Chapter 181: As he spoke

As he spoke, he patted the rump of Merlin’s horse.

“Hey! How can you guys be like this?” Merlin shouted in exasperated anger. “I protected Artoria for ten whole years! Even if there’s no glory in it, there’s at least the hard work!”

“If the protection you’re talking about is forcing her into extra lessons every night so she only gets four or five hours of sleep…”

“Artoria is a Red Dragon, the Red Dragon of Britain! This kind of thing is a piece of cake for her.”

“La la la~” Artoria walked at the very front, swaying as if she hadn’t heard a thing.

—

The green leaves of the season’s change from spring to summer rustled in the breeze. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the canopy, casting dappled light and shadow on the ground.

“It should be here.”

A day’s journey away from Lancaster, the traces of the forest fire from a few days ago had disappeared.

The flames had not spread this far.

That golden grace flickered in the clearing by the forest stream.

Having not seen it for a long time, Mia felt this thing was exceptionally familiar.

“Preparing to go back now.” Mia hopped down from the carriage. Torrent returned to the ring, and the carriage was placed into the storage space.

“Do you want to go back?” She looked toward Wilden.

She found Wilden looking up, gazing at the sun between the branches.

The sound of birds came from there. Following his gaze carefully, she saw an unknown bird perched there.

“If I’m being honest,” Wilden said, squinting his eyes, “I don’t really want to go back.”

“Actually, I don’t really want to either.” Mia sighed.

“But I hope more that The Lands Between can have a day like this,” Wilden continued.

“That’s true.”

To be honest, Mia really disliked that wasteland style of The Lands Between; it just didn’t look right to her.

But because it didn’t look right, she had to go back.

Not to escape because she disliked it, but to go back and change it into something she liked.

“Right.”

Before going back, Mia suddenly thought of something. She pulled out a golden seed from the flask of sacred tears.

“Melina, can I plant this here?”

“No, you can’t.”

However, the one who answered was not Melina.

Looking up in surprise, a woman who had appeared silently was sitting on the opposite bank of the stream, on a tree trunk that curved toward the center of the water.

Her face was obscured by a gray veil, making her features unclear, but for some reason, her eyes seemed somewhat friendly.

“You—”

“Call me Vivian.” Vivian sat on the trunk, her fair feet bare, dangling in the air.

She was not human.

Mia felt a unique aura from Vivian, yet it was different from Artoria’s.

Is she a fairy or something?

Vivian tilted her head like an innocent young girl, leaning slightly against the horizontal trunk. “I can overlook the matter of dropping trash from the sky, but if you want to plant that thing, it’s absolutely not allowed. None of us would agree to it.”

Calling the Star-Creating Rain ‘dropping trash’…

She wasn’t very friendly from the start, yet she wasn’t malicious enough either.

Mia felt a bit troubled.

“None of you?”

“Forget I said that,” Vivian waved her hand. “Anyway, did you understand my words?”

“Yes, ah, I understand.”

“You can do whatever you want, as long as it’s nothing out of line.” Vivian pointed at the grace. “Do you want to step into that? It’s fine, just act like I’m not here.”

“You can see that… beam of light?”

“It grew out of this land. Why wouldn’t I be able to see it?” Vivian chuckled softly.

“We actually want to leave,” Mia explained.

“Then that’s for the best!” Vivian clapped her hands.

Melina leaned close to Mia’s ear. “It seems we aren’t very welcome…”

However, this whisper was clearly heard.

Vivian held up an index finger. “It’s not that guests aren’t welcome. I just hope that as guests—especially before dropping so~ much stuff from the sky and before planting some mysterious plants—you could say hello to the host.”

After Vivian finished speaking, she waved her hand as if shooing away birds. “Goodbye. Next time you come to play, just remember to knock.”

Then, in the blink of an eye.

The fairy sitting on the branch vanished.

“Um…”

After a moment of silence, Mia sullenly threw the golden seed back into the flask of sacred tears.

“Vivian? A strange… person?”

Let’s call her a person for now.

She looked around warily and released a faint wave of mana to sweep the area, like a breeze blowing through leaves.

Mia ruled out the possibility of anyone else lurking nearby.

“Hold onto me,” she said, taking Melina’s hand.

And Wilden’s.

Silently reciting the return incantation, the feeling of dizziness arrived right on time.