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Author: EunEunEditor: eris421
After saying that, I immediately added.
“—I like him. But I wike Grandfather bwetter.” [—I like him. But I like Grandfather better.]
I laughed at the question inside.
Oh, my. What do you see me as?
Even though I look like this, I was known to be good at socializing in my past world.
Usually, when things are like this, one is supposed to refer to the person in front of them.
“I wike Gwandfather theeeeeee best!” [I like Grandfather theeeeeee best!]
Viscount Debussy laughed, keke, and looked at Grandfather.
“That’s what she says.”
“Stop talking nonsense and just move your hands.”
“Yes, yes. This is the eastward temple report. Recently, in the Imperial Capital—”
“But you know.”
Grandfather continued to talk as he lifted the documents.
“Weren’t there tombstones which were written in ancient language on Hadix Mountain? If they take Erylotte, she’ll be a help to the search.”
Then, ahem, he coughed.
***
That night.
I, who had obtained Grandfather’s permission, was excited.
‘I guess saying that Grandfather was best wasn’t too bad.’
Yeah, unless it’s a unique case, would there be a person who hates it?
And I was quite a help to Grandfather, you know.
While I was humming and walking, I ran into Conrad.
“Young Miss.”
“Hewwo.” [Hello.]
“Yes. It seems you’re in a good mood.”
“Since I’m going to the mwountain with Fwathher.” [Since I’m going to the mountain with Father.]
“I heard so. Looks like it turned out well.”
Conrad said that he wished for me to have a pleasant hike, so I nodded my head.
“But where ish Conwad going?” [But where is Conrad going?]
As usual, he wasn’t wearing the aide uniform.
“Since the March urgently requested the dispatching of a healer, I will be going there, taking the healer with me.”
If it is to the extent that they requested the dispatch of a healer, then it must be a very serious situation.
When my eyes opened wide, Conrad told me the details.
“It’s because of the late only son of the Count Draffdieu Family.”
“Ish the Baby shick?” [Is the Baby sick?]
“You don’t need to worry too much.”
“Why?”
“They just need a healer to prepare for a possible situation, but it looks like it’s just a fever when one awakens their Blessing.”
Aha.
I nodded.
Conrad greeted me and walked away.
‘A Blessing.’
It would be great if I had it too, though.
I’m talking about not a fake one like [Reading Ancient Language], but a real Blessing.
‘Dahlia has three of them, but how can you not give me even one?’
I grumbled into the air and sighed.
As much there’s no one who doesn’t have it, I have to work harder.
That’s why hiking Hadix tomorrow is important.
‘I must track down the purification stone.’
Because I have to prove to Father that I’m a useful person!
I grinned.
***
The next day.
I followed on Father’s hike.
Father heard from Grandfather for him to take me and,
“You damn oldie.”
—He muttered, but he brought me without much resistance.
A search command barracks was set up at the entrance of Hadix Mountain.
Father and the soldiers talked about the search method in the command post, and I sat quietly next to him.
The three-meter man I saw last time raised his arm.
“Then all that we have to do is pick up stones which are called ‘stone’ at the mountain, right?”
‘What?!’
How are you going to pick up all those mountain stones?
That’s really looking for a needle on a sandy beach.
If they can find it, then it’s fortunate?
Even if their eyes fell out, the purification stone wouldn’t be found.
‘Since the purification stone is inside a tree.’
A crystal made by trees that have been over a thousand years old. That was the true identity of the purification stone.
Therefore, one could never find it if they only collected hundreds of stones.
‘At this rate, the search will be stopped after only vain efforts.’
Since I couldn’t leave it like that, I looked at Enzo.
“What ish a puwification shtone?” [What is a purification stone?]
When I asked, pretending not to know, Enzo, who was looking at the map, said,
“To put it simply, it is a stone that removes curses.”
“How cwan a shtone get rid of a cuwse?” [How can a stone get rid of a curse?]
“It is surely because nature gave it a special power.”
“Nature bwaddie. It shurely has to make everything wike the puwfication stone. Discwiminashon.” [Nature baddie. It surely has to make everything like the purification stone. Discrimination.]
When I deliberately spoke like a young child, the soldiers laughed outright.
“You also know words like discrimination?”
“Come to think of it, I heard that she can already write letters.”
“Cute. She’s cute.”
While the words came and went, Father’s gaze was fixed on the map.
“Baekgyeong Tree….”
(t/n: 백경나무 [baekgyeonnamu] = Baekgyeong Tree is not a real tree. But I did find an article that says it might refer to 백양나무 [baekyangnamu] or 사시나무 [sasinamu] which is Korean aspen/Populus davidiana with some understanding that it was expressed differently due to local dialects.)
“Yes?”
When Enzo asked, Father said.
“The purification stone may have appeared only in this mountain because there is a ‘discriminatory’ condition unlike other places.”
“If it’s a condition?”
“If it’s a special condition which only this mountain has, then it would only be the Baekgyeong Tree.”
‘Yeah, that’s right.’
Father commanded.
“Search near the Baekgyeong Tree.”
“Yes!”
“Yes!”
Great!
I clapped my palms inside. The soldiers moved toward the Baekgyeong Tree which was in the middle of the mountain.
‘Now, after they search for it appropriately, I have to start to say that it may be inside the tree.’
Thinking so, I chased after Father and the soldiers.
“It must be hard to hike, though. How about staying at the barracks?”
It was when Enzo said so.
The three-meter man, who had asked whether they could just pick up all the stones in the mountain, said,
“Then, how about if I carry you on my shoulders?”
I’d love to!
It’s better to ride on the shoulders rather than not being able to go at all.
‘Although that Mister is a little slow, I guess he’s a good person.’
I said, “Yesh!” and the big man put me on his shoulders.
I burst out laughing.
It was fun to sit on a high place.
The big man’s shoulders were so wide that it was also stable to sit on.
“Now, now. Let’s go. We have to find it and come down before sunset!”
That’s how we headed out to the Baekgyeong Tree.
Since I only had to ride on the man’s shoulders, hiking was very easy.
Arriving at the Baekgyeong Tree, the soldiers began searching.
‘Since it’s noon right now… uhm, it won’t look weird if I tell them in about an hour.’
Deciding that, I really only moved exactly an hour after.
I began to knock on the tree with a stone.
“Young Miss?”
Soldiers who saw my strange behavior approached.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to find a pwetty thing and gibb ith to Fwathher.” [I’m going to find a pretty thing and give it to Father.]
“Hooo….”
“Inside the tree. Water comesh out. When it getsh hard. It becomes a pwetty thing. It was said like that in the book.” [Inside the tree. Water is coming out, though. When it gets hard, it becomes a pretty thing. It was said like that in the book.]
“Ah, so you’re looking for an amber jewel?”
Others asked.
“Amber?”
“You don’t know? When the sap of pine trees hardens the stone that is formed by it is called amber, you kno…. Oh?”
The man who answered opened his eyes wide.
And then, he ran to Father.
“General!”
When the man explained the whole story, Father’s eyes narrowed.
“Yeah. The Baekgyeong Tree’s sap could have hardened and turned into a purification stone. Bring the ax.”
The soldiers hurriedly brought the ax.
The Baekgyeong tree was very enormous. Indeed, it was a tree that lived for well over a thousand years.
Even though the soldiers gathered and axed it, it was normal for them to not be able to tilt it.
The big man, who looked the strongest, also participated in axing.
It took quite a long time, so I played with a branch.
How long has it been?
Someone came to my side.
It was Father.
I jumped up.
“Fwathher.” [Father.]
“…Turns out you’re chasing me without getting tired.”
“Fwathher, annoyed…?” [Father, are you annoyed…?]
Father looked at me without saying anything.
I rubbed the hem of my clothes while I glanced at him.
“If sho. I will go onwy onsh a day…” [If so. I will go only once a day…]
“….”
“I will shee Fwathher secwetly without annoying you.” [I will see Father secretly without annoying you.]
“….”
“I will take a wittle wook and quickly go.” [I will take a little look and quickly go.]
Just don’t tell me not to come at all.
I had no answer except for Father.
I’m only three years old, have no Blessing, and my misfortune was scheduled.
Even if Grandfather was helping me now, I don’t know how long it would last.
There were also times when sometimes my young child’s mind said ‘you never know’.
‘You never know. It seems like Grandfather is quite affectionate to me, you know.’
Other people adore me too, you know.
I have become a help, you know.
Whenever that happened, I closed my eyes tight and shook my head.
Stepfather also did the same. At first, he regarded me as his daughter and treated me well, but when Younger Sister was born, he suddenly changed as he had never been like that.
It’ll be different when Dahlia comes.
I saw it in the novel. How much Grandfather adores her.
If I’m out of Grandfather’s interest, people around me will harass me. They’ll do it painfully.
‘I don’t want to die like this.’
I was a person who died from an illness.
I prayed every day, begging for someone to please save me, saying that I wanted to live in the sickbed.
Although I said that I hated being reincarnated, in truth, life was extremely precious.
I really wanted to live.
That’s why I desperately needed Father to help me.
Father’s forehead furrowed. Looking at me with a hardened face, he opened his mouth.
“I– you…”
“Found it! There’s a stone inside the tree!”
The soldiers shouted.
They hurriedly ran to Father holding the stone they found.
A red-haired soldier put the purification stone on his palm and showed it to Father.
I thought it would be yellow and pretty like amber, but it looked like a common stone on the roadside.
‘Surely this is why they don’t know it’s from the tree.’
Anyway, it’s a good thing they found it.
If there is this, I don’t have to worry about what would happen to Father after being cursed.
It was when I thought so that–
Swiiiiii—!
The wind blew sharply.
The soldiers looked in the direction of the wind. And after a few seconds.
“It’s a monster—!!”
A monster appeared in the high sky.
‘Just what in the world happened? Originally, this mountain was famous for monsters not appearing here!’
Wait a minute.
I quickly turned my head and looked at the broken-down Baekgyeong Tree.
Isn’t it by any chance, because of the Baekgyeong Tree that monsters don’t appear in this mountain?
A tree with the divine power to create a purification stone.
It had the perfect conditions to be the barrier for the monsters.
‘It’s not just one or two of them.’
There were as many as five monsters with sharp teeth and bat-like wings.
Kiiiieeek—!!
A flock of wailing monsters flew to us.
“Get ready for the battle!”
Enzo shouted urgently.
Clang.
Soldiers pulled out weapons such as swords, spears, axes, etc.
Nevertheless, the fortunate thing was that they were the elite soldiers of the West Army which were called Astra’s Best.
The three-meter man grabbed the monster’s neck, which came dashing towards him, and got on.
And when he hit its wings with an ax, KYAACK—!!, a painful scream echoed in the mountain.
Enzo fired a huge spear at the falling monster.
Thud—!
The monster tumbled down on the ground.
“Young Miss.”
Enzo hurried toward me.
The moment he was about to embrace me, the remaining monster rushed this way.
‘Aack!’
I covered my head with both arms.
I was shaking, but I couldn’t feel any, not even a little, of the severe pain.
When I slightly raised my head, the monster’s flesh was splattered everywhere.
‘Ah….’
Father’s Blessing was [Disassemble].
The strongest Blessing in the attack system that breaks down everything it touches.
The monster, whose body was fragmented, fell to the floor, and behind it, Father’s figure came into the view.
The brilliant golden hair, which seemed to have been made by melting gold, fluttered in the wind.
The red eyes that seemed to hold clotted blood shone coldly.
Father said with his eyes fixed on the monster.
“Erylotte.”
“Yes.”
Enzo was close behind me.
He couldn’t hug me.
Because he had to deal with monsters, both of his hands had to be free.
I hurriedly ran under Enzo’s guard.
The moment I was about to go down like that, the monsters’ attack began again.
A red-haired soldier swung his sword to block a monster.
At that moment.
Tuk.
The purification stone which was being held in the soldier’s hand fell onto the floor, and began to roll.
‘Father’s purification stone!’
Without that, Father might be cursed, and eventually, he might die.
I rushed toward the purification stone.
“Young Mi— Keuk!”
Enzo tried to catch me immediately, but was pushed out by the monster who ran in.
I ran hard, but I couldn’t quickly catch the purification stone with my short child legs.
Fortunately, the purification stone stopped, as it was caught in the weeds near the cliff.
‘It would have been a big trouble if it had fallen.’
I was thinking like that as I was going to pick up the purification stone, however,
Flap—!
Together with a strong flapping sound, there was a shadow over my head.
When I looked up, a monster broke away from its group and was on top of me.
‘No!’
I laid down on the purification stone and ended up curling my body.
Flap—!
Flap! Flap!
‘I-it hurts!’
It hurt because I was stepped on, but I never stepped back.
“Young Miss Erylotte!”
“Young Miss!”
Soldiers rushed this way.
The soldiers who came running took the offensive towards the last remaining monster.
Swoosh!
Together with the sound, the ax swirled around and passed by the monster’s wings.
A chain was thrown at the staggering monster to damage one side of its wing.
To some extent, the monster would be dragged down the chain by the soldiers who were moving in perfect order.
Bang! Pop! Pop! Bang—!
An explosive sound was heard, and the monster was disassembled into small pieces just like before.
Only then did I let go of my breath which I held.
‘I-I survived.’
Right behind me was a cliff, and above, there was a big monster. You don’t know how scared I was of dying with the way things were going.
Enzo quickly raised me up.
“Are you alright?”
After that, Father came frighteningly striding.
His face was stiff and hardened.
“You, what are you—!”
With shaking hands, I held out the purification stone, which I hugged.
“I-I cwaught ith.” [I-I caught it.]
“….”
“The thing thath Fwathher needed, I cwaught ith.” [The thing that Father needed, I caught it.]
“….”
“Now I’m noth annoywing, wight…?” [Now I’m not annoying, right…?]
With a deathly pale face, I laughed, “Hehe.”
“….”
“….”
“….”
The people around me couldn’t say anything as they looked at me, whose body and face were all messed up.
Father’s eyes slowly distorted.
With his teeth clenched and his knees bent, he reached out his hand.
I reached out my hand to make it easier for him to take the purification stone.
However, what he really embraced was,
“You fool.”
—It was me.
Flustered, I just blinked my eyes.
Since I was never hugged by anyone like this, not even once. It was a distant memory even in Yoo Hyemin’s life.
So.
“Huee….”