Time Healer Ceres
Chapter 25
<025>
“Ah, why?! I stayed up all night making this! I’m exhausted! I need to sleep! I’m going to sleep! I’m going to sleep for twenty-four hours straight until tomorrow!”
“Shall I help you sleep for eternity?”
“You ignorant human, drawing a sword in the Magic Tower! Swords are banned here!”
“Stop talking bullshit.”
“You—! Other people need to know your true nature! Everyone thinks you’re kind and virtuous, but they should know you’re the kind of person who swears and draws his sword at the drop of a hat!”
“Other people don’t make me angry like you do, you bastard!”
Knock, knock.
At that moment, the door opened and someone stepped inside.
It was Luca, Cheion’s secretary.
“Cheion-nim.”
“What?”
“They found her.”
“Who?”
“The owner of the ice magic stone.”
Startle!
Cheion sprang up from his seat the moment Luca finished speaking and rushed toward him.
“Found her? Where? How? What about the magic stone? What’s she doing? Lead the way right now! I’m going immediately!”
“…Hey, didn’t you just say you were going to sleep?”
“I said let’s go!”
Ignoring Aseraian’s incredulous remark, Cheion stomped his feet in impatience, urging Luca on.
“She lost it.”
“Huh?”
“I’m told she lost the magic stone.”
“…Could you repeat that? I think I just misheard something very badly.”
“She lost the magic stone.”
“…….”
Cheion, who had been bursting with excitement, froze as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over his head.
Luca clarified the situation for him once more.
“The owner lost the magic stone. That day, as she was leaving the magic shop.”
“…….”
Cheion’s eyes began to well up with tears as he trembled in disbelief.
“My… my Blue Stoneeeee!”
* * *
“Unnie.”
“Yes?”
Having finally found some free time, Ceres headed to the city center with Yulia. The child had insisted there was something she absolutely had to buy.
The place she led her to was a bookstore.
There, Yulia picked out a book that looked quite thick.
Apparently, there wasn’t a single child these days who didn’t own a copy.
‘…This kind of book is a trend?’
『Magic, It’s Not That Hard!』
It was supposedly written by the Magic Tower Master himself, but why would anyone read such a thing?
‘To think I have to pay 3 gold for a book like this.’
Her temper flared, but since the child wanted it, she bought it anyway.
“Can’t I have just one more ice cream?”
“No, you cannot.”
Since they were out, they looked around the city and shared some ice cream.
Finding the ice cream to her taste, Yulia launched a shimmering eye attack, begging for another one.
“Why?”
“Because Unnie is scared of Colin too.”
One might say Colin’s nagging was scarier than her shimmering eye attack.
Could she even imagine what would happen if he caught them? He was the type to wander every corner of the house with fire in his eyes, searching for any wasteful spending.
‘I’d be in for at least a week of nagging.’
He would follow her around with a tragic expression, wailing about how he’d told her they needed to save to survive.
“Hmph.”
Yulia seemed to understand the terror that was Butler Colin, as she stopped pestering for more ice cream.
“Oh? It’s Dave’s dad.”
“Dave?”
Yulia, who had been walking with ice cream in one hand and holding Ceres’s hand with the other, stopped and looked somewhere.
“My friend Dave. You saw him before, Unnie.”
“Mmm.”
Was she talking about that little kid?
Not long ago, Ceres had personally taken Yulia to the Academy.
A young boy had approached them brightly, given a very polite greeting, and then took Yulia’s hand to lead her into the classroom.
Yulia had looked so cold-hearted as she heartlessly let go of her sister’s hand the moment her boyfriend arrived….
Unnie’s feelings were hurt back then.
“Dave hasn’t been coming lately.”
“Why? Did he quit the Academy?”
“I heard his mom had an affair and ran away with Dave.”
“…What?”
“I guess Dave’s mom liked the other mister more than that mister.”
“…….”
Looking at Yulia, who nodded as if such things were perfectly possible, Ceres had to contemplate for a moment where to even begin explaining.
‘Rumors like that reached the children’s ears?’
Ceres wondered through what channel Yulia had encountered this story, but she soon nodded at the scene that caught her eye.
A man was surrounded by people who were offering him comfort.
Faint words like ‘affair’ and ‘ran away’ drifted over.
Seeing his dark expression, it seemed Yulia’s words about the woman running away were true.
‘But does someone running away for an affair take their child with them?’
Usually, don’t they run away alone?
I suppose the mother must have had a great deal of love for her child?
“Dave said Unnie is pretty.”
“The little fellow has a good eye.”
“Hmph.”
Pouting, Yulia reached for the book Ceres was holding.
“I’ll carry it.”
Now that she had finished her ice cream, she finally seemed interested in the book.
As soon as Ceres placed the book in the child’s hands, she flipped to the very first page while they were walking.
“It’s dangerous, so look at it when we get home. Don’t read while walking.”
“Okay.”
Despite saying that, she showed no intention of closing the book.
Exhaling a sigh, Ceres glanced at the open page.
A portrait was drawn on the frontispiece.
A pretty-looking man with long, calm black hair was smiling brightly.
‘I suppose that’s the current Magic Tower Master?’
Ceres shook her head slightly. It wasn’t exactly common for someone to plaster their own face in a book like that.
‘He must be a man with quite a lot of self-love….’
“He’s handsome, right?”
“Huh?”
What was she talking about now?
Ceres’s eyebrows arched at the sudden remark.
“This person. They say he’s amazing at magic. He’s the one who made the Black Forest Alarms that were distributed this time. Isn’t he cool?”
“…The thing that makes that bizarre shrieking sound?”
“Yeah, that.”
A few days ago, alarm items had been delivered to several houses as a trial.
The person who taught them how to use it had activated it.
—SKREEEEEEEEEEEEE!
She had almost smashed it instinctively.
If the person who delivered the alarm hadn’t been watching, she might have actually broken it.
‘What on earth is the logic behind that?’
Why was the alarm sound like that?
She questioned the mental state of the human who created it.
‘Ah, what a waste. 3 gold.’
To think she spent 3 gold on a book written by such a person.
Was it Colin’s influence? Ceres was becoming increasingly sincere about the wastefulness of money.
“Are you going to the stew shop again, Unnie?”
“Yes. I have to prepare for tomorrow’s business. So listen to Antonion and be a good girl.”
“Hmph.”
“What’s with the ‘hmph’ again?”
“Oppa makes me study all the time. He never plays with me.”
He’s doing a good job.
“You’ll get in trouble if you just draw pictures on your worksheets like last time.”
“…….”
“Answer me.”
“Okay.”
The girl was smart, but her concentration was non-existent.
Antonion had complained to her more than once or twice that she refused to study even if it killed her when she didn’t want to.
When Ceres had checked the worksheets Yulia had finished, they were filled with drawings of animals and flowers instead of answers.
‘Yulia.’
‘Yes.’
‘How much did I say this worksheet cost?’
‘1 gold and 20 silver.’
‘That’s right. Colin practically cried when he bought it for you, didn’t he?’
‘Yes.’
‘Is it okay to draw pictures on a worksheet like this instead of studying, or is it not okay?’
‘It’s okay.’
‘…Do you want to solve them again, or do you want to stand with your hands up for an hour?’
‘…I’ll solve them again.’
Seeing the girl return with all the correct answers in less than ten minutes, Ceres had to seriously debate whether to praise her or scold her.
In any case, after taking Yulia home, Ceres headed straight for the shop.
The shop’s business hours were already over, but there was a lot to prepare.
From prepping ingredients to making the broth in advance.
Jay had offered to help, but she couldn’t keep the girl tied to the shop when she also had her duties as a maid of the Drow Barony.
‘It’s not an easy dish.’
It was almost a miracle that Mark had been doing all of this by himself until now.
Acknowledging that Mark was a capable man, Ceres headed toward the shop as darkness began to fall.
“…….”
However, upon arriving in front of the shop, Ceres couldn't enter immediately.
This was because a large, dark lump was blocking the door.
‘…A beggar?’
Anyone would have thought so looking at him.
His clothes looked as if he had been rolling around in the dirt, and his hair was full of twigs and strange weeds.
Seeing the man sitting with his face buried in his knees as if exhausted, Ceres—
Thump. Nudge.
Pushed him with her foot.
