The Guardian Knight of Affection-Starved Young Ladies

99 – Laris (01)

100.

“…Did Laris tell you that much?”

The woman, without shifting her gaze from the necklace, spoke.

A voice filled with regret and apology.

It revealed that her gaze was not solely directed at the necklace.

“Yes. If you know about the necklace, you must already know… I am Laris’s mother.”

The woman approached the sleeping Laris.

She gently wrapped her hand around the one holding the necklace.

“And… it was thanks to the necklace that I was able to leave the cave.”

It seemed like an out-of-place story at first glance.

But Kallen guessed that her words were not so different from what he wanted.

For that reason, as she quietly listened, the woman began to gently stroke Laris’s hand.

“I said I lured you, Laris, to this place.”

“…I remember.”

Unlike before, when she couldn’t be sure of her identity, it became clear that the incomprehensible being before her was Laris’s mother.

From the banquet hall, the inn of Ecclesia, the carriage, and the mansion, to this place.

The relationship Kalen had with Laris was never shallow.

Above all, the love Laris showed towards her mother.

Seeing the affection Laris’s mother now showed, it was hard to speak informally.

The woman smiled as if grateful for Kalen’s attitude.

“It’s the first time someone has come up above the waterfall, but that doesn’t mean I can come and go from this cave as I please.”

“The entrance wasn’t particularly blocked.”

“This is an illusory space I created. Um… to put it simply, it’s a space made for a soul to stay.”

“Then…”

“That’s right. I am already dead.”

Laris came here to bury her mother.

So her mother was already dead.

The idea of a space made for a soul to stay wasn’t hard to understand.

But what Kalen really couldn’t comprehend was the space itself.

Kalen, who had overcome many adventures far from ordinary.

The fact that the soul of a dead person could exist so vividly, the fact that a space for a soul to stay could be artificially created, was unbelievable.

“Is it hard to believe?”

“Honestly, yes.”

“I understand. I could only barely manage it after I died. And even then, it’s not perfect.”

Putting aside the fact that such a space was created.

If Laris’s mother created this place, it would be strange if she couldn’t leave the place she made herself.

However, if this illusory space wasn’t perfect as she said.

And, if it was as Kalen unconsciously thought…

“Imagery…”

“Oh my. How did you get there on your own…”

Existing in the world, yet incomprehensible.

It’s like knowing one more thing about this illusory space.

Impression.

Something that anyone involved in magic longs for, something sublime and great.

“I was truly impressed. How did you grasp the impression so quickly…”

When it comes to understanding impressions, no one can match Kalen.

Even the great archmage Blamia might fall behind Kalen when it comes to discussing impressions.

Eliana, Selassia, Sinat.

The affairs of the spirit world and Kalen’s own dark world.

Given these experiences, it’s no wonder Kalen knows impressions well.

However, since he couldn’t recall all those memories one by one, Kalen simply dismissed it.

“…I’ve had a lot of personal involvement with impressions.”

“I understand. I’m curious, but I won’t ask further.”

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Had she stroked his hand enough?

The woman, still holding Laris’s warm hand, turned to Kalen.

One might have been startled by that grotesque face.

But Kalen didn’t seem very surprised.

The woman continued speaking comfortably.

“You were right. This place is like a kind of impression.”

“Did you create the impression?”

“It’s a bit different. I was a slave when I was alive, but I had a talent for magic.”

A rare but possible story.

Magic is considered the exclusive domain of the nobility, but occasionally, commoners born with a talent for magic are discovered.

It’s just that their talent rarely sees the light of day.

It’s a story that doesn’t quite fit Kalen’s own example.

Even Laris shows talent in academic attribute magic.

It’s a well-known story in social circles, so it wasn’t hard to understand the woman’s words.

Recalling this, Kalen naturally asked.

“Is it academic attribute magic?”

“…It seems my daughter has shared quite a lot of personal stories with you?”

“…”

And the woman’s face, upon hearing those words, did not change.

If there had been any expression, it would have been quite troubling.

“Hehe. Just kidding.”

The woman continued, habitually covering her mouth with her hand.

“Anyway, yes. Academic attribute magic, unlike other attributes, explores the essence of magic. This incomplete illusionary image is one of the results.”

Incomplete, but astonishing.

Originally, an image is a world that a magician has awakened to.

The fact that it gains substance and exists.

“In this way, I was able to bind my soul to this place. Though I couldn’t go outside.”

A truly amazing story.

Kallen listened to the amazing story and answered cautiously.

“Is it regret?”

Words that could be greatly rude depending on the situation.

But this is the core that penetrates the woman’s words.

If there is no answer to this question, the woman’s words are merely self-praise.

The woman, too, knew this, and was silent for a while.

Whether she was contemplating, she gently lowered the hand that had covered her mouth.

“Isn’t it strange?”

“…”

“I clearly said I couldn’t go outside the cave, but you and my daughter met me on the cliff. I even said I lured you two to this crystal cave.”

When Laris buried the necklace.

What she saw on the cliff was undoubtedly the woman in front of her.

“I should answer this first. You asked if it was regret. Yes, it is. The fact that I created an illusionary image and bound my soul even after death, it is indeed regret.”

Kallen looked down at the sleeping Laris.

If it was the woman’s regret, there is only one thing to think about.

The woman is, after all, Laris’s mother.

“The regret and guilt of leaving my daughters behind. And the regret. Those things kept my eyes from closing even after death, allowing me to remain in this grotesque form. And…”

The woman moved her hand and grabbed the necklace that Laris was holding.

A mother and daughter clasping hands with the necklace between them.

The sleeping Laris looked very peaceful.

“I don’t know why, but when the two people with this necklace broke through the spray and arrived here, I realized it so naturally. I could leave the cave and greet my daughter and guest.”

In short, that’s what it was.

Laris’s mother remained out of attachment to her two daughters but couldn’t leave the space she created.

When Kalen and Laris, who had the necklace, came to the Latia Falls, they could break free from that bondage.

Whether the necklace acted as a physical medium,

or Kalen, an ‘exceptional being,’ caused some change,

or the longing hearts of the mother and daughter created a miracle, no one knows.

“Doesn’t it look like a mirror?”

“If you mean the stone… Yes, it looks like glass.”

“Because it’s a place where souls stay. This place reflects the essence of existence. Strangely, it seems useless to you, but perhaps others will be honest with the hearts they had hidden.”

Kalen recalled Laris’s ‘treatment.’

He had thought it was strange, but was that Laris being honest with her inner feelings?

Why Laris’s inner feelings took that form…

“And… this is my greed, but…”

As Kalen was thinking such thoughts and watching the mother and daughter holding hands,

the woman gently took the necklace from Laris and put it around her neck.

It was at that moment.

Whoosh-!

The stones of the crystal cave filled all around.

Like a mirror or glass, they shimmered beautifully and shone brightly.

It sparkled as if dyeing the world white, and it happened when the woman put the necklace around her neck.

Kalen squinted at the sudden radiance.

As the light gradually receded, he could open his eyes.

When he opened his eyes,

“Ah…”

There was Laris.

No, Laris was now asleep on Kalen’s lap, so it wasn’t Laris.

The woman.

A woman with a strange face and a sorrowful expression.

The woman had transformed into a woman with a face exactly like Laris.

The woman, as if she couldn’t believe it, blankly reflected herself in the surrounding stones.

That reaction indicated that the woman had not expected this result when she put the necklace around her neck.

After staring at her reflection for a long time, the woman slowly moved.

As soon as she regained her original appearance, the first thing she did was to bend over towards her peacefully sleeping daughter.

Kallen quietly watched her.

Soon, the woman who had bent over gently and tenderly embraced Laris.

“Laris…”

Her hands and eyes began to tremble.

Unlike Laris, the woman’s eyes were a clean grayish-white.

With those clean grayish-white eyes.

She held her long-lost daughter.

Soon, the woman’s eyes filled with tears.

Without letting them fall.

With an expression that couldn’t be noticed when she had a strange face.

She embraced her directly, beyond her eyes.

Kallen supported her back to make it easier for her to hold Laris.

How happy the woman was now was clearly shown in her expression as she held Laris with her eyes closed.

And then.

“Ugh…”

Finally, the princess of a third-rate play, who had been asleep, opened her eyes.