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They needed to lead the children back to the nearest village. Felicia wanted them to leave when the sun rose, it was dangerous to travel in the night. However, Arthur disagreed. Felicia's wound needed medical attention as soon as possible. Even though it was already bandaged, that was only first aid, she needed a real doctor or a healer to inspect it. If they waited until morning, the wound might have gotten worse from an infection.

They reached the manor at night and when the fight with the Blood Mother concluded, it was already way past midnight. There was only a few hours left until dawn, Felicia told Arthur that she could wait, the more important thing was the children's safety. If they ran into danger, wading through the jungle, without any light, with a group of defenseless children and one of them injured, they could be in serious trouble. That was a risk that Felicia did not think was worth taking.

Arthur though said otherwise. Felicia's wound was a condition that might worsen as the time dragged on. Furthermore, when they walked through the jungle in the afternoon, they did not run into any enemy so the trip return should be equally safe.

Due to her injury, Felicia did not have the energy to argue with Arthur. However, that only made Arthur insist further that they needed to get back to the village as soon as possible. In the end, Felicia relented. They corralled the children and prepared for the journey to leave the manor and head back to the village.

Most of the children were unwilling to leave this manor which for a long time, was a symbol of haven for them. However, with its guardian gone, even the children understood that there was no reason to stay. It was way too dangerous if they did. With some coaxing and urging from Felicia and Arthur, they started their journey.

The thing that Felicia worried about did happen during the journey. Their small entourage was accosted by feral beasts like wolves. Looks like her speculation earlier that the presence of the Blood Mother had scared the beast away had been proven correct. Now that the Blood Mother was defeated, the beasts had returned to roam the area.

However, Felicia was proven wrong about something else. The group of children was not as defenseless as she thought. When push came to shove, the children picked up the wooden branches from the ground and defended themselves. They had a rudimentary understanding of sword-fighting. One of them might not amount to much but with cooperation, they were quite a powerful group of fighter.

They helped Arthur to fight off the assault by the beasts. When asked when did they pick up these self-defense skills, the children answered it was the Red Mother who taught them. She said the area around the manor might be dangerous and it was better for them to pick up some skills to defend themselves so she taught them some lessons in sword-fighting.

This confused Felicia and Arthur's understanding of the Blood Mother even further. Speaking of the Blood Mother, there was another thing that Arthur noticed about the children that was related to the Blood Mother. When he saw them in the manor for the first time, back when they were working in the back garden, each of them had a red-colored accessory on their body.

Arthur realized the red color had drained from the accessories. The ribbon in the hair had returned to grey color and the bracelet reverted to its wooden hue. Arthur believed that the accessories originally contained the Blood Mother's power or influence but since the Blood Mother had been vanquished, the power disappeared from these accessories.

Arthur considered requesting the children to remove the accessories but considering they should be nothing more than normal accessories now, he eventually left it be. At the end of the day, regardless of her intention, the Blood Mother did care about the group of children. They did not have anything to remember her by but the accessories, Arthur felt like they deserved to keep that small piece of memento.

They arrived at the village at around dawn. The villagers were on their way to start their day and work the fields. The moment they saw Arthur's group, they broke into cheers and quickly welcomed them into the village.

Felicia was hauled off to see the doctor while Arthur stayed back with the children.

"Mason!" A scream could be heard coming from inside the village. The woman who sent the request to the adventurer's guild raced out from the village to pull her son into a hug. Tears of joy were streaming down her face. Arthur noticed the father standing slightly to the back and he too had a big smile on his face. Arthur knew the family had their problems but he hoped that with this return of their son, the family would have a new beginning.

Some of the villagers asked Arthur where did they find the children and just as Arthur was about to tell them about the Blood Mother, the villagers immediately changed the subject. Arthur then realized the taboo was still there. He did not mind it as much this time because the most important thing was the children came back safely.

Not all the children came from this village so the villagers moved them to the tavern while some of them went to the nearby villages to spread the good news. Arthur was also posited at the tavern. That whole morning, Arthur bore witness to many touching reunions as the parents of the missing children rushed over to the village. They thanked Arthur sincerely.

Felicia came back from the village doctor at around noon, her wound had been treated and she only needed time to heal. By then, almost all the children had been taken away by their families. Arthur and Felicia felt like it was time for them to return to Armana. They had completed the quest, all of the children had been returned to their families safely.

Arthur and Felicia made their way back to Armana and neither of them realized that, of the children that remained, there was one that actually came from the village itself. Mason was not the only child that disappeared from this village but his family was the only one who came to fetch their missing child.

After Arthur and Felicia left, when no one was paying her any attention, the girl sneaked out of the door and walked home. Burnished by the rising sun, the ribbon in her hair fluttered in the wind and the color slowly dyed with blood.