The Erased Existence (2)
“Hah…”
“All fifty dug up, and the sleep herbs too.”
“You did good, little brother.”
“Whoa—from ‘brat’ to ‘little brother’?”
“Did I get a promotion?”
“Well… in a way, you’re Master’s son.”
“So to me, that makes you my little brother.”
“Then… shall we head back?”
“Huh?”
“You said you’d let me take down at least one monster.”
“I’d like to, but…”
“We’ve come deeper than I expected.”
“At your current level, you couldn’t handle the ones around here.”
“I understand…”
Disappointed as he was, he only nodded at his sister’s words.
“I promised Master and Unnie I wouldn’t let you get hurt.”
“So even if it stings, let’s aim for next time.”
With that, they gathered up the herbs and prepared to leave the forest.
“All right, little brother—ready to move out?”
“Yes!”
Lizette ruffled his hair as she spoke.
“Not throwing a tantrum and just accepting it? You’re a good kid.”
Then she suddenly flinched and stared hard into the trees.
“Sister, what’s wrong?”
“Little brother. Draw your sword.”
“My sword? Why?”
Lizette kept her eyes locked on the forest, every muscle tensed for danger—but he couldn’t sense a thing.
“Nothing registered the entire time I was running detection magic.”
“Now it’s starting to pick things up.”
“No telling when they’ll show. Stay sharp and run.”
“We’re not fighting?”
Her voice turned cold and flat.
“No. We’re not fighting.”
“If something takes this long to show up on detection…”
“It might be something dangerous.”
Sweat beaded on his palms.
“That dangerous…?”
“Walk back the way we came. Quietly.”
“It’s still watching from inside the forest because of me.”
“So move carefully. Don’t let it notice you.”
He obeyed, stepping backward in silence.
Crack.
His foot came down on a branch by accident, and he stumbled.
In that instant, monsters burst from the trees and charged.
“Damn it—little brother, get up!”
Lizette scooped him onto her back and sprinted for the forest entrance.
“Once we’re out of the woods, they can’t follow.”
“So hold on tight.”
“Yes!”
Damn it—of all things, a pack of Snake Wolves.
At least fifty of them, easy.
He glanced back. A swarm of wolves was closing fast.
“Sister, they’re too fast!”
“I think we should just fight!”
The Snake Wolves were matching Lizette’s full sprint.
“Sister?”
Damn it!
Even with Physical Reinforcement, it’ll take ten minutes to reach the entrance…
If it were Master, she’d already be there.
One line rose unbidden in Lizette’s mind.
“I’m leaving our son in your care.”
She stopped dead and set him down.
“Sister, why did you stop all of a sudden?”
Lizette drew her dagger and settled into a fighting stance.
“Keep running just like this.”
“With Physical Reinforcement you’ll make it in no time.”
“But what if more monsters show up while I’m running?”
“Don’t worry. I pushed detection wider than I should have.”
“There was nothing nearby. So run!”
“Are you going to be okay alone?”
“I’ll fight with you!”
He reached for his sword—and Lizette’s voice cracked like a whip.
“Don’t! Just go!”
“You staying here would only get in the way!”
She charged the wolves, blade raised, and called back over her shoulder.
“Just go—and bring the adventurers!”
“All right!”
He tore toward the entrance with everything he had.
“Good. At least he listens better than most kids.”
“All right. Opponents: Snake Wolves. Speed equal to mine—or better.”
“About fifty of them… I am not letting a single one through.”
The Snake Wolves began to fan out through the undergrowth.
They moved so fast the surrounding trees shuddered in their wake.
Bang.
A claw whistled past her hair.
“Faster than I thought.”
“If I only had the light attribute… this would be over.”
“Reinforce!”
Lizette leapt high into the air.
“They can’t reach this height.”
The Snake Wolves sprang from trunk to trunk, launching themselves upward.
She twisted hard and barely slipped the strike.
“Damn it… they’re too fast.”
A wolf’s tail cracked through the air like a whip.
“Guh…”
“All of you at once—that hurts!”
The force drove her back down to the ground.
“Guess I’ve got no choice but to pin them.”
“Bind!”
Vines erupted from the earth and lashed around the wolves’ legs.
“With their legs tied, their mobility should drop!”
Slash.
A wolf’s head spun free into the air.
“That’s ten down…”
“Forty left.”
The moment she cut down their packmates in a blink, the remaining wolves grew wary.
“Better finish this quick and get back to my little brother.”
Water attribute bloomed in Lizette’s hands.
"Freeze, O water."
"Scatter, blades of ice!"
⟨ Ice Spear ⟩
Water sharpened and hardened into a storm of ice daggers.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Countless ice blades punched straight through Snake Wolf skulls.
Meanwhile—
“I’ll be right back, Lizette Unnie.”
He ran at full speed, anxiety clawing at him—please don’t let her get hurt.
Then a wolf stepped out of the trees. The same kind he’d seen moments ago.
“That’s one of the wolves from earlier.”
“I was almost out…”
He quietly raised his sword.
“Fine. Let’s see what I’ve got.”
Back with Lizette—
Slash.
She cut the wolves down one after another.
“Ten left.”
She wiped spattered blood from her cheek and scanned the trees.
“Bind!”
The spell flew—but the Snake Wolves dodged as if they’d expected it.
“Oh, come on.”
“I’m already running low on mana just keeping Reinforcement up.”
Slash.
A Snake Wolf that had been lying in wait raked her back.
“Gah!”
“Hiding in the brush, were you…”
“Fine. No more holding back.”
"O fire, become my spear."
⟨ Flame Spear ⟩
Spears of fire bloomed in the sky above her.
“Go!”
The Snake Wolves tried to dodge—but the fire spears pursued them to the end.
Boom!
“It’s over…”
“Haha… so this is what it takes.”
“A-rank, and I’m still this far behind.”
Thud!
Meanwhile, back home—
“He’ll be so happy when he gets back, won’t he?”
The table was loaded with meat dishes of every kind.
“Huh…?”
“The barrier I put on our son just vanished.”
“What happened?”
“What the—!”
“Smoke?”
“What is Lizette doing in there?”
A tremendous noise rolled out from near the entrance.
“That’s the direction my little brother ran.”
A chill ran through her.
He’s in danger.
She wrung every last drop of strength from her body and sprinted for the entrance.
“Please tell me nothing’s happened to that kid…”
When she reached the entrance, the scene was a nightmare.
Fire blanketed the ground.
A child lay collapsed, coughing blood, beside the corpse of a single Snake Wolf.
“Little brother!”
She plunged through the flames without hesitation.
“What happened? What the hell happened?”
He forced his eyes open with difficulty.
“Sorry, Unnie… a monster showed up out of nowhere…”
“Don’t talk. Unnie’s getting you out of here.”
“Stay with me, okay?”
“I know…”
“I look like this, but my stamina’s pretty good.”
“The sun’s going down—what are those two even doing?”
“When they finally come out I’m giving them an earful.”
Voices rose from the entrance.
“Looks like they’re finally out.”
“What took you so long?”
“Huh…?”
What emerged from the forest was a blood-spitting, collapsed little boy—and Lizette.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know.”
“Snake Wolves appeared, so I sent the kid ahead first…”
“And it ended up like this. Even after I gave him a potion, he won’t get better.”
Seeing the boy down, Lizette looked ready to panic.
“Pull yourself together!”
“We’re going to your clinic. Now.”
“Yes!”
They carried Ari to the treatment room.
“Lay him here.”
“I need to check the little guy’s condition first.”
“Scan.”
The boy’s condition was critical.
Mana inside him had tangled into a knot and was on the verge of exploding from within.
“Healing magic can’t keep up.”
“One person isn’t enough.”
“The herbs I can use for this…”
“Ah!”
Serina threw the door open and called to her.
“Lizette—go get Armel Unnie.”
“And bring the Ilwoncho from my house!”
“Ask her; she’ll know where it is.”
“Yes!”
Lizette bolted from the clinic and raced toward Armel’s house.
“Why is there smoke coming from the forest, though?”
“And our son’s barrier breaking like that…”
“Lizette’s looking after him properly, right?”
The sound of running feet approached from a distance.
“That’s Lizette.”
Lizette hammered on the door.
“What’s going on?”
“Where’s our son?”
“Little brother’s hurt!”
Lizette stared at Armel with a deathly pale face.
“Master, please come quickly!”
“Our son…”
“He’s hurt?”
Crash.
A water bottle and a family photograph shattered together.
Water… was erasing their son’s face from the picture.
“We can’t just stand here. We’re going. Now.”
“Wait, Master—”
“What?!”
“Unnie said to bring the Ilwoncho when you come.”
Master smashed the door aside, seized the Ilwoncho, and headed for the clinic at a dead run.
“Grab my hand. We’re teleporting.”
“But Master, your mana—”
“Shut up.”
“Lizette. Open your mouth one more time.”
“……”
Armel and Lizette arrived at the treatment room in a rush.
“Serina—I brought the Ilwoncho.”
“How’s our son?”
“I’ve been healing him little by little with magic, so the bleeding’s stopped…”
“But the mana inside him keeps tangling.”
“Please keep the healing magic going just until I finish the medicine.”
“Got it.”
“Lizette, go help Serina.”
“Yes…”
“Even at my fastest, the herb will take ten minutes.”
“Just hold on that long.”
“Understood.”
"Healing Magic—"
⟨ Breath of Life ⟩
“Son… wake up.”
“You said you’d come back without a scratch.”
Huh… that voice sounds familiar somehow.
It’s so warm… like Mom is holding me.
“Mom?”
“Son, are you with us?”
“Mom, I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right.”
“So just rest a little.”
“Mom will take care of everything.”
“Okay…”
“Then I’ll just rest a little.”
The moment the boy closed his eyes, the mana began to run wild.
“Why?”
“Every time I heal him, the mana disappears.”
“Don’t tell me… it’s erasing the healing magic itself?”
Armel began to unseal her mana.
“Ugh…”
“Did the air just get heavier all of a sudden?”
“It’s Master.”
“Unnie?”
“It’s Master’s mana.”
“If it erases healing magic…”
“Then I’ll just pour in so much it can’t erase it all.”
Armel’s mana erupted like an explosion, shaking the entire village.
“Done!”
“The potion’s finished!”
“Get it into him—now!”
“Yes!”
“But when he drinks it, the tangled mana will unravel. It’ll hurt.”
“Lizette, hold him down.”
“Understood.”
“Kid, this is going to be rough. Bear with it and drink.”
They tipped the spirit potion into his mouth.
The boy began to swallow, little by little.
“How’s our son?”
Then—
After drinking the potion, he began to thrash in agony.
“The tangled mana is slowly coming back!”
“It’s okay, son.”
“Your body is coming back to you.”
The boy’s screams did not quiet easily.
“Little brother, it’s okay.”
“Just hold on a little longer.”
Thirty minutes later, the boy finally settled and slipped into sleep.
“He’ll recover little by little from here.”
“So, Unnie…”
Serina looked at Armel, who was still pouring healing into him.
“You can stop now.”
“Just a little…”
“Just a little more.”
“If you keep going…”
“You’re going to collapse first.”
“I’m fine.”
“I can do this.”
“I’m his mother.”
Where did Lizette go?
Someone took Armel’s hand from behind.
“Armel. That’s enough.”
“Fer…”
“Our son’s color has come back.”
“If you push any further, the mana might tangle again.”
“Haa…”
Armel sank straight to the floor.
“Fer—give her this.”
Serina tossed a spirit potion to Fer.
“Armel. Drink it slowly.”
“Yes… is our son all right now?”
“He is.”
“So you don’t have to push yourself like that.”
“Thank goodness.”
“Releasing that much mana…”
“That was reckless beyond measure.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I just… I had to save our son, no matter what.”
“You nearly lost not only our son—”
“But yourself as well.”
“If the child lived…”
“That would have been enough for me.”
“You may think that way.”
“But the child left behind would not.”
“You’re right…”
“So, Armel—I hope you’ll treasure yourself as well.”
“I understand.”
“Serina. Thanks to you, our son is alive.”
“Thank you.”
In that brief moment—
The second Fer returned, Unnie’s expression settled with frightening speed.
“When do you think our son will wake?”
“I… honestly don’t know.”
“I’ve never seen mana tangled this badly.”
“He’ll probably sleep for about a week.”
“That’s a relief…”
“Master…”
Lizette walked into the treatment room.
“I’m truly sorry.”
Fer walked slowly toward her.
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what?”
“I failed to protect my little brother.”
“It was my carelessness.”
“It’s all my fault.”
Faced with nothing but apologies, an enraged Fer swung a fist at Lizette.
“Stop!”
Armel’s voice cut through the air.
“Armel!”
“She’s my disciple.”
“If anyone scolds her or hits her, it’s me.”
“In that condition, what do you think you’re going to do?!”
Fer raised his fist again.
“I’ll handle this.”
“Fer. Try moving even one more step.”
Mana bled into the air around Armel.
She fixed Fer with eyes that promised ruin.
“Hah…”
“I won’t. So calm down.”
Armel looked at Lizette’s bowed head—and at her cheek.
“Serina, if you don’t mind… could I have a recovery potion?”
“Yes…”
“Lizette.”
“Blaming yourself is understandable.”
“But that doesn’t mean you’re allowed to harm your own body.”
“I’m sorry…”
“Haa… go inside. Now.”
“Is it really all right to just let her go like that, Unnie?”
“What choice do we have?”
“It wasn’t her fault.”
“You’re right…”
“And… I’ve never seen Lizette blame herself this hard before.”
“That wound on her cheek earlier…”
“Yeah…”
“Looks like she hit herself, doesn’t it?”
“Probably.”
“No matter how mature she is…”
“She watched him get hurt right in front of her.”
“Haa… today really was a hard day.”
“It was.”
That day—
I only learned what had happened on the day I collapsed after I finally woke up.