Ch#139
"Tie can take all of these too."
Selina unpacked something she'd brought in a large bundle onto the floor in front of the sofa.
Inside the big cloth were toys, ornaments, jewels, and all sorts of mysterious items of unknown use.
Tie stared at Selina in surprise.
Just before leaving Bellmore Mansion.
'Wait a sec! I have something to grab.'
Selina had grabbed her pajamas, then suddenly remembered something and dashed to the storeroom.
She returned after quite a while, struggling with a bulging sack from who-knows-where.
'Waaah, back then I thought Selina was just grabbing toys.'
But the sack held more than just toys.
"Tie said she's a mercenary, right? So I thought you'd like treasures like these."
The word 'treasures' sparked curiosity in Tie's eyes.
"Treasures?"
Selina nodded.
"Like I said earlier, my mom and dad travel all over the continents for business. Sometimes they get items like these, and if they're valuable, they don't sell them—they give them to me as gifts."
"Isn't this a fragment of the Kailak stone tablet?"
Raoul, who had been watching, stepped forward.
He picked up one item from the jumble with a look of wonder.
It was a stone slab about the size of a child's palm, engraved with unknown characters.
"To think Lady Selina had a Kailak stone tablet fragment. Even our Wavebrill marquisate has just one piece!"
Tie looked back and forth between Raoul and Selina in bewilderment.
'Real treasures......?'
But it didn't end there.
"Oh ho, even an ancient Eastern Empire silver coin!"
"Elder, take a look at this. What royal seal is this? Some fallen kingdom. Judging by the runes, Northern Continent?"
"It's the Ebranis dynasty. See the laurel wreath on the top? It disappeared when the Ascalia dynasty succeeded it."
The squad members crowded around, examining the items one by one.
Even Marshal's eyes sparkled at rolled-up parchments and small ornaments.
"These would look perfect decorating the second-floor hallway. The mansion's been feeling a bit empty......"
Tie rushed over to Selina.
"Selina, can Tie really take all this?"
Selina nodded as if it were no big deal.
"They're just piling up in the storeroom anyway."
Then she glanced somewhere and added.
"More than that, those two seem to like the wooden statues."
Tie turned her head, and sure enough, Lucarion and Ppuppue were peering curiously at a strangely shaped small wooden statue.
Tie tilted her head.
'Does Lucarion like that treasure?'
Until now, Lucarion had shown little interest in anything but books and Tie.
Curious, Tie sneaked over to Lucarion and Ppuppue.
"Blackie, Ppuppue. What're you looking at?"
"Tie."
Lucarion, who hadn't noticed her approach at all, looked up from his focus.
He held out the wooden statue to Tie and said.
"You need to see this."
The statue Lucarion offered had a woman's body with a lion's head—an unusual form.
"Can you manipulate mana?"
Tie blinked at the sudden question.
But the child puffed up proudly and replied.
"Yeah, Tie can! But why?"
"Kyuu, kkurut. Kyu!"
Tie's mouth fell open wide.
"Seal?"
Selina and the squad members gathered around Tie.
"Seal? What's that mean, kid?"
Tie looked at Veil with a puzzled face.
"Ppuppue says something's sealed in this wooden doll!"
"Sealed?"
Veil immediately snatched the statue and turned it this way and that.
"Looks like just a wooden chunk to me."
"That's what you'd think, with no magical talent."
Lucarion retorted cynically.
He took the statue back from Veil's hand and placed it in Tie's.
"It's a simple seal. Infuse mana stronger than the sealer's, and it releases. Try it."
Tie eyed the statue curiously, then hesitated.
"But what if something bad comes out?"
"Kyu-rung! Kyuu!"
Ppuppue spun its nose and chattered at Tie.
Tie tilted her head.
"Spirit......?"
Lucarion chimed in.
"This time, it's right. The energy feels pure."
In the end, Tie nodded.
The child clutched the wooden doll tightly, closed her eyes,
"Nngh......"
and scrunched her lips, straining with all her might.
"Pfft!"
Veil spat out his water at the sight.
Basto and Nordics watched Tie fondly, finding her adorable.
But as time passed, nothing changed.
"Nngh-haaa...... Huh?"
Finally, Tie exhaled the breath she'd held and opened her eyes.
She looked a bit flustered.
Diagonal from her, Selina was watching with an expectant face.
'Oh no. Selina's watching, but why won't the mana come out......?'
Tie glanced anxiously at the doll.
Then strained again.
"Hng-yaap!"
"Puh, pahahak! Kid, what're you doing?!"
But the mana wouldn't flow, and the statue didn't budge.
Tie fidgeted and looked around at the squad members.
"Tie forgot how to do it......!"
Basto, who had been chuckling, approached.
He sat on the floor and pulled Tie onto his lap.
"It's okay, Tie. You've done well without ever properly learning mana manipulation."
Basto stroked Tie's drooping head.
"Don't tense up. It's fine if it doesn't work. Just do it like usual—no rush."
Tie nodded reluctantly.
She recalled the hazy sensation of how she'd manipulated mana before.
'......There!'
Sure enough.
As Basto said, deep breaths calmed her, and she felt mana inside her body.
Tie closed her eyes tightly and remembered the sensation from every time she'd used mana.
What she'd done summoning bone friends.
The power used to summon shipwrecks and command subordinates.
The mana pulsing largely from her heart spread through her body.
And then,
Clack-
The lion head on the statue in her hand spun around fully toward Tie.
"Huh?"
As Tie looked down in confusion, golden light flashed from the statue's eyes.
"The doll......!"
The next moment, the statue slipped from Tie's hand and landed on the floor.
A heavy voice echoed through the mansion.
[O one who has crossed the River of Silence and touched my soul. Why have you tarried so long?]
Tie squinted at the light pouring from the statue's eyes.
Meanwhile, the statue hopped closer to her.
[What reason awakens me? Speak it, or I shall not move a step. What do you truly desire?]
Tie stared at the statue in confusion.
And thought.
'Tie doesn't understand a word......!'
The statue's words were too difficult to comprehend.
Regardless, it continued speaking.
[I am the beginning and end of the Ebranis dynasty. The being who witnessed the birth and fall of a nation with these eyes. The dynasty has turned to ash, yet I remain. Now speak your wish. I shall grant one desire......]
"......Saved, yet still so long-winded."
Suddenly, something kicked the statue.
Tie turned to see Ppuppue in human form, as seen at Kaldbain Ridge.
Silver hair whipped in the air, and a displeased voice emerged from beneath the elephant mask.
"Who do you dare exalt yourself before? Mother finds your light blinding—put out that glare at once."
Kicked by Ppuppue, the statue rolled away and stared alternately at Ppuppue and Tie.
After a brief silence,
"......Eh? It really went out!"
As Tie said, the light timidly faded from the statue's eyes.
