The following afternoon…
Arianne arrived at the Hunter Association a little earlier than usual.
She wasn’t planning to visit the greenhouse immediately.
Instead…
She had someone she wanted to meet.
“…Excuse me.”
The receptionist looked up with a smile.
“Good afternoon, Lady Arianne.”
“Good afternoon.”
“I was wondering…”
“Is Miss Catherine Ashvale available today?”
The receptionist looked slightly surprised.
“You know Miss Catherine?”
“We only met yesterday.”
“But…”
“I’d like to ask her something.”
The receptionist nodded.
“Please wait a moment.”
Arianne quietly took a seat.
The Association was busier than usual.
Hunters came and went carrying reports.
Receptionists answered questions without pause.
Evaluators hurried between offices.
Somewhere in the distance…
Someone complained about paperwork.
“…”
Some things existed in every world.
A few minutes later…
“Lady Arianne?”
Arianne stood.
Catherine Ashvale approached with an apologetic smile.
“I’m sorry to keep you waiting.”
“I had just finished filing today’s reports.”
“It’s alright.”
“I hope I’m not interrupting your work.”
“Not at all.”
Catherine gestured toward a quiet corner of the lobby.
“Would you like to sit?”
The two of them settled into a pair of chairs beside a large window.
Warm sunlight filled the space.
For a moment…
Neither spoke.
Finally…
Catherine smiled.
“So…”
“What did you want to ask me?”
Arianne hesitated.
Then decided honesty was best.
“…It’s about Erin.”
The smile on Catherine’s face softened.
“I thought it might be.”
She looked out the window.
“…”
“Has she been causing trouble?”
“What?”
“No.”
“Not at all.”
“Actually…”
“She’s been helping me.”
Catherine blinked.
“…Helping you?”
Arianne nodded.
“I’ve learned more about flowers from Erin than from any book.”
For the first time…
A tiny laugh escaped Catherine.
“…”
“That sounds like my daughter.”
For a while…
Neither of them spoke.
Catherine looked out the window.
The courtyard below bustled with Hunters coming and going.
“…”
“Erin has always loved flowers.”
Her voice was quiet.
“Even before she awakened.”
“She used to bring home little wildflowers.”
“She’d put them in cups…”
“…because she thought they deserved a home.”
Arianne smiled.
“…That sounds like her.”
Catherine smiled too.
For a brief moment…
She looked less like an Association employee.
And more like a mother remembering happier days.
“After she awakened…”
“The flowers became even more important to her.”
“They were the only things that never expected anything.”
Arianne’s heart tightened.
“…”
“Did Erin ever tell you…”
“…why she likes them so much?”
Catherine slowly shook her head.
“She doesn’t talk about herself very often.”
“She worries more about other people.”
“Always has.”
Arianne wasn’t surprised.
That sounded exactly like the girl she’d come to know.
“…”
“I read her evaluation reports.”
Catherine looked down at her hands.
“There were so many.”
“Every year…”
“A different examiner.”
“A different recommendation.”
“Train harder.”
“Try another instructor.”
“Increase mana circulation.”
“Strengthen her foundation.”
“We followed every suggestion.”
“We hired private mentors.”
“We bought spirit medicines.”
“We even traveled to another city for an evaluation.”
She gave a faint, tired laugh.
“…”
“Nothing changed.”
The laughter faded.
“What hurt the most…”
“…was watching Erin apologize.”
Arianne blinked.
“…Apologize?”
Catherine nodded.
“Every time another evaluation ended…”
“She’d bow her head…”
“…and say…”
‘”I’m sorry I couldn’t get stronger.”‘
Silence filled the space between them.
“…”
Arianne couldn’t imagine it.
A ten-year-old…
Apologizing…
For something she couldn’t control.
Catherine looked toward the greenhouse.
“I told her…”
“…she never needed to apologize.”
“But…”
She smiled sadly.
“I don’t think she believed me.”
The conversation stayed with Arianne long after Catherine returned to work.
She didn’t head home immediately.
Instead…
Her feet carried her back to the greenhouse.
The afternoon sun had begun to soften.
Warm light spilled through the glass ceiling.
Erin was exactly where she expected.
Kneeling beside the empty flowerpot.
“…”
“You still haven’t planted it.”
Erin looked up.
Then smiled faintly.
“Not yet.”
“I think…”
“…it’s ready tomorrow.”
Arianne walked over.
“You can tell?”
Erin nodded.
“The soil feels different.”
“It settled.”
She gently pressed a finger into the earth.
“It won’t disturb the roots anymore.”
Arianne crouched beside her.
“…”
There it was again.
Not strength.
Not talent.
Observation.
Patience.
Timing.
The things no evaluation report had ever measured.
“…Erin.”
“Mm?”
“What do you want to become?”
The question seemed to surprise her.
She stared quietly at the flowerpot.
“…”
“I don’t know.”
Arianne waited.
“I used to want…”
“…to become a Hunter like my family.”
“My brother.”
“My sister.”
“My parents.”
“They’re all amazing.”
A small smile appeared on her face.
“I wanted to fight beside them.”
“It would’ve been nice.”
Her voice remained calm.
Too calm.
“But now…”
She looked toward the flowers surrounding them.
“…I think I’d be happy if I could just grow.”
Silence.
No grand dream.
No impossible ambition.
Just…
Growth.
For the first time…
Arianne understood something.
Erin wasn’t chasing power anymore.
She wasn’t trying to surpass anyone.
She had reduced her wish…
To the smallest one imaginable.
“I just…”
“…want to move forward.”
The words barely rose above a whisper.
The System quietly appeared.
[Main Quest Updated]
[Second Seed]
[Objective Progress Increased.]
[Synchronization: 12% → 18%]
Arianne’s eyes widened.
No skills had been used.
No conditions had been fulfilled.
Only…
A single honest wish.
The blue screen slowly faded.
Arianne looked at Erin.
Then smiled.
“…You will.”
Erin blinked.
“…Really?”
Arianne nodded.
“Really.”
It wasn’t a promise she could prove.
Not yet.
But for the first time…
She believed it herself.
And somehow…
That felt like the beginning of something much bigger.
End of Chapter 22