“You want to see your brother?”
Hasyath was the one who spoke first.
“You said you wouldn’t, though?”
Sarah had a reason to head there, and she was supposed to go with Isis, but she refused to meet Jamie.
It was because she thought she wasn’t strong enough. So why did she suddenly change her mind?
“Yes. Right.”
“Then why did you change your mind?”
“I have something to do.”
“Is it about the World Tree?”
Sarah nodded at Hiyan’s question.
“It is hard to tell you everything, but that is where I have to go.”
“What made you guess that? It must be the voice related to your dream.”
“Right. But I cannot tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because I shouldn’t.”
Sarah knew lying was not good.
Her face always flushed when she lied, and she wasn’t smart enough to lie. So she chose to stay honest.
“All I can say is that I need to meet him.”
“Sarah. I don’t know what happened to you there, but judging by the look on your face, something must have happened.”
Hasyath stared at her with a troubled face, and Sarah stared straight into his eyes.
Normally she would have averted his gaze because she was scared of him, but it seemed like she couldn’t do that now.
And after staring at each other for ten seconds, Hasyath said,
“Fine. I won’t ask.”
“Hasyath. We need to know what she has been through. If it is related to the World Tree, we cannot just let it go.”
Hiyan’s opinion was right. The reason Sarah climbed up the World Tree was to save it.
It wasn’t something that could be dismissed by saying, ‘I cannot tell you.’
But Hasyath was adamant.
“Hiyan, it is the fate of the child. We have no right to get involved.”
And when fate was mentioned, she couldn’t say anything. Sarah rose to the top of the World Tree, and Hiyan was the one who sent her.
So Sarah’s every action was related to her fate.
If even being unable to talk about it was related to fate, then Hiyan couldn’t say anything. Still, she had to check.
“Fine. I will not ask what happened in detail. However, the World Tree is an exception. Did you find a way to save the World Tree?”
Sarah’s main reason for climbing the World Tree was to save it. That was a question that she needed to ask.
Sarah was a little nervous looking at her.
Although Gaia had strictly asked her to keep it a secret, the issue about the World Tree was something she couldn’t avoid. And she couldn’t even lie about that.
“That….”
Sarah couldn’t lie, so she sighed and said,
“I don’t know.”
“…You don’t know?”
Hyan’s eyes twitched at those words.
“However, I did figure out how to help it.”
“Is that true?! Then tell me. The World Tree is dying even at this moment. We need to fix it as soon as possible.”
“But the problem is…”
“Problem?”
“That. I know the way, but should I say that I don’t know the way? Haha.” 1
Sarah let out an awkward laugh, hoping to get over it cheerfully. Again, there was no way it could work.
Hiyan was looking at her with glaring eyes.
“Are you trying to play with words?”
Her voice was cold, unlike before.
She knew the way, but she also didn’t.
A child couldn’t have a sudden onset of dementia, then what was this?
She could understand why Sarah didn’t want to talk about it earlier because it was her fate, but she wasn’t going to accept anything related to the World Tree.
And Sarah knew that too, so she sighed.
“That… I think I would know how. But no matter how much I think about it, I cannot think of how.”
“You said there is a way to save the World Tree? Is that what the owner of the voice told you?”
“Yes.”
Hiyan’s face became stern.
She seemed to be thinking about something, and then she turned to Sarah,
“I get it. It must have been a tough journey. Get some rest.”
Sarah thought she would ask more, but when she didn’t, she looked shocked.
“Is that all?”
“Yes. I need to think a little on my own. I will prepare hot water and food, so wash up and eat.”
Hiyan left with those words. And Hasyath looked at her and mumbled,
“As Hiyan said, relax for now. You must be very tired, and you must have had a hard time.”
Hasyath smiled and tapped her on the shoulder, and Sarah laughed brightly.
Thanks to the relics she got, she was able to stay clean while climbing the World Tree, but it was nothing compared to soaking herself in hot water.
After taking a bath, she savored the heat rising from her body and drank the cold milk that was made for her.
“Kuak— It tastes so good.”
Fresh milk after a bath was a must. It was like an essential process that she did during her childhood.
She couldn’t even dream of it when she was training, but now she could enjoy it.
Sarah lightly dried her hair with a relic and went outside. She heard the meal was set up outside. However, there was a place she had to stop before that.
“I need to see my sisters.”
Rebecca hadn’t woken up yet.
Actually, she wanted to go right away, but Mero told her she couldn’t go there in her dirty state, so she took a bath first.
“I am not dirty.”
She had the relics to keep her clean, but after spending ten days in the World Tree, maybe she did appear unclean. Anyway, she washed up and headed straight to Ash.
Upon arriving there, she knocked on the door.
“Sister! I am here!”
“Sarah?”
A slightly startled voice came, and the door opened. Ash looked at Sarah with wide eyes.
“When did you return?!”
Ash, who hadn’t heard of Sarah coming back, couldn’t help but be surprised at her sudden presence.
“Come inside.”
She couldn’t keep a guest outside, so she let Sarah in first.
“What happened? I haven’t heard that you were coming back.”
“It hasn’t been that long. Most of the others don’t know I have returned either. I came down here right after work.”
“I see. How are you? Can the World Tree be saved?”
“That…”
Sarah told Ash what she had told Hiyan.
Ash, who had heard everything, didn’t understand it, but she didn’t ask anything as it wasn’t something she could involve herself in.
“You worked hard.”
“No. Rather, how is Sister?”
“Still asleep. Let us go see her.”
The two of them went up to Rebecca’s room on the second floor.
Rebecca was still as asleep as the last time.
With a cooing sound of breathing, her chest was moving up and down.
“You don’t know when she will wake up?”
“Yes. Do not worry. This is what happens when she uses the Spirit King’s power. She used it more than usual this time, so it’s not strange for her to be asleep for a long time. She will wake up.”
“I am glad, then….”
“Rather, what will you do next? I think I will be here until Sister wakes up. What about the Ran race?”
Since Sarah was with the Rans, Ash assumed they would be moving together, but her answer shocked Ash.
“I am thinking of seeing my brother.”
“To Jamie?”
“I have a reason to meet Brother, either publicly or privately.”
She and Sarah had talked a lot about the World Tree but nothing about Jamie.
They all avoided any topics related to Jamie. However, Sarah herself brought up the topic for the first time.
“You seem determined.”
“It isn’t like that. I am just going to meet my family.”
“Right. Just family. Right, he is family.”
“It is strange that I hadn’t met him for this long. I just want to do something natural.”
Something natural.
Ash thought that was the right answer. A family should be comfortable with each other.
A broken one couldn’t be happy. So Sarah chose the expression ‘natural’ to maintain that happiness.
Ash found her expression very odd.
“When will you leave?”
“I want to leave as soon as possible.”
Ra had noticed her presence.
She didn’t have time to relax, and today might be the last day she can relax.
Sarah got up.
“Since I have seen you both, I will go now.”
“Food? If you haven’t eaten yet, we can eat together.”
“They prepared it separately. I want to eat there.”
“Right. You worked hard, so you need to have something delicious. Enjoy your meal.”
“Sister, too, eat on time. Or come with me.”
“No. I don’t know when she will wake up, so I will stay by her side.”
“Then let’s meet tomorrow.”
Sarah said goodbye and went out to where the meal was prepared. Even if it wasn’t a festival gathering, people gathered, ate, and drank.
Sarah had fun after a long time.
It was a noisy place for her, who couldn’t drink, but she still enjoyed it. And the day lasted until late.
Early morning.
Sarah was ready to move early.
She went to bed late, but now she was at a level where she didn’t have to worry about sleep, so she wasn’t tired or had anything to worry about.
“You were planning to leave right away.”
At that time, light particles shone, and Hiyan walked through them, making Sarah look surprised.
“Miss Hiyan.”
“I came here because I thought you would leave without saying anything. And I was right.”
As Hiyan said, Sarah was planning to leave quietly. It was because she was worried staying any longer would make Ra hurt them as well.
So she planned on leaving alone, but Hiyan caught her.
“I don’t know what made you so impatient, but give me a minute.”
“What brings you here… Is it about the World Tree?”
“Yes. I have something to show you.”
“To me?”
“Follow me.”
Hiyan put her hand on Sarah’s arm, and the entire scenery changed as her body floated in the air.
They were in a huge library that had the scent of old wood.
The structure of the library was amazing, but the reason for expressing it as such was due to the number of books.
And when Sarah looked around curiously, HIyan said,
“What I am going to show you now is something that has been handed down to the managers of the World Tree. And it is natural for outsiders to have never seen this.”
“Then why are you…”
“Because I heard it yesterday. You said you knew the way, but you don’t know how to do it?”
“Yes.”
“Perhaps you will find out how here. And…”
Hiyan looked at Sarah and said,
“Maybe the slumbering old God might wake up.”
