Chapter 109

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Nina slightly lowered her eyes and lifted them.

Her forehead, blessed by Adrian, was as hot as if it was branded.

“I’ll be back.”

“Go ahead.”

He let go of her shoulder, and Nina ran to Randell and Jack, who were already waiting.  Randell looked at Adrian and looked down at Nina.

“Shall we go?” (Randell)

“Let’s go.” (Nina)

Randell took out his Tarok and began to recite an incantation in a small voice. Then the cluster of lights that I’d seen before swirled in a circle, creating a round portal.

Jack was wearing an anxious expression, so Nina went in first, followed by him. Finally, Randell spoke to Adrian before entering.

“Thank you for your permission.”

“It’s not for you.”

Randell grinned.

“Yes, of course.”

Isn’t that almost the same?

He entered as the last one, closing the door. Randell, who came over, took a deep breath. It smelled salty by the sea. A nostalgic smell that makes him remember his hometown.

“Wow, it’s the sea.” (Nina)

He heard Nina enjoying herself. The three stood among the reefs of a rough uninhabited seashore.

Jack looked at the sharp stones.

“It would be hard to go up.”

“There is a cave inside. We can go through it.” (Randell)

Jack nodded his head.

When in an unfamiliar place, listen to the locals.

The three of them went side by side through a crevice where the waves crashed and came out into a wide cave.

“If it wasn’t for magic, I would have become a wet rat.”

Jack whistled and Nina agreed.

For starters, the average person would have been swept away by the waves before even getting wet and would be washed away to the sea.

“How did you find this cave?”

“It was nice to watch the waves crash during the storm.”

“Living dangerously.”

Randell laughed at Nina’s words.

“Yeah.”

Nina looked at him and said.

“Even if you were wearing glasses, there’s still parts of the real Randell that were showing.”

“And what part of the real Randell is there?”

“The one who looks down on the world-.”

“Ah, Nina.”

She laughed out loud as Randell swept his face. Jack waved his hand as her voice resounded in the cave.

“Be quiet.”

“Yep.”

Nina covered her mouth with both hands and smiled while putting them down. Jack asked,

“So where are we going to arrive when we get out of here?”

“We will exit at the top of a hill, there’s a village when you go down.”

“This is exciting.”

Jack smiled.

“The villagers don’t go out of Blue Stone Island?”

“It’s just like putting the commodities down then quickly leaving. Since all the people who sell them are residents of the Blue Stone Island.”

Jack took out one item from his backpack then hid it well somewhere around the area.

“What are you doing?”

He answered Nina’s words.

“If we get in trouble and have to run away, keep in mind that there are emergency supplies here. This is where the primary meeting place is.”

“Oh, I see.”

Jack hid the rest of the items away and put the backpack back on.

“All right, let’s go.”

Crawling through the rocks, the hill was a place where low grass grew in the harsh sea breeze. The weather was perfect, and the sea was as blue as sapphire.

In the gusty sea breeze, Nina pressed down on her excitement. But her steps and facial expressions showed the agitation, so Jack spoke with a dejected face.

“Do you think we’re going on a picnic?”

“But the weather’s so nice, and the scenery is so beautiful.”

Jack shook his head at Nina’s obvious excuses.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to do well when I work.”

“If Dame Nina gets hurt, I’ll be replaced by my master, jeez.”

“I won’t get hurt. Besides, why would Young Master replace Jack? If Jack gets hurt, the one who should be fired is me.”

After all, I’m the strongest here.

Jack made a cryptic face after seeing Nina, then he answered.

“It’s the first time someone has ever said they’re going to protect me.”

“That’s great. As long as you live, a day like this is bound to come.”

Jack unconsciously smiled at Nina’s answer and cleared his throat.

“Anyway, in times of crisis, follow my orders.”

“Yes, sir.”

Nina replied politely.

At that moment, they had already come up to the top of the hill, so the view opened wide and everything looked cool all the way to the other side.

The place where Nina and her companions were standing was one end of the island, and on the way down from there, she saw a village, and a stone castle built on the other side of the Island atop another hill.

Randell stopped.

He took a deep breath, and she took his hand carefully.

He looked back at Nina and smiled faintly as he held her hands tightly.

“Are you all right?” (Nina)

“Yes, it’s okay.” (Randell)

His shiny blonde hair was magically changed to gray, and his eyes to dark gray. He turned his head and said while looking at the castle.

“Then let’s go and see what ugly and hideous things are hiding in that castle, just like moles hiding in their holes.”

“Wait a minute, please.”

Jack then pulled out a measuring tool from his backpack making Randell fold his arms, as his momentum was broken.

Nina laughed out loud.

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“I’ve decided to respect Jack in the future.”

Nina shook her head as she looked at the pack of food Jack had gotten. He spat out the apple seeds and said.

“It sounds like you didn’t respect me before.”

“What I mean is, what Randell gave us is magic that makes you feel like a friendly person. I’ve talked to people too, but they were just kind.”

Randell also replied with a sickened face.

“I never thought he would get this far and get that much stuff for free.”

“It is difficult to get into a closed society, but once you are in, everything gets easy.” (Jack)

Jack shrugged his shoulders and wrote down the information he had seen today on a piece of paper. He wrote meticulously about the people they met.

The three of them were staying in an old house. They decided to come in when they found out that the man who had been living had left the Island and the place was empty.

The dust and cobwebs trembled roughly, and Nina used North Wind to blow them away.

No magic was used.

Not only is it too easy to be caught by other wizards, but the cognitive magic breaks when the residents feel something “strange.”

It was early summer, so it was chilly in the evening and they lit the oven. With the sound of Randell tossing the bread Jack received and frying eggs, it smelled delicious.

Nina leaned against the stone wall outside, closed her eyes, and inhaled the smell. The yellow light from the collapsed window looked warm, and the smell of cooking was friendly.

“Oh, I remember the old days.”

A nostalgic feeling when you run home after playing. When the sun sets and it’s time for everything to go dark. She ran along the bank of the field following her long drooping shadow. She was always proud of the long ponytails that she could see in the shadows.

It was also the time for the smoke to come out of the chimney from house to house.

When she calls “Sis!” Her sister will laugh and hug her very tightly. She remembers her sister’s warm smell.

‘Oh, I miss Adrian.’

She wants to go back, hug him and act like a baby.

Nina opened her eyes thinking like that. Acting spoiled and playing as much as she wants can be done later.

The lights were on in every house, and a voice was heard.

“Oh, North wind, the ruler of the blowing wind, let me walk where you have walked, and let me feel where you have passed. For there is no place where your feet do not walk, and where your hands do not feel.”

The North wind swept through the entire village and Nina felt like she had become the wind.

“Nina, dinner’s ready.”

From inside, Randell reached out for her upper body, and Nina opened her eyes.

“Oh, okay.”

“Nina?”

“Huh?”

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

Randell raised his hand before her eyes. Her dreamy brown eyes were now looking straight at him.

“No, I just looked around. Let’s go in. It looks delicious!”

Nina went in, sat down, and took the plate Randell handed her. Jack was already eating eggs on toast.

“The population’s a lot smaller than I thought. About 176 people are in the nearest town and there are not a lot of children. Shouldn’t they get more people from outside?”

Jack opened his mouth wide.

“How did you know that?”

“I’ve counted the people who breathed North Wind.”

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