24-Hour Friendly Market, Specializing in Dimensional Items - Chapter 215

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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24-Hour Friendly Market Specializing in Dimensional Items Episode 215

Episode 215. A Ray of Sunlight (3)

I blinked as I watched the hunched back walking ahead of me.

‘Wait, why is Rowena alive?’

Of course, I never wished for her to be dead.

Life is precious and existence is nothing short of a gift, after all.

It’s just that she was the protagonist of the only diary left in a ruined village, so it was natural to assume she had died.

That notebook was incredibly worn out too!

It showed clear traces of time as if it had been written decades ago, so how could I not be certain?

…Well, it did say she was leaving, not that she was dying.

Rowena walked us through the muddy forest path for quite a while before guiding us to a house.

The residents stopped in front of the house like bodyguards, and only Temi naturally followed Rowena inside.

Kim Seol cast a suspicious glance at me as if asking what I was thinking.

But what choice did we have.

“Excuse me.”

There was no reason to try something else when a conversation opportunity had been created at this timing.

I stepped forward first with a reasonably polite attitude.

The inside was damp due to Raquan’s characteristic humid air, but the interior was well-organized.

The furniture consisted of just one small table and a few chairs, and various plants in pottery were lined up along one wall.

Instead of windows, there was a structure where a single hearth fire barely warmed the center of the room.

Rowena and Temi familiarly pulled chairs over and sat down in front of the fire.

After briefly watching them poke at the firewood with a poker placed on the floor, I quickly took a seat next to them.

“What are you doing, sit down.”

“…”

Kim Seol stared at me intently with eyes that had much to say.

But soon, perhaps unable to think of any other options, she pulled over a chair and sat roughly next to me.

Lee Taek-ju sat down last with his back to the door and muttered awkwardly.

“We got so soaked in the rain that it’s cold, right?”

As an icebreaker, the attempt wasn’t bad, but it seemed to have failed since the other party remained silent.

Just as Lee Taek-ju looked at me with a somewhat pitiful expression asking for help, Rowena opened her mouth.

“Did you visit the prayer hall?”

“There was a bell lying around near the collapsed bell tower.”

“What else did you see there?”

What did I see? There was nothing but wild grass growing between collapsed stones, slippery moss, and rotten wooden planks.

There wasn’t much else to say, but I retraced Panco’s memories.

“The prayer hall wasn’t collapsed. Inside the prayer hall, I found records of an ascetic and discovered a diary. Your diary, Ms. Rowena.”

“…Ah, that thing.”

Rowena smiled faintly and muttered.

The fact that her diary had been read by a stranger could have been unpleasant, but fortunately, she didn’t seem to feel that way.

“So that’s how you knew about the drought.”

…Actually, Kaem had told me about it.

Sometimes it’s better to keep your mouth shut even when you know the truth.

Kim Seol and Lee Taek-ju, who had confirmed the general situation through Han Ro-mi’s message, also tactfully kept quiet.

Just as drowsiness was creeping in with the rain sound ASMR, Rowena finally spoke after putting down the poker.

“All water in Raquan begins from the Tears of the Divine.”

It was a low, slow voice.

“River water, spring water, rain falling from the sky. Everything circulates through Lord Nianus’s power, but the Tears of the Divine must be present for that power to spread throughout all of Raquan. Ringing the bell is a kind of ritual that makes all that circulation possible.”

‘Wait, that wasn’t just a performance?’

It wasn’t for show but an actual ritual that kept Raquan alive – the bell was much more important than I thought.

“Three times every day at noon, if we miss even one day, the circulation breaks.”

“Was it possible because the Tears of the Divine were inside the bell?”

Rowena nodded silently.

So the story was that they could cultivate wheat and live because the bell containing the Tears of the Divine rang.

But I wondered why such an important sacred object was in Gontawa across the river instead of near the bell.

I suppressed my frustration and asked calmly.

“But why are the Tears of the Divine here?”

“…How are you so certain they’re here?”

It would be awkward to say it’s because the Eye of the Discoverer works well.

“I can sense divine power somewhat.”

It was nonsense, but when spoken with Brother’s face, it gained some credibility.

Temi, sitting cross-legged, was looking at me with suspicious eyes, but Rowena’s gaze was calm.

“I told you it’s a long story.”

“Yes, how long is it?”

“…It was noon one day. It started when the well completely dried up. We performed the ritual the same way for over a week, but the well water remained dry, and even the surrounding spring water began to dry up.”

“Suddenly?”

“Yes, overnight.”

Rowena moved her lips and slowly continued.

“Only then did we ascetics begin looking for the problem. And…”

“Had the sacred object disappeared?”

Kim Seol, who had been listening to the story in the impolite posture of crossed arms and legs, hit exactly on the key point.

“The box that contained the Tears of the Divine was intact, but only the contents inside had vanished. Panco was turned upside down. Everyone searched for the Tears of the Divine for months.”

Months.

During that time, Raquan’s water supply must have run out.

“At that time, I asked Kaem.”

“Kaem?”

“He’s a priest of Panco. A mage who received the respect of all ascetics. Haven’t you met him? If you came from the temple.”

Though her tone was calm, I felt subtle pressure.

It seemed like she was asking, ‘You’re not really a temple spy, are you?’

Just as the wariness in Temi’s eyes sitting next to me was about to flicker again, fortunately Rowena’s story continued.

“I asked what we should do since the Tears of the Divine had disappeared.”

“What did he say?”

“Nothing at all. Rather, he seemed unconcerned. That was very strange…”

No, even I think that’s strange.

A priest respected by ascetics was calm even knowing that a sacred object had disappeared?

The more I heard, the more suspicious Kaem became.

“I thought he must have some idea. I trusted him, thinking he knew a method I didn’t.”

Then, Rowena’s gaze reached Temi.

“Then Temi manifested her magical power.”

The Temi that Rowena was talking about must have been very young at that time.

“This child said she could sense the Tears of the Divine. And she was certain that the direction was right here. At that time, this place was a dense forest untouched by human hands…”

“Since there was a possibility, you had to search for it.”

“That’s right.”

Rowena took another breath.

“And the night before we left to find the Tears of the Divine, Temi almost died.”

* * *

Temi began her story after we each received a cup of bland tea boiled over the hearth fire.

“I remember everything from the moment I was born.”

A genius-like statement right from the start.

It wasn’t even a claim, but a matter-of-fact tone stating a simple truth.

I can barely remember anything before elementary school, yet she remembers when she was just born and couldn’t even see properly.

Temi really is extraordinary.

Lee Taek-ju’s eyes were wide with shock, just like mine.

“That night was dark. I couldn’t sleep and had been tossing and turning for a while. Anyway, I was 12 years old then, and it was the night before I left for my adventure.”

Temi took a sip of tea and continued speaking calmly.

“Suddenly I felt a presence from somewhere. There wasn’t even the sound of a door opening.”

“…A mage.”

Kim Seol muttered quietly.

Only a mage could infiltrate a house without opening doors, and we’ve only met two mages in Raquan.

“Suddenly they tried to strangle me. I shot out mana and pushed them away before their hands could reach me, but it was definitely an adult man’s hands.”

“Did you see who it was?”

By this point, I could guess who it was without asking, but you need to hear it directly from the person to make the story certain.

Temi slowly turned to look at me, taking her gaze away from the campfire.

“Kaem.”

“Ha, crazy bastard.”

Lee Taek-ju muttered, unable to contain his anger.

An old mage trying to kill a child who was only 12 years old.

No matter that Kaem had managed the temple for 28 years, and kept the oracle even while all of Panco was dying.

Even though he had blessed me saying ‘May the breath of God be with you.’

‘This isn’t right.’

Anyone who treats children carelessly deserves to die.

Having instantly come to hate Kaem, I frowned and shook my head.

“But how do you know that Kaem stole the Tears of the Divine?”

“That’s right. No matter how crazy a psychopath he is, that’s not directly connected to the sacred relic disappearing.”

Strictly speaking, it does seem to be connected in various ways, but it’s not a wrong point.

Just because he tried to kill Temi who discovered traces of the Tears of the Divine doesn’t make it decisive evidence that he stole it.

Temi nodded briefly.

“When I found the Tears of the Divine, I read Kaem’s mana from it.”

“…Ah.”

If that’s the case, then it becomes too certain.

Kim Seol and Lee Taek-ju simultaneously closed their mouths with a snap.

“The night I received the death threat, I immediately left Panco with the others. And following the traces, I crossed the river, passed through the forest, and arrived here.”

“At that time, this place was just a forest with no village or anything.”

Rowena, who had been quietly listening to the story, added.

“And I found the Tears of the Divine buried very deep in the ground.”

A sacred relic buried in the middle of a forest with no human presence.

The suspicious smell was so strong it was suffocating.

“The Tears of the Divine was split in half. Just like a hard gemstone, it had lost its radiance and power.”

So Kaem had stolen the Tears of the Divine, destroyed it, then deliberately hidden it in this place far from Panco.

‘…But why?’

If he got rid of it, the only thing that would change would be the disaster of no rain coming.

People would only resent the god who no longer sent down water.

I thought he was a devout believer of Nianus, but this is incomprehensible behavior.

Could it be that he wanted the devotees to hate Nianus?

I have no idea what he was thinking.

Lee Taek-ju, who had been angry since hearing about the attempted child assassination, asked.

“Then is that crazy bastard Kaem guarding the temple to prevent the Tears of the Divine from returning?”

“Probably. Since Nianus’s power remains in the temple, if we go there, we might be able to repair the Tears of the Divine.”

“But everyone who goes to the temple…”

That’s what we heard from Kaem.

He said everyone who enters the temple is an assassin from Gontawa.

Rowena shook her head with a miserable expression.

“This guy is completely insane.”

I thought it suddenly got a bit cooler, but Kim Seol was letting out a cold laugh with chilly eyes.

“What I’m saying is, should we just kill him?”

‘Excuse me.’

Actually, if this wasn’t just a scenario, I would have strongly agreed with that opinion too.

I ignored Lee Taek-ju who was going even further and leaned closer to the campfire.

“So you’re trying to wake the god? Because there’s no way to survive without the Tears of the Divine?”

Temi nodded.

“Even if Nianus enters rest, we can survive as long as we have the Tears of the Divine. But since we don’t have it.”

Temi muttered calmly, skillfully hiding the despair that briefly flickered in her eyes.

“We have no choice but to live by forcibly adapting to this harsh weather, for now.”

Only the sound of rain pouring on the roof and the crackling of burning firewood quietly filled the space.

In contrast to Kim Seol and Lee Taek-ju’s energy surging with anger, Rowena and Temi had complicated expressions.

Their solution would have been to take the Tears of the Divine to the temple, repair it, and try ringing the bell like before.

But since the earthbound spirit of the temple kills everyone who goes there, they probably don’t dare send anyone else now.

‘Since she said she finished her training and came out, was Temi planning to go this time?’

It seems like a burden too heavy for Temi, who’s only 19 years old, to carry.

I tried to dispel the aura of despair building up over the campfire and opened my mouth as if it was no big deal.

“Then let me try to repair it first.”

“Pardon?”

Rowena frowned and looked up as if asking what I was talking about.

If the temple is a place of death, then we just won’t go there.

I said with emphasis once more.

“I said I’ll try to repair the Tears of the Divine.”

After all, there’s a friendly repair shop owner from Friendly Market right here.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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