# Chapter 9: Let's Go to the Volcanic Region
Kaian put down his teacup and checked his pocket watch.
Today was September 29th.
The current time was 14:00.
The moment of battle he had decided on in advance.
From now on, Kaian planned to find Flame Veil and return home within eighteen hours.
Rustle!
Kaian pulled a heavily folded sheet of paper from his pants pocket.
At the top, written in large letters, were the words:
[Things Needed to Find Flame Veil]
Kaian proudly looked at his list.
For an eight-year-old, his handwriting was fairly neat.
I revised this again and again for an entire week.
The things on this list would improve his chances of survival and success.
Kaian jumped down from the chair, which was still slightly too high for him.
Beside it sat the backpack he had already brought downstairs.
It was not enormous, but it was not small either.
It covered most of Kaian's back and half his head.
"I can't forget anything."
Kaian opened his eyes wide and carefully compared the list with everything inside the backpack.
He had already checked more than ten times yesterday.
But...
"There's nothing wrong with checking again."
He counted with fingers now covered in calluses and small cuts.
"Water bottle... check."
"Lantern... check."
"Wooden clogs... five pairs. Good."
"Blanket... got it."
"Ah, right!"
"The...!"
Kaian nearly shouted the name of the most important missing item.
Then quickly covered his own mouth.
He hid behind the dining table and looked around.
Fortunately, Eldarin was nowhere to be seen.
"Phew."
For some reason, Eldarin had finished tea time earlier than Kaian today and disappeared.
That made checking his backpack much easier.
Still, he could not help feeling watched.
Kaian stood up to find the only missing item on the list.
"Seriously. I almost forgot the most important thing."
He calmly lifted the backpack onto his shoulders and headed toward the kitchen.
No one was watching, but he still felt as though he had to act natural.
Kaian casually slipped around the kitchen corner.
Then froze.
Amber's amber-colored eyes were staring directly at him.
Kaian's face immediately brightened.
"Amber...!"
He whispered urgently.
"Please give me my lunchbox...!"
Amber quickly handed over the carefully wrapped lunchbox.
She was Kaian's strongest ally for this operation.
And his only ally.
Even though I've still never heard her voice.
As Kaian carefully packed the lunchbox, he remembered the first time he had secretly entered the kitchen.
About a week ago.
He had already researched a recipe for high-calorie bread filled with honey and nuts for long-distance travel.
He found the recipe inside a book from the second-floor library Eldarin had prepared for him.
<Keep Your Backpack Light and Your Calories Heavy: Recipes for Travelers>.
He had secretly gathered the ingredients from his workplace.
He had worked desperately to avoid being caught.
His heart had nearly exploded several times.
For a while afterward, every time Eldarin looked at him, Kaian jumped nervously.
So this is why people say you can't live comfortably after committing a crime.
But if he was going to commit the crime, he absolutely could not get caught.
That was why Kaian had gone to the kitchen very early that morning.
And Eldarin was not the only person he had wanted to avoid.
I have to avoid Amber too.
Honestly, she's scarier.
With his body already healed, Kaian returned to crawling on all fours as he went down the wooden stairs.
It made less noise.
The moment he turned the kitchen corner...
He met a pair of amber eyes glowing inside the blue dawn.
Hiiiiiik!
W-What kind of glowing eyes are those?!
Even now, Kaian thought it was impressive that he had bitten his tongue hard enough to stop himself from screaming.
He gripped his shaking legs.
Even if a tiger, no, a spirit bit him, he could survive if he kept his head.
Amber simply stared at him.
Then Kaian remembered what Eldarin had told him.
Right.
Amber can't speak.
The ball-jointed doll body Amber used had no vocal organs.
But since she was a spirit, Eldarin had said she could communicate directly with another person's consciousness.
She did have a voice.
Just not one Kaian had ever heard.
Still... couldn't she at least use body language?
Kaian gathered his courage.
"You woke up early."
No response.
"Could I... use the kitchen?"
Still nothing.
Kaian became even more pitiful.
"Are you going to tell Eldarin?"
"Ghk!"
"Or did you already tell her?"
Kaian asked with the eyes and movements of the weakest butterfly imaginable.
Amber seemed to think for a moment.
Then she lightly shook her head.
She stepped aside as though giving him permission to use the kitchen.
Kaian screamed with joy inside his head.
YEEEEES!
The eighteen-hour plan to retrieve Flame Veil could not be completed while starving.
Kaian was thrilled.
But he did not understand why Amber had decided to protect his secret.
Even on the day he left, he still did not know.
His best theory was that she wanted to protect the kitchen.
After all, I burned the house twice.
That morning, Amber had not actually left the kitchen.
Instead, she stood behind Kaian and watched everything he did.
It made Kaian nervous.
But it also filled him with a strange determination.
He was going to show Amber the results of his research.
Hehehe.
Watch carefully.
I memorized the entire recipe.
