Chapter 33
“On the note, you mark who it’s for. That way, you don’t have to check every single note—you only read the ones meant for you.”
“That makes sense.”
“At first, we thought about writing each other’s names, but after trying it a few times, Mom and Dad found it inconvenient. So we decided to use symbols instead. Mom is X, Dad is O. What about you, Ellen?”
A star? No, that would get annoying after a while.
“Then I’ll use a triangle.”
“Good. Then to celebrate receiving your pouch, why don’t you send one to Dad?”
Ellen took paper and a pen from the box and wrote a note.
Dad! I got a pouch too!
—Ellen
She folded the paper twice and wrote Gerald’s symbol, O, on the outside.
“Now, put the paper in the box and send the box to the storeroom.”
Ellen fitted the pouch over the corner of the sky-blue box as she had before and tapped it. The box crumpled and was sucked into the pouch.
After confirming the box had gone in properly, Ellen crumpled the pouch in her hands. As expected, it was completely empty inside—nothing could be felt. Really fascinating.
“Ellen, there’s something you need to be careful about.”
Gloria tidied her hair as she spoke.
“What is it?”
“Never put living things in. Didn’t Mom get curious once when she was told ‘never put living things in’ and end up trying it?”
“What happened?”
Ellen, who had considered testing it later when she first heard not to put living things in, now listened carefully to Gloria.
“Mom once caught a grasshopper and put it in the box in the storeroom. When she took the box out with the pouch, the grasshopper was dead. Thinking it might be a coincidence, she tried again, but the result was the same.”
“Even with preservation magic on it?”
Gloria shrugged.
“Got it. I’ll never put living things in.”
Ellen promised.
“Neshu!”
Excited about receiving the pouch, Ellen returned to her room and called Neshu from the terrace. She then wrote a note to Roil.
Roil,
I know it’s not the day we usually go to the lakeside tomorrow, but come anyway. I have something to show you.
Let me know if you can make it.
While Ellen wrote the note, Neshu flew in through the window and landed on her table.
Seeing the pouch on the table, Neshu sniffed it, scratched it a few times with his front paws, and then, seemingly liking the texture, lay on it.
“Neshu, go to Roil and bring back his reply too.”
When she attached the note to Neshu’s collar, he meowed and lightly flew out the window.
“Oh my, when did you get so big?”
Ellen smiled warmly, muttering something her grandmother might say about a grandchild.
The next day, after finishing her chores, Ellen headed straight to the yard. She struggled through the doggy hole.
“Ugh… how long do I have to keep going through this doggy hole?”
Grumbling as she crawled, she remembered that a few years ago, the hole seemed much larger. This summer, they had slightly widened it.
Kids really do grow fast. If it grows any more, we’ll have to tear down a wall.
Standing up and dusting her knees, Ellen looked at the doggy hole and imagined how much she’d have to widen it as an adult.
‘Wait. Why am I even thinking about using the doggy hole?’
She shook her head and entered the forest.
At the lakeside, Roil had already arrived and tied his horse.
“You’re here? It’s a bit chilly today.”
“Really? I didn’t feel it while riding.”
Roil held the loosely tied reins in one hand and offered his coat with the other.
“You’re not too sensitive to the cold. Oh, thanks.”
Ellen draped his coat over her shoulders.
When they first met as Elenoa and Roilette, Ellen had seemed slightly taller than Roil. Lately, Roil had grown rapidly and had caught up to her.
He had always been smaller among his peers as Eunho, but at some point, he had grown taller than Hyesuh, looking down on her.
Back then, she wondered, ‘When did he grow?’ But now, seeing him like this, she could really notice the growth. Is this what a parent feels?
Ellen absentmindedly played with his coat.
“Do you want to move around a bit? I brought a dagger.”
Roil tapped the dagger sheath on the saddle.
“No, it’s fine. You trained this morning too, right? Let’s just rest for now.”
Ellen shook her head. After training and chores since morning, she finally had a chance to rest.
“Let’s just walk a bit. I came through the doggy hole, so I can’t ride.”
At Ellen’s words, Roil fastened the dagger to his waist and followed her.
“Why did you suddenly send Neshu and call me out?”
Roil asked, stretching with clasped hands. Ellen, staring at him strangely, pulled out the pouch she had tucked at her waist.
“This.”
“A gift?”
Roil asked, taking the pouch.
“Of course not. It’s mine. It’s our family treasure.”
“Ah, that makes sense. Didn’t expect a gift, just wondered why you called me out.”
Roil inspected the pouch again.
“But why this pouch?”
“…It’s not really a pouch. I thought it was at first, though.”
Ellen glanced around. The forest was empty, but she couldn’t let her guard down.
She grabbed Roil’s wrist. He, following quietly, frowned when she tried to go deeper into the forest, stopping her by grabbing her wrist.
“Where are you going? I told you not to wander deep into the forest.”
Feeling the gentle tug, Ellen turned to him.
“Relax. I’m not going deep! I’m just going there.”
She pointed to a pile of grass.
Roil, confused, looked at the pile. Ellen pinched his eyes open with her thumbs and index fingers.
“Look closely. Inside.”
Roil looked and saw a hole in the cliff behind the grass pile.
“…A second doggy hole?”
Roil sighed. Ellen glared at him.
“It’s not a doggy hole. Just a very shallow cave.”
Roil chuckled. Ellen led him forward. Up close, it was more like a cave than a hole. Not deep enough to be called a proper cave, but still a cave.
Roil entered first. Ellen quickly scanned the area and followed, covering the entrance with grass.
Inside, Ellen pulled out the pouch again.
“Look.”
Roil nodded, curious.
Ellen reached in with a serious expression.
A large yellow box came out of the pouch.
Distorted at first, it expanded to its original size once fully out.
Roil’s eyes widened.
“….”
He cautiously reached for it. It was solid. A real box!
“Cool, right?”
“What is this? Magic?”
Ellen shrugged.
“Magic. Maybe?”
“Maybe?”
“It’s called the ‘Dragon’s Blessing.’”
Ellen explained what Gloria had told her and even imitated a line from Quinter’s ancestor, as Gloria had described.
Roil muttered in response, “Quite practical and simple, huh?”
“Right? I think so too.”
Ellen agreed. Surely, if it were him, he would’ve asked for wealth or magical abilities.
“You had a reason to suddenly send Neshu to get me.”
Roil curiously checked the pouch and put his hand in.
“Ah!”
Startled, Ellen asked, “Why?”
“There was a current.”
He withdrew his hand and stared at it.
“It’s just static because it’s winter,” Ellen said.
“No, not static. A real current ran through it.”
Ellen cautiously tested it again.
“Nothing happens.”
After trying, she couldn’t figure it out.
“Let me try.”
Roil put a finger in the pouch. Sparks of yellow electricity flashed, startling him.
“Ellen, are you sure this is safe?”
He held the pouch’s edge at arm’s length.
“It was fine before. Nothing happened to me.”
Ellen repeated the test several times.
“Ah, that explains it!”
She shouted, remembering.
“When I got this pouch from Mom, I ‘registered’ it.”
She explained about the “blood-sucking door handle.”
“Creepy handle,” Roil grimaced.
“Yeah, but registering it makes it convenient.”
Ellen placed the yellow box back in the pouch and pulled out a pickaxe.
“Farming?”
Roil, unsurprised by the sudden object, asked. Ellen sometimes acted strangely like Hyesuh. He was used to it.
“No, I saw something before.”
She tucked the pouch back and went deeper into the cave.
“Come with me.”
Worried about what Ellen might do with the pickaxe, Roil quickly followed.
The cave ended after about 30 meters. Ellen examined the ground and found something.
“Here it is.”
She raised the pickaxe.
“Wait!”
Roil grabbed her arm and the pickaxe.
“What is it?”
“This.”
Something was buried there.
“I found it before but couldn’t dig it by hand. I waited for the right tool, and now I have the pouch.”
Roil touched his forehead in disbelief.
“Step aside. I’ll do it.”
“I can do it.”
Ellen gave him a look as if to say, “Why are you fussing?” Roil met her gaze.
“Remember? At the pension, you chopped wood but only dented the ground with an axe.”
“….”
Ellen quietly averted her eyes. Roil had a uselessly good memory.
“Your turn or mine?”
“Yours.”
With Roil’s confirmation, Ellen relented.
