Chapter 81
“I need to prepare for the journey.”
As soon as Ring heard that the Duke had granted permission, she became busy. She went around asking and finally obtained a travel bag, then opened the wardrobe wide while mentally organizing what to pack.
Sing, who had been admiring the tightly packed clothes beside her, suddenly shouted:
“Let’s take this one!”
She was pointing at a pure white dress decorated with pearls.
“That’s a ball gown.”
“Take it anyway! It would look so good on My Lady.”
“My Lady looks good in anything.”
Ring spoke coolly, but she still set the dress aside. Sing immediately pointed at another one.
“Let’s take that dress too! Doesn’t it look just like Lord Louis?”
“Oh my! You’re right.”
Ring also pulled out a soft pink dress with puffed shoulders. Its skirt overlapped like layers of flower petals—again, a ball gown.
Watching the two, Eluana began to feel a sense of crisis. At this rate, they were going to pack nothing but ball gowns.
“Make sure to pack mostly comfortable clothes.”
“Yes!” Ring answered right away, but Sing pretended not to hear.
“Just two of the ball gowns are enough. The rest should be practical clothes. Don’t pack too much, it’s not a pleasure trip. Let’s cut the luggage in half. Sing, don’t you have anything to prepare?”
“The entire First Knight Order is deploying, right? I can just rely on their supplies! And don’t worry. Actually, moving the order secretly was the hardest part, but now that’s solved. Once we arrive, we can wipe them out right away.”
“More important than wiping them out is the safety of the kidnapped children. Tell the knights that.”
“Got it!”
Eluana smiled at Sing, who was now fully energized, then entered the study. When she touched the statue, a voice flowed into her mind.
[That voice… is that Sing? Is Sing here?]
“Yes. She’s my guard, so normally she’s always with me.”
[When is Sing going back?]
“She’s not leaving.”
[Why not? Isn’t this your room?]
“She sleeps in the parlor. At night, the study will be empty, at least.”
[That’s a relief.]
Serus sounded genuinely relieved. As he chuckled, Eluana noticed a golden pattern at the foot of the statue. A magic-circle-like design surrounded the statue on the floor—something that hadn’t been there earlier.
“Did Father come by?”
[Yes. He piled up a bunch of gold coins, did this and that, and then the markings appeared on the floor. He said it would protect and monitor me. Do you think it really works? Or is it just nonsense?]
“Serus, how do you even know about gold coins?”
[I know everything.]
Eluana tilted her head at the cryptic reply.
“But you don’t know what you are yourself.”
[I’m Serus. I don’t need any other description.]
“…Fine. Anyway, I’ll be away for a while. Not long, but maybe four or five days.”
[Is Sing going too?]
“Yes.”
[Then take your time. You can be away longer if you want.]
Serus’s voice suddenly grew much brighter. Did he really dislike Sing that much? Or was it that he found her cheerfulness unfamiliar? Maybe he had simply grown used to loneliness.
“Serus, I want to find your friend, but I need clues. Can you tell me your friend’s name?”
[Audrey.]
“Her surname?”
[I don’t know.]
So much for “knowing everything.” Clearly, he had just said that carelessly.
“Where does she live? What region? Her age?”
[I don’t know her home. Her age… maybe about the same as yours? Or a little older? Honestly, I don’t really understand human ages.]
That gave Eluana almost nothing, aside from the fact that “Audrey” was human. She changed her approach, asking simpler questions.
“In your dreams, what clothes does she wear?”
[Something like the dress you’re wearing. Audrey looks best in white dresses—with an orange ribbon.]
Human, female, wealthy.
“What about jewelry? Earrings?”
[She always wears something dangling. Looks like her ears must hurt.]
Then likely a noble—or at least a rich merchant’s daughter.
“What color is her hair and eyes?”
[Red hair. Orange eyes.]
That was enough. She could find her.
“When I do, I’ll make sure you meet your friend.”
[Thank you… friend.]
Eluana smiled softly.
***
“Found it!”
Rummaging through subspace, Cairn finally pulled out the book he had been looking for. Stroking the cover with his palm, he handed it to Louis.
“This is the book you’ll be studying from.”
Louis carefully received it.
“What kind of book is this?”
“My teacher.”
“Your teacher?”
“I taught myself with this book and became who I am today. So if you think about it, this book is my teacher.”
“Did your teacher also inherit it from someone?”
“Not exactly. Well, maybe in a way… hmm.”
Meeting Louis’s curious eyes, Cairn gave a small cough and began talking about his “teacher,” the book.
“Finding this book was the greatest fortune of my life.”
According to the last part of the book, it had been written by an unknown mage blessed by mana, who left it for another child born with the same constitution.
Louis’s eyes sparkled as the story began. Pressed by that innocent eagerness, Cairn continued.
“I was seventeen, hiding in the forest from the mages. While wandering for food, I saw an arrow of light made of mana. It was calling to me—the child blessed by mana.”
“Wow. And then?”
“I followed the arrows and came to a cave. The last arrow pointed at the wall deep inside. I touched it without thinking, another arrow appeared, and after repeating that several times, a hidden space revealed itself.”
Even now, Cairn’s heart raced remembering the moment the cave wall opened. Louis, imagining it, asked:
“Weren’t you scared?”
Scared? Back then, everything scared him. The forest scared him, hunger scared him, the mages hunting him scared him, even his own powers scared him. So—
“Not really more than I already was. Inside the cave, mana filled the air. It was set up as a refuge, with food and water.”
Without hesitation, Cairn had drunk and stuffed food into his mouth. Even if it had been poisoned or a trap, he didn’t care—he was already on the verge of starving to death.
The food was unexpectedly delicious, and tears streamed down his face. Even more miraculous, the food and water refilled themselves whenever he ate. Seeing the bowls refill on their own, he cried again.
“It was a magically sustained space?”
“Exactly. On the table in the center lay a single book and a round stone. Since I couldn’t read, I ignored the book and picked up the stone. Suddenly, the letters on the book’s cover became clear. It was an artifact, prepared just in case the child who found it couldn’t read.”
“Wow… That mage must’ve been amazing.”
“Yes. To me, they were a savior.”
If he hadn’t found that book, he would’ve been captured and dragged back to the laboratory. Or burned out his remaining mana killing his pursuers, ending his own life.
“Now, open it.”
Louis carefully touched the first page, mindful that it was precious to Cairn.
“You can flip it fast. There’s preservation magic.”
Cairn helped turn the page. On the first page was a sentence the author had deemed most important:
“When you feel as if you’re being embraced in your mother’s arms within the light, you will be able to grow one step further.”
Cairn still didn’t understand that line. If he did, maybe he could reach the 6th Circle. But for now, it remained out of reach.
Looking down at Louis’s wide, sparkling eyes, he asked:
“Do you understand what it means?”
“No.”
Cairn flicked a speck of light with his finger.
“You’ve understood that these lights are mana, right?”
“Yes.”
“If you can feel as though you’re being held in your mother’s arms while inside these lights, you’ll grow stronger.”
“But Louis has never been held by Mother, so I don’t know what that feels like.”
Hearing Louis’s innocent words, a surge of emotion hit Cairn.
“You’ve never been held by her?”
“She died right after I was born. So I guess my sister’s arms are like that?”
“It’s… a bit different. But honestly, I don’t know either. I didn’t have a mother either.”
Louis read the sentence again and again, but it still didn’t make sense, and his shoulders drooped.
“My sister would know, but if I ask about our mother, she looks like she’ll cry. And when she’s sad, Louis feels sad too.”
At that, Alex—who had been standing straight behind them—had a complicated look. Cairn, releasing his emotions, said:
“It’s okay. I did fine without a mother.”
“Louis did fine too. I had my sister.”
“I did fine all alone.”
“Being alone sounds sad. When I went to Yones village, I was so scared and lonely. My sister was dragged away by that prince Regius, and Brother Kazar was lying injured.”
Cairn’s gaze sharpened dangerously.
“That happened? Should I get rid of that prince for you?”
“My sister said she’ll do it herself.”
“That’s good. From the start, I liked her spirit.”
Cairn nodded in satisfaction, already planning to gift her a better artifact next time. Meanwhile, Louis circled back to his original puzzle.
“What does a mother’s embrace feel like?”
“Hmm… maybe like the warmth of a cotton quilt?”
The mage without a mother and the child without a mother couldn’t move past the first page. Their eyes turned toward Alex instead.
“You had a mother, right? Explain it.”
Both Cairn and Louis looked at him. Alex, standing nearby, felt as though he’d been accused of something and spoke:
“For young master Louis, Lady Eluana is the closest example. Usually, ‘mother’ means more than just giving birth—it means nurturing and loving.”
Louis broke into a smile.
“I get it! It’s the best, the warmest, the safest feeling.”
“…So I’m the only one who still doesn’t understand?”
Cairn let out a heavy sigh. He had reached the 5th Circle at twenty, but for more than twenty years since, he had been unable to progress.
Seeing his disappointment, Louis quickly added:
“Teacher, I’ll be like a mother for you. Then you’ll understand too.”
“You’re a boy.”
“Then I’ll be a father! I know what that is. I can do it well.”
Louis declared brightly, his wide eyes shining—promising to become Cairn’s father.
