Boulders

Barely a day had passed since Yoichi's forced departure from Goldhaven. Shioko's face during their last meeting kept coming back to his mind. The kiss they had exchanged meant a lot to him, and the mere thought that something might happen to her made him very anxious. 

The Valley of the Northern Waters, when compared to the capital county, looked like a boundless place. In addition to the Southborne Mountains that accompanied the two adventurers' journey along the area west of the valley, it wasn't easy to orient oneself. 

In that place occupied by the most luxuriant and uncontaminated nature, there was no point of reference and, without a map, even an expert traveler would have risked losing his sense of direction. 

According to Ryutaro's old map, that valley ended with an indefinite ocean-like body of water. However, the sea was still far from Yoichi and Takuma's position, and they could not even hear its sound.