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Chapter: 250

The sage of the deep forest hadn’t moved an inch since the last visit from the knight king decades ago—so who on earth could it be this time?

I finally thought I could relax in peace, and now it feels like another bothersome matter has just ambushed me… Hmmm…

Should I just pretend I’m not here? It’s been ages since someone last visited me, ever since the knight king wandered around the country. Well…

Oh, now that I think about it, the knight king did mention something about me to the next king… How I could lend assistance if he ever found himself in need of wisdom…

Ugh. A premonition of annoyance!

“What brings you here?”

“Oh, nothing much.”

“You’re saying it’s nothing, but your expression says otherwise.”

“That look of mine… it’s the look of something being up…!”

With Hades’s words, Asherat’s expression slightly turned serious.

Hmmm. Even if it looks a bit serious, it’s still my face. Maybe it’s just my adorability that makes my serious face come off as not very serious at all.

It sounds like self-praise, but objectively speaking, I am undeniably cute and pretty. Sure, my hair color’s a bit different, and I don’t have horns.

“Are you saying you’ll just disregard the matter at hand? I certainly don’t remember raising the Goddess of Life to be such an irresponsible deity!”

“You don’t even have memories of being raised! It probably isn’t anything important, anyway.”

Then, Asherat leaned right into my face and spoke.

“You’ve passed off all your duties as the Goddess of Life to me and left everything related to the Underworld to Hades. The only things you personally handle as the Creator Dragon God are trivial matters, like once or twice a year! What will happen if you turn into a totally useless god?”

She was suddenly passionate about this ‘unimportant’ matter and demanded my attention!

Hmm… Did Asherat find me that untrustworthy? Well, I had been pretty lazy the past few decades.

When other kids visited, I would entertain them, but if they weren’t lizardman warriors or archmages, I really didn’t have much to do.

Perhaps it’s time to handle some light work again after an extended period of laid-back living.

“Fine. I get it, so enough with the nagging. Let’s just do the work, shall we?”

I tuned out Asherat’s continued whining beside me. Honestly, I wonder who she takes after to be so annoyingly naggy.

Ignoring her unreasonable complaints, I shifted my consciousness toward the deep forest.

A dark forest where sunlight barely penetrates. Enchanted with a special barrier, sane beings can’t enter… unless they’re clear about their purpose in seeking the sage.

What entered the forest, however, were a couple of scruffy-looking kids.

Children yet to reach adulthood—a boy and a girl. I had no clue how these two managed to slip into the woods.

The barrier should have been effective, so what gives? Could it have malfunctioned? Just my luck.

Their clothes were a mess, covered in dirt and dust, looking quite worn out. However, the material and craftsmanship of their garments were quite exquisite.

In other words, they wore highly refined clothing but somehow were now tattered and filthy.

How intriguing.

The boy, looking like the older sibling, walked ahead, while the girl struggled to keep pace. She appeared to have some health issues, her complexion was not great.

As they trekked, the girl eventually came to a halt and sank down, clutching her chest in visible torment.

The boy glanced worriedly at the girl before picking her up and continuing on.

A boy struggling to carry a sister slightly smaller than he. The urgency in his movements was evident.

As if they were being chased by something.

Hmmm… Chased, huh? I casually shifted my gaze to the outskirts of the forest.

“There’s a trail right here! They must have come this way!”

“There are footprints leading into the forest! Begin the search!”

“Yes!”

A group of mounted soldiers was stationed at the forest entrance. What the heck are they doing here?

They didn’t wear metal armor or bear any insignia of affiliation. They were just a bunch of mysterious soldiers dressed lightly.

Despite their light appearance, however, they all carried real iron swords at their waists. Such a bizarre crew of soldiers.

These soldiers attempted to follow the traces left by the two kids and ventured into the forest but not long after stepped right back out through the opposite exit.

If you don’t have a clear purpose for seeking the sage of the deep forest, you can’t go further inside before being redirected—classic barrier magic at work.

Wait a second. The barrier was working just fine… then that means the two kids actually came here looking for the sage? What’s going on?

“The traces have vanished!”

“What? No way! They can’t just vanish unless they shot up into the sky or sank into the ground!”

“But they really have gone! We followed their leftover trail right into the woods, but it’s completely gone!”

“Goodness… what on earth am I going to tell that person…”

The one who looked like the leader of the soldiers sighed heavily and told the others.

“Let’s return with the horses for now. Ride to the nearest village and gather information about this forest. There must be a reason they came here.”

“Yes!”

With that, several soldiers rode off toward the closest village.

Hmm… what on earth makes those kids so special that a fully armed squad is after them?

Well, I suppose they can find that out for themselves.

“Excuse us! We’ve come in search of the sage! We seek the aid of the sage of the deep forest!”

Standing before a stone house that had been abandoned for ages and now resembled a ruin, the boy cried out. The walls were covered in moss, giving it an even more eerie atmosphere.

“Please, help us!”

Hmmm. They definitely came seeking the sage of the deep forest.

Then… I suppose I should let them inside.

I began to control the long-neglected physical form of the sage.

“Come in.”

The sage casually gestured, and the firmly shut door opened by itself. The boy was a bit startled but proceeded into the stone house cautiously.

Inside the small stone house, dim light barely filtered in, revealing a suspicious presence.

Originally created merely to guide Rychlen, for some unknown reason, the sage’s constructed body was still in use.

Really… I’d only intended to use it a little for Rychlen and then dispose of it. Couldn’t have imagined I’d still be using it now.

Life sure is unpredictable.

“Who are you? What brings you to this forest?”

The sage asked, but the boy didn’t respond.

He simply stared at the sage, who was once the sage.

“I am … Arthur. This is my sister, Vivian.”

Arthur. And Vivian…

“I’m curious how you came to know of me. I would have thought I would’ve been forgotten after so much time.”

“I heard about you from Grandpa. He said if we sought you out, we would find help.”

Grandpa. So there’s a grandpa involved…

Looking at his adorably gentle appearance, I thought I could guess. I masked any hint of realization and continued speaking.

“Help you say? I haven’t provided help to many…”

“But… my sister and I didn’t have any other choice. Finding you was our only way to survive.”

Hmm. The way to survive, huh? It sounds like they have had quite the rough ordeal.

“Well, I can lend an ear for your story. That much is possible.”

As I spoke, a glimmer of hope surfaced in Arthur’s eyes. He seemed genuinely relieved that I would listen to him.

But before that…

“First, before I hear your story.”

I stopped Arthur, who was about to spill everything, and looked at Vivian, who wore a pained expression.

Her chest… Hmmm… does she have a weak heart? No, rather, could it be… poison?

The toxin doesn’t seem too potent, but it appears to linger in her body, decomposing slowly without leaving.

It looked like someone had been poisoning Vivian over an extended period.

I took Vivian’s hand in mine. Arthur glanced shocked at the sudden grasp of my rocky hand, but that wasn’t what mattered at the moment.

First, I needed to extract the poison and heal her beaten body… Hmmm… oh.

Wait, there’s a much simpler way.

The bloodline of the daughter of the initial hero and the sealed magical power had been slumbering within Vivian.

In other words, this girl could very well become infinitely close to me.

“This child has… the potential of a Dragon Priestess.”

The power of the bloodline I sealed away in the past had resurfaced now.

 

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