Chapter : 20
The young girl holding a flower basket widened her sparkling eyes.
“Hey, no matter what, you can’t lie like that!”
“No, I’m serious! Some big brother went straight in here, and then suddenly vanished!”
“…Really?”
“I’m telling you! And then the sky started going whoooosh, and stars appeared and spun around, sparkling!”
“Hey, stop saying ridiculous things. How could the sky go whoooosh?”
The girl spoke in an excited voice.
“It really did!”
Her explanation was far too detailed to simply be a lie.
Egail stepped toward the girl and asked,
“Could you tell me that story in a bit more detail?”
“Wow…”
The child stared blankly at Egail’s face for a moment, then snapped out of it and began explaining carefully.
“Well, you see, I sell flowers, right? But this big brother just took the flowers and ran away without paying.”
She pushed her lips out in a sulky pout, then continued,
“So I chased after him! I’m really, really fast at running!”
The children around her nodded vigorously.
“That’s right! She’s really fast! Even adults can’t beat her.”
“Ahem.”
“That’s impressive. So then?”
“And then the sky started going whoooosh, and the stars sparkled!”
“Do you know anything else besides that?”
“Hmm. No… I couldn’t find the big brother, and I had to sell my flowers, so I just came back.”
That was the end of the conversation with the girl.
When Egail came back to himself from his thoughts, the Grand Duke was looking at him with concern.
“That’s quite a serious expression. What happened?”
“Well, you see…”
After hearing Egail’s story, Grand Duke Hart stiffened and rose from his seat.
With a wave of his hand, an image appeared on one wall.
It was a map of the Empire.
From a single point on the map—what appeared to be the capital—a blue ripple spread outward, quickly extending far beyond the city.
“Is that… that person’s mana wavelength?”
“Yes. It was an enormous wave—so strong that even I could feel it.”
The ripple on the map was far more powerful than what Egail had sensed himself.
“It’s overwhelming.”
Egail murmured softly, unconsciously clenching his fist. With his other hand, he found himself tracing the ripple.
A chill ran up from his toes, and a deep sense of awe—unlike anything he had ever felt before—rose within him.
It wasn’t just the sheer size of the mana.
The way the mana had unfolded last night—
It was different from anyone he had ever encountered.
The structure and design of the mana were completely unlike conventional methods. It felt as though it had dropped straight out of an unknown world.
What kind of person could wield such mana?
He desperately wanted to know who this person was.
Meanwhile, that extraordinary individual was deeply focused on knitting.
[KYAAAH! Th-that Bigsiri is terrifying!]
[Hands, hands! Bigsiri’s hands are shaking—I’m so scared!]
Bigsiri’s spear vibrated wildly, but Arisha did not yield.
With a more serious and intense expression than anyone else, she barely managed to complete two stitches.
[Wow! Thirty minutes for two stitches! Master, your skills are truly outstanding!]
That was unmistakably mockery.
“Where’s the system dismantle button again?”
[…Who the hell are you, barging into my system like this!? Get out right now! =͟͟͞͞( •̀д•́))]
[Whew, Master! Bigsiri was temporarily hacked!]
[But don’t worry! I successfully expelled the malicious code! (๑•̀ㅁ•́ฅ✧)]
[Did anything strange happen while I was hacked, by any chance??]
It was just as she barely endured Bigsiri’s teasing and knitted a few more stitches—
Suddenly, the magical barrier installed in the room trembled faintly. It felt as though someone was forcibly tearing through space to enter.
The mana deployment was familiar.
Realizing who it was, Arisha subtly adjusted the mana structure to make entry easier before anyone in the Grand Ducal residence could notice the disturbance. It was an extremely delicate and precise manipulation—undetectable to others.
Space rippled briefly, and just as expected, Kailrop appeared.
“Something wrong?”
“Haah…”
Kailrop stared at Arisha’s face for a long while. Then, pressing a hand to his forehead, he let out a sigh and collapsed onto her bed.
Arisha looked him over.
His deep dark-blue hair was damp, and he was wearing what looked like a night robe. It seemed he had moved in a hurry—the front loosely tied, exposing a well-defined chest.
Judging by his appearance, it must have been urgent.
“Tell me. What happened?”
“Grand Duke’s daughter who overcame a rare disease. Grand Duke’s daughter who died and came back to life.”
“….”
That sounded all too familiar.
“What on earth is going on?”
[Kailrop Hunter! Bigsiri will explain!]
A round glow floated between Kailrop and Arisha and began speaking. It was Bigsiri.
Thanks to Kailrop being aware of its existence, Bigsiri could make sound for the first time since coming here—and it was clearly excited.
[I thought I was just an ordinary potion, but turns out I’m a national-treasure-level potion in this world?! That kind of thing.]
“What does that even mean?”
[You don’t know isekai jokes… (≖⌓≖ )]
[Kailrop Hunter… I thought you were well-versed in internet culture, but you’re just a fake pretending to be legit……]
[Such betrayal…… (≖⌓≖ )]
“…?”
“Just ignore it.”
No one present could understand why Bigsiri was upset.
[That’s so mean—! …Mmph! Mmph!]
Arisha forcibly lowered Bigsiri’s volume.
“I pretended to be weak for a bit, and things got complicated.”
She briefly explained what had happened.
“So you were never sick.”
“Yeah.”
“And you were never in pain.”
“Right.”
It wasn’t entirely true—but she omitted that part.
“And you actually became stronger…”
“That part—”
“Well, getting stronger is a good thing.”
“You rushed over just because of that rumor?”
Kailrop let out a deep sigh, as if he hadn’t expected much.
“You really don’t understand a man’s heart. Of course I came because I wanted to see you.”
“…Dry your hair.”
Arisha brought a towel from the bathroom and handed it to him. After shaking out his damp hair a few times, Kailrop frowned.
“Is your mana out of control, or can you just not use it?”
“I can’t right now. I will tomorrow.”
After saying that, Arisha lay back on the bed. Kailrop naturally lifted her head and slid a pillow underneath.
It was a habit ingrained in him.
Whenever she returned exhausted and collapsed, he would tuck her in and watch over her sleep.
At least this time, she hadn’t collapsed.
“You said you’d live quietly, but that doesn’t seem to be happening.”
“Yeah.”
Arisha hadn’t expected things to unfold like this either—especially not that rumors in the Grand Ducal household would spread so fast.
“Give me your hand.”
“Why?”
“Your hand.”
“….”
“Hurry.”
“People get flustered when you ask for their hand like that.”
“Stop saying weird things.”
After resisting for a while, Kailrop finally held out his hand.
“I knew it.”
As expected, his hand was a mess—covered in wounds, blisters, and smeared with blood.
This was the Grand Duke’s daughter’s room.
The room of the Hart Grand Ducal family’s daughter, no less.
Naturally, it was protected by dense magical barriers. Forcing his way in meant that even Kailrop couldn’t escape unscathed.
It was fortunate she had opened the door quickly. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been just his hands—his whole body might have ended up like that.
As Arisha channeled her mana, Kailrop’s wounds gradually healed.
Kailrop felt her mana fully.
Golden, radiant mana caused new skin to form and blood to circulate through his hand.
Just like always.
“You could’ve made an appointment and come tomorrow. Why rush like this?”
“Ah, scolded again.”
He spoke lightly, but he couldn’t completely hide the pain. His voice trembled faintly.
“They said it would take at least half a day just to schedule one. How was I supposed to wait that long?”
“You could’ve waited. What’s so urgent?”
Arisha clicked her tongue briefly.
At her urging to move, Kailrop flexed his now-healed fingers.
“I guess I wasn’t in my right mind.”
You’d never guess.
How insane I became on the day you lost your life.
How hard I’m trying to hide that fact.
You have no idea.
“Don’t ever do this again.”
“Okay.”
“This isn’t that big of a deal.”
With those final words, Arisha closed her eyes.
“Sleeping?”
“……”
After watching her quietly for a moment, Kailrop asked softly—but Arisha simply kept her eyes closed, breathing evenly.
What time is it? Not even eleven yet.
She used to be unable to sleep unless she collapsed from exhaustion. Now she fell asleep within five minutes of lying down.
“She falls asleep this easily even with me right in front of her… should I be happy that she trusts me, or upset?”
At least acknowledge me a little.
Suppressing his turbulent emotions, Kailrop gently tucked Arisha’s hand—slightly poking out from the blanket—back inside.
As he watched her sleeping face, her earlier words echoed in his mind.
“This isn’t that big of a deal.”
A big deal…
Looking at Arisha bundled in the blanket, Kailrop murmured quietly,
“It’s always a big deal to me.”
Your breath. Your voice.
Every one of them is as big as an entire world to me.
That day, standing blankly in the rain during your funeral.
That day, staring emptily at a system window that never replied.
He had felt an indescribable helplessness and despair.
So he never wanted to experience that again.
Never again.
“So don’t get sick, and don’t disappear.”
Stay here like this, just as you are.
Because a world without you is nothing but hell.
Watching Arisha sleep soundly, Kailrop silently swallowed the emotions threatening to overflow.
