Ch.151151. Organizing and Preparing (4)

“I still have one thing I haven’t given you yet. Could you follow me to the private practice room for a moment?”

“You mean the private practice room with Ray?”

It was Sione, not me, who responded to Siabel’s words.

What kind of gift was she planning to give, wanting to go to the private practice room with me alone?

As this thought sparked Sione’s curiosity, Siabel didn’t answer immediately but glanced at me.

‘…The atmosphere is different from usual.’

In Siabel’s eyes, her usual composure and playfulness had faded.

She had reverted to how she was when I first entered the Beltrin Mountains and caught that damned spider. She looked at me as an interesting and amusing person, sometimes showing intense curiosity.

The evidence was in her bright smile with a somewhat cool edge and her innocent blue eyes, which gazed at me with a mixture of subtle emotions.

“Yes, the private practice room. If you’re free after this, I’d like to take him for a moment.”

“I have plenty of time… but may I come along too?”

“Unfortunately—”

Siabel slowly shook her head.

“I’m afraid that won’t work today. I have some things to discuss with him alone.”

Alone.

This word, combined with Siabel’s subtly changed demeanor, seemed to light a fuse in Sione.

Sione stared blankly at her before blinking.

Then she adopted a somewhat displeased expression.

Even without Siabel’s bombshell statement about wanting to “borrow” me at dawn like before, even such a minor comment seemed to bother her.

Ever since Friel came to the Count’s residence, Sione had become quite sensitive about these things.

‘Still, a private meeting—’

It would be fine to just go with Sione and be done with it.

What gift could Siabel have prepared that required her to speak with me alone in a private practice room?

While I was trying to guess Siabel’s intentions,

Sione and Siabel were gazing deeply into each other’s eyes. As if this was easier than exchanging hundreds of words to understand each other.

If until now, the exchange of bright emotions had contained the clarity of a blue sky where their blue eyes met, now it seemed as though a few clouds were stealthily appearing in that clear sky.

“If it’s something to discuss alone.”

“It’s something important to discuss as part of our master-disciple relationship. I’d prefer if we could talk just the two of us.”

Siabel slowly began stroking Sione’s head.

“Besides, I’m tied to the County, and once you two leave, I won’t be able to talk until you return. Please, Sione.”

Sione thought for a moment before finally nodding.

“…Then I’ll wait in my room.”

Siabel looked down at her sister, then quickly raised her head to look at me.

She merely revealed a small smile to me, as if to say she had succeeded.

* * *

With only Siabel and me present, and just the faint sound of insects in the background, the private practice room remained quiet.

Unable to spend time in complete silence in the practice room,

Siabel seemed to think the same, as she stopped wandering around the room and straightened her posture while looking directly at me.

She naturally crossed her arms, tilted her head slightly, and asked me:

“So Ray, would you like to receive your gift first? Or shall we talk first?”

A gift and a conversation.

The gift would likely be something like the sword or ring she gave to Sione. And the conversation… she said she had something important to discuss with me.

I thought it would be better to have the heavier conversation first, then receive the gift before returning to Sione’s side.

“I think it would be better to have the conversation you wanted to have first.”

“Hmm.”

My choice seemed to please her, as Siabel showed a satisfied expression.

“This conversation is also somewhat about satisfying my curiosity. I hope you’ll answer properly without treating me like a madwoman.”

What kind of conversation was she planning to have that she needed to ask me not to treat her like a madwoman?

I felt slightly suspicious, but well.

The only people I treat as madmen are the most extreme among elves already steeped in their supremacist ideology,

and fanatics who inexplicably burn their lives like straw for demons.

I simply shook my head dismissively at Siabel’s words.

“Me treating you like a madwoman? That’s absurd.”

“I appreciate the sentiment. Then let’s end the small talk and move on to the main topic.”

Her atmosphere instantly deepened.

Her eyes, calm like a forgotten lake without a single ripple, seemed to be deeply contemplating my form and the thoughts that came with it.

“Mother told me everything. The reason you and Sione are going to the Great Forest. A High Elf received an oracle from the World Tree.”

Siabel was addressing me not with her usual relatively light tone, but with the somewhat heavy tone she used when we first had a proper conversation.

Yes, like when I was beating up those annoying wolves in the Beltrin Mountains.

“An oracle saying that only you and Sione can twist the predetermined fate of doom for the elves and the Great Forest. It’s hard to believe… but since the daughter of the Arielt family even swore to the World Tree and spirits, I can’t ignore the weight of those words.”

“The decisive reason you’re heading to the Great Forest is because of the oath tied to the sword left by our ancestor. And if it weren’t for the reason they stated above, there would be no reason for them to come all the way to our County to use that precious sword now.”

“So I’ve been thinking deeply about how our Sione came to have the fate of twisting their destiny, and about the path she has taken. Because—”

Siabel’s eyes settled coldly.

The lake without a ripple had frozen over with her chilling composure.

“Until last year, even trying to see the best in her, our Sione showed not a shred of will to overcome her situation, nor could one find even the slightest ability in her.”

It was no coincidence that Siabel had sent Sione back to her room first.

If the sensitive Sione had heard this objective assessment delivered so dispassionately, she might have hidden under her blanket and cried alone at night.

“The idea that someone who couldn’t properly restore her own fate, her broken exterior or interior, could twist someone else’s fate—it’s nothing but a meaningless play on words.”

I focused on Siabel’s strong opening statements.

“So I’m sorry, but I don’t think our Sione was born with the ability to accomplish such a great task as twisting someone’s or something’s fate. However—”

Step by step.

Siabel gradually walked toward me with ease.

“That same Sione began to change clearly from a certain point. She started losing weight, going to the shooting range. She became a different person. Since our Sione wouldn’t be so motivated on her own, it’s as if someone changed her fate.”

Siabel placed her hand on top of my head.

She held my head in place so I would look directly at her.

“And that point coincided exactly with the day you started standing by Sione’s side. Interesting, isn’t it?”

The same deep smile as when she first saw my magic in that small clearing in the mountains.

“When I learned you were a man who could use magic, and that your sword was extraordinarily skilled. Come to think of it, the daughter of the Arielt family mentioned not just Sione, but you as well as someone who could twist fate.”

The curve of her red lips deepened endlessly.

“Yes, if the one who can twist fate without being bound by it is not our Sione but you, then it wouldn’t be strange that you can use magic despite being a man, nor would it be strange that you know about spirits despite being human.”

Siabel already seemed half-convinced that I had the ability to twist fate.

No matter what I say, it wouldn’t be easy to shake that conviction she’s built up over several days.

It won’t harm me, and there’s nothing wrong with just letting her think whatever she wants rather than making ineffective excuses.

“So I ask you here. Ray, are you someone who can twist fate as I said? If so… can you tell me, Siabel Sianella, how far my fate has strayed from its original course?”

Siabel, who had somehow grabbed my chin to prevent me from escaping.

The pressure from her index finger and thumb on my chin was increasing, and thinking that my jawbone might break if I kept my mouth shut,

I simply revealed the surface-level actions I had shown to Sione.

“I only suggest or urge various paths and choices. Everything is an achievement that Lady Sione herself has accomplished by strengthening her will and willingly acting.”

“Hmm.”

“Also, if we were to say that fate has changed, wouldn’t all the things that have newly entangled my master and you, Lady Siabel—all things both trivial and significant—be the new trajectory of life that Lady Siabel has walked, different from the original fate?”

“Indeed, the butterfly effect.”

With those words, Siabel withdrew her hand from my chin and crossed her arms.

After briefly looking down to organize her thoughts, she looked at me with a grin.

“So you suggest new fates, and it’s Sione who acts on them. Is that right?”

Having arbitrarily reached her own conclusion, Siabel shook her head once, then began to arrange her hair again, brushing it back.

As she pushed her bangs to the side, revealing her blue eyes and eye-smile,

“It’s a bit of a shame.”

Siabel faced me with a more intense smile than ever before.

“If you had been by my side instead of Sione’s, and I had taken Sione’s role. That would have been quite fun in its own way.”

“But Lady Siabel, aren’t you already my swordsmanship master?”

“Master…”

Siabel quietly looked at me for a moment.

“Well, that’s not bad either—”

She suddenly approached me and stroked my head as she continued.

“It wouldn’t be bad for the master to try to impress her disciple first, to become even closer master and disciple in the future.”

Siabel passed by me.

She reached into her protective gear prepared in the private training room and brought out a small wooden box.

“Here, take it.”

“This is…”

“Open it right here.”

I opened the wooden box.

The energy emanating from inside was so intense that my body immediately reacted,

causing me to open my eyes wide in surprise.

“If our ancestor gave a sword to the children of the Great Forest as a gesture of goodwill, they gave us numerous spirit stones in return.”

Spirit stone.

This thing that spirits would die to possess contains the essence of nature’s guardians.

It can be used to summon new spirits or form contracts, or slightly increase the power of spirit magic when possessed.

As this jade-colored jewel enhances all abilities of a spirit mage until its brilliance fades,

Spirit stones were treasures even to elves.

I couldn’t help but be captivated by the spirit stone for a moment.

“I brought the one with the densest energy among those remaining in our family.”

“Is it really okay to give me something like this…?”

“No?”

…What?

“Spirit stones are strictly managed, even for removal from storage. This is one of the largest, so normally, before giving it to you, I’d have to beg Mother just to take it out for a moment.”

“Then how did you…”

“I swiped it secretly, what else would I have done?”

A knight… stealing?

“If you keep it in that wooden box, it will conceal its energy. Don’t take it out until you’ve left the County, at least.”

“…Wasn’t this something that shouldn’t have been taken from storage in the first place? If someone notices it’s missing…”

“It was just sitting there unused anyway. I’ll let Mother know after you and Sione leave the County. Don’t worry about it.”

“…”

“Ray, as a disciple, you just need to listen to your master. Just don’t get caught until you leave the County. Got it?”

“But…”

“Got it?”

“…Yes, I understand.”

When I finally agreed, Siabel smiled again.

“Besides, that jewel… just like the elves who came to the County, it will be of great help to you when you arrive at the Great Forest. Make sure you don’t lose it.”

“…I’ll keep that in mind.”

“What are you doing?”

“Pardon?”

“The wooden box, hide it in your chest. It’s a bit awkward to carry it around, isn’t it?”

“Ah.”

At Siabel’s urging, I carefully tucked the wooden box into my chest.

With this, we finished our business and left the private practice room to return to the main building.

We stood in the hallway where Sione and Siabel’s rooms diverged, having our final conversation for the day.

“Oh, and when you go back, let Sione know.”

“Know what?”

“That in the Great Forest these days, not only are there elves, but also many soldiers from the Marquisate of Kallia. Among them is the daughter of the Marquis, Eunice Kallia.”

Eunice Kallia.

“Mother will take care of it to some extent, but it wouldn’t hurt for Sione to prepare a small gift that Eunice Kallia might like.”

…I thought she’d be guarding the border, but to think that noble who’s obsessed with male knights would be in the Great Forest.

I sigh, thinking how complicated the future seems.