Chapter 51

The day after Abel left the village, Sibyl was asked by Giselle to accompany her into the forest.

"Hey, Giselle. I think it's not a good idea to come this deep into the forest. We should go back and consult with others..."

"But, but, he was supposed to come back for sure! Because I acted on my emotions that time... I knew that if something, something happened, it would be irreparable! If something happens to my brother, what will I do...!"

Giselle's face turned pale, and she was flustered.

According to her father, she had been like this since morning.

Sibyl learned that Giselle had anticipated her brother's runaway and had tampered with the Otem trolley he would choose as a means of transportation to prevent it.

The plan was for her brother to give up and return after the trolley was destroyed. However, he hadn't come back even after a day.

Giselle seemed to think that something unforeseen had happened.

From Sibyl's perspective, it was hard to imagine a situation where Abel wouldn't be able to return.

Even if he ran into a band of thieves, he could easily take them down.

Even if the strongest monster in the forest, the Greater Bear, formed a pack, Sibyl didn't think it could do anything to Abel.

She was confident that even if a natural disaster occurred and the world sank, he would still be fine.

"Abel won't die even if you kill him. What are you worried about, Giselle?"

"If I made a mistake with the tampering, and the Otem trolley stopped much further away than planned, my brother won't be able to come back! It's because I meddled with half-baked knowledge..."

"..., well, that's a possibility, I guess."

Indeed, Abel was fatally lacking in physical strength.

Sibyl understood this well.

If something unforeseen happened to Abel, that was the most likely scenario.

Sibyl and Giselle continued walking through the forest together.

"...Why did Abel leave the village, I wonder?"

When the conversation paused, Sibyl muttered this.

She immediately realized it was a slip of the tongue and covered her mouth with her hand.

She shouldn't have said such a thing next to Giselle.

It was like rubbing salt in a wound.

From the timing, it was clear that Abel's departure from the village was related to his marriage to Giselle.

Sibyl had been told by Abel long ago that he had no intention of marrying his sister.

Yet, when talk of the wedding came up, he had complained to Garia, saying, "This isn't what you said, Abel!" and pouted.

Then came Abel's disappearance.

Sibyl had asked the question without much thought, but deep down, she thought, "He did it."

"..., my brother is a sensitive person. He might have felt anxious about the changes in life after marriage and the responsibilities of having a family, and became depressed."

This is commonly known as the "marriage blues."

Even if the marriage was desired by both parties, it's not uncommon for one of them to suddenly feel the urge to run away just before the ceremony.

After saying this, Giselle muttered to herself, "That's it, it must be. There's no other explanation."

Sibyl thought, "She's trying to convince herself," but she wasn't so tactless as to say it out loud.

"Abel is indeed mentally and physically weak."

Saying it out loud made him seem like a complete failure.

Without mental and physical strength, a person has nothing left.

Sibyl wondered what Abel would have become if he hadn't had a talent for magic.

After walking for a while, Giselle took out a map.

At the edge of the map, there were faint claw marks.

According to Giselle, they were definitely her brother's claw marks.

Sibyl thought there was no doubt about it, but to Giselle, there must have been.

Apparently, Abel had drawn the map while holding the book with his hand, leaving claw marks in the process.

"My brother will choose left when he's unsure. Let's go this way. But I want some assurance. It would be good if we could find some recently trampled plants or wheel tracks somewhere."

Saying this, Giselle crouched down and began searching for any signs.

Her clothes were already dirty with mud, and she had scratches from branches and grass on her body.

When it came to her brother, she really had no sense of propriety.

At first, Sibyl had been excited, thinking, "Is this a date?" while worrying about Abel, but that fantasy was quickly shattered.

"Hey..."

Sibyl noticed that some grass a little distance away was burned in one spot.

"Giselle, over here..."

Perhaps Abel had made a campfire.

Sibyl decided to check it out.

On her way to the burned grass, Sibyl stepped on something hard in the grass.

Picking it up, it turned out to be a charred remnant.

Considering the campfire, it seemed he had burned it and hidden it in the grass.

Upon closer inspection, it looked like an Otem.

She wiped off the black soot. It appeared to be a fragment of the end of an arm. There was a slight trace of paint.

It seemed a bit crude for something Abel had carved.

"..., I checked what my brother took with him, and the Otem I carved when I was young was missing! He must have taken it as a keepsake! He can't possibly have stopped liking me!"

Suddenly, Sibyl remembered what Giselle had said before leaving the village.

She had a bad feeling.

She couldn't let Giselle find this. She realized that.

"What's wrong, Sibyl... Oh, there's the Otem trolley! My brother definitely stopped here! He might be nearby!"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure."

Looking in the direction Giselle was pointing, there was indeed the Otem trolley.

It was much more helpful than the campfire.

Sibyl let out a small sigh of relief.

"Sibyl, what's over there?"

"Huh?"

Caught off guard, Sibyl let out a silly sound.

She quickly spread her hands to block the path.

"It's nothing. I must have imagined it."

For about ten seconds, there was silence.

When Giselle tried to peek from the right, Sibyl moved her upper body to the right.

When she tried to peek from the left, Sibyl moved her upper body to the left.

Giselle tilted her head at Sibyl's strange behavior but ran over to the Otem trolley.

Sibyl didn't think her lie would hold, but Giselle probably prioritized investigating the trolley.

Sibyl wiped the sweat from her forehead.

For now, the crisis was averted.

But she couldn't let this be found.

Sibyl gathered the larger pieces of the Otem and put them in her pocket.

Then she cautiously followed Giselle.