The Archmage’s Restaurant

# 148

Chapter.34 Lulin’s Grocery Shopping

***

Wait a minute then.

Oh really?

That doesn’t make sense. What a ghost.

If we were to guess from Elena’s explanation and Mellie’s story, the current situation was truly creepy.

I was dumbfounded by what was revealed and said nothing for a moment. Rulin also looks embarrassed as he repeatedly whimpers and turns his head with his fingers, looking like he’s chewing spoiled food.

“Why are you doing this, El?”

Elena cautiously approached me with worried eyes.

“Did I eat something wrong? “Why are you looking like that?”

And Serena also poked Lulin’s cheek and said something similar to Elena.

The fact that Rurin remains still even after Serena touches the tip of the ball shows how absurd our situation is.

So, I briefly explained to Serena and Elena what had happened.

“What is that… “Are you really kidding?”

Elena asked with a puzzled face. Her blonde hair bounces as she tilts her head. This is unusual for Elena, who rarely expresses her emotions.

“Wait. Elena. “Is it possible to choose the person you want to show off that Hibiren flower?”

But she is sincere. Even though he was puzzled, he answered my questions right away.

“I heard that according to legend, everything depends on the will of the dead person… “El?”

“No, no.”

“Wait a minute, Sister Sally! Then why didn’t it appear to me… That’s how I found it!… sister! “Are you saying my sister is dead?”

Mellie clung to me in tears. But I know very little about Sally.

What on earth did she want that made her appear before us?

Could it be that the hibiren flower lifted her wind and brought her to the presence of the Absolute? So that we can save Mellie?

Even if you die, you’re trying to save someone. If you’ve been through so many difficult things, it’s natural for your mind to become distorted.

Actually, the Sally I experienced was a child with a very transparent and clear personality.

Everyone else fell silent as they looked at the crying Mellie and were lost in thought for a moment.

It was Serena who broke the heavy silence.

“ah! I’ve also heard of that hibiren flower. It’s a fun flower. that’s right.”

“okay?”

However, he soon shook his head with both palms up with a strange expression.

“Of course I don’t believe it. There can be no such thing as a flower that surpasses our great beings, right? Isn’t that right, Geomsun?”

“Who is Geomsoon? And I’m complicated right now, so don’t make me talk. “You idiot.”

With those words, Lurin ignored Serena. Of course, there is no way that Serena will remain silent after being called an idiot.

The fight has started, but no attention is paid to it.

Anyway, there is one thing I need to do now.

Finding the missing Sally.

“Let’s find Sally first. “If he’s really dead, even a corpse.”

Yes, if he really died, his body should at least be found and buried. If you listen to Mellie’s story, there is no way she would have died a comfortable death.

It would be nice to be alive, but… .

The fact that it was not visible to anyone other than me and Rurin fatally destroyed that wish.

Well, there were a lot of things that were too amazing to be an ordinary human being. Was it all thanks to the hibiren flower?

That child is dead.

That’s a story I really don’t want to imagine, so I don’t know what to do.

Whatever the outcome, the knot must be tied.

***

Talk to the Gray boy, shake off all the documents held by the slave trade, and trace the transaction records.

It wasn’t long before Celie’s whereabouts were discovered.

Lulin exploded the slave trade. In addition, all those who did cruel things to Celie will also be punished accordingly.

Of course, those are minor issues.

There is something else that is important.

I was hoping for an ending like that, that the child who appeared before us like a miracle was actually alive… .

As always, reality is reality.

It’s been so long since Celie’s body was left cold. There is no way to save Sally, who has already died.

Even if Elena and I join forces and use recovery magic, it won’t work on the dead.

What I couldn’t bear more than anything was thinking about the time when that child held my and Lulin’s hands and called them mom and dad. It broke my heart to imagine what that child must have felt like at that time.

The only consolation is that Celie looked really happy at that time.

It’s sad that I can now understand that child’s expression.

A dream-like memory where even Lurin, who had shown no interest in beings other than me, showed interest.

Mellie shed tears endlessly in front of Celie’s grave.

Lulin clenched his fists, pursed his lips, and said nothing.

The only one making a fuss was Serena, who had nothing to do with this matter and, like Lurin, seemed to have no interest in individual human affairs.

“I don’t know what it is. “Is it true that the hibiren flower really exerted its power as in legend?”

Sereina is Lulin’s thigh.

So, she kept muttering with a curious look on her face as she looked back and forth at the petal pieces of the hibiren flower that were in the same spot where Selly was rubbing her cheek against Lulin.

Then Elena, who had been quiet, also said a word with a gloomy expression.

“It’s such a sad story.”

Serena hummed. He made a sound and crossed his arms, and I agreed with Elena’s words.

“yes?”

Then Elena immediately came up to me and asked a question, as if she remembered something.

“I told you before that hibiren flowers are flowers from the underworld, right?”

“It did. Did you say that you grant the wishes of the dead and participate in the purification of reincarnation and Buddhahood?”

“yes. That’s something I saw in an old document kept by the elves, but one more record came to mind. Of course, it might just be a legend or a superstition, but you never know, right? There is this information in ancient documentary records. “If a person who came in contact with someone whose last wish came true through the Hibiren flower finds the Hibiren flower again and holds it in their arms, the soul of the deceased will be purified and will reside near the person holding the flower when they are reincarnated.”

“okay? Something… “It’s like a novel.”

No, I would say it is more like a fairy tale than a novel. A story like that from an oral fairy tale suddenly came to mind.

“Yes? There are so many legends about hibiren flowers… . It could all be a made-up story. The world after death is so unclear that I can’t believe it exists. Moreover, even if El-sama really saw the dead person, it may have had nothing to do with the Hibiren flower, but rather he may have seen a thought form created by the dead child’s bitterness.”

“I guess so… .”

Of course, logically speaking, that seems like the most logical explanation, but Celie was clearly holding a hibiren flower and even repeated the act of eating the flower over and over again.

So it is difficult to think that her appearance had nothing to do with the hibiren flower. Like the contents of a legend.

If so, it may be something that cannot be explained by common sense, but for some reason, I just felt like believing in that legend.

How great would it be if we could forget all about the troubles of this world and be reincarnated in a happy family.

So I kept thinking about how great it would be if he appeared in front of us and smiled with a happy face.

If there really is such a thing as reincarnation, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to be born as me and Rurin’s child.

ah.

What was I thinking just now?

My cheek was instantly pinched. sick. As the pain is transmitted to my brain, I come back to my senses a little.

In that state, I asked Elena seriously.

“But anyway, even if a legend is a legend and a superstition is a superstition, if you find that hibiren flower and keep it, you’re saying that Celie can come looking for it?”

“It is said that the flowers of the four underworlds guide the soul. It is said that the soul imbued with a hibiren flower is attracted to the light of the hibiren flower… Oh my, what am I really talking about… Moreover, no matter how rare the Hibiren flower is, if there are multiple people who have Hibiren flowers, it is impossible to know which light among them will follow. It’s like a dream. It’s romantic… So I think it’s more of a made-up legend.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter if that’s the case. I need to look for that hibiren flower. Even if it doesn’t come true, it’s not a bad thing to hope for something, right? If you say it’s just a legend and don’t do anything, nothing will really happen. I think miracles happen when you do something. If there was a chance, even if the odds were ridiculously slim, I would find that flower and keep it. For Celie’s happiness.”

someday.

Perhaps it will be in the distant future, though.

I think it wouldn’t be a bad thing if Lurin and I could raise Celie’s soul as our child after we get married.

Even if it’s not that bad, if he has the hibiren flower and is reincarnated near us.

Even if you can’t recognize it.

Still, I think that alone would be good.

This is a story about a time when the hibiren flower contained legendary power.

Elena looked at my serious expression as I tried to believe in the legend, thinking about Celie, who had lived an unfortunate life and had become part of our lives for such a short period of time. Elena also muttered with a serious expression on her face.

“But. If there’s anything I’m having trouble with, it’s that hibiren flower… It’s pretty hard to find. “It is not for nothing that it is dismissed as a legend or a superstition.”

“Hmm, but it’s not like it’s not there, right? “I recognized the hibiren flower by looking at its petals.”

“Yes, I am sure it exists! There is the largest village where elves study medicine. I even saw the real thing when I was studying there. Unfortunately, it suddenly disappeared one day. “I recognized it because I’ve seen it before.”

“If it exists, we can find it. certainly.”

I nodded.

“I’m sorry for burning out your will.”

Serena approaches me and shrugs.

“huh? what?”

“I’ve seen that before.”

“where?”

Serena frowned as if trying to remember the past when she experienced entertainment, and then opened her mouth.

“In the imperial palace treasury of the empire hundreds of years ago.”

***

Lulin and I took care of some business and returned home.

“you.”

“huh?”

Inside the restaurant, Lurin opened her mouth with a dumbfounded expression.

“Something is strange with me.”

“What’s strange?”

“Hmm something… There is something good about you. It’s good to depend on you and receive many things from you. But that guy is a little different. I feel like there’s something pitiful about it. “This is the first time I’ve felt this way since Mom and You.”

“really?”

That’s amazing.

That Rurin had feelings for someone other than me. Isn’t that proof that her inner self has grown even further?

I quietly hugged Lulin, who nodded. He hugs Rurin’s waist tightly and opens his mouth in a low voice.

“are you okay. It’s natural. “There’s nothing strange about it.”

“Hmm. I do not know. Still, one thing is certain.”

“okay? “What are you sure about?”

“If you die, I will die too. I was sure that if you died, I would never be able to survive! “You must not die.”

Rurin cried out, rubbing her forehead as she was held in my arms.

So I just patted the back of his head without answering. Then, looking over Lulin’s shoulder, I noticed a piece of paper next to the kitchen knife in the kitchen and had a strange feeling.

“Lurin, wait a minute.”

I walked away from Rurin and went to the kitchen. And I picked up a piece of paper.

It was a letter left by Celie.

․

․

․

․

sorry.

I’m sorry for leaving without saying a word.

As you may have heard from Mellie, I am older than I look.

Still, you two may be children.

It’s amazing that since I’m a soul, I can project letters I couldn’t learn.

Thanks to that, I am grateful that I can leave my last words like this.

I wanted to stay longer.

I really wanted to stay longer.

However, the journey you make with hibiren flowers is proportional to the number of hibiren flowers in your hand when you die.

The hibiren flower taught me that eating flowers maintains one’s true nature.

So now it’s the last time.

Save Mellie and I will disappear. Because I don’t have any more hibiren flowers.

I don’t want to forget what I spent here. I’m sure I’ll forget it, but I don’t want to forget it, so I cry. But those tears are empty because they have no substance.

But what is certain is that the short time I spent here was the happiest time of my life.

… no, I do not want.

I hate being the last one.

I don’t want to die.

I don’t want to die.

Why should I die? I’ve never experienced anything good in my life, but I only knew that kind of life. Why should I die?

… There was a time when I grumbled and cursed my life, but now I have let go of that resentment.

Because I learned that there is still light in this gloomy world.

I don’t want to go yet.

But when the time comes, it disappears.

scary.

I’m so scared I’m shaking.

I’m really scared that my existence will disappear.

I didn’t really think about that when I was dying. I just wanted it all to be over.

Being scared means having regrets, so since it was such a good memory, is that really a good thing?

I was happy to be able to call them mom and dad.

mom and dad! mom and dad!

scary.

Is there such a thing as a next life?

Then I want to meet a good mom and dad.

I wish they were cheerful people like you two.

But it would be impossible. Even when I was alive, my wish never came true.

now…

I’ll go.

It’s time for that.

Goodbye, mom and dad.