013 – Forest of Mist (3)
Lenny was looking at Tigris.
I wanted to give Jane something to eat, but I was not sure if I would allow it.
“I don’t allow it.”
At that, Lenny let out a silent exclamation.
However, Tigris put conditions on it.
“But if you give me the ice essence at the bottom of the spring, I will give it to you.”
“eww···. After all, you came here looking for this ice essence.”
Read at noblemtl.com
Jane sighed.Rumors that Jane’s fountain had an ‘Ice Essence of Starlight’ was slowly starting to spread among adventurers.
So, some adventurers approached Jane for the elixir, but they were all kicked out by Jane.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t. That ice essence contains my soul. Can I have another request?”
It was not uncommon for a spirit to dwell in the elixir of heaven and earth.
The objects in which the spirit resides can be nested in old objects, and the spirits used to put the spirits in old elixir or old trees.
“There is nothing else I want from you.”
“eww···. I really want to eat…”
Read at noblemtl.com
Jane’s shoulders slumped down with a pitiful expression on her face.It circled around the table like a dog that was hit by the rain, but Tigris’ expression did not change.
Tigris got up after eating.
The plates were clean.
“Lenny ate well. I’m in training, so please finish it.”
“···yes.”
Lenny was heartbroken for not being able to feed Jane.
Read at noblemtl.com
Jane said as she circled Lenny’s side.“I’ve been eating real food for almost 35 years, haven’t I? It was the cold, hard rye bread left by adventurers back then.”
“I really can’t… Jane. I might get scolded by Tigris…”
“You know what that rye bread tasted like? It was tough, but I complained too much. Even now, 35 years later, I can’t forget it.”
“eww···.”
Read at noblemtl.com
Jane glanced at Tigris.Tigris was already meditating.
Lenny pretended to wash the dishes and headed to the corner of the fountain.
And Lenny spoke in the tone of a novice actor who couldn’t really act.
“ah. Did you forget to bring a scrubber to clean dishes?”
The clean items of Lenny’s food were carefully placed on the rock.
Even clean dishes were neatly placed.
“Can you protect my food while I bring my… Jane scrubber?”
Read at noblemtl.com
Jane said, looking at Tigris, who was quietly meditating.“All… of course not! Be sure not to let wild animals take it! I’ll protect you! He…but it might be difficult to protect me when a tough squirrel comes…?”
“That… is it? It can’t be helped…”
Lenny ran away, and Jane rushed towards the delicious food.
Read at noblemtl.com
Jane broke the bread and dipped it in the mushroom soup and ate it.Although it was slightly chilled, it was so delicious because it was the food that Lenny’s warm touch touched.
Next, I ate beef and vegetable stir-fry on bread.
“Ugh! It’s so delicious!”
However, the strange thing was that the amount of food did not decrease at all.
It was just that the warmth remaining in the food had diminished and lost its vitality.
When Lenny came back looking for the scrubber, the food was frosty.
“uh? Why is the food frosty…”
“Lenny! Thank you so much. It was so so delicious! It makes me want to eat it again.”
Read at noblemtl.com
Jane hugged Lenny tightly.Of course, since it was not possessed by a spirit, it only felt a little cold.
But she felt Jane’s happiness and smiled.
“If there is food left over next time…”
“There will be no food left over.”
Lenny and Jane froze at the cold voice coming from behind.
“T… Tigris-sama.”
“Lenny. Did you really want to feed Jane like that?”
Lenny grabbed her pants tight and said.
“Sorry, sorry. Mr Tigris. that is···.”
Then Jane appeared in front of Tigris.
“Lenny is not at fault! My…because I begged you to eat too much. Lenny was so kind-hearted that he gave food to an insignificant spirit like me. So scold me.”
“You are not my servant. So there is no reason to scold you.”
“this person! bad guy! People have always been like that. I showed you the way and helped you rest at the spring, but you didn’t give me anything to eat! I’ll give you something to eat, so just tell me to give you the ice essence!”
Read at noblemtl.com
Jane finally burst into tears.“I don’t want anything big… I just want to eat leftovers… It’s a shame that I died of starvation, but should I be so harsh on me…?”
“Then ask. Why is it nested in the essence of ice? Why do you want to remain in this world like that?”
Read at noblemtl.com
Jane said softly.“I just want to eat a lot of delicious things. My stomach really exploded!”
“Then, if you provide food, would you like to give me ice water?”
“…I’m sorry, but that’s a little too much for me. If I get out of the ice essence, will I disappear too?”
“If Han disappears, isn’t it right to attain Buddhahood?”
“It would be a different story if there was enough food to satisfy me completely… Wouldn’t there be enough food for the two of you?”
“It is enough to eat. Lenny.”
Lenny wisely ran back and forth and started taking out the ingredients one by one from the subspace bag.
There were so many ingredients that they piled up to Lenny’s waist.
“We have enough to eat. Rather, there will be a lot left.”
Read at noblemtl.com
Jane’s eyes widened at the enormous amount.“Are you going to eat this… so much?”
“I knew you wanted something to eat. So I prepared in advance. Is this enough?”
“Are you going to give me all this? Did you cook it too?”
Lenny crossed her arms and said.
“Absolutely. I’ll give you anything Jane wants.”
“Wow!”
Read at noblemtl.com
Jane ran towards Lenny, crying like chicken poop.“thank you! Thank you so much! This is the first time someone prepared food like this for me! Thank you so much!”
Lenny was a little startled, but gave Jane a warm hug.
Because Jane is a spirit, Lenny’s hand could not touch Jane’s body, but strangely Lenny’s hand touched Jane’s back.
Then the spring shook slightly, and a beautiful ice flower rose from the deepest part of the spring.
I was a little surprised at the strange sight I saw for the first time.
Read at noblemtl.com
Jane’s blue-white soul that was nestled in the ice flower slowly escaped.Read at noblemtl.com
Jane was also a little embarrassed by this situation, so she stopped crying and looked at her body.“uh? uh? I hope…”
Read at noblemtl.com
Jane’s soul swirled around Lenny’s body and entered Lenny’s cast iron pan he had placed nearby to wash the dishes.It was a cast iron pan that Lenny’s grandmother boasted about.
“ok?”
Read at noblemtl.com
Jane and Lenny were startled and stared blankly at the cast iron pan.The cast iron pan was not a dull black color, but a faint blue-white light.
Read at noblemtl.com
Jane was very aware of the changes that had taken place in her.“…I must have become Lenny’s guardian spirit.”
“yes? Are you a guardian spirit?”
“So···. Can you chastise people and evil spirits who harm you? I don’t even know why this happened…”
In the meantime, Tigris retrieved the floating ice flowers from the spring.
Despite Tigris’s reach, the Ice Flower still maintained its shape.
Tigris saw a dark blue ice ball embedded in the center of the ice flower.
Upon closer inspection, twinkling lights were floating in the dark blue marble like stars swimming in space.
It was the same shape I had heard from Rakan.
‘…I didn’t know you could get it this way.’
It took 9 days for Rakan to obtain this ice essence.
One week was spent listening to Jane’s chatter, and the remaining three days were spent cooking Jane’s food.
Of course, Jane succeeded immediately after that.
‘I didn’t know bringing Lenny would work this way.’
Tigris, like Rakan, had no patience to listen to anyone for a week.
So I brought Lenny to cook for me, but I was able to get the Ice Essence sooner than I thought.
By the way, I still had something to say to Lenny.
“Lenny.”
“Ah, Tigris-sama!”
In the meantime, Lenny shone particularly brightly, as he had wiped the cast iron pan in the spring.
“Jane has been my guardian spirit! So it’s a good spirit that protects me, and if you’re with me, nothing bad will happen! So, stay with me for the rest of my life… no, not for the rest of my life…”
“Leni, I have called you to give you a soul.”
Lenny’s excited expression quickly subsided.
“ah···. I’m sorry for that…”
“Why did you give Jane your food?”
“···I’m sorry. Tigris-sama said you shouldn’t feed Jane…”
Then Jane hugged Lenny and said,
“Tigris! Didn’t you do it too much to our Lenny?! It’s all good in the end! You too will get Ice Essence, and I will be able to eat delicious things.”
“The results are important, but that doesn’t mean the process isn’t.”
“eww···! Such stubborn! brat!”
Tigris ignored Jane and looked at Lenny.
“Leni, your warm heart is appreciated by me as well, but it is my order that should take precedence over your good intentions.”
“···sorry.”
“And if you really wanted to feed Jane like that, you should have asked me first. You are not secretly giving food by your own arbitrariness.”
“sorry.”
Tigris stroked Lenny’s head, who was crying.
“Lenny. I love you more than you think. So don’t be too afraid of me If you said you wanted to feed Jane, I would have been thinking. And maybe we had dinner together.”
“···really? If I had said that, would you have given Jane food?”
Tigris was not accustomed to seeing Lenny so desperate.
Prior to his return, Tigris seldom bumped into Lenny from his childhood days.
For Tigris, Lenny as a child was just an ordinary servant.
If it had only been shown that way, Tigris would not have remembered Lenny.
Lenny served as the chief of the servant at a time when the Norberde family was on the decline, giving Tigris healthy advice.
– Reduce my food and free the soldiers.
– Byung-baek Byung-baek’s meal is our top priority. I learned that from Sebastian, who passed away. Come on.
– His Majesty the Emperor also reduces the amount of food when disaster strikes and understands the hearts of the suffering people. So cutting down on food is appropriate.
– His Majesty the Emperor does not directly fight on the front line. But doesn’t Marquee Tigris go directly to the front line? So eat more and fight a lot for the dying soldiers.
– . . . you don’t lose a single word. Be grateful that there is no one on the estate to replace you. If it hadn’t been for that, I would have ordered probation. it’s a command Reduce my food and release it to the soldiers.
Lenny’s youthful personality disappeared, and only became as strong and solid as the Norbert Wall.
However, the arrogant Tigris did not listen to any advice from any of his vassals, including Lennie, and eventually lost the Norbert Wall.
“…it makes no sense to talk about something that has not already happened. But one thing is certain. If you had an opinion, I would have listened.”
Tigris spoke while recalling the eyes of Lenny, who was stronger than any other knight before his return.
“When you judge everything by yourself, sometimes you get lost. In that case, a trusted servant like you should ask me for advice and questions. Don’t forget that I have you by my side, not just because you’re good at cooking, but to hear your wise advice and questions about my judgment.”
“My . . . my advice? Am I lacking a lot more than Tigris-sama?”
“I will take care of filtering out bad advice and questions. So don’t hesitate to talk to me.”
Lenny said, clutching the brightly lit cast iron pan.
“yes. Okay. Tigris.”
“Then go and cook for Jane. I will practice alone.”
“yes!”
Read at noblemtl.com
Jane sighed as she looked at Tigris like that.“What should I say about this? A good nerd?”
Read at noblemtl.com
Jane shook her head.“Jane! What do you want to eat?”
“Are you going to eat?!”
Read at noblemtl.com
Jane flew away smiling brightly like a puppy running to her owner with a snack.“I Steak!!!”
* * *
While Jane was eating and Lenny was cooking, Tigris decided to consume the starlight ice essence.
The best way to consume Starlight Ice Essence is raw.
However, because of the bitter cold of the ice essence, if you just ate it, your body would be filled with cold and you could freeze to death.
Rakan had no choice but to refine and eat the ice essence, but Tigris had no intention of doing so.
If cold air builds up in your body and becomes dangerous, you just have to discharge it normally.
Tigris ripped the ice essence from the ice flower.
Then the ice flower slowly melted and seeped into the ice essence.
Without hesitation, Tigris poured the ice essence into his mouth.
As soon as I put it in my mouth, the ice essence melted and disappeared like shaved ice, and I could feel the extremely pure mana flowing through Tigris’ body along with the cold air.
It was important from now on.
Tigris drew his sword and began to dance.
The sword dance that Tigris chose was that of a moon woman.
It was a sword dance that was said to have been performed by the extinct elves in front of the sacred world tree on a moonlit night.
It was pure luck that Tigris learned the sword dance of this moon woman.
Dwarves had a habit of recording and keeping everything once in a while, but they happened to find a booklet that was written by looking at the sword dances of the elves in the past.
Tigris restored the missing Moonnyeo’s sword dance based on the booklet.
However, with Tigris’ body, he could not perform the sword dance of this moon woman for long.
It was because the body wasn’t full of yin like the elves, so the cold air blew out and the body temperature rapidly soared.
However, it is different now that I ate ice essence.
Tigris’ body was full of cold air, and it was to the point of becoming poisonous, so he had to quickly drain the cold air.
A feast of beautiful curves.
Even Jane and Lenny, who knew nothing about swords, could feel how beautiful Tigris’ sword dance was.
A cold chill began to flow from the tip of Tigris’ sword.
It was so cold that when the vapor met the sword, it immediately turned into ice and fell.
“after···.”
As Tigris exhaled, a terribly cold chill poured out.
The breath froze Sam.
‘The cold is worse than I thought.’
It was full of pure mana as much as the cold was terrible.
Innocent mana swirled around Tigris’ body and began to filter out all wastes.
The magic circuit was also cleaned by pure mana, and it spread to veins that Tigris could not penetrate, breaking the road.
With his body pure and clean, Tigris thought he was ready.
‘Make an auror ring.’
Tigris heatedly gathered the Aurors near his heart.
The cold air also started to gather together, and my heart ached as if it would break.
But I can’t make it now.
Now, when the mana of the ice essence is circling the magic circuit of Tigris, it is possible to make a ring.
If you miss this moment, you won’t have any income other than to cleanse your body and expand your magic circuit.
It wasn’t just that he ate 300-year-old ice essence.
Everyone would be surprised if other people saw Moonnyeo dancing the sword dance, blowing cold air, and making one more auror ring.
Normally, when making an auror ring, you need to keep your body still and fully focused.
This is because if you make a mistake, the magic circuit could be broken or the existing ring could be broken.
But Tigris was different.
He was a unique genius who could do both swinging a sword and making an auror ring at the same time.
The ring of Tigris began to form.
As the cold air that had moved to the sword moved to his heart, Tigris’ sweat fell into the ice.
His dark hair had already turned white with frost.
The moment Jane and Lenny were worried that Tigris might die if they went on like this, Tigris’ sword stopped.
And all the frost attached to Tigris’ body fell off.
Excellent water-
Tigris belatedly realized that he was in the middle of the spring.
Sam became a hard ice sheet by Tigris’ cold.
Tigris smiled slightly.
“Success.”
An innocent auror flowed calmly on the four auror rings.