Chapter 93

채은’s dream was a dream from her very early childhood.

Now, that memory has faded so much that only that ‘sensation’ of those bygone days remains.

She doesn’t want to lose it any more, but inevitably, it is gradually fading from her memory, making her long for that time even more.

She wasn’t sure whether her surroundings were bright. She had her eyes closed. No, even if she opened them, nothing would likely enter 채은’s sight.

채은 was hugging her mother.

Now, she has grown too big—채은 has grown up, and she could no longer fit entirely in her mother’s embrace as she did in her childhood, but her mother was gently holding her close and stroking her head.

“……Mom.”

That’s why she knew it was a dream. It was a dream of a time that could never come again.

She knew her mother was no longer in this world.

But even knowing that, 채은 couldn’t bring herself to escape that embrace.

A hero’s duty is to protect someone. It doesn’t matter if it’s because it’s a rule or because they want to do it themselves.

Surely, moving forward, 채은 would no longer feel that kind of sensation. A being that seems like it could fully protect her from all the threats in the world, holding her tightly with all its might.

As she dug deeper into that embrace, 채은 felt something strange.

Feeling a sensation in a dream isn’t odd. But usually, when you wake up, that sensation doesn’t linger at all. The warmth and softness felt in the dream were merely illusions made by the brain.

But right now, it felt so detailed.

The warmth and softness against her face. And the slender body felt in her arms. She could even subtly feel the solid ribs through her clothes at her fingertips.

“……!?”

채은 was startled by that sensation and pulled back her face. As she hurriedly released her arms and backed away, she saw—

“Did you sleep well?”

The being she had been hugging all night smiled and spoke.

With skin so white you’d think it wouldn’t tan in the sun. Softly shimmering golden hair. And a touch of red dye mixed among the strands.

Her blue eyes, like looking into clear water, were gazing down at 채은.

As if she had discovered something amusing, those eyes narrowed a bit.

“……”

채은 felt cold sweat on her back for the first time in a long while.

Without saying a word, 채은 slowly withdrew her arms from that body.

Anna’s body temperature hadn’t yet evaporated from her clothes, so the parts of them that had touched were warm.

There was a slightly sweet smell of alcohol mixed with a faint scent of sweat. The smell was primarily coming from Ria.

Ria slowly got up from the bed and sat down at the edge.

And she buried her face in her hands.

“……What did I say?”

“Well, I’m not sure. I don’t remember well.”

It was a voice that sounded as if she remembered perfectly well.

Ria flopped sideways on the bed.

And then she started to flail about.

“Well, don’t worry! I am a very understanding person, so I have the capacity to understand someone who drank for the ‘first time’ and passed out!”

Ria wanted to deny it, but she couldn’t bring herself to say anything.

“But Ria, we need to get going soon. Since the smell isn’t coming off, we really should wash up…… Ah.”

And, as if there was something worrying her—Anna added in an exaggerated tone,

“By the way, you do remember you’re sober, right? If I were to strip down and you suddenly wrapped your arms around me again—”

Ria shot up from her seat.

Anna was taken aback by Ria’s reaction, but Ria didn’t head for Anna; she dashed into the shower room.

And she scrubbed her body as vigorously as possible. She brushed her teeth vigorously too.

Making sure to wash off the smell of alcohol as best as she could.

*

Ah, she has a cute side to her.

…….

No, that’s not it. If someone looks pretty, they’ll appear cute no matter what they do. Besides, Ria was not the kind of person to do anything to tarnish that beauty.

After waiting leisurely for Ria to finish washing up, we took turns in the shower room and cleaned ourselves thoroughly.

I hadn’t gotten to wash last night because of Ria, so today’s shower was particularly refreshing.

Hmm, saying it like that might lead to some misunderstanding. All Ria did was hug me tightly all night long.

After washing up, I put on my underwear and clothes and squeezed the towel into my hair as I stepped out of the shower room to find Ria standing there with a stiff expression.

But her face was bright red.

I thought about teasing her one more time, but if I did that it would feel too mean, so I decided against it.

*

I went to meet the princess on time.

Her name was Emelig Gruond.

In fact, the name only appears once in the novel, so I didn’t remember it well. It’s no wonder, really; the Dwarf princess was already dead by the time she was introduced.

“Your Highness.”

“Sister.”

As I lightly grabbed my skirt and bowed, the princess did the same.

Then the two of us were guided to a table.

On the table were luxurious glasses that looked like they were carved from crystal. They were a bit larger than the glasses we had used yesterday. Perhaps they were designed to hold ice as well as drink. Inside, ice was already sitting.

Next to it was liquor that was a similar color to what we had yesterday.

Seeing three glasses on the table, Ria let out a small groan. Whether the princess heard that or not, she glanced at us and whispered something to a servant who stood in the corner. The servant slightly bowed, went out for a moment, and by the time we sat down at the table, he came back with a bottle filled with a transparent liquid.

“The Dwarves seem to really love their alcohol.”

“It’s quite fascinating, isn’t it? If we had magic, we could grow enough crops to feed everyone and still have more to spare, even in this barren place.”

The princess answered my comment.

There was pride in her voice, a pride in how well they could wield magic.

But at the same time, it was a voice filled with caution toward me.

“Magic is indispensable to Dwarves. The Gnomes only need to be able to harvest stone, but we can’t maintain society without it.”

“I’m not here to harm the Dwarf Kingdom.”

“……Our priests seem to think you have come to harm us.”

The princess let out a small sigh.

“I don’t know what kind of world you come from, but I only know that it is not connected to ours. I also know that we believe in different beings.”

“Dwarves… they worship magic itself?”

The princess nodded heavily.

“If that is the case, then the reason for your warm welcome…”

“Is because you’re dealing with the Gnomes.”

The princess said.

“You know that the relationship between us and the Gnomes isn’t that great.”

The princess’s gaze fell on my right hand ring finger. The ring that the Gnomes made for us had my power continuously building up. Perhaps, when the time comes, releasing that power would surely disrupt some of the functions of the Dwarf Kingdom.

From the Dwarf’s perspective, we were beings carrying bombs.

Despite that, the reason they accepted our request and took us in was also because that power was fascinating.

And—

“I heard that there was a problem regarding my entourage.”

“Yes.”

“I was told that… I would be kidnapped by someone.”

“Yes, that was said.”

“And that it was a prophecy from the god you believe in.”

I fell silent at those words.

I don’t consider that being a god.

But speaking like that here wouldn’t help persuade them. If I said I’d act based on the words of a being I don’t even believe is a god, which Dwarf would trust that story?

“We’ve already prevented a dangerous situation with that prophecy before.”

“Unfortunately, that’s information we cannot verify.”

The princess said that and poured liquor into the glasses. It was a strong liquor, smelling like it could get you tipsy just by sniffing it.

In their eyes, this would be hardly different from tea.

“Then if I give you information that you can accept, will you understand?”

The princess’s gaze turned to me.

“Of course, if that ‘prophecy’ can really be considered a supernatural phenomenon.”

The princess gestured to the servants waiting in the room with a nod as she took a sip of her whiskey. She was making them clear out so I could speak comfortably.

Well, even so, they might still be eavesdropping—but that wasn’t my concern.

“The Dwarf Kingdom is currently researching the Gate, isn’t it?”

The princess’s hand froze.

Midway through bringing the glass to her lips, the princess widened her eyes and stared at me.