Chapter 36

Not far in the distance was the sea. Its glittering waters spread out as far as the eye could see. A colourful balloon that a child had let slip drifted into the sky, carried away by the wind and white smoke, carrying the fragrant smell of delicious food, filled the busy square.

Meanwhile….

"Huh? No matter how comfortable the cushion is, you shouldn't sleep like that!"

In a soft-cushioned portable chair sat Kalia, with her knees drawn against her chest.

The painter that was currently painting her portrait playfully shouted at Kalia, who kept her eyes closed.

Her eyelids had no business being this heavy. She had no strength at all to keep them open…

With effort, Kalia slowly opened her eyes, barely overpowering what felt to be the heaviest eyelids in the world. Though she definitely slept soundly last night and didn't even wake even once, her body still felt heavy and sluggish.

It was just a dream but, as if the dream was real, a strange tiredness had plagued her entire body when she had woken.

Kalia, who was still struggling to keep her eyes open, asked in a voice fused with sleepiness, "How long do we have to stay?"

She wasn't yawning but her voice was slow and husky, almost as if she was not completely sober.

The man smiled apologetically at her drowsy inquiry. "It's in the final stage. The colour of the eyes is very difficult to capture. It's such a pretty colour and I wanted to get it just right."

At his words of explanation, Kalia smiled languidly in understanding.

On her right was Humming, who had her head tipped back, neck bending backwards at 90 degrees.

Honlong, honlong, holong!

The sound of snoring rumbled from her open mouth, painting an unusual sight.

'Gosh, it must be difficult to breathe with your neck bent backwards like that.' Kalia thought.

She looked at Humming pitifully and reached a hand out to raise Humming's head slightly, holding her head in place at a better position.

The street artist, who was humming to himself, had his head down and was wholly focused on the painting, as if he had given up on drawing with her eye contact.

What if someone else comes out in the final product? What if what's painted doesn't look like Humming?1

Kalia was worried for a moment but, at the same time, didn't want to wake Humming up.

'You should sleep when you can,' Kalia ultimately decided.

These days, Kalia had been supervising Humming's training and had been closely scrutinizing her sword practices whenever she had the time. After settling down in Loa, Kalia decided to train Humming by improving her physical strength and teaching her how to hold a sword.

In the beginning, Allen was worried about her, wanting her to exercise while practicing extreme caution as she wasn't supposed to do anything before 20 weeks. But, as the due date drew closer, Kalia stepped up to personally teach Humming.

According to the people around her, the recovery period after giving birth was at least a month's time. If it was like that, it would be difficult for Kalia to find time for Humming even after the recuperating period because she wanted to take care of her child by herself instead of hiring a nanny or caregiver.

On the contrary, as the weeks went by, Humming had more work to do then Kalia.

She was quick-witted and clever, and after being with Kalia for so long, she was used to taking care of things that Kalia didn't tell her to do. She had also grown more attentive and considerate, always on the lookout for Kalia's comfort and safety. Things like changing the slippers on Kalia's swollen feet, or always preparing cold plum juice for her to alleviate her recurring feelings of bloatedness when her stomach cramped… Humming often did without being prompted or told.

Through Humming, Kalia was able to better grasp when she wasn't feeling comfortable and learned how to alleviate those troubles

Kalia was very grateful towards Humming, but at the same time, also felt sorry.

Humming joined her mansion as her squire, but from some point, slowly started acting as her secretary on top of being her squire. 2

Nevertheless, she always had a bright face that held no hint of complaint nor did she show signs of hardship.

'What can I do for Humming?' Kalia pondered.

The first thing first was to let her grow familiar with wielding a sword through daily sword practice. And then, step by step, Kalia would and was willing to teach Humming everything she needed. If it wasn't because she couldn't return to the Capital now, she'd have invited a tutor for Humming. Or, she could transfer her to the senior classes at my Academy. 3

'….Either way, I have to give you everything I can,' Kalia concluded.

She was very grateful to have Humming by her side.

Humming had told Kalia that she had accidentally helped her a few years ago, but Kalia couldn't remember much.

Apparently, she was passing through a certain province and had scolded a corrupt lord, and at that time, Humming had been in his custody… Humming had embarrassingly confessed that it was all due to Kalia's help that she had followed after her, wanting to repay her somehow.

Humming had weak muscle strength but had a small body and quick hands. Although she didn't have much combat experience, she was very quick-witted and intuitive, so she had good instincts on how to respond depending on the situation and had a good gauge for circumstantial variables.

She thought long-range attacks would be a more fitting fighting style for Humming compared to close-range attacks; that way, the weapon she wields would be lighter than a heavy weapon, but she could swing it around more freely and easily.

'There should be a fitting sword for her among rapiers. If I remember correctly, a few years ago, I won a good rapier as a war reward… I put it in the weapon warehouse. I'll have to find it for her when I go back.

Anyhow, Humming followed Kalia's guidance and practiced daily the way Kalia had taught her. Seeing that she was quite serious about wielding the sword until dawn, Kalia didn't think she was simply learning because of admiration or gratitude anymore.

Kalia tilted her head to look at Humming who had fallen asleep with her mouth open, thinking she was quite cute.

Yum yum – Humming seemed to be thinking. Her head tilted to the other side and she smacked her lips deliciously.

As they were enjoying their time around the festival, Allen had to rush off to see an emergency patient. To pass time as the two waited for his return, Humming had suggested sitting for a portrait with one of the street painters. Thus, the two sat there waiting for the artist to finish.

"We're almost done. All I have to do is put on the finishing touches and wrap it up…" the painter suddenly spoke up.

It was then.

"Mom! Ahhhhhhh!" A child's tearful cry drifted through the lively, noisy atmosphere to reach Kalia's ears.

Kalia's eyes snapped open and in an instant, her sleepiness had been chased away by that cry.

"Huh? Why are you so surprised? Oh, did you suddenly remember something that you'd left at home?" The artist, who was still painting Kalia with all his heart and soul, joked in a light tone.

The scream had sounded from a distance only Kalia could hear. Her gaze turned northwards, where the sound had come from.

Soon, that side of the square grew busy with loud commotion.

"Mom, mom, mom!"

A child, who looked about ten years old, came running with leaves and dirt all over him. The child ran to one corner of the square, clinging to the skirt of a middle-aged woman selling flowers.

"Sage4, sage-ah, mom! S-sage and John!"

'Sage?'

It was a name she'd heard before somewhere. Kalia listened a little more.

"What's wrong, Ayla? What's wrong with Sage and John? Didn't you say you guys were going to play at Sage's?" The woman selling the flowers tried to figure out what had happened and soothe the crying child.

The child buried herself deeper into her mother's skirts and soon burst into tears.

"That-that. We were just trying to have a look. But – sob T_T5 – Sage, S-Sage went in!"

"Where did you go? Calm down, Ayla."

"Sage, Sage….went into the Fairy Forest!"

"What?"

At the child's loud exclamation, the surrounding atmosphere started buzzing.

Fairy forest!

In that forest, if one made just one wrong mistake, they might not be able to come out forever. Even adults couldn't easily get out from there, but kids had gone in this time!

The face of Ayla's mother had long paled.

"You, you go and let Aunt McCanna know right away. Uh, I'm going to the security office! Go!"

'….McCanna!'

At that moment, Kalia jumped out of her seat without realizing what she'd done. She thought she had heard that name somewhere.

'Sage.'

It was the name of Mrs. McCanna's youngest daughter.

***

Kalia woke Humming up and ran home immediately. Fortunately, she didn't accidentally bump into Allen on the way.

By the time Kalia got there, Mrs.McCanna was pulling on a jacket with a white face, most likely already having heard the news.

"Lia, Lia, I-I have something to do at home so I think I'll go earlier today. I'm sorry but I have to go now."

"It's okay. Go ahead, Mrs. McCannna."

After sending Mrs. McCanna off, who had long broken out in cold sweat, she headed out again to look for Allen and Humming.

After regrouping, she immediately ordered, "Humming and Allen, run to the security office right now and see what's going on. Find out when they entered and how long it's been since they went missing."

Unlike Humming, who immediately ran to Kalia's horse, Allen hesitated and looked at Kalia.

"You'll stay here, right? Promise me you won't go anywhere. You can't go anywhere with that body."

"I'll be waiting for you Allen, so be right back."

"Promise me."

"Promise!"

Still a little hesitatingly, Allen headed out, following after Humming. An hour went by as Kalia waited nervously. Fortunately, Allen and Humming returned quickly.

"It's only been 2 hours since the kids disappeared. The balloon that the children accidentally let float off got caught in one of the Fairy Forest's tree so they crossed the fence to find it and eventually went inside. The remaining child, who had been chasing after her friends, ran straight to her mother."

Two hours.

It was too early to give up searching for the missing children.

However, two hours was sufficient enough time for them to wander deep into the forest. It would be difficult to find the children if they had entered there during these 2 hours.

"The Fairy Forest is a place where adults don't have a high chance of coming back from." Sensing something, Allen hurriedly added, looking at Kalia.

Kalia stared back at Allen and nodded.

"Right, there's not a good chance of adults coming back. That means there's very little chance that the kids will come back once they're in there. They're on their own."

"The town's Defense Department said that they'd group people up and go in to look for the children."

Feeling Allen's tone growing sharp, Kalia spoke softly, "But in 2 hours, the sun will set. After sunset, the Fairy Forest is more dangerous than the Realm of Monsters6 and the number of people that will enter the Fairy Forest can't be forced…. We don't know who will volunteer except for the children's parents which will include Mrs. McCanna. So I will go."

"But, you don't mean to go yourself, Kalia, do you? As you said, the Fairy Forest is too dangerous."

He was right. The Fairy Forest was an extremely dangerous place. For the average person, that is.

But. There was one difference between them and Kalia.

It was that the effects of the Fairy Forest's protective "magical fog" did not work on Kalia.