Chapter 108

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Episode 24 - Isabella [3]

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"My master is waiting for you inside."

Charlotte and I nodded.

We walked toward the cabin door, leaving Isabella behind on her swing.

I knocked twice, waiting to hear Luminus’s familiar voice.

"Come in."

I grabbed the doorknob and turned it; the door clicked, and then I slowly pushed it open.

White lines outlined the interior of the cabin: a living room with a sofa and a small table where cups and a vase rested.

Luminus sat in the center of the sofa, drinking from the cup, whatever it contained.

Charlotte and I took seats across from her.

Luminus then set the cup down on the small table and picked up the vase, from which a warm aroma reminiscent of flowers drifted out.

For a moment, I thought it was tea made from flowers.

Luminus poured the tea into two cups, then slid them toward us and calmly said:

"Try it. It’s a tea I found a year ago in a remote area of this Continent."

Without asking or saying anything, Charlotte and I grabbed the handles of the cups, and then I tasted the tea.

The flavor was sweet, with a pleasant touch, and its scent resembled the flowers called Antiara, flowers with a color that didn’t exist on Earth.

I knew about that color thanks to Rinna. It had been difficult to understand what a color looked like without being able to see it, but she explained it to me by comparing it to other colors.

The tea itself emitted mana; however, the mana simply entered my body and spread throughout all my muscles.

’This increases mana, but I’ve already reached the peak stage of 4 Stars, so any mana that enters my body now will only strengthen my muscles.’

I took another sip of the tea. It tasted good, honestly.

Then I set it back down on the table. Charlotte, beside me, also seemed to be enjoying the tea.

Shortly afterward, Luminus asked:

"So, why are you looking for me? I don’t think we’ve ever met before, right?"

Charlotte shook her head.

"No, this is the first time we’ve met and spoken with you, but we know a little about you."

Charlotte was suppressing the emotions she had built up throughout the entire month we spent in Chapter Two.

To properly follow the plan and establish a temporary relationship with Luminus, Charlotte had to control every type of emotion.

At that moment, I looked at Charlotte’s emotions and nodded inwardly.

Luminus raised an eyebrow, curious but not alert in the slightest.

In any case, it wasn’t as if we could do anything to her. She was a 10-Star Awakened.

’She has at least six times more mana than when she first advanced to 10 Stars.’

"So, well, I guess I’m pretty well known."

Charlotte continued:

"Yes, you’re very well known in the Federation. Besides, you’re a 10-Star Awakened who registered four years ago."

According to the records, Luminus had registered with the Federation as a 10-Star.

No one knew what the reaction had been at the time, but everyone knew about her.

A hero could not truly be one if nobody witnessed their actions, no matter how heroic they were, while remaining hidden from the public eye.

Luminus showed a faint smile and said:

"Ha, ha, thank you for the compliments, girl. Your name is Charlotte, right?"

"Yes."

"Good, Charlotte, then what brings you here? I assume you’ve been looking for me and somehow managed to find my whereabouts."

"Something like that. We want to receive your help, if possible."

Charlotte’s lips trembled.

The way Charlotte spoke was very different from usual.

And after looking at Charlotte’s emotions once more, I sighed inwardly.

She was beginning to show slight disturbances in her emotions, but she continued suppressing them.

"What kind of help?"

Charlotte turned toward me. I sighed and said:

"We’re looking for our younger sister. The only thing we know is that she was kidnapped by members of the Church of the Black Dawn, and we know you’re after them."

That was more or less the plan.

Pretend that we had lost a family member at the hands of the villains from the organization Luminus was pursuing.

Use Luminus’s personality and objective to increase the chances of receiving "help" from her and staying close to her.

But the problem would be whether she would believe our story.

I didn’t know if she had ever obtained a Trait capable of detecting lies. If that turned out to be the case, we would have to move on to plan B.

But plan B had even lower chances of getting us close to her; if it failed, we would have to prepare for the villains’ possible attack.

Neither of us was sure when the Church of the Black Dawn and its leader would attack Luminus, nor how it would happen.

Luminus did not respond immediately. She drank from her cup several times while seeming to think about my words.

’Ugh, I hope this works.’

The seconds grew longer.

I could feel the atmosphere around us becoming uncomfortable as the silence lingered.

The first minute passed, then the second, and finally the third, until Luminus finally responded.

"All right, I have no problem helping you. Besides, I have the ability to do so, and I won’t stand by doing nothing after you lost a family member."

I let out an internal sigh as I relaxed.

The plan to stay close to her had worked, at least to some extent.

But then Luminus said:

"But in exchange, I want you to do something."

Both of us focused on her words.

"What is it? We can do whatever is within our capabilities."

Charlotte said as she stiffened.

Luminus smiled mysteriously and said:

"How old is your younger sister?"

She directed the question at me, and I answered without hesitation instead.

"Nine years old."

"And her name?"

"Astrid."

Then I remembered the description Veronica had given me of Astrid’s appearance.

Back then, a thought had crossed my mind, one I couldn’t help but consider.

’White hair like moonlight and golden eyes with a slight reddish tint.’

If she had semi-inverted pupils, I could literally think she was my real sister.

But according to my memories, Adel had no family ties, and besides, Adel’s birth had been... unique, to put it mildly.

So I discarded the possibility that Astrid could be my blood-related sister and assumed her appearance was simply similar to mine.

"Her looks exactly like me."

I slightly lifted the blindfold over my eyes for less than three seconds before the Eyes of the End activated.

Luminus stared at me for a moment before nodding.

"I understand, that means that, as an older brother, you know how to take care of a girl around that age, right?"

"..."

"Yes, but why the question?"

Somehow, I was growing suspicious of his words.

I didn’t know exactly where this was going, but I had a bad feeling about it.

"That’s great, then what both of you have to do is something very simple, but at the same time difficult."

Charlotte and I nodded as our curiosity slowly grew.

And Luminus’s next words completely stunned both of us.

***

Isabella quietly swayed on her swing.

The black sky barely allowed enough light for "day" and "night" to exist in this era.

The wind on that hill was always strong enough to feel refreshing.

But at the same time, it carried an unpleasant smell.

Even so, Isabella smiled, her gaze fixed on the black sky without even blinking.

Somehow, the scene felt strange to anyone watching her.

No one smiled while looking at the black sky.

All they saw was despair and the calm before the storm.

No one liked gazing at that cursed sky.

Isabella swung faster and faster, moving her legs along with the swing’s rhythm.

Her hands tightly gripped the ropes holding the swing.

Her back was straight, and her head was slightly tilted upward so she could see the black sky more clearly.

At that moment, footsteps were heard, and a familiar voice reached her ears.

"Well, I think I told you not to swing so hard yesterday, didn’t I?"

Isabella’s smile disappeared, and her eyes lost their light. She blinked, and a bored expression replaced the look on her face.

Little by little, she slowly began to stop.

Then she turned her head and looked at Adel.

She tilted her head and asked:

"Did you already talk to my master?"

Adel nodded. Behind him stood Charlotte, her arms crossed as she silently watched.

"Yes, and guess what."

Confusion appeared on Isabella’s face as she tilted her head once again.

"I don’t understand."

Adel, smiling faintly, said:

"Mhm, from now on, you can think of us as babysitters."

"...?"

Isabella’s expression froze for a brief moment, clearly bewildered.

Her mind went blank as she processed the words she had just heard.

Even then, her thoughts seemed stuck.

"Oh, but it’ll only be temporary. After all, a babysitter’s job isn’t forever, right?"

Isabella finally snapped out of her thoughts.

She looked at Adel, but there was still obvious confusion in her eyes.

"But you’re not a woman."

"....?"

Adel’s fake smile faltered for a second before he let out a weak laugh.

"Uh, well, I’m saying babysitter because there isn’t a better word to use, so... I’m your new babysitter."

Isabella simply stared at Adel’s awkward smile.

Charlotte remained silent, saying nothing about it.

And a thought crossed little Isabella’s mind.

’Too weird.’