Let’s Block the Ruined Route in Advance

“Clever, and I was so close.” “Never mind.” 

This is the life Eileen has come to in order to prevent her future as Athrox. The last thing she wanted was to be tricked into becoming a disaster by an unknown entity.

 “I really should be going now. Take good care of Master Felix.” “Shut up. Felix will never see the likes of you again.” “Will he?” 

Lobel smiled dubiously. His voice was choppy, like he was talking on a phone call out of range.

 “In the end… we’ll… meet again… will… And… you will… because… you’re…my…” 

Then the horrible voice stopped completely. Eileen, who had been staring in disgust at the hideous mass of flesh spewing out its last uncontrollable words, stopped.

 “What are you talking about, you lunatic.” 

Sighing, she called to Star.

 

She had no intention of waiting meekly for the filthy thing to explode.

 “Come on, Star, you’ve made it this far. Let’s keep going.” “Chew!” 

“Clean up your own messes.”

 

That was what Eileen had told everyone at the orphanage.

 

Eileen stretched out her hand, and the great trees that surrounded the greenhouse swept in through the cracks and wrapped around Lobel, who was about to burst.

 

Eileen hurriedly sank it underground before it burst.

 

Deeper. Deeper. Deeper. Tighter.

 

The earth binds it, holds it down, and sends it deeper into the earth. The duke, about to swing his sword, saw the tree disappear and ran back into the greenhouse.

 

Eileen stood in front of the bottomless pit, her face a mask of exhaustion.

 “I’m sorry.” 

Looking at the Duke, Eileen weakly begged for forgiveness. The Duke, realizing the state of the magic concentrated underground, scooped her up in his arms.

 

Soon after he carried her out of the greenhouse, a faint rumble could be heard from the ground, and the greenhouse began to collapse in on itself.

 

Luckily, everyone had long since moved away from the greenhouse, so no one was injured. But the greenhouse was shattered without a trace.

 

The Duke held his child, who had begun to sob, and watched as the greenhouse came crashing down.

 “I’m sorry…” 

Eileen didn’t dare look at the Duke. For whatever reason, she was the one who had ruined Theresia’s garden.

 

The Duke clumsily tried to comfort her as she cowered and cried, covering her face.

 “You have nothing to apologize for, for it was not your fault. If anything, I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner.” 

Eileen could barely lift her head. The duke carefully set her down on the floor and sat down on one knee.

 “Eileen, it’s all right, look at me.” 

Eileen looked up at him, hesitantly. His calm gray eyes were still, waiting for her.

 “You really don’t need to worry about the greenhouse. Was the Theresia you remember the one who would be disappointed in you for something like this?” “…No.” “See.” 

The duke nodded and took the child’s hand.

 “Eileen, Theresia’s greenhouse is you. It’s not the greenhouse itself that’s special, it’s your hands and the love you put into it. That will never go away as long as you are here.” 

Eileen stared at him blankly, not expecting to hear such words from the Duke, and the Duke smirked.

 “Do I look a bit like Theresia?” 

Eileen nodded softly, realizing that the smile that lifted the corners of her eyes did indeed resemble Theresia.

 

In the distance, she could hear Lucian and Cordelia running toward her, having seen that things had calmed down. A little slower, but following closely behind, was Felix, sobbing like a baby.

 

The commotion that had begun late at night had ended just before dawn.

  

* * *

  

The ground is stirring.

 

Examining the ground, Orgen delicately stroked a grain of sand. He watched as his spirit, in the form of a salamander, licked the corners of its mouth, then looked up at the sky.

 “Eileen.” 

He studied his apprentice’s face for a moment, then shook his head and returned his attention to his work. Behind him, a group of people gathered.

 

“Master Orgen, this soil is from the northern province of Tolin.”

 

“Coastal sand from the southern province of Riven.”

 

“From the capital city of…”

 

Behind him, as he surveyed the ground from his temporary home in the rugged mountains, piles of soil collected from across the empire piled up. It wasn’t from every province, but as an empire that had long ago succeeded in unifying the continent, even a small sample would easily exceed his height.

 “This is a lot of land.” “How do you like it?” “Whatever.” 

Elling, the imperial inspector of demons, swallowed hard. Opening his pouch and feeling the soil inside, Orgen frowned.

 “There’s no need to evaluate. It’s Margie.” “I see.” 

Elling sighe

d, pushing up his large glasses.

 “The sandy province we just opened is a mining area in the north of the country, and they say it was two months ago that a stronghold-type demon broke out and was dealt with by the Imperial Knights.” “It’s not good that there’s still magic in t

he area two months after it was destroyed.”

 “The problem is, they’re getting fat.” 

Orgen swiped a tired hand across his face and flopped down on the floor.

 “I guess retirement is out the window.” 

Elling scratched his cheek with an embarrassed laugh. He knew he was an agin

g spirit despite his appearance, but there was nothing he could do about it. The frequency of demon outbreaks had been steadily increasing lately, and he’d been so busy that he’d been tempted to borrow a cat’s hand.

 

It was painful to say how helpful a top-notch elementalist who knew the energies of the land and the demons would be in this situation.

 “Let’s get this done and then we can all have a drink.” “Hmph.” 

Orgen’s remark caused the surveyors, who had been frantically hauling sand and writing reports, to stiffen. The vigil lasted for days and nights.

 “Man, I want to go home.” “I just want to sleep for four hours… no, three hours in a row.” “Why did I even pay my rent?” “We should have bought a sleeping bag, not a bed.” 

They were desperate for rest, but who could resist the advice of the emperor’s most trusted advisor? Elling spoke on behalf of all the investigators, who were all excited.

  

* * *

  “I’m so tired.” 

Eileen stood up from her seat, barely able to compose herself. Oslo was shaking the children one by one with an apologetic look.

 “I apologize, children. I know you’re tired, but it was urgent.” 

The children, who had only fallen asleep after dawn after the night’s mayhem, were summoned to the Duke’s office in good spirits, bleary-eyed and bleary-headed.

 

He wished he could have let them sleep longer, but he needed Eileen and Felix’s testimony to understand the situation.

 

The Duke answered the knock on the door and raised one eyebrow at Lucian and Cordelia, who naturally entered together.

 “You two should be sleeping. Why are you here?” “Don’t ask the obvious.” 

What was obvious wasn’t immediately clear, but it was familiar, so the Duke didn’t argue. The children took their seats and picked up their pre-prepared tea cups. Eileen was the first to ask, quenching her thirst with sweet milk.

 “But didn’t you say you were in Karand’s Canyon? How did you know that Eileen and Felix are in danger, since it’s more than a week away?” 

Lucian nodded vigorously. That was his question, too. The duke didn’t answer the boy’s question right away, but pulled a box from his bosom.

 “I have a story to tell you about him. Eileen, do you know anything about this necklace?” 

The Duke opened the box, revealing a necklace with a purple gemstone. Eileen didn’t immediately recognize it, but her mouth opened as if she realized something.

 “Ah! The Feast of Regia. I reported that Star was acting strangely and I got separated from the group for a while, and then I ran into a strange rabbit and he threw it at me. I lost him quickly, so I don’t know who it was…” 

The image of the weird rabbit with the necklace around Eileen’s face, begging for forgiveness with his hands up in the air, popped into her head.

 

The idea of returning to the manor to do some research had been lost in the overlap of Theresia and Felix’s work.

 

The Duke looked at Oslo and nodded.

 “Tell me all you know about the man in the rabbit’s hat.” “Yes, but I didn’t see him for long.” “It doesn’t matter.” 

The duke listened with a serious expression on his face as Eileen described the man in the rabbit’s fur. Oslo scribbled something in a small notebook.

 

When he finished, Eileen looked at the necklace and asked the Duke

 “But how did this necklace end up in your hands, Duke?” “Because it summoned me here.” “What…?” 

A silence filled the room as the answer came out in disbelief.

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