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Asura's autumn, a time of continuous rain.
In the royal capital, noble carriages raced down the roads, their wheels splashing up fans of rain.
The commoners on the streets, clad in rain gear, hurried about.
In just three months, the smiles on their faces had almost completely vanished. And the idle chatter they used to engage in after a meal, born of having some disposable income—"Your wife is so beautiful" or "Madam, how about you come to my house for a visit tonight"—had also disappeared.
In its place was:
"Did the price of bread go up again?"
"Yes, damn it. It's only been a little over three months..."
"Three months? That's enough time for the news to reach the southern kingdoms. The Northern Magic Triarchy probably already knows."
"Oh, how can there be such a natural disaster? Are we going to have a war again...?"
"Don't say such inauspicious things... Hey! Aren't all the leftover breads on this counter mine? We clearly agreed on it yesterday! I even came all the way to the Free Zone! You!"
"My apologies, patron. She paid more, and the store needs to keep some..."
"How can you do business like that!?"
"Ma'am!! These are what we ordered... Huh? Where'd she go?"
A gust of wind swept past the person asking the question. The bell on the bakery door jingled, and a black-haired girl stepped into the rain.
The falling rain, before it could even wet her clothes, was redirected by Flow Ougi, deflected to the side.
A faint white aura enveloped her figure.
And this clearly abnormal display of the 'supernatural' made the man who was scrambling to chase her out shut his mouth and return in a huff.
Isolte plunged her foot into a puddle on the ground, looking up at the sky.
The dome of the sky was a bruised indigo, covering the entire heavens. Grey air was cut by streaks of rain, linking the sky to the earth.
The clouds seemed as if they were going to crush the royal capital.
Isolte lowered her head. In just three short months, her jawline, which had once been a soft oval, had become a pointed oval.
She took a step, continuing down the street, passing by pedestrians, traversing the Free Zone. She went through a guard check at the edge of the towering city walls like a normal person, and then entered the Upper Noble District.
After a few turns, she was back at her mansion.
She opened the iron gate, walked across the floor of the courtyard, which wasn't quite a central courtyard, and arrived at the main door of the mansion.
She opened the door, and was met with a gentle, smiling face.
"You're back? Did the price of bread go up again recently?"
Isolte's expression was dazed. She looked down at Sylphy, and answered her question without thinking.
"Did it go up...? I think it went up."
Sylphy tilted her head, pursing her lips as she looked at the expressionless Isolte, then glanced at her lower body. She shook her head slightly, took the basket of bread that Isolte had kept completely dry with Flow Ougi, and placed it on a stool in the entranceway. She reached out and opened the shoe cabinet, pulling out a pair of dry house slippers.
She placed them on the floor.
"Lift your foot."
Isolte snapped out of her daze. She first looked at the slippers, then at the gentle, reddish-brown eyes.
Finally, she looked down at her own boots.
They were soaked with rain.
When did that happen...?
"They're completely soaked. Isolte walked through puddles the whole way."
As Sylphy spoke, Isolte suddenly realized.
She had covered her body and the bread basket with Flow Ougi, but she had completely forgotten about her feet.
This shouldn't happen for a newly promoted Water King.
But it did.
"I'm... I'm sorry, Sylphy..."
"It's okay." Sylphy deftly used Wind Magic to blow her boots dry, then patted her leg, urging her to change into her slippers. She stood up and closed the door, which had been left ajar against the wind and rain.
The wind that had rushed into the house died down.
Only then did Isolte notice that the room was filled with the aroma of food, and Sylphy was still wearing an apron.
"..."
"Alright, the food is ready. Isolte, take off your jacket first. I'll heat up the bread, and then we can eat." Sylphy patted Isolte's back, smiling at her.
For some reason, when Isolte saw that smile, she suddenly felt that the rain outside had stopped, and bright sunlight was streaming in through the window.
She instinctively turned her head and looked out the window.
The dark clouds were still dark clouds.
The rain curtain was still a rain curtain.
Her vision still couldn't pierce the fog of confusion.
"Slap. Slap."
She turned.
Sylphy's slender figure had already walked into the house and was heading for the kitchen. Isolte's lips parted, wanting to say something, but in the end, she said nothing. She simply silently took off her clothes, changed into her house clothes, and sat down at the dining table, staring blankly at the wooden grain of the tabletop.
Four thousand seven hundred and ninety-six lines, counted over one hundred and sixteen days.
Smack, smack, smack.
A sound came from across the table.
—Rudyus was wolfing down his food, a piece of leftover bread from last night in his hand, soaked in the steaming vegetable soup he had already ladled out for himself.
He was eating and looking at something like a manuscript on the table.
She focused her gaze.
It was a list of people rescued, killed, or missing from the "Dragon Calendar 414 Great Disaster" that Ariel provided every afternoon.
The date was October 23rd, which was yesterday.
The 'rescued' column still had no names. But the names under the 'killed' and 'missing' columns had grown.
Isolte felt her eyes sting with tears from looking at those words.
She lowered her head.
Soon, Sylphy brought out the food and placed it in front of Isolte.
But the latter did not touch it. Seeing this, Sylphy showed no reaction. She simply sat down beside her, tearing off pieces of the fragrant, toasted bread in her hand and placing them in the vegetable soup in front of her.
"Why aren't you eating?"
Isolte looked at the grain of the table, her voice hoarse.
"...I can't eat."
Sylphy tilted her head to look at her, then reached out and swapped her bowl with Isolte's.
"You should eat well, especially when you feel like you're not making any progress."
"If you can't even fill your stomach, how will you have the strength to do anything else? Right?"
Isolte was silent, her face still wearing a dream-like expression, as if she hadn't heard Sylphy's words at all.
Then...
A gentle voice entered her ear.
"Allen said that, you know."
Isolte froze. She stared blankly at Sylphy. Her face finally broke free of its confused state. All the things she had avoided mentioning for the past few months...
Every day, every day...
Every single day, she would check the lists and inquire about news...
The name she had repeated thousands of times in her heart.
From morning to night, from the time she woke up to the time she couldn't sleep.
That name that stirred her heart.
Was it really so distant, so unattainable?
Why?
Why...
...did this happen??
She wanted to laugh in response to Sylphy, but found she couldn't. In the end, she only pursed her lips, looked up at the ceiling, then lowered her head, sniffing, and began to stuff the bread floating in the soup into her mouth with her bare hands.
Her movements grew faster and faster. Before the bread in her mouth was even swallowed, she stuffed more in.
Her movements grew faster and faster, until she finally couldn't fit any more food in her mouth.
She ultimately covered her face with her hands.
The person who thought she was the oldest and should not cry held back tears for over three months, but they now streamed down between her fingers. She sobbed, moaning softly, her mouth full of food.
And countless feelings of confusion and self-reproach.
"...I go to the Water God Style Main Dojo every day to ask, but there's just no news of Senior Brother..."
"I know."
"But, wuu... why can't I find any news of Senior Brother..."
"I know."
"Wuu... why... I just can't find him... why... Sylphy... wuu..."
At some point, Sylphy had stood up. She reached out and hugged Isolte's head. The latter buried her face in Sylphy's apron, covering it with tears, snot, and breadcrumbs. But Sylphy only smiled faintly and stroked Isolte's hair.
Gently caressing it.
"I know, Isolte. You've been trying very hard."
She soothed her softly.
"I saw it. I saw it every day. Isolte has tried very hard."
Just as she herself had been soothed gently by someone in the past.
The actions were identical.
"Allen will be okay. Believe in him."
"Wuu wuu wuu."
At some point, Rudy's figure had disappeared from in front of them.
Clack, Rudy, in his rain gear, carrying food in his hands, opened the main gate of the Kureel mansion.
He walked down the street, but in a direction completely opposite to where Isolte had returned from this morning.
He arrived at the heart of the Upper Noble District, and stopped in front of a huge, garden-style mansion.
The guards at the gate saw Rudy and gave him a polite noble bow.
"Young Master Rudyus, please come in."
Although Rudy was still a little unaccustomed to this, he still greeted them.
"Thank you, Uncles."
The guards, however, were not bothered by Rudy's attitude. They just nodded and continued standing guard.
The latter shook his head, entered the mansion, walked through the spacious hall, and ascended the stairs, arriving before the study on the second floor.
He opened the door.
A thick smell of alcohol assailed him. The room was dark. The curtains, which were excellent at blocking light, were very thick and completely covered the windows.
Rudy pursed his lips. He placed the food on a nearby table, and casually threw a flame to light a candle. He walked to the window.
Whoosh, he pulled the curtain open.
He turned, looking at Paul, who was a lump on the ground amidst piles of wine bottles.
In these past three months, Paul had searched almost all of Asura. At first, he was very energetic and desperate, but as news of deaths from the Fittoa territory kept coming, the numbers grew by hundreds, by thousands, each time he returned to Asura.
Until last week, when he saw the death notice of his neighbor in Buena Village on a list.
Paul broke down, going completely insane for a time.
This life's Great Teleportation was a greater blow to him.
Because at the time of the Great Teleportation, Zenith had transformed into a Divine Child, and was now a virtual idiot. Norn and Aisha were too young to take care of themselves.
This almost certainly meant that the four of them had no chance of surviving.
So he had become like this. After returning to Asura, he even ignored Ariel's summons and went straight back to the mansion, locking himself in his room for an entire week.
He had only survived because of the meals Rudy brought him.
And now.
The once-confident scoundrel had a long beard. His eyes had heavy dark circles. He only vaguely looked up at Rudy and the scene outside the window behind him.
"You're here."
"Oh, it's still raining. Has it been raining all day?"
"No, Father. It's been a week."
Paul lowered his head.
"Is that so? It's been a week."
Rudy came over and crouched down, looking at Paul's face. "Father, do you know that people from the Milbotz territory are coming to the royal capital tomorrow? I heard it's your distant cousin, a pragmatist. He's not like that other fraud who was defeated and ran away last time."
"Ah ah" Paul picked up a wine bottle and took a gulp.
"The Milbotz territory was also greatly affected by the Great Teleportation, yet they still spared time to send people here."
Gulp. Paul put down the empty wine bottle, shook it in confusion, and reached for another one. "Ah~ that has nothing to do with me."
Rudy snatched the wine bottle from him and threw it on the ground!
Bang!!!
He stood up and turned, walking to the window. He fiercely pulled the window open.
Wind and rain rushed in from outside! The fine rain was swept in by the wind, slamming into Paul's face!
Accompanied by Rudy's roar!
"Family Head! Master Paul Notos Greyrat!! Get a grip!! Look at what you're doing!!"
The rain hitting Paul's face made him sober up a bit. A look of clear astonishment appeared on his face. But before he could react, Rudy slammed the intelligence report he was holding onto the ground.
"Are Mother, Lilia, Aisha, and Norn's names on the death list?! Doesn't it clearly say 'missing'?! What are you doing?! A week, a whole week! How much longer are you going to be this pathetic?!"
Paul froze. He looked at Rudy for a long time, as if just realizing that he was being lectured by his son.
"Family Head?? You called me Family Head?"
He stared blankly at Rudy for a long moment, then a sudden fury erupted on his face! He stood up, grabbed Rudy's collar, and pulled him up to his face.
"Rudyus!"
"Three months! I searched all of Asura!! I just can't find them!! My wife! My children! They're all missing! And what about you?! What have you done?! Can you lecture me just by organizing these things?! Your mother! Your sisters! What have you done?!"
"They're all missing! What's the use of being the head of the Notos family?!"
"Did you spend so much time with Allen in the royal capital that your brains have gone soft?!"
At this, Paul's face showed a feigned look of realization. He threw Rudy to the ground, and spat.
"Oh? I see. You think your status as the easily attainable young master of the Notos family is threatened, don't you? What about your mother being missing, and your sisters disappearing—that means nothing to you, does it? After all, you've always been with the Boreas family..."
Clang!
Rudy actually snatched the sword from Paul's waist. A cold gleam flashed in the latter's astonished eyes. He then placed the flat of the blade against Paul's face.
Light flashed. A detoxification magic was instantly cast. Paul instantly sobered up from his drunken state.
He stared blankly at the sword's blade.
In the reflection of the blade.
Was the face of a stubble-faced drunkard, no different from the drunken gamblers in a tavern.
Rudy's voice drifted from behind the blade.
"Father, do you know what Allen would say if he were here right now?"
He lowered his voice, looking up at Paul.
"He would ask:"
"Uncle, why has your blade rusted to such a state?"
The two fell silent.
The curtains flapped against the window. The wind and rain soaked half of their clothes.
Paul quietly looked at his face in the blade's reflection. After a long pause, he squeezed his eyes shut hard!
When he opened them again, they held a look of grim resolve, the look of one who had no choice but to demand what was reasonable.
"First, I'll take the position of family head, and form a larger search party!"
"I have no one to fund me, so I'll do it myself!"
"If they're not in Asura, then I'll go to the Lands of Conflict!"
"If they're not in the Lands of Conflict, then I'll go to Shirone! To the Dragon Kingdom! To the Northern Magic Triarchy!"
"If I still can't find them, then I'll go to the Heaven Continent!"
"If I can't find them in the Heaven Continent, then I'll go to the Begaritt Continent, to Milis, to the Demon Continent!!"
Paul snatched the sword from Rudy's hand and, with a clang, sheathed it at his waist.
"Let's go! To the Princess's mansion!!"
"Allen! Zenith! Lilia! Norn! Aisha! I'll find every single one of them!!"
"Not a single one will be left behind!!"
"Not a single one!!"
Rudy smiled. This deliberate imitation of Allen's behavior had indeed worked.
Sylphy's advice was very effective.
His inner thoughts said so, but the bloodshot eyes, however, were the same as Paul's.
It wasn't just this one father who worried for his 'family.'
But the former was more worried about Allen, while the latter was more worried about his family in the truest sense.
"Good!!"
Corlell Mansion.
Half an hour later, Sylphy had coaxed Isolte, who hadn't slept in three days, to fall asleep. She gently laid her on a pillow, then walked out of the room and returned to her own.
She sat down at the table and took out her diary.
Page after page, the search records from three months ago were meticulously written, a dense, tiny script filling dozens of pages.
From the initial records of the three of them—Sylphy, Rudy, and Isolte—to a week later, Sauros's search party from the Fittoa territory, and a week after that, Ariel's sponsored search party.
Sylphy flipped through the pages of the diary, one by one.
Her other hand clutched her black magic stone necklace.
The first person to cry, three months ago.
Had now become the most resilient person.
What was the biggest change brought by the butterfly?
It was the butterfly's very existence.
It had brought the 'power' of the heart!
Beyond mountains and seas.
Splash, splash.
In a damp, muddy place, rotten tree trunks lay all over the ground. There was no light.
A dark place. Heavy rain had fallen for over three months.
In a 'subterranean island' within a newly formed labyrinth cluster, the "Archipelago," which was created by the expanded scale of the Great Teleportation and scoured by the resulting mana turbulence, someone stood in the pouring rain.
A figure.
White hair was matted and knotted against the sides of a hollowed face, caked in filth.
His dark pupils were brighter than the darkness itself.
—Allen Boreas Greyrat spoke with his inner voice.
'System, locate, Zenith.'
The system did not respond.
His inner voice continued.
'System, check current body status.'
This time, however, layers of white smoke appeared before him.
A cold, mechanical, automatically responding robotic voice.
[Survey Magic activated. Assessing host's physical condition with host's own mana.]
[Allen Boreas Greyrat]
[Mana: Remaining, 61%]
[Battle Aura: Remaining, 14%]
[Physical Stamina: Remaining]
[2%]
[Survey result: You are dying.]
His eyes flickered, but he didn't look at the system panel itself.
In his eyes, countless grey shadows outlined their figures in the rain.
Thickly packed, vague silhouettes.
Raindrops passed through their bodies, continuously slamming into the ground.
Monsters.
—[Specters].
The person with the system was trapped at the deepest part of the labyrinth.
Duration:
Three months and seventeen days.
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Power Stones==Bonus Chapter