“Seal Luciano?”

Tie repeated.

Lucarion nodded.

“Yes. Luciano has lived for a very long time. Far longer than any ordinary human ever could. And all the while—in a young body.”

Tie’s face turned serious.

Humans were supposed to grow old with age.

The first person who had explained that to her was the grandmother from Room 107.

‘Little one. People come and go. That’s simply how life works. It’s natural.’

‘What does natural mean?’

‘Do you remember when we watched the water on the hill?’

‘Yeah!’

‘Did someone push it from behind?’

‘Nooo...?’

‘Exactly. Nobody pushed it, but it still flowed downward on its own. That’s what natural means. When things quietly move along their path by themselves. Flowing without force.’

‘...’

‘Human life is the same. Dying of old age is a good death. There’s nothing sad about it.’

‘But Luciano lived °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° a long time and never died. And he never grew old at all.’

Neither Korea’s advanced medicine nor this world’s magic could accomplish such a thing.

And besides—

‘If something like that were possible, Tie would have used it first.’

Grandpa Valentis, Berugon from the weapon district, the old marchioness of Weyvril.

There were too many people around Tie whom she loved and never wanted to watch grow old.

Tie lifted her head and asked tensely,

“Then, Kkamani... did Luciano kidnap children and eat them...?”

Lucarion froze.

“The World Tree said Luciano is extremely depleted and devours souls.”

Lucarion stayed silent for a moment before nodding.

“He is probably doing something similar.”

A chill crawled down the back of Tie’s neck.

“Holy power is the power of healing. In other words, life force. Which means life force can sometimes be converted into holy power.”

“Then the children Luciano kidnapped...”

“They are most likely on the Central Continent. If things go well, we may be able to save them.”

Tie’s body stiffened.

Devouring the lives of others simply because he feared his own death.

And worst of all, innocent children were the victims of those horrors.

“...Bad.”

“Bad and dangerous, Astie.”

Lucarion corrected her.

Now he was looking at Tie with an entirely serious expression.

“I’ll say it again. This is not an opponent you can afford to underestimate.”

Silence fell.

“If there were any way at all to avoid the two of you meeting, I would choose it without hesitation.”

Lucarion lowered his head.

“...The problem is that no such method exists.”

He sank deep into thought.

It looked as though he was trying to figure out how they could escape this situation.

Tie’s brows drooped sadly.

‘If only Tie could help somehow.’

And then—

“I happen to have a rather excellent tactical plan, Mother.”

A lazy yet polite voice rang out.

Tie’s eyes widened.

“Huh?”

Someone approached from behind Lucarion, casually swinging his arms.

Silver hair fluttered in the air.

He was as tall as three—no, four Ties stacked together.

Tie instantly realized who stood before her.

‘Ppupupu turned into a human...!’

But perhaps because she had only ever known Pupu as a tiny elephant—

‘S, scary.’

Tie hurriedly hid behind Lucarion.

An overwhelming shock spread across Krazar’s face.

“Mother...?”

Unable to believe what he was seeing, Krazar froze in place.

“Lord Krazar! I told you to come together with me, ah! I kept calling for you the entire time!”

A panting Marbas arrived last.

As he caught his breath, the lion ears on top of his head twitched.

Only then did Tie cautiously peek out from behind Lucarion.

“Marr?”

“Mistress!”

Marbas’s face brightened instantly.

Running over, he crouched down in front of Tie.

Then he looked up at her with softened eyes.

“You suddenly ran out of the room, and I was terribly worried!”

“Worried about Tie...?”

“Of course! After everything that happened, how could I not worry?”

A strange ache tightened in Tie’s chest, and she clenched her tiny fists.

‘Both Lucarion and Marr.’

They had definitely recovered their memories.

But they were still kind to Tie.

“This is my fault. When you first woke up, I was too flustered to explain anything properly. You must have been very frightened.”

Marbas suddenly glared upward.

“It was absolutely awful! Mistress never asked for that seed! It was forced onto her, and now they’re saying she was chosen, so she has to sacrifice herself!”

“Marbas.”

Krazar growled from a short distance away.

Marbas flinched and immediately shut his mouth, but soon cautiously hid behind Tie instead.

“T, then! A, are you saying Mistress is at fault, Lord Krazar?!”

“...”

“T, this time the Absolute truly was far too cruel! Right?!”

“...”

“W, what exactly did Mistress do wrong?! Right?!”

At last, Krazar let out a heavy sigh.

Leaning sideways against a nearby tree, he muttered quietly,

“...Yes. Even a perfect being does not always make the correct choice.”

Krazar looked at Tie.

“The one who sees all possibilities can sometimes overlook the simplest truth.”

Confusion appeared on Tie’s face.

Pupu’s words were too difficult.

Marbas bravely interrupted again.

“M, Mistress is confused! Y, you need to explain things more simply, since you already understand everything...!”

“You’ve become rather lively today, Marbas.”

“Hiiik.”

Marbas tried to hide completely behind Tie, even though half his body still stuck out.

Krazar clicked his tongue, and—

Poof—

Vanished.

And in his place remained the tiny elephant Tie recognized so well.

“Ppupupu!”

Only then did Tie dart out from behind Lucarion and run toward him.

She hugged Pupu tightly.

“I missed you. Tie was scared you didn’t like Tie anymore, sniff.”

“Kyuut...”

Pupu rubbed his trunk against her cheek.

Then he pretended to wipe away her tears with one of his front paws.

After patting Pupu on the head a few times, Tie asked,

“But what was the plan you were talking about?”

Pupu lifted his head.

“You said you had a tactical plan. If we follow it, can Tie beat Luciano?”

“...Kyu.”

Pupu flapped his ears importantly and twirled his trunk.

Then he pressed his face right beside Tie’s ear.

Marbas, who had been standing a short distance away, quietly crept closer.

And after hearing Pupu’s words, Tie’s eyes flew wide open.

“...They’re coming!”

The first floor of the base.

Bale, who had been peeking out the kitchen window, abruptly turned around.

Everyone immediately jumped to their feet.

Far away, across the garden, four figures were approaching the base.

“But Ppupupu is really super smart! Tie raised the baby well like a mama, so Tie is proud!”

“...Mistress. I say this cautiously, but I was thinking the same thing. When you really think about it, this isn’t exactly some grand tactical plan...”

“Kyuut!”

Tie walked in front.

Marbas had ultimately ended up getting smacked on the head by Pupu.

And even Lucarion wore a faint smile.

“How did he manage to calm her down? The kid looks quiet, but when she gets truly depressed, it’s hard to pull her back out.”

“...Lucarion always finds a way.”

While Bale and Basto spoke quietly to each other, Tie’s voice drew closer.

“When Tie goes inside, Tie will eat strawberry cakeu! Who wants to eat together!”

“Mistress. Do you know how much honey is put into strawberry cake? People who consume excessive amounts of honey have a higher probability of tooth decay, as well as—”

“Kyuut!”

Just as their footsteps reached the doorway—

Ardiana opened the door first.

Their eyes met. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Astie, who had been about to step inside, froze face to face with Ardiana.

“...”

Silence spread through the surroundings.

Tie slowly set Pupu down on the floor.

She hesitated briefly, and then—

“...Mamaaa...”

With her lips puffed out, she ran forward and threw herself into Ardiana’s arms, where she had already been standing with her arms open, waiting for her.