Book 13: Chapter 47
My moms didn’t argue otherwise, since I wanted to go. The fleet was ready to set out at any time. Frankly, we couldn’t continue to stay on the island, as we didn’t have sufficient provisions. The residents of the island didn’t leave behind much food. The Valkyries scoured all the food available, but they weren’t interested in it. They avoided it as if it was the plague as long as they could return to the ship.
My moms gave up eating the native food. Vyvyan was interested in the vegetables, though. As a result, Ying, Xia and I were the chief rice consumers. That was why we continued to deplete the provisions on the ship despite the ship having docked. That was also why we couldn’t stay here for long. The return trip will be a big issue once the food on the ship runs out. As such, we have no choice but to hurry and battle the wyrm. However, the sea was calm. We had several sunny days, while the warmth on the water surface was addicting.
There were no turbulent waves or winds. The risk of being thrown into the water that night was nowhere in sight. The area in which the wyrm was active was a lot wider than we imagined. We could only stay for another three days. We had no choice but to return after three days whether or not we succeeded. We informed Ying about our circumstance, and she said there weren’t any problems. She expressed she’d return with us if we didn’t encounter the wyrm, but she would return in the future.
I really wanted to know the reason for the wyrm coming and leaving. Supposedly, Ying didn’t know why it left. Ying was responsible for protecting the village, not slaying the wyrm. If it arrived at the perimeter of the village, she could sense it. I didn’t quite understand why it came to me that day when its active zone was so wide.
I had a few questions on my mind: “Why did it suddenly come to me? Why did it attack me? Was it a coincidence or did I unfortunately encounter it when I entered?’ According to Ying, however, she didn’t receive any news that day. Something must’ve attracted it to us when we approached. I don’t know what attracted it, but it couldn’t have been us, could it? It doesn’t eat humans; if it did, it wouldn’t have a need to eat us specifically, right?”
Vyvyan sat next to me and let the breeze of the sea blow on her. With a smile, she said, “If there are no obvious signs, we will have to leave. Ying and Xia are aware of that, right? You also understand that if they return in the future, it will have nothing to do with us, right?”
I nodded, and then threw a shell toward the ocean: “I know, and Ying knows, too. If we can kill the wyrm this time, that’ll be for the best. If we can’t, we’ve done our best. We can’t stay here forever to kill it. But, Mom, I’m very worried as to what we’ll do when we return?”
Vyvyan firmly rubbed my head: “Isn’t that perfect, then? We won’t have to search for it in that case. If it comes over on its own accord, it’ll be doomed. It didn’t approach when we came. Now we have Ying and Xia, as well. If it approaches now, we’ll kill it while we’re at it. Honestly speaking, I think I can take it out alone. Creatures in the elven lands are all creatures with mana. I can kill all of them, so a wyrm is nothing impressive. Believe in Mommy. Mommy will surely protect you. Mommy will surely protect you. Mommy won’t let you get hurt. You’ve fallen into this ocean once. Mommy won’t let you fall into it a second time.”
Mommy Vyvyan said that every time. I felt safe as long as I was with her. With that said, something about her felt off. In the past, she never repeated she’d protect me so many times or say so much, because she was confident she could keep me safe as long as I was with her. This time however, she repeated herself numerous times. Therefore, I pondered, “Was she trying to reassure me or herself? Mommy Vyvyan said that we absolutely had to leave in three days. Is she glad? Is the wyrm threatening to her? Ying described it as a mere wild beast. Is she not too confident this time despite her overwhelming power?”