Chapter 375

The breeze through the palm trees was warm.
Unlike the islands, where the leaves were beginning to turn, the land below was still in summer.
The plazas of Mantica, the largest city in the south, were bustling with people today.
“The undead have been confirmed to have been exterminated as of yesterday! Carriages to Chilston will resume normal service today!”
“Now, now, now, it’s not about the carriage, it’s about the carriage, it’s about the carriage!”
“Uh oh. Is this article real?”
It’s always a busy place, but today it was even busier.
Telegrams handed out by top-hatted salesmen stopped passersby in their tracks.
In the middle of it all, a dark-haired man burst out laughing.
“There you go. That’s it, stick your leg out.”
“?
The girl sitting across from him shook her head.
In the man’s hand is the girl’s leg.
He held up a pair of prosthetic legs that were realistic enough to be mistaken for real.
“Vern, you’re done already?”
The girl’s father, who was present, also expressed his embarrassment.
Even as I watched the process with my eyes, I couldn’t accept it.
It took him less than 30 minutes to build a prosthetic leg.
Including the time it took to measure my daughter’s body.
“Yeah. What’s the big deal? It says it’s fast.”
The man pointed upward with his index finger.
The large sign read in confident calligraphy, “We’ll make you an arm, leg, or wing. Fast and accurate.
“That’s–but.”
“Don’t worry. I didn’t make it half-assed. Come on, Bridge!”
“Yes, yes, yes!”
The girl cautiously stuck out her right leg.
My father chewed his lip.
There was nothing left below her crushed knees.
The smiling man’s expression turned serious.
“You’ve been suffering, now rest easy.”
He began to attach the prosthetic to the girl’s leg, muttering unintelligible words like an incantation.
It didn’t take long.
After finishing the attachment, the man smiles cheerfully again.
“Okay, that’s it, you’re done, now go walk in style!”
“Huh? Is your leg—?”
There was no pain at all.
The girl slowly opened her eyes.
It was clearly a prosthetic limb, but it seemed to have sensory connections.
Instinctively, I squeezed, and my little toe wiggled.
“Wow.”
The girl clamped her mouth shut.
This time it wasn’t an illusion.
The man’s new leg was perfectly innervated.
She pushed herself to her feet and took a step.
As she limped away, she waved to her father.
“Dad, look, I’m walking!”
“Oh, my God—!”
The girl’s father was frozen, unable to say anything.
Her wrinkled eyes are red.
She was staggering, but quickly regaining her balance.
His little face lit up with a smile that I thought I would never see again.
When he was done, the man dusted off his hands.
“They’re quick learners. They’re kids after all.”
“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, I thought I’d have to live my whole life on the backs of others—!”
“Hmph, how technology makes life free.”
He squeezed his long hair like a woodpecker.
His only daughter lost her leg to the undead plague of the necromancer Kiersage.
A leg bitten by a living corpse would just rot away, and you’d have to cut it off if you didn’t want to lose your life.
Ronan and Asel’s intervention quickly brought the situation under control, but there were still victims like the girl throughout the south.
The hellish days were flashing through my head like a zuma light.
The girl’s father swiped at his face.
“Hmmm, thank you—I’ll give you whatever you want.”
“Whatever? Can you handle that?”
“Well, of course! You can tell me anything. You’re the one who saved my one and only treasure—!”
He was really ready to give anything.
He’d give his gallbladder away if he could.
He didn’t answer right away, instead rubbing his chin and thinking.
Suddenly, the girl, who approached with a shuffling step, held out something to the man.
“Hey, I’ll take this one for you.”
“Hmm?”
“This is my friend. My mom made it for me. He’s a dragon from my favorite storybook.”
In his fern-like hands, he clutched a small dragon puppet.
The dragon, made of rags and cotton, took the form of a black dragon with four wings.
It was obvious who he was modeling it after, given his piercing eyes.
The man fiddling with the puppet chuckled.
“Popular. Kid.”
“What?”
“No, no. You’re giving me something so valuable, I’ll thank you.”
“Ehhehe, please treat it gently. It loves having its wings touched.”
The girl laughed.
It’s hard to believe that he was depressed just a short time ago.
Now I realize that only my front teeth are missing, which gives me a very dorky look.
She hugged Petite Orsay one last time and ran back to the square.
“Thank you!”
The girl gave another navel greeting.
As I ran, I looked back several times to see if I was sad to say goodbye to an old friend.
Her peers playing in the square spotted her and cheered.
It was like they were friends.
Before you know it, they’re running around, and they’re definitely fast learners.
The man looking at the puppet smirked.
“Okay. Here’s what I’ll do!”
“Moo, have you decided what you want to get?”
“Yes. I was going to ask for a lot of money, but since you’ve given me something so valuable, I’ll cut you most of it. Give me a penny for the difference!”
“Ears, precious things–you mean my daughter’s dolls?!”
“Well, what can I say? It’s a very well-made doll, by the way, when you look at it again. You’ve put a lot of thought into every stroke.”
The man is impressed.
It wasn’t an empty statement.
He loved things made by mortals with attachments.
I could see how much the girl’s mother loved her.
I’d add it to my collection, except it’s modeled after a cheap shot.
“Ha, but—but that’s not enough—”
“Ugh! I hate saying the same thing over and over again. Are you saying it’s worth a penny, now?!”
“Well, no way! Here, here. I’ll get it right away!”
The man bellowed.
The girl’s father was surprised and pulled out a coin.
I was a little unhappy that it was a silver coin, but he took it anyway.
“Okay, you can go home to your daughter now. Don’t worry about growing up. My prosthetic leg is special, so it grows with you as your body grows.”
“My, my, what grace you have shown me. If you have any dignity—”
“I’m a busy man. Go away.”
She cut him off coldly.
The girl’s father was taken aback for a moment, but when he realized he was doing the right thing, he shut up.
“——Thank you.”
I thanked him one last time, but he didn’t respond.
The girl’s father turned his back.
The man glanced at the figure and muttered a small incantation.
Orsay’s doll floated soundlessly through the air and into the girl’s father’s backpack.
The zipper opened and closed at will, but he didn’t notice.
“I’m sorry, miss. He’s too young to be my friend.”
The man said to himself.
He whistled and cleared the room.
All the equipment needed to build the prosthetic leg fit into one giant trunk bag.
The man who finished cleaning up called out to the newspaper seller.
“Out of town! Out of town!”
“Give him a copy. He’s been so excited.”
“Ehhhh, big news—oh, it’s a silver dollar! Let’s see, change–”
“Just keep it. Passion must be reciprocated.”
“Go, thank you, sir, God bless you!”
He bought the newspaper with a coin he received from the girl’s father.
The boy folded his waist until the top of his head touched the ground.
I was just about to read the newspaper.
“That kid back there, he was cute and polite.”
“Awww–see? You’re right, I think humans are at their cutest this time of year.”
“Hoo hoo. Was that the last one? You took down the sign.”
“Okay. We’ve taken care of all the injured people in the South, now let’s move on to the next place.”
The man turned his head.
A silver-haired elfin woman stood beside Somagot.
His ears were unusually long compared to other elves, and his eyes were ruby red.
She said.
“I’m glad you’re enthusiastic, though, Alibrihe.”
“You’re no slouch yourself, Elsia. You’ve managed to rebuild an entire region that was overrun by the undead.”
“It’s just buildings and roads and terrain.”
“That’s it. Anything hard?”
“Yeah, well. The kids did such a good job—no, there was one—Orse, what a fire you started—I had a hard time putting it out.”
Elsia grumbled.
Right-hand man of Cain the Savior and founding member of Nebula Clasier.
One of the most powerful elementals of all time, she traveled the world with Alibrihe, helping people.
It was a third-rate villain named Kearsarge that brought him to the far south.
To make amends for the atrocities of the Undead Legion.
Ironically, the hardest part was dealing with the man-made valley (which burned like hell) that Asel and Orse had created.
“Haha, you must be pretty fiery to say that. Our black dragon fire is sticky, and that kid is making progress.”
“Please tell him to tone it down next time. By the way, it was loud around here earlier, what’s going on?”
“I was going to check it out anyway. Let’s see—.”
Alibrije opened the newspaper.
Indeed, there were a lot of heavily emphasized sentences.
His eyes scanned the ground, and his eyebrows waggled.
“Ohora. Jaifa Turgun is challenging for the Swordsmaster’s seat again.”
“Oh, is that Zaifa? I thought you said he’d reached the point of disembodiment.”
“Aye. I hear Schlieffen’s back in the fray, too. I don’t think it was a time for epiphanies, but–you never know. Kids grow and learn so fast.”
Alibrije blurted out.
I’m probably going to lose this one too, but I was looking forward to it because of the Schlieffen.
In talent alone, he was a man to rival Ronan or Abel.
I wish I didn’t have to be so impatient.
Elsia’s eyes sparkled.
“Sounds exciting, why don’t we stop by the Islands and see what they have to offer?”
“That’s going to be tough. I think this is the real big news.”
“What is it?”
“This time, they’re holding it in Parzan. Why, it’s where the Sword Festival used to be held.”
“Nehé?! In Parzan?”
Elsia’s ears flipped back.
This was the first time that a swordfight was held outside of the Grand Circle of the system.
I can’t believe it’s even in Parzan.
It was the site of the Sword Ritual before Ronan found the Holy Sword.
“Yeah. With a new emperor, I guess traditions change. I’d love to go to this one.”
“You can go, you’ve done all the work anyway!”
“Okay. I’ll get on the road right away. Let’s get you warmed up after all this time—.”
Alibrije folded the newspaper.
Suddenly, his pupils narrowed to needle-thin slits.
We wanted to unmorph the polymorph and return to the original appearance.
The scales on the nape of her neck rose, and Elsia freaked out.
“Now, now, now, calm down, I don’t care how much I miss you, it’s not like you to do that.”
“——Ah, this was in the middle of the city. Sorry.”
“I can get there a lot faster than you can, Hyran!”
“Hmm?”
And that’s before Albrijeh had a chance to question him.
At Elsia’s shout, a massive magic circle formed in the sky.
An eagle the size of a house tore through the magic circle and clouds, swooping down.
“Whew!”
“Yahhh! W-What is that?!”
A sudden gust of wind sweeps across the square.
Screams erupted from all sides.
Awninged shops became paragliders and flew away, and every woman’s hair became a whip, whipping the faces of those around her.
Pajamas!
After a nice spin, Hyran landed in front of the old dragon and elf.
“Was it —— that dried up?”
“Huh? What did you think it was then? Alas, don’t worry, I’ve cast an invisibility spell on it so no one else can see it.”
Elsia smiled brightly.
Alibrije opened his mouth to say something, but then shut it.
When you live long enough, you become desensitized to things.
“——Nope. Let’s go.”
“Yes! Quickly!”
Elsia rode Hylan with a circus-like jump.
Alibrije followed her on board.
The Wind Prince soared in style.
Unsurprisingly, the same frenzy swept the world.
Stores flew, screams rang out, and hair whips made victims.
“Farzan. It’s been a long time.”
“That’s right.”
Elsia laughed.
Alibrije laughed along with him.
Now it’s all good.
There are days like this.
The clear autumn light illuminated the two cadres who lived to carry on the Savior’s will.