An unexpected reunion.

Lovell received a message from the great spirit waiting in the sky above Helgner and relayed it to Ravisel.

Seems like nothing's moving at all, huh.

"Knew it all along, huh..."

"Probably because Your Majesty’s the one provoking things. We should’ve just gotten permission to bring her back like her daughter said."

"That was careless. But now you can tell the king’s been bitten, right?"

Lovell shrugged at the smiling Ravisel.

"Unless we come up with some other plan, this stalemate's gonna keep going, I reckon."

Hmm...

Lavisel muttered to herself, surprised he wasn’t as foolish as she’d thought.

Lavissel frowned. Unexpected, for a neighboring country that usually resorted to force at the first sign of trouble.

Should I talk to my daughter about it?

«…………»

Looking at Lovell who’d made the suggestion, Ravisel sighed.

“You just wanna see Elen, don’t you…”

“Obviously.”

These past few days, holed up in the castle, waiting for word from the Greater Spirit.

The Greater Spirits are taking turns gathering intel on Helgner, but so far, nothing’s come of it.

Oddly enough, some of the Greater Spirits—who’d never shown the slightest interest in humans—now seem utterly fascinated by human chatter, leaning in with rapt attention.

Lovell sighed, exasperated. If they keep this up, they’ll never get anything done.

Instead of useful intel, they’re bombarding him with questions like, “What *is* this?” or “Why do they do *that*?”—all from spirits who’ve never even seen a human village, let alone a kitchen.

Lovell was already worn thin by the unexpected complications.

“Takes longer than I thought.”

“First time doing something like this. Unexpected things happen, right? Oh, hey—can I go home now?”

“Bring Elen here.”

“…I just wanna go home.”

Lavisel laughed at Lovell’s complaining, when suddenly, a voice came from above: “Father…?”

They both looked up—and there was Elen, floating in midair.

“Elen~!”

“Mugyuu!”

A muffled, squashed sound came from Lovell’s arms, where his daughter was crushed.

“…Elen, are you alright?”

Elen, still squirming in Lovell’s grip, finally poked her face out.

“Mou! Father, it’s suffocating!”

“Sorry. I was just so happy.”

Lovell, shoulders drooping, still didn’t let go, and Elen and Lavisel both sighed in unison, as if this was exactly what they expected.

“Mother said to go see you. Did anything happen?”

Origin had been watching us through a water mirror, apparently. But after noticing Lovell’s shortage of daughters, it turned out he’d sent Elen over here.

“Damn right, my Ori!”

I tried to resist as Lovell rubbed his cheek against his daughter, but then I noticed Raffilia staring at me with a look of utter disbelief.

“Your Majesty, you’re… you’re being way too much… ugh!”

Lovell had gone too far and earned a scolding from Elen.

“Ow!”

He got a solid bump to the forehead—*thwack!*—and crumpled, clutching his brow.

Elen, having teleported away to escape, regrouped and gave Raffilia a proper greeting.

“Parents who can’t let go are a real pain, Elen.”

“Tell me about it.”

“I’m not letting go, so it’s fine!”

Lovell puffed out his chest, completely unbothered. The two of us just sighed again.

Elen decided the conversation wasn’t moving forward and turned her back on her father, asking Ravisel for an update instead.

“Stuck in place. Deadlocked.”

“The King’s meddling just made things worse.”

Ravisel said one word too many, but Elen blinked, unblinking.

“What did he do?”

“…………”

Feeling cornered by Elen’s stare, Ravisel fell silent.

Elen glanced at her father. Lovell shrugged, stepping in to explain.

“They’re on high alert.”

“…Sorry.”

Ravisel’s sincere apology made Elen stop pressing further.

If the situation wasn’t shifting, then they’d have to move first.

“Still, this setup’s inefficient. We need to narrow down the location… something like that.”

When she said she needed Helgner’s map, Ravisel called for a guard to fetch it.

Elen thanked her and took the map, spreading it out on the table to check the town’s location.

"I thought it was most likely hiding in the capital…"

"Apparently they sent another spirit to check inside the capital. No cursed ones were reported."

"If they’d fled, it’d be a problem, so they probably haven’t gone to another country. Humans need food, after all. Assuming a decent number of people, including guards… a place with access to water, and enough food to sustain them…"

Elen conjured graphite from the air, then shaped iron into a simple compass in an instant.

She placed the needle at the town’s center, roughly circling a 2-to-5-kilometer radius with a loose circle.

"...Elen, what’s that?"

"Huh? What’s what?"

I blinked at Lavisel’s words, and Lavisel pointed eagerly at the compass. Lovell sighed beside her.

Elen sometimes did this—unconsciously creating something utterly ridiculous.

“Not ink? Why can it write? No, wait—this is charcoal for drawing…?”

“Ah…”

Oh no. Elen realized with a jolt that she’d done it again.

For now, she set the explanation aside—tucked it neatly in the back of her mind—and returned to the map.

“Given that a noblewoman wouldn’t survive long in the woods, she’s probably hiding somewhere close to town. And since the curse is mutual knowledge, she’d avoid temples or shrines dedicated to spirits.”

Elen spoke, narrowing down the possible hiding spots little by little.

By the end, the area had shrunk to a remarkably small radius.

Hmm...

What if we focus our attention on this narrowed-down area and gather information from it?

Good idea.

Lavissel praised, and Elen smiled happily.

Seeing that, Lavissel blinked—just slightly. Come to think of it, she didn’t often talk to Elen like this.

A good chance, maybe. Lavissel handed the spirit instructions to Lovell and shifted focus back to the compass.

"So, what exactly is this thing?"

"Well..."

Elen was about to explain when a message came in: "His Highness Gadiel has arrived."

"Let him in."

"Yes."

"Wait—!"

Lovell hastily scooped up his daughter, shoving her away from the door and shielding her behind his back.

The onlookers blinked in mild surprise, but to the people involved, this was serious business.

Elen’s eyes widened as she saw the man bowing at the door.

"Wha...?"

I’d heard it was Gadiel, but for a second, the man standing before me didn’t register. Who…? I couldn’t help blurting it out.

Gadiel noticed, and his eyes snapped wide open too.

“Elen…?”

Gadiel, who’d turned eighteen this year, had grown so much since the last time I’d seen him—unrecognizable.

His height was nearly on par with Lovell’s. The man in front of me looked remarkably like the King.

Seeing Elen peeking out from behind her father’s back, the boy who’d barely changed in appearance from years ago, Gadiel seemed momentarily stunned. But then he smiled and stepped toward her.

“Please, sir. I must ask you to stop approaching my daughter.”

Lovell narrowed his eyes, and Gadiel froze, as if remembering something unpleasant.

His face was full of sorrow as he stared at Elen. Elen didn’t know what to do—she just looked down.

“Gadiel, what’s the matter?”

The king’s single sentence shifted the air in an instant.

Gadiel straightened himself, ready to report something.

“Father…?”

“Elen, should we go back for now?”

If she was going to run, now was the time—Elen tugged at her father’s hem, and Lovell, catching her intent perfectly, whispered a suggestion that Raffilia didn’t miss.

“Elen still has business here. Stay where you are.”

Lovell clicked his tongue at that.

Gadiel, clearly not about to miss his chance, seized on the king’s words.

“Elen… how about a little talk, even from afar? Your brother’s been wanting to see you.”

“…………”

Elen looked up at her father, torn between the two royal requests. Lovell finally gave in, furrowing his brow. “I’ll send guards to accompany you.”

“Van! Kai—bring him here!”

When Lovell gave the command, Van appeared instantly, muttered only “Yes, my lord,” and vanished.

And soon after, Kai was transferred over too, brought along. Kai seemed a little unsettled, but quickly bowed in obeisance.

Well, I get why you're on edge...

Lavissel was chuckling to himself, though. Gadiel looked positively delighted at the prospect of talking to Elen soon.

Elen was sighing quietly behind Lovell, thinking she’d now have to hold talks with the nobles.