The moment Orion opened the door, Amelia froze for a second.

Orion was in emotional turmoil, and it showed on his face. His gaze was darker than usual, and his grip on the door handle was crushing it.

Even though he was smiling, she could feel it.

He wasn't doing well.

"Is it time to eat already? Sorry to have made you come all this way like this. You could have just asked me, you know?"

She entered the room without turning away.

"Orion, are you alright? You don't look fine to me."

"Huh? Ah, yes. I'm fine, as you can see."

He didn't expect this question, so he gently tapped his hip to show he was in good shape.

"I'm not talking about your body. What's happening to you right now? Did you not realize how miserable you look?"

"What do you mean? I don't look different from usual."

He looked over his body, but didn't find anything noteworthy about his appearance.

"You're looking awful, your gaze is dark, like your mind is somewhere far away."

"You're exerting too much strength, your tone is also colder than usual. It's not like you!"

He paused for a second, before finally acknowledging what she meant.

"I might have let my emotions run wild. I haven't had any way to vent recently, and it kept adding up yesterday."

"Do you want to talk about it after we eat?"

Amelia sat on the bed while placing the tray that she was holding on it.

"I'll think about it, I'm still unsure whether you should know or not. This trip wasn't supposed to be this troublesome."

He sat next to her, and handed him his plate of vegetable salad and roasted meat slices.

As he was feeling down, the food he had in his hands felt warm.

Noticing his troubled expression, Amelia smiled brightly in return, in hope of turning his feelings around.

"I thought we'd eat something different, so I used fire magic to cook meat. Eating the same dehydrated meat was getting boring, so I hope you enjoy it."

Looking back at his plate, Orion began to eat without a word.

Orion took a bite of the salad and the meat, and Amelia finally saw a sincere smile on his face.

Continuing to eat in silence, Amelia kept peeking at him while eating her share.

'Even when he is preoccupied, he still makes me feel needed. This is really unfair. Something as simple as a meal is enough to make his worries fade for a moment.'

After ten minutes, the plates were emptied, leaving Orion to think about what to do.

'I don't want to, but there's no point in keeping her in the dark. This is something she needs to know sooner than later.'

He finally brought himself to speak about his conversation with Tiohr-nam and the help she required.

The reason he looked for the fairies was also an important part of the conversation, which he kept hidden from her until now.

"Thanks for the food, Amelia, it was delicious."

He lifted his head up and, the plate still in his hands, began to speak as his gaze became lost in his thoughts.

"I think you have to know why I'm annoyed, and why we are here. There are a few details I purposely avoided telling you."

A long sigh escaped his mouth, as he closed his eyes.

"Mostly because I don't know what to make of the situation."

Amelia was intently listening, as she placed her plate on the tray next to her. She stared at him, as his expression changed once again.

-

"I had anticipated it the moment you saw through me. Tell me what you expect me to do."

"It is no simple task, so let me explain everything."

Tiohr-nam's expression turned serious, as her smile turned upside down.

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"The item you are looking for, your father's ring, is in my possession as you know it. I do not know how you learned about the fairies having it, but we indeed received it before he passed away long ago."

"Your father was a hero for the fairies, he protected many of our members when I, my past incarnation, began proactively creating more fairies."

The memories of a horrible past flashed in her mind.

"He single-handedly fought against the many factions that exploited and hunted my children."

"As you know, his land was already at war, and he had his hands full. But that was not enough to stop him from flying across the whole continent to protect us."

Hearing stories about his father, Orion listened without interjecting.

"One day, the day that pillar appeared in the sky, we saw four lights break off from it, and one of those flew directly towards our forest."

"At first, this even made me skeptical about it. Unable to understand what could have crashed near the lake, as I was still an underdeveloped tree, I used my roots to track the item."

"After many days of searching, I managed to find it. It was overwhelming with lightning magic, and it had the signature of your father all over it. At that moment, it occurred to me."

A solemn look appeared on her face, as she showed deep sorrow.

"He was gone, and this was the ring he always showed with pride. My thoughts are that even when he disappeared from this world, he wished for us to remain well."

"So before the humans trampled on our forest and on my children, I used a fraction of its power, and opened a gateway between two realms."

"With the power given to each Remnant, and with the appropriate number of resources, it went smoothly."

"Many of us live on different planes, or even hidden in plain sight through us Remnants."

Suddenly, Orion felt a little perplexed. His father was protecting the fairies, which was something he wasn't prepared for.

He knew the angels had a relationship with fairies, but never in his wildest dreams was he expecting his father to hide such an important fact.

'Father is such a liar... I thought there was no information about the fairies?'

'He completely concealed this from me. Even mother is seemingly unaware of this. It's possible it was his pride that made him act this way.'

Still, Orion kept listening to the tree intently.

"But, something happened that was out of my control."

"I certainly succeeded in creating a link between the two realms, and sealed its entrance, but I failed in sensing the horrors encroached on it."

Tiohr-nam left a silence between her words as if she were asking Orion to ask about it, which he obliged.

"What do you mean? I heard there were many problems occurring for the fairies, but you make it sound as if-"

"As if they were already plenty since the beginning? This is precisely the case."

Surprise appeared on his face, as she seemed to have been waiting for this question.

"I don't understand? I looked around with my ability many times when I walked toward the mansion. There were no signs of struggle anywhere."

The woman nodded.

"Because we are not fighting in the open. The problems are underground."

"Underground? Do you have a mole problem?"

Orion tried to make a joke, and Tiohr-nam went along with it.

"As if, young man. Do you think simple moles would hurt me this badly?"

"No, which is the reason for my confusion. You're still hiding some details from me."

His smile died, as he watched the Avatar of the tree tremble slightly. The branches in particular were shacking.

"He followed us even in this place. Encroaching a fragment of his power into the ring, that monster used it to breach the realm barrier, creating corrupted beasts around my roots."

"Are you referring to Elliott?"

A severe frown formed on Orion's face, as it wasn't making sense.

'Something's off. Elliott is definitely strong, but he isn't so powerful as to create mutated species, isn't he? He can't be the one creating them.'

Noticing the emotions on the man's face, Tiohr-nam answered.

"That human was indeed a threat, but he was sealed when this happened. I'm talking about Miasma."

"Miasma?"

Orion plunged into his memories to find a hint as to what she was talking about.

'Miasma... I don't know. I feel like I know about it, but I can't recall it.'

"Yes, it is the remaining will of a monster that was threatened the world before factions were born."

"As an old living being, do you know about the time before the Remnants?"

"Not much, sadly. Us Remnants were already living on this planet for a long time, but we kept away from the rest of the world."

"What intrigued us was the battle between the Hero and this monster."

"The ones that knew him were the other two in the room."

"Dramia and Drania were not fairies at first. I had to transform them into one. If you want details, feel free to ask them, as they are older than my current incarnation."

Seeing the confused look on his face, Tiohr-nam coughed.

"I am getting distracted, so let me get back to the main topic."

"Miasma's power was encroached on the ring, which in turn created dangerous beasts that kept growing in strength as they ate at my roots, leaving me in this state."

"I am only alive because of the life force of the Remnant of Protection's ability. By protecting a part of my soul, I am able to revive myself."

"But now, it has become impossible. I don't have the energy left to even do that."

With a nod, Orion acknowledged the problem.

"So this is your last chance at stopping this?"

"It is. Under my roots, I sealed the ring. The creatures kept gnawing at them, trying to get their hands on it. Lucky, their effort was in vain. But, it is only a matter of time before it happens."

"Which is why I am forced to ask for your help. You want the ring, and I want to live, to protect my children."

While the matter was simple to understand, it wasn't the end of it. Knowing that, Orion asked a question.

"Why did you say it wouldn't be an easy task?"

"This... How can I say it without getting on your wrong side?"

Anxiety filled him as she pondered in silence.

'Is it that dangerous? If we're talking about killing a few of these corrupted beasts, then it's no big deal, isn't it?'

But he was mistaken. The situation was a nightmare he wasn't ready to hear about.

"More than ten thousand creatures are in the tunnels leading to the ring."

Orion's eyes opened wide, thinking that he hadn't heard correctly.

"The tunnels are narrow, and there's also a concern with the usage of magic in there. Your magic should work, but the five elements are less active, because of the proximity to my roots."

"Wha- Are you serious?! This is considerably more than I can take on!"

The tree's Avatar closed her eyes, and turned her head away. Orion glared at her as he tried to make sense of the whole situation.

"This is not possible, I am not that powerful!"

"Ten thousands beasts! Do you realize what that means?"

Giving her a chance to continue, he asked another question after sighing.

"How bad is it down there?"

"It is dreadful."

"The fairies have to send most of their forces to repel a horde of them each week, causing more casualties on our side than on the beasts' side. Fairies were not meant to fight. The only fairy born with the purpose to fight was..."

"Karteira."

-

"Do you understand now? The reason I refuse to bring you with me?"

Orion turned to Amelia, which had the most horrifying expression on her face, her hands hiding her mouth.