CH 49

Why is there a jewel that doesn’t suit it?

Ivan and Lily, who were fighting monsters, didn’t seem to notice, but I could see them clearly from a distance. I continued to look at the jewel without realizing it, and noticed that its shape was rather rough like a stone rather than a jewel.

And that the light kept flickering within that stone.

The moment I thought it wasn’t just an ordinary jewel, there was a memory that passed through my head.

“Lily!”

When I shouted out loud, Lily, who had been shooting arrows at the monster’s eyes, quickly ran towards me.

“Did you call me? Did you get hurt…”

“No, no. I’m not hurt.”

Organizing my fast-paced mind, I tried to answer as calmly as possible. I secretly felt nervous about what to do if my thoughts were wrong, but in the current situation where the monster continues to regenerate, it was better to try something.

“Do you have any magic stones?”

“Magic stone?”

Despite my rather sudden words, Lily pondered for a moment with a rather serious face, and then she rummaged in her robe.

“I have a magic stone engraved with communication magic and a spare I brought just in case… May I ask why you are looking for this?”

Lily held out two magic stones smaller than the palm of her hand. I briefly looked at the scarlet and indigo magic stones placed on Lily’s palm, then I spoke to her.

“Lily. It looks like there is a magic stone stuck in that monster’s neck.”

Soon after I said that, Lily turned her head and looked at the monster. When I pointed to the place where the magic stone was embedded with my finger, Lily inhaled as if she had found it too.

“…It’s as you said. I’ve never heard of a magic stone in Illinan’s body, but it looks as if someone deliberately implanted it in it.”

“Could there be a connection between that magic stone and Illinan’s sudden strength?”

Lily pondered briefly, then she nodded her head with a serious face.

“I don’t know what magic is engraved inside at this moment, but it’s quite possible.”

Then, if the magic stone is broken, will the monster return to its original state of weakness? Nothing was certain, but worth a try. I need to do something in a situation like this right now. I can’t just leave Lily and Ivan fighting monsters as it is.

I held the indigo magic stone tightly for a moment, then relaxed my hand.

“If that is a magic stone, Lily.”

At that moment, I remembered the friendly voice of someone who taught me this. And I remembered the day I couldn’t hear that voice again, then what happened the next day.

But in all those memories, I slowly opened my mouth trying to think of one thing and nothing else.

“As far as I know… if magic stones engraved with magic collide, either one will break.”

Upon hearing my words, Lily’s green eyes shook for a moment. Then, right away, Lily made a small exclamation sound.

“I forgot about magic stones because they aren’t used well in my magic class, but I think I’ve heard of them.”

Then. Lily added in a low voice and looked at the monster’s neck.

“I’ll have to use the magic stone I have to break the magic stone hanging from that monster’s neck.”

“Yes.”

But how?

How could the magic stone embedded in the neck of a monster taller than a tree collide with Lily’s magic stone? The moment I turned my gaze to estimate the height of the monster, I saw a bow in Lily’s hand. It constantly shone and showed off its presence.

The words that didn’t go through my mind came straight out.

“How about tying the magic stone to an arrow and shooting it?”

Lily, who heard me, flicked the bowstring with a gentle expression.

“That’s a good idea, Miss Ei.”

When the person shooting the bow said it was a good idea, I finally felt relieved. There was no need to hesitate any more, I cut off part of the string that was holding the stone to her robe and tied it tightly to Lily’s arrow.

“…I think the distance is too far. Is it okay?”

Lily smiled at the concerns I added in a low voice. It was definitely a different kind of smile from Lily’s usual one.

A smile that I have never seen before, that feels like a naughty fellow.

“Actually, this was a secret, but I’ll only tell Miss Ei.”

A whispering voice. Soon, her green eyes were fully focused on Illinan’s magic stone, and the bowstring was slowly drawn.

By the time she was able to aim accurately without any shaking.

“From the moment I first grabbed the bow, I have never missed a target.”

With a confident voice, an arrow flew through the air.

<…! >

It took an instant for the monster’s eyes to open, then the figure fell from its place, breaking down the gigantic body.

***

I1.

Ivan was utterly exhausted and collapsed on the ground.

“Whoa, really. I can’t walk to that carriage.”

It was half-hearted, but he was sincere enough to say that he was having a hard time. How many times has he cut, passed, and stabbed monsters today just because he entered the forest by mistake once?

Ei, who was standing next to him, looked at him with an expressionless face and spoke.

“Would you like me to carry you?”

“Sister, towards me?”

“Yeah.”

Ivan let out a small laugh. It would have been less funny if it was said in a playful way, but that Sister always made jokes like that with a calm face, which made it even more ridiculous.

“How are you going to do it? I’m short, but am I not taller than Sister?”

“That’s something you, who will be hanging onto me, should think about.”

Ivan laughed loudly this time, and Ei, who had been squatting beside him, immediately got up from her seat.

Ei’s brown eyes, which seemed to look around for a moment, soon fixed somewhere. Ei, who was staring at the place as if she was observing it, immediately looked down at Ivan and asked.

“Is that guy okay?”

“Who? Ah, Brother Kade?”

Ei nodded lightly. When he followed her gaze just as it was, he saw Kade, whose wounds were treated by Lily in a rather calm manner.

“Well… He said that those wounds were caused by bumping into trees while wandering in the forest. Wouldn’t he be okay? At least he will be stronger than Sister.”

“If you hadn’t kept talking, I would’ve said, I see.”

As Ei approached him as if she wanted to pinch him, Ivan jumped up from his spot and dodged her. Of course, a faint smile hung from one side of his face.

Seeing Ei hanging down her arm as if she had no intention of pursuing him further, Ivan continued with a bright voice.

“Why is it, are you worried about him wandering around alone?”

To Ivan’s question, Ei answered as if she was genuinely curious.

“Why would I be worried about that guy?”

It wasn’t meant to be sarcastic, it was really a question of why. Ivan, taken aback by her reaction, turned his eyes for a moment.

So, it seems that the two don’t get along very well.

“Um, no. Come to think of it, I was a little worried.”

“Is that so?”

“I was worried that he might be seriously injured to the extent he didn’t have any time to handle the situation.”

Ivan shot his eyes in disbelief, yet Ei only shrugged her shoulders once with a plain expression.

“He needs to be sober to speak. About what he saw in the woods.”

She answered dryly, soon stretching her body. Ei, who maintained her nonchalant attitude from beginning to end, felt overly cold, but Ivan was also curious about Kade’s story.

Among them, Kade was the only one who found traces of the Master of the Magic Tower.

[The Master of the Magic Tower… seems to be around here.]

Immediately after defeating the monster, Kade, who heard a loud noise and ran this way, briefly told what he had seen.

[The corpses of Illinan were packed into a space that seemed artificially created. There were pieces of ice all over its chest.]

And just as it happened, Lily and Kade seemed to be talking about it.

“Considering that I could clearly feel the mana of the Master of the Magic Tower, it seemed like he had just left.”

“Yet you haven’t seen him.”

“…Yes, I’m sorry.”

It’s not something for you to be sorry for, Kade. Lily spoke softly, yet his face was still gloomy.

He thought it was the first time he had seen Brother look like he was dying like that. He didn’t seem to be doing that because he didn’t see the Master of the Magic Tower, something else must have happened.

Feeling as if he knew something, but also as if he didn’t, Ivan looked back and forth between Ei and Kade. Before Ivan’s simple mind came to the conclusion, ‘Let’s ask the people involved!’

“For now, let’s talk about him after we get out of the forest. Ivan and Miss Ei. Now go back to the carriage.”

“Yes.”

Lily called them, and Ivan’s thoughts were also cut off there.

The way out of the woods wasn’t very long. It was a laughably short distance compared to the fact that they had wandered around the same spot in hallucinations, so the party continued on without slowing down.

As they got closer to the outside, the misty cloudy scenery gradually disappeared, and the air became clear in an instant. The point at which Ivan vaguely thought that he didn’t want to go into the woods for a while.

Ei, who had been walking from his left, suddenly turned around. Her brown hair rustled and swayed, then Ei stopped right there.

Did she find anything behind? Seeing that she was falling behind, Ivan called Ei.

“Sister?”

“…Whoa.”

Looking back, he saw Ei, who was preoccupied with something. She seemed to be looking at something hidden between the trees.

“Sister, what’s wrong?”

When Ivan felt suspicious and tried to approach Ei, she waved her hand and returned to his side.

She put on a look as if she was fed up with something.

“Nothing. It’s because an Illinan is also there.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Ivan opened his eyes wide and looked in the direction where Ei was, yet nothing came into his field of vision.

Was the said Illinan still there?

He looked back in wonder, yet Ivan’s eyes couldn’t see anything.

“I wouldn’t be so annoyed if it weren’t for that bastard’s ability to show illusions. Let’s go, Ivan.”

“Um, yes. Alright.”

Ivan checked that direction until Ei pulled him away, then tilted his head and took his steps again.

Did she see an illusion?

Obviously, Illinan only shows illusions when one gets closer to a certain distance, and the fact that Ei saw the illusion means that she was quite close to Illinan.

If Ei saw Illinan’s illusion, then Ivan should have seen it as well. However, no matter how much he looked, he couldn’t even sense the shape of Illinan, let alone the sign of a monster.

Then what did Ei see?

Questions filled his mind, but Ivan cut off his thoughts when he was reminded that he had defeated an Illinan that could be called a mutant.

He wondered if there was a mutant in this forest that could show illusions regardless of distance. There is no reason why there shouldn’t be a variant that can freely use illusions when there is one that can constantly regenerate.

Passing lightly the doubts that followed him reluctantly, Ivan pursued the far ahead of the group.