Pie: “Isn’t this wonderful, everyone? I wanted it to feel like a picnic~” (Pie looked as if her wish had finally come true, overflowing with happiness.)
Rogi: “It really is… so peaceful, so beautiful.”
Leo: “It’s even more amazing than I thought. Magical.” (Leo, too, was lost in the forest’s beauty.)
Pie: “Yona~ Thank you for understanding and expressing my thoughts so well!”
Yona: “Ha…ha.” (Yona’s heart felt heavy.)
Eti: “I’ve never seen anything like this. Wow~!” (Eti was so excited she couldn’t contain herself.)
EAT: “Beautiful… even the scent is wonderful.” (He seemed absentminded, his thoughts unreadable.)

Eti had never once stepped outside her neighborhood. The grandeur of the vast wilderness left the little girl speechless, her mouth hanging open. Seeing that most of the children were happy and satisfied, EAT, too, felt content and murmured, “Sometimes a day like this is needed~.” With the exception of two, all of them seemed perfectly happy. Meanwhile, the turtle-boat, which had been drifting gently, began to gain speed. None of them paid it much attention. As laughter and chatter filled the air, only Leo sensed the subtle change.

“Hm… is the boat getting faster?” he asked casually, smiling as if it were nothing. The others reacted differently, but their thoughts were alike.

Pie: “I don’t really notice?” (she replied, laughing too hard to care.)
EAT: “This place isn’t very predictable anyway~” (he said, as though it were nothing.)
Dabi: “I’d rather it speed up! This is boring.” (his tone carried a hint of impatience.)
Elly: “Yeah, exactly!” (she agreed immediately.)
Pie: “Just give it up, you two. Don’t expect anything~~ There’s nothing here.” (she said, almost mockingly.)
EAT: “Pie is the owner of this story. We should just go along with it.” (he laid it down as fact.)
Eti: “Then should we refuse to join when it’s the boys’ turn to tell stories?” (Just as she spoke—)

The boat suddenly lurched violently. “Aaaah~!” Everyone screamed in shock. From then on, it was clear the speed was no longer normal.

Pie: “What’s happening?” (Pie’s voice trembled with surprise.)

The turtle-boat rocked harder, its speed climbing dangerously. “Kyaaah~ Yona!” Pie shouted at him like an accusation.

Yona: “It’s not me!”
Pie: “If not you, then who!?”
Yona: “I don’t know either~”
Pie: “How could you not know! Dabi put you up to this!!”
Yona: “No, he didn’t!”

Just then, Dabi called out with a grin of gratitude. “Thanks, Yona!” Yona stared at him, startled and indignant. “Yona~ thank you, too,” Elly chimed in. Yona’s eyes went wide like an owl’s. “What are you talking about!? Thank me for what!? You little—”

Clatter, clatter. The boat shook so fiercely they could barely stand. None of them yet realized that the stream they followed would soon merge with a larger, faster river.

EAT: “Everyone—hold on to something!”

Screams filled the air. “Kyaaah!” “Uwaaaah!” The boat bucked wildly as it plunged into the main current of the great river. The children clung to whatever they could. Eti, who was too small and weak to hold herself steady, was protected by Leo. Amid the chaos, the boat’s rocking finally eased—but its speed only grew faster and faster.

Elly: “Suits! Bring out the suits!”
Pie: “…Suits? …Maybe we should?” (her eyes showed no resistance.)
Pie: “EAT, get the suits~”

EAT nodded, releasing his grip and reaching into his hood to retrieve them. But at that instant, the boat jolted violently. With nothing to hold onto, EAT was hurled overboard. “Kyaaaah!” (Splash!) “Glub! Glub~” The children cried out in shock. “EAT~!” He barely managed to get his head above the water, swept downstream alongside the boat. The children had no way to pull him back.

Dabi: “Yona!! Where’s the hidden gear!?” (he shouted.)

All eyes turned to Yona in surprise.

Yona: “There is no hidden gear! Nothing at all!” (he shouted back.)
Pie: “Why not!!!” (she screamed in anger.)

The others stared at Pie, wide-eyed.

—

At the bow, Rogi steadied himself against the rocking and lifted his head to see where the boat was headed. What he saw made no sense—the river seemed to vanish ahead, as though it were swallowed by the sky. It looked as if the water itself was flowing upward into the heavens.

“Guys! The river’s gone—it’s cut off!” Rogi shouted whatever words came to him in panic.
“Huh? Cut off? What do you mean?” Leo asked.
“The river’s gone!” Rogi cried again.

The others didn’t understand, but strangely, Eti did. “The boat’s going to fall…!” she screamed. Leo grasped it instantly. “A waterfall!” he cried.

The children shrieked in horror. Leo craned his neck upward, and sure enough—they were high above the ground, the river spilling toward a sheer drop. The boat would soon plunge into the raging waters below. Leo shouted toward EAT, “EAT, it’s a waterfall! It’s so high—we’re going to fall!” But EAT had no strength to spare, barely managing to keep his head above water.

The boat rushed toward the edge, the children frozen with fear. In desperation, Pie turned to Yona. “Yona, pull out anything you’ve got! Anything at all!”
“Anything?” Yona repeated. His mind raced coldly through the story’s structure he had prepared. “Wait…” he muttered. “Pie’s story… Pie’s power… the ability she asked for!”

He remembered: Pie had once told him she wanted to speak with plants and animals, and to have the power to heal anyone. A plan flashed in his mind, but there was no time to explain—the boat was already tipping over the edge.

“Pie! Pie! Shout—cry out for help! Scream for someone to save us!” Yona urged desperately.

Pie thought he had lost his mind. “That’s your plan!? Who’s going to help us, you idiot!?”

But Yona had no time to argue. “Pie, scream! You have to cry out for help!”

“You idiot, no one’s going to save us!” she shouted back.

And then—the boat tipped. With a violent lurch, it and the children were cast into the air, plummeting toward the ground below.