By Zephyria 
Marianne berated Nadish, pointing her finger as if about to grab him by the collar.
“What nonsense are you spouting? After all the trouble we went through to rescue someone who was kidnapped, there are limits to rudeness! Who are you suddenly going to take? What do you mean, ‘a god’? Explaining the situation should come first!”
“Ah, well. I…”
“Elwin Seonbae, you too! Is it okay to just smile and say you knew everything? What’s the point of having an interpreter! Hyoo Senior is standing right there!”
“…That’s.”
“Is it true or not!”
“…Y-yes.”
Elwin, who had been standing nearby, stopped smiling, feeling a prick of guilt.
The righteous words, spoken in a loud, sharp tone, brought me back to my senses. Strength returned to my body, which had been as pale and lifeless as a well-cured herring. Feeling awkward, I wiped my face with my dry hands.
Marianne didn’t spare me either, scolding me.
“When you made that contract! Did I tell you to call me or not?”
“…You did.”
“And yet you’re about to sign anywhere without a second thought!”
“I wasn’t signing…”
“What!”
“…No. I was wrong.”
For a while, I had worried that this bizarre situation might have happened due to my fault. If it was my fault, I had resolved to handle it alone. Even though I had seen these children display such wisdom far beyond my own, they hadn’t even given me a proper explanation…
I had acted petulantly, not wanting to burden the children with unnecessary worries.
It was embarrassing, yet also heartwarming. I shouldn’t be laughing, but somehow, I found myself smiling.
While Marianne huffed and puffed in frustration, Ruben, who had been watching me with a steady gaze beside her, sat down to my right. He took my hand, which had been resting on my lap, and held it tightly with both of his.
Then Hugh Benson sat to my left. Marianne, still stomping her feet, stood behind my seat. I knew, without seeing, that Elwin and Benjamin were taking their places on either side of Marianne.
I looked again at Nadish Haisan, who had become quiet under the pressure. With the children gathered around me, I felt a sense of security. The shock I had felt at the single name he uttered made the brief moment of panic feel like a nightmare.
“First.”
As always, Hugh Benson was the first to speak.
“Let’s start by explaining what the Sylph meant by ‘three nights’.”
“…Three nights?”
“They were in such a panic, saying you had to be rescued within three days. Is there something with a time limit?”
“Ah.”
The hesitant man took a deep breath. He clutched the front of his robe, which threatened to open with his chest, and sat up straight. His light blue eyes, which gleamed softly in the indoor light, darkened.
He glanced at me several times as if contemplating, but I said nothing. I knew best that I wasn’t in my right mind. With these intelligent children by my side, what harm could come from listening to them?
I, too, was curious about this man’s identity. I knew nothing about the god who wanted to take me. I wondered what he intended to say, and when that Divine Revelation had been given.
I felt fortunate to have children who could ask questions in a more logical order than I could.
Fortunately, the man spoke before Marianne could erupt in anger again.
“First, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Nadish Haisan. I am the oldest… devotee of the third god, and I have been managing the Oasis for a long time.”
“What are you saying, don’t trail off, speak clearly.”
“The oldest… beautiful devotee, as…”
Hmm.
A chilling silence swept through the drawing-room.
Such words suited Ruben. Ruben was fair, handsome, elegant, and gentle, so even with his fine physique, it wasn’t at all reluctant to call him beautiful or lovely.
But the man before me was as tall as Benjamin, his shoulders and chest as broad as a bear’s, and his skin was tanned and ripe. As I gazed at his high, masculine nose, which could easily be mistaken for a bandit’s, and his beard-covered jawline, his face slowly turned red.
Despite his inability to hide his embarrassment, how could he call himself beautiful? Was this also some kind of restriction? The more I looked, the more absurd it became.
Marianne, still angry but seemingly having lost the outlet for her rage, let out a gasp.
“Hah…”
“Cough.”
At Benjamin’s suppressed laughter, I quickly bit my lip to hold back my own. While Marianne’s imitation of me was nothing new, I hadn’t expected her to mimic me in this way at this moment.
As everyone coughed and averted their eyes, trying to stifle their laughter, Hugh Benson, who alone managed to suppress his amusement with adult composure, calmly asked again.
“So, the beautiful devotee has been managing the Oasis, and then?”
“Last summer… the Oasis sent me, saying ‘Jeongyeon’ was lost and I should guide her. However, it had been too long since I encountered humans, and I ended up…”
Ruben cut off the man’s voice as he stammered, trying to say more.
“‘Jeongyeon’?”
“Well, of course, she might not be called that name now. But she said you would know.”
“…”
It’s not that name now.
But she will know.
To calm my racing heart, I gently stroked Ruben’s hand. I caressed each callus on his finger joints, the elegant shape of his neatly trimmed fingernails, as if trying not to forget them, and pondered. Ruben squeezed my hand tightly once more.
Ruben asked, “So, what is the meaning of three nights?”
“Well… in two more days, it will be one year since I fell out of the Oasis’s protection. For someone like me, that means a curse begins, where my fingertips start to dry up… I can last another half a year, but I suppose that’s what they were worried about.”
“Protection?”
“Someone like me?”
Hugh and Marianne echoed the words that caught their attention. The man continued, “The Oasis, unlike other gods, has a narrow domain it maintains.”
It wasn’t a sufficient explanation, but there was something I was more curious about than his identity.
“…How did you get caught like this?”
“…Well.”
“Hmm?”
“I was eating… but I didn’t have any human money.”
“You didn’t have any?”
“I was reported. I thought it was fitting that I was caught, so I stayed quiet, and then I was sold…”
“…”
…So he hadn’t deliberately timed his appearance at the auction.
Hugh Benson, with a chilling tone, clarified the situation.
“So, a so-called god issued a Divine Revelation with a name only Mikael could understand. And the guide who was supposed to lead us according to that revelation got caught for dine-and-dash. We spent five hundred gold to rescue him, and now he expects us to trust him and follow him. Is that right?”
“…Yes.”
“Would you trust him? Does it inspire trust?”
“…”
Nadish Haisan, his face flushed red, lowered his head.
Then Hugh Benson’s gaze met mine. I was briefly impressed by his attitude of mentioning the ransom he paid, but I held my breath at his sharp look and watched him quietly. He clicked his tongue and let out a deep sigh.
“And yet, our prospective young count seems to have fallen for his words hook, line, and sinker.”
“…It wasn’t falling for it.”
“Regardless.”
Hugh Benson stated with a sharp voice.
“This is for the Prince to decide. Do you want to go, or not? If you go, we all go. If you don’t, none of us go.”
“…What?”
Ruben?
I had no intention of taking the children on a potentially dangerous journey. It was my duty to handle my own responsibilities. As I stammered in surprise, Hugh Benson cut me off coldly.
“Michael Ernhardt. You are the young master of a Count’s family, inheriting Valentia’s blood. You are currently under my responsibility.”
“…That’s,”
“Even if that weren’t the case, would you be able to sleep soundly leaving a mere seventeen-year-old kid to strangers in a foreign land? If you did, do you think Duke Widrow would leave my head safely attached? I can’t stand to see someone demoted right after receiving a medal.”
“…Ah.”
“If the Prince says no, Mikael doesn’t go. I won’t send you. If you really want to go, we all go together.”
I had many arguments to make. With Elwin and Hugh present, Ruben would be safe. No matter how naive I was about the world, my own martial prowess would allow me to take care of myself. I could explain things properly to the elders of my family.
Yet, the words “I’ll go alone” didn’t easily come out.
Deep down, I didn’t want to be separated.
As I hesitated, Ruben leaned in close and looked into my face. I held my breath, unable to even blink. The child asked gently, “Is this important to you?”
I couldn’t answer immediately.
Is this important to me? I pondered and replied breathlessly.
“…Perhaps.”
“Then, let’s go together. You said you wanted to travel in the desert, didn’t you? I’ll think of it as a trip we’re taking now that the opportunity has arisen.”
…It was Bill Brown who wanted to travel in the desert, not me…
But I didn’t feel reluctant. Is that allowed? With these children… all of us going together? I briefly looked around at the group. Not a single one of the children showed any sign of reluctance.
As our eyes met, Marianne glared at me, muttering, “If you say you’re going alone, I’ll kill you.” I quickly averted my gaze.
I looked at Nadish again. He adjusted the front of his robe once more. He blinked slowly, his gaze lowered. After a long moment of thought, he finally nodded.
“If you all are alright with it, then I suppose it’s fine. If we can escort ‘Jeongyeon’…”
“Mikael.”
“Ah. Yes. If we can escort Mikael, then it’s fine.”
Hugh Benson summarized concisely.
“We still have some Ranunculus left, so let’s contact the capital and Withrow first. I don’t know what kind of curse it is, but we’re leaving within three days, and we’ll need preparations if we’re going to a distant desert. Wait until then.”
“…Yes.”
The situation, neatly concluded, was surprising and wondrous.
Nadish followed a servant to his assigned room.
Now, only our group of six remained in the drawing-room.
The three who had been standing where he sat, sat down. Marianne was still glaring. Feeling awkward about facing her, I fiddled with the hand I was holding tightly with Ruben, but Ruben gently pulled his hand away.
Only then did I look up. All the children were looking at me.
“So, what is ‘Jeongyeon’?”