TSFA l CH 24

Chapter 24

***

Right after breakfast, I picked up a shovel and stepped outside.

“Wow, this is heavy.”

I couldn’t even lift it properly…

Thud.

Scrape.

In the end, I just dragged it across the ground to the backyard of the mansion.

Once I got there… I sighed.

I didn’t want to do it.

No, I had to do it.

“Hyaaack!”

“Kiddo!”

As I grabbed the shovel, Rivan suddenly rushed over to stop me.

“H-Hey! What are you doing? That’s dangerous!”

“I’m digging,” I said.

“Why?! This is perfectly fine ground! What, are you farming or something?”

“There’s magic stones buried here.”

“…What?”

I pointed around the backyard, or rather, the whole area.

“No matter where you dig, they come up. The entire area is a mine.”

“…Seriously?”

“Yep. I told you I’d share my family’s secrets, didn’t I~?”

Rivan’s green eyes trembled like there was an earthquake.

He was probably thinking: Jackpot.

Magic stones.

Stones that contain magical power.

Depending on the type, they can make fire, lightning—abilities that feel like real powers.

Basically, magic stones are the last trace of real magic, which vanished from the world a long time ago.

‘After the last magician died, magic disappeared too, so even if you had a lot of them, they were useless.’

Now, they were just pretty rocks.

Only those with mana in their bodies—like real magicians—could use them.

But!

“Let’s dig right away.”

Rivan snatched the shovel from me, his eyes shining like a mad scientist.

Right. Rivan used to be the youngest professor at the academy.

And his major? Magical Engineering.

That’s the study of lost magic and how to bring it back.

Naturally, magic stones were their main material.

I didn’t know exactly how magical engineers researched them or what results they had, but…

‘I did see the results before my regression.’

Rivan once blew up our family mansion with a new kind of weapon powered by refined magic stones.

He had succeeded in combining magic stones with weapons.

‘How did he draw out the magic from them?’

I was curious, but I didn’t need to dig too deep into it.

My role was to help Rivan get his hands on the stones. Whatever he made with them—great if it worked, no problem if not.

Also…

“You’ll have more than enough to use for yourself. So, when we go out to the city…”

“Whoa, wait. We can sell them to your family?”

“Yep!”

There were actually people crazy enough to buy these “pretty rocks.”

They’d pay ridiculous prices. Throwing money like water, they’d buy up every last one of them.

Who, you ask?

‘My family, of course.’

My family tried to buy up and destroy every magic stone, scared that magic might return one day and challenge the power of supernatural abilities.

So just by digging, we win in two ways.

Rivan gets his stones, and we get rich.

“We’ll need to dig a lot to find the full vein though… ugh! So next time we go to the city, let’s hire some miners!”

“Good idea! Not sure who would even agree to come to this remote place, though!”

“We’re rich now, aren’t we? Offer ‘em hazard pay they can’t say no to!”

As Rivan got excited, imagining the incoming piles of cash, he kept digging furiously.

Then…

“What’s going on?”

Ryan appeared.

“Oh! A worker showed up! Use those muscles and help us dig!”

“Why are you digging all of a sudden?”

“The kid said there’s a magic stone mine here!”

“…Seriously?!”

Ryan looked shocked—then pleased.

“…We can sell them to her family?”

“That’s it! Let’s get to work!”

“…But I’m busy. I was about to head out.”

“What? Where?”

Ryan stretched his arms and cracked his neck.

“Hunting. A man of the house must feed his people. I’ll bring back meat for dinner.”

Oh really?

“Don’t bother, just help us dig! We still have plenty of food we bought!”

“I want to go too! I want to hunt!”

I raised my hand high.

“What? You? You look more like prey than a hunter. No way!”

“That’s not true! I can help! I want to go!”

“Tch. You’re being ridiculous.”

“Waaah! Please! I reaaaally want to go!”

I whined like a real 12-year-old, practically throwing a tantrum.

Ryan looked at me with his jaw dropped.

How’s that? Bet you’ve never seen this side of me.

***

Ryan finally gave in and let me come along.

We walked along a forest path that led into the mountains.

“Ugh. Why did I even bring you… so annoying.”

“You don’t need to protect me, you know.”

So kind…

Using the sword he’d received from a soldier upon his release, Ryan cleared thick grass in our path and held onto my arm whenever tree roots poked up, making sure I wouldn’t trip.

“Why are there no animals? I said I’d bring meat, but I haven’t seen a single thing.”

Yeah, it was strangely peaceful.

Now and then, we’d hear a rustle—maybe a rabbit or a squirrel—but those quick critters were impossible to catch.

We had no hunting tools, and really, this whole thing felt pretty random.

Not that I was fooled.

‘You just want to test your Blessing, right~?’

Supernatural powers (Blessings) need to be trained.

The more you use them, the stronger they get—better range, power, everything.

Ryan’s Blessing was …

He probably had already awakened it, but couldn’t use it during prison. No targets, after all.

You can’t exactly kill people for practice.

That’s the tricky part with his power.

So now, he was probably hoping some beast would pop out.

Me too.

‘I followed you here hoping to see that awesome power in action~’

Then suddenly…

“…Hey. Hey.”

Ryan suddenly stopped and blocked me with his arm.

“Huh?”

I’d been carefully watching my step, but when I looked up—

‘Oh my god…’

I saw it.

And for a second…

I couldn’t breathe.

A huge body.

Eyes gleaming even from far away, likely from hunger.

Thick legs and sharp claws.

A perfect hunting target, yes… but—

‘I wasn’t expecting a bear!’

That’s right. A bear. And not just any bear—an enormous one.

‘Stay calm.’

I slowly raised my hand to cover my mouth so I wouldn’t make a sound.

The bear saw us too, but thankfully didn’t charge. It was still sizing us up, slowly approaching.

Ryan muttered quietly.

“How are we supposed to catch that…?”

“Catch it?!”

We should be planning an escape!

“I said I’d bring meat for dinner, didn’t I?”

Are you insane? We’re about to become meat!

is terrifying, sure. But at stage one, right after awakening…

‘It won’t work on a bear from this distance.’

To use it now, Ryan would need to touch the bear. Any part of it.

So yeah… this was bad.

‘I was expecting, like, a rabbit. Or maybe a weasel…’

And Ryan, whom I thought would have a plan—

‘Looks totally lost…’

He was frozen, clearly overwhelmed. I lost faith in him instantly.

I figured I had to do something.

‘Okay, I have three Blessings right now.’

Before I went back in time, I had collected all of my siblings’ powers. But after the regression, my ability also returned to its starting point.

I had to gather them again from scratch.

And when I regressed, almost all my siblings had left Windsor Castle. Only one stayed.

So getting even three Blessings during those two years was pretty impressive!

‘Wait…’

Why am I thinking about this in front of a bear—

Grrrrr…!

The bear stepped forward, more aggressive now.

‘Yikes.’

Out of pure fear, I acted without thinking:

<Mirror’s Eye – Shackles of Restraint>

And the bear froze. It couldn’t move.

‘Oh no…’

I glanced sideways at Ryan.

‘I was planning to save my powers until the last minute…’

But I panicked and used it anyway.

I hoped Ryan wouldn’t notice and just think the bear froze on its own.

“Uh… Dad. That bear…”

Thankfully, Ryan just stared blankly at the bear, not suspecting a thing.

“We can’t catch that, right?”

“No. Of course not…”

Let’s just run.

I was about to suggest we sneak away from clueless Ryan when—

“…I’ve made up my mind.”

“…Huh?”

“Vania.”

Ryan turned to me with sad eyes.

It was the first time he’d ever said my name so softly… I was stunned.

“…You have to survive.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll stop it.”

He turned to face the bear again and said:

“I promised myself I’d die in your place if something like this happened. No matter what, I’ll protect you.”

What the heck? That’s… kind of touching.

“I’ll buy you time. When I count to three, you scream as loud as you can and run. Make a lot of noise.”

“?”

“Wave your arms too. Don’t look back. Just stomp your feet and run for your life.”

“??”

I frowned and asked,

“Wait… then won’t the bear chase me?”

“……”

Ryan stayed silent.

Then after a moment, he couldn’t hold it in—he burst out laughing.

“Ha… damn. You’re way too sharp…”

“……”

Whaaat?! So he was planning to sacrifice me?!

Unbelievable!!