Staring at the group of children with a confused expression, I muttered out.
"w-what?"
Letting out a groan, the children's leader looked back at the rest of the children and said.
"You guys go; I'll take care of this guy."
As I remained shellshocked in front of the gate, the children walked past and towards the pool of water with their buckets.
Not giving ti to regain my composure, the leader of the children stared at and asked.
"Can't you see you're blocking our way? What do you want?"
Taking a couple of deep breaths, I looked at the child and said,
"I just told you, didn't I? I need an adult to speak with for so directions...I'm an adventurer who is a bit lost."
Matching my confused expression, the child replied.
"What do you an "just told you?" This is the first ti I've ever seen you."
"..."
" *sigh* If it's an adult you want, I'll get one for you... but there's no need to lie or co up with stupid excuses."
As the children's leader turned around and headed for the sa hut, the other children returned with their buckets full of water and reentered the village.
...what the hell was going on?
Were these kids playing so kind of trick on ?
No... he seed genuine, right?
"...I take back everything I said about them having good parents...if they can lie this well at such a young age, their parents must be criminals."
Sighing, I watched the children's leader enter the sa exact hut as last ti, hoping that this ti an adult would actually co out.
But...a mont later, even though the hut door did not budge an inch, the children's leader, alongside the sa group of children, reappeared in front of .
"Who are you, and what do you ne-"
Interrupting the children's leader midsentence, I stepped forward and replied.
"Look, is this so kind of joke to you? Can you just grab an adult for ... the first ti, sure, I'll admit it was funny, but now it's getting repetitive."
Staring at with a startled expression due to my annoyed tone, the children's leader confusedly nodded his head before turning and heading to the sa exact hut.
I swear to god, I'm going in there myself if an adult doesn't co out this ti...
While we waited for the children's leader to return from the hut, one of the children with the empty buckets spoke out.
"Sir...what were you talking about this 'joke?' "
...So they're all in on this goddamn joke, aren't they...?
Facepalming, I replied.
"Look, I'll give it to you guys; your coordination and acting are unmatched. But you have to know when a joke is over, alright?"
"..?"
"..?"
"..?"
As the children stared at in silence with confused expressions, I resisted the urge to punch sothing.
"Look like we have a bunch of codians in this village, don't we?"
At my question, yet another child stepped back and worriedly asked.
"Sir... what is a codian?"
Looking at the group of children, who were all wearing concerned and confused expressions, I actually felt like the bad guy.
They were the ones trying to trick ... I'm not the bad guy!
Closing my eyes and attempting to calm myself before I did anything drastic, I began thinking of what questions to ask the adult when he ca.
Reopening my eyes, I almost collapsed to the floor as I realized that the group of children had completely disappeared.
Turning around to face the pool of water, I noticed that they weren't there either.
...Either they're really good at coordinating and making elaborate tricks, or sothing is seriously wrong.
As if confirming questions, when I turned back around to face the gate, the sa group of children with their leader at the front was standing there...with no adult in sight.
Realizing that sothing was off, I spoke before the children's leader could say anything and hurriedly asked.
"Do you rember ?"
"...? No...who are you, and what do you need?"
Oh god... I've been yelling at a bunch of children for no reason...
It was a loop.
The children weren't constantly getting buckets of water; it was that every ti they returned with their water, the loop reset.
This made it seem as if the children were always gathering water.
The sa went for the adults who were cooking and chopping the berries as the loop ended before they finished, giving off the illusion that they were permanently cooking animals and making berries.
Turning away from the village gate, I headed back to the gate of water.
Talking to them would be useless... they would forget everything before I could get so useful information out of them.
Sitting by the edge of the water pool, I saw the loop reset in real ti as the sa children ca to the pool to gather water every thirty seconds without fail.
It was a full circle, a loop.
Just like I always ended up back at the flipped carriage and waterfall, these children always got water, and the adults always cooked and chopped.
This entire forest was stuck in a loop.
The only reason the main cast, Ruby, Irene, and I, are able to retain our mories is because we are awakened, so our ntal fortitude is increased...
But... what if we couldn't?
What if I unknowingly lived the sa life over and over... and over again like these poor children and adults?
What if I was one of those children, collecting water at every thirty-second interval while still thinking I was living a completely normal life?
Terrible...it was terrible.
This world truly was cruel...
Sighing, I watched the children collect their water one last ti before getting up and heading back to the cliff.
I had a long hike ahead of ... and after that I had a long way to get out of this damned loop.
But...one thing had changed.
I wasn't doing it completely for myself...those children deserved to live a normal life, not living in this artificial loop over and over again like a drone.
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