the gate!
“Selina, please don’t get angry and just listen—”
But I only made it worse.
“You did something reckless enough to affect this forest, and you’re telling me not to get angry?!”
“Matthew said he was going to do a rain ceremony, so...”
Oh no. She’s absolutely furious…
“So you decided to help him! Did you think rain ceremonies might be dangerous? Do you want to get caught in a witch hunt and burned at the stake?!”
Scary! I really, really don’t want to be burned at the stake!
“Well, it rained, so... the ceremony worked, right? I won’t get involved again!”
I mean it! I don’t want any more of this. But—I have to tell her.
“I left the harp behind the waterfall shrine! I have to go get it!”
I try to dash toward the Waymark, but Selina stops me.
“Wait right there!”
I’m caught in a cage of air.
“Selina, please! I need to get the harp! If the song keeps playing, it’ll turn into a storm!”
I’m more afraid of Lang Village getting washed away than of getting yelled at.
“What did you just say?! The harp is playing on its own? You left that kind of magical tool behind?!”
Selina’s glare pins me in place.
I want to disappear.
“That’s right! I did something stupid! That’s why I have to go get it right now!”
I bang on the air cage. I’m not going to just sit here.
“You are... Ugh, it can’t be helped! Barrier, release!”
So it was a Barrier.
“Read your magic textbooks properly!”
She gives me a good whack on the head—for the rain ceremony, for the harp, for everything.
Ow! That hurt!
But if I complain, she’ll probably leave me behind.
Besides... I really am sorry this time.
“So? Where exactly did you leave the harp?”
We race toward the Waymark, rain pouring down all around us.
I’ve never seen it rain this hard inside the Great Forest.
“Behind the waterfall shrine,” I say.
“The shrine? The one that houses the water goddess? That’s bad!”
Together, we pour magic into the teleportation stone and jump straight to Lang Village.