The Return of Lilietta - Chapter 212

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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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Chapter 212

 

Rita carefully raised her body, mindful of her injuries, and poked her head out between the dragon’s fingers.

 

The Black Dragon, noticing she had awakened, suddenly lifted its head from the ground. At that movement, the man and woman sitting around the campfire also jumped up in surprise.

 

“The, the dragon moved—”

 

“Huh? That person woke up!”

 

“I am, ugh, hup.”

 

Rita, who had opened her mouth to greet them, coughed dryly at the feeling of her throat being torn. The silver-haired man, seeing her condition, hurriedly pulled out a water bottle from his waist.

 

“Here, please drink some water first.”

 

She nodded her head in gratitude and put the water bottle the man offered to her lips. After drinking just enough to moisten her throat and returning it, he smiled kindly at her.

 

“Are you feeling a bit better?”

 

“…Yes, thank you.”

 

She answered with a much improved voice and moved her body to get down from outside the dragon’s hand. The silver-haired man waved his hands in alarm.

 

“Don’t move and just stay there! Your injuries are serious.”

 

“That’s right, they were really severe. He used up all his potions treating you, and I used all mine including the emergency ones. Healing potions are hard to obtain and make… You definitely said you’d repay us, right?”

 

The black-haired woman interjected with a displeased expression. Rita’s gaze naturally stuck to the long ears protruding through the gaps in her hair.

 

The woman, noticing that gaze, frowned and covered her ears with both hands, then shouted loudly.

 

“What are you looking at! Is this your first time seeing an elf-born?”

 

“Elf-born…?”

 

“That’s right! Elf-born! I’m not a demon or a demon race! I’m just elf-born!”

 

As the woman raised her voice in agitation, the man blocked her and tried to calm her down.

 

“Calm down, Jurlene. That person didn’t say anything. She just seemed to look because it was unfamiliar, so don’t jump to conclusions.”

 

“Hah…”

 

“Yes, I just learned about the existence of elf-born for the first time, so I looked closely without thinking. I apologize if I was rude.”

 

Rita spoke honestly in a slightly hoarse voice. The woman called Jurlene looked at her quietly, then apologized in a somewhat deflated tone.

 

“I’m sorry too. I’m a bit sensitive about that issue.”

 

Had she often been called a demon or demon race because of those ears? If that was the case, her sharp reaction to the gaze was completely understandable.

 

Lillieta carefully continued speaking.

 

“First… thank you for your help. Thanks to you, I survived. What I said about definitely repaying you wasn’t a lie, so don’t worry.”

 

“Hmph, well then. You’re a human who knows courtesy and propriety.”

 

Jurlene answered, lifting her chin. The man called Sion added with an awkward smile.

 

“Um, Jurlene isn’t pure human, so she’s older than she looks and isn’t used to dealing with people. It might be a bit confusing, but please understand.”

 

“What, Sion, are you my guardian? Apologizing and asking on my behalf?”

 

“Calm down, Jurlene.”

 

Sion blocked the bristling Jurlene and looked up at Lillieta leaning against the dragon’s finger, asking.

 

“Excuse me, but who are you? What is your relationship with this dragon?”

 

At that question, Rita realized why this man was treating her, a complete stranger, so politely, even apologizing on his companion’s behalf.

 

‘Gid… it’s because of the Black Dragon.’

 

Thinking about it from their perspective, if there was a person being protectively held by a dragon the size of a small mountain from legends, they would have no choice but to be cautious.

 

‘If they were people from the Ash-covered Era, they would immediately recognize it as a monster, but…’

 

She glanced upward. The Black Dragon had lowered its head and was staring intently at her. Its large head tilting slightly gave the feeling it was observing whether her physical condition was okay.

 

“I’m fine.”

 

When she spoke because it seemed worried, red liquid welled up again in the dragon’s well-like eye sockets. Rita let out a laugh mixed with a sigh and added.

 

“I’m really fine, so stop crying.”

 

As if understanding her words in reverse, the Black Dragon finally shed tears of blood drop by drop. Its head, with spines laid flat, leaned toward her.

 

‘By the way, what relationship do Gid and I have?’

 

Rita pondered the question while reaching out to stroke the dragon’s head that had come close to her, then looked back at Sion and Jurlene.

 

They were stunned by the scene before their eyes of the dragon crying and acting affectionately toward a person only the size of its finger. Lillieta calmly opened her mouth.

 

“We’re friends.”

 

“Fri… ends? With this dragon?”

 

“Yes, we’re old friends.”

 

Since things had gone awry before they could progress beyond that, this was the right answer for now.

 

Suddenly, the Black Dragon gently pushed her with its snout. Rita, whose upper body had been slightly pushed, straightened up again and looked back at the dragon’s head with furrowed brows.

 

“What?”

 

-…

 

“If you have complaints, say them with words.”

 

-…

 

“If you can’t speak, then stay quiet.”

 

The eye sockets filled with tears of blood narrowed as if displeased, but the dragon said nothing. No, it couldn’t.

 

Rita left the strangely dejected-looking Black Dragon alone and looked back at the unfamiliar man and woman.

 

“My name is Lillieta del Nisa Raskail. What are your names?”

 

She revealed her name and gauged the atmosphere, but there was no sign of recognition. They might not know the name Lillieta, but people wandering around the Black Forest within the Winterfield Domain didn’t know the Raskail Family?

 

‘Something’s strange.’

 

The strangely alien feeling grew stronger as the man and woman answered.

 

“I’m Jurlene. As you can see, I’m elf-born, so I don’t have a surname or anything like that.”

 

“Ah, I’m… um, just call me Sion.”

 

The woman named Jurlene was calm, but the man named Sion seemed to be hiding something. It felt like he was trying to conceal his real name. He hesitated, then added.

 

“Um, you have an unusual name… Are you perhaps a noble of the Empire?”

 

He was clearly more wary than before she had revealed her name. Rita chose her words for a moment before answering.

 

“Yes, I am a noble of the Kairam Empire.”

 

“…Kairam?”

 

Sion asked back blankly. Jurlene perked up her ears then flattened them, muttering.

 

“That’s the first time I’ve heard of that country. Empire? Was there another empire besides the Holy Empire?”

 

“Holy Empire…?”

 

This time Rita was the one who was stunned.

 

Wasn’t that the name of the ancient empire before Kairam that had briefly appeared when telling the founding myth related to the Whispering Cave? Why was it coming up here?

 

The explosion of the star came to mind. The sensation of her entire body being shaken as she was caught up in it. The snow-covered scenery around them that didn’t match July.

 

No way, really no way.

 

She asked in a trembling voice.

 

“Excuse me, what year and month is it now?”

 

“That’s a strange question.”

 

Instead of Sion, who seemed to be pondering something, Jurlene tilted her head and replied.

 

“It’s March 2nd, 821.”

 

“…!”

 

Lillieta held her breath.

 

March 821.

 

About 949 years before July 1770, when she had lived.

 

An era when myths and legends were still alive and breathing, when unknown territories were wider than the lands where humans had settled.

 

Before the Kairam Empire was even born, during the period when a country called the Holy Empire ruled the continent.

 

‘As expected, that damn star exploded in Gid’s runaway hands…’

 

Just as the explosion of that ‘star’ when shot toward the sun had returned her from the Ash-covered Era 200 years later to 1770, this time the ‘star’ seemed to have blown them to the distant past.

 

Moreover, unlike before when it had only moved souls for some reason, this time it had transported their bodies as well.

 

‘…No, not 200 years but 950 years into the past? Really?’

 

How do we get back to 1770 from here?

 

Finding a way to turn Gid back into a human was already daunting, but now did they also have to find a way to skip across nearly a thousand years to return?

 

Lillieta felt dizzy.

 

* * *

 

Rita first sent Sion and Jurlene away. From the conversation she had heard when she first woke up, it seemed the two had somewhere to return to and people there who were worrying and waiting for them.

 

‘And I need some time alone to think.’

 

Jurlene was delighted, but Sion was worried about various things. He seemed concerned about Lillieta’s condition, as she would be sleeping outdoors in cold weather while severely injured, and from his perspective, he also appeared worried about the movements of this woman whose identity was unknown to him.

 

They only started walking after Rita promised that she wouldn’t go anywhere and would wait here until they came tomorrow morning.

 

After the silver and black hair completely disappeared among the snow-covered trees, Lillieta leaned her back against the dragon’s finger.

 

She had to somehow organize her thoughts and properly assess the situation right now.

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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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