Chapter 78: The Unpurified Stone and the Morning Rush

Lake Pieta was nestled at the summit of the eastern forest.

Adjacent to the lake stood a small cabin, said to be the residence of Chen and Adel’s master, Chen Kailon. However, the dwelling appeared to have been vacant for a considerable time.

After a brief survey of his surroundings, Hay stood by the lakeshore. He gazed at the emerald-hued waters, then gently tossed a small bouquet he had purchased in the city onto the surface.

Hay’s visit to this secluded spot was solely at Chen’s request.

In Lacumta, Chen and Adel’s hometown, there was a custom of offering a final farewell on the hundredth day after a person’s burial.

Chen, being imprisoned, had been unable to perform this ritual himself and had asked Hay to convey his regards in his stead.

He had also requested Hay to apologize to his master if they ever met, a request Hay doubted he would be able to fulfill.

Hay crouched by the lakeshore for a moment, observing his reflection on the water’s surface, before rising to his feet in less than five minutes.

He felt it was imperative to return early and rest thoroughly for his sparring match with Stan tomorrow.

****

*Thump, thump.*

Someone knocked on the door. Richen, who had been sleeping face down, startled awake and jolted upright.

“Sis, aren’t you supposed to be at work?”

Still groggy, Richen propped herself up with her elbows, barely lifting her upper body. Her mind felt hazy, and her limbs were heavy. All she wanted was to sleep a little longer.

“Richen, Sis!”

“…Ugh! I’m coming!”

Richen’s reply came a beat too late as she fumbled for the pocket watch on the shelf beside her bed. She picked it up and checked the time.

The hour hand rested on the number four. The second hand wasn’t moving. The watch had stopped.

“Damn it.”

Richen cursed, leaping out of bed.

“George! What time is it now?”

“It’s past six!” George called back from beyond the door.

“This is insane.”

Richen hastily shed her clothes and flung open the wardrobe door. She grabbed a random outfit, threw it on, and with her hair a wild mess, rushed out of the room.

There was no time to wash. It seemed better to quickly clean up at work before the hygiene inspection.

“Sis, what about breakfast?”

“Sorry, no time to eat. I have to leave right now.”

“But I made soup! With lots of mushrooms! It tastes delicious!”

“I’m sorry. I’ll eat it when I get back.”

Richen hurried towards the front door.

“Hehehehe, Sis, your shoes don’t match!” the youngest, Daisy, giggled, pointing at Richen’s feet with a bread-filled hand.

Seeing this, George chuckled too.

“Blast it!” Richen swore, dashing back upstairs. George and Daisy mimicked her curse.

“Blast it!”

“Bwlast it?”

“You two should use pretty words!” Lily, the fourth child, exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips. They both shrugged.

“Sorry!”

“Sowwy?”

Soon, Richen clattered back down the stairs. This time, her shoes were crumpled, but at least they were on the correct feet.

“Are you late?” Lily asked.

“I am!” Richen quickly donned her coat, grabbed her bag and scarf.

“Come here, all three of you!”

Daisy was the first to scurry over, clinging to Richen’s leg. Richen kissed each of her siblings on the crown of their heads.

“Eat well, do the dishes, and don’t play outside late. George, help your siblings with their studies.”

“Alright, don’t worry.”

“Awight! Don’t wowwy!” Daisy echoed George’s words. Richen offered a tired smile. “Then, I’m off to work,” she said, and left the house.

Her siblings watched as Richen rapidly disappeared down the hill.

“Let’s go eat.” Lily pulled the two children, who were peeking out the door, into the kitchen. After their meal, the three gathered in the living room, opening old books.

George painstakingly taught Daisy the Marten alphabet, but Daisy couldn’t focus and kept getting distracted.

Truth be told, George and Lily were no different.

Ultimately, less than ten minutes after opening their books, the children brought out toys to play a block game.

“It’s cold, should we light the fireplace?” George asked. Lily nodded.

Though the weather had warmed, it was growing cold again as sunset approached.

“Oh, right, Sis left the laundry out.” Lily suddenly remembered, jumping up.

“Then you go get the laundry. I’ll light the fire,” George said. Lily trotted out to the backyard.

Bored, Daisy climbed onto the sofa and looked out the window behind it. Spotting something, she climbed down, opened the front door, and stepped outside.

George, who had just lit the fire and was poking the fireplace with a poker, was startled but couldn’t follow, fearing the newly lit fire would go out.

Fidgeting, he hastily nurtured the flame before rushing out. His sister was laughing gleefully, perched atop a large wolf.

“George! Look at this! It’s a big doggy!” Daisy exclaimed.

Having been bitten by a dog as a child, George was terrified and scrambled back into the house. He then peeked outside from the front door.

Beside them, a silver-haired man was walking towards the house.

“Don’t be offended, doggy. Our George is scared of dogs! He’s a big coward!” Daisy declared.

[“I’m not a doggy! I’m Nora! I’m a spirit!”]

“No, you’re a doggy.”

[“I am not a doggy!”]

“I’m saying that because you currently look like a dog, you fool.” At Hay’s chiding, Nora’s mouth fell open, and her eyes widened.

[“Hay! Did you just call me a dog? Was that an insult? You insulted me, didn’t you? Hay insulted me!”]

“You’re in the form of a wolf. Wolves are canids, so I said you’re like a dog. Why is that an insult?”

[“Then it’s not an insult?”]

“No.”

As the two bickered, Daisy, still atop Nora, stomped her feet and giggled gleefully.

“The dog talks,” George mumbled, amazed, as they reached the front of the house.

[“I told you, I’m not a dog, I’m a spirit!”] Nora shouted.

When Nora’s red eyes fixed directly on him, George instinctively flinched, shrinking back.

“Little one, you should get down now. Uncle needs to go home.”

“I’m not little! I’m Daisy!”

“Yes, Daisy. It’s time to get down.”

“Hurry and get down, Daisy!” George beckoned to Daisy, unable to approach closer. Daisy pouted, wanting to ride Nora’s back a little longer.

Soon, she stretched out both arms, asking Hay to lift her down. Hay gently picked Daisy up and placed her on the ground.

“Goodbye, doggy! Goodbye, white-haired uncle!” Daisy waved, still reluctant to say goodbye.

Hay chuckled at her antics, then pulled something from a shopping basket hanging from Nora’s lower jaw.

“Hold out your hand.”

Daisy’s eyes widened at Hay’s words, and she extended one hand.

“Both hands.”

When she presented both hands, Hay took a handful of something from a paper bag and placed it in her palms. They were peanuts. He also offered some to George, who was hiding behind the front door.

“Peanuts are expensive!”

“Expensiv!”

“Uncle has a lot of money,” Hay said with a shrug. It wasn’t a lie.

He had received a very generous sum from the administrator for his expenses during his stay in Arcavia.

“Lily’s here too! Aren’t you giving any to Lily? Lily will get upset if you don’t!”

“Lily?”

“Our fourth sister! She loves to eat the most!”

Hay couldn’t help but smile at her concern for her siblings. In the end, he offered the entire bag of peanuts.

“Here, eat it all.”

“Really? All of it?”

“Uncle can just buy more tomorrow.”

“Wow! Thank you!”

However, with their hands full of peanuts, the children didn’t know how to take the bag. Hay simply put the peanuts back into the bag and handed it to George.

“Enjoy your snack.”

“We will!”

Hay stroked the children’s heads and prepared to continue on his way. But Nora stood rooted, sniffing intently.

“What’s wrong, Nora?”

[“I sense the presence of fire…”]

“And?”

Just then, Lily returned from the backyard with the laundry, approaching the front door with a puzzled expression.

“What’s going on? What are you all… Huh?” She stopped abruptly, turning to look towards the living room.

[“Why does the fire smell of mana?”]

Lily, frowning, called out to George. George approached her, looking curious.

“Why?”

“Look at that. The fireplace fire is strange.”

As George stepped inside, and Daisy followed, Hay caught the child and moved her next to Nora.

“Nora, keep an eye on her.”

Hay then entered the house. George had set the bag of peanuts on the sofa and was just reaching for the poker to prod the fireplace.

“Wait.” Hay tried to stop him, but it was already too late.

“Huh?” George asked, poking the fire with the poker. Simultaneously, the flames, which had been subtly crimson-black, surged upwards, engulfing George.

*Shwaaaak—*

Fortunately, Hay’s hastily conjured Water Shield blocked the inferno just in the nick of time. A startled George dropped the poker and fell onto his bottom.

Hay covered the surging flames with the shield. However, only the ordinary red flames were extinguished; the crimson-black flames imbued with dark magic remained.

“Kid, take your brother outside.” Hay told Lily, who stood beside him, frozen in fear.

“He’s my older brother.”

“Take your older brother outside.”

Lily nodded, helping the stiff George outside. Hay immediately generated water, imbuing it with the power of a spring.

When he poured the shimmering, radiant water directly into the fireplace, the dark purple flames thankfully died down.

No longer sensing the presence of fire, Hay picked up the poker George had dropped and rummaged through the kindling. There, he found a cracked magic stone.

Hay used the poker to retrieve it. It was still warm with residual heat.

Outside, he heard the children talking to someone. In time, that someone entered the house.

“What are you doing in there?” It was Stan.

Hay handed the cracked magic stone to Stan.

“It’s an unpurified magic stone. It was in the fireplace, and the children almost got hurt.”

Stan frowned as he took it.

“This was inside the fireplace?”

“Yes. The flames just flared up once.”

“That was a close call. This house could have been destroyed. Why was this in the fireplace? Unpurified magic stones are forbidden.”

“That, I don’t know either. But where are you going? What about Renki’s lesson?”

“It’s over. I was going to see Lorelai. What about you? Did your friend’s visit go well?”

“The visiting hours were too short. Though, I didn’t have much to talk about anyway.”

Hay left the house with Stan. George and Lily, looking scared, and Daisy, unaware of the situation, stood staring blankly. Stan looked at the children, showed them the magic stone, and asked,

“This was in the fireplace. Does anyone know why?”

George and Lily exchanged glances like children caught doing something wrong. But an innocent Daisy smiled brightly and said,

“We were playing marbles today!”

“Oh, you were playing marbles with a magic stone? Where did you get the magic stone from?”

“From Irish’s wardrobe—*muffled*!”

“Quiet, you fool!” Lily clamped her hand over Daisy’s mouth.

“Irish Noy, a researcher at the Tower.” Stan sighed. His expression suggested he understood what had happened.

Stan placed his hand on the wall with a grimace. After a moment, red mana radiated from his palm, spreading throughout the entire building before fading away.

“There are no other magic stones. You children, go inside quickly. Don’t play with fire. I’ll take this, so you know.”

“But that’s our sister’s!” George protested.

“Strictly speaking, it’s the Tower’s property. This is dangerous, so I’ll take it to the Tower. You go in.” Stan gestured with his chin towards the children.

With frightened expressions, the children looked between Stan and Hay before scurrying inside.

Once the children were gone, Hay said to Stan, “It seems they were playing with it and accidentally put it in.”

“Yes. That seems to be the case. Irish Noy won’t be able to escape disciplinary action.”

“Disciplinary action?”

“Unpurified magic stones can be dangerous and are forbidden from being taken outside the Tower. It’s a relief the children weren’t hurt. If there had been a casualty, this would be grounds for imprisonment. I’m leaving now.”

Stan gave a casual wave and headed down the hill.

Hay watched Stan’s red head for a moment, then glanced at the children peeking out the window before turning his steps back up the hill.

[“It’s really fortunate the children weren’t hurt, isn’t it, Hay?”]

At Nora’s words, Hay nodded, stroking her head. If not for Nora, someone truly could have been gravely injured.