Chapter 69

Lately, something has been bothering me.

It was that Mari’s recent behavior has been strange.

“Too delicious! Give me more!”

“Finish what’s in your mouth first!”

Mari, with food still in her mouth, excitedly handed me her bowl.

This behavior was just like Mari’s usual self, but…

“Here. The beer you ordered.”

“Thanks, Wendy! Beer with a delicious meal is irresistible!”

As Wendy served the beer, Serena immediately used magic to chill the mug.

A blue light emanated from her hands, and a cold chill began to spread.

Whoosh…

…Shiver!

Mari reflexively trembled upon seeing Serena use magic.

This wasn’t just a recent occurrence.

For the past few days, Mari has been flinching and trembling whenever Serena uses magic.

She didn’t act like this when she first met Serena.

Moreover, Mari’s unnatural flinching and trembling weren’t limited to that.

When lighting the lamp in the evening, or whenever she sees the torches hanging at the city gates.

The common denominator is that they are all light sources.

In other words, Mari is afraid of light.

…Why?

“Mari.”

“Yes! Kurt! What is it?”

“Has anything been bothering you lately?”

…Shiver.

Mari’s face stiffened unnaturally, still smiling.

Even without words, it was a clear signal that I was right.

But Mari, determined to keep up the act, vehemently denied it.

“Ah, no! Nothing’s wrong! I’m just the same as always! Ahaha! The food is delicious!”

And then, with an obviously forced smile, she quickly moved the stew to her mouth.

“Don’t lie. What’s been going on lately?”

Of course, I wasn’t fooled by her clumsy lie and pressed her again.

Her pupils trembled as if an earthquake had struck.

“Timing-wise, it seems to have started after the three of you returned from investigating the abnormal phenomena of the monsters.”

Shiver.

Ah, she reacted.

“Eh, how did you… No, I have no idea what you’re talking about!”

No, are you still trying to hide it?

Well, if that’s the case, I have no choice.

“Serena. Can you do me a favor?”

“What is it?”

Serena, who had been listening to our conversation while drinking beer, smirked as if she had an idea of what I was asking.

“Can you create a light source with magic for a moment?”

And Serena, as if she had been waiting for this, smiled and summoned a light source.

“Yah! Light!”

One, two.

Serena began to float several glowing orbs around the table.

And with each orb that appeared, Mari’s expression grew more anxious.

She looked at the orbs with trembling, uneasy eyes.

“See? You’re getting anxious every time Serena summons light.”

“Th-that’s…”

“Tell me what’s going on. If it’s something troubling, I’ll help.”

“So…”

Mari, seemingly swayed by my words, struggled for a moment before tightly closing her eyes and shaking her head.

“No! I can’t tell!”

Ah. I thought she was almost ready to talk.

Well, I have no choice.

“If that’s how you feel, I can’t force you. But let me know when you’re ready to talk.”

“Sorry… But I can’t tell…”

Mari, with a guilt-ridden expression, remained firm.

“Alright. Serena, can you dispel the magic?”

“Boring. Got it.”

At my words, Serena began to extinguish the orbs one by one.

As the orbs disappeared, only two or three remained floating near the table.

“Um… Serena. Could you extinguish these orbs too?”

“Huh? I already canceled all the magic.”

“Huh?”

As Mari tilted her head in confusion at Serena’s words, the light from the orbs began to grow brighter.

And in an instant, a bright, childlike voice echoed from within the expanding light.

“Sorry, Marisia. We’ve been found out.”

“So you shouldn’t have run away in the first place.”

“But Marisia’s situation was unavoidable.”

“Marisia. You’re in big trouble.”

What, what?

Should I be surprised that a voice came from the light, or by the information the voice revealed?

Before I could make a proper judgment, the light, which had been growing in size, merged into one and took on the size of an adult human.

And then, gradually taking on a more concrete form, it soon resembled an elf woman who looked somewhat like Mari and glared at her.

“Marisia!”

“Eek! M-mom!”

“You said you were going to the next village to play, and then you disappeared for months, only to run away!?”

“No… But I’m all grown up now.”

“Grown up? You’re only twenty-four! When did I ever say you couldn’t go out into human society? I said you could go out at fifty!”

At that, Mari, looking aggrieved, retorted.

“Mom! Fifty is too late! Other humans become independent before they’re twenty!”

“Too late? Other elves don’t become independent until they’re over a hundred, and I already compromised at fifty, and you’re still complaining!?”

“Th-that’s not complaining…”

“Enough. I’ll scold you more when you get back, so come home right now!”

“Mom!”

“Don’t even think about running away. The moment I started communicating with the spirits, I could sense where you are!”

With that, the light, which had taken the form of an elf woman, gradually shrank and disappeared without a trace.

And in the Adventurer Guild, only an eerie silence remained.

.

.

.

“So, care to explain what just happened?”

“I’m quite curious too, Marisia.”

“Go on, tell us.”

“Uuu… This is why I didn’t want to be found out…”

As I, Karina, and Serena stared at her with cold eyes, Mari, under our gaze, tearfully explained the whole story.

Well, actually, from the conversation between her and the woman presumed to be her mother, we could pretty much guess what was going on, but we felt Mari needed to confess herself.

And as we expected, Mari’s current situation was no different from that of a runaway teenager.

Mari, filled with a desire to explore human society, and her mother, who thought she was still too young.

And then, unable to hold back any longer, Mari seized the opportunity, packed her travel bag, left a note, and ran away.

She explained at length, but in the end, the conclusion was just that.

“So you left home without proper permission?”

Feeling a headache coming on, I said that, and Mari, as if she had something to say, snapped back.

“But I’m an adult! Normal humans are recognized as adults once they turn sixteen, but I had to wait eight more years!”

“But Marisia, you’re a half-elf, aren’t you?”

“And half-human! With half-human blood in me, the elven sense of time is too long!”

Well, a half-elf’s life is long for a human but very short for an elf.

It must be hard to accept the words of a mother with a typical elven sense of time.

“Well, since we’re neither elves nor half-elves, we can’t really understand… So what are you going to do?”

At Serena’s words, Mari flinched nervously and spoke in a trembling voice.

“Wh-what do you mean?”

“Your mother told you to come back, didn’t she?”

“I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear that…”

“Marisia!”

At Mari’s pitiful words, Karina scolded her sternly.

“Eek! But if I go back, she’ll definitely make me quit being an adventurer and won’t let me leave the elf village. By the time I’m over fifty and can leave the elf village, both Karina and Serena will be fifty too!”

That was a valid point.

A few decades is not a long time in elven terms, but for us non-elves, it’s a different story.

By the time she re-entered society, I might not be around, but the other two would be starting to age unless they became transcendent beings.

But running away forever wasn’t a solution.

“So you need to persuade her.”

“…What if I can’t?”

“…I’ll visit you often.”

“No! Kurt! Don’t abandon me!”

At my words, Mari burst into tears and clung to me.

Hey, what’s with this grown woman clinging to me like a cicada?

“J-just kidding. I’ll go with you and help persuade her.”

“R-really?”

“Yeah. I wouldn’t just abandon you now.”

“I agree. I’ll also lend my strength to persuade Marisia’s mother.”

“Did you really think we’d just abandon you and continue our adventurer lives without you?”

“Karina… Serena… Waaah…”

At our words, Mari, as if she hadn’t expected such an answer, couldn’t hold back her tears and began to sob.

“Hey! Don’t wipe your snot on my clothes!”

And so, our journey to the World Tree began.

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