Hikari seemed to have been convinced by me. She held onto the edges of her sweater with both hands and continued to look around curiously as she walked.
The condensed fireballs were distributed to our left and right, illuminating the already slightly lit cave even more brightly. The reflected firelight bounced back and forth on the gray-yellow stalagmites, illuminating the lines that silently told of everything that had happened over the long years.
"So, there might be a fairly large pool of water somewhere here."
I straightened up, looked around, and added, "Of course, it could also be on a lower level, somewhere we can hardly see it."
"Why is there a pool of water?" Hikari asked curiously.
"It's because of the large amount of water that seeps down from above that this cave, which must have been formed by an accidental crack, has a lot of stalactites growing in it." I paused. "Oh, of course, you might also see some other special stones here, such as calcite, white crystal, or rock salt."
"oh!"
The girl's eyes lit up instantly.
“However, we need to talk about these things a little later,” I said. “Although I’m very curious as to why there would be such a karst landscape in this snow-capped mountain area, for the time being, what we should do is find Annie, who came in before us.”
"Even if the cave is well-lit, she could still encounter danger."
Nodding, Hikari once again carefully ventured deeper into the few remaining gaps in the ground.
Some of the stalagmites weren't in good condition, lying slightly crookedly on the ground, hindering our progress. It seemed that when they were growing as stalagmites, their bases couldn't fully support the ever-increasing weight, or they were impacted by external forces, causing them to break and fall. In the subsequent growth process, they were then integrated with the surrounding material.
I tried to project my senses forward, hoping to find Annie's trail without missing anything, but no matter how I sensed, I could only hear empty echoes.
It's like being trapped inside a drum covered with skin on all four sides. When the drumsticks fall, all you can hear is a hollow, faint vibration, but nothing else.
Meow~
Suddenly, a familiar cat's meow rang out from afar.
Hikari turned to look at me with some surprise, then immediately realized what I meant, squinted, and directed her gaze to the shadows cast by several stalagmites in the firelight in the distance.
A familiar black cat with a mottled head peeked out from among them, emitting a reassuring call.
"Meow meow meow, meow meow."
Hikari tilted her head back in surprise, pretending to listen, and after a moment, a look of delight appeared on her face: "Fokine said it saw Annie kiss her and is calling us over."
Me: "...So how exactly do you manage to communicate without barriers?"
I'm the cat, so why did all those meows just sound like meows to me? I couldn't understand a single word.
Amidst the barely suppressed snickering of the rascal rabbit, the little fool solemnly covered his chest with his hand: "Mr. Yumi, you should listen carefully."
...I tried using it!
No, this really isn't my fault, is it? Where did things go wrong?
Fortunately, after chasing for a while, I met Annie, who also said that she couldn't understand the cat's language, which made me feel a little more at ease.
"Oh! You've come!"
Anne, who seemed to have returned to her normal routine, noticed our approaching footsteps and waved excitedly in our direction: "I found a shaft over here, and I'm thinking about whether I should go in and take a look."
I glanced at the girl's slightly red nape, and then heard Hikari ask worriedly, "A shaft? Could there be any danger? For example, are there some stalactites at the bottom similar to those around here..."
Are these things called stalactites?
Annie tilted her head, then looked away. "I had the same concerns as you, so I asked this black cat that suddenly appeared to go down and check. I didn't hear it land, but judging from the time it took the little guy to go back and forth, it seems like it took some effort. I don't know anything more specific."
"Meow."
The cat meowed softly.
“Fokine is saying that this shaft is very long,” Hikari said, taking on the role of translator.
"It seems my guess was right. In that case, it appears we can't go down directly, otherwise, accidents could easily happen."
I jumped off Hikari, leaned close to the vertical shaft that was more than two meters wide, listened intently for a while, and tried to penetrate it with my senses. After a long time, I finally pushed away the [cat] that was rubbing against me and looked up at the two people who were quietly squatting and waiting: "I heard the sound of water."
Hikari opened her mouth slightly: "Is it the pond I mentioned before?"
"...What pool are you talking about?"
I nodded and turned to look at the approaching light source not far away.
The two people I sent to inform arrived late, having followed the light sources I had set up to this place. Somewhat puzzled, they asked, "Did you call us here specifically for something?"
The other two and I exchanged glances, and finally Hikari took the initiative to explain. She gave a rough account of most of what had just happened, as well as how we found our way here, omitting a few details and embellishing the story.
"Hmm... I understand."
After listening to the whole thing, Shen Xue crossed her arms and pondered for a while before nodding gently: "So, you were worried that there might be some danger here, or that you discovered something, which is why you called us here, right? Indeed, I saw the sea of flowers and stalactites outside, and they were quite impressive at first glance, but to me, they were just so-so."
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