Chapter 126: The Fading Star of Wisdom

“Mommy, Daddy, look! That star is so bright!”

“It truly is. Little Lumi, do you know what that star represents?”

“I don’t know, Daddy. What does that star represent?”

“That star, my dear, represents Akacia, the Goddess of Wisdom. She usually hides in the night sky, but when she appears, she’s the brightest of them all. It seems you’re very lucky, Little Lumi, to see her just by looking up. Perhaps Akacia is watching over you.”

“Aka…cia?”

“That’s right. Little Lumi, you must have heard, we are a family favored by Akacia. Every few generations, someone is able to wield her power, like your grandfather, Orlando.”

“Oh, I see! No wonder Grandpa and Daddy are both so amazing!”

“Hahahaha…”

The father’s hand, which had been stroking her head, paused. Luminas, still a small child, looked up and saw a hint of bitterness in his eyes.

“Akacia is a very mysterious deity; she only grants her power to those she favors… Unfortunately, she doesn’t seem to favor Daddy.”

“Is that so…”

Luminas’s expression momentarily fell, but soon, a wide smile blossomed on her face.

“But it’s okay! Even if Akacia doesn’t like Daddy, I like Daddy, and Mommy likes Daddy too!”

The man paused, speechless for a moment. The woman beside him offered a gentle smile and softly pulled Luminas into her embrace.

“That’s right. Even without the Goddess of Wisdom’s favor, Daddy is still amazing, isn’t he?”

“Yes! Daddy is the best!”

Little Luminas raised her hands high.

“But I heard everyone say that to decipher ancient texts, you absolutely need to be able to use the Goddess of Wisdom’s power. So why does Daddy still want to be an archaeologist?”

“Perhaps it’s because of passion.”

The man gazed up at the night sky and spoke softly.

“Artifacts passed down from ancient times are incredibly fragile. If no one unearths them, if no one protects them, they will quickly vanish into the sands of time.”

“Though Daddy hasn’t received the gods’ favor and cannot decipher those profound mysteries, I can at least bring them out from beneath the earth, where they’ve been hidden from the light, and preserve them. That way, when the day comes, and the next chosen child appears, these historical treasures won’t have crumbled into useless rubble.”

“Moreover, my father—your Grandpa Orlando—left behind a wealth of invaluable knowledge for our family throughout his life. He might very well be one of the greatest people in this world. As a member of the Tingel family, I cannot allow this hard-won glory to simply fade away.”

The man paused, a wry smile gracing his lips.

“Still, not being one of the chosen ones… it truly is a bit of a regret.”

Luminas blinked her eyes, her understanding still hazy, then puffed out her small chest.

“It’s okay! If Daddy can’t decipher them, then I will! Didn’t Daddy say I’m favored by Akacia? So it’ll be fine! I’ll be the one to carry on the family’s glory!”

“Hahaha, Little Lumi, you truly are dependable.”

The man shook his head, gently tucking a strand of Luminas’s long hair behind her ear.

“Forgive me, I might have said too much. Little Lumi, you don’t actually need to worry about these things. You just need to live happily and do whatever you want.”

“What I want to do is become an archaeologist, just like Mommy and Daddy!”

“Dear, did you hear that? She truly is our child.”

The woman laughed, intimately rubbing her cheek against Luminas’s head. “But becoming an archaeologist is very difficult, you know? You have to become strong enough, otherwise, you might accidentally get swallowed whole by monsters!”

“It’s fine! Isn’t Mommy always teaching me swordsmanship? As long as I practice hard, I’ll definitely become stronger!”

“Yes, you’re absolutely right. Truly our child.”

The man continued to gently ruffle Luminas’s hair, a relaxed smile spreading across his face.

“Speaking of which, Little Lumi’s seventh birthday is coming up soon, isn’t it? We actually have a gift prepared for you.”

“Really? What kind of gift?”

“Hehe, it’s a secret for now, Little Lumi.”

The woman placed her index finger to her lips, gesturing for silence.

“We’re leaving tomorrow. But this expedition isn’t far, and we should be back before your birthday, Little Lumi. We’ll tell you what it is then.”

“Okay!”

Luminas nodded happily, a brilliant smile on her face. “Then I’ll stay home and wait for you to come back!”

The next day, her parents left.

However, even after Luminas’s birthday passed, they never returned.

Three months later, news of their deaths reached home.

Reportedly, they had suddenly encountered rampaging monsters within the ruins. Unable to dodge in time, both perished beneath the sharp claws of the beasts.

The ferocious creatures decimated more than half of the expedition team. The remaining members fought with all their might, barely managing to repel the monsters and retrieve the couple’s bodies.

The day her parents were buried, the weather was exceptionally clear. The sky was a pristine, cloudless blue.

Many people, dressed in black, their faces etched with sorrow, gathered at the cemetery on the outskirts of town.

When they saw the small figure standing by the gravestones, their eyes filled with even greater pity.

“That child… she must be the only remaining heir of the Tingel family…”

“Ah… how pitiful. So young, yet she’s lost both her parents at once.”

“Fortunately, Mr. Orlando is still here. Surely, he’ll be able to raise her into an extraordinary person.”

The muffled chatter reached her ears, but young Luminas couldn’t comprehend a single word.

She stared blankly at the two cold, unfamiliar stone tablets before her, a profound, bottomless fear gripping her heart.

She couldn’t understand, nor could she accept, that the adults around her were pointing at these two stones and calling them her parents.

Beside the stone tablets stood her grandfather, Orlando, a towering, mountain-like figure. His expression was calm, devoid of any visible sorrow, as he recited the long, dry eulogy as if by rote.

By dusk, the setting sun painted the sky a bloody red.

All the ceremonies had concluded, and the mourners gradually dispersed, leaving the graveyard to its silent dormancy once more.

Luminas remained rooted to her spot, gazing blankly at her parents’ names carved on the gravestones.

“It’s time to go back.”

Orlando approached her, casting a vast shadow, and spoke in a cold, stark tone.

Luminas didn’t move, only mechanically lifting her head.

“Grandpa, what exactly happened to Mommy and Daddy?”

“They died.”

“Died… Then when will they come back?”

“Dead means dead. They won’t come back.”

“Why?”

Luminas’s voice rose slightly, sounding agitated. “Why can’t they come back if they died? Isn’t Grandpa amazing? Aren’t you the most amazing person in the world? Grandpa must have a way to bring them back, right?”

“There is no way. The dead cannot be brought back to life; this is the law of this world.”

Luminas’s small shoulders trembled, tears streaming incessantly from the corners of her eyes.

“They… they promised to come back for my birthday. Why… why did they die?”

“There is no ‘why,’ because this was the path they chose.”

Orlando mercilessly laid out the cold truth.

“They weren’t chosen ones, they didn’t have the talent, yet they insisted on becoming archaeologists. They have no one to blame but themselves for such an outcome.”

Orlando had no desire to continue speaking. He grabbed Luminas’s arm and, like dragging luggage, pulled the dazed and distraught girl back home.