Ch 142
‘It wasn’t Dangaleon making a fuss?’
Seeing the two Crybaby Spirits face off, I thought it was just his usual fussing about a clash of powerful existences, but it was actually an event that affected the entire city.
Lisir, who had inadvertently become the culprit responsible for creating the fear of city destruction, was confused.
Yet, on the other hand, he was relieved.
At Goose Manor, whenever something happened, there was a trend of simply accepting and understanding it with, “Lisir? Oh, Lisir,” so it was a cultural thing.
There was no need to break a sweat explaining this funny yet serious incident to them.
“Well, anyway. That’s how it happened.”
Lisir said, looking at the audience focused on him.
Nod.
It was a nod of trust demanding a reciprocal nod.
“…”
However, what came back was an awkward silence.
They had a sudden moment of self-reflection, feeling a sort of self-reproach.
Ah.
I’ve been overusing “Lisir? Oh, Lisir” lately.
I was caught up in the arrogance of completely understanding him.
“Lisir. If you don’t mind… could you explain it in more detail? Just in case.”
Pallag spoke cautiously.
It was true that they had a certain expectation of Lisir.
It was also true that they were ready to understand and accept immediately.
However, this exceeded their expectations.
The clash of two powerful spirits.
They thought he would at most suggest the cause or solution to the incident, but ‘our guys’?
They thought.
Perhaps this time it wasn’t Lisir’s misconception?
“…”
Lisir secretly felt resentful of their reaction.
They were fine with it before, but when it was actually needed?
“…”
The audience secretly felt resentful of Lisir’s reaction.
No. There’s something called the right path.
Lisir’s explanation began amidst an awkward atmosphere.
In fact, his actions were quite inappropriate to be called an explanation.
Without any magical prelude, he summoned two spirits.
And he introduced one of them as the abomination that had driven the Hero Party to the brink of ruin.
Decisively, these two tiny spirits were the culprits behind this whole incident.
“Hmm…”
Some, including Pallag.
Even those who vaguely knew the spirit’s identity were hesitant.
“I understand. The timing is similar, so I’m cautiously guessing, but I’m not yet certain. So, shall we try to recreate the situation? If it was my misconception, and I neglected the real cause, leading to a bigger problem, that would be a problem in itself.”
The reason, which they had temporarily put aside to face Lisir.
It was on the verge of rising up.
“W-wait a minute!”
It was suppressed.
The Spirit Masters, directly connected to the spirits, cried out urgently at Lisir’s words.
The spirits, feeling fear, began to have seizures.
Suddenly, wind blew through the room, flames erupted, frost formed on the windows, and the walls shook.
The expression “panic-stricken” perfectly described the scene.
“Good heavens, what’s going on!?”
Lisir widened his eyes in surprise.
The Spirit Masters were dumbfounded.
Why are you saying that?
We should be the ones saying it.
In any case, the spirits’ vivid reactions proved Lisir’s statement to be true.
Lisir. He was innocent.
He really was the culprit behind this incident.
Thus, the clash of two powerful energies that could have destroyed the city ended as a simple incident.
“That’s a relief.”
It was indeed a relief, as Lisir said.
But why?
Everyone except him had complicated expressions.
“Anyway, Lisir. That abomination suddenly becoming a spirit. What happened?”
Dray and Pallag, who were maintaining their composure as authority figures, asked him.
“Ah. You’ve hit the nail on the head!”
“Oh.”
Is it being revealed?
The secret of the abomination’s transformation into a spirit!?
Everyone brightened their eyes and listened intently to Lisir’s story.
“It’s about the Asking Left Hand. I saw it last night, and it was dying, using all its strength.”
“Oh. So?”
“So, I shared my energy with it. And when I looked at it today, it had suddenly become like that.”
“Ooh. So?”
“Why did it become like that?”
“?”
No.
You’re asking us that?
“?”
“?”
A series of question marks.
“Ah.”
Lisir nodded.
His expression showed consideration and understanding for the other party.
-They might not know. It’s okay.
It was an expression that seemed to convey such a voice.
No.
It’s not that they might not know, it’s that it’s natural for them not to know.
So you should be the one telling us-
“…”
They felt resentful and dumbfounded.
✦✦✦
Lisir felt resentful.
Because of the atmosphere, he felt self-conscious and couldn’t go to the dining hall, so he returned to his room.
‘Well, I won’t die from skipping a meal.’
After a simple evening training session, he cleansed himself in the private bathroom attached to his room.
As he was preparing to go to bed.
“…”
“Huh?”
A presence felt from below.
When he looked, the Purple Girl Spirit was tugging at her pants.
“Myeong-i? What’s wrong?”
Lisir called out her still awkward name and asked about her intentions.
“…”
She silently raised her right hand.
“What?”
Lisir’s gaze focused there.
The girl’s right hand. Its shape was rather unusual.
“Ah.”
Then, Lisir recalled the last time he saw the Asking Left Hand.
The way its finger joints were bent backward.
If all the finger joints of the left hand were bent backward, wouldn’t it look like that?
“Isn’t it uncomfortable to move that?”
“…”
The girl repeated opening and closing her small right hand in response.
Surprisingly, it seemed to have no trouble moving.
Then.
The girl spread out her right hand, which she had been fiddling with, and placed it on her face.
As if to show it off.
“Hmm…”
Lisir, trying to understand the meaning behind the girl’s actions, unconsciously muttered.
“Why can’t she talk?”
“…”
Was it just his imagination?
The girl’s expression, which was like a picture, seemed resentful for a moment.
-Master!
“Huh? Dangaleon. What is it?”
-The abomination is pleading with Master!
“Abomination? She’s also… you know… one of us now. You should call her by her proper name. Anyway, pleading? What is it?”
-It dares to crave Master’s energy!
“Energy?”
-It wants to fill its empty vessel with Master’s energy, using all its strength! What boundless greed!!!
“Well, it’s just sharing energy. It’s not like it’s going to wear out.”
-How merciful!!!!! It feels boundless fulfillment to be able to serve a being like Master!!!
“Ah, is that what Myeong-i wants?”
-Yes, I do!!!
“Ah. Okay.”
As if words were insufficient, a grayish-white fireball suddenly manifested and burned intensely.
Lisir left Dangaleon behind and brought his hand to the girl as instructed.
“…”
Then the girl brought her face to his palm.
“Her head, not her face?”
“…”
Nod.
Lisir shrugged and placed his palm on her small face.
The energy transmitted through him.
A moment later.
The girl took a step back, moving away from his palm.
“Is it done now?”
“…”
Nod.
And a bow.
The girl, who had expressed gratitude after affirmation, went somewhere.
The purple cloth where she had originally been kept.
It was the table where it was spread out.
The girl climbed onto the table and crouched down.
Like a gargoyle looking down on an intruder from a wall.
“…Wouldn’t it be better to just come in?”
-It seems she needs time to gather Master’s energy! Master’s inner world isn’t a place to be trifled with!
“Really? Such a dangerous area has formed in my head?”
Lisir’s expression as he looked at the girl was complicated.
✦✦✦
The forest at midnight is so dark that each star in the sky feels like a bright lamp.
There were those who illuminated that dark forest.
Flutter.
The knights’ banner fluttered in the chilling night wind.
A wide open clearing in the forest. Campfires were lit everywhere.
Crackle.
They were servants and retainers.
They sat around the campfires, cleaning the knights’ weapons.
Crackle.
They were knights.
They sat around the campfires, cleaning their own weapons or chatting with their comrades.
Everyone was doing their own thing.
At first glance, that was certainly the case.
However.
In fact, their hearts were always elsewhere.
The campfire that seemed to burn the brightest among the many campfires.
To those gathered around it.
It was the Hero Party.
“Hero.”
A youthful-looking woman among them cautiously spoke.
“…Huh?”
Then, the woman sitting opposite reacted a beat late.
On one side of the campfire sat the woman called the Hero, alone.
On the other side, the rest of the party members sat huddled together.
This showed the distance the party members felt from the Hero.
Separately, their gazes towards the Hero were full of goodwill and interest.
This showed how much they wanted to get closer to the Hero.
“Is something funny happening?”
“Funny?”
“It’s just that you’ve been smiling from time to time.”
And it’s the kind of smile that’s hard to see usually.
The woman swallowed her words, watching the Hero’s reaction.
The Hero looked away from the campfire and towards the party members opposite her.
Even in the warm light of the campfire, the cynical atmosphere on her face remained.
This was a factor that made the party members feel distant from her.
It was also a factor that made the party members long for her from afar.
Seeing the Hero’s appearance, the party members recalled the expression she had made just before.
It was a smile.
A cynical laugh, as if mocking the other person.
That part was the same as usual.
However, that smile contained an emotion rarely seen before.
Should it be called joy?
This was why the party members couldn’t help but speak to her.
The Hero they knew was basically someone who kept her distance from others.
Even with them, her party members, the number of times they had had private conversations was countable on one hand.
The Hero’s personal life?
They were insanely curious, but her cynical atmosphere didn’t allow for casual curiosity.
Even if they dared to ask, all they got was a cold reply, “What’s the point of knowing that?”
That Hero!
She smiled very meaningfully while looking at the campfire.
A smile as if recalling happy memories.
Or, a smile as if recalling someone who makes her happy just thinking about them.
What on earth was she thinking?
They were going crazy with curiosity.
“Was I doing that?”
However.
That lukewarm reaction.
That uniquely difficult-to-approach atmosphere cuts off the flow.
The party members’ words were blocked.
The Hero’s gaze is cast back into the campfire.
“…”
But soon, a chuckle escaped the Hero’s lips.
That familiar smile appeared.
“Our next destination.”
“B-Bondales!?”
The Hero was the one who started the conversation!?
The party members seized the opportunity.
“Yes, Bondales.”
Did their sincerity work?
The Hero made that smile again.
It was the brightest smile they had ever seen her make.
The party members’ eyes widened at this rare sight.
“I wonder if there’s someone I know there.”
“Ah, someone you know…?!”
Some almost jumped out of their seats.
‘Could it be a man!?’
While shouting that.
“Before we parted, the last place I said I was going to was there. Bondales.”
I wonder if she’s doing well.
The Hero muttered happily.
“P-Perhaps…!”
“Huh?”
The woman who had first spoken to the Hero spoke up bravely.
“If you were to reunite with that person, what would you say first!?”
Could it be a man?
If it’s a man, what kind of relationship?
It was the best question she could choose after refining and controlling her overwhelming curiosity.
“I wonder.”
The Hero seemed to like the question and pondered happily.
Then she said.
“I’ll ask her if she regrets not following me?”
She playfully said, fiddling with her holy sword.
“R-regret…!”
The party members and the knights who were eavesdropping from afar let their imaginations run wild at the Hero’s answer.
Then.
The Hero, Roera, looked away from the campfire and into the distance.
“…”
Her lips kept moving.
Her head kept moving, and her expression changed vividly.
As if practicing to utter certain words.
Two syllables.
The party members and knights tried to figure out the two-syllable word the Hero was practicing.
✦✦✦
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