Volume 1 Chapter 47 Quest： Obsidian To Roses II
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
When Robert entered his bedroom, he stood in front of the desk in the center of the room with a gloomy expression.
On the desk were various plates of spices and a mortar.
He could see a bowl of almond milk and a basket of oranges placed on a chair nearby.
It seemed he was researching a new type of candy.
”Hmm…? Oh, it’s you, Esther. And Kian too. Is the shop closed?”
”No, Dad. Mr. Kian and the others want to talk to you.”
Esther said this as she moved her body to the back of the room.
Kian stepped through the entrance, followed by Serena and Aliona.
Robert furrowed his brow at Serena and then widened his eyes when he looked at Aliona.
”Y-you’re ‘Thorn Magician’!?”
”Robert, please don’t call me that. Just call me Aliona.”
”…Oh. So, you coming here means…”
Robert stepped back, pale, as he set down the cinnamon mortar.
Esther watched her father with a worried expression.
Kian took a step forward.
”Mr. Robert, we came here to talk about the ‘Leanan sídhe’ hunt from over a decade ago. Actually, my party is currently on a quest in the ‘Labyrinth of Roses’.”
”That thing has come back to life, hasn’t it!?”
Robert interrupted Kian, stepping closer.
The sweet scent of cinnamon filled the air.
He grabbed Kian’s shoulders with his thick, bear-like arms.
”Hey… the ‘Leanan sídhe’ wasn’t dead, was it!?”
”────.”
Kian turned to look at Serena and Aliona.
They nodded at each other before returning their gaze to the bear-like man.
”You know something about that labyrinth, don’t you? I’m sorry, but could you tell me everything from the beginning? Oh, do we have time for this?”
”We have all the time in the world! Kian, if you’re willing to listen to my story, that’s the best offer I could ask for. I was even hesitating to request a quest from you.”
”Now that you mention it, you did say something before.”
”Ah, that day, I had a dream about the ‘Labyrinth of Roses.’ It was her… the voice of ‘Leanan sídhe’…”
”Um, I’ll go get something to drink.”
Esther thought she was the only outsider and said that as she tried to leave the room.
But before she could grab the doorknob, Robert’s voice rang out.
”Wait, Esther. You should stay here and listen. …You have the right to hear this. I’ve been lying to you until now.”
”Huh…?”
”Esther.”
Robert plopped down heavily on the bed behind him.
His stern face looked downcast, resembling a large, grumpy teddy bear sitting on the bed.
He furrowed his brows.
”Esther, about your mother, she didn’t just vanish and leave home… it’s the opposite. I ran away from her. In fact, the story about you being delivered as a baby later is completely made up. …I took you away from her. I killed her.”
* * *
Amid the distant sounds of drunken adventurers making a ruckus, Robert began to weave his words slowly.
Despite the noisy background, the room felt strangely quiet.
”Seventeen years ago in spring, I was a personal rank Rank 4, part of an adventurer party ranked Rank 3, what you’d call an elite adventurer. I know it sounds boastful, but there weren’t any monsters like the hero Rean from ‘Lion’s Companion’ back then, so the Guild valued me quite a bit. It was common for me to be assigned dangerous quests from above.”
He continued.
”The client for that request was a noble from the royal capital. I wasn’t told their name, but they were someone of high status. Their representative asked us to deal with the Evil spirit of the ‘Labyrinth of Roses.’ They wanted us to kill it and bring back its hair. After hearing the request directly in the Guild’s guest room, we set off right away. But the ‘Labyrinth of Roses’ wouldn’t open its entrance, and even when we tried to blow it up with explosives or set it on fire with oil, it would just regenerate immediately. Our party couldn’t even attempt to challenge the maze.”
”That’s right, there was such a strong barrier there.”
Aliona muttered quietly.
Robert nodded and opened his mouth again.
”So, I thought of something. The North Wind and the Sun. Forcing someone to strip their clothes off won’t work. ‘Leanan sídhe’ is an evil spirit, but it has intelligence and a love for song and art. I thought if I passionately sang, ‘I love you, I want to meet you and talk,’ it might show itself… While my party members were stunned by my genius idea, I started studying old love letters in the library from that day on, desperately researching what makes a letter attractive to women.”
”Yeah… huh? Wait? Is this story a bit strange…?”
Serena, who had been listening seriously, tilted her head midway.
It felt like everything was strange.
The idea of sending a love letter to a monster was odd, and the passion to even go to the library to study was strange too.
But the strangest part was that this muscle-bound bear of a man was writing love letters for the beautiful evil spirit ‘Leanan sídhe.’ It was hard to imagine him sitting at a desk, wetting the tip of a quill with his tongue, sighing dreamily over the content of a love letter.
Everyone was confused.
But it was a serious story.
Robert continued weaving his tale.
”My friends laughed at me. They called me a fool. But it seemed like I was mastering the art of love letters. Two weeks later, I was able to write the most powerful love letter that would make a noble lady blush. With confidence, I delivered the love letter to ‘Leanan sídhe.’ I rolled the letter up, added a delicate flower, and sent it to the ‘Labyrinth of Roses.’ Then… about half a day later, the entrance to the labyrinth suddenly opened. The letter had disappeared.”
Robert let out a deep sigh.
He licked his lips and shook his head.
”The tragedy started from there… ‘Leanan sídhe’ was not an opponent we could defeat.”
Robert looked up at Kian.
”Our party was completely overwhelmed by that guy and the swarm of ghosts she summoned. There were just too many enemies, but more than that, she was powerful. The vanguards, with their low magic resistance, couldn’t even move, and the rearguard magicians suddenly found themselves on the front lines.”
”Absorb Essence, huh?”
”Yeah, it seems to be the magic of a lost vampire. I had been so focused on studying love letters that I neglected to research the most important enemy. In the end, I ended up getting my teammates wiped out.”
Robert said this as he covered his face with his hands, rubbing his cheeks.
Esther, who had been silently listening, cautiously urged him to continue.
”But then why is Dad still alive?”
”…I was spared.”
Robert lifted his head.
”All my teammates were brutally drained. But I was the only one saved by her. I had been writing love letters too seriously. The ‘Leanan sídhe’ read my love letters and fell in love with me. And she completely believed that I loved her.”
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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