Not wanting to destroy the tearful reunion between the two, everyone remains silent, until the mother and daughter finally stop crying. The druid finally broke her silence and reiterated her diagnosis.

“Considering everything that has happened to your daughter, I expected her to be more tired, but seeing this, I can certainly say that she is healthy. You just need to let her rest and take medicine to prevent any infections.” she said.

“Thank you… Thank you for healing my daughter.” She said, though her eyes are more red now than ever before.

“I’m just doing my job. You can thank me by taking care of her.” the druid finally said before going out, giving more time for the two to catch up. Though on her way she grumbled “I need to sleep”. No one bothers to question her seeing the state she is in.

Alice and Yuuto suit to follow, but Shyla shouted, calling for him.

“Mister!”

He turned back and said, “What is it?”

Her mouth closed and opened, words hesitant to come out. She fidgeted, fingers twirling at each other. “Ca- can you tell me your name, mister?” she asks.

“oh, I’m Yuuto,” he replied, “and that is Alice,” he points at his companion.

She squinted her eyes, scanning Alice from head to toes before she redirected her gaze to Yuuto once again. “Than- Thank you for saving me and my mother… “she trailed off. Before saying “Ca-can you visit m- me again tom- tomorrow” she was stuttering, maybe because of her just being woken up. But Yuuto clearly heard or better to understand. He let out a small smile before saying.

“Of course. I will visit you tomorrow. But before that, I need you to rest more so we can talk more tomorrow, right?”

She beamed at his words. “Yes! I will wait for you tomorrow, big brother.” She smiled at him wider than before. “Thank you for saving me and mother”

Yuuto waved at her and her mother before taking their leave. Before he turns his back, he notices Shyla is narrowing her eyes at Alice again. Maybe he is just imagining it?

Leaving the room, Alice whispers at him. “I think that girl is mad at me or something when you say my name. She keeps looking at me like I stole her property. “

He let out a dry laugh. “I think you’re just imagining it” He hopes that Alice is just imagining it.

Far from the druid’s house, the current chief and the elders are having a meeting about the monster attack earlier. In the center of the room is a long table and in the far center the chief sits, his hand intertwined with each other covering his mouth. Meanwhile, the elders are sitting on the sides. Piles of problems plague their minds. Not only is the warding barrier that protects their village is jeopardized, but also the ever-increasing monster activities disturb the spirits and their safety. The chief could only let out an exasperated sigh from what is all happening in their homes.

“The people around the village are getting restless and I can feel their panic is bubbling.” One of the elders said.

“We can see that, but we can’t do anything about it. More importantly, we need to have a plan if the barrier suddenly breaks down. Right now we don’t have any means to repair it”

True to his words, the warding barriers around the village are getting weaker, and eventually the barrier will dissolve. At that moment, the village will not have any protection. And If the monster suddenly has an all out attack, they will surely not survive. Yes, they have hunters and they can serve as protection, but their numbers will not suffice.

“You know that we have a way to repair that barrier,” the elder in the far end replied, Side-eyeing him. “We all know that we need just to enter that cave and talk to the ‘King’ to repair that barrier”

“Of course we know about it, but you should also know that we tried to enter that cave, but no one managed to go halfway through it and even if they did it. The cave will magically transport them to the entrance” she slammed the table, startling few of the members “and don’t get me starting about the traps. “

One of the Chief problems is the restoration of the barriers. Many months before, they tried to enter the ‘King’s’ cave, but to avail, no one managed to reach the end. Even he failed to do that. To his frustration, not only that cave is like a labyrinth, but traps also litter the corridors. Who in their right mind will put traps in there? Almost all the capable elf in their village tried to enter the cave, but no one managed to do it. He wonders if the other race can enter it. It would be ironic if that happened.

He could feel his headache coming just thinking about his own experience.

He let out a deep sigh. “Enough!“ He shouted. The murmurs suddenly stopped and all the eyes become fixated in him “We can’t fix anything if we all argue” he pinched his nose bridge, he certainly knows that the upcoming hours will be headache “Increase the hunters guarding the entrance, let two of those hunters scout the surroundings and spread the news that everything will be fine and nothing bad is going to happen” he ordered.

One elder raised his hands and asked, “What about the barrier? How are we going to fix it? Do we let someone enter that cave or we just increase our security?”

“I am going to fix the barrier problem personally, dismiss”

In his words, the elders and members of the council leave the room. Though some are still worried about their current situation and if the chief decisions are right. They don’t have any time to question it; they need to comply and hope that everything is going to be alright. And for the chief to immediately fix the barrier problem.

When everyone finally leaves, he finally relaxed and slump on his chairs. Looking up, he whispers, “I will really need to do that if I want to fix that barrier, huh?”

The next day comes and both Yuuto and Alice come once again to the village. Yuuto said that he should just come alone since this is their last day in the town and he will just visit Shyla to say his goodbye before moving to their next destination, where there is adventurer guild. But to Alice protest and argument that he is “reckless” and “trouble-magnet”, he needed someone who would watch him and get him away from trouble. He agreed for her to come with him. This is, of course, not because she insisted and obviously because of her standing hair and bloody red. Maybe the last part is just Yuuto’s imagination due to how Alice is so good at convincing people with her bloodlust.

“Big brother, you visited me?” she exclaimed, while hugging him.

“Of course, why wouldn’t I?” He replied.

Unlike before, she is more healthy looking. Her skin is now rosy and not pale and her verdant hair seems to refract the light coming from the sun. Yuuto could only smile at her, for she is finally not in danger and clearly can enjoy the days.

Shyla smiled happily at him, her eyes trailed off to her side where Alice was standing. She ‘tsk’ at Alice, scowling at her for a moment before moving to Yuuto. Alice could only open her mouth in shock. It was clear now, this child hated her and to her defense, she didn’t do what she did to have this treatment.

“Let’s go, big brother. Mom wants to see you. She has a gift for you,” she said.

“n-“

Before he declined the offer, Shyla interrupted him. “and before you say ‘no’, my mom will take a no for an answer. Let’s go,” she said, grabbing his hands before dragging him away.

Along the way, Osgord met them, looking more tired. His scrawny figure is more hunch, and he looks like he hasn’t slept for one week.

He grabbed Yuuto’s shoulder and said, “I need your help. “