When Eldarin twirled her finger, a cart loaded with sweet potatoes moved toward the storage room by itself.
Kaian could not take his eyes off the sight.
“Are you selling all of those?”
“We keep enough for ourselves.”
“Right? That makes sense, doesn’t it?”
Only then did Kaian’s cheeks puff up in satisfaction.
Eldarin looked at him fondly.
His cheeks were flushed, and he seemed to have regained quite a bit of his vitality.
She held out a sweet potato and asked.
“Would you like to try one?”
“Is it okay to eat it raw?”
“Of course.”
Kaian took a large bite of the sweet potato Eldarin had washed with magic.
—CRUNCH!
“Wow! The more I chew this…!”
—Munch, munch.
The muscles on Kaian’s face twisted miserably.
With his mouth full of sweet potato that he could neither swallow nor spit out, he muttered sadly.
“There’s no taste… It’s tasteless. It’s really tasteless.”
“Puhahaha! Of course it would be like that right now!”
Eldarin burst into loud laughter for the first time.
Kaian looked up at her in disbelief.
“Sweet potatoes need to be dried in the shade for about one or two weeks before their sweetness develops. Then we’ll cook them properly and eat them.”
“That’s cruel….”
“Spit it out. It will return to the earth.”
“Bleh….”
After about a week passed, Kaian became fairly accustomed to life in Eldergrove.
Every morning, he drank ginger tea prepared by Ember.
Ember was still cold toward him.
“Ugh….”
“Drink it all. There is nothing better for restoring your strength.”
After that, he spent breakfast and tea time asking Eldarin about things he was curious about.
For example—
“Can I use the wooden paths around the house?”
“Of course. There should be larger platforms near the windows as well. You do not have to enter and leave the house only through the front door. That is merely one of the customs created by humans. Here, do as you please.”
“Where is your room, Eldarin?”
“My room is on the top floor. There are many dangerous objects there, and one should not casually enter a lady’s room, so do not approach it.”
“Ugh. That’s unfair.”
“For reference, Ember’s room is on the sixth floor.”
“I see. So this is a five-story building.”
“How wise.”
“Are all the books on the first floor?”
“Now that I think about it, I kept all the books in my room. Hmm. I will move everything except the dangerous ones down to the second floor.”
“Yes! But the second floor is…”
“The place you burned.”
“Shh! Shh!”
Fieldwork was still difficult.
And it was rewarding.
Kaian could now harvest sweet potatoes fairly well, roll old pumpkins around, and pull out radishes without much trouble.
Ember used the crops they brought back to prepare surprisingly delicious dishes.
The best part was that working in the fields helped his body recover quickly.
Thanks to that, Kaian could now walk around the house comfortably without a cane.
“Amazing! Even if we called the greatest doctor in the Balancia Empire, they couldn’t have recovered my body this quickly!”
“It means the mana of Eldergrove is that abundant. Always be grateful to mana.”
His stamina had improved greatly as well.
During the first three or four days, he would collapse unconscious after fieldwork ended.
But starting yesterday afternoon, he was even able to read books.
Kaian chatted excitedly with Eldarin.
“So starting tomorrow, I’m going to practice climbing trees.”
“You would not listen even if I tried to stop you. Practice carefully.”
The wooden paths on the outside of Eldarin’s house only reached the third floor.
Since Kaian could not use magic, climbing the tree was the only way for him to go higher.
If he reached the top, he would be able to see how vast Eldergrove was.
‘I’m looking forward to it…! Could I even draw a map?’
Kaian was showing impressive adaptability.
However, even he found one thing difficult and frustrating.
That was feeling earth mana.
“Every day, I sit in the field with my eyes closed and breathe like you told me to… but, sigh, I still don’t really understand.”
“Even so, have you not become quite close with the earth spirits? That means there has been progress.”
“Hmm, really?”
“Yes. Do not be impatient.”
Kaian liked the earth spirits very much.
They emitted a gentle yellow glow from their bodies, felt warm and comforting, and were as soothing as sunlight shining through leaves.
Eldarin told him that earth spirits were the least wary among the spirits of the five types of mana.
‘It must be because they resemble the acceptance contained within earth mana. I want to learn that too.’
Every day was spent washing away his impatience with beads of sweat.
And this morning.
At last, Eldarin brought up the matter.
“I will tell you how to heal your inner world.”
The fact that Kaian did not spit out the ginger tea he was drinking at that moment was almost a miracle.
—Gulp.
After hurriedly swallowing the tea, Kaian asked.
“What? How do I do it?”
“Go to the volcanic region.”
He blinked several times without speaking.
What? Where did she say he should go?
***
Kaian tilted his head.
“Did I hear that wrong…?”
As far as he knew, surprising a patient was a bad choice from a medical perspective.
But Eldarin repeated herself.
“I said go to the volcanic region.”
Kaian tilted his head even further.
Was it possible that the mountain-goat elf world operated on completely opposite common sense from the empire?
Perhaps surprising patients often led to recovery.
“Of course, I do not mean that you should enter the volcano.”
Eldarin casually added while drinking tea.
Only then did Kaian jump.
“That obviously shouldn’t be the case…!”
Until now, the only thing Eldarin had taught him was fieldwork.
She had not even allowed him to touch magic, yet she wanted to push him toward a place where he would melt without a trace if he entered proudly holding a hoe in one hand and a sickle in the other.
That was impossible.
Kaian firmly shook his head.
But Eldarin continued without concern.
“You only need to obtain an herb from the volcanic region.”
“An herb? What herb?”
“About 20 kilometers south of here is the Ignis Mons volcano. At the end of September, an herb called Flame Veil blooms in that volcanic region. It is a plant that contains the energy of fire and has resistance against ordinary heat. It will help prevent further damage to your inner world.”
Kaian remembered the flames burning fiercely within his inner world.
If he wanted to learn magic, he could not leave his inner world in that state.
With no other choice, Kaian clicked his tongue and asked.
“So the herb called Flame Veil helps block the flames inside me, and it is 20 kilometers away?”
“That is correct.”
“How far is 20 kilometers?”
“For an average adult’s walking speed, perhaps five or six hours.”
“Ha…!”
A hollow laugh escaped him.
Six hours for an adult?
Then how long would it take an eight-year-old?
Kaian made his disbelief obvious.
“Ha! Ha! Ha!”
But Eldarin simply closed her eyes and savored the taste of her tea.
Seeing that, Kaian narrowed his eyes.
‘She must be drinking some strange tea.’
The tea she drank every morning was pine needle tea.
Apparently, it was supposed to clear the mind.
But now that he thought about it, perhaps it did not clear her mind.
Perhaps it emptied it completely.
‘When I learn magic later, I’m going to cut down every pine tree in this place first.’
Still, the fact remained that he had to go to the volcanic region.
Kaian crossed his arms and asked seriously.
“Can an eight-year-old learn how to ride a horse?”
Eldarin answered with the same seriousness.
“Have you seen any horses while staying here?”
“…No.”
“There are none.”
Kaian nodded as if he expected that answer.
He had hoped, but as expected, there was no stable.
‘Looks like I have no choice but to walk.’
He glanced at the calendar.
There were ten days left in September.
Kaian spoke with forced optimism.
“Still, couldn’t I somehow make it back within ten days?”
“For reference, Flame Veil must be consumed within 12 hours after being harvested for its effect to work. Once you pick it, it is best not to delay.”
“Wait… hold on. Let me organize this.”
Kaian replayed everything he had heard.
So Eldarin was saying this.
First, walk 20 kilometers.
Then, assuming he did not burn to death in the volcanic region, find Flame Veil somewhere in a place he did not even know, and harvest it.
Then walk another 20 kilometers back within 12 hours.
Mission complete.
“You understood perfectly. That is correct.”
“What a simple mission. Extremely simple.”
Kaian felt as though flames were rising deep within his chest, so he gulped down the ginger tea.
As he grabbed his hair and groaned, he suddenly felt a chill.
His back prickled with goosebumps.
With a stiff smile, he looked at Eldarin.
“Um… Eldarin, then what about fieldwork for a while…?”
“You must do it. Have you forgotten the rules?”
“Ha, haha, hahaha. I see. So that’s how it is.”
Kaian laughed as if he had lost his mind.
For the past several days, he had believed Eldarin was a good mountain-goat elf teacher.
He wanted to hit himself for that.
He erased his smile and quickly opened his pocket watch.
Then he counted on his fingers and calculated the time he had.
‘After lunch tea time ends, it will be 2 p.m. Tomorrow’s fieldwork starts at 8:40 a.m. Then the available time is roughly… 18 hours….’
Kaian took a deep breath to calm himself, then forcefully exhaled through his nose.
If he had horns right now, he would have become an angry bull and charged into Eldarin.
But unfortunately, the real him was nothing more than a fragile butterfly.
‘Still… even a butterfly has its own way!’
Kaian decided to try looking as pitiful as possible.
Tears quickly gathered in his blue-green eyes.
“Eldarin, do you hate me? Are you trying to watch my soul burn to death?”
“That is quite a nasty hobby.”
“What did I do wrong? Is it because I burned the house?”
“Hmm. You did burn it twice, but there is no need to apologize to me.”
—Clink!
Ember, who had just brought fresh ginger tea, placed the teacup down.
The sound seemed unusually loud, but Kaian decided it was probably his imagination.
Then, suddenly, his eyes widened.
“Wait. Why did you say twice? I only remember once. Being falsely accused is unfair.”
“Hmm. It seems you truly do not remember. Think about it. How did you enter Eldergrove when you did not even know a magic spell?”
“That’s because…! Huh. I never thought about that. How did I get in?”
As Kaian stared blankly and tilted his head, Eldarin let out a small sigh.
Then she slowly began explaining what happened that day.
“There is… one spirit in Eldergrove that is beyond my control. A water spirit. It often runs away, and that day it secretly left the subspace as well and saw you. Perhaps your unsteady running caught its attention. So it approached you to check your condition, and then….”
“And then…?”
“…”
Eldarin did not easily continue.
Kaian swallowed.
‘This feels ominous.’
What had he done this time?
At this point, it would not be strange if he gained a title like “serial spirit tormentor.”
“Why… what did I do?”
“You….”
“What did I do?!”
“You recognized it as an enemy. That small spirit must have been terrified when you chased after it with a huge flame attached to your wrist….”
Eldarin tightly closed her eyes.
Kaian’s mouth fell open as well.
“The frightened spirit fled into Eldergrove, and you entered together with it. You chased each other inside the house, and eventually you collapsed unconscious.”
“Then what about that spirit? Is it okay?”
Kaian asked urgently.
Eldarin answered with a strange expression.
“Hmm… it is fine.”
It was somehow an unsettling answer.
Not reassuring at all.
Why did she hesitate?
Kaian spoke with a serious face.
“Eldarin, tell me the truth. Did I perhaps….”
“I said it is fine. It just….”
“Just…?”
“I only burned all of its hair.”
“Hmm?”
While pouring pine needle tea into her cup again, Eldarin continued.
“It is staying by Lake Twofold for now, saying it will not come out until its hair grows back. At least it will not run away for a while. It is not such a bad ending, is it?”
“What kind of nonsense is that…! Eldarin! Do you know how important hair is?”
Kaian knew very well how important hair was.
He had once stuck gum into his second brother’s long hair because of a childish mistake.
Even though his brother knew it was an accident, he glared at Kaian every time he saw him afterward.
‘The whole family had to suffer trying to convince him not to skip the academy because he was so embarrassed….’
In the end, Riana had brought a hair designer from the imperial capital, and the incident was finally resolved.
Kaian grabbed his hair again and groaned.
‘Does Eldergrove even have a hair designer? Do I need to learn how to do it myself?’
Watching Eldarin casually sipping pine needle tea as if this was actually a good thing made the flames inside him burn even hotter.
Kaian sighed deeply and asked.
“Where is this Lake Twofold where the spirit is staying?”
At times like this, a person should naturally go apologize.
“It is about 20 kilometers north.”
“Ah.”
Perhaps he was still not enough of a person yet.
9