Ch.228228. Final Discourse (4)

The garden remained the same. The spirits circling above the garden, playing pranks on each other. They flew over happily when they saw Adelheid coming to the garden, then noticed our presence behind her and hid among the flowers, peeking out cautiously.

“Wow, there are so many baby spirits here…”

First there was Elves, looking around in wonder despite himself being only intermediate level. Then there was Sione, who wasn’t surprised since she’d been here once before, but seemed slightly disappointed that the spirits wouldn’t approach her at all.

Watching their reactions, I was following behind Adelheid, circling the outer edge of the garden. The High Elf glanced back several times, and when Elves hid behind me, she raised the corners of her mouth as if she’d been waiting for this.

“Ray, how about summoning your other friends besides that small one?”

“Would that be alright?”

“Of course. That little one over there seems lonely by himself.”

Come to think of it, Elves had been watching intently as the lower spirits played and joked around on our way here. Adelheid was being considerate toward Elves, who was awkwardly hovering on the outside, unable to join in. I could only gladly respond to her thoughtfulness.

“Then I’d be happy to.”

I promptly summoned Tania and Orna after a long while.

A warm breeze swept through the garden, and soon the two spirits appeared.

“Ah.”

“Myeong!”

Orna and Tania quickly surveyed their surroundings.

“Hey, Elves!”

“Myeong?”

The moment Tania’s eyes met Elves’, she charged at him with incredible speed, as if brakes didn’t exist.

“Where did you learn to bail in the middle of a penalty game?”

“But sis, Dad called—”

“Anyway, you still have to finish your penalty. Right?”

“Eek!”

Tania chased after Elves, who had been hiding behind me.

Elves tried to avoid his sister by circling around me, then suddenly hid behind Orna.

“D-don’t come!”

“Not listening to your sister?”

“But you’re just going to pinch my cheeks again… I hate pain!”

“Sigh… Elves, I’m tired. I’ll count to three, so come here quickly.”

“No way!”

“Three.”

“…Brother Orna, please help me a little.”

“Two.”

“Hmph.”

“One and a half—”

“Orna…?”

Orna looked at Elves with a sneer and shook his head.

Elves sensed something ominous as he stared blankly at Orna. Then, with Orna’s sudden action, he stood frozen in the air with his eyes wide open.

“Myeong!”

With an energetic cry, Orna flew straight into Tania’s arms.

Elves couldn’t accept Orna’s betrayal and could only stare helplessly at Orna’s back.

“Myaaang!”

“Orna is on big sister’s side~”

“Hmph.”

“Good job, good job. Oh, my little brother is so cute~”

After petting Orna like a storm, Tania looked at Elves triumphantly and said:

“Now, Elves, shall we continue our penalty game?”

“Eeeek!”

The chase and betrayal unfolded like a whirlwind in a short time.

Not only Sione and I, who were eagerly following their rapid flight with our eyes, but even the High Elf Adelheid smiled at their playfulness.

“The flowers I wanted to show you are right around here. Shall we pick up the pace a bit?”

So with a somewhat lightened mood, after Adelheid sent her reserved spirit to join Tania’s group, we walked through the garden. At the outermost edge of the garden, unlike the well-maintained central area, we could finally see the flowers that Sione had been eagerly anticipating among a cluster of wildflowers and weeds growing together.

“This is—”

Sione’s eyes narrowed.

Small white flowers reflecting the sunlight with a subtle glow were blooming in clusters. Though these white flowers seemed unremarkable, they clearly appeared special to Sione, different from other flowers in some way.

“Could it be…”

She rubbed her eyes and quietly, carefully observed the flowers.

“Is this the Moonlight Herb?”

Moonlight Herb? What could it be that surprised her so much?

I simply waited quietly as Adelheid nodded in agreement, waiting for their explanation to continue.

“There are countless flowers called Moonlight Herb across the continent. But this flower is the most special among them. It is indeed the Moonlight Herb you’re thinking of.”

“I never thought this flower would still exist…”

“Indeed, it must be hard to find in human lands now. You recognized this flower immediately, hero.”

Sione, who had been carefully examining the flower in a lowered position, carefully raised her head and met Adelheid’s eyes. Then, gently touching the petals with her finger, she continued.

“I simply researched it out of curiosity about my family’s history and traditions.”

Adelheid quietly closed her eyes and nodded at those words.

“This flower was extensively used by the Count’s family and the elves of the Great Forest during the past war. The memories are still vivid when I close my eyes.”

“A flower that emits the sunlight it absorbed during the day as a subtle moonlight at night. I heard this flower contains weak anti-Magia properties.”

“That’s right. Depending on how it’s used, it can provide emergency treatment for those affected by Magia… and even subdue monsters that have just begun to be intoxicated by Magia—”

I summarized the flower’s effects from their ongoing conversation.

The key point was that it’s a precious flower with anti-Magia power. It could be used when someone is bitten by monsters carrying Magia and the wound area becomes infected, or to drive away enemies occasionally intoxicated by weak Magia.

Moreover, its performance could be sufficiently amplified depending on the mixture, and this quantity would be enough to supply to some key forces.

Additionally:

“Furthermore, we’ve succeeded in finding another use for this flower that we couldn’t utilize back then.”

“Really?”

“Yes, heroes will be able to see it up close when the time comes. Please wait patiently until preparations are complete.”

Since she mentioned finding a new use…

Sione and I left a small expectation in our hearts as we continued through the garden.

The conversation about the flowers was over. What remained was about me. Since she mentioned preparing a spirit stone and being considerate enough to let me use it:

“Now, shall we head to the center of the garden where I’ve prepared the spirit stone?”

I walked behind Adelheid with anticipation.

A path surrounded by flowers on all sides. As we gradually approached the center under the shade of the towering World Tree, filled with butterflies and flower fragrances, paradoxically, not a single laugh from the spirits could be heard, though it should have been bustling.

As my spirits returned along with Adelheid’s spirit, expressing confusion at the sudden silence around us, Adelheid skillfully continued speaking.

“The spirit stone I’ve prepared is quite a rare treasure. If the mischievous ones secretly cause trouble or hide it, it could become quite troublesome. Thanks to that, I’ve taken measures to prevent spirits without contracts from entering this space.”

After briefly explaining the absence of spirits, we moved forward, and gradually a strong spirit energy began to be felt.

The moment I realized that the energy permeating the space, thickly covering the skin, was of a different caliber than what Siabel had sneakily obtained before…

Tania’s gaze completely changed.

“Hey, Shinwoo.”

“…?”

“How about repaying me for protecting you with self-destruction last time with that spirit stone?”

“…”

Sorry, but I’m also tempted by such a rare treasure.

Ignoring Tania’s words completely as she hit my back with her tiny fist…

I quietly walked up to the spirit stone where Adelheid had stopped.

“Here is the spirit stone. Now, hero—”

The spirit stone contained an intensely rich natural energy. I had rarely seen such an excellent spirit stone throughout my hunter career.

“How do you plan to use this spirit stone?”

The uses were spirit enhancement and advancing my true form.

Since both had distinct advantages and disadvantages, I closed my eyes without making a hasty decision.

I tried to objectively assess my situation.

Do I currently lack spirit support, or is my true form’s power more deficient? And if I enhance my abilities with this spirit stone, which option would provide better utility for me?

After some time, when I finally opened my firmly closed eyelids…

I expressed my determined thought.

“I—”

* * *

In the northern part of the Great Forest city, there exists a beautiful spring.

The spring, hidden in a remote place unknown to most residents of the Great Forest, had been serving its role as a treasure quenching the thirst of wild animals for decades.

But today, instead of the usual rabbits or deer, two visitors broke the usual silence.

“So you came after all.”

A woman in light clothing, but with a protective sword securely at her waist.

Friel Arielt leaned against a tree with poor posture, greeting her visitor by merely rolling her eyes.

“Airine.”

The visitor was her childhood friend Airine.

Unlike Friel, however, she had come to the spring fully armed.

“…”

“It’s been a while since we’ve been here, right?”

Friel detached herself from the tree and slowly approached the spring.

“The last time you and I met here, you were holding a sword, and I was submerged in this spring, splattered with blood.”

“…”

“Back then, the world looked as red as your hair, but now it’s so clear.”

“Friel, I don’t think we’re here to chat about those times.”

“But when I think about it, it’s quite ironic and… interesting that we meet here like this.”

Friel’s face reflected in the spring water was cold.

“The reason I came here then and the reason I’m here now are completely opposite, aren’t they?”

“…”

“Back then, you came to stab me regardless of our friendship, following your family head’s orders. And the fact that you’ve come here now according to my letter means—”

A subtle tension arose between Friel and Airine.

However, the one to back down first was Airine rather than Friel, who was less armed and in worse physical condition.

“Like my letter said, you must have felt something about your family too, so you came.”

“…Friel, how did you discover those things?”

“Well, the important thing is—”

Ting!

Friel said, briskly flicking the hilt of her sword with her thumb.

“It would be better to talk slowly after dealing with the tail you brought along.”

Friel boldly drew her sword, unimaginable for someone who had once suffered a severe injury.

She grimaced with one eye as the pain stung sharply when mana began to circulate through her body, which had not yet fully healed from her internal injuries, and she wore a sneer.

“There are unusually many listening ears around you.”

To such an extent that no confidential conversation could ever be established in any place other than this remote location, no matter what methods were used.