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nErwin took Luke outside the village to a field.

nLuke was bewildered why he was asked to move and was much more surprised to see that the crops and grass were blooming under his feet slowly.

n“This is…!”

n

n

n“It is only happening around you. I think that it is because of the thing that is there near your heart.”

nAt those words, Luke had pulled out the guardian pendant Reina had given him.

nIt wasn’t the huge amount that Erwin had felt in the fight. However, there was some unknown energy coming from the guardian pendant.

n“Where did you get that?”

n

n

n“… Someone gave this to me as I was going to do my military service.”

nThere was a reason why Luke wasn’t giving out the full details.

nThe dark elves, who had come to kidnap Reina, crossed his mind.

nHe wasn’t sure if they were involved with Erwin, but he had no intention of letting her know that Reina had some kind of power in her.

n

n

n“Can’t you let me know who has given this to you?”

n“Just a resident of the estate. An inheritance from someone in my close circle of friends.”

n‘He is lying.’ Erwin thought.

nErwin noticed Luke’s off behavior at once. She wasn’t as great as her teacher, but she could read minds a little bit.

nHowever, she fully understood Luke’s position.

nIt would be completely natural for Luke to be wary of someone asking him about the source of a power that he himself didn’t know.

n

n

n“Can I see what is in it?” Asked Erwin.

n“…”

n“Please. I have no other intention. I just want to help the fairies of the village.”

nAt those words, Luke opened the metal box and showed Reina’s hair which was in it.

nErwin, who looked carefully at the hair, pulled out one of the strands.

nWheeeing?!

nErwin focused all the magic into the hair that was between her fingers.

nWhen stimulated by the mana wave, mysterious energy began to arise from the hair.

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n

nIt was like witnessing the world tree which had been mentioned in the myths. It was grand.

nThe World Tree, firmly rooted in the earth and reaching up to the heavens, which had conceived numerous kinds of lives.

nStarting with an unnamed flower to small worms and bugs, there were unicorn-like beasts and spirits which were told to be legends, even the vicious dragons, and the ugly demons. And then came the fairies and humans.

n“Look here, are you okay?” Asked Luke.

n“Ah…!”

nErwin came back to reality at Luke’s call.

n“Some weird energy came out,” said Luke.

n“You must have felt it too. Perhaps it has the power of the World when everything was one. And that too isn’t just a portion of it.”

n“When the world was one?” Asked Luke.

n“Pangea. When the Celestial World, Spirit world, the Devildom and the Middle World (Earth) weren’t divided or disconnected,” Answered Erwin.

nLuke was unable to close his mouth as he heard of it. What Erwin just told him was the old myths and stories he had been told.

n‘Then the power that Reina has is from that old times?’ Luke thought.

nNot knowing that Luke was in his own line of thoughts, Erwin explained a little more.

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n

n“It is very little, but I think that it can save some of the lands around this village.”

n“Do you know how to do that?” Asked Luke.

nErwin nodded and pulled out the necessary materials from her subspace ring.

nIn a small mortar, she put in a metal, a crystal, coal from the ancient tree which had hardened like a stone, and some reagents were added to it, followed by the hair strand of Reina.

n“There used to be a special treasure in the past. The people wanted it but couldn’t find it… It was called The Earth’s Tears.”

n‘The Earth’s Tears, huh…’ Thought Luke.

nIt seemed like a word that he had heard once before.

nErenes, who had met Saymon, in the past had mentioned it.

nHowever, Saymon wasn’t interested in it at that time, so Luke couldn’t remember what it did or what it was.

n“Since I couldn’t find it, I believed that I could make it. It wasn’t successful, but there was a surprising by-product,” said Erwin.

n“Are you talking about the artificial Magic Stones?” Asked Luke

n“Yes, it was an unexpected result, but I thought that it could change the world. It was the greatest mistake.”

nErwin had a bitter smile when talking about it.

nBefore the artificial magic stone came out, each country was devoted to mining to find the stones.

nThe mining didn’t just change the country and its territories but the lands of the fairies too, not to mention the serious destruction of nature that happened in the process.

nWhich was why Erwin was determined to avoid the destruction of her world by making the artificial magic stone. She wanted to spread the technique to make them several Magic towers.

nAnd just as she hoped, humans weren’t so hung up on mining after that.

nHowever, the destruction of nature was much severe than before. Instead of a natural magic stone, the artificial ones needed a number of materials.

nKnowing that there was something that could replace the Magic Stone which was hard to get, it resulted in a significant rise of material needed.

nThe world had definitely changed.

nHowever, it wasn’t in the way Erwin had wanted.

nWhich was why she stayed with her teacher for a while.

nIt wasn’t like she performed the experiment behind her teacher’s back.

nShe continued to study the materials that could contain or manipulate the mana or the mana waves.

nAnd because of that, she gained the knowledge on how to save Zenith village.

nHwarkk!

nMagic flames soared in the mortar.

nErwin began to mobilize her magic.

nIn the beginning, it was said that God has ignited a flame to solidify the wobbly structure of the world.

nHowever…

n‘I don’t have enough magic!’ Realized Erwin.

nOver the past few days, she had been using her magic and spirit to save the fairies.

nAnd her magic hadn’t been completely restored, so she wasn’t able to cast the amount of magic that she had calculated.

n‘If this goes wrong, every material will just burn down.’

nThe moment Erwin was discouraged, a white flame rose from the motor.

nShe was shocked at what she saw. She looked over at Luke instead of checking the power of the flame.

n“Will this much be alright?” Asked Luke.

n“… Don’t interrupt me.”

nThough she shot a chilly glance, she did smile a little. It was her way of showing her gratitude.

nAfter a little while, a green jewel had appeared in the place where the flame sank down.

n“Is this it?” Asked Luke.

n“Yes, this is it.”

nLuke looked at it and felt like something had been made.

nIt was much weaker than what he felt from Reina, but the green gem had a rich energy—a fresh energy from the world.

nErwin buried it into the ground.

nFrom the place where the gem had been buried, a green light spread all the way over to the Zenith village and the land surrounding it.

nWith that, the withered crops and trees had come back to life. The moist and shiny grass bloomed on the barren land.

n“What, what is this?”

n“The crops, the crops are still alive?!”

nThe villagers were rejoicing knowing that Erwin had done something to help them all out, which was why they asked her,

n“How are we supposed to repay this grace?”

n“I am the same as you. I need to live with you. But if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have been able to do all of this,” answered Erwin.

nWhen Erwin pointed to Luke, the fairies hesitated and then thanked him.

nAlthough they were disgusted with humans, the person who was standing in front of them was different. And it was only natural to thank the man who had helped them out.

nPhilip saw all this from the side. He didn’t know what had happened, but he knew that his Lord did something great.

nAfter completing his work in the Zenith village, Luke returned to his wagon.

nIn the beginning, he was a bit worried as he had to go through the same dangerous path once again.

n“Okay, let’s go our own different paths from here on. If we are destined to meet again, then I’ll see you.”

nLuke tried to say his goodbyes, but Erwin blocked him from going.

n“What are you doing?” Asked Luke while frowning.

nWith a face full of confidence Erwin responded.

n“I am indebted to you in numerous ways. Let me pay you back.”

nLooking at Erwin who had stopped him, Luke spoke with a troubled feeling.

n“You don’t need to pay it back, so just go your own way.”

n“Are you trying to make me look ungrateful?”

n“I just told you that you don’t have to feel the need to pay me back! And I am on my way to my military service. You will be caught in the war if you follow me there!”

n“It doesn’t matter. If you want to, I can be your shield.”

nLuke had refused her offer, but Erwin had no intention of sending him alone.

nReviving the land of Zenith village…

nThe power transmitted from one world brought about spirit power, which was why the barren land turned fertile, and crops, which were withering, turned into crops with life.

nIf she followed this man, she could find the treasure, the Earth’s Tears, that would completely open the door to the Spirit World.

nErwin wasn’t the kind to take radical decisions, but she wasn’t stupid enough to cling on to her pride when the fate of the fading fairies could be reversed.

nLuke too knew what her intentions were.

n‘It seems like she is trying to find the secret behind the pendant by sticking close to me saying she needs to pay back for my grace.’

nIf she was just another ordinary wizard, Luke would probably reject her right away.

nErwin, a senior class wizard with 7 circle and had goodwill for her race to flourish.

n‘To be honest, she could be of use.’

nIn order to fight the Baroque Empire, or the main enemy, the Veritas Magic Tower, it was necessary to have more than one kind of talent.

nAnd a wizard with a 7 circle and a genius showing up and offering help didn’t always happen.

nLuke thought for a moment and decided to accept Erwin’s request.

n“Okay, but you need to obey at all times, is that okay with you?”

n“If it isn’t an improper request, then I’ll do it.”

n“Till the end.”

n“You didn’t say unconditional obedience.”

nLuke nodded his head and with Erwin in the wagon, they left for Krom city.

nErwin was feeling relieved that she hadn’t missed the clue to finding the Earth’s Tears.

nBut on the other hand, she had another work to do.

n‘In the North, I need to meet the cut off wind…’

nThat was what her teacher had said.

nHowever, instead of heading over to the north as her teacher said, she was heading over to the south.

nAs a result, she went against her teacher’s instructions.

nErwin never even imagined that.

nThe fact that the one who was going to bring a storm into the continent, as her master had said, was right in front of her eyes.

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