“Violetta, would kindly tend to those children over there?”

“Those elves? Will do…”

Violetta obediently and quietly did Master’s request and swiftly heads to Casablanca and Hibiscus lying over in the distance.

She examines the two with magic.

“This is…?! Traces of Astlan’s Ira?!”

Violetta’s eyes widened with the sudden discovery. But she shook it off and prioritizes on tending the two unconscious elves. She held back her questions probably because she probably thinks that it is not best to ask me under such circumstances.

I’m quite scared of her right now.

I cannot summon any anger towards her as remembering how her eyes earlier resembled someone with strong obsession.

She is right. She is, logically speaking, the one in the right. Whatever she had with Milin is not deep. More to say, it might be even shallow that Milin’s existence is something mere to Violetta.

But I don’t like it, the way Violetta looks at Milin. It stings my heart as Milin is someone dear to me. The same thing applies to Violetta.

What is a dead person to a living one?

Thinking this, my heart is like being pricked by a thousand needles.

I know I need to accept Milin’s death but I know I can’t do that right now, nor in the upcoming days, weeks, or even months. It’s hard to tell when.

I am torn apart.

I don’t want to be so distance to Violetta but I still can’t accept how she shrugs off Milin’s death as nothing. Even if she apologizes for that, it already made a huge gap between her and me.

But there’s no use thinking of that right now. We are in a middle of chaos.

As I was deep in my thoughts, Violetta summons her dimensional storage and took out two bottles filled with deep red liquid inside it.

“These two have strained themselves to the limit. Their stamina has reached its breaking point and their body automatically went limp and they lost consciousness.”

Violetta muttered to herself whilst proceeding with the examination on Casablanca and Hibiscus.

Master who is carrying Milin in his cradle stands to my side and speaks in a soft tone.

“What Violetta took out is a vitality vial that helps the recovery of stamina. The effect is immediate. It will immediately course throughout the body helping the person to recover their stamina faster.”

“…”

“It’s a potion I and Violetta created together way back. Using a ground tusk of a Beast Mammoth, dried bay leaf from a dryad that is commonly found in Land of Greenwoods, the elven continent, and some wild herbs, we created an innovative potion. It becomes a big boom when we spread the information about its creation to our fellow researchers and alchemists.”

“…”

“Asagao, Violetta may seem very mature and intelligent woman but… to tell you the truth, she is a bit of a crank.”

“…”

“She distances herself from the majority and will always stay behind even in the minority. She chooses people she will associate will not because she hates others but, she has experienced so many loss. She is not completely numb to it. She is still scared to lose someone dear to her.”

“Eh…?”

“So please…”

Master stops on his track for a second and looks at me directly in the eyes.

“Please, Asagao… don’t let this be a gap between the two of you.  Won’t you look out for her?”

“Master… don’t talk like that… Milin just…”

“Please…”

“I’ll try…that’s the best answer I can give right now.”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Even so, that’s reassuring.”

As our brief conversation ends, Violetta finished tending to Casablanca and Hibiscus and after a few moments…”

“Hnngghh…where…?”

“Ugghh…my body…hurts…Casablanca…”

Both of them regain their consciousness whilst holding their body.

“O-ow…w-why does…everywhere…hurts so much…?!”

“Uwaah! *hic* Casablanca…i-it hurts!?”

“A-also…who are you?!”

“Yeah…! Who…you…?!”

The two exclaimed and widened their eyes at the sight of Violetta.

“Don’t worry, I am not an enemy. Be assured, my intentions are good. I am a friend of…Asagao… she is over right there.”

On their query, Violetta assures them that she is not an enemy and told them that we are companions while pointing at my direction.

The two peers at my place by tilting their heads slowly but, they only meet with pain.

“Ow..! My body…booo…it hurts…!”

“It hurts everywhere…! Achiee!”

“Achieee! I-i-it’s freaking cold too!”

“Brrr… my body is shaking…”

Because it is still raining, the two immediately feels the coldness of the atmosphere and began sneezing and shaking.

As I see them reacting normally to the weather, my body caught up with the feeling of coldness and I began to shiver. I hold my shoulders with my hands and I can only inhale cold air that invokes a feeling of damp and sticky feeling.

“Oh… it seems that you two are feeling muscle sore all over, huh…”

“Sore..?!”

“Soreness?!”

“Also, the rain is about to end.”

As what Violetta said, the downpour immediately stops. The sky began to clear up and a ray of lights peered through the clouds.

Violetta draws out dry towels from her dimensional storage and hands it to Casablanca and Hibiscus.

The two gladly accepts it and started dabbing their wet dripping body with it. The two then casually held out both head to each other to dry each other’s hair.

Meanwhile, Violetta approaches me.

Remembering what she did to me earlier, my wasn’t able to resist from drawing back from her. I clung to master’s side.

“Ah…”

“Asagao… I… just want to give you this...dry towel…”

As what Violetta said, she is stretching her hand to me with the towel.

I just peer my hand from Master’s back and grab it slowly from her.

Master just calmly and quietly stares at what happened while Violetta’s face was so apologetic to the point that she looks like she is going to tear up any moment.

I start drying myself with the presented towel.

Since most of my clothes are fantastic, they just dried up by themselves. But still, my panties feel sticky and damp. Not to mention, this is the only pair that I have now.

“Hey…what happened to that woman?”

“That girl the man carrying…what happened?”

Innocently asking, Casablanca and Hibiscus hurls some questions to Violetta.

Flabbergasted, Violetta made a gloomy and sad expression from their query. I, realizing that they are talking about Milin and Violetta’s is the one who needs to answer, I just frown and braced myself from her answer.

I wish from the bottom of my heart that…please…just lie to them… lie to them that she is someone important…so, I, myself will believe in that lie too…

Please…

“She is… someone I really don’t have any connection with. She isn’t that important to me at all.”

My heart felt like it was crushed. It is like a glass shattered into pieces. Her words pierce my heart and it rang in my ear over and over.

“But… I know that she is a caring person. She risked her like for that one she loves and served. Her loyalty to that person…up until the very end is undying. She already passed away and we want to give her a proper burial.”

“…”

“…”

“I am sorry that the two of you have to hear something gruesome as death, but I don’t want children to be ignorant. I want the two of you to know that that person is very kind and very gentle.”

She said those words with no tint of lie. While rejecting the notion that Milin is important to her, she also included how Milin is when she was alive.

The two elves approach Milin’s body after what Violetta told them. They bow their heads towards her shakily as the pain from their muscle soreness still, attacks them. After bowing for about ten seconds, they clasp their hands as if they are praying.

I don’t how to react from what Violetta said…

Considering the Milin just died, I can’t easily assemble my thoughts…

………

Violetta then started walking towards me. Her face is still apologetic and I just averted my eyes from her.

“Asagao… as…what I said earlier… I will be sending you back to the Astlan Capital Castle… please…don’t be stubborn…”

“…”

“Let’s talk it out when everything is fixed, okay?”

“No… I don’t want to return…”

“Asagao…! I…”

“Unless… I see my friends… unless… I know that they are safe… I don’t want to go back…”

“E-eh…? M-Mrothgir…! Help me out here…”

Violetta asks Master for assistance for persuading me. Master looks at my direction and heaves a big sigh.

“Let her…”

“Mrothgir!”

“She just wants to see her friends. Do you think it’s bad to stop an honest and kind motive?”

“But…given the situation...”

“Then we’ll just have to protect them.”

“Haaa… until we assure her that they are safe… right?”

“Yes.”

As if reaching a conclusion… Violetta massages her temples and starts to speak to me again.

“Alright…Asagao… as long as you know that they are safe, you will return immediately, okay?”

“Yes…”

And with that, I, together with Master who is carrying Milin, Violetta, and the Twins, we start walking towards the Fortress-like castle.

The sky is still covered with rain clouds.

Ray of lights is sparsely scattered throughout the sea of clouds.

.

.

.

Because the front gate of the Fortress is barricaded, we are now on our way to the large field where what Master said, is the training ground for Dragon kin’s who gained their Elder Dragon form and practice battle here.

It’s wide and spacious and it extends as far as where the eyes can see. But considering dragons with unbelievable sizes battle here, this much should be sufficient for them.

It’s a field with white marble lays out, surrounded by tall walls. Outside the walls are lushes of greenery of tall plants, attached to the mountain beside this place.

According to Master, this place is called Abode of the Dragons.

………

But, to our surprise, before we can even make a single step inside the field, someone come flying from above, crashing against the wall a bit far from us, creating an exploding sound.

BOOM!

Dust rises from that impact.

We stared intently at the figure of someone in there…

And we are right from being vigilant.

Master, Violetta and I felt the ominous and terrifying presence coming from that man.

We all took a step back and prepares ourselves.

A chill runs down on my spine. I am already familiar with his presence and no doubt this man is…

“O-o-o-ouch! That freaking hurt! Sheesh, the man doesn’t really know how to hold back!”

“Nil!”

“Yo! Asagao! What’s up!?~”

Seeing him casually greets me, my blood boiled up and anger fills my head as I remember what he has done to Higan and Alstroe!

But, at that moment, someone comes rushing at him…

BOOM!

“GUAAHHH!”

“Eat this!”

It grabs him by the nape and throws him far away.

It’s Fonfon!

“Asagao! You’re safe!”

“Yes…but…”

He looks at Milin’s lifeless body and closes his eyes.

“I see…but… I cannot tend to anyone’s feeling right now because…”

While holding the two soul weapons, both swords, in his hands, Astlan’s Ira lingers around his body like a mist.

That’s without a doubt, the power originally meant for him.

“I will take care of the man who caused you grief!”