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< On the lonely road >
The old man dragged the rag-like man back to the carriage. By then, the children were still fast asleep.
“Huh? Did you move the kids?”
The man checked the children lying side by side in the carriage and asked Modrea, who was guarding the area.
“······.”
Modrea nodded silently and slightly. The man looked at the doll with a curious expression.
‘Now you’re doing things that I didn’t ask you to do. Are you learning these things on your own?’
Daein thought that when he had time, he should properly read the instructions that Dreitz had left behind.
Because there may be more uses for it than you think.
“Well, take your time.”
The man entered the carriage and shook Lily’s shoulder to wake her up.
“Little one. Wake up for a moment.”
Lily woke up, rubbing her sleepy eyes as she injected mana into her body to drive away the sleeping potion’s aura.
“Ugh… why?”
“Come outside. I have something to show you.”
After a while, Lily came out of the carriage with a sullen face. In her arms was the stuffed chicken she always held when she slept.
Lily’s eyes widened as she discovered the man kneeling in front of the carriage.
“who is this?”
I couldn’t recognize it at first glance.
The man’s goblin mask was shattered and he looked like a burst sandbag.
“······.”
But somehow, she felt a chill. The man’s familiar gaze. Memories of the terrible past began to come back to Lily, one by one.
“Who, who, hey···?”
Lily muttered as she took a step back without realizing it, but her instincts had already realized the other person’s identity.
Bam.
When I felt something touch my back and turned around, the old man was standing behind me.
The man said.
“Don’t run away, look straight ahead.”
The man took the gag out of the man’s mouth, took out the goblin mask he had been using to fake his appearance, and placed it on his face.
After a while, a hoarse, slow voice came out of his free mouth.
“Child of Fire···.”
The moment she heard that voice, the girl was back in the cave laboratory of the past.
Shiver shiver.
Lily clutched the doll in her arms tightly and glared at the goblin mask.
In fact, I’ve imagined this situation several times.
Because the old man said he was going to grab the goblin mask.
‘I won’t stay still if we meet again!’
I used to make bold promises in front of people.
But when she actually faced the goblin mask again, nothing came to mind.
The goblin looked at Lily intently and said.
“You managed to escape well. And you even rescued a strong ally, causing damage to us, and now you’re capturing me like this… But.”
“······.”
Hehe.
The goblin leaned towards Lily and continued speaking, seemingly undaunted by the torture that tore at his flesh and bones.
“You don’t think this is the end, do you?”
“Ugh···.”
The girl, confronted with her own trauma, sobbed, unable to utter a single word that was in her heart.
The man looked at the sight quietly and thought.
‘It might have been better if we had never met.’
Perhaps it would have been better for him to deal with the goblins alone.
Instead of needlessly stirring up past wounds, let’s just quietly bury them.
After that, we find the kid’s mother and return to Earth, so we don’t have to worry about this place for a while.
The little boy could have been spared from having to face his painful past and could have been fed well and lived well.
Good, good. In a way that is appropriately ignored and forgotten.
But if that happened, the kid would be plagued by nightmares about goblins chasing him for the rest of his life.
The man took Lily’s trembling hand.
“Are you still scared?”
The girl turned her head and looked up at the man. His face was frightened. The man tightened his grip on her hand and continued speaking.
“What’s so scary about that? A kid with his arms and legs tied up who can only talk. Now he can’t do anything to you.”
Warm, big hands. And a confident voice.
Lily felt her anxious heart gradually calming down.
The man who let go of her hand said, slightly pushing Lily’s back forward.
“Go and say what you want to say. You can show it with your actions.”
“huh···.”
Lily, whose back was pushed, walked forward one step at a time. From behind her, the voice of an old man, no different from usual, could be heard.
“Let’s eat breakfast when we’re done.”
“···huh.”
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The girl strode forward with brisk steps. She stood confidently in front of the goblin who was looking at her with strength in her eyes.
The goblin grumbled.
“Do you think it’ll end with just killing me? Child of Fire. There’s nowhere in the world you can run to···.”
Crack!
The goblin’s face turned to the side. Lily groaned, caressing her cold palm.
And then I screamed with all my might.
“I’m not scared of you anymore!!!”
“···How dare you!”
The goblin screamed with a vicious grimace, but Lily didn’t avoid his gaze and shouted back.
“I’m not scared! Not at all!”
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Fireworks fill the sky.
The fireworks, which easily numbered in the tens, hundreds, and thousands, spread out so far that their end was not visible, dyeing the sky red.
The goblin looked at the burning sky Lily had created with a horrified expression.
“How did you already have this much strength···!”
It’s ridiculous. A kid who ran away from the lab is growing much faster than the ‘other kids’ who are developing their abilities in the organization.
Round.
Lily’s body rose slightly into the air.
Her hair stood out in all directions, and incredible magical powers radiated from her entire body.
With a light gesture, the fireworks in the sky all turned their direction and headed towards the goblin mask.
Gulp.
The goblin mask swallowed its saliva and muttered without realizing it.
“witch···.”
The girl said with her ruby-like eyes shining ominously.
“Wendy’s enemy. I’ll pay you back now.”
At that moment, a man approached from behind and placed his hand on Lily’s head.
“Don’t kill me.”
“···why?”
When Lily turned around with a somewhat dissatisfied expression, the man swept the girl’s hair down, which was spread out in all directions, and said.
“I still have more questions to ask.”
Lily, who had been pouting for a moment, nodded obediently.
“···okay.”
Lily, now quiet, came down to the floor. The girl glared at the goblin mask once, then returned to the carriage.
The man, still dazed, took off his mask and put the gag back in his mouth.
“Then let’s have a deeper conversation again later.”
“······.”
*
*
*
That evening.
A rural village at the western end of the Teru Kingdom. A carriage pulled into the village.
Glance at it.
As a rare luxury carriage appeared, the townspeople stuck their heads out of the windows and glanced around.
“What carriage?”
“Isn’t this a noble procession?”
“What business do you have in a remote place like this···.”
The villagers, looking shabby, looked at the carriage with worried expressions.
A carriage that looked expensive at first glance. There was a high probability that someone of high status was riding it.
And when noble people appeared in the village, almost always something unfortunate happened.
The man sitting on the roof of the carriage could see the entire town at a glance.
“It looks like a pretty poor neighborhood.”
It was a barren, rural village with a remote location and no special products.
The man spoke to Lily, who was sitting next to him.
“Is this the right place?”
“Yeah! Just go that way!”
Lily looked very nervous.
I returned to my hometown after leaving when I was young, after many years. Faint memories were coming back to me.
“Over there! Over there!”
My voice got louder and faster. My heart was pounding so fast I didn’t know what to do.
The man looked at Lily with a worried face.
‘I wonder if this guy’s mother is still alive?’
Of course, I never told Lily, but the man saw the possibility as less than half.
It was not easy for a woman to survive alone in such a rural environment, especially in such dire circumstances that she had to sell her children.
‘furthermore···.’
The man turned his head and looked at the sack being dragged behind the carriage, tied together. The blood-stained sack contained the unconscious goblin mask.
‘Those guys might have kidnapped me to use me as a hostage.’
We used a variety of methods, including the use of a mortar and pestle, but the goblins held out much harder than we had expected.
So I thought I’d keep him alive for a while.
If you have enough time, there is a way to extract all the information you have, even if it means breaking your mind.
And if something were to happen, goblins could be used as a bargaining chip with Pandemonium.
As the man was thinking about this and that in his head, Lily jumped up from the roof of the carriage and shouted.
“Over there!”
The carriage stopped, and Lily jumped out and ran home.
But the girl stopped in front of the door, her outstretched hand hesitating in front of the door.
The man stood next to him and asked.
“Why aren’t you going in?”
“What if my mom isn’t here?”
Lily wasn’t stupid either. She knew that her mother might be dead, even though she didn’t say it out loud.
The man said.
“Let’s think about that when we get there.”
“···huh.”
Lily shut her eyes tightly and knocked on the door.
A moment later, a frightened voice was heard from beyond the door.
“···who are you?”
A woman’s voice. The man turned his head and looked at Lily. Lily’s eyes were as big as lanterns.
Lily said in a trembling voice.
“mom?”
The man took a step back. The frightened voice was heard again from inside the door.
“Who are you? Who are you···.”
“Mom!! It’s me! Lily!”
“···baby?”
The door opened wide and a shabby woman appeared.
The woman with wide eyes looked at Lily with an expression of disbelief. She seemed to not know what to do.
At that moment, Lily was the first to jump into her mother’s arms.
“mom-!!”
“How, how···.”
The woman kept repeating the word ‘how’. Soon tears began to flow from her eyes.
“How did you get here···!”
“Mom! I missed you!”
The mother and daughter hugged each other tightly and cried. The stories they had been holding back burst out with their sobs, and the emotions they had been holding back exploded.
And a few steps behind, the man sighed.
“Phew.”
*
*
*
Late at night, a barbecue party was held.
The man took out the grill and camping gear in front of the house and spread them out, and took out all the meat that had been brought in the carriage.
And he gave the kids a mission.
“Go and call all the villagers.”
At first, the villagers were wary of the large group, but they began to gather one by one, drawn by the smell of grilling meat.
Some of the villagers who tasted the meat shed tears.
“When was the last time you ate meat···.”
“It’s delicious. It’s really delicious!”
“By any chance, there is a saint of carriages···.”
The atmosphere of caution quickly changed to one of welcome.
When the townspeople learned of Lily’s story, they went to the mother and daughter and offered their congratulations.
“Your daughter was sold far away and came back? Congratulations!”
“If you look closely, you still have that face from when you were young.”
“Your face has become so pretty and clear!”
The man took the opportunity to bring out some alcohol.
“Let’s all have a drink.”
As excitement grew, several of the village men stepped forward and shouted:
“On a day like this, a song can’t be left out!”
One or two people came up and started singing, and someone brought something like a drum from somewhere and started beating the beat.
It was the happiest night of Lily’s life.
“Mom, what did the uncle say back then…!”
The girl chattered to her mother all night long about her adventures from Earth, some of which even puzzled the man.
“Hey! Don’t say things like that!”
“It’s Merong!”
Jang Young-shin tried very hard to look good in front of Lily’s mother.
Siblings Zeke and Hannah looked at the mother and daughter with envy.
Modrea stood on the rooftop, watching her surroundings with an expressionless face.
It was an unforgettable night for many.
After the party, all the townspeople went home and fell asleep.
Lily’s mother slowly combed her sleeping daughter’s hair.
She raised her head and looked at the people sitting opposite her. Everyone was asleep, and only two people were awake.
“How can I repay this favor···.”
The man smiled and shook his head.
“What about grace? Thanks to you, I’ve had a lot of fun for a few months.”
“still···.”
“······.”
When the man stared at her without saying anything, she avoided his gaze and lowered her head.
“Why, why are you looking at me like that···.”
“Mother, would you like to walk with me for a moment?”
“yes?”
To her who was flustered, the man smiled gently and said.
“I have something to tell you separately. In a quiet place.”
In an instant, her face turned bright red.
“···Then shall we take a walk for a while?”
After a while, the two walked side by side along the path.
It was Daein who spoke first.
“When the little one sees his mom again, I want to make that day the best day ever.”
“Ah, yes···.”
“I ate my favorite meat to my heart’s content, had many people congratulate me, chattered next to my mom, and then fell asleep… It all went according to plan.”
When the man smiled happily, she smiled too.
A quiet, secluded path. A man and a woman walking shoulder to shoulder.
The man stopped walking and spoke.
“Actually, I was a bit confused at first, but now I’m sure.”
“yes?”
“I wanted to say something… but I just couldn’t seem to find the time to do so because of the kid.”
As the atmosphere flowed strangely, her voice began to tremble slightly.
“What are you talking about···.”
The man turned his head and looked at her intently.
It was clear that the little girl took after her mother, and was quite a beauty even without any makeup.
The man approached her.
“So I decided to stay put until the party was over. Now, my chance has finally come.”
“Hey, if you do this, it will be difficult.”
A woman blushing shyly. However, there was a faint smile on her lips, as if she did not dislike it.
The man approached her briskly.
“I’ve been holding back from saying this for so long···.”
As I reached out and gently cupped her cheek, she quietly closed her eyes.
The man reached down and grabbed her neck.
“Cough!”
The man asked the fake, whose eyes were wide open in surprise, in a cold voice.
“Where is the real mother?”
< On the lonely road > End
ⓒ Ganjjajang
