Page 193

(Angelina Marl Ahley)

In that year, natural disasters were frequent. The harvest of plants in both forests and farmlands was poor, and incidents of hungry monsters attacking villages were widespread. Simultaneously, this led to a significant reduction in the numbers of monsters and Phantasmal Beasts.

Some might say that it's best for magical creatures like monsters and Phantasmal Beasts to disappear from this world. However, thinking from the other perspective, once these creatures disappear, many adventurers and soldiers in this world will face the prospect of unemployment.

That year, many villages vanished from the map due to attacks by armed raiders.

The Sheepfolk village, Shupe Village, was also destined to face such a fate.

I vaguely remember that day, the sky covered in dark clouds.

I fled into the depths of the Palm Jungle with her adopted daughter, but the old wounds from her past captivity ultimately prevented her from running far.

After hiding my adopted daughter in the bushes, I was shot in the knee with an arrow, and exhausted, I lay on the hillside.

This hillside used to be covered with roses, but this year, due to the disaster, everything was gone.

'Lori, sorry, but it seems I can't fulfill my promise of filling the hillside with roses together with you.'

As for the reason why I thought of that is, because, at the moment, I was being surrounded on all corners by a 4 man group of bandits disguised as an Adventurer Party.

"...What? I thought we caught a human woman, turns out it's a sheepfolk? Damn it! What a letdown, I pass, I doesn't like doing one of her ilk"

"This village really has nothing. No food, no weapons, no money, and not even a decent woman to taste!"

"What should we do? Should we play around with her?"

"What else can we do? Kill her. We can't waste any time."

With that, the leading man raised his blade towards her, who was struggling weakly.

'...At least, Lori is safe.' Thinking this, I closed her eyes, waiting for my final outcome.

...However, as I waited, there was silence that lasted for tens of seconds.

Until she felt a bone-chilling, piercing cold wind enveloping me in layers. I opened my eyes, and what I saw was an extremely surreal scene.

The trees in the jungle blackened and decayed at an incredibly fast pace, and the ground, along with some kind of black liquid resembling blood, began to seep in, emitting an unbearable and intense stench of death.

"What— what's going on!?"

"Big brother!"

"Ah, ahhhhhh!!!!"

"Where did this little girl come from— could this be the taint of death!?"

The four armed bandits were terrified in the scene that resembled a graceful purgatory, and at the center of this purgatory was a petite figure.

The petite figure opened her arms, standing in front of the Sheepfolk woman. Her clothes were soaked in thick black blood, and a terrifyingly large gash, just a few centimeters away from cutting her in half, adorned her. However, she didn't collapse; she tightly gripped the almost-severing blade. Her eyes sparkled with a pale light, and the surging, murky black magic swept towards the bandits.

After that day, one-fifth of the Palm Jungle turned into a wasteland...

And that was four years ago.

I finished reminiscing, tightened the blanket around me, and walked back to my house.

Autumn was approaching.

No mildness of spring, no warmth of summer, and no biting cold of winter.

What autumn had was the fluttering yellow leaves and the cool breeze mixed with the scent of soil under the lingering sunset.

It was a lonely and suitable season for waiting.

This year, another young person left the village, saying they wanted to make a living in the big town... Shupe Village, already with a dwindling population, now had only 29 people left.

...But it wasn't entirely like that.

"...Actually, I haven't reached the point where I can't do household chores. I can manage on my own." As I entered the front yard, I noticed a young man around twenty years old busy at work.

His foot seemed to be slightly lame.

"Miss Angie, Lady Lori told me to help out. Don't make it difficult for me," he said to me with a somewhat helpless expression.

The limping young man raised the axe high, and with sweat spraying, on the third swing, the log stuck in the axe blade finally split in two.

His name was White.

About a month ago, he came from the deserted area of the Palm Jungle and built a small wooden house on the edge of the village. He settled down and came to me every day to cook and chop wood.

He told me some things about himself. Initially, due to certain reasons, he, in a state of despair, ventured deep into the Palm Jungle and nearly died at the hands of monster. However, he survived by encountering Lori. After being wounded and homeless, he temporarily became someone like a servant.

There was too much information to digest at once.

Lori... was cohabiting with a young man?

Hmm... She should be seventeen now. It's a good thing to have someone accompany her, but Lori's body has maintained the same appearance since she was thirteen, four years ago. She hasn't continued growing... To anyone who doesn't know the deeper truth, Lori is no different than a little child.

Is he the type of man that likes children in a sexual way?

Saying that might be very impolite, but I can't help but think in that direction.

Another thing is, why did she go on another journey? Wasn't she just going to purchase items in Vanos? With her pace, she should be back within a week. Why hasn't she appeared for over a month now?

Did something happen? Was she hurt by someone? How do I find her?

"Mr. White."

"Hmm?"

"Do you really not know where Lori went?" I asked, knowing the hope was slim.

Originally, to protect me, the curse power in her completely awakened... It wasn't a big deal, but sometimes she would suddenly disappear, only to reappear after a few months, looking disheveled. Each time she came back, she seemed restless.

Leaving home didn't seem to be her intention. I knew that during her first disappearance; I blamed her. At that time, she cried but stubbornly refused to tell me the reason.

...That was the last time I saw a significant emotional change on her face. After that, she always had a stoic expression, and her personality became gloomy.

She moved away from the village, living alone in that contaminated wasteland, only coming down to visit me every few days.

She said it was to protect everyone in the village.

And I felt extremely guilty... When I took her out, I promised her happiness, which I still haven't been able to provide.

"Even if you say that... I only know she was going to buy things— Ah! That's right, you like flowers, don't you? Lady Lori mentioned that she wanted to buy flowers for you." White said apologetically.

Is that so?

Upon hearing this, I didn't respond further. I just walked into the house, but before opening the door, I couldn't help but stop.

How good would it be if she appeared behind me now if I turned around?