Chapter 151
When I returned to the monastery while talking with Sal about this and that, it had truly become a complete mess. Sal looked at the monastery’s remains, where only traces were left, and held his forehead.
“They completely smashed it. I spent days and days drawing that magic circle.”
“What in the world happened here?”
What on earth had happened while I was gone? I looked at Sal, who was muttering irritably, and pressed him once more.
“What happened?”
“I told you. I cast magic on the monastery. But not only did they break that magic, they completely collapsed the monastery too.”
Just what kind of magic had been cast on it…?
Before I could hide my question, I heard a familiar voice from somewhere.
“Lysian! Lysian, you’re safe!”
I saw Kyle running over in a fluster. He quickly ran up to me and hugged me tightly.
“I told you not to disappear without saying anything. Do you know how worried I was!”
I felt Kyle, who had been hugging me tightly and speaking with relief, suddenly pause. It was obvious he had discovered Sal following behind me.
“Who are you?”
Sure enough, Kyle shouted at Sal in an aggressive stance while shielding me protectively. I pushed against Kyle’s chest and straightened my clothes.
“I got lost in the forest, and this person brought me all the way here.”
“Hello, I’m Sal.”
As we had agreed in advance, Sal smiled naturally and held out his hand to Kyle.
“Ah, I see. I’m Kyle, Lysian’s companion. Thank you for helping Lysian.”
Kyle lowered his guard and clasped his hand without much suspicion.
“I’ve heard a lot about you. By the way, it seems something happened here.”
Sal looked around the monastery, where only ruins remained, and feigned ignorance as if he knew nothing.
He had been grumbling just a moment ago. He acted so naturally that my worries about whether he would be good at acting felt pointless.
“There was illusion spell cast over the entire monastery, so we destroyed it all. It was fairly powerful magic, so it gave us some trouble.”
If it had given the hero’s party trouble, then it seemed truly powerful magic had been cast on it. And Sal had said he learned that from Lysian.
Would it be a little strange to feel proud here? In any case, Kyle and everyone in the hero’s party were safe too.
More than that, finding Elonen was more urgent. We had to quickly undo Macy’s curse, receive a blessing, and go to the ruins of the fallen kingdom.
“Where is Elonen?”
“I’m here. Did something happen? Are you hurt anywhere?”
The rest of the hero’s party appeared one by one from where Kyle had appeared. Sal’s interested gaze turned toward Elonen.
“So this is the priest. You really look dependable.”
“Ah, hello. I haven’t seen you before.”
Elonen exchanged friendly greetings with Sal, displaying his usual sociability.
Elonen and Sal looked completely different, but strangely, they had a lot in common. For example, they both hid a sharp nature behind gentle behavior.
“There is someone in our village who needs a priest’s blessing.”
But at the words that someone needed a priest, Elonen stepped forward without hesitation, without even hearing any further explanation.
“Where are they? Please guide me.”
At the mention of helping others, Kyle also followed quietly without objecting, but Gerard grumbled softly from behind.
“We’ve gotten involved in something troublesome again. We never pass through anywhere quietly.”
Just as he said, wherever we stopped by, some kind of incident happened and held us back. But this time too, and during the forest fairies’ incident before, we were held back because of me, so I had nothing to say.
* * *
When we returned to the village with the party, including Kyle, Bessie was standing in front of her house door. I was sure that old woman had said she would look after her.
“Bessie, I told you to wait until the treatment is over.”
I spoke urgently as I grabbed her shoulders and pulled her away from the door.
“But I was worried about Mother, so I couldn’t help it. I’m sorry.”
The child spoke sorrowfully as large tears dripped onto the ground.
“She can’t even eat if I’m not there. But I didn’t go inside. I was waiting until you came.”
It seemed the child, who should have been the one receiving care, had been restless with worry that her sick mother might even skip her meal. That made my heart ache, and I felt sorry for her.
But unexpectedly, Gerard was the first to approach the child and wrap his arms around her shoulders into a reassuring hug.
“That can happen, it’s alright. We’ll take good care of your mother, so don’t worry about anything.”
