When Wentworth spoke, even the drowsiness that clouded Nala's mind, rendering her thoughts sluggish, couldn't stop her from realizing the truth. Forcing her eyelids open, she gave a sharp sniff, then locked eyes with Wentworth. Almost in unison, the two exclaimed:
"It's the fog!"
At that moment, Wentworth himself was beginning to feel an overwhelming wave of sleepiness wash over him. He shook his head vigorously, trying to stay alert.
Then Nala suddenly perked up, as if she had heard something. She lifted her head sharply and pointed toward the branches above her.
"Wentworth, I think something's moving in the tree!"
Wentworth followed her gaze, but the thick fog obscured everything, he couldn't see a thing.
So he first sought out a relatively dry pile of rocks nearby and gently laid Yukina down atop it. Then, without hesitation, he began to climb the tree Nala had pointed at.
Halfway up, Wentworth was startled to see, emerging faintly from the fog, a pair of bright eyes. Despite the mist, he could clearly feel that the eyes' owner was staring straight at him.
Alarmed, Wentworth quickly drew his wand and aimed it at the source. Yet, the eyes didn't so much as flinch.
Gritting his teeth, Wentworth continued his careful ascent.
Finally, as he neared the treetop, he got a clear look through the haze: the source of those luminous eyes was—an owl!
Its head rotated a full ninety degrees, yet it continued to fix its unblinking gaze on Wentworth. He froze in surprise, but something suddenly clicked in his mind. He quickly called down to Nala:
"Nala, it's an owl!"
Nala's voice rang out in response:
"Wait a second, Wentworth—=, I smell something familiar! It's… peppermint! Why is there peppermint here?!"
Hearing this, Wentworth felt as though something important was right on the edge of his memory. But the drowsiness was clouding his thoughts, he simply couldn't bring it into focus.
Just then, perched atop the tree, Wentworth spotted a flicker of light through the fog below, someone had cast a spell. He then heard a stifled cry of pain!
Frowning, wand still in hand, Wentworth was about to climb down to investigate when Nala's voice called out again:
"Wentworth, catch that owl! I remember now!"
But instead of responding, Wentworth continued his cautious descent in silence.
Nala's voice rose once more, this time with a long sigh of relief:
"Wentworth, did you see that spell? I cast it on myself! Pain, it helps keep the mind awake!"
Relieved, Wentworth's tense expression began to soften.
Nala pressed on:
"Owl. Peppermint. What does that remind you of?!"
Rubbing his eyes, fighting off the encroaching fatigue, Wentworth answered:
"I'm thinking… Those two ingredients show up in a lot of potion recipes. Give me a moment, my mind's fogged up…"
Then, with a note of triumph in her voice, Nala declared:
"Well then, what if I told you there's also moonstone?!"
Her words struck like lightning. Wentworth's eyes lit up with realization.
"Wait—if you combine owl tears, peppermint, and moonstone... it's the Wakefulness Draught!"
He looked up at the owl still perched silently above him. The creature tilted its head ever so slightly, still watching him intently.
Moments later, back at the base of the tree, Wentworth rejoined Nala, and saw that she was holding a sprig of peppermint leaves.
They stood together in silence for a beat before Nala said:
"If they designed the test like this, there must be a way to solve it. That means moonstone has to be nearby! Quick, look for it!"
Wentworth grumbled in frustration:
"With this blasted fog, unless that stone is right next to my foot, how do you expect me to find it?!"
Nala scoffed.
"Useless! If I weren't blind, would I need your help at all?!"
Wentworth: "…"
Just then, Yukina's voice came from nearby:
"Moonstone! Over here!"
The two of them rushed over to find Yukina propping herself up with one hand among the rocks, where a piece of moonstone now gleamed in her palm.
Hearing their footsteps, she struggled to keep her eyes open and said:
"Moonstone. This pile… there's a lot of it!"
Soon after, Wentworth carefully adjusted the flame with his wand, while Nala focused intently on brewing the potion.
"Too much heat! Lower it!"
"That's too low, bring it up a touch!"
"I said a touch! Do you want to boil off the owl tears completely?!"
And so, working together with urgency and precision, the Wakefulness Draught was soon complete.
One by one, the three of them drank, and clarity began to return. As their eyes met, all three sighed in relief.
Then Nala muttered irritably:
"Whoever designed this round… what were they thinking?! It's impossible to complete alone! By the time we realized something was wrong with the fog, it was already too late!"
But Wentworth looked thoughtful.
"No… I think if we hadn't been together, the moment we realized something was off with the fog, our first instinct would've been to retreat back to the shore. Then we might've started looking for solutions from there."
"Instead of charging ahead like this! The mist was thinner near the coast, it wouldn't have clouded our judgment so fast. We might've remembered the answer in time!"
Yukina nodded eagerly, her head bobbing like a little bird.
"Exactly! If you hadn't been so intent on getting me to Professor Newt as fast as possible, we wouldn't have blindly followed Greenbud onto the island. We—wait a second… where is Greenbud?!"
Hearing that, Wentworth's expression froze. A moment later, he began scanning the surroundings in a panic.
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TN: This fanfic has been fully translated and is available on my Patreon —— patreon(.)com/PrimalDemon [remove the parentheses ( )]