Flillian, I want to live.

Indeed, even if Haita really didn't want to kill him, given the huge gap in strength, it was only a matter of time before he collapsed from exhaustion.

But the man never intended to engage in a war of attrition with Haita.

He raised his sword again and swung it forward with force.

However, this time, his target was not the Haita, but the huge bookshelf that occupied the entire wall.

"I noticed something during my previous battle with Mr. Butler: he seemed to be deliberately protecting this bookshelf... And just now, Mr. Haita, your attack also deliberately avoided this bookshelf. I assume there must be a reason for you doing this, right?"

As the man chopped with all his might, the huge bookshelf collapsed. Along with the smoke and dust produced by the falling books, the secret door that Philen had entered before also lost its cover and was exposed to several people.

"Karl, father and Philen are up there, go kill them!"

Following the man's roar, Carl, who had fallen to the ground, suddenly opened her eyes. She mobilized the last bit of magic power in her body, transformed into a ball of black feathers again, and rushed through the secret door up the stairs to the top of the tower.

"Damn it!"

Haita raised his hand towards the secret door, gathering enough magic power to kill Carl with one blow, trying to stop Carl's actions. However, the next moment, in the darkness and smoke, a man rushed up with a sword in hand, and used his body to shield Carl as he rushed through the secret door.

The moment he saw the man, Haita's heart tightened and he subconsciously reduced the magic power of his attack.

The man spat out blood and flew backwards again, but he stood up again. He raised the Brave Sword in his hand and roared at Haita with a wild laugh like a true hero:

"Come on, kill me! Hero!"

In the room above the tower.

Philen felt a cold wind blowing open the half-open door. When she turned around, she saw a girl slightly older than herself appear beside her.

She looked extremely miserable, her white dress was torn to pieces by the explosion, and her body was covered with visible wounds. Even so, the pair of curved horns on her head made Philen realize at the first moment that she was a demon who could easily kill him.

"Father...where is Lord John?"

Carl lowered his head, looked at the purple mushroom-headed person in front of him, and asked the other party.

"Master John... has just passed away."

Philen was not panicked by Carl's arrival, nor did she think of running away. She just turned her head and looked at the small bed beside her, and said to Carl with some sadness.

"Really? Father has passed away."

Karl turned around and looked at the bed beside her. She reached out her hand and gently touched the old man who was lying peacefully on the bed, as if he was fast asleep.

For a moment, all the memories of the time they spent together came to Carl's mind. She was not a great demon like Gutel who had lived for a thousand years. In her not-so-long life, the memory of the old man occupied a very important part.

"Will you feel sad?"

Philen turned his head and looked at Karl who was staring at the old man in a trance.

"Would it make you feel better if I said I was sad?"

After confirming the old man's death, Carl withdrew his hand from the other's cold body, turned around and looked at Yu Feilun and said.

"Don't you have a heart?"

Phelan reached out and gently placed his hand on Carl's chest.

"I guess so……"

Carl looked at Philen with a sad expression on his face and slowly stretched out his hand towards the other's neck.

call out--

A weak magical power gathered in the palm of Philen's hand, and then a white beam of light pierced Carl's chest.

"you……"

Carl's hand stopped in mid-air. She could never have imagined that she, who had escaped from countless powerful humans, would die at the hands of this seemingly harmless little girl in front of her.

Chapter 22: Mushrooms begin to grow after the rain

Twenty years after the death of the brave Sinmeier.

On the outskirts of Stellar, the holy capital of the Central Kingdoms.

"Um……"

The girl in white looked at the dead tree in front of her and fell into deep thought.

If I remember correctly, I seemed to have seen the same big tree last time, and the time before that.

"I always get lost in this forest... Is there some kind of spell here that makes people get lost?"

The gentle spring breeze blew past the girl. Perhaps because of the chill of early spring, the long, pointed ears on her face trembled unconsciously.

"where is this……"

The silver-haired elf girl muttered to herself.

"that……"

Just when the elf girl was feeling distressed about being lost, a purple mushroom, no, a purple-haired girl who was picking mushrooms poked her head out from behind a withered tree.

"Are you here to pick mushrooms, too?"

Philen blinked his eyes and looked at the elf girl in front of him curiously, with an expression as if he had met a rare beast.

"Don't act like you've discovered a nomaru snake..."

Looking at Philen, whose face was full of curiosity because he met an elf for the first time, the elf girl complained helplessly.

"I'm sorry, because the elves I have in my mind are more noble..." Philen observed the silver-haired elf in front of him, who looked like a stunted JK girl. "Are you really not cosplaying or something?"

This kid is more vicious than I thought.

A drop of cold sweat ran down the elf girl's forehead, but considering that the other party was her only savior, she suppressed her anger, grinned, and gave the other party a self-proclaimed kind smile, trying to be close to the other party and said:

"Ah, are you here to pick mushrooms? Indeed, the fungi in this forest are famous for their delicious flavor, especially the matsutake mushrooms produced this season. Although rare, they are extremely delicious. Once you try them, you will never forget them~"

Philen looked at the elf girl who closed her eyes and recalled the delicious matsutake mushrooms she had tasted before, and a wary expression appeared on his face.

"Someone told me that it's easy to pick matsutake mushrooms near dead trees after rain... But I got here first, so..."

Philen glanced at the matsutake mushrooms he had just picked in the basket in his hand, and then carefully protected it behind him.

"No!"

"Hey...I won't steal your things!"

The elf girl, who was thought to be a bad person for some reason, looked awkwardly at Philen who was slowly retreating.

"This is the precious matsutake mushroom I collected with great difficulty. I want to give it to Master Haita to make soup."

Seeing the aggrieved look on the elf girl in front of her, Philen realized that what she had just said might have been a bit too much, so she pursed her lips and explained to her why she valued these matsutake mushrooms so much.

"Hmm? Haita?"

When the elf girl heard her familiar name coming from Philen's mouth, her eyes widened.

"Any questions?"

"The person I'm looking for is Haita..."

An expression of missing an old friend appeared on the elf girl's face.

In the cabin in the woods, Haita, sitting by the fireplace, looked a little older than before.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, Haita did not turn around, but just said lightly:

"Are you back? Philen."

"You're still alive, you drunken monk."

However, what he heard was a familiar old friend's slightly teasing greeting.

"what……"

Haita looked back at the open door. The elf girl standing there looked no different from when they parted more than ten years ago, as if the long time had not changed her in the slightest.

"You're here, Flillian."

At the dinner table in the evening, Philen served the two people sitting opposite each other the freshly cooked mushroom soup.

Fulilian picked up the soup spoon, scooped up a mouthful of mushroom soup and put it into her mouth. The delicious taste instantly exploded in her mouth like magic, and a healed expression instantly appeared on Fulilian's face.

"When did you become such a good cook? You drunken monk, I don't remember you being such a good wife and mother."

Fulilian raised the bowl and took the last sip of mushroom soup. Then she looked at Haita who was smiling across from her and asked him with some surprise.

"People always grow up, Fulilian. I just happened to learn a few tricks from someone."

Haita replied with a smile.

"That's really unlike you. It's hard to imagine that with your personality, you would learn cooking from others." Fulilian propped up her chin with her hand and turned her gaze to Ferren, who was standing on a small stool washing dishes. "And that kid, when did you become so helpful? You're not Xinmeier."

When Haita heard Xinmeier's name from Fulilian's mouth, a hint of melancholy appeared on his face.

"Compared to that," Haita pushed up his glasses, "Flillian, why did you come to see me?"

"I'm just passing through the Holy City to purchase some things. I will try my best to contact the people I can meet at my destination."

Fulilian looked at the aging Haita. Even though the other person had a rare longevity among humans, for an elf, his life was still as short as a flash.

"I owe you a lot, Haita," Fulilian said bluntly without any politeness. "I want to repay you while you are still alive."

"Is that so?" Hearing Fulilian's answer, Haita's lips curled up slightly. He seemed to have been waiting for her to say this. "Then I do have a favor to ask of you, Fulilian. Do you plan to take in a disciple?"

"Accepting a disciple?"

Fulilian was stunned for a moment. She vaguely remembered that more than sixty years ago, at the celebration banquet for the defeat of the Demon King, when she proposed to travel alone, Aize had also suggested that she take in an apprentice as a person to chat with.

She refused.

Even if you teach them a lot of things, they will die immediately.

At that time, she gave her companions this answer.

"Yes, this child, Philen, seems to be very interested in magic. Can you take her with you on the trip?"

When Fulilian fell into memories, Haita also made his request to her.

Fulilian turned her head and looked at Philen who was wiping the dishes. She could feel the faint fluctuation of magic power from him. Considering the qualifications of a human magician... it might be pretty good.

If he practices diligently, perhaps he could become an independent magician by the time he is in his twenties or thirties.

But it was too late.

"I'm sorry," Fulilian shifted her gaze from Feilun back to Haita, "This is the only thing I can't promise you, Haita. She will become a burden to me."

Hearing Fulilian's words, Feilan stopped wiping the plate.

"I'm afraid I'll encounter many dangerous enemies on my upcoming journey. With that child's skill level, there's no way he'd survive a real battle. I don't want to send a child entrusted to me by a friend to die."

Fulilian paused for a moment, then told Haita her reasons directly in front of Philen.

Chapter 23: Anyway, open your box for me first

Facing the serious Fulilian, Haita did not force her.

"Then do me a favor."

Haita stood up, walked to the cellar door with his crutches, and turned to Fulilian.

"If I can do it."

Fulilian blinked.

"This book was unearthed from the tomb of the wise Evish."

In the underground library with torches lit, Haita took out a dark red magic book from the secret compartment of the bookshelf.

"Oh?"

When she heard the word "magic book", a look of interest appeared on Fulilian's face.

"It is said that this magic book records the lost magic of resurrection of the dead and the magic of immortality."

Haita looked at the magic book on the table and explained to Philen with confidence.

"I don't think there's such magic."

Fulilian opened the magic book on the table. It was filled with codes made of patterns. To modern magicians, it was indeed as obscure as oracle bone inscriptions.

"I would like you to interpret this book and verify whether those magics exist, okay?"