Chapter 41: 37 - Astilbe (8)
A month later, nothing had changed and he had nothing to do except take a lot of medicine almost every day.
He had told Amiley about the previous incident, but Amiley had given him only a very brief response: Okay.
If she said that carelessly, it was no big deal... Absolutely not, he didn't have the confidence to calm down that way.
Amiley didn't ask for the 3 answers he gave her that day either, it seems she knows her limits and he himself made a new friend who is the same age as him, "Morning!" Noah waved when she saw Eriu entering the dining room. Even though it had been a month, Noah still wasn't used to seeing Eriu taking two or even three showers.
"Morning as well." Eriu returned the greeting with a smile and nodded once after seeing Amley.
Amley just looked at him, it had been their habit since he had tried to wake up early so that he wasn't a minute late for their breakfast, because he thought it was impolite, even though he was a guest, but they both had to wait for him to have breakfast. Amiley, who had just woken up, found him waiting in the living room, sitting politely.
"...Do you have something to tell me?" That was the first sentence Amiley asked him besides his illness, the thoughtful Eriu was shocked, "!!!"
"Aa, no, no, I just thought it would be rude to make both of you wait for breakfast, let alone cook it for you... So I thought I should do a bit of help, like washing dishes..."
"...Ahh." Amiley walked over and sat down next to him. "I guess your mom told you."
"???"
Ting-tong!
The doorbell rang, the living room was right by the entrance, and before Eriu could open it, it opened wide by itself. Outside the door stood about 20 elves dressed as nuns with black veils covering their faces.
Each of them was holding a meal, a freshly cooked meal.
"...???"
"No need to help, but you must come to every meal." Amiley was still sitting elegantly, watching the nuns come in and place all the food on the long dining table.
Just thinking about it made Eriu envious to death, if he was born into a rich family, he would definitely have no trouble saving his life, just pay and be done!
It was the medicine he had to take that made him feel so tired, he was even more sleepy than usual. That was why he sometimes woke up later than usual.
5 minutes passed.
Amiley put her fork on the plate and wiped her mouth with a napkin, "Today we're going to visit the village of Tora." Eriu and Noah turned their heads to look at Amiley who had suddenly started a conversation. Usually, Amiley would just end the meal by praying to the goddess of chastity
Eriu certainly knew who the goddess of chastity the elves worshipped, Uriel, was.
Noah blinked as she looked confused, "Why?" Amiley looked back at Noah, she just looked at her silently, which made Noah feel nervous. To him, Amiley was a strict mother, but her daughter, Noah, was a careless child. Although Eriu had no idea why Amiley was so cold to her own daughter, he was still an outsider who shouldn't be too involved in people's internal affairs.
Unless he was Santa Claus, hearing children's pleas, making everything different.
Amiley sighed, "I'll let you off this time, but don't repeat it again, got it?" Hearing this, Noah bowed her head. Eriu himself felt that the atmosphere had become uncomfortable, he could feel Noah's sadness. When he was so gloomy, she would always be by his side, so his childhood wasn't bad anymore.
Noah, not daring to raise her head, turned her head when she felt her hand being touched. Noah's gaze was fixed on Eriu who put something in her hand. That's when Noah felt her hand touch the paper wrapping.
... Candy?
Amiley and she knew how much Eriu disliked sweets, that confused her sometimes, so why did he still eat candy if he refused the candy given to him.
This curiosity gave her the courage to ask him. That's when Eriu gave her a package of candy that he usually ate. "This is the candy my friend made, isn't it delicious?" The taste was not too sweet, and there was even a bitter taste, yet Noah felt that this candy was very sweet and even made her like it.
Seeing the candy in her hand made Noah's heart skip a beat, she felt her world become colorful again.
Amiley paused for a moment and looked at the two of them before continuing what she wanted to say, "We're here to do some cleaning."
.
.
.
"Eri, catch this!" Wearing a blue dress with her black hair in two braids, the girl with the innocent face used her magic to hold the black liquid that swirled like a ball with a pungent stench before throwing it at Eriu who was far away from her.
Seeing the black liquid coming towards him, Eriu could only grimace inwardly in pain. Even after Eriu covered his nose with a cloth, the stench still wafted up, making him want to vomit.
Cleaning.
The usual cleansing of Tora and the surrounding villages to protect them from the undead. Almost everyone knows the principle of death and life. That is why there are many kinds of magic. This was also true for the giant animals called Divine Servants. Amiley had told him that Divine Servants could only be found in some places full of pure mana, that's why Tora's village was considered a dangerous village, because if they met one of those Divine Servants, they would definitely be dead.
But we are not here to kill the divine servants, we are here to clean up the ones that are already dead.
Why? As the nickname suggests, when the god's servants die, their bodies are taken over by death, so we have to clean them up before they become undead. And the black liquid rushing towards him was a baby bird that couldn't get out of its shell and was rotting there.
"...Ummm." Eriu said resignedly. Since Eriu could not use magic, Amiley gave him this glove-shaped magic tool. This glove worked when the user wanted to lift an object, a magic tool that had to be in a construction worker's pocket.
But if they had extra mana, they didn't use it much.
"Ughhhh..." The black liquid that was already on top of him made Eriu even more reluctant to lift his head even a little, the pungent stench really made his head hurt, as if he himself was diving into a sea full of corpses.
The memory of it alone was enough to make him want to vomit.
Eriu held his breath before throwing the black liquid into the lake with all his might.
Of course, he wasn't the only one doing this, the villagers here, especially the children, were also doing it, while the adults were preparing spells, so they were all throwing into this lake.
Gather them together first, before finishing off the undead.
Little by little, the blue lake turned black and stinky. Meanwhile, the other children approached the lake, and some even taunted their friends by throwing the liquid at them.
Uhhhhh...
Eriu realized that he was the only one who smelled the stench.
Although his face was already very red, Eriu still held his breath, even though he had been given a cloth to cover his nose. Noah, on the other hand, was very worried; Eriu had told her that his smell was very sharp, so when he heard about this cleaning, he immediately rejected it. But after talking to her mother, Eriu changed his mind.
Eriu approached Noah with a dying expression, "Do you want more flowers?" Noah asked.
"No need, it will be finished soon."
"Still, take it first."
If you want to add more flowers, you'll have to remove the cloth and cast the flower scent spell again, he doesn't want to, just removing this cloth has become a tough decision.
"No need, really..." Eriu shook his head faster, afraid that the cloth covering his nose would disappear.
An eye opened in the black liquid before closing along with the darkness of the liquid.
"Done!" One of those examining the body of the divine servant shouted. Upon hearing this notice, everyone quickly focused on the lake, and the little children immediately ran away from the lake. Noah held Eriu's hand and hurriedly ran away, "!"
Eriu knew that something bad was coming, but he was caught off guard, and as they ran, the cloth covering his nose fell off.
Panicking, Eriu used his right hand to cover his nose tightly.
The spells above the lake slowly released colours from each mana.
Amiley, who was in the middle of the lake, clasped her hands together as if she were praying, and the people held their wands higher and higher in fear of something bad happening.
"Blessed by holiness and fallen in righteousness."
"You, once clean and pure, have fallen into cruelty."
"Your soul, your body, your name."
"Will return to purity, in the warm embrace of chastity."
"Restore yourself to true life!"
Guluguk- Zrashhhh!
Every sentence uttered made the water in the lake burst into tiny bubbles as if the water was extremely hot. An earthquake was felt, and in an instant, bones flew into the sky.
"Prepare to defend!" As if being pushed down by the monster staring at them, the people holding the wands held their hands back from falling. There was no end to the trembling of their hands, but if they did not, this monster would definitely be attacking their homes!
"Help the barrier, quickly!" Everyone did their part. Fire was everywhere, as well as water, earth, and others. All the colours of the spell attacked the bones that were trying to fuse together.
In the middle of it all, black clouds gathered right where the battle was.
Eriu, used to playing games and watching cartoons, was astonished at the scene in front of him.
Seeing the bones forming a human skeleton covered in black liquid, not to mention the eyes and hands that seemed to have claws, made it look like a Lich.
"CRACHHHHHHH!!!" The undead, let's call it Lich, opened its mouth and screamed. This horrible scream shook the world so much that even he could see the black liquid coming out of its mouth.
The color of the barrier array became more and more colorful and layered, trapping the Lich inside. Everyone was too focused on the battle ahead, not even daring to look elsewhere.
Amiley stood behind the other people with her hands open and a bright yellow flower wrapped around everyone there, even the people who had fled behind were wrapped around this bright yellow flower, except for him, of course Noah was looking at her mother with starry eyes.
It was obvious that she admired her very much.
The reason he wanted to go here was obviously because of this, Amiley said, he had to see this and learn. Actually, he didn't know what to learn, but he knew that this was cool.
"This flower, um, what kind of spell is it?" Eriu glanced at Noah, who was still wondering where the battle was. Without looking at Eriu, Noah replied immediately, "The name of this spell is the Flower of Chastity, this flower channels mana, the less mana the person has, the more mana nature will channel to them."
"That's why my mother is the most respected person in the kingdom, even almost the entire kingdom would like to have her as a blessing for their town!"
For some reason, he felt jealous, he wanted to feel the mana coming to him...
"...How cool, I would love to feel that..." Eriu muttered as he stared at his own hands, when would the side mission that gave him magic come, he wanted it so badly...
It would be a lie if he said that he didn't care about it, he really wanted it very much. Actually, Ariadne often worried that he didn't have any mana himself, but what the matter, he had to lie to make his mother happy. Maybe she would ask again in the future, especially since Eros himself was the protagonist. He can use magic 100%.
The loud sounds of the great battle made his murmur inaudible, but Noah, who wanted to return the favor, could hear the wish of the boy next to him. Now the face of the girl became hopeful.
She would try her luck, even if he had a childhood friend!
"SCRAHHHHHHH-" The lich screamed again, its fingernail-like hands clawing at the ceiling in desperation.
The barrier spell below immediately went up, as did the barrier spell above.
Seeing that the situation was not in its favor, the Lich ripped open the bones in its face, and a black, bubbling liquid splashed out everywhere. The spray instantly destroyed barrier after barrier.
The spell splatter dissipated like dust, and the attacking group held back their attacks.
"!" Eriu immediately realized their tactics.
They were going to force the Lich to cast its forbidden move, and at the moment when the Lich was in a weakened state, they were going to hit it directly.
Amyley snapped her fingers as the last barrier was shattered, and in a moment, the dead flowers surrounding the lake rose up to the lich's feet. The withered flower slowly revealed its color, a bright yellow like the flowers that surrounded everyone here.
Eriu suddenly remembered the power of the other protagonist, the Rose. It was only shown once during the duel.
While the flower shown by Amiley looked very holy and did not look evil, the protagonist's rose tried to draw blood from his enemy.
But it seemed that this yellow flower that looked holy was just as vicious as the rose, devouring the undead with its roots.
Seeing that the situation was under control, some people sighed softly and helped others, while others chanted spells to dispel the black clouds, only Amiley still stood and stared at the blackened yellow flower.
Crang!
"Huh!?"
Just as everyone calmed down, the strings of a violin played a terrifying melody. The roots and flowers wrapped around the lich burst like balloons.
A song that everyone could hear, their eyes turning to panic and fear as they saw all this.
The Lich's bones, which had turned white from the purification, soon turned black again.
"!"
"Get back!"
"Get out of there!" The few people who couldn't cast barrier spells shouted at the people behind them, and those who could cast barrier spells stopped the black liquid from spreading everywhere.
Directly above the lich, a large eye curved upwards. While everyone panicked at the sight of the lich, only he saw the eye smiling mockingly. The eyes that had nearly consumed him in his dream.
BANG!
The explosion was so loud that it sounded like it was trying to break the eardrums. A scream like that of a bat echoed.
"Mom!" Noah panicked, grabbing Eros' hand before they fell from the sudden shock. A staff with a flower in the middle appeared out of thin air and fell into Amiley's hand,
Tak.
A tap of the staff seemed to change the situation, an enormous spell appeared over the lake, intricate writings floating around the spell as if dancing. The lich raised his hand high, and a black liquid expanded in an instant.
A strong wind hit them, and the other children were confused because they had never seen anything like it. Eriu could feel Noah's hands shaking, but she still opened her eyes to stare at her mother, who stood firm against the undead.
The same flower as the broken one reappeared from the magic circle, but the difference was the warm yellow light that surrounded the flower, and even the black liquid that fell from it immediately turned back to blue. A sinister laugh could be heard, and Eriu was sure that this creature had been following him on this journey. But for what and why?
There was another reason why he wanted to come here, because he was afraid of the creature and thought that if he stayed with Amiley, everything would be safe, but it was not.
The Lich, looking down, felt himself full of resentment, just like the song that was playing, full of hatred, in that hatred a whispering voice could be heard, "Will you dance beneath my music?" The black liquid grew larger and larger, almost covering the whole place with darkness.
Amiley, who had a serious face, smiled quietly. The flowers jumped up again, attracting the almighty being staring down from below.
"CRACHHHH!"
"Ughhh!" The two forces that attacked each other would naturally affect the surroundings, and the barrier spells they created were also instantly purified.
Why is she being honored? Because the goddess herself saw me.
While everyone was focused on the battle ahead, they were oblivious to their surroundings. As the bright light blinded their eyes, Eriu immediately pulled Noah away.
Because of his vision, he immediately noticed the sharp claws pointing at the two of them.
"-!" Amiley tapped her staff again. Before their bodies hit the rocks, a giant flower instantly stopped them.
BANGGG!
"Ahhh-!" Noah was shocked and screamed, Eriu himself was only silent in shock and confusion at the same time, the Lich who was full of murderous intent took the liquid as a deception and ran towards the boy and was instantly destroyed along with the appearance of pink lightning in the sky.
In an instant, the Lich's bones were burned to ashes.
...
Huh?
At that moment, the little book that Eros had given him floated above everyone, and the lightning around the book disappeared as papers flew everywhere.
Only the wooden front page fell in front of him.
Everyone looked at each other, even Amiley couldn't help but be confused and surprised. Her eyes went straight to the one child who was inconspicuous.
"You okay?" Noah quickly checked his condition, not caring about the previous incident. Everyone was too excited and didn't notice the rest of the claw that quickly flew towards the girl.
Before Eriu could say anything, something pierced the girl, a bloody sharp appeared through her body. Her hands shook and her eyes fluttered. In the reflection of those eyes, the boy fell silent in terror.
At the same time, a dark hand covered his eyes.
Water dripping down his face, Eriu opened wide his eyes and woke up to find someone playing a violin beside the lake. Unaffected by its surroundings.
A voice whispered next to him, "Fun, isn't it?"
The person playing the violin in front of him disappeared. Eriu briefly felt the slow breath resting on his shoulders. As his eyes were about to close, the sound of worry and laughter mixed together.
That's when his vision immediately turned black.