Chapter 70
The next day, I woke up early and went to purify water.
But while I was away from the cabin, Asdal was said to have been frantically searching for me.
He probably wanted me to do something for him again. Or maybe he wanted to go hunting.
"Where else can you see the rare sight of a noble young lady hunting fish with a Spear? Let's go to the stream together tomorrow too."
I recalled the absurd words Asdal had said last night.
If I go hunting with Landmine-dal again, I'm not human. Landmines are there to be avoided.
I shuddered and placed the coconut container filled with purified water on the kitchen table. Then I asked Luzef, who was sitting in front of the fireplace.
"So, where is Prince Asdal, who was said to be frantically looking for me?"
"That's..."
Luzef, who was brushing his teeth while sitting, rolled his eyes with a flustered expression. Enoch, who was coming down the stairs from the second floor, probably on his way down after finishing cleaning up the Monster's remains, said to me.
"He went for a walk."
"A walk...?"
The guy who was making a fuss about how dangerous this forest is went for a walk alone?
"He won't be back for a while."
"Yes...?"
Enoch spoke as if it were nothing, so I couldn't ask any further and closed my mouth. Something's strange.
Just then, Kaiden came into the cabin, bursting into laughter.
"Puhahaha! Hey, lackey! Did you see outside? Why is the Crown Prince up in a tree? He can't get down!"
I heard what he said and turned to Enoch.
"You said he went for a walk?"
"......"
"Why is Prince Asdal up in a tree?"
As far as I remember, Asdal had a fear of heights. That's why his room in the palace was only on the first or second floor, not on a higher floor.
"He was looking for you so much... I just told him where you were."
Enoch answered, avoiding my gaze.
"Why would I be in a tree?"
"......"
"And Prince Asdal believed that? Does it make sense that that fussy prince climbed a tree just because he heard that?"
"It doesn't make sense."
Kaiden, who was listening to our conversation, approached me. He put his arm around my shoulder and laughed as if he was dying of amusement, looking at Enoch.
"Would Crown Prince Asdal climb up there on his own? Unless someone knocked him out and put him up there."
"...It was noisy."
Enoch finally calmly admitted his crime, and I stared at him in disbelief.
He knocked Asdal out and put him in a tree? Why?
"He won't bother you until mealtime, so get some rest."
Enoch answered calmly as if it were nothing, then patted my head. Then he grabbed his sword, saying he was going hunting, and left in a hurry.
Eventually, it was late afternoon before Asdal could come down to the ground.
I thought he would cause a ruckus, but he had used all his energy to overcome his fear in the high place, and he fell asleep as soon as he came down.
He looked a little pitiful, curled up and sleeping in front of the fireplace.
Tomorrow was finally the day to scout the place where Yuanna was said to have woken up. As the place where the important clue called the Exit Key was found, it would have to be explored carefully.
I checked my bag several times and finished all the preparations in advance.
"Margaret."
Kaiden, who was standing at the entrance of the cabin, called me.
"There's something I want you to take a look at."
I slung my crossbody bag over my shoulder and got up from my seat, asking him with a puzzled expression.
"Something you want me to take a look at?"
"Do you remember the round egg we saw before? The silver one, like a bird's egg."
He was definitely talking about the small bird's egg that Enoch and Kaiden had found while picking mushrooms.
"Why? Didn't we leave it deep in the forest? Don't tell me, was that really a Demon egg?"
At my surprised question, Kaiden shrugged and pointed to the open door with a nod.
"It's not that serious. Just take a look."
Enoch and Luzef weren't in the cabin. It would have been nice if we could go together.
Reluctantly, I moved with Kaiden alone.
Looking at Kaiden's broad back as he walked ahead, I had an ominous feeling.
I touched the outside of my crossbody bag. It was to check if the Flares and Grenade were in place.
"How far do we have to go?"
"I saw it near the cliff."
No sooner had Kaiden finished speaking than all the tall trees disappeared and the view opened up. We had reached the cliff. A wide river spread out between the trees.
Kaiden stopped in front of the cliff. He pointed to a round egg right in front of the cliff.
"Look at this."
The egg was a little different from what I had seen last time. It was definitely a small egg the size of a finger, but now it seemed to have grown to the size of Kaiden's fist.
I tilted my head, looking at the bird's egg precariously perched on the edge of the cliff.
"What I wanted you to see is not the egg, but the bottom part."
Kaiden pointed to the flowers that were laid out like a nest under the egg.
Strangely, all the flowers were withered with their necks bent. It was as if poisonous gas was coming out of the egg.
"Is it a Monster's egg?"
"I think it's the egg we saw back then, but it's grown. And it's strange that the location keeps changing. The place you put it was not here."
At Kaiden's words, I rested my chin on my hand and nodded.
"That's right, it's not here."
I remember going deep into the forest and putting it down between the trees. I didn't even come to this kind of cliff. No, is it even the same egg in the first place?
"And the strangest part is something else. You touched this egg back then."
"Oh... right?"
"I can't touch it."
As Kaiden said that, he reached out to the egg.
Then, black smoke suddenly began to emanate from the egg. The black smoke surrounded the egg and distorted into a somewhat aggressive form.
Sparks flew as Kaiden's hand lightly touched the smoke. He quickly pulled his hand away.
"Are you okay?"
I was surprised and grabbed his hand. Kaiden smiled as if he was fine.
"I'm okay. Did you see? The egg is rejecting me."
"But, it might not be the egg we saw back then."
"No, it has a similar energy to that one. Even if the Mana disappears, I can faintly feel the flow or energy."
Kaiden said firmly to me, then made a suggestion.
"Do you want to touch it once?"
"Huh?"
"It's okay. Trust me."
Kaiden looked at me with a very serious face, unlike him, and nodded. I looked at him for a moment, then slowly lowered my head.
The black smoke emanating from the egg had subsided. It's okay, right? Since it's the archmage who's saying it.
I hesitated and carefully placed my hand on the silver bird's egg.
"Huh?"
As Kaiden said, I could touch the egg. The aggressive black smoke I had seen earlier did not come out.
"Why does it only accept you?"
I touched the smooth egg and looked up. Kaiden was staring at me.
"I don't know."
I didn't know either, so I was really worried.
But after being lost in thought for a while, I felt something strange and looked up.
Then, I met Kaiden's eyes, who was staring at me with a blank face.
"Kaiden?"
"It's strange, isn't it? Exceptions always happen to you."
I felt a chill for a moment and moved a few steps away from him. But Kaiden came closer as much as I moved away and stared at me.
He rested his chin on his hand and said to me in a serious tone.
"Why can't I touch it, but Margaret, you can? Is it because the earring is broken and the flow of Mana is stagnant? Is it because the wavelengths flowing inside me are strange? But that started flowing smoothly because you told me to."
At Kaiden's words, I paused for a moment. In fact, I didn't know exactly how to break through the flow of Mana.
Even the archmage called the sage, Kaiden, doesn't know, so how would I know?
"That's right. I only know that if I circulate energy through physical labor, Mana will naturally circulate as well. I don't know the exact reason why it happens."
I rested my chin on my hand and pondered with a serious face. The original work only said that 'physical strength' must be consumed, but there was no further explanation.
And it was purely by chance that I discovered that the flow of Mana could be controlled by labor, not by physical relations.
But does that really have anything to do with touching this bird's egg? No matter how I think about it, it doesn't seem to be related. Kaiden has missed the point, unlike him.
Why did he suddenly bring up this story?
Then I suddenly thought.
'Have I ever told Kaiden that the reason I make him work is to smoothly circulate the flow of Mana?'
I hadn't. I had never directly told Kaiden that.
I was so horrified that I couldn't move.
"Did you realize why I said this, why I brought you here?"
Kaiden smiled when he saw my expression.
