“I never thought we’d meet here like this.”
Ash held Sarah’s hand tightly and spoke with a happy face and Sarah couldn’t hold back the joy of meeting someone she knew.
“Huh! I never dreamed that it would be you who would come here.”
“It is nice to see you like this. It is really nice.”
“Huh. I don’t know why you are here but I am glad you look healthy.”
“Healthy… hehe.”
Sarah had an awkward smile since she had nothing else to say except that she was healthy.
The Valle sisters accepted it with a smile.
They had no idea much pain and suffering Sarah had gone through, so it was better not to cross the line. But still, they had to ask,
“How is your mother?”
At Rebecca’s question, the smile on Sarah’s face disappeared.
“I cannot say that she is doing well, but she is a lot better than before. She still cannot walk.”
“I see. Then where are you staying now?”
“In a village called Kellogg, there is a small forest around it. It is a place where various races have gathered and lived together, but my mother is there.”
A woman who once had a great name for being the daughter of the Bell family and the lady of the Welton family now lived in a village in a forest.
That fact broke the hearts of the Valle sisters.
“We should have taken you in at that time.”
Rebecca mumbled, but Sarah shook her head.
“Do not feel so guilty. If mother and I had done that, then your family would have been in danger.”
Three years ago, after Count Welton’s death, the Welton family went through a tough time.
The Sun Church considered Jamie Welton the Demon King and declared him the enemy of mankind.
They claimed that the Great War was planned by Jamie, and when it was discovered that Jamie went to the Devildom, many things happened as a result.
The aftermath affected the family, and the honor they had built collapsed in an instant, as they were called the lineage of the Demon King. Even the Bell family, her mother’s family, couldn’t escape from it.
In an instant, the two most powerful families of the Seldam Kingdom were destroyed. The Sun Church paladins pursued them, saying they would subdue the bloodline of the Demon King, and Viscount Valle, who had sworn to protect them, managed to help them escape.
And that was all.
There was a limit to how much Viscount Valle could do alone against a church.
After she made that decision, Sears escaped with Beryl’s help and secretly disappeared with her daughter. In the months that followed, Jamie called himself Diablo Volfir, claiming the North as his realm.
Because of that, the Sun God stopped the invasion in the North, and the situation calmed down.
However, if they had continued to rely on the Valle family, then the same thing would have happened to them.
“I am sorry.”
“It is fine. Besides, I heard about your family’s situation.”
“Everyone is in a tough situation.”
The Seldam Kingdom was destroyed. The princess disappeared along with some of her aides, including the swordmaster who had sworn to protect the throne, and the famous families scattered everywhere.
But soon, they slowly recovered.
The same was true for the Valle family.
They were currently one of the main pillars of the Elementalist Unit in the Demon King’s troops.
Compared to the other families, their situation was better, but it was still shabby compared to the past glory that they had.
“I can still eat and live. Although, not as luxuriously as before.”
“Ash!”
“Hm? Ah… sorry.”
She apologized for the words she had spoken without thinking.
Unlike them, who managed to keep some of their glory, Sarah lost everything. However, Sarah told her that it was fine and that she didn’t have to apologize.
“You have grown up so much.”
“This is a world you cannot survive in unless you are an adult.”
Sarah is just thirteen years old now.
She seemed very mature for a 13-year-old. In a sense, her muscles looked remarkable to the Valle sisters, who had no idea about physical combat.
If in the past she was a doll-like princess with puffed cheeks and bright, wide eyes, now with her well-groomed hair, she could be mistaken for a boy.
At least, her eyes were the same as before.
How rough had she lived that a cute kid had grown up like this in just three years?
Of course, it wasn’t that her current appearance was bad. Instead of her cute appearance, she now had a peculiar coolness.
And looking at her like this, they were reminded of their childhood.
“I can see your brother.”
“You thought so too? I thought you looked like Jamie.”
“Uh? Me? Brother?”
She had never heard anything like that before, so Sarah seemed shocked. Ash pushed her face closer and examined her face.
And then she nodded.
“It is similar too. Well, it is weirder if you don’t look alike. You are siblings after all.”
“Yes, right. But this is the first time I heard we look alike.”
“Huh. I am sure. Because you didn’t look alike before. Jamie resembled the Count and you resembled your mother.”
But since they were siblings, there was bound to be some resemblance. And as Sarah trained while holding the sword, the parts of her that weren’t so dominant became more noticeable.
Sarah rubbed her face.
Come to think of it, her brother grew taller at some point, so she couldn’t even remember what his face in the past was like.
‘When I look at my face, it reminds me of that time.’
She smiled.
It was such an insane thought. She sometimes checked the mirror whenever she could, but never once did she think that she looked like her brother.
Maybe there were some things that only others could see.
“Rather, why are you here?”
Ash asked her.
“We are supposed to have the Ran warriors escort us, so seeing you here is shocking.”
“Rather. What happened?”
“I am curious as well. What are you two going to the World Tree for? I haven’t heard the reason yet.”
They had a lot of questions about each other.
Ash answered first.
“Anyway, I will talk to the High King, but I’ll give a brief explanation. As you can see, we are on our way to save the World Tree.”
“The World Tree…?”
She never saw it but she had heard from the elves that it was a huge tree that was claimed to be the mother of all things.
Did something happen to such a tree?
The answer came from Rebecca.
“The World Tree is drying up. If the World Tree completely dries up and loses its life, the continent will perish.”
Hearing her calm voice, Sarah seemed momentarily unaware of the seriousness of the situation.
She just nodded her head and said, ‘I see.’
“D-Dying?”
“Uh.”
“Suddenly…. why is the World Tree suddenly drying up?”
“We don’t know either. That’s why we are going there.”
“I see…”
Sarah couldn’t ask any more questions. She just decided to accept what she was being told.
Still, she couldn’t understand it.
Why was such a tree drying up?
If the World Tree dies, the world would perish. It was too big to be a joke, so she couldn’t even ask if they were serious.
The Ran warriors wouldn’t have come all this way just to have some fun.
“So what about you?”
It was Sarah’s turn this time.
She thought for a while and then explained.
There were too many things to explain, and the girl didn’t have the ability to summarize things at her age. After everything was said, the Valle sisters couldn’t speak.
They knew that the battles they had at such a young age were different, but compared to Sarah, they were sheltered.
“I heard rumors that Miss Isis is now a God, but I didn’t think you’d be involved in it….”
“It just happened as such.”
It wasn’t something that would come out of a 13-year-old child’s mouth. And the same with the Valles, so none of them smiled.
Rebecca stroked Sarah’s hair.
“You did well. It must have been so hard.”
“Hehe. Anyway, I am really glad that you are both doing well.”
“Same here.”
They greeted each other after their small talk. And as if it was time for them to move, Mero shouted,
“Come over here now!”
“I guess it is time.”
“Still, the Rans are so considerate to give us some time to talk privately like this, so I can feel that they care about you a lot.”
“Huh. I feel a little relieved because you seem to be doing well.”
“They are good people. They joke around a lot. Come now, Mr. Hasyath must be waiting for you.”
The three of them headed for the barracks.
“The World Tree is dying.”
Hearing all of this, Hasyath had a serious expression.
He received a request for help with a problem related to the World Tree, but it was the first time he heard about the specific reason.
He never thought it would be such a problem.
But why didn’t Hiyan, the head of the High Elves, officially declare it?
Even if he mobilized all available manpower, he knew that the High Elves’ closed nature was the problem.
“So are you going?”
“Yes.”
Rebecca replied with a nervous face.
Although he had stepped down from the position of King, the man was still the leader of the Rans until recently.
It was quite a burden for Rebecca, who hadn’t even reached adulthood yet.
“You are so young, but you have a contract with the Spirit King. It is interesting.”
“The Spirit King’s contractor?”
“Did you not listen?”
When Sarah, who was by her side, was shocked at the contractor news, Hasyath looked puzzled.
“I thought you were close.”
“I-It is true that we are close but I didn’t think that she had a contract with a Spirit King…”
“That is what I am trying to say here. I didn’t bother because we wanted to talk about other things.”
Rebecca was being nice, but Sarah still looked shocked.
Well, even Sarah knew what the Spirit King was like.
They were the masters of the Spirit World, a dimension where they coexisted and lived with the planet Bless, and they were said to be in no way inferior to the 12 Gods.
In addition, it was said that they sometimes made contact with Bless, but among humans, there were only a very few who had signed contracts with the Spirit Kings in the past.
It was natural, since most of the spirits were in contact with the High Elves.
“I heard that it is the Water Spirit King too. The Water Spirit King is famous for not signing with anyone. I know that those High Elves couldn’t sign with him too, and they are so gifted.”
“… right.”
Rebecca smiled with a bitter expression.
They didn’t know why she made such a face, and Hasyath didn’t bother asking either.
“Anyway, it seems Hiyan intends to save the World Tree with the power of the Water Spirit King.”
“I don’t know if that is possible.”
-That is something even the King doesn’t know of.
Endairon, a senior water spirit resembling a wolf, spoke in a serious voice.
And only Rebecca could hear his voice.
“I get it. So rest.”
“Is that all?”
“It won’t change anything if we talk more with each other here. I know nothing about the World Tree and neither do my men. All we have to do is protect you. So it is better to go to the World Tree as soon as possible while we talk about the right things.”
“I guess so.”
It was definitely an effective method, and Rebecca agreed.
“The sun will set in an hour, so today we will relax from our travel, and we will set off tomorrow at sunrise. Let everyone rest and prepare the meal, and set the barracks for the guests.”
“Yes!”
The warriors hurriedly went out.
After confirming that they were gone, Hasyath stood up and looked at Sarah, Rebecca, and Ash before saying,
“Do not wake up late.”
They were given some free time.
And the girls’ eyes shone.
