Time Healer Ceres

Cheion protested that it was absurd, but Luca didn’t even glance his way.

Kainel turned his attention back to Cheion.

“The blue stone.”

“...The blue stone?”

“The thing you asked me about before. I want you to explain it properly.”

The stone Cheion had mentioned the first time they met at the stew shop.

And... the reaction she showed afterward.

Ceres Drow had hastily crushed the recording orb beneath her foot. At the time, Kainel hadn’t thought much of it.

But ever since hearing Oselt’s story, the memory kept surfacing in his mind.

“She found the family head’s ring?”

“Yes. The Fire Spirit King seemed unusually attached to her. Even I found it astonishing.”

Jubelios, the Fire Spirit King.

That foul-tempered creature had followed her around?

She even found the family head’s ring, something no one but the head of the Ellesia family should’ve been able to locate.

There was something else that continued to gnaw at Kainel.

The Black Forest that had appeared in the capital. At its center was the Bakura boss monster, killed in a single strike.

When Kainel saw the wooden branch lodged directly through its skull, his thoughts blanked out.

Because he recognized the traces left behind in that attack.

The swordsmanship of House Ellesia. Or more precisely, Grace’s swordsmanship.

A sword style that had disappeared centuries ago suddenly appeared again.

How?

At that moment, for some reason, Ceres came to mind. Whenever that lingering sense of unease surfaced, his thoughts always led back to her.

Why?

Why did it always come back to her?

Then, another memory rose to the surface.

“By any chance, have you seen my blue stone?”

“...Blue stone?”

Crash!

“Ah, sorry. My foot slipped.”

“...Couldn’t you at least come up with a believable excuse?”

Ceres abruptly cut Cheion off before he could say anything more.

Why did that moment keep bothering him? What exactly was the blue stone?

In the end, Kainel had no choice but to head to the Magic Tower.

He used the secret passage he and Grace had often used as children, the hidden place Artia had made just for them.

Even Kainel didn’t expect it to survive after all this time.

“What is the blue stone?”

“Hm? Why are you suddenly curious about that?”

“Answer me first.”

“It’s a mana stone.”

Cheion’s tone finally returned to normal, as though he just regained his senses.

“It’s a mana stone containing an enormous amount of magic power.”

“Why did you ask me about it?”

“It was an ice-attribute mana stone.”

“Ice attribute?”

“Yes. An ice-attribute mana stone with a mysterious blue glow.”

“That...”

...No way.

It was ridiculous. Impossible, even.

And yet, Kainel couldn’t stop the absurd thought from digging deeper into his mind.

“Was it perhaps smaller than a fingernail?”

“That’s right. It’s rare to find a mana stone that small holding an overwhelming magic power. It definitely looked like something that came from the Persia Grand Duchy. Do you know anything about it?”

“.....”

“Just give it to Arti.”

“No. Why should I? If you don’t want it, I’ll just throw it away.”

“Fine, fine. Give it here.”

A blue mana stone taken from a monster Kainel had hunted long ago.

Despite its tiny size, the amount of magic power sealed within it was astonishing even to him.

Grace had grumbled about why he was giving something so valuable to someone who wasn’t a mage. But in the end, she had carefully stored the mana stone away in her subspace.

“Why that mana stone?”

“Apparently, Ceres brought it to a magic shop to sell it, but she lost it. I’ve been asking around to see if another one like it can be found.”

It truly was an absurd thought.

However, Ceres’s existence kept brushing against fragments of his memories.

Ceres, who had found the Ellesia family’s ring.

Ceres, who possessed an ice-attribute mana stone.

The corpse of the Bakura boss he had seen not long ago. The trails left behind by the footprints, the sheer force driven into the weapon.

They were unmistakably the traces unique to the lost swordsmanship of House Ellesia.

More precisely, Grace’s swordsmanship.

Then...

“Ceres really is fascinating, isn’t she? It wasn’t just the mana stone. She had something like this too.”

“That’s...”

“It’s a protection stone. There’s a powerful defensive spell sealed inside.”

...Artia’s protection stone.

There was no way Kainel could fail to recognize it.

“Grace, this is a protection stone! Keep it with you at all times. If you’re ever in danger, use it immediately!”

“I’m always beside her anyway, so when would she ever be in danger? What a pointless thing.”

“Will you just shut up already?!”

“You should shut up.”

“She said a mage she knew a long time ago gave it to her. Whoever it was must’ve been really skilled. But that person has already passed away...”

“.....”

“Um...? Are you listening to me...?”

Cheion couldn’t finish his sentence. It was the first time he had ever seen the Ice Grand Duke wear such an expression.

He carefully called out to Kainel, who couldn’t take his eyes off the protection stone as if struck by a tremendous shock. No response came out.

Who...

Kainel clenched his fist.

Who are you?

***

“Haa... haa...”

“Ugh...”

“Am I... still alive?”

“No, I think we all died together.”

At the edge of a snow-covered cliff, Antonian and the students of Group B lay collapsed on the ground. They had barely gotten used to climbing the rocky mountain before being thrown onto a snowy one instead.

Despite the freezing cold, their bodies were soaked with sweat.

“Looks like you still have enough energy left to talk?”

“—!”

The students’ eyes widened in horror as they realized Ceres was standing beside them.

When did she get here?

Why does she look completely fine?

There’s got to be another route we don’t know about.

What route? Didn’t you see her on the rocky mountain before? She was practically flying around up there.

Unlike the others, who looked half-dead, Ceres appeared as relaxed as someone out on a casual walk. The students could only stare at her in disbelief.

A monster.

Before long, everyone’s gaze drifted toward one person.

Antonian, Ceres’s younger brother.

What exactly is your sister?

Unfortunately, Antonian had no answer for them. In fact, no one here was more confused by Ceres than he was.

Is that... really my sister?

He knew she had changed after losing her memories, but this was far beyond that.

This mysterious place was strange enough already, but what was with that ridiculous stamina?

Since when did she become so skilled at teaching while driving people this hard?

More importantly, when did his sister ever know anything about swordsmanship?

“What? Want to go down and climb back up one more time?”

The students frantically shook their heads. Antonian included.

“Should we stop here for today?”

“Yeees!”

“Alright. You’ll need to climb it twice tomorrow, so we’ll end things here for today.”

“Y-Yes... pardon?”

Twice?

Tomorrow they had to climb this snowy mountain twice?

She was joking.

She had to be joking.

“Everyone, head down.”

“Yes...”

“The last one down gets double the training tomorrow...”

“Waaah!”

“Move! Move!”

The children who had been dragging themselves around instantly disappeared down the mountain in a frenzy.

Ceres watched them leave with an amused smile before turning her gaze toward a spot between the trees.

“Come out.”

Her eyes rested on the shadows beneath the snow-covered branches. When no response came, she picked up a pebble from the ground.

Whoosh!

A figure quickly jumped out from the direction she had thrown it.

“Good grief... why do you always throw things first?!”

It was Ben, the member of the Sky organization who had been tailing her this entire time.

“I told you to come out whenever I call you.”

On the first day Ceres arrived here, she had sent the children ahead first before dragging out Ben, who had been secretly following her around. After all, she needed to filter the information he was reporting back.

At first, Ben had complained endlessly, demanding to know how she discovered him and why she suddenly stopped pretending not to notice him.

But over time, he had grown much more docile.

“You remember what I told you, right?”

“Yes...”

“Report whatever else you want. Just leave this place out of it. I’d rather not have rumors spreading.”

“But what happens if I ignore you and report it to my superiors?”

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