The Angel mission, in which Lia and I participated, created a lot of buzz in many ways.
Even though the Rift was predicted to be not a powerful one, it created a lot of casualties, and it scared many officials that in the worst-case scenario, it would have been a nightmare.
There were also negative comments saying that the Awakeners selected for the mission were not prepared enough.
There was another story that got the most attention from the most people, beating these bad stories.
It was about two people who contributed the most to the success of the mission.
One, who fought one-on-one with the last boss monster, and the other, who summoned a boss-class Summon to end the battle.
It was about me and Lia.
Not many people knew about our identity, so it didnât get attention right away, but our performance spread by word-of-mouth.
The day after the mission, there was even a place that contacted us through the guild saying they wanted to interview us.
Previously, I thought it would be okay to be on TV, but looking at the current situation where too many people are paying attention I felt the interview was a little burdensome.
When I confined reluctantly to the Guild master about that, he appropriately declined the interview.
Thus, I enjoyed the rest of the time with Lia and the children.
After finishing all the schedules here, we prepared to go back to the Demon world.
It felt like Lia got attached to this place in a short time. When she saw my mother and Yerin, who came to send her off, she moved to tears.
âLadyâŠ.No⊠Yerin, Thank you so much for letting me stay here.â
âItâs no big deal. Youâre always welcome. Youâll stay at my house next time too, right? Iâll be waiting for you.â
âYes! Iâll definitely try to come next time.â
I donât know when sheâll have another chance, but Lia said goodbye with a promise to come back.
I packed up the things for the children, Lia, and the farm members and headed to Ryanâs office.
There, Angel Ashmir was waiting for us.
âWelcome. Iâve been waiting. Hello, little buddies?â
Ryan greeted us kindly, and Ashmir still greeted us as usual with a stiff look.
As soon as the short greeting was over, Ashmir immediately brought up the main topic.
âI heard that you two played a big part in this mission. Itâs a little late, but Iâd like to thank you on behalf of the Angels for your difficult mission.â
She lowered her head slowly with a solemn expression.
On the outside, it was a sincere thank you, but somehow I felt a little uncomfortable.
The words Bellion said âWatch out for the Angels. They are dangerousâ kept ringing in my head.
I donât know whether it was a dream or reality, and I donât know why he said that.
Even though it was something I heard in my dream, it kept bothering me to the point an uncomfortable feeling crept up as soon as I saw an Angel.
âAs promised, we will reward Lim Sihyeon. Please let me know if you have any requests. Iâll cooperate as much as I can.â
âOh⊠Yes, thank you.â
Ashmir, who finished explaining, turned to Liaâs side.
âCan you show me the hand that was patterned last time, Miss. Lianne?â
At her request, Lia gently held out one hand.
In her outstretched hand, the pattern engraved glowed.
âThe mission is over, so Iâll retrieve the pattern. You canât be here anymore. Of course, if you walk around in this world without this pattern, youâll be immediately tracked by the surveillance officers.â
âUmâŠ.â
Ashmir put her hand on the back of Liaâs hand, and soon, white light poured out like last time, and the pattern engraved on the back of Liaâs hand disappeared neatly.
Liaâs face darkened as she looked at the back of her empty hand.
Perhaps the fact that she could not come back here was very disappointing.
âExcuse me, Lia.â
âYes? Sihyeon?â
âCan you show me your hand for a second?â
ââŠ?â
I donât know why I said that all of a sudden.
Was it because I wanted to do something because I felt sorry for Lia, who had a sad expression, or some kind of an unknown will?
I donât know what it was, but the one thing I was sure of was that I felt that I could do something about it.
Lia reached out to me in a bewildered yet docile way.
I held her hand gently with both hands.
Then, as Ashmir did, white light poured out.
-WHOOOOO!
[K????????â Ability used.]
âUhâŠâŠ? what? Si, Sihyeon?!â
Lia stuttered her words and gave a bewildered reaction.
Not only Lia, Ashmir, and Ryan watched the situation with their eyes wide open.
After a while, the light faded and a moment of silence filled the room.
I slowly pulled my hands from the back of Liaâs hand.
At that moment, something really unbelievable happened.
âWhat? How is this?â
âSihyeon?â Is this what Iâm looking at right nowâŠ?â
Ryan looked at me with a startled expression, while Lia continued to touch the back of her hand as if she couldnât believe it.
âNo wayâŠâ
With little change in her expression, Ashmir twisted her face and alternated between the back of Liaâs hand and my face.
â HOW? How on earth⊠can a human carve dimensional pattern?â
Ashmir interrogated me with a look filled with complex emotion.
Her attitude felt burdensome and fresh at the same time. However, I had no choice but to react vaguely to her urge.
âI donât know either.â
âAre you kidding me? Didnât Lim Sihyeon just engrave a pattern on the back of Lianneâs hand?â
I shrugged with a flustered expression at the sight of Ashmir, who raised her voice.
âIâm telling you the truth. I just did it because I thought it would work if I did it like this. I didnât know it would be this real.â
Ashmirâs face crumpled once again at my excuse.
Honestly, it was a bit of a ridiculous excuse even for me. In the midst of a serious atmosphere, Speranza suddenly intervened.
âCan Sister Lia continue to come here and meet grandma now?â
All eyes were on Ashmir for a moment.
She looked displeased and nodded slowly.
âAs long as thereâs a pattern, the surveillance officers canât go after her.â
âDoes this mean I can come here again?â
When Lia asked with a thrilled expression, Ashmir sighed loudly and said.
âI donât know how this is possible⊠âŠbut thereâs no problem with the procedure.â
âYea! Sister Lia can come to grandmaâs house again next time!â
â Poooooo woo woooo!
âHehe! Congratulations, Popi!â
The children burst into laughter as they rushed to Liaâs side.
Lia also smiled as if she was really happy.
Looking at that, Ryan and I also smiled happily.
Only Ashmir looked at us with a dark expression.
WUKIIII
The sound of crying came from beyond the forest.
I shouted, waving my hand to the side from where I could hear the cry.
âWelcome guys! Iâve been waiting for you,â
From the depths of the forest, the owner of the cry began to move in response to my voice.
TAT TAT TAT
These were the Totaras that I met when I went to the forest to find the Spiritâs breath herb.
âItâs been a while, Guide. How are you?â
Wukii kiiiii!
Guide Totara nodded at my greeting. He looked very friendly because we had already met several times.
After a brief greeting, the Totaras put down the cloth that each carried on their backs in front of me one by one.
It was full of herbs available in the forest.
âWow! You brought a lot this time, as well! Arenât you overdoing it?â
â Wuki kiiiiii!
When I asked anxiously, Guide Tota stood up and stretched out his chest.
I think it was an act of wanting to express confidence, but it just looked cute to me.
âI donât want it to be a burden to you guys. You can give up in case itâs too hard.â
â Wukiii! Wukiki!
âAll right. Then Iâll continue to receive from you guys.â
After smiling at the confident GuideTotara, I signaled to my back.
Alfred and Kroc, who received the signal, brought some heavy bags. It contained a lot of spider poison antidote made by grandpa Raccoon.
When they checked the antidote in the bag, Guide Totara nodded satisfactorily. The original contract is over if we give the antidote like this.
The herbs handed down by the Totaras were very helpful in many ways, so I brought them additional things.
âNow~! Since you guys always gave me a lot. This time I tried a little hard.â
â Wukiiii?
They opened the other bag I gave them with a look of anticipation. It was filled with freshly harvested strawberries.
â Wukiiiii!
â Wukukiiiii!
When Guide Totara, the leader who found the strawberry, cried in excitement, other Totaras in the back also twinkled their eyes.
âI brought them all for you guys. Feel free to take it.â
As soon as I was finished, the Totaras flocked to the strawberries.
â Wukiiiiii!
â Wukiiiiii!
â Wukiiiiii!
They started eating strawberries in different ways. Â Some of them grided it with their front teeth, while the others ate them by putting a lot into their mouths at once.
Among them, the greedy one pushed the strawberry into his mouth to the point where his cheeks were like it was swollen.
While Totaras were distracted by strawberries, I patted them one by one and had a personal healing time.
The tail was sensitive and on alert, but the back and side parts accepted my touch very naturally.
In particular, I felt very good when I stroked their soft, fluffy sides.
It was so addictive that I wanted to pet a Totara in my arms all day on a holiday.
-Wukiii!Kii!Wukii!
The Guide Totara didnât seem to like me patting the Totaras other than him, so he approached me and whined.
I burst out into laughter and soothed Guide Totara.
âHaha! Look at you, are you jealous? Iâll pat you too, so donât be mad. Here! Eat more strawberries.â
I gave him a strawberry himself and stroked Guide Totaraâs back. Only then did he settle down with satisfaction.
While I was having fun with Totaras, I felt a hot gaze from my back.
It was Krocâs gaze.
He looked at me with an envious expression as I played with Totaras.
Unfortunately, Totaras were wary of Kroc, who was a dragon descendant, so it seemed impossible for him to get close with Toataras.
âIâm sorry, Krock. You may have a chance next time.â
I tried to ignore Krocâs gaze and continued to have a good time with Totaras.
â Wukiii! Wukukiiii!
âOkay! Come again next time, Iâll be waiting for you guys!â
The Totaras, who ate the strawberries to their heartâs content, said goodbye with a loud cry, and they quickly disappeared into the forest with the Poison spider antidote.
The rest of us also prepared to take the herbs and go back.
Alfred looked at the so many herbs said with amazement.
âWow⊠There are a lot of herbs again this time. I think this is enough to sell?â
âI know. Grandpa Raccoon also said there was no place to store it.â
I was grateful that the Totaras brought me a lot of herbs, but it was a problem because we donât have a place to store all of them.
Even if only precious herbs were stored, it was a waste to throw away the rest of the herbs.
âItâs time for merchants to come. Iâll have a talk with Lagos about this.â
âHmm. Herbs are good, but I think merchants will be more interested in something else?â
Alfred said with a meaningful look. Kroc, who was next to him, also showed interest by twinkling his eyes.
âOh, I donât have any plans to show it to merchants yet. Is there a rumor already?â
âYes, thereâs a lot of rumors among the villagers Thereâs no way the merchants donât know.â
I scratched my head with an embarrassed look.
âWell⊠I donât think we have any supplies to sell to merchants. Plus, I donât think Boss would be very eager to sell it right now.â
âYeah, itâs a waste to sell it right now. We donât have enough for us to drink.â
Kroc nodded loudly at Alfredâs words and agreed.
âHuh? Have you tried it, Kroc?â
Kroc quickly moved his hands to my question.
I couldnât understand the meaning of sign language perfectly, but I could grasp the meaning roughly.
âThatâs right. Once you taste it, itâs hard to forget.â
The three of us swallowed our salivas at the same time.
Kaneffâs long-cherished desire for a honey beer brewery came to fruition after curing Miruâs mother, Adelaâs terminal illness.
Once she got completely cured grandpa Raccoon started building a brewery in earnest.
Although there have been some trials and errors in the process of expanding production, grandpa Raccoon recently declared himself that there will be results soon.
Not only the farm family who heard the news but also the villagers and merchants who heard the news are waiting for the honey beer.
There was a new wind called âhoney beerâ was blowing fiercely at Cardis estate.