Chapter 12: 12

The sorrow of a spirit brought disaster.

When the Salamander started to cry, her tears were not water, but rather closer to magma. Sparks started to fly whenever her tears met the floor. The smithy that had been burned out due to the explosion started to catch fire once more. The recently born Salamander could not control her own strength.

“Waaaaaah!” She kept crying.

“Take her,” Kang Yoon-Soo said, picking up the Salamander and handing her over to Shaneth. Shaneth hastily received the Salamander from him, and he continued, “Appease her.”

“Hey! Wait a minute! You were the one who made her cry! Why are you asking me…?” Shaneth exclaimed.

“I’m not good with children,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied with a shrug.

“I’m not good with them either…” Shaneth said with a hint of annoyance on her face.

“Watch Kerlin burn down then,” Kang Yoon-Soo said nonchalantly.

“...You’re so evil…” Shaneth said tearfully. She didn’t know what to do. She had never had any experience looking after children, because they had used to cry and run away in horror whenever they saw her grotesque face.

Meanwhile, the fire started to slowly spread out of the smithy. Shaneth had the power fragment of Ignus, but she was worried that the fire might spread to the town.

Shaneth hurriedly said the first thing to come to mind. “Hey! Don’t cry. Err... I’ll... I’ll be your mommy!”

The little girl suddenly stopped crying, and the fire in the smithy extinguished in an instant. She sniffled and asked, “…Mama?”

“No, I mean... I’m still too young to have a kid…” Shaneth began.

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” Suddenly, the flames started to come back to life.

“Alright! Alright! I’ll be your mommy!” Shaneth hurriedly exclaimed when she saw the rising flames.

“R… Really…?” the girl asked while sniffling.

“Yes… Really…” Shaneth answered dejectedly.

“Woooow!” the girl exclaimed loudly, her cries finally stopping as she smiled from ear to ear. It was a very innocent smile, and Shaneth could not take back her words after seeing the child so happy.

“Mama, let me down,” the child requested.

“Alright,” Shaneth said as she let the child down. She tightly wrapped her arms around Shaneth. It was a simple hug, but Shaneth was taken aback. How long had it been since she received a tight hug from someone other than Lady Hermia?

The Salamander tugged on Shaneth’s robe and asked, “Mama, can you give me a name?”

“A name?” Shaneth asked back in surprise. The child was asking a person like her to give her a name that she would be using for the rest of her life? Perhaps because it was spontaneous, she was unable to think of any decent names.

At that moment, Kang Yoon-Soo suddenly said in a low voice, “Sally.”

Anyone could see that it was a name taken from the word ‘Salamander’. It was an extremely simple name, to the point one could say no thought had been put into it. However, the child’s eyes sparkled as she exclaimed, “I like that name!”

As soon as Kang Yoon-Soo named the child, a message popped up on the wrist device.

[Sally]

Level: 42

Race: Salamander

Age: Infant

Strength: 4

Magic: 17

Attack Power: 21

Skills: Wrath of the Flames (Lvl1), Flame Equip (Lvl1)

A young spirit that was just born recently. She has a pure and innocent personality, and likes to be looked after.

Kang Yoon-Soo stared at the girl.

Sally…

He had also been surprised the first time he created a spirit, and he had named her based on whatever he could think of at that moment. It would have been better to use a better name, but he had ended up giving her the same name, ‘Sally’, in this life too.

He had never used another material aside from the Spartoi’s spear to create a fire spirit, because it would produce a different spirit from the Sally he remembered, and he could only create one spirit from each element.

‘I guess I should avoid the fight with the Dragon of Destruction in this life too...’ He remembered how much he had despaired when he watched the Dragon of Destruction rip Sally’s head from her body. He had created Sally numerous times over the past lives he lived, and he had seen the same scene of Sally dying numerous times as well.

‘I won’t watch this child’s death again in this life.’ Sally was one of the reasons why Kang Yoon-Soo needed to kill the Demon Lord.

Kang Yoon-Soo pointed at Sally and beckoned her over. The small child quickly walked toward him. For a brief moment, the Sally in front of him overlapped with the numerous versions of her he knew from his previous lives.

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‘…I need a drink,’ he told himself while massaging the center of his brow to chase away the illusions.

That was the reason he had become numb. There was no other way for him to stay sane through the countless memories of tragedies that had occurred over and over again in his many lives.

“Sally,” Kang Yoon-Soo called.

“Yes!” Sally answered, her eyes sparkling when she heard her name called.

“Go to the summon dimension. I’m tired,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“Will you be my papa?” Sally asked carefully.

Kang Yoon-Soo hated that title. The more one got attached to someone, the more their deaths would be harder to accept. But it was too troublesome to deal with the girl, so he just answered plainly, “Yes.”

“Wow! Sally loves papa as well!” Sally exclaimed, then kissed Kang Yoon-Soo on the cheek. Then, she disappeared without a trace into the summon dimension.

Kang Yoon-Soo showed no reaction, simply lying down on the floor of the burned-down smithy. Shaneth looked at him as if what he had just done was ridiculous.

“What are you looking at?” Kang Yoon-Soo asked.

***

The next day, in front of the mansion gate, Hermia hugged Shaneth with a sad expression and exclaimed, “Oh, Shaneth! How could I not have known that your destiny was harsher than mine?”

“It’s alright. milady. I can handle it,” Shaneth answered confidently.

She had decided to leave on a journey with Kang Yoon-Soo, as he had suggested. The power fragment had been left behind by the dragon Ignus for future generations. She could not stay in Kerlin as long as she had inherited this power. She was nervous, but also excited, as she had always dreamed of leaving Kerlin and living an independent life.

“I’ve never left Kerlin ever since I came here when I was young. I want to visit new places and explore the world,” she said.

“I would love to give you a carriage, at least, but as you know, our territory’s finances aren’t that good. I should’ve asked for a donkey at least when the merchants visited our territory,” Hermia said regretfully.

“This is more than enough,” Shaneth replied while holding a rucksack Hermia had given her. It had been filled with various travel essentials.

Hermia cried for a while before letting Shaneth go. She looked at Kang Yoon-Soo and said, “I leave her in your care. Please take good care of her.” Kang Yoon-Soo said nothing and just nodded in response.

Hermia looked at Shaneth. Shaneth was wearing clothing that would be comfortable to travel in, consisting of pants and a shirt.

“Look at your clothes. Come over here for a second, will you?” Hermia called as she pulled Shaneth behind the left wing of the mansion. She looked around and put on a serious expression, different from the tearful and innocent one she had just had moments before.

“Shaneth, what do you think of that man?” Hermia asked.

“I don’t think he’s a bad person,” Shaneth replied.

“I think so as well, but there’s something suspicious about him,” Hermia said. Shaneth looked perplexed as she explained, “As you’re aware, we elves live extremely long lives, even though we don’t age at all.” She continued, “There are cases when the youngest-looking elf might actually be the eldest in the group. That’s why we have a different perspective from humans when it comes to age.”

She stared at Kang Yoon-Soo from afar and remarked, “That man, Kang Yoon-Soo, gives off the same feeling as an elf. It feels as if he just looks young on the outside, but he’s actually old on the inside—like us elves.”

“Do you mean to say that Kang Yoon-Soo-nim has lived hundreds of years?” Shaneth asked with a confused expression.

“Of course, that’s not the case as he’s human, but he gives off a strange aura. He acts as if he’s lived for a very long time… It feels different from us,” Hermia explained.

Shaneth couldn’t understand what Hermia was trying to say, but she nodded nevertheless. Hermia was an elf who had lived longer than her, and was thus bound to be more knowledgeable than her.

“If you ever feel that that man is suspicious or that your life is in danger, don’t hesitate to run away and come here,” Hermia said worriedly.

“Of course I will,” Shaneth answered, as if to assuage Hermia’s worries. She was a soldier, and she was stronger than other women. Although it was a needless worry, she had the strength to resist if Kang Yoon-Soo tried to do something to her.

Hermia stroked the last remaining burn mark on Shaneth and told her, “Go and experience the world. I’m sure you’ll do well wherever you are.”

“I… I’m really grateful to Lady Hermia,” Shaneth said, pushing down the sorrow welling up inside of her. ‘It’ll be difficult to meet someone like Hermia again’, she thought as they reemerged from behind the manor.

“Farewell. I wish for your travels to always be accompanied by good luck,” Hermia said as she bid the pair goodbye.

The pair left after exchanging their goodbyes and headed north. The wilderness came into view past the bright golden fields of Kerlin.

Shaneth asked as they were about to leave the town, “Where are we headed?”

“Hiledan,” Kang Yoon-Soo answered curtly.

Hiledan was a minor territory that was quite a distance away from Kerlin. It was a place famous for catalysts and potions, as the headquarters of the alchemist guild was located there.

Shaneth then asked the question she had been most curious about. “Why are we traveling?”

“To stop the coming destruction of the world, and…” Kang Yoon-Soo raised his left hand and covered the sun with it.

‘That’s right. This time for sure.’

‘I’ll end this cycle of regression.’

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