Finally... the Living Sleeping Pill!
Ian moved quietly yet nimbly, circling around behind Derek. He worried that if their eyes met head-on while the boy leaned against the tree, the startled child might bolt straight into the forest.
With his back to the boy, Ian cleared his throat with a soft “ahem” and began his performance in an exaggerated, nonchalant tone.
“Aah~ I met Derek in my dream, but when I opened my eyes, I was all alone. I miss Derek. I wonder how he’s doing at the beginner academy?”
Rustle—!
The bushes shook loudly. Derek was clearly flustered. Ian smiled inwardly and drove the point home with a louder voice.
“Sigh, can’t be helped. Since dream-Derek isn’t here, I’m feeling a bit down. Guess I’ll just head home!”
Ian began walking away without a hint of hesitation. The direction he took—west—was actually farther from the city gate, but he strode on regardless.
After five or six steps, an urgent, longing voice called out from behind.
“I… I’m right here, hyung!”
Ian struggled to suppress the laugh that threatened to burst out. This wasn’t the same boy who had trembled in despair inside that dark locker the first time they met. The courage it took for that small voice to ring through the forest touched him deeply. He spun around at once.
“Derek?! My goodness, was the dream I had a prophetic one?”
As Ian sat down and spread his arms wide, Derek scampered over like a squirrel and threw himself into his embrace.
“Hyung… I missed you so much too.”
“Really? I’m so happy.”
“Hehe…”
Derek nuzzled his forehead against Ian’s chest before pulling back slightly to look up at him. A bright, spring-sunshine smile bloomed across the boy’s delicate, adorable face.
“Derek, did you come all the way out here to play by yourself?”
“Uh-uh, no. My adoptive father asked a mercenary uncle to take me on a picnic. He’s over there.”
Ian stood and took Derek’s small hand. At that moment, a thin, transparent blue thread of light extending from Derek’s body shimmered into view.
Huh? Is that a skill? The mercenary must have cast it so he wouldn’t lose the kid.
Only then did Ian’s heart, which had been growing cold with suspicion, settle. He had been worried the boy might be neglected, but seeing the magical thread reassured him that the temporary guardian had taken proper precautions.
Hand in hand, the two walked slowly along a forest path where pale emerald leaves drifted like flower petals. The dense white tree trunks resembled the colonnades of a grand castle, and the pastel flower fields beneath their feet felt like a secret garden adorning those halls.
While Derek was distracted, Ian poured his remaining 30 mana into activating Positive Aurora. Gradually, Derek’s hesitant speech transformed into cheerful, bird-like chatter that filled the forest.
“—So… the teacher praised me for being the best at drawing in the eight-and-a-half-year-old class! My painting is also going to the Gelion Spring Flower Festival art contest next month.”
“Wow! I had no idea you were so good at drawing. They hold an exhibition before picking the winners, right? I’ll definitely come see your painting.”
“Ehe… I’m so excited!”
Derek shared many more stories. He admitted he was still awkward with his classmates but had grown a little closer to his desk partner, a girl. Ian felt genuinely happy for him. After chattering for a long while, Derek suddenly looked up as if his story pouch had finally emptied.
“By the way, did you come here for a picnic too, Ian hyung?”
“No, I came because I have a request to fulfill.”
“Huh…? Don’t tell me you’re here to clean this huge forest too?”
“Haha, no. I’m here to gather a very rare and dangerous herb called the ‘White Foot Flower.’”
Derek looked up at Ian with round eyes, clearly wondering what the White Foot Flower was. Ian crouched to the boy’s eye level and gently explained the flower’s appearance, characteristics, and dangers. Just as he finished, an unexpected reply slipped from Derek’s lips.
“I know a place in the forest that’s so quiet it feels like it’s deeply asleep!”
“…What? Really?”
When Ian asked in genuine surprise, Derek nodded vigorously with certainty.
“Yeah! If you go deeper from here, there’s a small pond, and the area around it is strangely quiet. I went there once with my adoptive father… He told me never to come back again.”
“I see. A pond…”
Ian mulled over the location Derek described and nodded slowly.
While talking, they arrived at a large tree with a picnic blanket spread beneath it. The mercenary Rotten, who had brought Derek, still sat there with his eyes closed, appearing asleep. But Ian’s sharp eyes immediately noticed he was only pretending. The twitching eyelids and deliberately even breathing were far too obvious.
Ian chose not to expose him. He wanted to enjoy a quiet, pleasant time with Derek without the awkward gaze of a temporary guardian.
The two picked up suitable branches and played at mock sparring, then shared the basket overflowing with chicken sandwiches and refreshing juice, savoring their picnic. Derek, now completely relaxed, laughed brightly and hopped around the blanket like a nimble mountain hare.
Around that time, the mercenary Rotten rose from his spot and looked at Ian with eyes full of admiration, as if beholding a rare creature.
“Whoa, mister. You’re something else. I’ve known that kid since he first came to Gelion, but this is the first time I’ve seen him laugh so hard he’s out of breath.”
“Fortunately, it seems the child quite likes me.”
“Haha… Please keep being good to him. So he can become so lively that I won’t even need to pretend to sleep just to match his mood.”
“Ah…! So that’s why you were pretending to sleep.”
Ian smiled brightly, his final suspicion toward Rotten now dispelled. Rotten scratched the back of his head, looking slightly embarrassed, and added,
“Well… I did actually fall asleep for a little while in the middle.”
“Hahaha, anyone would have, lying in such a sunny spot.”
Just then, Derek, who had been wandering through the white flowers that reached up to his waist, called out in a bright voice.
“Wow! Mister Rotten woke up!”
“Yeah, you rascal. Stop running around and eat more of your lunch. Your father won’t let me off if that basket isn’t emptied clean.”
“Okay! I’m hungry again!”
Thus the three of them finished off the remaining chicken sandwiches together. There had been more than enough even for three hungry people, so after the meal they lay sprawled on the blanket, patting their full bellies and fighting off food-induced drowsiness.
After a brief, languid nap, as the sun began to set and the sky grew dim, Derek set off with Rotten. Ian waved warmly until their figures completely disappeared from view.
The moment he was alone again, the playfulness vanished from Ian’s face, replaced entirely by resolve.
Alright. A place with a small pond, huh?
It was time to end the pleasant picnic and begin the real work. Feeling his heart pounding wildly, he quickened his pace toward the heart of the forest where the crimson sunset was beginning to settle.
**
Before long, Arsilene Forest was completely swallowed by deep darkness. The white tree trunks, glowing faintly with moonlight, stood like ghosts, but the vibrant energy of daytime had long since vanished.
Even though he couldn’t use the Detection skill, Ian didn’t grow impatient. On the contrary, the higher the moon rose, the more he could feel the mana flowing through his veins pulsing faintly and rising.
How strange. My insides felt hollow and my head unbearably heavy from running out of mana, but now that the moon is up, I’m slowly feeling better.
Ian opened a skill window in the air to check his status.
Mana Total: 12 / 150
It was still far from enough, but by the time he reached the pond, he should have enough mana to activate a skill at least once. With that thought, Ian walked silently through the night forest, where the occasional cries of nocturnal birds tore through the stillness.
How much deeper had he gone? At some point, the texture of the air changed completely. The glowing insects that had dotted the forest vanished as if by agreement, and even the rustling of wild animals, which grew louder at night, abruptly ceased. It was as though a giant vacuum had sucked away every sound in the forest; a heavy, eerie silence pressed down on everything.
Sensing he had arrived, Ian tightened the hood covering his nose and mouth and quickened his steps.
“…?!”
Finally, a small pond appeared between the dense trees. A massive ancient tree stood like a guardian deity beside it, and at its base white wildflowers spread like a carpet. The calm surface of the pond perfectly reflected the full moon in the night sky. No wonder his mana had been recovering so well—the night was a full moon, when the moon was at its most complete.
Confirming his mana had exceeded 25, Ian activated Detection without hesitation.
A brilliant magic circle rippled beneath his feet, sending out thin golden waves that spread through the forest. At the edge of that radar, a clear presence was caught.
“I finally found it…!”
Ian strode toward the gap between the pond and the ancient tree where the silence felt especially deep. Among the pale yellow wildflowers stood the White Foot Flower, its head held high. Its petals, shaped like the plump white paw of a beast, looked adorable yet gave off an uncanny aura.
But he couldn’t let his guard down just because of its cute appearance. Ian was already holding his breath, lungs full of air. Narrowing his eyes to keep even a single grain of pollen from getting in, he took out a sealed container resembling a tin case from his leather bag.
He carefully began digging near the flower’s roots, tense with worry that damaging even a single root might release its scent. Just as the pain of holding his breath became unbearable and his lungs felt ready to burst, the flower was finally pulled free from the soil, intact.
With trembling hands from tension, he opened the container, pushed the flower inside, and slammed the lid shut as if it might break. The moment the metal lid clicked into place with a sharp click, Ian’s endurance reached its limit.
“Hah—! Hah… haa, haa… Aigoo, someone save me. I almost suffocated to death!”
As he released all the pent-up breath at once, a burning pain filled his lungs while the cool night air rushed in roughly. He finally felt alive. Ian’s legs gave out and he collapsed onto the spot. Looking up, he saw the strange silence that had been weighing on him slowly lifting. The sound of insects returned from afar, and the pond’s ripples shimmered even more brilliantly under the full moon’s light.
The sealed container in his arms gave off a faint chill, pleasantly cooling the heat that had risen from tension. Even the dirt on his fingertips and the throbbing fatigue in his muscles felt sweet in this moment, like medals of honor. A sense of achievement clearer and hotter than the cold night darkness filled his chest completely.
Wrapped in a languid sense of liberation, Ian’s lips curved into a small smile. The long, arduous second low-rank request—completed entirely by his own strength without anyone’s help—had finally reached its perfect conclusion.