Spy x Family LN Translation: Anya's Nature Class (Part 3)
Rough translation from Viet lol ; ; thank u Thanh & Yanbaka Source Link + Credit
"Damn it… that Blackbell showed me up."
At Becky's advisement:
Get water -> Anya, Damian
Find wood, start a fire -> Becky, Uin, Emil
While Damian seemingly appears to be disgruntled by these orders, Anya is pleased, secretly grateful to Becky (for assisting her with the "World Peace" mission).
Right now, Anya's mission is to gain Damian's respect by demonstrating that she's good at camping.
Heh. Before we got here, Mama already taught Anya lots of things about camping. Anya will prove her skills with this.
Anya is daydreaming while they're on their way to get the water. Their path is no walk in the park, with branches and bushes scattered about, but for the sake of world peace, it's nothing.
"You, are you gonna be okay?"
"Of course! Anya knows the way."
Beaming with confidence, Anya turns around and looks at Damian. This catches him in surprise and he stumbles a bit, nearly making him drop the empty buckets.
"H-hey, what is it? What are you looking at? Keep moving already!"
"I'm really happy I get to go with you. I gotta thank Becky later."
Damian's face turns tomato red as his mouth tries to form words, but nothing comes out.
"Anya is going to become your greatest friend!"
She goes on about doing it "for world peace," but Damian has lost focus by then, distracted by a string of his own thoughts. They appear in Anya's mind:
"W…what's with this girl? I only agreed to help her…because if she gets expelled, then it'll be troublesome for me too… There's no way I… she…"
Damian is flustered. Meanwhile, Anya feels a chill come over her.
Eeh…what's this. Is he sick?
The last time she read Damian's brain, his thoughts were along the same lines. He was rattled, uneasy, and annoyed that he didn't know how to describe it.
"Anya wants to help you! That's why Anya's here with you today."
Damian, feeling even more embarrassed by Anya, stammers incoherently. Suddenly:
"NO!! I CAN'T BE FOOLED!!"
Eh?! Whose voice is this?!
A loud voice rang in her head, leaving Anya startled as she looks around. It takes her a second to identify it as another of Damian's thoughts. As for Damian, his heart had nearly reached its limit - and he was stressed to no end.
"Uin and Emil told me already. That girl's just like those other idiots… She's only out to be friends with me so she can get closer to Father."
Huh?! Why? How'd he know?!
It's true that this little girl is persevering so her papa, Loid, can get close to Damian's. However, Damian can't read minds like Anya does. How did he figure out what Anya was thinking?
Anya froze in place, confounded. She couldn't at all figure out how he found out. At last, Damian yelled:
As he was saying that, he turned around and started walking forth. Anya, still with her eyes wide in shock, hurriedly followed after him.
"Hey, we've gone so far but how come we aren't there yet?"
Damian, whose legs ached from having not reached the river, was very impatient.
When Anya caught a giant earthworm along the way, in hopes of impressing Damian, the boy's already sour mood had reached its limit. Similarly, Anya also felt like they had been walking longer than they should be to get to their destination. Yet, in front of them, there was only an endless forest to be seen -- they were surrounded by trees, and could hardly see a river in sight.
"The instructions were supposed to be easy. From where Mr. Green was standing, go straight up the path until it splits into three, and then take the left path. We didn't need to use a map…"
Damian, who was fuming, turned pale:
"…Don't tell me you can't tell your left from your right."
"Then raise your left hand and show me."
The hand Anya raised was her right. Damian clutched his head.
"That's WRONG! We went the wrong way! That's your right hand, you idiot!"
Anya was in complete shock. The little girl had mixed up her sense of direction, and coming to a full realization, turned so pale there was hardly any life left in her face.
The forest around them quickly turned unfamiliar and quiet, and the only noise they could make out were the birds cawing from the trees. Faced with the unpleasant sounds, Anya began to tremble.
"Anya…is lost?" she asked in fear.
"That's right. We're lost and it's all your fault," Damian replied bluntly.
There was a moment of silence.
Suddenly, the trees around them began to move.
Both children froze. From behind one of the bushes appeared a squirrel with a fluffy tail and chubby cheeks.
"R…really. It was just a squirrel. There's nothing to be scared of."
When he saw a bright smile on Anya's face, Damian breathed a sigh of relief before he returned to a scowl.
"We still haven't gone too far. If we walk back now, we can return to the camp."
Damian had started to regain his composure.
Mama had taught her how to not get lost.
"Going back won't be hard! While we were walking, Anya left traces to mark where we are."
Surprised that Damian praised her, Anya's face lit up.
"Anya did good? I did the right thing?"
"Don't get your hopes up. It's because of you that we got lost… Say… what did you use to leave traces?"
Anya chuckled in a way that revealed some reluctance, and took out a bag of peanuts from her pocket she had been eating as a snack.
"It doubles as a meal and a trace-leaver. Two birds with one stone."
Why isn't he saying anything?
"Incredible, Anya! Food that could also keep track of where we are, that's genius!" -- the little girl was so excited to be praised and hear these words.
"What's wrong? Are you hungry? Have a peanut."
Damian was muttering, his voice shaking, as he turned to the squirrel. Anya also turned to look. The squirrel wagged its tail, a glint of hunger in its eye. It raised its arms, peanut in hand, and happily began munching on it. In normal circumstances, one would think it was a cute sight, however…
Anya screamed in shock. The squirrel jumped in surprise, and quickly ran away - the remains of the peanuts falling to the ground.
It's apparent now that the squirrel had followed the trail of peanuts Anya had laid. There are hardly any traces left for them to go by.
"Of everything you could have picked, why was it peanuts?! You idiot, you're supposed to use something that birds and animals won't eat!!"
Hearing Damian chastise her, Anya began tearing up. Soon enough, she was crying. Damian panicked and tried to calm her down.
"Um… Well, the way back isn't too bad. If we start going and try to recall, we'll find our way back."
Right, they have to hurry. They have to turn back now. Anya held back her crying and tried to reassure herself. In that moment, something small dropped on her head.
When she looked up, Anya saw the skies darken and grey clouds, and she began to realize what was coming.
"Oh no… Don't tell me it's rain."
The moment Damian yelled in despair, it began to pour. It rained so heavily, they could hardly keep their eyes open.
"Hey, get a hold of yourself!"
Damian grabbed a distressed Anya's hand.
"That's right. On the way up, we came across a small cave. Let's go back to it."
Without waiting for Anya's response, Damian began to run. Although they nearly slipped in the mud along the way, the two children were able to make it into the small cave.
"Let's wait out the rain until it clears up."
Sitting next to Damian in the small space, Anya let out a tired sigh. Her hair and clothes were completely drenched to the point it could be wrung out like a mop. Her shoes were soggy and made her feet uncomfortable.
"Me too. Try to wait it out."
The day seemed to turn to night quickly, with the downpour showing no signs of stopping. Although they were temporarily at ease that they found a place to hide in, deep down, they were frightened from the relentless rain.
Aside from us, is there really no one else here?
Anya was scared, and saddled up closer to Damian.
"Don't stick to me like that."
Hurt and sad, she began to sniffle and cry.
Mama would hug me real tight.
And Bond would lick my cheek…
But here, there's only this kid I hate. Anya is truly pitiable.
As Anya was dreaming away, the sky suddenly flashed brightly.
Damian's face was one of fear. The following moment, ((more descriptive thunder and lightning u prob don't care for)).
"Curses… It really got this bad."
The sound of thunder was louder than the last, and in the background one could hear an explosion. It was so loud, the two kids shook in fear.
Anya couldn't take it anymore, and she started to sob.
As Anya tucked her knees closer to her body, she felt something squeeze her left hand.
The voice was weak. And the other's hand, not much larger than hers, was also trembling.
"Lightning only strikes high places, and there are lots of tall trees here… This cave is safe, so don't worry."
Anya's whole body was frozen, but she braved herself to look at her classmate next to her. His face was as white as a sheet of paper, and upon looking closer, there was a tear in the corner of his eye.
"Lightning… Father… I'm so scared. No… I'm the scion on the Desmond family. We don't get scared… Don't be afraid… I'm supposed to be Father's son."
Sy-on boy is also afraid of thunder.
But, this kid is trying all his might to protect Anya.
From this, the little girl's frightened heart felt a little more at ease. When Anya squeezed Damian's right hand, the boy appeared shocked for a moment before looking away.
It's almost as if Damian's hand does have a superpower. Her hand isn't shaking anymore…