Chapter 9 …
Angelica finally felt a sense of relief.
In her mind, she was well aware that linked quests existed, but seeing the grandmother collapsed and bleeding had naturally thrown her off balance.
Just as she feared it might already be too late, thankfully, the next quest appeared.
“Miracle Life Herb?”
It was a name she had never heard beforeānot in the first or second runs, and not even until now.
“Since it has āherbā in its name, could it be some kind of medicinal plant?”
Angelica tilted her head and looked at her mentor. The mentor replied:
[Yes. And itās a very rare herb. Just by eating it, it can cure any illnessā¦ I never imagined it would be in this forest.]
Angelicaās eyes widened at the explanation. Any illness could be cured just by consuming it!
“Wowā¦ Could I really find something like that?”
[You have to. If you donāt find it, this person will die.]
Her mentor spoke coldly, but his words were true. The grandmother had already vomited blood once and was unconscious.
Angelica could sense that time was running out.
“Ah, noā¦”
Her big eyes trembled. The image of her grandmother, who had lovingly raised her in her previous life, overlapped with the āgrandmotherā collapsed in the forest.
[Hurry. The illness of this āgrandmotherā is devouring her life as time passes.]
“I understand.”
Angelica nodded, then approached the nearest tree and attempted to communicate with it first.
“Hello, tree. Have you seen the āMiracle Life Herbā anywhere in this forest?”
Because the situation was urgent, Angelica asked directly. However, the tree replied that it did not know.
She ventured further into the forest, communicating with other trees. She asked a total of ten trees, but they all said the sameāthey didnāt know.
“What should I doā¦?”
Her eyes quickly filled with redness. Her heart pounded rapidly, and only anxious thoughts came to mind.
[Rica, pull yourself together.]
Her mentor tried to console her, but thick tears were already streaming down her cheeks.
[Donāt give up, Rica. If you give up, that grandmother will die.]
Angelica nodded and wiped her tears. She didnāt want to see the grandmother die again.
Even though this grandmother wasnāt her real grandmother, only the quest target, she felt the same way.
Angelica took another step into the forest.
Then, something brushed against her ankle.
Looking down, she saw a small, snow-white baby rabbit.
Like her mentor, the rabbit was fluffy. When it met Angelicaās gaze, it turned its body and hopped away, then, as if to signal her to follow, it turned its head back toward her.
“Does it want me to follow?”
Angelica asked, half in disbelief. To her surprise, the rabbit nodded.
The cute rabbit hopped along somewhere, and Angelica hurried to keep up.
“What is this adorable rabbit?”
Her tears had stopped with the rabbitās arrival.
“Did it approach me because it sensed I could communicate with the trees?”
Angelica smiled faintly as she watched the round little rabbitās back.
A child blessed by the love of the forest and land could communicate not only with plants but also with animals.
“But Iāve never communicated with a rabbit beforeā¦”
Just then, she heard her mentorās voice chasing after her.
[It seems the forest has heard the news that you are communicating with the trees. So the rabbit came to help you.]
“Really?”
[Yes. Look over there.]
Angelica looked ahead as her mentor had instructed.
A meadow appeared before her. In the center, there was a patch of sunlight that shone down like a spotlight.
The rabbit was sitting there, turning its head to look at Angelica, urging her forward.
She hurried to the rabbitās side.
“Wowā¦”
She marveled. Among the densely growing trees, sunlight poured down like a spotlight, illuminating a sparkling flower.
Red petals, golden stems, and leavesāit was unmistakable even without explanation.
“This must be the āMiracle Life Herbā.”
Even just looking at it, she could feel its strong vitality radiating out.
Angelica approached the herb as if in a trance.
She gently bent her knees and carefully placed her hand on its stem.
“Iām sorry, flower. I need your power.”
She spoke sincerely. To save the grandmother, she had to pick the flower, which would mean the flowerās death. Thatās why she apologized with all her heart.
Then she heard:
[Itās alright. If I can help you, that alone makes me happy.]
A clear voice echoed in her mindāneither her mentorās nor anyone she had heard before. It was the voice of the Miracle Life Herb itself.
Angelicaās eyes widened and then returned to normal.
She softly stroked the stem of the herb and said:
“Thank you.”
[Then I hope we meet again.]
The flowerās voice faded. Angelica carefully harvested the Miracle Life Herb.
[Youāll need to use everything, from petals to roots, for it to work.]
Following her mentorās advice, she harvested the roots perfectly and placed everything carefully into an enormous pouch to prevent damage.
She patted the fur of the baby rabbit that had guided her here, thanked it, and quickly moved on.
“Ah, this is exhausting.”
Angelica ran from where the herb was to where the grandmother had collapsed, breathing heavily.
Though she wanted to sit and rest, she suppressed that urge. Saving the grandmother came first.
Then:
“ā¦Mentor, can we move the grandmother to the house?”
It would be much better to care for her at home than in the forest. But she was too young and weak to move her.
“What should I doā¦”
Her shoulders drooped. Then her mentor trotted over and lightly placed his paw on the grandmotherās upper body.
A bright light radiated from him, the same she had seen when he cast magic on the land yesterday, only smaller in scale.
The light enveloped the grandmotherās body, lifting her into the air.
“Wow! Mentor, thatās amazing! You can do magic like that too?”
[Not for long with this body.]
Her mentor walked steadily, and the grandmother moved along with him.
Angelica hurried after them.
“Not for long? What does that mean?”
[Exactly what it means. My body is still small, like yours. When your power grows, mine will grow too. So work hard on your quests.]
“I see. Got it!”
Angelica nodded vigorously.
Soon, the child and her mentor exited the forest, escorted by the plants and animals.
Her mentor immediately moved the grandmother to a bed inside the cabin and collapsed.
[Iāve used too much mana.]
“Good work, mentor.”
Angelica patted her mentorās fur and took out the Miracle Life Herb from her pouch.
She remembered how to use the herb from what her mentor had told her and moved quickly.
With her small hands, she washed the herb under running water, chopped it finely with an old knife, and crushed it until it released its juice. She placed it in a pot with water.
She set the pot on the stove she used as a makeshift hearth.
All that was left was to boil it.
“Phew.”
She wiped the sweat from her forehead. Though it didnāt feel like she had done much, she was exhausted.
“Well, itās a childās body, so it canāt be helpedā¦”
She crouched under the bed, waiting for the pot to boil.
The grandmother remained unconscious, breathing, but blood at the corner of her mouth made Angelica worry again.
She quickly got up, soaked a clean towel in lukewarm water, and wiped the grandmotherās mouth and dirt-stained areas.
Her mentor watched silently, thinking:
Such a good kid.
The quest could have been completed without all this trouble, but she insisted on doing it herself.
Why was she so concerned about someone she had just met?
But watching Rica like this wasnāt entirely unpleasant.
Soon, the pot boiled vigorously. Angelica removed it from the heat and fanned it to cool the herbal water.
Once cooled, she poured it into a bowl and went to the grandmother.
She carefully lifted the grandmotherās head onto her lap and fed her the herbal water, blowing on it gently.
She continued until the bowl was empty.
Deep Night
Everyone was asleep.
Olivierās eyes opened.
āā¦Iām alive. How?ā
He had been dying in some unknown forest, unable to manage his mana or call for help.
Yet he was alive.
Olivier slowly got up.
“Ughā¦”
Pain still lingered, though not as severe as in the forest.
He looked around. Thanks to moonlight through the curtains, he could see the surroundings somewhat.
It was a small cabin, seemingly inhabited.
Who could have saved me?
Olivierās gaze fell downward.
Under the bed, a small girl and a dog were sleeping soundly.
His attention focused on the girl, who looked about six years old. Her clothes were dusty and stained with grass in places.
A sudden, impossible hypothesis flashed through his mind:
Could it be that this child saved me?
