Editing Amaryllis in the Ice Country:Chapter 7 (section)

===Part O===

And after a while.

—Huh?

I stop in my tracks to listen. It’s feeble, but there seems to be the sound of a wind instrument being played.

—Wind?

I sense something, and hasten myself.

I continue to climb up, and start to firmly believe. The wind blowing through the ice cave is definitely coming from the outside.

—it’s close…!

I follow the sound, and finally find a large hole. I try to advance as much as possible, but the path becomes narrow, and black dirt blocks my path.
—Nothing I can do…?

I check the map, and the line ends here. This is originally a path that leads to the surface, but it is buried by the large amount of dirt. At this point, I can’t advance.

“This is troublesome, huh…”

If I have to look for another road here, I will have to make a long detour back.

There’s still another fifteen minutes until the meeting.

—I can’t make it in time if I take the same route back. But…

Even if I can’t reach the surface, as long as I can be sure that there’s sunlight—that’ll be proof that the surface is warming up. After that, I’ll just take a photo of a place with sunlight, determine the temperature, and that’ll be enough material to show everyone at the Meeting.

But unlike what I have assumed, the tunnel is still filled with darkness. Even though I have the night vision installation at full power, I can only move forward carefully, and I can’t detect a trace of sunlight.

—So all for nothing?

I sit on the dirt, and sigh. It’s so close, but accordingly to the map, there’s still a hundred meters. It’s impossible to dig my way through.

—This is bad.

In another ten minutes, the Meeting will start. Those led by the Chief will strongly insist on wiping out humanity. Viscaria too will join in. In this case, the Meeting will end up—

“Ugh…!”

I slam my fist into the dirt. Let’s just return to the village instead of going so far. In that case, there’s still a chance to speak up at the Meeting. No, maybe I can still make it if I head back immediately.

—Guess I can only head back now.

I grit my teeth, and make the decision to retreat. Since the tunnel is blocked, I can’t move forward, and the only option left is to retreat. I still have some hope if I have another half day, so I thought, but unfortunately, time won’t return.

I stand up, and pat my cheeks with both hands.

And then, I start running at full speed. The tunnel direction is already locked in my Mind Circuit, so it’s easy for me to return. I return back at double the speed, as though I’m challenging the darkness.

—I got to hurry back.

I haven’t told anyone that I came here. I guess not many will realize that I’m not present, and even if they do, it’s unlikely that Chief will delay the Meeting. At this point, I am a hindrance to the Chief.

I have to hurry back before the Meeting ends—so I thought as I run down the dark tunnel.

—!

And I immediately slip.