Chapter 125
#125. Jerun, the Healer Who Serves Rowina
"Are you alright?"
The child looked about five or six years old. His straw-colored hair and deep green eyes made him look like Yeniv's child. The only difference was...
"Yes, thank you."
...he wasn't afraid of her.
The child, who had been hesitating and keeping a respectful distance, quickly approached Olivia at her kind words. He chattered, looking at her with curious eyes.
"You're pretty, miss. Are you a noble? I heard only noble ladies wear clothes like that."
Olivia found it strange that the child asked if she was a noble without any shyness.
When Olivia only smiled without answering, the child seemed to interpret it as he pleased, grinning and launching into a story without being asked.
"Can I touch it? Actually, I'd get in trouble for coming to the lake alone, but Grandpa hasn't woken up for days, so I wanted to bring him flowers. Which flower do you think is the prettiest?"
The flowers the child held out were fragrant. Olivia blankly replied,
"They're all pretty..."
"Right? Grandpa always liked red flowers the best. This one's the reddest of the ones that bloomed over there."
The excited child talked about how beautiful the flowers were. Listening to the child's story, Olivia slowly savored this unbelievable situation.
A spring-like place with flowers and trees blooming beautifully in a paradise-like, warm atmosphere. A clear sky, unlike the frozen, white Valley of Senua. And even a gently flowing stream.
Suddenly, Olivia felt something uncomfortable about the hand that was touching the soft grass.
The Magic Stone of the necklace, held tightly in her palm, was sparkling with green light, so much that it was strange she hadn't noticed it until now.
At least I grabbed the necklace.
As she became aware of her situation, Olivia's body began to tremble.
The dizzying feeling of falling from an endless cliff gave her goosebumps all over her body. She felt as if she could feel the sharp winds brushing against her again, and her stomach churned. Olivia retched, her hand on the ground.
"Are you alright?"
The child's worried voice faded in and out. Only when her stomach settled did Olivia weakly smile and nod.
Her fingertips were still trembling slightly, but the relief of being alive came first. At the same time, Edwin's last expression flashed through her mind.
His red eyes, looking at her with terror, and the way he called her name as if spitting out blood. Her heart plummeted, and a sharp, bitter pain stung her chest.
Olivia parted her lips and cautiously asked,
"...Where... is this?"
Where is this place, really?
The only connection between this place and the Valley of Senua was the white frost on the wide valley like a lake.
"This is..."
She hoped to hear the Valley of Senua or some other place name in the Territory of Vikander.
No, she would be happy if this paradise-like place was just somewhere in the empire she knew.
"Where... is this?"
The child, who had been about to answer, tilted his head for a moment. In the heart-pounding tension, the innocent child simply smiled brightly.
"I don't know. It's just home! Dad said it's a shelter, but I just call it home."
Olivia's heart burned as the child answered simply, as if he didn't want to think about it anymore. But Olivia asked again, a little more calmly and gently.
"A name, anything is fine. Well, what did you hear it was called when you came here? Who lives here, or how did you come?"
"This place doesn't have a name! So it was hard for me and Dad when we came here."
A place with no name. Her vision darkened, but Olivia tried to calm herself and stroked the Magic stone necklace. She had heard that there were many places in the remote regions that were not named. Wherever this place was... Ah! Dad?
"Then, your dad..."
"Didn't you come here because you were drawn to it too?"
The child's cheerful voice drowned out Olivia's. Olivia blinked slowly, trying to seek help from an adult.
Drawn to it. She didn't quite understand what the child meant, but her heart pounded. A premonition urged Olivia on.
Could this be the place where Dian said smoke was rising?
Even in this urgent situation, she was thinking of uncovering the secrets of the valley. She chuckled and looked down at the Magic stone necklace, her expression hardening slightly. For some reason, the Magic Stone was blinking busily, as if agreeing with Olivia.
Suddenly, the child pouted and complained.
"You must have come much easier. It was really cold for me and Dad. There was so much snow."
Snow. It was a characteristic of the Valley of Senua. A lump formed in her throat at the thought. The child continued to describe the day he came here without stopping.
"If the Healer grandpa hadn't shown up then, it would have been really, really cold. My feet were frozen solid, but! It's Healer grandpa!"
The child stopped talking and jumped up, waving his arms vigorously behind Olivia. In the distance, a white-haired old man was approaching. His steps were slow as he walked with a gnarled cane.
"Oh no, I'll get in trouble if he finds out I came here alone."
As if realizing it now, the child hid behind Olivia. Could this old man be someone who could explain this place?
As Olivia was about to stand up in anticipation, the old man's voice was heard. It was an old voice, but it had a firmness to it.
"TV. Why did you come all the way here alone? Who is that,"
The moment their eyes met, Olivia realized that her premonition was correct. The old man's eyes were definitely a similar green to hers.
The old man seemed to realize it too, and his calm words stopped abruptly. Soon, the color began to drain from the old man's face. At some point, the old man, who had been leaning on his cane, began to tremble.
"Grandpa!" The child hurriedly ran to support the old man. Even as he held the child's hand, the old man's gaze did not leave Olivia.
The old man parted his lips several times before finally asking.
"...Are you, a priestess?"
Priestess. Priestess noble. A word she had heard from Bethany.
Instead of answering, Olivia looked at the old man. Her heart was pounding as if it would burst. She couldn't believe that the story she had wanted to know so much was now so close.
Soon, the old man lowered his body.
"Jerun, a humble servant of Rowina, finally, finally... meets the priestess."
The end of his rough voice, as if spitting out tears, trembled. The long-cherished wish contained in his voice seemed to reach Olivia and disappear.
.
.
.
"I'm going to go to Grandpa now!"
As if sensing the mood, the child, TV, ran off into the distance.
Only when his figure disappeared below the hill did the old man, who had been unable to speak for a while, begin to speak haltingly.
"...I never thought I would see a priestess again in my lifetime. I just vaguely hoped for it."
His eyes reddened as if filled with regret. Olivia asked, as if muttering to herself, at the old man's words that identified her as a priestess.
"Am I, a priestess?"
"Those clear green eyes are clearly the mark that Rowina has bestowed upon the priestess."
In between his definitive words, another word she had never heard before appeared. Rowina. Was it a name related to Lowell? But before she could ask, the old man spoke again in an excited and trembling voice.
"How did you come all the way here, no. Did you really feel it and come here?"
"I, accidentally fell here. Because the necklace fell off the cliff."
Olivia carefully spread out her hand. Seeing the sparkling Magic Stone, the old man was as shocked as when he first saw Olivia.
"That's...!"
"Do you know about this necklace?"
"...It's been over fifty years since I last saw it, but I remember it clearly. This is the key used in the ritual."
Over fifty years, a key, Rowina, a priestess.
The unconnected words stirred in Olivia's head.
"I, I have many questions. You, Grandpa..."
Not knowing what to call him, the old man was startled and waved his hands.
"Jerun. Please speak informally, priestess. I am just a Healer who serves Rowina and follows the priestess."
His flustered appearance was somehow familiar, similar to Bethany's. His aged eyes were filled with bewilderment. Olivia quietly looked at Jerun and nodded.
"But before I ask questions. I have companions with me. I want to let them know that I'm safe."
"...Are your companions also descendants of Lowell?"
Descendants of Lowell.
Dian, Bethany, and... Edwin too.
Olivia nodded. Jerun smiled gently. The wrinkles that followed the years naturally created a smile.
"Then they must have felt it. That you are safe, priestess."
Felt it. Both the child and Jerun had said incomprehensible things. Was there some kind of signal shared between Lowell's descendants?
"Still, you will have to return. I will take you near where your companions are. Please, visit this place again."
Jerun, who had earnestly asked, realized something and raised his arm.
"I came out in a hurry and didn't bring anything to cover myself. Would you wait a moment?"
Olivia didn't know what he meant by covering himself, but she nodded for now. Jerun, who had been diligently walking ahead, stopped for a moment and looked back at Olivia.
"...Well, would it be alright if you didn't cover yourself, priestess?"
Olivia, not knowing what he was worried about, asked back.
"What?"
"Well, isn't it still dangerous outside?"
At his hesitant words, Olivia immediately realized how long Jerun had not been outside. Where should she start? Could there still be many people like this?
It was when she was realizing the stifling reality. Olivia raised the Magic stone necklace again at the sensation of her palm getting hot. The uniquely sparkling light felt like the light that had illuminated the room last night. Olivia looked at where the light was shining.
It was the same place where the child had run off to.
"Um, is there anything over there?"
"There is a house I take care of. It's a place where Lowell's descendants who are wandering without a place to go can stay for a while. Would you like to see it now if you're alright?"
The Magic stone necklace sparkled hotly on her palm. A throbbing energy spread through her palm as if it wanted to resonate with something. She didn't know what was there, but the Magic stone necklace clearly wanted Olivia to go there strongly.
Olivia nodded.
* * *
"No, Your Highness!"
Brock shouted as if spitting out blood. It was nothing short of divine help that Brock had not let go of the Grand Duke despite his violent movements like a rampaging beast. To grab the Grand Duke, who would have brushed him off in an instant under normal circumstances. But before he could even breathe a sigh of relief, Brock recoiled at the Grand Duke's face.
A face so pale that it was suffocating just to look at.
A face distorted with fear, red eyes slowly sinking as if being buried, was something he had never seen in any war.
The Grand Duke was dying, layer by layer. Like someone who had just lost everything. Even the density of the air was heavily sinking.
Edwin stared blankly at the cliff. The name of Olivia, which he had called, echoed from the cave, as if it were a distant memory, down the steep cliff that seemed to have no end.
The cold breath, so cold that he couldn't even breathe properly, blocked his trachea. Edwin's mind was filled only with the face of Olivia as she fell last.
She was smiling even with a terrified face. When something snapped in Edwin's mind, he tried to jump off the cliff without hesitation.
"Magic power! I felt magic power, Your Highness!"
Bethany's shout was a little faster than Edwin, who was about to jump again. Bethany quickly nodded as she met the Grand Duke's eyes looking at her.
The moment the young lady fell, Bethany naturally tried to cast a spell. But a stronger magic power stopped Bethany's magic.
That was, clearly...
"It was a power friendly to the young lady, friendly to the young lady!"
Dian, who had been gritting her teeth, also clenched and unclenched her fists, agreeing in a trembling voice.
"Surely, the young lady will be alright."
"...Where is the place where I can feel the magic power?"
The clear fear that seeped out from the suppressed emotions made Bethany close her eyes and breathe for a moment.
With Bethany's words, the fear that had been consuming Edwin as much as his blurred vision was receding. At the same time as he felt his reason returning, Edwin also clenched his fists tightly. It was at that moment. He suddenly felt a strange energy.
A pure, gentle feeling...
And when he looked at the place where that energy was flowing.
"That way, it's that way!"
"It seems to be that way."
Bethany and Dian pointed to the same place almost simultaneously. Brock's eyes widened at the sight of the three people, including Edwin, looking at the same place.
"Am I the only one who can't feel anything right now?"
Leaving Brock's muttering voice behind, Edwin hurriedly ran towards that place.
No one told him exactly, but he ran until his breath was about to reach his throat to the clear destination he could feel.
At the end of that, Olivia had to be there.
