Chapter 26

The Kalia that was said to be here was, in fact, not and there were only traces of the fairy tree being struck with lightning by a mysterious wizard. Fortunately, the old tree had accumulated and condensed a lot of power over time so it was able to hold up against the attack but truthfully, it seemed only a matter of time before it collapsed.

Because he was busy looking for Kalia, he had ignored everything else but suddenly, he felt something was wrong.

How many magicians in the Empire could perform an attack like this?

Most of the upper class wizards belonged to the Imperial family and lived in the Tower. Even if this mysterious wizard didn't belong to the Empire, there was no way that Simon could not discern their power once it was above a certain level.

However, none of the wizards he knew had the personality nor courage to cast lightning down onto a fairy tree.

And…

Why did Kalia, who had hurried off to avoid running into Simon, divulge her location on her own? She wasn't such a sloppy person. The fact that she leaked her past location, there had to be a good reason. And, he was willing to bet all five fingers that the reason she had done so was because of this unidentified wizard.

'Then…'

It was easy to figure out after giving it a few seconds of thought.

He immediately placed a defensive spell over the tree and then cast a mirroring spell that mimicked and returned the attack of the wizard who tried to harm the tree. It was very easy to follow the path of mana. The mana led him to an antique hotel nearby; from the angle to which the hotel faced, it was the best vantage point to view the tree.

With a single move, he jumped onto the fourth floor balcony.

Though the trail led him directly to the room, it was already empty.

Only a faint trace of mana remained. Small specks were speckled about the room, floating lazily, creating almost a faint mist. Simon reached out into the remains of the scattered balls of mana.

He recited a magic formula that cast a type of reverse teleportation magic on the faint mana. With another wave of his hand, the scattered mana particles very slowly gathered in the palm of his hands. Before long, the mana that had been scattered like smoke, came together to form a single shape. The ball of light shone in his palm.

The script of the reverse teleportation incantation he had cast earlier was in an ancient language. Those characters briefly flashed in mid-air around the ball of mana and slowly tore apart and distorted the space in the room.

[Tracking] Simon murmured, holding the wispy levitating ball of mana. In seconds, the other traces of mana that had been previously invisible to even Simon's eyes became clearly visible. He entered the torn rift in space, following after the traces of mana. He seemed to teleport several times but it wasn't possible for him to keep moving forever.

As expected, the fourth teleportation was the last. They were teleported to a place that only had physical traces of movement that was easier to track if you followed on a horse. But Simon didn't chase anymore because he had found a very strange body in the woods.

"…..this is…" he stood in front of a woman's body. It had been abandoned in the corner of this forest.

Her pale cheeks were still moist as if she had just died.

White hair, red eyelids, a face soaked in tears and strangely-coloured blood was pooling out from her ripped-open chest.

Simon had been on the battlefield for many years but he could not help but raise an eyebrow at the body of the woman so cruelly abandoned. He bent to his knees and touched the blood with his fingers.

It was sticky and cold.

A dark colour, closer to purple in hue than red or blue.

"…fairy? A monster?" Simon wondered aloud.

In front of the unidentified corpse, he had no choice but to frown. Simon immediately called the Vice Ministers of the Ministry of Magic. After relaying his current coordinates, the woman's body was taken away by his subordinates.

It was back to square one for Simon1.

He headed back to the square where the fairy tree was located.

"I'm sure you've seen her. My Kalia I mean," Simon murmured, looking up at the tree. His eyes displayed a stark bleakness, like he had fallen into deep depression.

'I wish you could talk. Then you could tell me where Kalia went or what kind of expression she had then.'

With a short sigh, he cleared his darkened mind. He could forcefully awaken the fairy children but then, he would be no different from the sorcerer who had struck the tree. He wasn't like that nor did he want to do that. He also didn't think that the children, even if he were to force them awake, could or would tell him what he wanted.

Simon circled the tree once more before slowly turning around.

He had taken maybe a few steps away when, from behind him:

-….the same light is coming from you.- A clear voice sounded from the tree.

Simon slowly turned back around. A boy was lying on the largest tree branch and opened his mouth weakly, trying to say something. Two other boys, who appeared to be his brothers, were asleep and leaning on the waking boy.

With sleepy, seemingly powerless eyes, the boy managed to say -She glowed like you…and I.-

Without realizing it, Simon rushed up close to the tree to approach the child.

"….Who?" he urgently asked but the child just smiled and something else in return.

– You. Elf…. blood… thank you. –

"Have you seen Kalia? She's a very beautiful and strong woman with light green eyes. Just tell me that, please. Did you see Kalia? You guys met Kalia, didn't you?"

The boy only smiled gently, his eyes closing. The child's expression relaxed into one of comfort, as if he was having a happy dream.

–It was delicious. The cookies – he muttered faintly before falling asleep.

Simon was frustrated but he couldn't wake the child up. He could only mutter words of plea one after another with no hesitation, his face filled with desperation again.

"….please…please…please. Please," Simon pleaded, holding the tree. At his words, the child opened his eyes again with difficulty.

Sigh.

-The same light as you – His voice was weak, as if he was squeezing out the words with his last breath.

"What? I can't hear you. Please… don't sleep like this."

-The pretty…human…at..-

"Are you referring to Kalia? Who are you talking about? What was your last word?" Simon clung uncharacteristically tight to the child in his desperation but the boy's eyes were already tightly closed and he had completely fallen asleep.

The faintly shining bodies of the three boys slowly permeated into the tree. All three children had fallen into a deep sleep and only Simon remained there.

***

"…Allen?" Kalia called out.

It was Allen who walked out from the shadows.

Her voice was tentative because he was in an extraordinary state right now. His eyes were half-closed and he seemed to be half-asleep, walking around without his shoes on.

"Allen?" Kalia called out to him a little louder, but he continued to walk forward as if was deaf.

'What was wrong with him?' Kalia watched Allen move slowly. He looked as if he were dreaming.

With a blank face, he walked blindly forward. He then stretched his hands out, reaching forward as if following something but there was nothing in front of him.

"…Dia," he murmured in a mournful voice.

A few more unhindered steps led him straight to the low railing that enclosed the flock of sheep.

Seeing him like this, Kalia moved. She grabbed him by the shoulder and called his name a little louder, "Allen."

"…Nadia. Nadia," he muttered again.

Nadia.

It was a name Kalia had heard somewhere before.

'Where have I heard it before?' Kalia though, brooding over the name in her mind.

Allen, on the other hand, had turned towards her as if he were conscious when she had grabbed him by his shoulder. His face twisted as if he were in pain and soon, he began sobbing, grabbing onto her shoulders. He buried his wet face in her shoulder.

"….I'm sorry I couldn't protect you, Nadia," he sobbed, "Nadia."

Only then did Kalia recall where she'd seen the name. When she had looked up information about Allen, the name had appeared next to his. She was his dead wife. Nadia was the name of Allen's beloved wife who had passed away after giving birth to their child.

'What do I do now?' she thought but she let Allen sob on her for a while.

The fatal accident happened six years ago and on the surface, he seemed to have forgotten everything but, he clearly hadn't. It was not easy to forget the loss of a loved one…. Allen had said he had also lost his daughter on the same day he did his wife. How deeply sad and grieving Allen must have been at that time. Kalia couldn't imagine.

Hesitating, she patted the sobbing Allen's back awkwardly. Comforting someone was a very strange concept to her. Plus, this was a grown man. However, this was also the first time she'd seen a man's shoulders look so fragile. She felt sorry for him.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Nadia. I'm sorry I couldn't save you…" he continued to murmur, wrecked by his sobs as he hugged Kalia tightly.

'What am I supposed to do about this?' Kalia thought again.

Lending her arms or shoulder to comfort him, she could understand but….

She couldn't pretend that the kiss to her forehead was purely of friendly intent when his lips gradually drifted down from the top of her head to her cheek. 2

Kalia immediately pushed him away from her body, grabbed him by the shoulder and called his name vigorously.

"Allen Macpher3. Wake up."

At that moment, a light crept into Allen's blank eyes, tears still continuously flowing out. He blinked as his eyes focused on Kalia. Looking around, he couldn't understand the situation and looked to Kalia again.

"…..Miss Kalia?"

"Are you awake?" Kalia asked with relief. Luckily Allen had awoken with a few shakes.

Slowly comprehending the situation, Allen's face turned white then red. Beneath dark brows, his bright black eyes grew red with shame.

"…..I…walked outside….in my sleep?"

"Oh, I'm glad you know your symptoms," Kalia replied.

"Ahhhhh," Allen groaned strangely, bowing his head down.

He apologized to Kalia without raising his head, "If I'm too tired or sick, I sometimes sleepwalk. Well, it's almost completely cured….but I've been nervous and tired these past few days….and it seems I relapsed. I'm sorry, Miss. You had to see something ugly."

"No, it wasn't ugly at all. You didn't even cry. Just a little bit teary, but it wasn't ugly. Allen, you were just a little tearful so don't worry," Kalia tried her best to reassure him.

At Kalia's efforts to comfort him, Allen's face turned even redder.