He lowered his sword to cut off her head, but another sword intercepted his attack. In the same instant, the man's neck was struck; he sheathed his sword, lost consciousness, and collapsed.
The man said with a smile: "I disappear for an hour and a half, and this is what I find?"
She looked at the scene in shock. Then a man appeared before her—tall and well-built, in his early thirties, with messy black hair and sharp dark brown eyes leaning toward black. The leader and his gang froze, as if time itself had stopped.
He looked at the gang, sighed, and said: "Damn it… how many times do I have to teach you a lesson before you understand? And now what? Kidnapping my father?"
Haruka thought to herself: I-Is that old man his father?!
"He's here! Damn it!" one of them shouted, stumbling as he ran like a madman.
The man drew his sword and defeated them in the blink of an eye. The rest gathered what little courage they had left and fled, shouting: "We'll come back and take revenge!"
As the last of them ran away, the girl looked at him in shock, still trying to understand what had just happened. After finishing them off, he pointed his sword at her neck and said: "Aren't you going to run too? Your friends already fled."
She stammered: "N-No, I'm not with them! I was just passing by, I swear!"
He replied coldly: "Wow, what an excuse."
"If you don't believe me, ask him," she said, pointing at the old man.
The old man replied: "Yes."
He did not comment, and after a moment, he lowered his sword.
Then he looked her up and down as if evaluating her, before leaning lazily against a nearby tree trunk and placing his arms behind his head. "If you're not one of them, you can go."
"S-Okay… thank you for helping me anyway," she said.
He didn't reply. When she turned to leave, she wondered: Which direction is home? I've never seen this place before…
She asked him: "Excuse me, do you know which direction Tokyo is?"
He looked at her indifferently and said: "What's that? Is it something edible? If so, I want to try it."
"Are you making fun of me now?" she replied.
Then she noticed his clothes, which looked like ancient-era clothing, and thought: Why is he wearing that?
And speaking of that, those people were wearing the same clothes, and it seemed like they were shooting things from their hands…
Then she said out loud: "Hah! I get it now!"
He looked at her, confused, as she continued: "You're filming an old drama, that's why you're wearing these clothes! And you're acting your role and practicing it now! You're such great actors! You made me think I was really in an ancient era. But honestly, those effects were extremely realistic—and those flames! I congratulate the director on his performance!"
He stared at her and said: "Have you lost your mind?"
She looked around and said: "But where's the film crew? I don't see them! Are they hiding somewhere, or having lunch?"
He said: "Did you escape from a mental hospital?"
She noticed the sky and said: "No, the sun is setting… anyway, goodbye. Thank you, I enjoyed acting with you."
After walking for a while, she started thinking: "But where is the director?"
Then she said: "It doesn't matter. I'll keep walking until I get out of this forest. That's the best solution."
She walked for ten minutes and met the man and the old man again; they were also walking. He saw her and said: "What are you doing here? Didn't you say you were leaving?"
She replied awkwardly: "I am… I think I took the wrong direction. I'll go to the right, haha."
He replied: "And I'll go to the left. Goodbye."
Haruka walked again, and after fifteen minutes she met them once more. They stared at each other in disbelief. She laughed lightly and said: "What a strange coincidence, really."
He stared back and said: "Yes… what a coincidence."
She started running straight ahead, only to meet him again… and again… and again.
She shouted at him: "This is impossible! Are you sure you're not doing this on purpose?!"
He shouted back: "And are you sure you even know the way?!"
She said angrily: "Fine, I don't know it! But look at that tree! I've seen it seven times, sir!"
The old man intervened and said: "I'm sorry to say this, but i think that we are now in the Forest of Illusions."
Haruka froze: "W-What do you mean? "
He replied: "Even if we walk long distances, we are moving in a closed loop."
Haruka thought, Is this part of the show?
But wait—nothing makes sense. I was at home, then suddenly in a forest, and those flames looked so real… real enough that I was burned and bleeding.
Wait… could it be?
Her heart start beating fast
Could all of this… be REAL?"
Haruka fell to her knees, tears filling her eyes: "This is impossible… tell me you're joking!"
Then she screamed: "I just want to go home!"
To be continued…