Chapter 82

"Am I not a flying problem solver in your eyes?"

Talroom looked down at Ely with a displeased expression.

It seemed she had conversed a lot with the blacksmiths, as her pronunciation had noticeably improved.

"But you came, didn't you?"

"Yeah. I came... I came, but..."

Talroom sighed deeply.

"Only a benefactor would use us like their limbs."

"I only have Talroom too. Thank you for always helping me."

"No, if you say that, what does that make me!"

Despite his embarrassed face, Talroom's cheeks turned red.

"Ahem. So, what did you call me for?"

"Do you have something like a tap? The kind used to collect tree sap."

"Tap? Why suddenly?"

"I need it. Hurry, hurry!"

Ely urged, pushing Talroom's back. Talroom reluctantly followed her.

Near the lake, they stood in front of an unusually thick tree. Ely gestured for him to hurry, and Talroom shrugged.

"It's time to show off my skills. This is my specialty."

Talroom said this and returned to his true form, meaning he transformed into a crow.

"Crow?"

When the surprised Damian opened his eyes wide, Talroom spread his wings and proudly lifted his head.

"I'll explain later, Damian. Talroom, hurry!"

At Ely's urging, Talroom's wings drooped.

The crow, cawing sadly, reluctantly tapped the tree with his feet.

Then he flew up and started pecking at it with his beak.

'Is he using his beak as a tap?'

Is he a woodpecker?

But the effect was tremendous. The tree seemed to split where he pecked, and soon red sap began to drip.

The red sap stained the white snow.

Ely quickly dug into the snow.

Inside, a transparent and red gem sparkled, emitting light.

"Look! Look at this!"

At Ely's words, Talroom pecked at the red gem.

Then he immediately transformed back into a human and exclaimed in surprise.

"Ely, why is this here? This is a sacred stone!"

"Are you sure? Really?"

"I swear on my 500 years of crow life. This is definitely a sacred stone."

At his affirmation, Ely huffed.

Serves you right!

* * *

When the study room window opened again, it had been about an hour since Heron returned to the room.

He was doing other work when he heard the creaking sound and looked toward the window.

"Oh."

His eyes met Ely, who was trying to climb through the window.

"Hello, Lord Heron."

Ely laughed awkwardly.

Her upper body was still hanging over the window frame like laundry. Heron smiled gently.

"Hello, Lady Ely. It seems you had a very fun playtime with the young master."

"Yes."

"Next time, it would be better to have a more articulate attendant."

"Hehe..."

Ely laughed awkwardly, as expected.

"Still, what exactly were you doing..."

Heron couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence.

They had had a snowball fight and lay flat on the ground, facing the biting cold wind. Ely was incredibly dirty.

Moreover, a crow was perched on her bird's nest-like hair.

The crow flew away, cawing loudly when it met Heron's eyes.

"...First, come inside. You might catch a cold."

"Yes."

Ely wriggled her arms as if swimming, grabbed the window frame, and hopped into the room.

She roughly pushed her messy hair behind her ears and sniffed loudly.

"Come on, hold my hand, sister."

Ely was significantly smaller than her peers, but Damian was especially tiny.

Although the peacock castle provided sufficient nutrition, it was still difficult to make up for the deficiencies from his childhood.

'But, sister.'

It was a word that seemed to draw a line.

Heron looked at the two children intently.

"Phew!"

With a bit of encouragement, Damian came inside.

"We, we succeeded...!"

Damian smiled happily, but his face turned grim when he met Heron's eyes.

"Lord Damian, Lady Ely. I do not oppose you playing freely. However..."

Heron spoke in a gentle yet stern voice.

"I would like to ask if the time you spent was worth breaking the rules."

It's natural for children to play.

However, going out past curfew was something to be scolded for. Heron was merely pointing that out.

"It was worth it!"

At that moment, Ely spoke up confidently.

Her lively voice was like a popping candy. Heron's lips curled up involuntarily.

"Is that so? In what way did you feel it was worth it?"

"Because we found this!"

Ely said this and opened her palm.

A red gem rested in her small hand.

"What is this?"

"A sacred stone!"

"...Pardon?"

Heron had a rare look of disbelief.

* * *

"Unbelievable..."

Heron covered his forehead in disbelief.

Even after immediately calling a mage to verify it, he still seemed unable to accept it.

Damian and I were sitting in front of him, sipping warm cocoa.

The fatigue seemed to ease with the sugar.

"This must be why the lake hasn't filled up. The deaths of people might not have been simple drownings but mana surges."

Not everyone can become a mage, but people's bodies naturally contain mana.

The pain that Vintiana and Wiborg experienced from the lake water must have been due to this.

'Mana surge caused by the lake water.'

Heron murmured.

"How could a sacred stone be here? I find it hard to believe."

I felt the same way.

The Shuetsu territory is known to be cursed.

Yet, a sacred stone, which can only be mined from the purest land, was found so close.

'It doesn't make sense.'

Is it unrelated to the duke's madness?

'Even if it is...'

I looked down at the sacred stone in front of me.

'This is real.'

There was no doubt about it.

If this exists, it might clear up the misunderstanding that the duke's castle is cursed.

'This is more advantageous for us... huh?'

Suddenly, I felt a gaze. When I looked up, Heron was looking at me meaningfully.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I knew Lady Ely was more intelligent than her peers. But..."

Heron's gaze shifted to the sacred stone and then back to me.

"A sacred stone changes the story. Where and how did you find it?"

"That's..."

"Moreover, it's difficult to distinguish a sacred stone at first glance. How did you know this was a sacred stone?"

Faced with a barrage of questions, I pretended to be scared and shrank back.

"I found it while playing with Talroom..."

"Talroom...?"

"He's a blacksmith who works with Sir Jerit. He played with us by the lake earlier."

When I mentioned Talroom, Heron's eyes showed a sign of understanding.

Talroom's clan lived near the World Tree. They would know more about sacred stones than the imperial people.

Nodding, he asked again.

"Then, how did you think of using the tree?"

"Hmm, that's..."

I glanced to the side and then smiled brightly.

"Damian told me."

"Me?"

Damian's eyes widened.

"While playing with Damian, we ended up near the lake. Then Damian told me about today's lesson, and from there..."

"You got a clue?"

"Yes."

I answered cheerfully, but Heron's suspicious gaze didn't waver.

I quietly poked Damian's side. He flinched and nodded.

"Ely is right."

"Hmm..."

"Well, well, it's a good thing, isn't it? If there's a sacred stone, we can make a lot of money."

"That's true, but..."

Heron sighed.

"I'm not sure if it's a good thing. The discovery of a sacred stone in the Shuetsu duchy means a deeper rift with the temple."

He was right. The conflict between the Shuetsu duke and the temple continues in the original story.

'Ashabel was the one who mediated that conflict.'

Finding the sacred stone instead of Ashabel made me feel very guilty, but...

'First, the duchy needs to do well for you to do well too.'

So even if my stepsister takes on that role, don't hate her too much.

I apologized to the future protagonist while sipping my cocoa.

"First, I will report this to the duke."

While I was deeply reflecting, Heron, who had finished thinking, stood up with the sacred stone.

'One problem solved.'

Now, it was up to the adults.

I smiled contentedly and grabbed my rumbling stomach.

"Damian, let's go get something to eat. We're hungry from playing so much."

"Okay."

Just then, Heron, who was about to leave, paused and turned to look at us.

"...Before that, you should clean up first."

"Oh."