Chapter 81: A Lucid Journey and a Surprising Recovery

It was the fourth day since Lorelai had begun the spring water treatment. She awoke without any premonition, yet found herself, to her surprise, not in the fishbowl, but on Popenini Hill.

Lorelai was convinced she wasn’t truly awake, but rather caught in a dream. This belief was fueled by the sight of her own two legs standing firmly on the hill, and by the fact that her entire body was enveloped in flames, much like Kasa.

‘Could this be what they called a lucid dream?’

Lorelai rarely dreamt, though she occasionally experienced visions of the recent past. However, she had never before been aware that she was dreaming while inside a dream.

Deciding to embrace this unusual experience, she resolved to enjoy the dream.

Lorelai sought out Saila’s inn, which stood nearby. Even within this dream, the inn’s staff diligently carried out their duties.

Not a single one of them seemed to notice Lorelai’s presence. When she called out, there was no reply, and they even passed right through her.

It felt as if she had become a ghost.

Suddenly, she realized that in this state, she could explore Sanchiapel. In the blink of an eye, Lorelai found herself standing in the heart of Sanchiapel.

It was an utterly wondrous experience.

Lorelai ran through the palace, a place she had never entered before. Inside, pages and maids bustled with work, while guards patrolled their routes.

A sudden desire to see the king’s face seized her. Just like that, Lorelai stood before the king.

Cheapel’s king was an old man, his face etched with deep worry.

He clutched his forehead, as if plagued by a headache. ‘What a pathetic king,’ she thought.

Now, her curiosity turned to the queen. Instantly, Lorelai was beside the queen.

Despite it being midday, the queen lay in bed. Though Lorelai knew she was at least a decade younger than the king, the queen appeared even older.

Considering that all her powerful relatives had been either killed or sold into slavery three years prior, Lorelai found herself wondering how else she could look.

Nevertheless, Lorelai felt no pity for the queen.

Growing weary of exploring Sanchiapel, a sudden thought of someone she longed to see crossed her mind.

It was the woman Lorelai had loved most, one who had sporadically appeared in her thoughts over the past nine years.

It was her mother. This time, however, Lorelai did not find herself by her mother’s side.

Instead, she stood in the middle of a dilapidated shack. This was the very house where Lorelai had lived with her mother before being sold into slavery.

The house, long abandoned, bore no trace of her mother.

A wave of melancholy washed over Lorelai as she gazed up at the hole in the ceiling. Unlike Cheaf, the weather here was dismal, and rain was falling.

According to Stan, it had also rained on the day her mother died.

A week after Lorelai had been sold into slavery by her biological father, her mother had written a desperate plea for help to Lorelai’s aunt, Grena, via a flame message, detailing the entire situation.

Acting on Grena’s instructions, Stan ventured into the outside world and immediately sought out this very house.

It was a night of torrential rain.

Inside the shack, shouts had pierced through the thunder, and the sounds of breaking household items had echoed.

Tragically, the moment Stan burst through the shack’s door, her mother had been struck in the head by her biological father’s poker, dying instantly.

Lorelai vividly recalled Stan’s self-reproach, as he blamed himself for not opening the door even a second sooner to save her mother. Yet, it had never been his fault.

Her biological father.

‘What became of that inhuman wretch?’

A single blink transported her to a colorless mirror labyrinth. Before her sat a grotesque inhabitant of the maze.

More precisely, they appeared to be sitting on an invisible chair. They tossed something into the air, received something, and examined something, as if a table stood before them, though nothing was there.

This sight eerily mirrored her biological father, engrossed in a game of dice. A hollow laugh escaped Lorelai, born of utter disbelief.

Stan had told her that he, acting as a judge, had passed summary judgment on her biological father right there, at the very spot her mother had died.

The sentence was banishment to the Mirror Labyrinth, a punishment more dreaded in Arkavya than even death.

This was the fate of a human scoundrel, mad with gambling, burdened by debt, who had abused and murdered his wife, and sold his own daughter into slavery.

To be driven to madness, stripped of reason, yet still obsessed with gambling—what a wretched end.

Suddenly, she longed to see her master.

He was one of the few people who had given Lorelai good memories during her childhood.

Though their time together had been brief, he was more than just a master to Lorelai. He was a friend, a brother, and a father.

When she opened her eyes, she was in a dark forest. Unlike Cheaf, where it was day, here it was night. A figure lay huddled before a small campfire.

He was covered by a moth-eaten, tattered cloak. Lorelai approached him, her heart pounding with anticipation.

Beneath the cloak, golden hair, like flickering flames, and a face as beautiful as ever, were visible. A smile spread across Lorelai’s face.

‘My master has never appeared in my dreams before.’

Lorelai crouched before her sleeping master, intently studying his face.

Just then, her master opened his eyes. She thought their clear, golden gazes had met.

Upon closer inspection, however, she realized he was looking at the campfire, not at her.

Her master rose. He ran a hand through his disheveled hair, yawned widely, and then spoke.

“Lorelai, you’re still too young to become a sol.”

Lorelai awoke with a jolt, her eyes wide with surprise.

“…!”

She thrust her head out of the water, gasping for breath. As she thrashed, the rapidly boiling water splashed violently.

“Lorelai! Lorelai, calm down!”

Three mages outside the fishbowl cried out in alarm. The boiling water was melting the ice-crafted fishbowl.

Steam filled her vision, blurring everything before her.

This was the first time the inability to see clearly had felt so terrifying.

Lost in confusion, Lorelai desperately wanted to escape the fishbowl. Yet, strangely, her body began to sink deeper into the water.

Just then, the water began to glow, and a cool sensation gently enveloped her body.

Turning at the familiar presence beside her, Lorelai saw Hay beyond the fishbowl.

“Did you have a nightmare?”

Hay asked, his face expressionless and calm. Strangely, despite being underwater, Lorelai understood his words. She shook her head.

‘I thought it was a dream, but I was surprised it wasn’t.’

Lorelai mouthed the words underwater. Hay nodded.

Although he certainly shouldn’t have been able to understand her, it seemed as though he did.

“Well, that can happen.”

Lorelai let out a soft chuckle. She realized that everything she had just witnessed was real. It had not been a lucid dream.

Lorelai had truly been there. She also understood how this was possible.

‘Am I going to die?’

It was because her soul was transforming into a spirit. For a spirit, there was no place they could not go.

“How would I know?”

Hay shrugged.

“Still, shouldn’t you try not to die?”

****

The nineteenth day of the Water-Rising Moon.

Six o’clock in the evening, when the training session concluded.

Renki’s Class 1 magic training session officially ended.

“Congratulations, Renki.”

At Hay’s words, Renki grinned wearily.

“Congratulations to you too, Master! I heard you successfully summoned Kasa today?”

“Yes, though she vanished in less than a minute.”

“Even so, summoning Kasa means the day you contract with her isn’t far off!”

Renki’s eyes sparkled brightly. Hay merely shrugged.

“Well, I suppose it will happen soon enough.”

“You truly are amazing, Master. A spirit user who contracts with all four great spirits is incredibly rare, isn’t that right?”

“If we’re talking about being amazing, then you are too. You memorized all 2,032 runes and completed Class 1 ten days ago. You even learned three more Class 1 spells. Other mages say that accomplishing all of that in just three months is by no means easy. They’re calling you a genius, you know?”

“Genius? Me? That’s absurd. A genius is someone like you, Master, or our actual master.”

Renki waved his hands dismissively, feigning humility. Watching him, Stan, sprawled in his chair, clicked his tongue.

“If the praise session is over, can we please go eat? I’m ravenous, you know?”

“Ah, should I prepare dinner?”

“No need to prepare anything, let’s just go to a restaurant. It’s the last day, after all.”

“Are you paying, little brother?”

At Hay’s words, Stan’s eye twitched.

“Hey, big brother. Have some conscience. On a day like this, out of gratitude for this master’s efforts, shouldn’t you treat us and say, ‘Thank you for teaching our child so well’?”

“Did you teach him for free? You got paid, yet you’re acting as if you did us a favor.”

Hay took a long sip of his perfectly cooled tea, glaring sidelong. Stan shook his head, muttering about expecting nothing from him.

“Anyway, what will you do once you leave here? Are you going to depart Cheaf immediately?”

“Renki needs some rest, too. We’ll relax at Saila’s inn, look for some quests, and plan to leave around the end of the month. If we find a good job, we might leave even earlier.”

“Is that so?”

“What about you? Are you staying here?”

“No. After I drop you off, I have to go to the ducal estate. There are still some matters to take care of there. Of course, I’ll return quickly because I’m worried about Lorelai.”

“And after that, you’ll remain in Arkavya?”

“Not exactly.”

Stan rose from his seat.

“Now that I think about it, I haven’t even seen Lorelai’s face since I arrived here.”

Renki remarked. He had only known Lorelai to be ill.

Given Lorelai’s condition, they had deliberately kept Renki from seeing her until now.

However, with tomorrow being their last day, they couldn’t possibly prevent him from saying goodbye.

“Let’s go see her together tomorrow. At the very least, you should bid her a final farewell.”

“Is she still very unwell?”

Knock, knock. Just then, someone tapped at the door.

Without rising, Stan merely flicked his hand, and the door swung open. Hay and Renki’s gazes snapped towards the entrance.

“You’re all here?”

Jiwena stood there, smiling brightly.

“What is it?”

Stan inquired. Jiwena then stepped aside, and an unexpected figure entered the house.

Hay, along with Stan and Renki, rose from their seats in surprise.

“Lorelai?”

Lorelai, seated in a newly made wheelchair, beamed.

“Hello, everyone! Surprised, weren’t you?”

Lorelai looked perfectly well. Not a single glowing speck remained on her body.

Hay’s gaze immediately darted to Lorelai’s chest.

‘Just this morning, the flames near her heart hadn’t extinguished yet.’

Stan approached Lorelai.

“What? How did you get out?”

“How do you mean, ‘get out’? As you can see, my treatment is finished, so I came out. Surprised?”

“Your treatment is finished? But when I saw you this afternoon…”

“I only got better a few hours ago. Auntie even came to confirm that I’m completely cured.”

Lorelai turned to Renki, smiling broadly.

As Renki smiled back and approached, Lorelai opened her arms and embraced him tightly.

“It’s been a long time, Renki.”

“Are you completely recovered from your illness?”

“Yes. I was just lucky.”

Lorelai released him, patting his arm.

“Renki, congratulations on officially becoming a journeyman mage.”

At Lorelai’s congratulations, an even wider smile spread across Renki’s face.