“Are you okay?”

When Yurine collided with a man they didn't recognize and fell to the ground, Nerissa was right next to her, standing between her and the strange-looking man.

Since Yurine was much younger than her, Nerissa did it out of an instinct to protect someone younger than her.

“Yes, I'm fine.”

Yurine's clothes were all white, so they were dirty when she fell on the floor, and there was a green grass mark on her thigh that Yu would be angry to see.

“We apologize.”

When Yurine stood up, Nerissa turned to the man Yurine had bumped into and bowed her head in apology. Then she grabbed Yurine by the wrist and started to walk away from this strange man who did not give off a pleasant vibe.

“Let's go, Yurine. Mr. Valarfin will worry if I don't take you to him.”

Yurine was also uncomfortable with the air emitted by this man who smelled bad. So much so that she didn't even look at him. When she let Nerissa drag her away, the man's voice nailed her in place.

“Neko.”

She was used to her new name, so hearing her old name, which she hadn't expected to hear, made her tremble. Nerissa was worried when she suddenly stopped.

“I've been looking for you, where have you been?”

His voice was deformed, rough. There was a hint of hope and a touch of fear in his words. The strange-looking man was visibly straining to speak.

Yurine slowly turned around. The person calling her was taller than Yu. So she had to raise her head higher than she normally would.

The man was wearing a robe that could only be called a rag. Most of his body was wrapped in bandages, yellowed by stains. His hands were gloved and a sickening smell of burning emanated from his body. Most of his face was hidden under the bandages, but his dark blue eyes were open.

The rest of his face was in a state that Yurine could not bear to look at. The skin was melted and one cheek was hanging down.

Yurine was not afraid of him, only disgusted. She took a step back to get away from him and bumped into Nerissa. Nerissa supported Yurine's back so she wouldn't fall again.

“Is this man someone you know?” Nerissa asked. She was still holding Yurine's wrist, so she took half a step in front of her.

“Sharley?”

Yu had mentioned him. When they went to the police station to give a statement, the strange man wrapped in bandages was mentioned.

Yu suspected it might be Sharley, and Yurine suspected it might be Sharley. Because she didn't know why anyone else would want to call her.

But she also found it hard to believe. She couldn't believe that Sharley had gotten out of there, which he had gotten up and walked out on his own. Because if he could, why would he have called Yurine instead of going to his family first?

“Yes, it's me. I realize I'm hard to recognize.” Although he was clearly struggling and in pain as he spoke, he could not contain his excitement at finally finding Yurine. “Tell me, where is my master?”

Speaking as fast as he could, he brought the subject to his master, Yurine's mother Rie.

Yurine had no answer for that.

“No, the answer is obvious.”

But she did not have the strength to give that answer. Since she herself had steadfastly refused to accept that answer, she could not now articulate it to anyone else.

Sharley, unmelted by the flames, was melting in the face of Yurine's silence. He repeated her question, hoping for an answer.

“Hey, Neko. Where's your mother? Where's my master, my master?”

Sharley reached out her hands to Yurine, but Nerissa pushed Yurine back a step. So Sharley couldn't touch her.

As Yurine's silence continued, Sharley's patience was wearing thin, and finally, unable to contain himself any longer, he shouted.

“SAY IT!”

Normally, Yurine would never back down in front of Sharley. Even during their magic training, she was strong enough to bully Sharley.

But now, when Sharley shouted and walked up to her, she couldn't deny that he was creepy with his new look. Yurine took another step back, clutching her toy.

The three people gathered in the middle of the park were the kind of people who would attract attention even if they were alone. One was a sword fairy, another was also a sword fairy but with white hair and the third looked like a mummy.

And with these three people gathered together, it was not possible for people to turn their heads and go on their way as if nothing was happening.

Especially after Sharley's shouting, they were in the spotlight. Some were reacting to a grown man yelling at a small child, others were just wondering what was going to happen.

“Rie... Where's Rie?”

Yurine could not find the strength to lift her head from the floor and look Sharley in the eye to answer the question.

All she could do was hold back the tears, bite her lip to keep from crying and hug the toy in the hope of emotional support.

“That's enough. Yurine, let's go.”

When Nerissa saw that Yurine was about to cry, she couldn't allow her to stay with Sharley any longer. She didn't want to be here any longer, especially when people were gathering around them.

Nerissa was still holding Yurine's wrist. In the blink of an eye, a purple crystal wall appeared in front of them as she turned and started to walk away to get her out of the park and away from Sharley.

A few people screamed and fled the scene as the wall suddenly appeared, but the majority were still watching.

“Where are you going, Neko? Why don't you answer me?”

Sharley was struggling to breathe and holding his chest with his hand as he spoke. His body already exhausted, he had pushed himself even harder by casting a spell on top of it, and in a moment of excitement he had spent the mana he should have used to keep his body going on building the crystal wall.

“What do you mean with Yurine, Neko? Who is this Valarfin bastard? What are these people doing to you?”

When he took a step towards Yurine, Nerissa couldn't hold back any longer. Already angry that magic had been used against her, the sword fairy took Sharley's last step as the last straw and pointed her palm at her.

There was no wind magic coming out of the palm of Nerissa's hand. There were no crystals, no light, no water or stone, none of it. Just by raising her hand in the air and pointing her palm, Sharley flew through the air for ten meters, rolling several times before coming to a stop on the ground.

The people watching them became more frightened and screamed. For them, what Nerissa was doing was incomprehensible, but Yurine knew what it was.

What Nerissa was doing was an advanced level of magic that was not easily learned. Her mother used the name ‘Mana Manipulation’ to describe it to Yurine.

There were several types of magic that a mage could use. The first one had no common name, but was called hereditary or elemental magic.

The second was the forbidden black magic, which Yurine's mother was familiar with.

The third type was called mana manipulation.

Since all spells are cast by transforming mana, they are essentially the same, but what makes mana manipulation special is that it is both invisible and can be shaped entirely at the will of the user.

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If the user so desired, they could turn mana into an invisible hammer and hit someone with it, build a wall of mana to act as a shield, or use it to push someone, as before. What could be done depended on the user's imagination.

An advanced mana manipulator was almost impossible to deal with. The crystal wall could dissipate, the wind wall could be breached, but the manipulated mana was so tightly bound together that it would be impossible for an ordinary mage to overcome it, to resist it.

It was only after a few minutes of focusing that she could see her mother performing a low-level mana manipulation, and all Yurine's attempts had failed.

But the sword fairy next to her, Nerissa, cast this superior level spell, the envy of all wizards, without a second's pause, without a second's thought, without no need to focus, and threw Sharley back as soon as she raised her hand.

Sharley looked at Yurine in astonishment as he stood up hardly. Despite the blow he had received, he didn't care about Nerissa at all.

He was still trying to understand why Yurine was standing in front of him and not next to him, not answering him.

“Neko... Why don't you say something? Tell me, where is Rie?”

Yurine remained silent. This time Sharley spoke in a tearful voice.

“Rie, my love, why don't you tell me what happened to her?” he said in a trembling voice. He stood up.

Sharley's words were not what Yurine wanted to hear.

Sharley's words made Yurine angry.

Yurine was disgusted, disgusted and angered by the way he addressed Rie with a pitiful voice and tearless eyes.

Why had she been doing nothing until now?

Now, standing in front of the blood of the man who had caused her mother's death, and calling Rie that, she could no longer remain silent.

“HOW DARE YOU!” She shouted with all his might. The anger that had built up in a few seconds came out in an ear-splitting rage. “HOW DARE YOU CALL HER THAT! WHEN SHE'S GONE BECAUSE OF YOU! HOW DARE YOU!”

She couldn't force herself to say the word dead, she didn't want to accept her death. She would bring her back, but she couldn't find the words to deny it.

Sharley gasped, his reddened dark blue eyes wide open. His knees shook and couldn't carry him any longer, he felt to the floor.

“SHE'S GONE BECAUSE OF YOUR BASTARD UNCLE! NOW YOU'RE ASKING ME WHERE SHE IS! SHE WOULD HAVE LIVED IF WE HADN'T MET YOU! IT'S BECAUSE OF YOU! SHE'S GONE BECAUSE OF YOU! DAMN YOU ALL! DAMN YOUR ALL FAMILY! DAMN YOU! DAMN YOUR UNCLE! DAMN YOUR MOTHER!”

It was the Bishory family that brought Rie and Yurine to Rolderhelm. They told Rie about the library of the Wizarding Academy and convinced her to come to this sinister land.

With this information in mind, Yurine found someone new to blame. Sharley was just as open to blame as Yu and Salery.

“Master...” Sharley murmured. The reaction that followed stunned both Yurine and everyone present.

Sharley was laughing.

He was laughing as if he had heard the funniest thing in the world. He kept laughing while his horrible laughter made people shudder.

He was gasping when he laughed, coughing, punching the floor.

And he kept laughing.

Yurine watched him with furrowed brows until Sharley suddenly stopped laughing.

“When you say gone... What do you mean?”

Sharley shook her head from side to side, trying to deny what he had heard. Sharley's lips were crooked, both trembling and smiling.

“Impossible... Neko, impossible... You never used to joke like this, what has changed you so much? Come on, this is no time for jokes. Where's Rie?” Sharley stood up and slowly approached Yurine, dragging her feet on the ground. “What Ne~ko, are you trying to say she's dead?”

Yurine would never accept her death. She would search, she would find a way, and if there was no way, she would be the one to make it. And then she would see her mother's beautiful smile again.

For him Rie was not dead, she was just not with her for now. Soon she would bring her back. Yu was a useless coward, but he was helping Yurine and she believed that together they would find a way.

“So... What to do... It's very simple...”

There was no sound except the birds singing and the wind whistling until Sharley closed the distance between them, walking heavily.

Nerissa stepped between Yurine and Sharley, preventing him from going any further, but Sharley ignored her and held out his hand to Yurine.

“We can't waste our time... We can't waste our time... Right?”

He was calm as if he had never experienced any emotion before. His voice was the worst it had ever been, he had to constantly pause and take deep breaths when he spoke.

“How did Rie die? Her Blessing... It was supposed to save her... Anyway...” The rustling of Sharley's deep breaths began to increase. “You can tell me about it later... Now... we have to find... the place Rie told me about...”

Her mother told them a story she had heard from her master. At a place called the Nekoverine, a place that even the gods could not perceive, it was possible to make any wish come true. They could turn back time and save her.

“Rie... She told me... You remember... What Rie told me was not just a story...” He had to interrupt himself because of a cough, he cleared his throat and continued. “It... was... someone's... memory... It is possible to bring... Rie back... in that place, it is possible to take... everything... back... it is possible...”

Yurine knew this. That was the reason for her refusal to let her mother die, the basis of her belief that they would succeed on the path they were on. Her mother's word was absolute truth, and if she said it was possible, it was absolutely possible.

That's why she forced Yu to bring Rie back. She was aware of Yu's disbelief, but it was possible to bring her mother and it was impossible for her mother to be wrong.

“Come on Ne~ko... What are you waiting for? Your mother... We'll bring her back...”

After a few seconds of looking into Sharley's eyes, Yurine gently pulled Nerissa aside and took a step forward.

“Sharley,” she said. It was rare for her to call him by name.

“Yes?”

If Sharley had been with them and made this proposal on the day they met Yu, would she have accepted? Would she have chosen Sharley over Yu? If Sharley had been with Yu that day, who would she have gone on the road with?

She did not want to answer these questions. Because she was glad with the path that fate had laid out before her.

“No.”

“What do you mean?” Sharley could not perceive the rejection he received.

“As you can hear, I say no.”

“But why?”

Yurine's red eyes were determined, she would not tolerate or change her mind.

“You didn't understand me... I guess...” Sharley's voice was getting harsher and harsher. “Don't you want to get your mother back? I'm telling you... we're going to get her back...”

Sharley couldn't understand why Yurine didn't want to come with him. If he said he would bring her mother back, she should have come with him, Sharley thought like that.

“I know... I know... My body is not in a good condition right now...” Sharley started coughing again, this time his cough was the worst. “But... I would do... anything... to bring her back... as long as... I could... just... see her face one more time...”

“Low human, I don't need your help.” Yurine was using harsh words, harsh enough to hurt Sharley. “I can get her myself. You go to your mother, she thinks you are dead.”

If Sharley was healthy, both physically and psychologically, she could have gotten his help.

But as it was, he would only be a burden to Yu and Yurine. He would not be able to cast powerful spells and would need Yurine's support all the time.

Yurine was already worried about Yu and didn't want to burden Sharley on top of that. The best thing for Sharley to do would have been to go to her own mother.

Of course, she didn't know what her mother would think when she saw her son like this. Maybe she would be happy that he was alive, maybe she would be sad, Yurine didn't really care.

“Because of that Valarfin... guy? Who is he?”

“None of your business.”

“You've been... brainwashed... Neko... you've been tricked. You don't know what you're talking about, you can't bring your mother back... alone... Come with me...”

“I'm not on my own. You'd better do as I say and go to your own mother. Don't do things that are not your place.”

For Yurine, the conversation was over. She turned around and grabbed Nerissa's wrist. They had taken a few steps together when a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"YOU'VE BEEN FOOLED! TELL ME WHO THAT BASTARD IS!"

“Don't touch me, you disgusting creature!”

Yurine hit Sharley's hand with her hand, turned around and attacked him with a wind spell.

Since her magic, unlike Nerissa's, was intended to harm, Sharley flew a much longer distance, hit a tree without ever landing and fell to the ground, spitting blood from her mouth.

“He's none of your business, I'm none of your business, and my mother is none of your business! Do you understand what I'm saying? Don’t act like you love her the most! I never want to see you again!”

Yurine was not sure if Sharley heard her words because he did not move until the guards arrived on the scene and lifted him up.

“We'd better get out before the guards turn on us,” Nerissa said.

Then she grabbed Yurine's wrist and they left the park and started running towards the inn where they were staying.

***

“Who was that man?” Nerissa asked. They were far enough away from the park and neared the inn where Yurine was staying.

“Sharley was my mother's apprentice.”

“Your mother?”

“She was the first person who was there when I was born, but I couldn't make a deal with her.”

She didn't want Nerissa to realize that she was unnamed. So, as annoying as it was, she would twist the story a bit and make it look like she had made a deal with Yu.

“When my mother left, I made a deal with that man. He will help me bring her back.” By that man, she meant Yu.

“Just out of curiosity, Mr. Valarfin didn't force you to do this, did he?”

For a moment Nerissa saw things from Sharley's point of view. In a situation like this, one would think that someone was trying to take advantage of Yurine.

“No, he didn't. I was the one who forced him.”

“Did you force it?”

It was never thought that a sword fairy would force a human to make a deal. Even if Nerissa had made a deal without Galahad's consent, forcing someone to make a deal was unexpected.

“Can I not tell you about this?”

She didn't want to tell what had happened and she didn't want to expose Yu's illness.

“Okay.”

When their conversation was over, they arrived in front of the inn. Nerissa was not staying at this inn, but she wanted to accompany Yurine to where she was staying.

“We may have exceeded the time Mr. Valarfin gave you.”

“That human is not my boss, I am his boss. I can be where I want, when I want.” Yurine puffed out her chest proudly.

“Don't leave his side for too long, just in case.”

“I won't leave.” Yurine turned around and waved to Nerissa before going inside. “Thank you.”

At first she was angry at Yu for arranging this without her knowledge, but now she was happy to be able to walk around with Nerissa.

“You're welcome,” Nerissa smiled.

Yurine ran into the inn, ran up the stairs again and stopped in front of her room and rubbed her cheeks. She didn't want Yu to realize that she had come running to him.

She knocked on the door and went in without waiting for an answer. The sun had set and his stomach was growling. She wanted to take Yu and go to dinner right away.

“What happened!”

But her plan for dinner was disrupted when he saw Yu lying on the floor in his own vomit.