Mirna continued the conversation with me while comforting Speranza in her arms.
"I heard about you, Sihyeon, through Anis. You protected this child who was left alone and took care of her like family."
"Not just like family,' she really became my family. Just like the other people living together on the farm."
Hearing my response, Mirna looked slightly surprised, then she relaxed and smiled again.
"My granddaughter was truly fortunate to meet someone like you, Sihyeon."
"It was a stroke of luck for me too. It was only because I happened to meet Speranza that I could gain a new family."
"Though it's late, I wanted to express my gratitude. Thank you for being a strong guardian for her when I couldn't do anything."
Mirna slowly bowed her head as a sign of respect.
Knowing the meaning behind her gesture, I naturally accepted her thanks.
After that, our conversation continued in a more relaxed atmosphere. Naturally, our main topic was about Speranza.
From the story of finding the tiny fox in a small crevice between rocks, to what she usually does on the farm, and how she gets along with other farm members.
Long-held questions and stories poured out endlessly.
Having shaken off her awkwardness, Speranza eagerly talked about her life on the farm. Mirna responded to each of her granddaughter's stories with a pleased smile.
"Do you really like strawberries that much?"
"Un! And the strawberry jam that Papa makes is incredibly delicious too. But umm
Speranza's face suddenly clouded as she excitedly talked.
"Why, what happened?"
"Papa brought strawberry jam as a gift, but a scary man took it away."
"Who would do such a thing!"
"A man in front of the house took it while looking scary."
It seemed that Speranza was talking about the time when a guard took away the prepared gift. From her perspective, the guard's authoritative attitude must have been quite frightening.
"Were you very scared?"
"A little? But I was with Papa, so it was okay."
"I see there was such an incident"
As Mirna comforted Speranza with a proud expression, she sent a cold glance somewhere. The sudden change in her atmosphere made me flinch.
I hurriedly spoke up to clear the misunderstanding.
"It wasn't like the guard forcefully took our gift. He did speak a bit stiffly, but he explained everything well."
"That's right, Mother. It's just that they couldn't bring unverified items here, so they took it temporarily."
Anis and I explained the situation in detail so that the guard wouldn't be misunderstood. Thanks to that, Mirna's cold gaze softened a bit.
"I apologize, Sihyeon. I emphasized several times that you are a very important guest It seems the guard has committed a rudeness."
"Not at all! He was just doing his job diligently. I wasn't too upset about it. We can just give the gift later."
"Hehe. Sihyeon, you really are as kind as I heard."
"Haha"
I showed a shy smile at Mirna's praise.
"As Sihyeon said, I'll make sure to get the gift later cough cough!"
"Priestess!"
"Priestess!"
The attending women were startled and rushed to Mirna's side.
Covering her mouth with one hand, Mirna used the other to stop them from coming closer.
"I'm fine, so don't make a fuss."
"But, Priestess, the healer said you shouldn't push yourself too much."
Lia hesitated before throwing a rather suggestive question at me. I responded with a refreshing laugh.
"She was a lovely person. Speranza really liked her too. I think coming here was the right decision."
Lia finally seemed relieved.
"Oh, thank goodness."
Kaneff, who was standing nearby, butted in, sounding a bit displeased.
"Is it okay to leave Speranza with just anyone like that?"
"Not just anyone, it's her grandmother."
"Grandmother or not, they only met for the first time today."
"Well, that's true, but there's a saying that blood is thicker than water.' After a little while, they looked just like an ordinary grandmother and granddaughter."
""
"And this might be their last meeting. Since we have to leave early tomorrow morning, I wanted to give them as much time together as possible."
"Oh? We're leaving first thing in the morning? That's great news!"
Kaneff perked up and seemed pleased to hear that we'd be leaving tomorrow.
"Yes, we'll be heading back to the farm right away. So we should also head back and get some rest since we need to leave here early in the morning."
"I'll guide you to your resting place."
We left the priestess's residence and headed to a place where we could rest.
When we arrived at the lodging, it was midnight and almost all the lights in the village were out.
Before going to sleep, we organized our things for an early departure the next day. Since we hadn't been here long, it didn't take much time to pack up.
Feeling the emptiness without Speranza, we were about to go to bed when suddenly a signal sounded from inside a bag.
"Huh? What's that sound?"
"It's the communication artifact Andras gave us."
I took out the artifact from the bag and connected the communication. Unlike usual, Andras's voice came through with a lot of static.
-Creek! Can you creee! Hear me?
"Andras? It's me."
-Cree! The communication! It's not stable. Creee! It's probably because of the barrier around that place.
Although there was some noise, it didn't hinder our conversation.
"What's the matter at this hour?"
-Well, creee! There's been something strange happening here.
"What happened?"
-I questioned some of the Erul Tribe members to find the one who facilitated the intrusion, and creeee! All of them gave strange answers.
"Strange answers?"
-Creee! They all claimed that they acted on the orders of the guardian deity. Creee! Then suddenly, they started behaving aggressively or spouting incomprehensible words.
Ordered by the guardian deity?
That sounded so irrelevant
While I was flustered and at a loss for words, Kaneff, who had been listening, said in a low voice,
"Aren't they just babbling nonsense?"
-I don't think so. Creee! I have a bad feeling about this, so I contacted you creee! Sihyeon? Mr. Kane- creee!!
"Andras? Andras!"
The artifact emitted a noisy sound, and the communication was suddenly cut off completely.
Everyone in the room was momentarily stunned when
-Swoosh!
Terzan emerged from the shadows and cried out urgently.
"We're in big trouble!"
CH 378-387 (Speranza & Sihyeon) $2CH 388-397 (Happy Birthday my dear daughter) $2CH 398-407 (Subduing the Angels) $2CH 408-417 (Farm family, Assemble) $2CH 418-424 (The END) $2