CHAPTER 30: CHAPTER 29: PARADISE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FOREST (3)

Oliver stepped back while trying to slip toward the forest again.

"I want to go for a walk."

He motioned casually with his hand as if telling the guard to let him pass.

But the guard moved quickly and blocked the path with his armored body.

"The forest is extremely dangerous. You are not allowed to leave."

Oliver lifted his hand and tried again.

"I am not from this village, and I think that is very obvious. I want to leave now, immediately."

But the guard replied with the same rough tone, without the slightest emotion, still blocking his way.

"You may only leave if you go out with the people you came with."

Oliver tried slipping past him, but the guard moved again and blocked him.

He tried from the other side and bumped into the same iron armor.

In the end, exhausted from trying, he changed his plan and looked for another exit.

But every time he approached the edge of the village, another guard appeared with the same armor, the same height, the same hidden features.

As if it was the same guard appearing in every spot.

Oliver stopped in the middle of the path and stared at one of them with clear frustration.

"How can you appear everywhere?"

Realizing he would not get out this way, he turned back, deeply disappointed.

As he wandered aimlessly, his eyes caught a scene that unsettled him even more.

Mariana and her mother were walking happily beside a man who looked exactly like her dead father.

That was not the problem by itself. The problem was how genuinely happy they all looked together.

The sight was more frightening than strange.

Oliver stopped and stared for a moment, then turned and ran.

And the more he ran through the village, the more he noticed that this place resembled his own village.

The same areas. The same arrangement of houses, only slightly altered.

With small details out of place.

Because this idea was starting to gnaw at his mind, he rushed to find the sage’s tower.

He did not know its exact location in this version of the village.

But he assumed it would be on the outskirts, just like the real one.

His guess was right. The tower stood tall among the trees, almost exactly as he remembered it.

He approached and pushed the door. It was firmly locked.

He tried again, then a third time, but no luck.

In the end, he sat on the ground beside it.

He rested his elbows on his knees and covered his face with his hands.

His mind felt worn down by the amount of strange things that had happened in the past few hours.

Lemur disappearing, the sage’s bizarre story about a battle with the masked man.

The villagers who looked like people he knew but were not them.

Then he remembered how desperately the sage had insisted he stay silent in front of that woman, Lenor, who looked so much like Eleanor.

He lifted his head, thinking.

"Was he trying to warn me? No, that fool cannot plan something like that. Maybe I am just overthinking."

His thoughts were cut off when he heard the door open behind him.

He quickly lifted his head toward the entrance.

An old woman stood there.

Her long gray hair fell over a purple robe that covered her entirely.

A wide hat cast a shadow over her eyes.

She examined him for a long moment, then grabbed his arm.

"You. Come inside quickly."

Before Oliver could understand what was happening, she dragged him in and shut the door tightly behind them.

Inside, Oliver looked around.

Shock was the first thing he felt.

The place looked nothing like the sage’s tower he knew.

There was no massive library or wooden table in the center.

Only a simple room that looked more like a small house.

He opened his mouth to speak, but the old woman beat him to it.

"Are you a hybrid?"

He looked up at her, but then he froze.

The old woman had vanished.

And standing in front of him was a young woman in her mid twenties.

Her long black hair had streaks of purple, and her eyes were a mix of brown and violet.

She was wearing the same purple robe and wide hat the old woman had been wearing a moment earlier.

Oliver stared at her in silence, his brain scrambling to catch up with what he had just seen.

She shot him a displeased look.

"Why are you not speaking? Are you mute?"

He shook his head.

"No, just... can you tell me what exactly is happening? Where did that old woman go?"

She slapped him hard across the face.

"That old woman is standing right in front of you now."

He touched his cheek and glared at her.

"Why the violence? I was only asking."

"Learn how to ask respectfully."

"Fine, fine. But how did you suddenly turn young? And why does this place look different from the outside?"

She sighed irritably.

"You have a lot of questions."

"Is that not normal? Nothing here makes sense. It feels like I am in a dream."

"Technically, you are not far from the truth."

Oliver’s eyes widened.

"Am I inside a dream right now?" He rubbed his chin. "That explains everything."

He jumped, raising his hands like he expected to float, only to fall straight to the ground.

The woman stared at him while rubbing her temples.

"What are you doing?"

Oliver stood up and dusted off his clothes.

"In my dreams I can usually fly. Usually I fly with a giant bear and an enormous deer, not here, but I thought maybe it would work."

"This is not a dream. It is a reality mixed with a dream."

"Reality mixed with a dream? Is that even possible?"

She ignored the question.

"Before anything else, answer mine. Are you a hybrid?"

He sighed deeply and looked at his hands.

"Yes, I think so."

The moment she heard the word, her eyes widened.

The stiffness in her face vanished, replaced by excitement.

"I knew it."

She ran around the room in all directions.

Oliver watched her awkwardly and raised his hand.

"I hate to interrupt... whatever that is, but can you please explain what is happening in this village? I am exhausted from trying to guess."

She stopped, then rubbed the back of her neck with slight embarrassment.

"Sorry. It has been a very long time since I saw another hybrid like me."

"You are a hybrid?"

"Yes, but let us not rush. You need to understand where we are first."

Oliver sat on the nearest chair, drained from everything that had happened.

"Go ahead. I need a clear explanation."

She paused for a moment.

"We are stuck in the middle of the domain of a mythical creature."