About mid morning, Rume ventured towards the border of the village, using paths where there would be less people as she could. On the way out of the village, a group of children were playing beside the road. She stopped in her tracks as she observed them.

The fellow children were apparently having fun, with wide smiles and joyful eyes. Rume recalled the past when she was able to play with her friends, though the time she was allowed to play was only limited to a short time, about an hour only per day. Her body wouldn’t last longer than that anyway every time she plays.

Still, it was a lot of fun. Even though she couldn’t play for long, she still watched as her friends played around, and all of them would laugh a lot and have fun together. But everything changed after that certain tragic event.

Reminded of the past, she smiled as she stared at the other children playing. She missed those days. In addition, one of those kids playing was her playmate in the past. But now, it was impossible to interact with them. A lot had changed for the worse when her body was restored by her mother.

She took a deep breath, forcing herself to ignore the other children. She was doing well as she went past them, until one of the children called out to her.

“Rume?! Rume!”

Surprised, she hesitantly turned around to face the girl about her age that was jogging towards her. Rume was a bit confused as to why she called her.

“Rume! It’s been a long time!” The other girl said as she got closer to Rume.

“Vanie…” Rume whispered the name of her friend, “...Ah — Mm…”

She stammered as she quickly thought of what to say to her friend. She didn’t know what to say.

“Rume?”

“Uh- um, hi Va—”

“VANIE!!”

However, before she could finish her greeting, an adult woman’s powerful voice reached them. Just then, a woman rushed towards Vanie.

“Wait Mother!”

“What the hell are you doing?! How many times have I told you to stop talking to her!”

The woman said as she carried up Vanie, then coldly looking at Rume. “Stay away from my daughter, please Rume.”

In contrast to her cold gaze, her voice was somewhat gentle. She didn’t receive an angry rebuke from her friend’s mother, bringing a sense of relief in her.

Rume watched her friend go. She lowered her head, disappointed and upset. She wanted to talk to her friend at least this once. But, it didn’t go her way.

She held her tears and continued on.

Moments passed, she could finally see Lein standing in the distance. She hurried her steps, Lein was probably waiting for a long time now.

On the way, Lein gave Rume a wave and a warm smile.

“It’s great you were allowed... But there’s no need to rush, you know.”

Rume panted a bit after reaching Lein.

“But, you might have been waiting for a while.”

Lein patted her little head with her soft hand.

“You worry over such trivial matters. Alright then, should we enter the forest through here?”

The pair stood before the forest entrance where Rume once entered. Villagers had a few entrances through the forest, however, in this side of the village, barely anyone enters here. That was why there were only the two of them here. Rume didn’t know why, but probably they could hardly find anything useful here. Rume only decided to enter through here because she had seen Esmon go though here several times.

“Yes. After all, this is the only place I know… and the only place where I found them… Or found me.”

“Mm… Of course, they would be the one that finds you.”

Lein said with certainty. As though she herself was familiar with them.

“You know a lot about them Miss Lein?”

“... I’m not really sure. If you show me, then I can ascertain if they are what I think they are.”

Lein’s smile still didn’t vanish from her face. Due to her beautiful bright smile, and gorgeous face, Rume grew more motivated. She nodded vigorously.

“Don’t worry Miss Lein! I’ll try my best to find them. After all, they said we’ll meet again, and I want to see them again.”

“Very good! Now then, let’s go and venture this forest full of mystery!”

Well, not that it was full of mystery for Lein. It was just a phrase of expression.

 

They ventured within the forest using the path Rume previously took. The little girl took the lead while the beautiful young woman of scarlet followed behind. As they moved forward, their eyes toured across the area, paying attention even to the tiniest detail. The creatures they were looking for were tiny after all, there could be a chance that they might miss them.

Rume was feeling quite enthusiastic at the moment. The reason for that was because she finally got a companion of some sort with her to venture through the forest. What was happening to her now was a very rare occurrence, no one can blame her if she felt very excited.

Everything might appear more proper for a child like Rume to be hanging out with her fellow children, playing around as they ventured together. But such a pleasant thing was impossible now.

Reminded of her friends — or should it be former — she imagined how it would be like if they could still be together. Free to approach each other, free to interact, free to converse, free to laugh and so on. A trace of sadness crawled into her heart at the realization that those would only happen in her dreams now.

Amidst her search, she imagined a scenario where she was strolling with friends her age. New friends, and old ones. She sought to gain a lighter feeling from it, however, what it brought was only more loneliness and sadness.

What if things won’t change anymore? What if Mr. Esmon is gone, will she be alone forevermore? Mr. Esmon was the only one who stayed by her side, she couldn’t imagine going forward with her life without him. She wouldn’t be able to bear the life of solitude.

For all she knows, in the future, there will be no one to be by her side. To comfort her while she’s sad, to give her warmth when she’s cold, to talk with when she’s lonely, she could imagine herself sitting on a bed, embracing her own knees, all alone in the darkness.

She feared the future.

“What a surprise that you managed to get this far, Rume.”

Leain averted her eyes towards Rume after scanning the surroundings. She expected a response but received none. Rume was no longer looking around but as though lost in thought as she stared below.

“Rume? Hey, Rume?”

It was then that Rume finally reacted to her call.

“Um yes?”

Lein slightly tilted her head, noticing that something seems to be bothering the little girl.

“Something wrong?”

“... Oh—” Rume slightly smiled. “Sorry, it’s nothing.”

Rume didn’t share what she was feeling. It was her own problem, she thought. There was no need to drag Miss Lein to her own personal problem.

“Is that so…” There was definitely bothering the little girl, but Lein decided not to intrude if she wasn’t willing to share. “Anyway, we’ve come a long way haven’t we? But apparently, you seem to clearly remember the path you took.”

“Yes of course. It’s easy to point out which direction I took.”

“... Say Rume, are you good at navigating?”

“Huh?”

Rume couldn’t say she was good at it, nor should she say she was bad at it. She had never gone out to far places, nor had she held a map in her life. Therefore, she couldn’t say she was good at navigation. In short, one could say she never navigated all her life.

“... No,” Rume shook her head.

“Really? Cause you appear to be confident about which path to take.”

“I just remembered the path I took, that is all…”

“Hm, I suppose.” Well, anyone could remember the way especially when they went in a straight line, but the girl was still a kid though. “Perhaps I was just over-thinking things…” She quietly said.

Moments passed and Rume halted in her tracks. Now they had reached the spot on where Rume harvested the herbs.

“Okay… I went here to get the herbs.”

Lein moved towards a tree and grabbed a piece of a herb.

“Interesting. Never quite been into herbalism,” Well if you have magic, you never needed to learn about it anyway. Still, she finds it quite intriguing how people use plants to obtain various effects. “Come to think of it, healing potions are made from herbs.”

“Miss Lein?”

“Oh yes!” She turned to face Rume. “Where to now?”

“... When I was found by some beasts, I ran through that way,” She pointed using her index finger.

“— Woah wait a second?! You ran? What do you mean you ran?”

“Oops…” Realizing her own slip up, Rume covered her mouth.

“Rume? Is what I’m thinking right? Were you chased?”

Rume lowered her head. She contemplated whether to remain quiet about what happened. Yet, she had already slipped, it was already too late to act as though she didn’t. Therefore, she decided to give up and tell her that that was indeed the case.

“Yes.”

Lein narrowed her eyes pointed towards the little girl.

“Strange, aggressive creatures are supposedly unlikely here… Imbalance? Say, what creatures chased you?”

“They were wolf-like beasts. They have scary sharp claws, scary green eyes, and a long tail with a color of brown at the end.”

Even though it was a dangerous moment which could mean dangering her life, she still gave a good look at the beasts as she closely observed them. Easily remembering its important physical aspects was a trivial matter.

“Now that’s a surprise… How did they even get here? Still, were you sure they were trying to eat you something?”

“I just ran because they looked frightening.”

“So that’s why they acted as though they chased you.”

“What do you mean, miss?”

In puzzlement, Rume tilted her head anticipating an explanation.

“If I’m right. They’re called Verins. Some sort of, you could say, cousins of wolves. They’re not really aggressive, they don’t even attack humans.”

“They don’t attack humans?”

“Well, they shouldn’t, unless they starve, so they would have to hunt the nearest me—” Realizing she was speaking to a little girl, Lein decided to stop speaking about that part of the topic. “Anyways, mostly they play around, with their kin, and sometimes humans. Of course, humans always mistake that for being hunted.”

“So they were only playing chase with me?”

“Uuh, maybe… Maybe they were, maybe not. Still, in my opinion, running away from them was...the best option. So good job on that.”

Lein patted Rume’s head to give a sense of relief to the little girl. Though thinking about it, the wolves were certainly just playing around. If they were hunting for prey, they would have easily caught a little girl like Rume with no problem at all.

“Which reminds me, did you tell the old man you almost got harmed?”

“Mr. Esmon? No, I did not.”

“Why? I mean he’s your guardian, right?” That was the impression Lein had the first time she saw the old man and the little girl together.

“He… He’ll forbid me from going back here again. Please don’t tell him what happened! Please! There’s no one else that can help him! With no one to collect medicinal herbs for him he might… he might…”

Rume had to do it herself, even if danger was a possibility, she was willing to take the risk. Esmon had no one else. True, he may have some friends, but those friends of his have problems of their own, families to take care of.

Rume didn’t want Esmon to suffer. She didn’t want to be left behind. She didn’t want to be left alone. She didn’t want Esmon to disappear.

She knew all too well that people die, especially old people. She knew that day would come, everyone knew, even a child like her. However, not yet. That day must not yet come. She was willing to do whatever it takes to make the old man last longer than he should be.

A bit panicked, Lein shook both her hands then held both of Rume’s shoulder to comfort her and trying her best to stop the little girl from starting to cry.

“Alright Alright! I won’t! Okay? No need to worry, understand?”

They looked at each other’s eyes. Lein gave Rume an assuring smile. The little girl nodded, saying that she understood.

“Thank you.”

“No need to thank me for something like that. So, what about we continue on?”

Lein decided to resume their search to move on from that dramatic moment. She was not quite fond of such moments.

“Sure!”

With an adorable smile with a charm of a beautiful young lady, Rume turned around to continue on. Time passed and they had reached the steep slope on which Rume fell unto.

“Wait… Don’t tell me you fell from here, to there.”

Lein pointed below. There were a few broken branches, then stones protruding from the wet soil. There was a chance that she would hit her head and lead to a fatal injury. Branches can cause scratches, and if she fell at a dangerous way or angle, it could lead to bruises, wounds and grazes. If she impacted forcefully to the ground below, that would undoubtedly be painful.

Rume nodded saying that was indeed the case.

“You could have died. How did you even survive?”

“The Vilicus saved me.”

“Uhuh. I see. But you must have been incredibly injured.”

Lein looked at Rume’s eyes in puzzlement. Highly unlikely that a girl this young would be able to keep going with too many wounds and injuries, if she ever sustained a few. That being said, there were no visible wounds or anything on the little girl, even if the wounds were few, there should still be a few signs. Perhaps she hid it under her clothes.

“A dragon healed my wounds.”

Lein’s eyes widened. A trace of happiness within.

“Oh?” Lein smiled. “Now I’m very interested. Right then! Let’s find that dragon!” She extended her hands toward the slope. “After all this time…” She whispered.

“Yes! But, how should we go down, miss? Slide down?”

“Of course not, we’ll sully our clothes that way. I don’t want to ruin my beautiful clothes. On that note! We’ll use this.”

She extended her arm and spread her fingers. She whispered something. At that moment, a transparent board appeared out of thin air right before their feet. A wide transparent board which could carry about three or four people.

“Wow! Where did this come from?” Rume expressed her surprise and confusion. She never saw anything like this before. How was this even possible?

“Don’t you know? I used magic to conjure this board. I’m a mage, so something like this is an easy feat.”

“Wow!” Rume looked at Lein with shining eyes, admiration evident in her gaze and facial expression. “This is amazing! You’re amazing Miss Lein!”

“Of course I am! Hahahaha!” She smiled with glee and stroked her scarlet hair. “ — Well anyway, let’s go.”

Lein walked with leisure above the board first then waited for Rume. Rume slowly lifted her leg and slowly laid her foot on the board. She was somewhat wary about stepping on it. Lein did just nonchalantly step and stood on the board, but what if the moment Rume herself stepped in she would just go right through.

Not that she was doubting Lein’s magic. It was just her first time encountering something like this. Lein patiently waited for her, no harm in waiting.

Ensuring that the board was solid beneath her foot, Rume placed the other.

She giggled.

“Amazing!”

“Alright, better brace yourself, I’m going to move the board.”

Then the board slowly descended forward. Unable to keep her balance, Rume went down on both her knees, it was safer that way. At the same time, her eyes shone and her smile radiating in the mystical moment.

For Lein, this was nothing special at all. But it was understandable that it was for Rume. They had reached the ground, Rume stepped off followed by Lein, the next moment the board vanished in an instant.

“So, where to next? The vegetation is quite something here.”

“Um, this is the last place I remembered going. The rest, I don’t know. When I woke up, I was already at a different place.”

“You must have lost consciousness. Still there must be a lot of them here. Their territory. Well, the entire forest is supposedly their territory, it’s just that there are many stationed here, you could say.”

“Should I try calling them?”

“That could work, go ahead.”

Rume took a deep breath.

“Hello?! Guys?! It’s me, Rume! I have come back! You said we could meet again! Please, can we see each other again...?” The volume of her voice was lower at the end. She was anxious that they might not show themselves, not just today, maybe also for the days that will follow.

She shouted again. However, nothing responded but the chirping of the birds and rustling of the trees.

Lein sighed in the fruitless result.

“Of course. They wouldn’t appear. Not when I’m here, I suppose?”

“Oh…”

Rume lowered her head in disappointment. She was excited to see them again. But it seems today was not the day for it.

“But worry not little girl. I got just the right trick up my sleeve to use.”

Lein stepped forward.

“[Presence Sweep].”

She uttered those words and a slight blast of light emanated from her and spread out in all directions. After that she smiled. She moved swiftly to a tree and acted as though taking a peek beside the tree.

“Hey, Hey!”

She immediately grabbed something from beside the tree’s roots.

Within her hand struggled a tiny green creature. Its hands restrained, its head swayed around as it tried to find a way to escape from the beauty’s grasp. Lein on the other hand, gave the creature a devious smile.

“Greetings! Do you know who I am? Of course you do.”

As though completely ignoring Lein, the Vilicus kept on struggling to escape.

“Come now, there’s no need to be so anxious. I’m here to see a great Dragon Lord, or Lady… Whatever, I’m here to see the one entitled The Green Dragon of Tranquility, or Overseer of Nature, or Nature’s Embrace, whichever title you like. You don’t have to be so cold towards me, you know.”

Fighting back, the vilicus seemed to be expanding in the mage’s hand. Though only Lein realized this.

“You do know you can’t escape from me. Just give up. You act like we don’t go way back,” she whispered.

She smiled intently before the face of the Vilicus. As though losing all hope, the creature stopped moving and gave up the resistance. It was then that Lein returned it to the ground. She was all too familiar with these creatures, that was why she was sure that it won’t try to run away.

“Um, Miss Lein…”

Rume called out from behind the mage, oblivious of the exchange that happened between the two.

“Yessss?”

“You found one of them, how?”

“Oh yes, it was just a simple magic spell.”

“Wow! Magic is incredible!”

Rume looked at Lein with shining eyes, and a gaze full of adoration and awe. Lein wondered on which Rume’s admiration was pointed at, whether it was at Lein herself, which was expected and something she herself would be all too happy about, or at magic itself. But it seems it was pointed at magic.

“Uh-hah, yes it i—” She was suddenly interrupted when the vilicus swiped its hand towards her.

Its hand lengthened and changed into something similar to a thick vine. It lashed out towards Lein like a whip. However, she casually catched the whip mid-air.

“Now now, no time to play around.”

Rume stood in surprise after the scene.

“Why did it do that?” Confused, Rume asked. The vine could hurt someone, anyone could tell that.

“That’s just a special greeting! A warm one at that. I suppose an exclusive for me alone…” She smiled at Rume, hoping to keep the situation calm. Rume being a child, did not find anything suspicious at all.“I said stop it already. You’ll hit the little girl,” she said to the Vilicus.

Adhering to the mage’s words, the creature behaved itself, and its arm returned to normal. Then the next moment, other vilicus emerged from the forest, slowly approaching the two humans.

Lein smiled with glee.

“I take it you’re now ready to lead me to where I want to be.”

She looked at the one she just returned to the ground. The Vilicus nodded in affirmative.

“Perfect! Then let’s go! Lead the way!” She expressed her joy loudly.

The vilicus began moving altogether in one direction. Due to their slow pacing, Lein didn’t move for several seconds before walking with Rume by her side.