episode_0127

The words spoken by the Spirit Mother were astonishing.

“Can you really move in an instant?”

[Using the Spirit’s Gate, it is said that one can arrive in the human empire in a moment of time.]

Upon the Spirit King’s additional explanation, Lily’s eyes sparkled.

[To do so, first… I must go meet my children.]

At those words, Lian recalled the spirits who had escaped with the knights.

“Come to think of it, we should have encountered them earlier… Where did everyone go?”

As if answering Lian’s question, the Spirit King spoke.

[…As I taught them, they are hiding deep in the forest, concealing themselves. Unless the same spirit directly opens the way, they cannot be found.]

As her words ended, the vast forest beside the road trembled. It distorted like a forest made of hallucinations, moving here and there. The trees quickly receded on either side, and the stiff grasses twisted their heads to create a path.

As if the forest was beckoning them, those who had been preaching or shedding tears of emotion all fell silent, staring blankly at the forest.

“Let’s go.”

As the Spirit King floated ahead into the air, Noah hurriedly led the group, following behind her.

***

As she had said, inside the forest path, they met the knights and spirits. Nearly a hundred spirits fluttered around, and the group watched in awe.

“…! I’m glad you’re safe!”

The knight approached Lian with a moved expression, offering his greetings. Lian immediately introduced him to the others, who initially had been wary but quickly relaxed upon Lian’s introduction.

“Huh?”

The knight, who had been smiling confidently, suddenly looked as if he had been struck in the back of the head as he gazed at Iris.

“Huh?”

His gaze began to shift between Lian and Iris. The two of them had quite similar faces.

Individually, they didn’t look alike at all, but both had gentle features, making it impossible for anyone to doubt they were siblings. Their hair and eye colors being the same made it even more apparent.

However, Iris had a slightly duller shade than Lian due to traces of dark power she had used when Lian died once in the past. Even though it was slightly duller, it had turned into a light silver color, so without comparing her directly to Lian, she would just appear white.

“Why, why two…?”

In any case, the situation of having two direct descendants of the duke appearing left the knight full of confusion.

While he was still locked in confusion, the Spirit King spoke in a gentle voice.

“Fortunately, the area around here is overflowing with spirit energy, so we can open the Spirit’s Gate right away.”

With a desire to leave the unpleasant place quickly, she returned to her original form to open the Spirit’s Gate. Lily and Nero, who were explaining the situation to the bewildered group, turned their widened eyes towards the towering figure of the Spirit King. Following them, the gazes of the other members also turned towards the Spirit King.

“Well then…”

“Huh?!”

Playfully laughing, the Spirit King pulled Lian’s shoulder again. Lian, in an awkward posture, could only lean against her chest… no, her bosom.

“Gasp…”

“Wow…”

Some let out admiring sighs, lost in envy.

“As expected of Lian… even charming the Spirit King with her bewitching allure…”

The believers praised Lian as the savior who brought even the Spirit King under her spell with her enchanting charm. Just as there is a saying “heroes are fond of beauty,” the talent to captivate beautiful women was an essential skill for a hero.

“Twice….”

Iris’s eyes sparkled as she drew her sword again, and Noah, unknowingly, found himself looking down at his chest before coming to his senses and blushing red.

“Do you like it, Jyun? Should I do it too?”

Jess approached Lian stealthily, tilting his head and showing the area beneath his chest. Just as Lian’s mind was about to drift to Andromeda, the Spirit King uttered words like a song incomprehensible to humans.

Swoosh.

With the sound of a light breeze blowing at night, a mysterious door suddenly appeared in the air like a rising moon.

[If you linger here too long, the energy of the forest will dissipate, so we must move quickly.]

After speaking thus, the Spirit King lightly waved his hand in the air.

Thud.

As he did, the firmly closed door gently opened. Beyond the door, like a gateway to anywhere, a completely different landscape from the forest where they stood was revealed. Without hesitation, the Spirit King embraced Lian and led her through the door.

“Oh? I’ll go first!”

After bidding a belated farewell, Lian crossed over to the other side of the door. Jess naturally followed behind Lian, and Iris, with a dangerous expression like a hunter chasing fleeing prey, followed them.

“Indeed… Lady Lian must be His Majesty’s descendant.”

Upon seeing Iris’s distorted expression, the knight came to a conclusion but soon recalled His Majesty’s angry face and fell back into confusion.

“Oh, no? Perhaps the other one resembles His Majesty more…?”

Since the Duke possessed a character that could not be called kind even in empty words, the knight’s confusion seemed likely to deepen.

“Everyone, move quickly!”

Noah, having regained his senses quickly as a leader, lined up the group to pass through the door. The spirits playfully flew above the humans’ heads, passing through the door.

As everyone passed through the spirit’s door…

Creak, thud.

The spirit’s door vanished naturally. However, no one paid it any mind.

“Wow….”

“Where are we?”

Amidst the abundant flowers and verdant leaves, the overwhelming vitality felt so beautiful that those who had only grown up in the land of death were mesmerized.

***

“I thought we were really doomed when we were captured by that strange lab.”

“It turned out to be fortunate instead.”

As time passed, evening at the campsite.

Gathered comfortably, the group was happily chatting. Normally, they would have been vigilant, keeping watch with eyes wide open, but now there was no need.

“I never imagined we would move to the Empire in one go.”

“No one can believe it. Moving to the Empire in one go through the spirit’s door.”

Indeed, they had moved to the Empire in one go through the spirit’s door. It was truly a situation where the phrase ‘we used up all our luck’ fit perfectly.

The forest with cute rabbits hopping around, not monsters, was so similar to the ‘heaven’ they had imagined. Having lived in such dreadful places, even an ordinary forest felt that way to them.

In this atmosphere, there was someone nervously trembling.

“What should I do?”

It was the knight Pantone of the Duke’s household. When he realized he had returned to the land of the Empire, he couldn’t help but think this was divine guidance.

It was a golden opportunity to safely accommodate His Highness’s missing descendants, even up to the duke. However, a problem arose.

‘Who on earth are His Highness’s descendants?’

Despite growing up as a commoner, Lian seemed to possess dignity, grace, and even kindness… Different from the bloodline.

Iris, who strangely resembled His Highness’s stern atmosphere.

The knight couldn’t tell which of the two was His Highness’s descendant. Because of this, he couldn’t easily mention heading towards the duke.

‘As expected of Lian… But…. Ugh…’

As the knight grumbled while eating soup, a small hand suddenly pushed something towards him.

“Brother, eat this if you’re tired.”

“Hmm? No, it’s okay-”

“It’s fine because my sister gave it to me.”

Seated next to his sister, a child who looked barely 10 years old, except for the length of their hair, smiled joyfully. They looked like twins at first glance.

Thunk!

…!

A bolt of lightning struck the knight’s mind.

‘…! If they aren’t one but twin siblings, everything makes sense!’

Although both Lian and Iris had faces that hinted at youthfulness, having gone through secondary sexual characteristics, they possessed heights comparable to adult men and women.

Lian exuded a more mature aura, being seen as an older brother, but apart from that image, they looked similar in age. This deepened the knight’s confusion.

‘We need to send the duke a letter immediately.’

Unable to fly the letter from the forest somewhere in the empire, he didn’t dash out in excitement, but his eyes sparkled like stars.

At that moment, Lian found himself in a difficult situation.

“My brother.”

…

With narrowed eyes, Iris glared at Noah. She became wary as Noah, who had distanced himself from Lian, suddenly approached.

Noah awkwardly smiled and stood up with his soup bowl.

“If it’s uncomfortable, I’ll go eat over there.”

“Oh? No, Noah, eat here.”

Though Iris’s eyes said “go away,” her words were ordinary, leaving Lian bewildered by Noah’s sudden departure.

“No, I have something to discuss with Lily. Enjoy your meal.”

“Oh, um.”

As Noah left for Lily’s side, she sighed and spoke.

“Just have your meal with your brother there and come back. Why did you come here?”

“…Well, uh…”

Noah sighed, wiped his face with his empty hand, and thought, ‘How do I say I’m jealous of seeing my younger sister?’

Even if they were the same gender, Iris was Lian’s younger sister. It didn’t make sense to be jealous. Knowing this, yet succumbing to a sudden surge of jealousy, Noah let out a soft groan. The tips of his ears turned red with embarrassment.