The feeling of his fingers digging into the soil was a bit unusual, Uriel noticed. The soil here is harder, but also more slippery. He wasn't sure what it felt like, but he was wary.
The passage, made almost entirely of earth, is narrow and slopes upward. Uriel had to change from crawling to crawling, extinguished the torch, and moved up little by little with his hands and feet. This is a very challenging sport, but with the support of magic, he is no longer the clumsy rookie. Exercise and study made him stronger, and he fully explored the gifts that the mysterious profession brought to him.
The abnormality in the soil appeared when he estimated that he had climbed sixty yards, and Uriel concluded from this that the exit was not far away. The effect of "Spiritual Vision" will soon pass. I hope it won't end the moment I hit the ground... Suddenly, a broken branch sticking out of the soil cut his hand, and Uriel turned around in pain. God comes.
As he neared the exit, the apprentice heard the hissing sound of moving air and reached out to feel for it. Divine magic once again strengthened his vision, and the darkness became benign. He held something angular in his hand, and Uriel saw clearly that it was a small wooden lantern. It was in rough shape, but seemed to work. He hesitated, then hung it back up. There isn't much air in the cave, so it's better not to be extravagant.
Next to the lantern stand was a door, big enough for him to crawl through, but there was an iron lock hanging in the middle. Countless plant roots grew on the surface engraved with mysterious words, but Uriel did not peel them off. He felt that even if he had a glimpse of the whole picture, he would probably not understand what was painted on it.
He tried knocking on the door.
"Do you have an invitation?" A voice came out of the keyhole, like an old witch whispering hoarsely.
"He didn't." Before Uriel could respond, he heard his own voice coming from inside!
"Why are you here without an invitation?" the old witch said in a voice.
"He had a wish to come true."
"What's so surprising about that? I have a wish to come true, too. That can't be done. That wretched widow only promises to grant a wish to one person. Oh, I can't let him pass."
Uriel couldn't help but ask: "Who are you? Are you behind the door?"
"Don't you have eyes?" The voice of a witch suddenly raised its tone. "I won't let you pass!"
"As you can see," his own voice said, "she is the obstacle in front of you."
this is nothing. The apprentice shook off the fallen soil. I've seen quite a few mysterious talking objects. "I'm sorry, Ms. Men. The light here is a bit dark." The former was obviously grumpy, so he decided to find a breakthrough from the latter voice. "This...sir, your voice sounds familiar to me."
As soon as he finished speaking, the two small lanterns in front of Uriel's eyes lit up. "Hello." He heard "himself" reply.
The apprentice's vision was incandescent, and he quickly canceled the effect of the magic. "Hello." He guessed that the latter voice probably belonged to the lantern. "The similarity is too high." Uriel muttered, "A weird feeling."
"He likes to imitate others," Ms. Men said.
"She is wrong. I am Uriel, from Yotsuye City." Mr. Lantern added seriously.
So who am I? A wooden lantern lit in the belly? But if he wanted to get behind the door, the apprentice had to let him talk nonsense. As for how Lantern knew his hometown, I'm afraid it must be attributed to mystery. "By coincidence, my name is Uriel too. Users of this name are as common as candles in churches."
"You're right." Mr. Lantern agreed. "I thought you would have a more elegant name, such as Jack Barber, Ken Adam, or Lachie Lu. If you plan to change your name, do you think it's safe?" How about Andrey Trofimovich Stuchenko?”
"..."
Uriel was really grateful for his advice. Besides, he always felt that there was an unusual guy among these names, and he couldn't help but ask: "Are they all people who have been here?"
"How is that possible! They are not human."
"Don't I look human?"
The light of the lantern became brighter. Uriel seemed to feel someone looking at him. "Okay, you look quite similar. But how did a human get here?"
"I didn't come here on my own initiative, sir." Uriel sighed.
"Then why don't you go back the same way immediately?" Ms. Men suggested.
"Don't you understand? Whenever I try to retreat or turn around, I always bump into something. The fog guided me here." Sauron was speechless. "Excuse me, where exactly is this place?"
The door shook and the chain rattled. The choking dust filled the air, and Uriel couldn't help but close his eyes. "This is the wishing well for the lost, the resting place for the greedy," she sang.
"This is the dreamland of the ignorant." Uriel said in a deep voice.
"This is a restricted area for smart people." Ms. Door said with sarcasm.
"The beauty smiles and invites you to come."
"Her boudoir is carved in ivory. Her draperies are as light as clouds."
"Her eyes are shy and sweet, and her fingers are as bright as coral."
"She invites you to spend a starry night together," two voices sang in unison. Uriel heard his voice echoing in the cave and couldn't help but tighten his mouth to confirm that it was closed.
"She listens to your wish." Lantern said seriously, "No matter how difficult it is, she will make it come true for you."
“She sings for you,” Ms. Door crooned. “Wonderful and absurd songs, she will sing them all night long.”
The old witch's voice was hardly beautiful, and Uriel didn't waste a single night here. "Stop being so pretentious, you two." The apprentice begged distressedly.
"This is the garden of 'Beauty's Invitation'." The lantern said, giving him the illusion of asking and answering questions.
All in all, not a good place. Uriel thought to himself. It mentions gardens. The apprentice suddenly understood. "I have to go pick a finger anemone and bring it back?"
"What is that?" Ms. Door would not know the names Uriel gave to those weird flowers.
"Very vivid." Mr. Lantern commented. "But no need, because the owner of the beauty is about to return. She is an old witch with bird feathers on her head, and she never likes others. If she knows that you have adopted the 'Beauty Invitation' she carefully cultivated, she will turn you into a A door. Isn't it! The invitation from a beautiful woman always comes with a price."
Uriel subconsciously looked at the stone door in front of him. Could it be that Ms. Men was originally a human being?
His gaze angered Shimen. "Without flowers, you can't make your wish come true!" she screamed. "I sent her the precious 'Beauty's Invitation', a magical plant that she didn't even have in her garden. But look what she did to me. What!"
"Actually, there is." Lantern interrupted, "The owner only has one male flower, and Sylvia sent the female plant. But there is, and her wish was not fulfilled."
"Yes, yes?" Uriel needed to sort out the fragmentary information revealed during their conversation. "You mean, if I want to fulfill my wish, I have to find a brand new plant for your master. Is that so?"
Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, the cave fell silent. Lantern coughed and was about to speak...Ms. Door, or rather, Ms. Sylvia, roared: "You told him! You told him! Idiot, do you know what you are talking about?"
"Honestly, I don't think it's my problem."
Sylvia and Mr. Lantern were arguing, but Uriel was in no mood to wait for them to finish. He doesn't fully understand the rules here yet, but that doesn't matter. "Don't worry, I'm not here to fulfill your wish." If necessary, he would rather go to church... No, church is no longer what it used to be. "I have things to take care of. Can you tell me how to leave?"
"Why are you leaving?" Mr. Lantern didn't seem to understand. "No matter what you have to do, as long as you give the master flowers, your wish will be fulfilled."
Then why didn't she make a wish for herself to obtain all the exotic flowers and plants in the world? Uriel didn't want to listen to his nonsense. "I'm leaving. Is the fog around here caused by you?"
"No." Sylvia's attitude changed drastically after learning that he was not here to make a wish. "There was no fog when I came here. It's probably the old witch's magic."
"Madam, how long have you been here?" asked the apprentice.
The stone gate was silent for a moment. "About sixty years." Her answer was quite true. Uriel judged that Sylvia was not a human being.
"What about you? Mr. Lantern." He asked again.
"I am not a lantern," he heard himself say. "I am a lock. I have existed as long as the door to which I am fastened. My master created me."
Uriel was surprised not only because he recognized the wrong thing: "I thought you all--"
"What? Do you think my master is an old witch who turns people into objects when she's unhappy?"
This is what you said yourself before. Uriel remembered it clearly. "So, Ms. Sylvia visited your master's home with a rare plant, hoping to fulfill your wish." He paused. To be honest, Uriel felt that such a ridiculous thing could not happen in reality. No matter where Sylvia heard the legend, no one with the slightest sense could believe it.
"That's right. But she made a lot of noise, so my master turned her into a stone to prevent similar guys from entering the house." Mr. Lock said. "As for me, I was born because of Sylvia. The master asked me to lock the door and take care of Sylvia's mouth."
"It seems that not everyone who did not bring fresh plants was turned into objects." The apprentice said.
"Of course. Heather animates all things in the spirit's form. Birds and beasts, humans, elves, tree shepherds, and other races, no matter what, they are not familiar with the workings of teapots or doorknobs. Some of them can't even If people can’t do it well, why do you expect them to do something else?”
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