Chapter 42: Troubled Girl.
*Amelie’s POV*
Mana Crystals, witches, or really anyone that uses magic, needs such things. If they do not get them, then their progress on how powerful their magic is, would just completely stop.
The Mana Crystals that you can buy, are all of low quality. I knew of a dungeon that houses deposits of extremely high quality Mana Crystals, but I couldn’t get them at all. The reason is simple. One or a hundred common Mana Crystals? Easy peasy!
You can handle them with no problems at all. Pure or high quality ones? Even just one or two, would cause your magic to go haywire. I only use magic, so I couldn’t defend myself from those stupid Goblins. I am a recluse, so it’s not like I knew someone that could help me mine out those deposits. I mean, I do, I am just not one who would ask such things.
One day, after foraging for some potion resources, I felt as if someone had entered my alert barrier. The presence was decently weak, but it felt odd. Like some kind of monster had entered my home…
When I arrived back at my house, it was completely fine, with no signs that a monster had rampaged, and destroyed it. I was even more confused at that point…
With caution, I went into my house. Everything seemed to be perfectly fine. I detected a presence in my room, so I went up stairs to check what it was. It couldn’t have been a pervert, that broke into my house, right? This forest is too dangerous, and far too off in the sticks for something like that to happen…
Once in the room, I found a little girl, who was peacefully sleeping upon my bed. She even had a smile on her face… Going on how she is a child, and generally, people get angry when you wake them up from sleep, I decided to let her wake up on her own. I not very good with children, especially crying ones…
The girl was surely tired, as she slept for many hours. But eventually, she finally woke up. Seemingly, very happy with how well she slept.
Right away, I could tell that she wasn’t just a child. No child, even one that was heavily abused, would be so calm in this situation. Let alone walk into a house, that I specifically made to look creepy, and then just sleep in it.
I felt bad, but I needed to get a good look at her soul. It wasn’t the soul of a child, nor that of a normal human. She easily revealed that she could use a System, to which she proved her use of it, via telling me my name. It was possible that she is some very skilled assassin, that was after my life, but she even told me my last name, and the name of my coven.
That coven was destroyed many, many years ago, while I was still young. No information of that coven is still around, as I made absolutely sure to erase any evidence of it ever existing at all.
Either because she was afraid of me, or just because she is nice, she even wrote out my entire Status for me. I was… not as strong as I originally thought that I was… This sparked me to want to get stronger!
Her words were true, and even better, she had claimed ownership of that dungeon. The little bead that she gave me proved that. Well, it proved that she had access to a dungeon, but not that she was the one to clear it, or if it wasn’t even the same one. Since I was very excited, I handed her a book on learning magic, and then went to her dungeon. Completely forgetting that she couldn’t even read said book…
As luck would have it, said dungeon was the one that I’ve had my eyes on. The dungeon was completely different than before. That girl, Celia, she must have an amazing imagination to create such a pretty dungeon like this…
If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
The Goblins that ruled this place, were now enslaved. With their only lot in life just mining Mana Crystals. As I originally thought, the Mana Crystals in this dungeon are the best that I have ever seen in my entire life. And Celia gave me her approval to use them as I see fit… I really need to repay her for this. That is what I thought at the time.
Not even a few days later, a magical message bird appeared in her dungeon. I was still in the process of… well, processing the Mana Crystals in me, so I was planning on ignoring the message, just as I’ve always done.
Surely, there couldn’t be anything that would need my attention. Probably just another dragon, or giant running amok. I am not the only person who can deal with such things, just the best that they have contact with.
With an annoyed expression, I walked over to the bird, that was standing on a pile of logs. Why Celia moved all of these logs into this dungeon, I have no idea, but it was still funny. What wasn’t funny, was the message that I received…
The message detailed how a curious girl showed up. Said girl had easily killed an entire squad of well trained knights, that were pretending to be bandits. The explanation’s that the sender had come up with, was that either she was an ancient evil Goddess, or something even worse.
Said sender was the head of the Guild. She was always a blockhead, so her not realizing what the girl actually was, well, let’s just say that it was a good thing. The girl, I had a hunch, no, I was absolutely sure that it was Celia. Though, the girl was described as looking like, and claiming to be 16 years of age.
Knowledge of those with Systems, would tell you that they can evolve. It wouldn’t be that much of a stretch to say that the reason why she is older now, is because she did something along those lines.
Using the mini dungeon core that Celia entrusted to me, I teleported back to my house, and then quickly flew off to save her. She is currently in the kingdom of Tuseoun. Which means that annoying snake-like bitch, Kirva, will be there. Hopefully, Celia can refuse to answer for long enough until I get there…
Luckily, by the time I made it there, Celia had made the right call, and was planning on running away. She looked far older than before, but I could still recognize her. In the short period since I last saw her, she had matured into a beautiful young lady.
Kirva… I remember a long time ago, when she was young and prim, she begged me to stop her aging with time magic. Time magic is very rare to be able to actually use it, but I can. Kirva had always messed with me, and in terrible, terrible ways, so there was no way that I would help her out.
Seeing her damn near shriveled up like a dried grape, brought a smile to my lips. Now she looks just like a snake, and not that tricksy young lady that worm herself into the hearts and lives of anyone she pleases.
But I am not here for this fool, and as luck would have it, I seem to have made it just in time, and going by how desperate Kirva looked, they most likely hadn’t gotten any information out of Celia. I protected Celia via my name, which carries a lot of weight in this kingdom, and around the world, then I stormed off with her in tow.
Celia… I didn’t realize it at the time, and it seems that even she didn’t know about it, but this girl was clearly lacking in the care department. I fed her some food, and it was like I just saved her from the brink of starvation…
Despite how well put together she presents herself, this girl was lacking a lot. Not in skill, or confidence, but love and affection. That woman Yona, I don’t think that she tried hard to make Celia like her. It’s not like I tried hard either, all we did was show her just a little bit of kindness, and now it’s like she would give us the world…
Rather or not that she wanted this, I forcefully enrolled her into Tuseoun’s academy. Which was world renowned. She needed friends that she could actually trust. I was a little sorry that I did that, but that was before Celia broke down, and told me many things about her.
Somehow, I, the recluse that barely talks to one person every ten years, guessed what this girl was missing. Once she calmed down, I took her to the nicest clothes store in this entire kingdom, and bought her many clothes to wear. I even had more made in her size, which I had sent to my estate.
It was kinda hard to convince her that my estate is where she will be living for at least a few years, but she eventually gave in. Or rather, she didn’t really voice her disagreement with it. I introduced her to my maids, had some tea with her, and then I left the estate.
I need to set some things straight with Yona. Though, I did not tell Celia that. She might be an adult on the inside, but that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t need help, or people to take care of her. Come to think of it, I did send a message to my maids to prepare a room…
I did that just on the off chance that I decided to take in Celia as my own child. But that was before her age change. Just imagining the look on her face when she sees the most likely, very girly room designed for a little girl, is enough to put a big smile on my face.