Chapter 229 – Poongrim Volcano

The sparkling vitality of the Edelman’s house faded, and a silence no different from foul water fell.

“Her.”

I read the three letters from cover to cover.

Did I miss even one letter? Could it be that something has been erased?

I’ve read and re-read it over and over again.

Even the desperate parents’ hearts did not change the contents of the letter, which was already stained with ink.

“Honey··.”

“…”

Dorian remembered Alice’s smiling face and the incident written on the paper.

With intensified emotions, I covered Yongin’s sharp protruding molars with the palm of my hand and closed my eyes.

Right. Right. Right. Right.

He finished his thoughts after a heavy atmosphere where only the sound of knocking on the table spread.

He made a decision with sharp pupils.

“I have to leave right now.”

“I’ll prepare too!”

As soon as Dorian spoke, Jane got up and hurried to get ready.

‘Roman… What the hell is this guy…’

What are you doing after following along to the capital to protect Alice?

Hard scales and sharp nails were sparsely exposed, and his hands naturally gained strength.

“Whoa-“

As I got up from my seat and let out a breath and calmed down, the scales that rose from time to time hid themselves on my skin.

The warlike aura also diminished in his eyes.

As always, a letter from her daughter arrived without notice.

I don’t know if it’s a letter saying you’re doing well. The content in it was the problem.

The letter was clearly in Alice’s handwriting.

There were too many things written that I couldn’t understand to say that it was a daughter’s writing that was broken.

You’ll have to go and hear the details.

It seems like something happened to her daughter who left for the capital from Edelman, so how could she be working carelessly?

Less well-

Dorian, who left the house and hung up a note on the Mutu Guild, turned his back and looked at a building.

“…”

A swordsmanship guild with Roman’s father who left for the capital with Alice.

Jane gently grabbed Dorian’s arm, who had a hard expression on his face as if he was thinking a lot.

“Before you get emotional, you should listen carefully to Alice’s story. You don’t know what happened to each other, right?”

“I see…”

Could it be a hindrance to Alice’s career as an adventurer or her request?

Even if I was worried or wanted to see her, her husband and I never went to visit her first.

As a parent, it is terrifying and disturbing to go to see her daughter’s face for something that cannot be laughed at.

…
…

‘Was there such a territory in the empire?’

Edelmando The Empire’s people living in the capital are rural people that most people don’t know about.

This estate was really a corner among corners.

Even if you ride through the gate, you have to catch the wagon and run until the sun goes down.

Dorian and Jane spared no money to see her bedridden daughter as soon as possible.

Even though I paid an extra fee for the fastest wagon and ran.

It was a dark time when the sun had set since the entrance of the village was visible.

Dorian and Jane, who greeted the coachman as soon as the carriage stopped, did not even look around properly.

I visited the church by asking passers-by.

A small church where the cries of the sick echo openly.

I felt the ominous smell of the medicine that was thicker than that of Edelman’s Church.

She felt that Dorian was the only one, and Jane held her hand tightly to her uneasiness.

“The letter will be fine.”

After briefly comforting Jane, he looked for Alice with the utmost courtesy to the passing priest.

“Ah! Brother Alice’s…! Come this way!”

Guided by a friendly priest, the couple passed through rooms filled with the sick and headed into the church.

A recovery room with a proper door, not a curtain covering the entrance.

Even if you are a gold grade adventurer who is treated as a signboard in a small territory.

It would be rare for aristocrats or guilds outside of the capital to pay special attention to a gold-grade adventurer belonging to the capital.

‘Does the church have any reason to give Alice such special treatment…?’

No matter how gifted her daughter was, she was, if you think soberly.

Dorian turned to the priest at the door and asked again.

“Priest… Is this really the right place?”

“If you’re looking for a gold-ranked adventurer, Brother Alice, this room is right for you.”

“…”

Unlike other hospital rooms, there is no limit on visiting hours.

Leaving only a word to ask if you need anything, the priest of the church retreated and disappeared.

After a moment of silence, the couple cautiously knocked on the door.

Knock. Knock.

-Yes! Come on in!

Reassured by the lively voice that did not match the hospital bed, Dorian carefully opened the door.

Sigh.

How long has it been since you sent the letter?

Alice’s eyes widened when she saw her parents in her recovery room.

“···Mom and dad!”

Where do you go for clothes that are good for activities?

A splint and a bandage wrapped around the leg in a baggy hospital gown.

Seeing her daughter unable to get out of her bed, Jane wept as she approached Alice and hugged her.

“Alice··!”

“Mom, why are you crying? I’m really fine!”

Dorian was at least relieved when he saw Alice comforting Jane with a pat on her face, apart from her appearance.

First of all, resolve the affection that has accumulated between family members who have been together for a long time.

Only then did the couple begin to unravel their curiosity about the contents of the letter.

…

Alice’s head stopped for a moment at the story of asking back the contents of her letter.

The moment you understand the facts. Her hands were so strong that she almost smashed her bed.

‘I didn’t even tell my parents…?’

I don’t know where Roman is now and what he’s doing.

Although we haven’t confirmed her death, more than a week has passed.

Of course, I thought I would inform her family of the facts about her whereabouts.

“Head hurts··.”

Alice was pulled taut, than in a rage that seemed to break her sanity.

I felt a clear sense of emptiness about the time she lived and her interpersonal relationships.

‘Should I understand…?’

I know Roman’s fragile and swaying inner side, having seen it while living in Edelman.

If Alice and Roman were hanging out in childhood, wouldn’t they have switched genders?

I used to hear jokes from Edelman’s adults and people around him.

It is possible to understand why, even if it is forced, if it is attached at random.

Considering Roman’s tendency, it is most likely that he had to prepare his mind to inform bad news.

While coming out of the dungeon, Roman and Isolde might have had accidents like injuries.

Judging from the fact that I couldn’t see it when I looked for it in this church, the possibility of that was slim, but…

‘…But why am I thinking of this?’

I don’t know.

Alice felt something in her chest being cut into chunks.

She felt an unpleasant feeling for the first time in her life.

‘I’d rather go alone than go together.’

Now, she doesn’t seem to mind running into Roman in the capital.

“Under-!”

Leaning over her body on her bed.

Jane sat down beside Alice, who was laughing her exhausted, and held her hand.

As she rode in, she called her daughter’s name to bring up the story she had been thinking about.

“Alice.”

“··Huh?”

Dorian and Jane know the way her daughter is going.

As in life, no matter what path you walk, it is bound to be a thorny path.

In particular, the paths that mixed races walk have thicker, denser, and sharper thorns.

A heart that supports her daughter for the future she dreams of and wants, and a heart that does not want to see her daughter thrown into her harsh reality.

In Jane’s mind, the scales that hadn’t properly weighed her fluttered.

“Why don’t you stop being an adventurer and return to Edelman?”

Eventually, after much thought, she spoke up.

If it is Alice’s outstanding talent and skill, she can follow in Dorian’s footsteps.

Deepening her studies of her magical theories and history, she can come under Jane’s and do her research and live comfortably.

Or if she’s interested in something new, she’ll be willing to try anything.

At Jane’s words, Alice showed her teeth coolly and she laughed.

“Mom, I’m also scared of the future with this experience. I might go through the same thing while making the next request right away.”

“Then··!”

Jane realizes her cold reality and is heartbroken at the sight of her wounded child.

If Alice stops being an adventurer when her body is healthy and strong, she can endure even that.

“But I don’t want to leave like this. I’m sorry.”

“…”

Seemingly satisfied with Alice’s unwillingness to back down, Dorian nodded her head with a smile on her face.

“If you’ve made up your mind to do so even after going through hard times… Work hard.”

“Honey··!!”

Far from trying once more to convince her, she saw her husband caressing Alice and grabbed Jane’s throbbing brow.

****

As she left Alice in the recovery room of her church, she stopped by the estate’s bookstore.

In a bookstore with an impressive old man who is deaf but quick to calculate money like a ghost.

Having even bought a children’s book for Gleipnir, she immediately left the manor.

The time when the stars rose.

The trees were wide open on both sides, so I took a spot with a good view of the Milky Way and made a bonfire.

‘It’s nice here.’

Not a place for a good night’s sleep, but a place for concentration.

The firewood that was still moist made a perfect environment for reading a book with a crackling sound.

“Hmm~”

An old book taken out of the inventory.

It was left behind by the third vagabond, who was decapitated as soon as he appeared.

Sarak-

Will the book written “Punglimhwasan” Be torn?

I tilted the book and opened the first page.

[When moving, like a gale. Like a quiet forest when not moving. Like a raging fire when hitting the enemy. Like a heavy mountain when defending against attacks. ]

Even if I am an outsider with no proficiency in writing.

There is definitely something different about the firm incision and strong handwriting.

However, this book is empty from the very next page.

With the front page at the end, the back of the book is all blank.

‘Shall we do it right away?’

When mana was applied to this blank paper, the master was called Kai’s tiger.

You can choose and learn one of four teachings from Shingen.

After much thought, I have decided what to learn, so now I just have to learn.

Gee-!

The book that absorbed the mana shivered and began to glow.

End with that.

It’s quiet, so only the sound of fire swallowing firewood reverberates.

“Uh?”

Just like the game, the entire book flashes with light, but there is no further progress.

When it comes to felt changes, I feel a slight vibration as if I have feelings for the subject of the book.

‘What? Come on?’

Even if I shake the book around while continuing to ask questions, I see it, fold it, open it, and touch it over and over again.

A woman’s voice rang in my head.

– This is truly deplorable. A person who continues to make progress with Rakshasa. How can you seek instruction from a mere ghost?

‘It’s absurd…’

What nonsense she’s talking about because she’s blocking the second shape.

As she was swearing inwardly, her voice was heard once more.

-If you feel stuffy… Come quickly to the image of the main seat.