Chapter 38
I Miss You
"Waaaaah!! Mommyyy!!"
Ren and Pin, now conscious, ran to their guardian and hugged her.
It seemed they had been crying with restless feet for quite some time, as their guardian's face was smeared with tears, making her appearance disheveled.
"Oh, Goddess Asir! Thank you! Thank you, thank you. Ren, Pin, are you hurt anywhere? Let me see, let me see."
The guardian examined the children's bodies here and there, and when she found no visible injuries, she wiped away the tears that welled up and shouted.
"Are you trying to worry your mother to death!? Why were you out so late! Why!"
"...The shiny stones are expensive..."
"I told you I'd earn the money!! Huh!? Don't ever do that again! Got it?"
"But, those aunties said! That it's a big problem because we don't have a father. That we need to earn money, even a little!"
The gazes of the customers who had stayed late at the tavern turned to the guardian's friends that Ren pointed at.
"Are you all crazy? What nonsense did you spout to my son!?"
"......Hey, when did we......"
"C-Crazy? That's harsh. It's not like we told them to go to the forest."
"That's right, if we don't come to this remote place, who else would visit? Is it okay to treat us like this?"
At their words, the guardian's forehead creased with anger.
"I've been lenient because you're childhood friends, but do you see me as a pushover? Everyone comes here because this is the only place to hide secrets, isn't it? And you all come because it's fun. Am I wrong?"
At the guardian's words, the tavern's customers began to lower their heads as if they felt guilty.
Only then did the women shut their mouths and retreat one by one, and the guardian approached Lucia and Leon.
"I should have thanked you first, but I'm sorry. How can I ever repay this kindness? Thank you so much for bringing our children back safely. Thank you."
As the guardian finished speaking, wiping away the tears that welled up again in her reddened eyes, the children ran to Lucia and hugged her.
At that, her surprised hands rose awkwardly as if waving a white flag.
"Sister, thank you for saving my brother. And you were so cool!"
"Maja, Noona. Pin, scawed!"
The children, clinging to her waist and legs respectively, spoke with sparkling eyes.
The people in the room who watched the scene seemed a little surprised.
It seemed they hadn't imagined that Lucia, a woman, had saved the children, leaving Leon, the magician, behind.
Seeing this, the guardian quickly approached and pulled Lucia's awkward hand.
"You're the one who saved our children. Thank you so much. Thank you, really thank you...!"
Lucia blinked, looking at the guardian who was holding her hand and crying.
It was probably the first time she had received such gratitude for saving someone's life.
*
"Thith, annithee? Thath annithee? Gotto bwush the doll's haiw?"
At Ivanne's words, Nia blankly stared at the doll in her hands.
The doll's hair was disheveled like a lion's mane.
The two were playing salon, one brushing the doll's hair and the other braiding it and sitting it on a chair.
Ivanne puffed out her cheeks at the frustrating sight.
"Today Nia no fun!"
"......Sowwy, sowwy!"
She was hurriedly brushing with a comb, but her clumsy hands couldn't brush it properly.
Ivanne became even more upset.
"Uh-uh, Ivanne. That's not nice."
Julie, who was working nearby, spoke without looking up as if it were natural.
"Hmph!"
Soon, Ivanne went somewhere else, and Julie approached and stroked Nia's head as if she couldn't help it.
"You miss your mom a lot, don't you?"
"......"
Nia, who had been looking out the window, didn't say anything, rolling her eyes as if her feelings had been discovered.
"Just wait a little longer, she'll come early tomorrow morning."
"......Hope she come."
As the child suddenly trembled her small chin and teared up, Julie hugged her as if deeply moved.
"Aww, Nia loves her mom so much~ Of course she'll come. How could a mom not come to find her daughter? Hohoho."
"......"
However, Nia became even sadder at those words, and tears fell like raindrops.
'......Nia not weal daughtew......'
She didn't say it because of her promise with Lucia, but in fact, it was difficult to live with the secret that she wasn't her real daughter at such a young age.
In the child's life, the time she had a mother was only half a year.
But when Lucia, who had spent the nights with her, disappeared, the forgotten loneliness that she didn't even remember came back to life without her knowing.
And to that was added the longing for her mother.
With that wish, Nia's small heart trembled anxiously as if it couldn't bear it anymore.
Just then,
"Hyu, Nia. Found it. Don't be dissapointed even if you do bad. I give you thith. Thith will bwush well."
"Our daughter, you were trying to help Nia? Aww, how kind. What is that? Hmm~ It smells good?"
Ivanne smeared the oil she brought on the doll's hair.
"Ung. I found it in mommy's woom. I did good?"
It was a high-end hair oil that Julie had hidden as a gift.
It contained pure gold and was a premium among premiums, with the Imperial Palace mark engraved on it, exuding the fragrance of all kinds of gardens.
It sparkled in Ivanne's small hands.
Also, it was an empty bottle.
Ivanne was grabbed by Julie and attacked on the temples, and Nia, who saw the vivid scene for the first time, forgot her loneliness and felt fear.
*
In the end, dawn broke amidst the chaos, and Leon and Lucia received a key and a letter from the guardian.
"She said to give it to you when you came back, but I don't know if it's the right one."
It seemed that Helbert had expected them to succeed anyway, so he had left only the letter without taking any special measures.
Inside the letter, there was a message written in Helbert's rough handwriting.
[If you have made a decision, go to the backyard of the inn and have Leon, the commander, remove the illusion magic there. Then you will know why you have seen hope.]
"......"
Lucia looked at Pin, who had fallen asleep in the guardian's arms, and for some reason, Nia came to her mind, and she let out a small sigh.
The work had ended sooner than expected, so she was planning to return without resting.
Seeing her small sigh, Leon followed Lucia, who was walking quickly.
At that moment, someone grabbed his sleeve.
"Hyung! I'll give you this."
"This is......"
Leon's Golden eyes, hidden in his hood, widened.
The beautiful boy Ren, who was being struck in the side by the guardian, held out a shiny stone.
It had a mysterious appearance, with iridescent light shimmering like a rainbow, as if insect shells had gathered.
And the name engraved on the stone was... Lucia.
Ren began to whisper again.
"Mom kept telling me to give it to you. I didn't want to give it to you if I could help it, but that sister... won't be easy."
As Ren's sympathetic whisper ended, the guardian, who was smiling with crescent eyes and covering her mouth from behind, gave a thumbs up.
"Ah, no. It's okay."
"Oh, customer. Don't refuse. We can't ask the 3rd floor reserved customers anything, and we don't know when they'll come. I want to give something to the people who saved our sons."
Leon, who was embarrassed, eventually received the stone that Ren handed him at the guardian's words.
"That name there, hyung. I heard you shouting it earlier. I'm not wrong, am I?"
Not a single letter was wrong.
Even the people he had met in this short time knew it, but he himself......
Leon laughed in vain.
"......Okay. Thank you. I'll definitely use it someday when the lake is restored."
With a bitter heart, he followed Lucia into the door, and all the way to the path to the backyard, there was an elaborate illusion magic barrier that caused confusion.
If he wasn't a skilled magician, it would have been impossible to follow Lucia, who was reading the flow of magic and entering along the boundary.
Soon, she stopped under a withered and large tree,
"Here. Take a look."
At the bottom of the letter she handed him, there was a map showing the beginning of the barrier.
Seeing that, he briefly blocked the formula flowing from the beginning of the barrier, and suddenly, the surrounding scenery began to revive with a fresh scent.
Starting with the tree, the calm water of the lake and the green moss, and the fresh young trees all around.
Even in such a landscape, the most beautiful thing here was the sparkling pollen that fell like countless stars from the large tree.
"This is... truly beautiful."
Surprised, he received the golden pollen in his hand and looked at it.
At that moment, as the wind blew and the pollen scattered, it was seen that life was springing up as if the thick Black Contamination in the places it touched was receding.
Unfortunately, it was quickly contaminated as soon as it touched.
"Did you see that, Lucia? I need to hear the details to know for sure, but it seems that my father and the Commander-in-Chief found a way to salvation!"
Lucia didn't say anything despite his joyful excitement.
No, it would be more accurate to say she couldn't.
'......It's a sacred tree.'
Although she had only seen the tree in a painting hanging in the Imperial Palace, she remembered it because of the unique shape of the leaves, as if layers of hands were placed on top of each other.
A tree too disgusting to be called a sacred tree.
Before her regression, the documents stated that in order to unleash the sacred power, the Saintess had to be sealed alive in this tree.
That cursed tree was right in front of her.
So, whatever it was, there was no reason not to get rid of it.
Lucia raised her hand to the scabbard with coldly sunken eyes.
At that moment,
"By the way, this tree seems to be a male tree."
"......?"
"Ah, I'm sorry. I mean its gender. My father's hobby is gardening, so I know a little bit about it. Perhaps the young trees around here are also similar in appearance, so it seems that he selected female trees for breeding."
Trees have... genders?
Lucia stopped trying to get rid of the tree for now.
If what he said was true, it meant that they could breed trees that emitted pollen with this restorative power without having to kill the Saintess.
The Chancellor and Helbert, who were sent here, and even the Emperor.
Clearly, their efforts had not yielded any results in the future.
She could find out what it was before destroying the tree.
Lucia quickly turned away for now.
Just looking at that beautiful and mysterious tree was too much for her, and the sharp vigilance that was shouting from her whole body welled up, making her unable to stay still.
Perhaps the increased disgust and anxiety were because she was thinking of her daughter, who would be waiting for her.
'......I need to see Nia soon.'
Leon, who was watching her from behind, was now confused.
'......The lake is alive.'
He had confessed, although not voluntarily.
As always, judging from her attitude, it seemed that the answer had already been decided.
Should he cling to such superstition and harbor vain hope in such a situation?
The steadfast romantic shook his head.
No matter how much he wanted to be with her, he felt it wasn't polite, so he decided that he would have to hear a confession he had prepared himself and the corresponding answer someday.
He was throwing the stones on the ground so that the children would find them again,
-Caw! Kkikkaaaaaak!
A bird screaming strangely in the sky was flying at a high speed.
And suspiciously, the bird was descending rapidly, to the point where it looked like a star was falling.
Lucia, who was already on edge, kicked the stone that happened to be floating in the air in an instant before Leon could cast a spell, knocking the bird down.
Then,
-Fwoosh!
The crow's body, which exploded in the sky, burst into flames as if it were not an ordinary bird.
If that fire had fallen into the forest, it would have caused a firestorm in an instant.
'A suspicious Monster. Did the fire in the village start because of this?'
Strangely, a Monster attacked as soon as he briefly blocked the illusion magic.
Lucia frowned, wondering about this strange special mission that she hadn't done in the past, and quickly turned back again.
It had happened in a matter of seconds.
Leon, who was stunned and frozen, recalled a passage on the bulletin board along with the sound of his heart beating like the gentle waves spreading from the center of the lake.
'In the blessing of the lake, love will surely be fulfilled.'
