episode_0556

Me, Ethan, and Eris enjoying some sightseeing and relaxation in the village of Lyria.

Ethan, who was lying on the floor of the room, having thrown away the bed he had set up for me to lie on, asked me a question.

“Where did you say you were going today, Release?”

“According to what Lilya said, I heard that today we were going to see the cold desert~. Looking at it now, I heard that the snow field is spectacular~.”

“Really? Now that I think about it, this is probably the first time Iris has seen snow properly. It was only three months ago when it snowed in Blackwood Estate last year. ”

“Eyes? Is this it?”

“That’s snow too, but what Dad is talking about is snow falling from the sky~.”

“Heeeet! It’s snowing from the sky~! It’s scary~!!”

“It’s okay, Iris~. It’s not scary at all when you see it in person~.”

Iris reacts innocently like a two-year-old child, and Edan and I smile at her.

While the whole family was having this conversation, supporting themselves with the warmth of the ondol floor heating up from the room, a familiar voice was heard from outside the room.

-dripping.

“Release, can I come in for a moment?”

“Yes~. Come in, Miss Lizzy~.”

-Knock knock.

“… Are you lying down like that again today? You are all lying down as one family. ”

“Do you want to lie down too~? It’s nice and warm~.”

“I would like to do that too, but unfortunately I don’t think I have the time.”

“Haaa~.Pheuuum~.”

Iris is lying on her back on the hot ondol floor, blinking sleepily.

I suddenly entered the room and asked Lizzy, who was thinking that it would be okay to just take a nap and go see her tomorrow.

“What brings you here, Miss Lizzy~?”

“I think I’ll have to go back to Auguste’s estate soon for work, so I came to say goodbye. After we part today, I think we’ll be busy for a few months and won’t be able to see each other.”

“Ah, Miss Siriji is really busy~. It hasn’t been that long since you came to Barbarakus Village, and you’re already leaving~?”

“Not long? By the way, didn’t Lilith and Prince Blackwood say they were busy before coming here? They said they would just take care of business at the academy and then quickly leave for Blackwood Estate, but once they actually arrived, neither of them seemed to have any intention of leaving. ”

“… Well, can’t you just take it easy? You won’t get many opportunities to stay in a place like this. ”

“Are you okay? You’ve been doing this for a week already, Lilith.”

“… a week?”

“A week…?”

“What is this~?”

… Wait, when did we get here?

On the first day, I was tired from moving around, so I rested all day. Then on the second day, I went to see the Red Canyon with Lilia’s guidance.

Although it was a long day, the weather was so bad that when I got back, I felt chills all over my body. So I spent some time relaxing on the heated floor with Iris and Ethan.

On the third day, we toured the totem temple with Lyria’s guidance, and on the fourth day… .

“… … Ah.”

Crazy. When did time pass so quickly? Has it really been a week?

I was trying to take it easy for a bit, but I never thought it would get this long. I even said I would go and come back as quickly as possible when I asked Harold for permission.

“Whew, when I go back, my father won’t leave me alone.”

Ethan muttered to himself, perhaps realizing the seriousness of the situation.

But even though he has a decent podium, if you look at him like that, it’s definitely a fraud… No, that’s not what’s important right now.

“Come to think of it, the reason Lilith came here, not to Blackwood Estate, was because of the feather of the wind bird, right? Since you’re acting so relaxed, I guess you’ve already found it?”

“… … .”

“… Did you all just lie around like that, forgetting the original purpose of your coming?”

Lizzy looked at me with a dumbfounded expression, but I had no words to say. I had completely forgotten about it because I was fooled by Jinjjariria’s tourist suggestion.

In fact, Lilia was just a senior who respected me and was trying to brag about her hometown as much as possible, but in any case, her excessive interest had become quite toxic by now.

“Ah, Senior Release! Shouldn’t you be getting ready to go out? The cold desert is a bit far away, so you should start preparing now… .”

“Lee, Liria! Not there, go to where the wind chime… oh, no, the sky owl or something is! ”

“Huh? Sky magpie… .Oh, are you talking about the sky magpie?”

“Yes, anyway! I have to go see it right now!”

“Okay. Then, let’s stop by the harsh desert first, and then go to the Wind Valley Hill where the Sky Oriole is… .”

“I told you that I don’t need to see the cold desert, so I asked you to show me the nightingale first…!”

“Yes, yes… .”

We must resolve our original purpose as quickly as possible and return to Blackwood Estate.

If I delay even for a moment, I’ll probably be eaten by this devil’s heating system and be stranded here for the rest of the winter.

⁎⁎⁎

The three people barely managed to regain their senses and get up from the heated floor thanks to Lizzy’s advice.

In order to find the ‘Sky Oriole’, which is presumed to be a ‘Windbird’ based on the circumstances, I climbed the ‘Hill’ of Wind Valley under the guidance of Liria.

… It was quite steep to be called a hill, but in Lyria’s opinion, it was a hill anyway.

“Hoo, hoo, hoo… .Ri,Riria… ?”

“Yes, Senior Release!”

“Future, huh, uh, how much is left…?”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“Ha, that’s where the nightingale is… . And, you said it was a hill, so why such a high mountain… .”

“Huh? Isn’t it a normal hill if it’s this high? And we’ve only just entered Baramgol Hill, Senior Release!”

“… … Yes?”

“For your information, the best place to observe the Sky Oriole is at the top of the mountain! It only takes about three or four hours to climb slowly, so do your best, Senior Release!”

… It seems that I underestimated the height of the hill by Bavarian standards. If it’s this high, it seems like it’s just a steep mountain.

Eris was already exhausted and was being carried by Ethan, and Ethan Dottie was barely able to see that she was out of breath.

‘Somehow, as soon as I said I was going to Baramgol Hill, it felt like I was going out alone.’

If it was this high, it would be understandable for them to run away, even if it was just friendship. Even if it was just a pension fund, its basic physical strength would be far inferior to mine and Edan’s.

Actually, I could have left Rhys at Lilia’s house, but I’m taking him with me on the hike just in case. Sei has been with me for quite some time since he left me.

The moment you get lucky enough to get your hands on the wind bird’s feather, if Sei is not by your side, it becomes impossible to win her favor by giving her a ‘gift’.

Considering that all the effort put into climbing the steep mountain might be in vain, it would have been better to climb with Iris, even if it meant pushing myself a little.

“Oh my…! That guy over there is so tiny…!”

“Oh, yeah, yeah, Iris… . S, People really, look like, dust… .”

… and show Eris the view from the mountain.

Since I was planning to leave as soon as tomorrow morning after reconciling with Seirang, it would probably be better to consider ‘Ibaramgol Hill’ as the last tourist destination.

-Thump, thump, thump…

“Senior Release, it’s almost done! Just hold on a little longer!”

“Haa,ah,just now,huh,ha,an hour,whoosh,that,before too,hehe,that,that thing… .”

“I said earlier that we were almost halfway there. We’ll soon reach the 7th ridge, so we only have to climb for two more hours!”

“Ahhh… !”

… After we reconcile, I have to be nice to Sei from now on.

Seriously, it was a mountain I never wanted to climb again.

⁎⁎⁎

-dump.

“Whoa, hoo, hoo… .Do, dochaak… .”

A grueling hike that took almost five hours from the entrance.

My body, which had just completed a mountain climb that was even more unbelievable than a marathon, automatically collapsed as soon as I reached the top.

It was a mountain I really didn’t want to climb twice. What kind of ‘hill’ is this, really… .

“Release, no matter what, isn’t it too dry lying on the dirt floor? ”

“Haa, I don’t know… . I’m a noble and all, but I feel like I’m going to die, what should I do… .”

“I want to lie down with mom too~!”

“… Release.”

“… I know.”

… There’s nothing I can do.

I’m so exhausted I could die, but I can’t just leave Iris lying on this dirty dirt floor.

After somehow mustering up the remaining strength and looking around, I saw something that looked like a blue bird appear and then disappear.

“Ri, Liria… .Is there something like the wind moving over there… .”

“Yes! It’s Sky Magpie, Senior Release!”

“… It’s pretty, it’s definitely pretty.”

If only I had some free time, I would want to leisurely admire the beautiful wave-shaped things moving along the wind path.

Seeing something flying around, whether it was a bird, a spirit, or just the wind, gave me a sense of relief.

‘For now, it’s fortunate that I’m here because it seems to be a safe place.’

If the story had been like, ‘I’ve worked hard to get here, but in fact, the ‘wind bird’ and the ‘sky magpie’ are different things!’, I might have seriously given up on reconciling with Sei. In the first place, if not here, then where else would I have found the wind bird?

The problem now is that I have to somehow get feathers from the ‘wind bird’… .

‘But how can I get the wind bird’s feather?’

It probably won’t work to capture it directly and pull it out with your hands. A wind bird is a natural phenomenon in which the wind gathers into the shape of a bird thanks to its magical power.

Should I use something like magic to capture the moving wind bird in the shape of a feather, or should I cut off its long tail and collect it?

As we were pondering over how to obtain the feathers of the wind bird, we began to hear someone’s voice from the opposite side of the hiking trail that Edan and I had climbed.

“Haa, huh, haa… Where, far, is it…?”

“You’re almost done, so just hold on a little longer, Agnes.”

“You, ah, you were like that an hour ago too… !”

“It’s real. It looks normal over there.”

“Agnes Youngae, if you are tired, I will carry you… .”

“No need for blood…!!”

… familiar voices, and familiar names.

Ethan also felt the same sense of foreboding as I did and began to stare at the opposite trail from where the voices were coming from, and soon after, several familiar faces began to come up the mountain.

“Haa, huh, huh, heh, heek… .”

“Agyunas~! It’s Agyunas~!”

“Hehe, uh, huh… ?”

“Lee, Lilith Youngae?”

“… … .”

Oh, shit.

If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have been fooling around.