Chapter 30: She will live happily with her master in her dream

Seeing the maiden’s face, tear-streaked like pear blossoms after rain, a sight that stirred immediate pity, their minds went utterly blank for a moment.

“H-Hyun… Hyun-eun, you… this…”

Sephilia recoiled a step, utterly unable to accept what she was seeing.

Hyun-eun gazed at the girl in the green floral dress.

Tears still clung to the maiden’s face, yet her eyes blazed with an undeniable hatred.

She, in turn, glared back at Hyun-eun.

Spirit races were inherently simple beings.

Born from the Tree of Life, their nature was pure and their thoughts uncomplicated.

The moment they forged a contract with a human, that Spirit Master became the most important person in their entire life.

Had nothing untoward transpired later, the bond between Radiant Knights would have stood as the ultimate paragon for all Spirit Masters!

Only Spirit Masters betrayed their bound Spirit Weapons; never did a Spirit Weapon willingly betray its master.

Thus, regardless of the Wind-Spinning Spirit Master’s character, the girl in the green floral dress, as his bound Spirit Weapon, would always regard him as her closest kin.

Now, with that closest person murdered by another, it ignited in her the fiercest hatred imaginable.

Yet, facing her hateful gaze, Hyun-eun felt not a ripple of emotion.

If the girl in the green floral dress sought vengeance, he would not hesitate to send her on her way.

“Alas…”

Melo sighed, slowly stepping forward.

“Melo.”

Melina looked at Melo with a complex expression, hoping she might find a solution.

Even so… Melina herself wasn’t sure what she wanted Melo to do.

Melo patted Sephilia’s shoulder, then advanced to stand beside the girl in the green floral dress.

“Return to the Mother Tree. Whether you wish to await another, or to erase your memories and begin anew, or even… never to return to this world again. Go back, for that is your true home.”

The girl in the green floral dress looked at Melo, her hatred undisguised.

Yet, as her gaze fell upon Melo’s face, and she felt the warmth emanating from her, the maiden froze.

“You are… of the [Radiant].”

Melo nodded. “Yes, I am Radiant.”

“Why… why is this world like this? My master was such a good, good person.”

Melo gently embraced the girl in the green dress, softly patting her back as she tenderly advised, “This world is cruel. Whether you are of the Spirit race or they are humans, you both face the same harsh reality. Humans die, and Spirits die; everyone continuously loses what is most important, what is most cherished. I do not wish for you to understand humanity, only… if you feel this world is not worth it, then do not return.”

She offered no empty comfort to the maiden, but merely laid bare the world’s cruelty to her, and perhaps… to the other five as well.

The girl in the green dress wept profusely in Melo’s arms, as if to purge every last bit of her sorrow.

Then, she looked at Hyun-eun again, her eyes still brimming with hatred.

Yet, ultimately, she did nothing, for she knew that at that moment, there was nothing she could do.

She turned to Melo, the hatred in her eyes transforming into a desolate sorrow. “I do not wish to lose my master’s memories; they are the most precious thing I have left. But… I also do not wish to return. I will carry these memories back to the Mother Tree and slumber forever, perhaps in my dreams, I can be with my master eternally.”

At that moment, Melo’s own nose began to sting, while Melina and Sephilia had long since dissolved into uncontrollable sobs.

The girl in the green dress offered a bittersweet smile, and her body gradually transformed into countless green specks of light, slowly dissipating.

****

“Me… Melo.”

Watching Melo, who seemed lost in thought, Melina felt a pang of worry.

“My apologies for causing you concern, young miss. I am fine. After all… I have witnessed many more such events on the battlefield.”

“Did she… return to the Tree of Life? What will become of her?” Sephilia’s mood was somber.

Melo nodded. “Yes, that child has returned to the embrace of the Mother Tree. Since she chose not to return to this world, it is likely that, as she herself wished, she will find eternal rest within the Mother Tree’s embrace, living happily ever after with her master in her dreams.”

Everyone looked at the Spirit Master’s corpse on the ground, a wave of sadness washing over them.

Only a short while ago, they had all been students at the Knight Academy, and even now, they were not yet adults.

Yet, the raw, brutal reality of death and the sorrow of parting had unfolded so vividly before their eyes; how could they possibly adapt so quickly?

After a long silence, Sephilia looked at Hyun-eun, her eyes filled with a complex mixture of emotions.

“Hyun-eun, answer me one question.”

Hyun-eun, in turn, looked at Sephilia, observing the noble young lady who had forcibly dragged him into this situation.

Her expression now was as if she had suffered a profound blow, appearing on the verge of shattering.

“Ask away.” Hyun-eun’s voice was calm and low, as it always was.

“Is it true that this isn’t the first time you’ve killed someone? Not just him, but the person you chased earlier. What about that person’s bound Spirit Weapon? Did they also return to the Mother Tree? Or…”

Evidently, this was not merely one question.

Hyun-eun, however, seemed unconcerned by such trivialities.

He simply nodded silently. “Killing, indeed, is not a first for me. As for that person’s bound Spirit Weapon…”

At this, he shifted his gaze to Melo. “That person’s bound Spirit Weapon was also of the [Shadow] (TL Note: Referring to the ‘幽暗’ Spirit race, which translates to ‘Shadow’ or ‘Gloomy’). You, of all people, should understand, shouldn’t you? You, who were once Radiant.”

Melo flinched at his words, her gaze turning complex as she looked at the dagger in Hyun-eun’s hand.

Both Sephilia and Melina looked at Melo with confusion, not understanding the implication.

While the [Shadow] race was indeed the most common elemental Spirit race, and its population was considered the largest among all elemental types, the characteristic of the [Shadow] race evolving by devouring its own kind was a secret almost all Spirit Masters kept close to their chests.

Unless one had specifically researched it, or was a Spirit Master of the [Shadow] race themselves, this information generally wasn’t spread.

Even institutions like the Knight Academy, which taught foundational knowledge, would not reveal this “common knowledge” to their students.

It was, in a way, a “secret” that was widely known.

Melo sighed.

The small hammer, which hung at Sephilia’s waist, now shrunken to the size of an ornament, slowly spoke at this moment. “[Shadow] Spirits devour their own kind to evolve. That person’s bound Spirit Weapon must have already been consumed by Hyun-eun’s own Spirit Weapon, and so… she can no longer return to the Mother Tree.”

This revelation struck the two maidens like a bolt from the blue, leaving them stunned on the spot.

Melo added, a hint of melancholy in her voice, “The current name of the [Shadow] race, the Spirit race known as Shadow, was only attained after one of them devoured enough of its own kind to become the strongest. All members of the Shadow race share the sole objective of consuming their kin to replace the name [Shadow] with their own.”

“Replace [Shadow]… doesn’t that mean…” Sephilia gritted her teeth, leaving the sentence unfinished.

Melo nodded. “Indeed. Either devour Shadow, or be devoured by Shadow.”