Chapter 49: A Night of Parting and Promise

A look of surprise spread across Norani’s face — or rather, the face of the woman borrowing Norani’s body.

Her expression seemed to ask how I could possibly know that name.

“The other spirits didn’t seem to know this name. If you are a being who has a connection with my grandfather, I figured it must be you. I was half-guessing, though.”

“As expected, you are that man’s son,” Madeline said while borrowing Norani’s body.

Those words were an affirmation of my question.

“That’s right. I’m Madeline. You don’t know much about me yet, do you?”

“No. I only recently learned about your existence.”

“I thought so. That man has a stubborn and rigid side, after all.”

“…I’m not sure how that relates, but you’re likely the only one who would call my grandfather that.”

“I suppose so. I’d like to talk more, but there’s no time.”

Metlen said those words and approached me.

Then, she took my hand, gave the back of it a short kiss, and spoke.

“Wait just a little longer. I’ll come to meet you.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

“Thank you.”

With those final words, Norani’s eyes closed.

I carefully caught Norani as she slumped over.

Hearing her steady breathing, it seemed Norani had fallen into a deep sleep, just like before.

‘Is it because of the burden placed on her body when Metlen entered?’

“Don’t worry too much. She would never do anything that would harm us.”

“I think so, too. I know she treasures all of you.”

I could tell just by looking at the diary my grandfather kept.

He had recorded exactly what should be done for the spirits.

I knew she was a good being.

For now, I picked Norani up and laid her down in the inner room.

‘If she doesn’t wake up by the time I have to leave later, I’ll have to carry her back.’

When I returned to the table, Ludric was finishing his tea.

“Ludric.”

“What is it?”

“What kind of person was my grandfather in your memory?”

“Hmm? You are his son, so shouldn’t you know him better than I do?”

“Surprisingly, that’s not the case.”

My grandfather was a man of many facets, but the only side I knew was his kind and gentle nature.

Or perhaps I should say, the side of him that truly loved me.

“I’m curious about what kind of person he was to other people or the spirits.”

“I see.”

Ludric drank a bit more of his remaining tea and opened his mouth to speak.

“He was a good man, a wonderful man. If I could live my life like him, I wouldn’t mind dedicating my entire existence to it.”

Ludric’s eyes were filled with deep admiration.

It isn’t easy to earn such a reputation from someone, but my grandfather was a man who could achieve even that.

From then on, stories about my grandfather poured out of Ludric.

Every single story was quite entertaining.

There were stories about how he mediated disputes between spirits, how he became a sanctuary for them, and how he was surprisingly mischievous.

Ludric shared many stories about my grandfather that I never knew.

Sometimes, I felt a sense of familiarity when the grandfather I knew appeared in his tales; other times, he seemed like a completely different person when new stories came to light.

As I listened to the interesting stories, time quickly approached midnight.

Before I knew it, Ludric had finished more than three cups of tea.

“…At this rate, my stomach will be full of tea.”

“I thought you said spirits don’t really need to eat?”

“It’s just a feeling.”

Ludric said so and emptied his last cup.

However, as he set the empty cup back on the table, his fingertips began to slowly turn into powder.

“…Ludric?”

“I’m so glad. I’m glad the last place I reached was here, and the last tea I drank was this one.”

Ludric spoke while looking me straight in the eye.

“Truly, no words could ever be enough to thank you.”

“…Has your lifespan reached its end?”

“The Mother of Nature is calling me. It’s time to go see her.”

“I’m sad that you’re leaving as soon as we met.”

“Don’t be too sad. As I told you before, a spirit’s death is different from yours.”

Ludric’s hands had now completely turned into powder.

Staring at his own vanishing body, Ludric spoke.

“We will meet again someday. Though by then, your appearance and mine will both be different.”

“Why would my appearance be different?”

“Because you’ll have grown older and eventually passed away. You are a human, after all.”

“Well, that’s true.”

“So, don’t feel too much regret or sadness. Our meeting isn’t the end.”

Already, more than half of his body had disappeared.

Before he vanished completely, Ludric looked at the bowler hat he had placed on the table.

“I’d like you to look after that hat until then.”

“…I’ll keep it safe. So, let’s meet again, Ludric.”

“I’m counting on you. Until then.”

With those final words, Ludric vanished completely.

The remaining black powder gradually scattered away.

Seeing the seat where he had been sitting just a moment ago gave me a strange feeling.

‘Death.’

This wasn’t my first experience of someone close to me leaving.

I had been to funerals several times.

Even so, I could never get used to partings.

‘I didn’t think we’d part right after meeting.’

I picked up Ludric’s bowler hat from the table.

Because if we ever met again, I would have to return it to him.

…It was while I was touching the bowler hat with those thoughts.

*Ting.*

The closed door of the Chachip opened once again.

The one who walked through the door was none other than Yuae.

“You’re here?”

“…Yes.”

After walking a few steps, Yuae took off her hood and stood in front of the bar table.

“Phew…”

Normally, she would have sat down immediately, but today was different.

She simply stood there, quietly feeling the warmth that still lingered in the air.

Yuae stayed like that for several minutes before turning her gaze to the bowler hat I was holding.

“…Has Ludric left for the Mother of Nature’s embrace?”

“How did you know?”

“I also possess the power of a night spirit. I came as fast as I could, but it seems I was too late.”

Yuae stood there for a long time, lost in thought about the departed Ludric.

In the meantime, I began brewing the ‘Night-Blooming Moon’ for Yuae.

And by the time Yuae had composed her emotions and sat down, the tea was finished as if it had been waiting for her.

I placed the finished tea in front of her, but Yuae didn’t touch it easily even after seeing it.

She was just lost in deep contemplation.

I could guess to some extent what she was thinking and what emotions she was feeling, so I stayed by her side in silence.

Caressing the teacup, Yuae slowly spoke.

“…Ludric’s time to leave passed a long time ago. The average lifespan of a night spirit is fifteen years.”

“I heard it was short. Didn’t you say the night spirit who lived the longest reached twenty-two years?”

“Yes. However, their lifespans weren’t short to begin with. They became shorter because of me.”

Yuae spoke with a self-deprecating smile.

“Before I was born, night spirits lived for over fifty years. It was the same for other spirits. It all started after I was born.”

“…Even so, the night spirits and the other spirits wouldn’t have resented you. Right?”

Yuae silently took a sip of her tea.

After reflecting on my words, Yuae spoke.

“You’re right. The moon spirits I met didn’t resent me. They just felt sorry. They knew that the sadness caused by their departures would continue to pile up inside me.”

“They are kind spirits.”

“Stupidly kind.”

Yuae looked at the tea and then downed it in one gulp.

The tea must have still been hot, as Yuae frowned slightly before wiping her mouth and speaking.

“Owner Chansung. I accepted your proposal, but I was still hesitating. That’s why I didn’t act proactively.”

We had agreed to help each other, but Yuae hadn’t moved first.

It was more like a passive movement.

She would just stop by the Chachip for a bit and leave after drinking her tea.

I hadn’t said anything about it either.

I knew well enough that Yuae needed time to think.

And that time had come to an end.

“I won’t hesitate anymore,” Yuae said.

“I don’t want to see things like what happened to Ludric anymore. To be precise, I don’t want to see children living out lifespans that were shortened because of me. But I can’t do anything alone. I need your help.”

“I’m glad you said that.”

I left Yuae and went straight into the warehouse.

I had already prepared the necessary ingredients.

After returning with some tea leaves and fruits, I began to carefully mix them.

I boiled some of the fruits in water as they were, and crushed others to add them in.

While mixing the tea leaves and boiling the water, I took out the final secret ingredient.

“Owner Chansung, is that…”

“Do you know what it is?”

“There’s no way I wouldn’t know.”

What I held in my hand was a yellow lump.

It was a fragment similar to the Moon Fragment or the night fragment.

It was a Sun Fragment.

“Norani made it for me.”

By making tea for Norani all this time, I had strengthened her power.

And with that strengthened power, Norani had created a fragment of herself and handed it to me.

It must have been a burden on her body, but Norani granted my request without a single word of complaint.

She said she wanted all spirits to be happy.

“Watch closely.”

After breaking off a piece of the Sun Fragment, I brought over a mortar and pestle to grind it.

I mixed the finely ground powder with the pre-prepared tea leaves.

The process ended once I poured ninety-nine degree hot water over it.

The color of the tea, brewing hot, was yellow, just like Norani.

‘Should I call it forsythia-colored?’

After a brief moment of appreciation, I quickly removed the tea leaves from the steeped tea.

This tea shouldn’t be steeped for long.

It might be fine for some spirits, but the energy within the fruits acted so intensely that it would actually be poisonous for Yuae.

I transferred the finished tea into a teacup and placed it in front of Yuae.

“Here, it’s ready.”

“…It’s different from the tea I saw back then.”

“That’s because that was tea for Norani, not you. This is the tea for you to drink.”

Yuae stared at the tea before downing it in one gulp.

It must have been incredibly hot since the water had just been boiling, but Yuae only frowned slightly.

There was a sense of urgency in her actions, as if she wanted to see the effects quickly.

“…Phew.”

Exhaling a long breath, Yuae held up both of her hands.

Then, small, clumping energies began to gather at Yuae’s fingertips.

Those energies held various colors, but they gradually transformed into a single color.

Blue in her right hand, and ash-gray in her left.

“Owner Chansung.”

“Yeah.”

“If you fail after I’ve gone this far, I will kill you.”

Looking at her eyes and the aura she gave off, it didn’t seem like a mere metaphor; it felt like she truly meant it.

I felt a slight chill of fear, but that dread soon subsided.

There was no way I would fail.

“Don’t worry. That won’t happen.”

“Your answer was about three seconds late.”

“Can’t you count that as a safe margin?”

“I’m being generous this once.”

The energy gathered in Yuae’s hands soon became a single mass.

Then, those masses turned into stones and dropped onto the table with a thud.

Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Yuae spoke.

“The one on the right is a River Fragment, and the one on the left is a Cloud Fragment.”

“You also possessed the power of river and cloud spirits?”

“I told you. I possess more than just one or two spirit powers. Surely you’re not thinking of backing out now?”

“Not at all.”

“Good.”

Yuae pushed the two fragments toward me.

“Later, call for the river spirit and the cloud spirit through the other children. And make tea for those children with these fragments dissolved in it.”

“That’s my specialty from here on. Just trust me.”

Strengthening the power of the spirits.

That wasn’t difficult.

“I’ll stop here for today. Since it’s my first time doing this, it’s quite exhausting.”

“Good work.”

“It was nothing. More importantly, there’s one more thing I want to ask.”

“What is it?”

“…What did Ludric say before he left?”

‘Should I call it his final words?’

“He said he’d see us again. That we’d meet again soon.”

“He said that, did he?”

Yuae burst into laughter. Then, she tilted her head and stood up immediately.

“Owner Chansung, I’ll see you tomorrow at this time.”

“You’re leaving already?”

“Yes.”

Yuae pulled up her hood and headed for the door.

“I have a spirit to meet.”

She didn’t say who that spirit was.

But I felt like I knew.

It was likely the reincarnated Ludric.

Despite everything, it was just like Yuae to care for the spirits more than anyone else.

It was a night when one spirit returned to nature’s embrace.

And a night when one spirit came to see the light of the world.