The Return of Lilietta - Chapter 251

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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 251

“That’s… not the case.”

Rita wasn’t unaware of how precious and well-treated mages and priests were in this era. Even in 1770, they received special treatment and respect, and in medieval times it would be even more so, not less.

But this group couldn’t afford such luxuries. It would be difficult enough even if they became a disciplined army.

“There’s no way to defeat enemies who are much stronger and greater in number than you with a method of requesting help when needed. If you’re few in number, you must at least move as one body. So mages and priests must also immediately follow the commander’s orders. Persuade them and prepare by tomorrow morning.”

“…Yes, Knight.”

“Understood.”

The Captain of the Self-Defense Force and the Captain of the Guard looked troubled, but they couldn’t refuse her request. It was they who had asked first, and there was nothing wrong with the knight’s words.

Lillieta watched the two return and discuss something with each other.

‘They’ll have a lot to discuss with each other to hastily prepare this kind of training. That process will be helpful in its own way too.’

They couldn’t be unaware that having the few combat personnel divided into two organizations based on their origins was inefficient. They were probably postponing it because they lacked an opportunity or justification to integrate.

‘While everyone is ostensibly following Prince Elision, to the cave residents he’s essentially just a foreign royal who joined only about a year ago. From the prince’s perspective, the self-defense force would be delicate to handle too.’

The Black Dragon and knight, who belonged to neither faction while receiving respect from both sides, could serve as both an opportunity and justification for integration.

‘Once they’re combined, the prince will handle controlling them afterward. He is the future Emperor of the National Foundation Day, after all.’

Rita headed toward her tent while planning how to conduct tomorrow’s training. A girl with neatly braided brown hair was fidgeting at the tent entrance, then brightened when she spotted Lillieta.

“Knight! Welcome back!”

“Why are you outside in the cold, Marien?”

“It’s not that cold here, so it’s fine! I’ve prepared your bed and heated water for washing! Give me your cloak, I’ll organize it for you!”

Marien Riklev chattered as she extended her hand.

“Yes, you’ve worked hard. Thank you.”

Rita patted the brown hair and unfastened her cloak to hand it to the girl. The girl received the cloak with a brightened face, quickly folded it and organized it to one side, then entered the tent and hovered around Rita.

“Knight, is there anything else you need me to do?”

Lillieta sat on the makeshift bed while observing Marien’s complexion. Confirming the eyes sparkling with subtle anticipation, she opened her mouth with a smile.

“Hmm, would you take care of Silver Grace again today?”

“Yes! Leave it to me!”

Marien extended both hands with even more sparkling eyes. Rita placed Silver Grace, drawn from her bracelet, onto the small hands while whispering to the artificial spirit in her mind.

‘Minewg, please take care of this again.’

[Lament: You’re asking me to warn you if this little brat seems likely to accidentally break the main body of this great, mythical, and delicate artificial spirit while carelessly handling it, right? Understood, user… But if you’re going to be this careful, wouldn’t it be better not to entrust maintenance to such a young child in the first place?]

Minewg’s complaining voice echoed in Rita’s mind. She replied with a bitter smile.

‘Bear with it a little, Minewg. The child likes it so much. Besides, Marien has a high probability of being an ancestor of the Riklef Workshop family that created your main body.’

The girl, who couldn’t even imagine that the artificial spirit dwelling in the magic gun she held was complaining to its master, excitedly took out a long cleaning rod, cloth, and oil bottle.

821 was an era without even the concept of guns, let alone revolvers, but Marien had already learned how to maintain the ‘knight’s special exclusive weapon.’

Rita watched the girl diligently maintaining the revolver as she had learned, resting her chin on her hand.

After losing her only brother and becoming alone, Marien had spent some time just crying in a daze.

Lillieta took care to feed the girl meals and water at every meal, and when traveling, she held her directly while riding the Black Dragon.

Marien, who wasn’t in her right mind, didn’t even know she was riding the Black Dragon, then suddenly came to her senses while Rita was helping her down as they made camp at night.

“Knight? Kyaaah! Why, why am I on the Black Dragon with you…”

Rita calmed the startled girl who jumped up and informed her that she had now become her errand assistant.

Marien, whose eyes were red and swollen, remained bewildered even after hearing this, then was shocked when Rita took care of her meal.

“You said I became the knight’s errand assistant! Then this should be my job!”

As soon as the girl came to her senses, she found work to do herself.

“I may look like this, but I’ve received many compliments for having skillful hands. Don’t worry because I’m young and give me anything to do. I can do well, Knight.”

In fact, it wasn’t just finding work to do, but trying to create work somehow even if there wasn’t any. As if she desperately wanted to prove that she was useful.

A child who matured early realized immediately upon awakening from grief that she had become an orphan, and what that meant.

Rita knew that comforting such a child by saying it was okay to do nothing wouldn’t be much help.

Because she too had lived as a child who matured quickly. Because there was a time when she shot and killed adults who laughed saying it was okay to be a bit clumsy since she was just a child, then ran to the ruins with children her age while bleeding from her ears. Because she had spent a childhood where she couldn’t survive unless she accomplished everything herself.

She couldn’t really become a guardian for her, so just taking care of her after calling her an errand assistant would only intensify the anxiety of a perceptive child.

‘I can’t take responsibility for her whole life. The child knows that too.’

So she gave her work to do. She assigned easy errands that the child could handle and praised her for doing well.

She saw how the face that showed vitality when praised would wither and become depressed when there was nothing to do and she sat blankly. Sometimes she would sniffle and cry, perhaps thinking of her parents or brother who had left first.

If only there were toys or picture books, the child wouldn’t have to sit blankly. She seemed to need something to focus on that would cut off any thoughts.

Rita, who had been pondering, drew out Silver Grace and held it out to Marien.

“This is my exclusive weapon, and it needs consistent and delicate maintenance. Would you like to learn how to take care of it?”

It was a choice made because Minewg dwelled in Silver Grace to prevent accidents, and because Marien’s surname was Riklef.

If she really was an ancestor of the Riklef Workshop family, she would likely be interested in such things.

Sure enough, the brown-haired girl’s eyes lit up as soon as she saw the smooth silver barrel, even though she didn’t know what it was. Her face looked like she had fallen in love at first sight.

“This is a weapon? It’s so sparkly and pretty…!”

Marien fell deeply in love with the gun like it was fate.

Rita didn’t teach the girl what a gun was, fearing she might twist history too much, but she thoroughly taught her how to maintain the revolver.

After that, instead of sitting blankly and sniffling, the girl would stare at the Silver Grace she received from Rita as if enchanted and spend long hours polishing it. She seemed to enjoy the process of fiddling with the intricate decorative engravings and cleaning the smooth metal itself.

Silver Grace, modified into a magic gun, actually didn’t need much maintenance. Still, Rita assigned the maintenance of Silver Grace to Marien every day. Sometimes she would deliberately leave fingerprints or soot on it.

She quietly watched the girl’s movements, which had become quite skilled in just a few days, and thought.

‘She definitely has skillful hands and likes worked metal. Rather than just finding a guardian, it would be better to send her as an apprentice to a locksmith or metalworker. Learning something would be more comfortable for the child than just being indebted, and for making a living in the future…’

“I’m all done, Knight.”

Marien reluctantly put away the cloth and returned Silver Grace. Rita thanked her for her hard work and sent the girl away.

“Go rest now. See you tomorrow.”

While traveling, Marien had slept together in her tent, but in this camp where they decided to stay in one place for several days, there was a separate tent for Marien.

‘That makes it better for experimenting.’

After Marien left, Rita tightly tied the entrance cloth and took out the pouch containing the divided Bone of the Moon.

[Question: User, are you finally starting the monster humanization experiment?]

‘Yes, it’s the first experiment. I need to try starting with the smallest Bone of the Moon.’

[Confirmation: You mean to use Bone of the Moon No. 1, made by combining Bones of the Moon 01 through 05?]

‘Right, that one. The one slightly bigger than a thumbnail.’

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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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