Alyria's voice is getting quieter and quieter. May hugged her small body. Soon, she falls face down on her mother's chest, her body trembling.
Beside her, Linos closes his eyes, wrinkling his brow. She has been sending her thoughts to Soleil since a few minutes ago. But there is no answer, and he is spreading his magic to the village of Psyllus while he is sending her a telepathic message. This is his plan to capture Soleil's magic and transfer her there, but even this is not working very well.
At that moment, a small light appeared from the forest.
It was slowly coming toward Linos and the others. Suddenly, there was a dazzling light, and then they heard the sound of something falling with a thud.
"What is it? ......Who are you ......?"
In front of them was a girl who was huffing and puffing, breathing hard and moving her shoulders up and down. She slowly looked up and looked at Linos and the others.
"Are you ...... sure, Irisal? Irisal?"
"Haa, haa, haa ......"
She nodded frantically in response to Linos' question. Then, she made a gesture as if she were swallowing spit, and opened her mouth while catching her breath.
"I'm sorry I'm late."
"What's going on, what the hell is going on in the village? Where's Soleil?"
"The forest spirits that the chief has contracted are very tough. ....... Soleil is safe. But ......"
But what?
Just come! We have to be quick. ......"
Irizar spun on his heel, breathing heavily, and began mumbling some sort of incantation.
"Great ...... song ......."
Hearing Irizar's chanting, Alilia rolled her eyes in amazement. It seems that the chanting sounds like singing to Alilia.
"Noooooo! You're calling for me again!"
For a moment, a pillar of fire seemed to rise, and then a lizard-like creature covered in fluffy flames appeared in mid-air. As I recall, this creature was a salamander, a fire spirit contracted by Irizar.
"I'm sorry, but I need you to make a hole again!
"What the hell! You want me to do that again! What the hell is wrong with this guy?
"Please! A child's life is at stake! You are the only one who can pave the way for this!"
"I can't help it! You asked for it, little girl! Let's do it!"
With that, the salamander turned into a palm-sized fireball and began to move slowly through the forest.
"Haa, haa, haa, come on, follow me."
Irizar moves up and down on his shoulders as he makes his way through the forest. I looked at May and followed her silently.
......How far had we walked? I feel like I've been walking for at least 10 minutes. During that time, Irisal's breathing became more and more labored, and soon she was losing her footing.
"Irizar, are you okay?"
"......"
She moved forward without reacting at all to my question. We had no choice but to follow silently.
Eventually, Irizar stopped. Immediately, she collapsed into a heap. I rushed to her and picked her up, but she was unconscious with her mouth open.
"Irisal, pull yourself together. ...... is that it?"
The next thing I knew, we were in the village of Cyrus. It seems that we have passed through the realm of the forest spirits guarded by Chief Vival.
"I'm running out of magic power. Leave Irizar to me. The master will go to Soleil.
May pulls out a small bottle from her pocket and urges me to go to Soleil. Allyria is holding my hand firmly.
"Allyria!"
May stops Allyria and stares at her face. Alyria looked at May's face and nodded her head. For a brief moment, a few words were exchanged that only a mother and daughter could understand. I get up and walk to the chief's house, taking Alyria by the hand.
......When I opened the door, I found two women in tears.
In front of me, a woman with her back to me is wiping her tears. When I looked closely, I saw that she was holding what looked like a dagger in her left hand. Behind her, a woman was crouching down with her back against the wall, crying.
They must have noticed our presence. A woman by the wall looked up. It was Soleil.
"Mommy!"
Alyria took her hand away from mine and started to run to Soleil's side, but stopped immediately. The woman in front of me turned around and held up a dagger. To my surprise, it was Vivar, the chief of the tribe, who was also Soleil's mother.
"Please don't come to ....... How did you get here? Please leave now."
"Chief, what's going on? What is this?
Vival shakes his head slowly, his eyes red and swollen, as I ask him.
"Soleil, what's wrong! What the hell happened!"
"Dear Linos, ...... sorry ...... sorry ......"
"Soleil ......"
"Come on, get out of here. Or else ...... will be in trouble!"
Alyria quickly slips by Vival, who is holding a dagger. She stands in front of Soleil and stands between them with her arms outstretched.
"No! Don't be rough! Mother said no! No! No! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!
Get out of the way!
Before Vival could finish, I had taken the dagger from her. At that moment, she sat there as if the air had been knocked out of her.
"Mommy! Are you okay? It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, fly away!"
Alyria is touching Soleil's body and mumbling "ouch, ouch, ouch, fly away! I was proud of my daughter who could do such a thing in a spur of the moment situation, though May must have taught her.
"Alyria ......"
Soleil's face crumpled. Then she began to cry softly.
To her surprise, Soleil was holding a baby in her arms. In her arms, the baby was sleeping soundly and happily. I think he looks like me, though I don't know how I feel.
"You were born? ......"
"Yes. About three days ago, ......"
The child must take his life right here, right now. Leave.
As we look at the baby, we hear a disturbing voice behind our backs. Startled, we look at Vival, the owner of the voice. She is trying desperately to act brave, not even trying to hide her sobbing face.
"Why do you take the life of this child?"
It's the family code.
"The Code?"
The child must be killed according to the law. So, Soleil, you must give him to me.
Vivar gently holds out one hand toward Soleil. But she shakes her head, holding the baby tightly. Alyria stands up in front of her and opens her arms again.
"I don't know what the law is, but you need to calm down first.
"Oh, no horns."
I turned around to see Allyria peeking at baby Soleil and screaming. I went over to her side to check her face, and sure enough, her horns were missing, a characteristic of a psyllid. What does this mean?
"Sorry ...... sorry ......"
Soleil then hugged the baby again and burst into tears.
"...... let's calm down first."
I cast a light spell to light up the room. I told Alyria to send May outside to get her mother. I have been here several times and have always had the impression that the place was always clean and tidy. The room had not been very empty to begin with, but this room was now cluttered with all sorts of things. The two of them must have had quite a rough time. The baby's life was about to be taken. Soleil must have resisted desperately.
At my words, the two of them came to my side. But the distance between them was far. If anything, they seemed to be wary that Soleil would be attacked by Vivar again.
"What is wrong with you? I'm not going to take the life of a child. ....... The one in Soleil's arms is my child, too. What makes you think you can take my child's life?
I open my mouth as calmly as I can. Vival glanced at Soleil, and then began to talk in a calm voice about what had happened.
"Huh? What the hell is that?
I couldn't help but exclaim. What Vival told me was far beyond my expectations. .......