The Return of Lilietta - Chapter 238

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

Chapter 238

After her mentor passed away and she was left alone, was it simply because Jurlene had a tender heart and was full of affection that she didn’t drive people away despite knowing it was dangerous? Perhaps she did it because she missed human company.

The fact that she opened her heart so easily to Elision, whom she had only recently met, might also be because he didn’t fear her or feel distant, but treated her warmly like an ordinary person.

Perhaps Sion was the first being in Jurlene’s life that she could call a ‘friend.’

‘Is she powerless now because everyone she knows, even Sion, will leave this place and she’ll be alone again?’

If that was the reason, it seemed she could persuade her without using any special methods. While Rita was choosing her words, Jurlene suddenly stopped.

“We’re here, Knight. This is our home.”

Where she stopped, nothing could be seen except the grotesquely overgrown trees of the black forest, but Rita, sensitive to magic, could sense the presence of a space hidden by magic.

The black dragon clinging to her shoulder also seemed to detect the magic with its monster instincts, raising its head and sniffing.

“You’re not particularly surprised that this kind of place is a home? As expected of a Knight.”

Jurlene grinned and raised her staff.

“Yah!”

The moment the tip of her staff lightly struck the ground with a playful voice, the magic disappeared like a veil being lifted, revealing the form of a small cottage.

The round, black wooden house topped with white snow like whipped cream reminded one of a chocolate roll cake shaped like a log.

“Welcome to the Witch’s Cottage!”

Jurlene, who had tapped the round door open with her staff, spread both arms and spoke energetically. Rita smiled, mimicking knightly etiquette by placing one hand on her stomach and bowing.

“It’s an honor to be invited, Witch.”

“…Ugh.”

Suddenly Jurlene turned red and shouted loudly.

“D-don’t smile like that suddenly, Knight! And don’t suddenly use formal speech either! It’s s-strange!”

“I was just teasing.”

“I know!”

Jurlene shouted back and strode into the interior.

Lillieta followed her, thinking that Jurlene was weak to knight-like attitudes, ah, so that’s why she fell for Prince Elision.

Inside the cottage was cozy and warm. Prepared herbs hung in rows on the walls, and in the small kitchen visible upon entering was a large iron cauldron.

Passing between storage cabinets neatly arranged with glass bottles containing colorful potions and powders, and cupboards organized with colorful dishes, a living room with round glass windows and a fireplace appeared.

Beyond the living room, a short corridor decorated with tapestries and dried flower bouquets and two painted wooden doors were visible, and at the end of the corridor were stairs that seemed to lead underground.

It was a pretty witch’s house that could appear in a fairy tale, but signs of daily life could be felt from things like empty cups left after drinking tea, a blanket crumpled and hanging on an armchair in front of the fireplace, books scattered carelessly on a bear skin carpet, and slippers rolling around.

“Mentor’s study is this way.”

Jurlene headed toward the stairs at the end of the corridor. Rita followed her while looking at the pictures hanging between the tapestries in the corridor.

A picture that seemed to be clumsily drawn by a child of a red-haired witch, a sketch drawn with delicate lines of a black-haired elf-born girl smiling brightly.

A painting of a girl wearing a witch’s hat depicted with the same skill using paint, a portrait of a red-haired witch drawn with similar but different brush touches.

Rita pointed to the portrait of the red-haired witch and asked.

“Is this your mentor?”

“Ah… yes. Her name was Hecate.”

Rita recalled Jurlene’s name recorded in history from that name. Jurlene el Hecate Kairam. She could finally understand where the middle name of the girl who had no surname came from.

“Did Jurlene draw this portrait?”

“Yes.”

“And this was drawn by your mentor?”

“That’s right. She drew well, didn’t she?”

“Incredibly. It’s really vivid. Both your mentor and Jurlene draw very well.”

Jurlene, who had stopped in the corridor, looked at the pictures hanging side by side and shrugged her shoulders.

“Magic wasn’t the only thing I learned from my mentor. I also learned to draw in my spare time… While my mentor always drew my face, she would avoid sitting and modeling because it was bothersome, so I had to beg and plead to finally get her to pose for this one portrait.”

Her gaze lingered long on the portrait that only showed the upper body.

“I should have thrown tantrums to get a few more drawings…”

Deep longing pooled in her amber eyes.

Jurlene quickly blinked and shook off that expression, then stepped onto the underground stairs.

“About the research materials, I did organize them roughly, but the amount is really enormous, you know? It’s the study of an elf-born who lived for hundreds of years. Prepare yourself, Knight.”

Going down the stairs and opening the locked door, she could see that Jurlene’s warning was no exaggeration.

In the center of a space as large as the house above ground was a large table, and both walls were entirely bookshelves and shelves. The shelves were piled high with parchment scrolls like mountains, to a mind-numbing degree.

Rita unconsciously turned pale, then desperately called for the artificial spirit in her mind.

‘Minewg…?’

[Information: The memory magic that the creator developed for memorizing history books is also built into this artificial spirit. As long as there’s sufficient Oaths supply, unlimited memory is possible.]

[Boasting: Don’t worry, user, the terrifying genius little Minewg will handle all the research materials.]

‘You’re the best, Minewg. You’re really a genius spirit.’

She praised the artificial spirit profusely while generously injecting Oaths into the bracelet. A swarm of golden butterflies bloomed from the butterfly pattern.

“Huh? Knight? That’s…”

“A spirit that helps me. They’ll read the research materials for me.”

“S-such a thing is possible? What kind of spirit could it be…”

Jurlene, who had been stammering her question, soon forgot her words.

The tiny swarm of butterflies scattered throughout the study worked together in groups of several to take out scrolls, spread them on the table, then flew over the letters while wiggling their antennae. It was an incredibly fascinating sight even for a witch.

While Jurlene stared blankly at the study occupied by the golden butterfly swarm, Rita noticed something strange about the black dragon hanging on her shoulder.

The small black dragon was staring at the innermost wall of the study with narrowed eye sockets, not moving at all.

“Why are you… Ah.”

As soon as she looked in that direction, Rita understood the reason. A wall sealed with several layers of magic. Thanks to the dense magic, it seemed the monster’s appetite was reacting.

She secretly took a small candy-sized magic stone from her pocket and put it in the black dragon’s mouth, then asked Jurlene.

“What’s inside there? I can feel magic.”

“You can sense that? As expected, the Knight is amazing.”

Jurlene, who had opened her eyes wide, took the lead and continued speaking.

“That’s a warehouse storing things the Knight is very interested in.”

“…Moon bones?”

“Correct!”

When Jurlene’s staff tapped the inner wall of the study in a steady rhythm, the stones moved to reveal hidden shelves.

On shelves carved into the stone wall, various sizes of ‘moon bones’ were organized in glass bottles with tags attached. While none were as large as Jurlene’s necklace, there were clearly more than twenty at a glance.

‘There are much more than I thought?’

Rita stared as if enchanted at the beads sparkling inside the glass bottles, then urgently turned to Jurlene.

“Jurlene.”

“Yes.”

“Could you trade these ‘moon bones’ for magic stones?”

“Huh?”

“I really need them. Here, I want to buy all of these with these.”

She took out and displayed a handful of appropriately sized, high-purity magic stones she had set aside separately. Magic stones the size of olives or cherries sparkled in various colors in her palm.

Jurlene’s mouth fell open and she poured out words as if amazed.

“Are you crazy, Knight? With that size, just one could maintain all the magic cast on this house for 20 years! W-with a whole handful like that, you could buy various titles from the Holy Empire’s Emperor and still have plenty left!”

“Moon bones are much more important to me than such things.”

“No matter how rare moon bones are, they’re not worth that much in magic stones! Besides, these can’t even be traded – the Holy Empire forcibly collects them as soon as they’re discovered!”

“That means they’re that hard to obtain. Then they’re worth this much to me.”

“You’re as much of a pushover as Sion, Knight? If you openly show how much you need something, you can’t negotiate! Do you want to get your wallet completely emptied?”

“I have no intention of negotiating with a friend.”

“…F-friend?”

“Jurlene never intended to sell those in the first place. So this isn’t a transaction, it’s a request. If it’s a request, I should properly show you how much I need them.”

Rita held out her hand full of magic stones that sparkled like cut gems and continued.

“It’s okay if you refuse, Jurlene. But honestly, those moon bones are much more desperately needed by me than these things. So if it’s possible, I’d like to ask this favor.”

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