Chapter 18. A confession under the night skies.

Continuing to ignore the confused Mana, the little girl snuggled up to the two of us before I finally give in and picked her up from the ground as she then changed strategy from snuggling to rubbing her cheeks with mine as an adorable smile filled her face.

“Isn’t she cute…?” I looked at Mana and asked before she smiled wryly, nodding as I soon handed the girl towards her before she happily took her as she soon started changing strategies again, this time hugging Mana tightly.

“Sleepy…” she mumbled as her eyes in a snail’s pace closed themselves off before she finally dozed off as Mana looked at me surprised and confused over what to do. The little deer girl seems to have fallen asleep on Mana’s shoulders which was startling.

Now I was confused over what to do as well. We could take the girl with us but that would mean taking care of other relevant issues such as the guards that are soon approaching our directions and the bombardment of questions that might strike us later on.

“I can see that you are reluctant, huh…” a voice called from behind as we turned around before the brown-haired double dutch braided girl stood there, resting on the door as I nodded in response to her question before she smiled, “How about taking her with you?”

“There’s no harm at all. I can tell she has no family waiting for her or even any acquaintances, etc.” she said before continuing, “If you need even more reassurance, you can contact that headmaster of yours and she will reassure you with something even better.”

It felt strange. How does she know the headmaster, are they perhaps acquaintances…? But this girl doesn’t even look old, more like, she looks like a middle-schooler if I were to measure her height and facial-wise.

“Brat don’t think I am young. I am one if not the oldest blacksmith of the kingdom,” she smacked my head with her fist as surprise could be seen all over our faces, even Mana had her mouth open as she looked at the girl with shock.

“Are you perhaps the fabled Juris of the immaculate Veinshill clan…?” Mana asked before the girl smiled, not saying yes or no but a neutral response. It was as if she didn’t want to answer at all but from the looks of it, we already know what the answer would be.

After a short while of awkward silence, the girl soon smacked both of our heads as she said, “Whatever may be the case, do take care of that girl. She may be both of your lucky charms once she grows up, don’t ever let anyone else take care whether it’d be an orphanage of some sort.”

“As someone who was chosen by her, you MUST never abandon her otherwise who knows if we will ever survive the disaster she might incur… don’t worry about the guards and all the other stuff, I’ll handle them, just go enjoy your little fun,” she said before walking back inside the store, slamming the door as Mana looked at me, confused.

It seems like my speculation was true… this child might be a walking disaster but what I never expect was the fact that she might cause a literal disaster that could even scare someone of a high clan in this kingdom…

“Do you want to take her words seriously…?” I asked Mana before she nodded which took me aback for a second as the little girl soon tightened her hug on Mana, comfortably resting on her shoulders whilst snuggling.

“If she is really the fabled Juris of the Veinshill clan which is said to have prophetic dreams and skills, then what she says will definitely happen…” she said with a wry smile, looking at the little girl who seems to be the cutest and most harmless child in the galaxy.

I do agree though, even The Library says that this girl could contend dragons once she grows up, and if that is really true then what the girl said about whether we could survive the disaster she might incur is definitely true, after all, dragons are the very peak of the chain back on Solis VR and are the guardians of the world as we have set.

Though, I never heard of something like a Lost Spirit of the Forest or a Spirit of the Forest in general. Those entities never existed in any kind of Solis version and were never planned once to be implemented as we only designed forests to be a place where you can gather herbs, materials, and fight monsters.

“Should we continue on with our tour?” she asked as I looked at the little girl that was happily sleeping on her shoulders before shaking my head.

“How about we finish off with something like a nice place to rest on, do you know any?” I asked before she looked up at the skies for a second, possibly thinking of a place before turning her attention back at me as she nodded.

“I do know one place; it might take a little bit of a walk though, is that fine with you?” she inquired before I nodded as the two of us soon started walking down towards the route she chose. It was quite the walk, we passed by several stores, food carts and bought food along the way.

We also bought some picnic boxes for no reason other than to store any leftovers that we might leave for later and more importantly, we bought some blankets since she said we might have to stay there for some time.

I was piqued over what place she is suggesting but soon discovered it not long after as we soon arrived in a flat grassy land where a single apple tree stood, covered in different kinds of flowers with a clear view of the skies as it was turning dark.

“This is the spot that I would recommend the most…” she said before taking a seat before the apple tree as the little girl soon woke up, turning her head around as she looked at Mana and smiled for a second before taking a few distances away as she started walking around the apple tree.

The Library

As an additional reward for taking the Lost Spirit of the Forest with you, The Library will provide one more hint for the main quest.

Hint: The clock is ticking, once the stars are visible, you shall say the magic word and fireflies shall surround you, making the best and memorable scene you will ever see.

I was confused over the sudden popup which this time was a little vague but understandable, after all, the last hint told me to wait until we are watching the night skies at the park which this one counts, and the magic word should be referring to that certain sentence.

“Mana!” the little girl out of the blue cried from above as we looked up before the little deer girl came to sight, sitting on top of a branch as Mana’s face paled before she reached out both of her hands towards the girl.

“Come down, it’s dangerous!” Mana said to the little girl who tilted her head before standing up on the branch as my heart stopped beating for a second. The branch was very thin but somehow she was still able to stand on it naturally.

After standing up, the girl soon hopped off the branch, falling down onto Mana as a loud thud echoed throughout the area. The two of them were now on the grass bed with the little girl hugging Mana tightly as she snuggled onto her.

“Wait… did you tell her your name…?” I asked before Mana looked at me shocked as if she had realized the same thing… she never told her name beforehand which makes me confused over how she was able to tell.

“Ayumeh!” she called before pointing up at the skies as the starry night skies came to sight. It was not only the stars visible but also meteor showers were as clear as day, the skies were painted beautifully like no other.

And at the center of everything was a single large round object, shining super bright like a golden star that was more beautiful than anything else… I was surprised over the scene, remembering the magic word out of the blue as my mouth opened, mumbling. “The moon is beautiful, isn’t it…?”

“It is…” she responded before out of the blue fireflies appeared around us, lighting up the area as the colors of the flowers become even more saturated as two windows appeared before me.

The Library

You have completed the main quest, [A love that blooms of lilies] as a result you have acquired all of the following rewards:

1. All skills of Archery have leveled up by two.

2. The relationship system and Knowledgebase system is now accessible.

3. You have received 2000 Yuri EXP (leveling up to 15).

Relationship System

Your affinity with Mana has reached maximum, as a result, the progression has now tiered up.

[Mana Fragaria]’s affection with you is currently at 50% out of 100%.

Benefits of a full-fledged relationship

By achieving a full 100% affection between one another, the two of you earn unconditional trust within one another, can share one’s secrets, and believe in one another. Any experience points you gain from one another will also be multiplied by five percent with an additional five percent if the person is the main member (in the case of a harem).

Mana Fragaria [50/100]

A flame-magician born from two highly skilled magicians of the Fragaria family, she is the third daughter of the family and therefore inherits none of her families’ wealth. By herself, she is a failure and is always alone due to her wish to protect herself mentally from the possible bullying that could be caused by her lacking any inheritance from her family.

She is caring, loving, and very understanding but tends to act irresponsibly at times, the best and worst aspect of her is the undying loyalty she will have to the person she gives her heart to. The Knowledgebase system currently identifies the person she has affection to as [Ayumi].

I was frozen in place, no word came out from my mouth as I stared at the window that appeared on me, turning my head towards Mana who seems to be pink as another window appeared before me, this time, telling me something even more troublesome.

Did you know?

The question, “The moon is beautiful, isn’t it?” is another way of confession in Japanese which was added by the co-developer of Solis VR [Shizaki Amane] as a joke, it has since been a tradition for two people who are in love with one another in the world of Solis to use the idiom as a way to confess in which if the other party also shares a mutual feeling, would respond with “It is…” or some other kind of accepting sentence.

I felt like collapsing for some reason… at the same time, it didn’t feel that bad, more like… I feel somehow happy for some reason… I don’t understand… ugh… to think that I had confessed without even knowing about it, how troublesome… AT LEAST LET ME UNDERSTAND MY FEELINGS FIRST, YOU STUPID GODDESS!