Chapter 29

Chapter 29 - Valda (5)

A short while later in the living room.

Eugene was wearing a weary look, Homi was watching with concern, Valda had a sad face, and Grace was composed.

As a result, the Holy Communion had failed.

"I am sorry."

Grace's body could not receive any aura and let it flow out. Like pouring water into a cracked porcelain vessel.

Valda shook her head.

"You have done your best. Rather, I should be grateful that you came all this way."

"It's as the mistress says. I am existing beyond the time permitted for me. It is but a natural principle that all things must fade when the time comes."

Grace looked at Valda.

"I merely clutched my thread of life stubbornly because I could not leave the mistress alone."

The small Dryads outside were Grace's avatars. Laborers who were but dolls without souls or wills. Once Grace vanished, Valda would truly be left alone.

Clatter.

A wooden branch fell from Grace's shoulder once again. As the blackened, dead piece rolled, Valda's eyes grew moist.

"For me, this house, the forest, and Grace's embrace are enough."

"They say there is naught better than a mother's shadow. But a mother shrinks as she ages. I cannot shelter my grown daughter forever."

"...Grace is still large."

"You know it's a metaphor, my lady. The time has come to leave the nest. A grown maid must not show a disgraceful sight before guests."

The dignified magician vanished, and an Elf who spoke like a child and a Dryad who soothed her like a mother remained.

"The fact that this knight cradles a powerful mystery and that he rose as the Great Warrior of Bonyard to make his name known... Coming here through those two things must also be the guidance of destiny."

Grace rose from her seat.

"I have already accepted that the time given to me is ending. However, I do not wish to see the mistress left alone in this mansion."

Taking Valda's hand, she approached Eugene.

"Sir Knight. Pray, would you take the mistress with you when you leave the forest?"

Eugene blinked his eyes.

"It's a bewildering request. For it is a proposal I had not considered at all."

"It shall not be a bad arrangement for you, sir. The mistress is an outstanding magician who is second to none. She shall certainly be of help in your future knightly training."

"It's not a matter for us to decide among ourselves, is it not? The opinion of the party involved should be paramount."

Valda, who had been listening quietly, let out a sigh.

"Grace has spent every single day persuading me throughout the time she raised me. That if a worthy person were to visit the forest one day, I should leave her aging self and venture out into the world together."

"When the mistress was young, she would wail and throw a tantrum every time I brought this up. She would embrace me and scream. That she loathed it, that she wanted to live together forever."

Grace looked satisfied, as if the mere thought were adorable.

"So, I made a proposal. That if she wished to save an old tree such as myself, how about learning the magic of the forest?"

"So that was the motivation for Lady Valda to learn magic."

Could there be a motivation more intense than the heart wishing to save a family member?

"It feels like only yesterday that she was digging up herbs and studying magic with her small, fern-like hands, saying she would save me. How lovely she was."

"To think that it was a trap."

Valda covered her face with her hands.

"A trap, you say?"

"Because as the mistress learned forest magic, her stubbornness weakened."

"?"

Valda spoke to Eugene, who was curious.

"Forest magic stems from the cycle of nature. It is a natural thing that a seed germinates and sprouts, grows tall, then withers and becomes fertilizer for the next life."

Valda carefully placed her hand on Grace's dying body.

"As my learning deepened, I only came to clearly understand the reason why I must let Grace go. Even if I love her so much."

Perhaps calling Eugene was a symbolic ritual to cast off her lingering regrets.

"Sir Knight. Pray, lead the mistress into the wide world with those firm hands of yours. Protect her from danger with that resilient strength. The mistress has also agreed."

When Eugene looked at Valda for confirmation, she nodded slightly.

On the surface, it might sound as if he were being asked to take the role of a guardian, but this deal was clearly to Eugene's benefit. How great would be the benefit of having a magician accompany him in war? Valda was a person of skill whom not only Bonyard but also various cities and nobles would welcome. Since Eugene was a knight and at the same time one who cradled mystery, there would be many things to learn and discuss. The dangers encountered thus far could be overcome with strength and valor, but who knows what lies ahead.

Thanks to that, the decision was simple.

"I shall gladly accept that honor. Until such time as Lady Valda wishes to depart, I swear by my sword to protect her."

Eugene raised his gifted sword, Last Autumn, and offered a knight's oath. At the oath of the world's most powerful knight, Grace felt the fear that had been larger than death vanish.

* * *

The following morning. Valda opened the book left by Eugene's mother. It was a diary written in elven that he could not read.

"May I begin?"

"I pray you would."

After clearing her voice for a moment, Valda's crimson lips opened.

"I have come to write my life's first diary. As it would be a pity to discard the empty book I obtained by chance, I have started out of whim."

Because the diary was written spontaneously, neither the dates nor the subjects were consistent. However, two things were clear.

"A child requires a homeland. A house to dwell in, a playground to build memories, and friends to mingle with. The time has come to end the life of a wandering witch."

The starting point of the diary was after Eugene was conceived. And she loved her son enough to give up even her research.

"I never thought I would become a mother. But how many people are there who predict they will become a mother and welcome a baby? The important thing is only the expression with which one looks at the child held in their arms. To think that an existence more precious than the mysteries of the world would be born to me."

The volume is not large. Books of this era have few words that can be contained in a single volume due to the limitations of paper quality. Small memories are written at intervals from a few weeks to as long as a year. Digging up herbs together, eating meals prepared together, and on days with good weather, napping side by side before the oak tree next to the house. Things Eugene already knew as they were each other's everything.

However, there was but one thing. The record contained at the end of the diary was information he did not know.

"My old comrades would be surprised if they saw me. To see me, who was more crazed over the mysteries of the world than anyone, living quietly as a mother in the countryside. Yet, I still have not ceased my exploration of mystery."

Valda stopped speaking for a moment, her eyes twitching. As if she, a magician, had seen a passage that surprised her.

"The incident of my son dwelling within my womb was the greatest mystery I have ever seen. I am merely grateful for the maturity that does not ask about his father. For explaining something that did not exist is impossible even with a witch's knowledge."

"..."

Eugene thought he had been surprised several times since visiting this place. A father who did not exist. It could be interpreted in various ways, but by the context, there could be only one meaning.

'Virgin birth... you say.'

While Eugene was bewildered, Valda closed the diary and picked up another book. It was a book describing the witch's knowledge. Having known him for but a day, she seemed to have learned a secret too great to involve herself in. Thus, she seemed intent on changing the subject.

"This is a thing that will be better for you to read yourself than for me to read it to you."

"Is it because it's an item beyond your understanding, Lady Valda?"

It might sound like a rude question on the surface, but among those who understand magic, it was not so.

"It's as you say. Even if I, who study the secrets of the forest, were to read the secrets of a witch, the complete meaning would not be conveyed."

"I suppose I must learn elven, then."

"There shall be no problem. Since you and I shall have much time ahead."

To have one-on-one teaching from Valda, whom countless individuals yearn to hear even a single word of advice from... It was a luxury even a King could not easily enjoy.

"I ask for your guidance."

"I, as well, ask for yours."

Eugene carefully shook the hand Valda held out. With this, all business regarding the letter was at an end. It was time to return.

* * *

Though the schedule at the mansion was over, no one said they must leave just yet. Not Valda, and certainly not Grace. A final bit of petulance lasting for but a brief moment. Waiting for that was not a difficult thing. Eugene, too, had not organized his thoughts regarding the secret of his birth.

"Do you know of the small village at the entrance of the forest?"

"There are many entrances to this forest."

At Eugene's question, Grace replied with a smile.

"Ah! I mean the village that leads toward Bonyard. The place where everyone has left and one old man remains to guard it."

"I know it. In the past, I visited it to save the dying wheat fields." Valda's golden eyes narrowed as she recalled that time.

"He said that as you walked atop the wheat fields ruined by famine and blessed them, lush grain rose up. Since I have never heard of such a powerful magic."

"Thanks to that, the mistress was bedridden for a month, groaning in pain. It was only natural, as she used such a massive power while in an immature state both physically and magically. Rashes even broke out across her entire body, so imagine how worried I was at the time." Grace let out a sigh.

"I was young and emotionally immature then. I do not do so anymore." The youthful heart that had cried and threw a tantrum because she did not wish to part with her only family. Within it, she also contained unconditional sympathy and kindness. That heart was what drove her to help the people suffering from famine, even at the cost of suffering through a painful illness in bed.

"Now I am called the Mistress of the Forest, the Witch of the Forest, and many other nicknames. Since I act while possessing sufficient knowledge of the ways of the world, I shall not be a hindrance on your path ahead."

The grown Valda was no longer an unconditional sympathizer. As a magician, she treated the world coolly.

Another few days passed. The small Dryads that Grace commanded stopped and returned to being trees. Now, not even the strength to maintain her avatars remained within her.

The party organized the items in the mansion. They preserved precious things with memories so they would not be covered in dust and prepared items for life outside. It was a stroke of luck that Homi, a fellow woman, was there. She served Valda excellently, just as she had been devoted to Eugene.

"When I first encountered your squire, I felt a scent of the forest similar to my own," Valda said while looking at Homi, who was organizing the luggage.

"Do you mean Homi also has a talent for forest magic? I have known her for a long time, but I have not felt such a thing."

"No. It is different from that. Shall I say I felt the spirits of beasts following her shadow? I suspect the reason she cannot speak human language also stems from that. For those who lead beasts require the language of beasts. It's but a guess. Since it is not my field of expertise, do not take it too seriously."

Though Valda was being humble, her insight could not be ignored. It was certain that there was a reason beyond merely have strong beastly blood.

After another few days, the moment of parting finally arrived.

A chair was placed in a spot in the mansion's garden, and Grace sat upon it.

"It's my final wish. Pray, depart while looking at my smiling face."

"Grace..."

"I do not wish to show the sight of my consciousness fading, my eyes slowly closing, and finally my head dropping. No mother would wish to show such a thing to her daughter."

"..."

Homi grabbed the hand of Valda, who was hesitating and unable to depart. And she carefully led her outside.

Valda took a step. And another step, and another. The departing figure of Grace was seeing everyone off with her usual gentle smile.

"My beloved child. Pray, visit this place again one day. For life continues to cycle, and another life shall be waiting for you in this spot."

That was the farewell Grace left before her form vanished. A farewell that promised to reunite in another form rather than an eternal parting. It's a restrained parting befitting an Elf and a Dryad. Since she was not a human, there was no need to bury a stone-cold corpse in the ground. Eugene thought that was truly a stroke of luck.

Thus, the party increased to three.

One human knight.

One Beastkin squire.

One elven magician.

Their races, the blood flowing through them, and their homelands were all different, but they did not feel strange to one another. Three powerful gears that would change the history of the world had gathered in one place. They began to mesh and turn.