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Chapter 116

With Those Gentle Hands

“Come . ”

Maki and Chiharu called, but it seemed like nothing happened for a while .

It was right when the nervous soldiers began to relax a little . One of them noticed it .

“Wh-what…”

It wasn’t loud . The soldier was looking up at the sky where the light didn’t reach .

Dark shadows were appearing as if to block all of the stars in the sky .

“It’s the gazers…”

“They’re huge . ”

“And there are so many . ”

The sky had been filled with pretty fluffs that evening, but to the elves, it was now blackened out by gazers .

Of course, Edwy and Aeris knew . It hadn’t been like this when the monsters overflowed from the dungeon . Aaron as well . The gazers that he had seen by the mirror lake had been in greater numbers and moved with more vigor . These gazers were quiet . They were like old people who were at the end of their lives .

Just then, there was the faint sound of a bow being pulled . Perhaps someone could no longer stand the fear .

“Stop . ”

Maki’s voice rang in the quietness . Chiharu was focusing on the monsters . Maki kept an eye on the monsters as she stayed near Chiharu . But she also kept an eye on their surroundings . She was a Saintess but looked like a knight .

“Stop it . ”

At the same time, an elf’s voice rang . It was likely their commander . The soldier who had nearly shot his arrow, quickly stopped .

In the silence, Chiharu’s voice echoed .

“I see . You came from the dungeon . ”

The dungeons were crowded . There were too many of us . Before we knew it, we were pushed out into the wide space .

“Did you get to see different things?”

Yes . Bright and colorful things . Warm, living creatures . And small friends .

“Friends? Oh, the Mandragoras . ”

Those on land and those in the sky . All of the creatures made by God .

“Like the fluffs . ”

The others could not hear the gazers . So it looked like Chiharu was muttering to herself while staring at the sky .

The little friends returned to their duty of creating more life .

“So, do you want to return to magic stones?”

Yes . We are so tired . Let us go back . With your gentle hands .

Chiharu and Maki looked at each other and nodded . Then they let go of each other’s hands . Aeris, Edwy, and Aaron all turned to the soldiers and raised their hands . This was the signal . Do not interfere .

Finally, the gazers descended quietly . And then they formed a line in front of Chiharu and Maki .

The soldiers could not help but gasp when they saw the gazers vanish as if time was being rewound .

Clank . Clunk . The magic stones fell to the ground . One by one, as if talking to them gently, the hands of the Saintesses turned them back to magic stones . And occasionally, there would be a warm sparkle of light, and a magic stone would fall from their foreheads . It was a beautiful, mystical sight .

“Ohhh . ”

One of the soldiers fell to his knee, and the others started to follow .

“Tsk . And you think you can protect the castle!”

Their commander said in annoyance . He looked up at the gazers warily . However, he was not sure if he should rouse the soldiers to defend, or allow them to revere the Saintesses . But he saw that there were some soldiers who continued to have their bows ready, and that there were not many gazers remaining, and so he decided to wait .

However, that Saintesses . His eyes moved to the tall one . While she was returning the gazers to magic stones, she continued to look at her surroundings . She knew that some of the soldiers were kneeling, and she also watched the soldiers who had their bows ready .

Was that just her role? Or was it a strength born from having someone to protect? It was interesting .

That’s when he noticed that there were no more gazers left in the sky .

“Hey, you . ”

Maki’s voice echoed . She was looking at an especially small gazer . It was about the same size as the fluff .

“Didn’t we meet in Midland?”

The gazer spun around .

“Ah, I knew it . You’ve grown a little . ”

Maki said . And then the gazer turned around again and said,

It was a good day . And a good night . Many lives are moving around .

“Oh, you not only grew larger, but wiser . ”

The gazer spun around again .

I came because you two are interesting . And I have more friends now . I followed the bird people and crossed the mountains . And the great waters .

Maki and Chiharu looked at each other and chuckled .

“So, you’ve seen enough then?”

Not yet . I think there are much more interesting things to see .

“So you won’t go back yet . ”

Not yet . But I won’t go close to anything warm .

“You’re so smart . ”

The gazer spun around again before disappearing into the night sky .

“Why did you let it escape?”

The commander asked .

“You unleashed a gazer into the wild . ”

Maki turned around and tilted her head to the side .

“It said that it wouldn’t go near anything warm . Besides, it wants to see more . That’s why I didn’t . ”

“But…”

“I understand how you feel, but we aren’t hunting monsters here . ”

The commander’s eyes went down to the pile of magic stones on the ground . If they weren’t hunters, what were they?

“These are just tired and lost monsters from the dungeon . We are helping them return to the circle of life . We are just answering their requests . ”

“A monster’s request?”

“They want to return to magic stones . We would not do it forcefully if a monster doesn’t want to . Of course…”

Maki looked at the commander and smiled a little mischievously .

“That was the first time a monster ever refused . ”

The tall Saintess had black hair that seemed to melt into the night as it swayed . Her eyes were also like the night, and they sparkled in the light . It was beautiful .

“What is it, Hou?”

“Nothing . ”

One of the soldiers asked him, and the commanders moved his eyes away from Maki and shook his head .

“Search to see if there are any gazers left! Split up into eight groups!”

He ordered .

“I doubt there are any . ”

Chiharu said . The commander nodded as if he knew, still, the search continued . Even if it was true, this was their job . He would have to talk to them later in order to better protect them .

“Well, that’s the end of that . ”

“We should rest for tomorrow . ”

The two Saintesses said light-heartedly . It was as if this miracle was an everyday occurrence to them . The commander was so stunned that he could not say anything . In the meantime…

“Good job everyone . ”

“Good night . ”

The two said as they started to walk back to the castle . Even Aeris and Aaron were leaving . Wait . Wait . We can’t work without understanding what is going on .

“Hey, wait! I need an explanation!”

“Can’t that be tomorrow?”

That’s the problem! The commander was more shocked by their nonchalance than anything else that had happened that day .