Chapter 65: Act 1 – The Burning City
The sound of tires splashing water ceased in front of the log cabin as Yerna turned off the sputtering magic engine.
“Alright, everyone. We’ve arrived.”
“Mmm.”
“Yawn….”
It’s a strange thing; why do I feel so drowsy whenever I’m in a car?
I hadn’t usually slept this long, and I had never intentionally tried to sleep while being in a vehicle.
Perhaps it’s because the ride is just too comfortable, Luke thought as he lightly stretched and looked around.
After about an hour of driving through heavy rain, Yerna’s family home was located in the outskirts, slightly away from the city center.
It was hard to believe it was in Beriton, a hub of modern advanced magic, as the log cabin had such a nature-friendly appearance.
Situated at the entrance of the forest, the house felt familiar, almost like the Forest Keeper’s lodging, giving both Dayton and Luke a sense of stability amidst it all.
Knock, knock. When Yerna tapped on the door, it quickly opened to reveal an elf resembling her, who smiled brightly as she let them in.
“Oh my, you’ve arrived early!”
To be precise, Yerna looked quite similar to her mother.
At over 80 years old, she appeared to have the physical age of someone in their 30s to 40s, so much so that one could mistakenly think they were sisters.
Tensed by her unexpected appearance, Dayton began to introduce himself stiffly.
It likely held even greater significance for him to recognize her as Yerna’s mother rather than just someone who resembled Yerna.
“Ah, hello! I’m Dayton Geneper. I’m Yerna’s colleague…”
“Hehe, that’s enough. Come on in; it’s raining quite heavily.”
“Um, excuse us.”
“Excuse us!”
Dayton’s greeting was echoed by Diana as they stepped inside the house.
The spirit, who was quite indifferent to human etiquette, attempted to rush inside right after them, prompting Luke to quickly call Py over to introduce him.
“Alright, Pyris. Say hello.”
“Hello, I’m Pyris.”
“Yes, come in.”
Following behind, Luke offered his greeting, performing an old elven-style noble salute.
“May your feet never fall into the mire. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Luke Ilushi.”
“Oh, so that’s how it is?”
“I apologize, but my speech patterns are hard to change. Once I try to speak casually, it feels quite uncomfortable.”
Luke recalled the time he had deliberately mimicked the speech of modern children in front of Yerna.
At that time, he felt so awkward that Yerna had collapsed immediately, didn’t she?
He learned a lesson from that incident: ‘One should live as one inherently is.’
Doing things one is not used to is already enough of a departure from the instincts that are ingrained in one’s being.
Hearing Luke’s manner of speaking, Yerna smiled as she turned to him.
Yerna quietly nodded and smiled in return.
It was astonishing that one could so casually exchange manners and greetings that were like tales from long ago; just how serious about fairy tales must one be for it to be so seamless?
Well, that was indeed a cute manner, regardless.
“Anyway, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Mirna Risfind, so feel free to call me Aunt Mirna.”
With her brief introduction, Luke nodded and replied in a dignified voice.
“Madam Mirna, I must say I share your sentiments about this meeting. Please feel free to call me Luke as well.”
“Still, you can be casual with Auntie.”
“Hmm, I understand. Then I will speak casually. Thank you for the suggestion, Mirna.”
“…Ah, was that really a casual way of speaking?”
“Yes, is it uncomfortable to hear?”
“Um, no. If you’re comfortable with it….”
If it’s genuinely comfortable, there’s nothing that can be done; he didn’t want to force a change in speech mannerisms, but it was still somewhat disappointing.
‘I wish it had felt a bit more like a granddaughter, but right now it feels like I’m conversing with an equal-aged grandfather.’
Although he had heard that he was a rather unique child, it truly was atypical.
The choice of words and the manner of speaking carried a sense of experience, if one were to put it that way.
For a child to become so invested in fairy tales due to a difficult past that even their speech resembled that of old fairy tales was somewhat sorrowful, but still, he genuinely regretted that such a cute voice was so rare.
That said, to simply say it was wrong and try to correct it was also a mistake…
After making sure everyone was inside, Mirna closed the door against the pouring rain.
——–
When Diana and Pyris got out of the car, they suddenly became lively, discovering the raincoats that Luke had packed with their belongings and rushing outside to play.
It seemed that having prepared two sets just in case was quite an unbearable temptation for Diana and Pyris.
Looking out the window, the kids were merrily splashing in the water puddles, flicking their hands and splashing water on each other, enjoying their playtime.
Just watching them felt as if the heat was dissipating.
Such a heavy downpour that could stop an airplane became a toy for the children.
Ultimately, to prevent any dangerous behavior, Dayton followed the kids outside, and seeing that, Mirna laughed, saying how it was enjoyable to have the house bustling with children for the first time.
“Seeing this makes me want to see my grandchildren quickly.”
“Ah, so true. Mom wants to see them too.”
As the two gathered up laundry that had to be dried due to the rain, Yerna and Mirna began to pour out the long-standing mother-daughter conversations.
The topics ranged from the day they found Luke in the forest to mostly tales about their time spent together.
Walking in the woods, cooking meals, enjoying picnics…
Although the delicate stories of his transformation into a dragon or the awkward details regarding the slave trade were glossed over, Yerna had a mounting list of stories about Luke.
As Mirna listened to the stories, she chuckled and said, “I’m glad to hear he’s doing well over there.”
Suddenly, Yerna stopped talking and nodded slightly.
Well, he is doing well… honestly, that much is true.
But for Mom, who had to endure hardships due to her past, living in this secluded house felt like being isolated from society.
Thinking of that, Yerna cautiously opened her mouth.
“Mom, you’re okay, right?”
“Oh, I’m always fine, just living normally.”
“And, we originally lived in the forest.”
That was her usual phrase whenever Yerna expressed her apologies.
Indeed, she recalled the times she was so young she couldn’t count her age with both hands, living in a house in the woods.
However, these days, to be honest, even for an elf, the city was more comfortable.
The forest was not a place that warranted enduring inconveniences to cherish.
Yet Mirna continued casually.
“It’s really fine. Oh, by the way, the vegetables in the garden bloomed the other day. Do you remember? You helped out a few years ago.”
“I remember; I want to see them.”
“Once the rain stops, come take a look.”
While quietly observing the kids playing from the window, Luke suddenly felt an urge to check the essence of the World Tree he had bought yesterday and wanted to think about how to extract it.
Luke turned to Mirna and asked, “Mirna, do you have any swabs or cotton pads, or tissues?”
“Oh, the cotton swabs and pads should be in that top drawer over there.”
“Would it be okay for me to borrow a bit?”
“Of course. Use as much as you need.”
Luke approached the indicated drawer, opened the top compartment, and began rummaging through it.
However, the top drawer was slightly too high for someone like Luke in a child’s body, requiring him to stand on tiptoe a bit.
While it was somewhat annoying to be short, Luke thought it was a hassle to complain about such things, deeming it a waste of time.
Although he could quickly find the cotton swabs, the cotton pads didn’t appear right away, so he figured he needed to check more carefully inside the drawer.
While thoroughly rummaging inside, Luke discovered a small frame.
His curiosity piqued, Luke turned over the frame and let out a small gasp.
“Wow, this is….”
———-
A little later, after finding the swabs and cotton pads, the kids had had enough play outside and went in to clean up and wash off in the bath.
After catching his breath, Dayton sat on the couch, sighing, as Luke handed him a glass of water and made his way to find Yerna with the photograph of a male elf he had discovered in the drawer.
“Yerna, whose photo is this?”
“Huh? What is it?”
As Yerna accepted the frame Luke offered, she immediately gasped and continued.
“Oh, this is….”
“Oh, it’s been there.”
Mirna took the frame from Yerna and answered with a smile.
“This is a photo of Auntie’s husband when he was young.”
“Yes, this is Dad’s photo.”
“Oh, I see. He was quite handsome.”
“Right? I had a really good husband.”
“But….”
Luke looked around the house, momentarily puzzled.
There was only a single toothbrush in the bathroom, the shoe rack was filled with only women’s shoes, and all the laundry was women’s clothing…
There was not a single trace of a man in the house.
“Is he possibly living separately now?”
In response to Luke’s question, Yerna spoke calmly.
“Oh, my dad passed away a long time ago. When I was a child.”
“That… I’m sorry to hear that.”
At those words, both Luke and Dayton, who had been silently listening nearby, froze with expressions of shock.
However, Yerna seemed to laugh it off as if it were no big deal and waved her hand dismissively.
“Well, it’s all something from years ago.”
“Yes, he was the Forest Keeper. I think it was when I was six years old. He was attacked by a large monster in the forest….”
Although she added that she didn’t remember it well, Yerna’s voice sounded genuinely fine.
To lighten up the somewhat tense atmosphere, Mirna gently smiled and spoke.
“When I heard he was becoming a Forest Keeper, I had quite a lot of objections. How many times did I nag that if you weren’t confident about being the best, you shouldn’t do it….”
Mirna seemed to drift into nostalgia, closing her eyes as she recalled.
“And after that, he became first place in everything.”
——–
“I was a natural shooter since I was twelve. Every shot I fired with a slingshot hit the bullseye.”
Yerna waved her hands as if to say why she was sharing such stories.
“Wow, that’s impressive.”
Dayton admired sincerely.
The child who used to be able to hit a target, now became adept enough to easily snipe something from 2 kilometers away; it was a truly astonishing growth.
Thus, the story of Yerna’s past that began with the old photograph Luke discovered in the drawer might not have been particularly interesting for him, but it seemed to be quite captivating for Dayton.
Opportunities to hear the past tales of a woman he admired were quite rare.
Dayton looked down at the frame, thinking.
‘Definitely, he was handsome.’
It was a face that seemed like it would have made many women cry back in the day; even for a man, it was clearly appealing.
With a face like that, he should have been an actor; it was hard to understand why he was a Forest Keeper, making it a thoroughly sorry sight to compare himself to him…
“Ah, do you remember this? When I asked you who you would marry in the past?”
“Ah, Mom!”
The conversation came to a sudden halt.
Dayton halted his thoughts and focused intently on their conversation.
There was no way he could miss such a pivotal topic as Yerna’s childhood ideal type.
“When you first saw Dad’s photo, you said you wouldn’t marry anyone less attractive than this, right? How about now? Is that still the case?”
“No, Mom, why do you keep bringing up things from that age…?”
Yerna, blushingly raising the laundry to hide her face, while Dayton stood there, with an expression of shock, staring only at the frame.
“…….”
No matter how thoroughly he analyzed it, there was no part of him that resembled that man.
He understood that jealousy was an inappropriate emotion to harbor toward the deceased, but Dayton was a man honest about his feelings, both good and bad.
Luke gently patted his back in encouragement.
“Dayton, people’s preferences change over time. Don’t be too shocked.”
