The Guardian of The Dragon

Chapter 39

Diete had warned not to expect much, but coming from a mage as great as Diete, that held weight.

'People in the Old World who didn't know anything about magic learned it, so they probably have a better grasp of the basics.'

Frea was eager to meet the international students in person.

Back in her bedroom, she sat down at her table and opened the book she had left there upon returning.

'It's a travelogue.'

It was a decades-old travelogue by an unknown author, a priest who traveled the world to spread the word of God.

The priest's actions were unusual.

Priests of the temple typically emphasized personal discipline, and mission work was not a prioritized doctrine.

Frea started reading from the beginning.

"In a certain part of the country, the villagers revered an old tree."

He observed and recorded it.

"This is why the priest gave me this book."

Halfway through, Frea's breath caught.

-They believed that a fairy lived in the Siuta Forest, and they called it 'Henn.' It was the first time I'd ever seen an object of belief given a specific name.

Underneath was a small drawing by the author.

A beast's face, horns on its head like a tree bush, and three eyes on its face.

'That's right, it's Henn.'

-The people said that Henn was not just an object of belief, but actually helpful. They said it would keep me from getting lost in the Siuta Forest. They asked me if I would go into the forest with them, but I couldn't risk my life.

The person who went into the forest came back safely, but the author wrote that he didn't think it was Henn's help.

He said he was just lucky, and that such luck could not continue.

'I guess this author didn't stay in this town for long.'

It would have been strange to see the luck repeat itself, but there was no mention of the run.

-Their belief in Henn was so firm that I questioned it, so I asked them.

'Does Henn really exist?'

'They are real.'

'How can you say that God exists in the form of a mere beast?'

'Isn't it more realistic than you saying that there is a God everywhere in this world?'

Frea laughed coldly as she realized she had recorded the entire conversation in detail.

The author's displeasure was evident in his writing.

-Then, when I told them to show it to me, they said,

'God has taken the form of a beast to meet the human eye level. But how can man see God? If he sees it by mistake, it will be a disaster for him. He will lose his balance and falter before great power.'

That was the end of the record for Henn.

She read the book until the end, but there was no more.

***

Count Taut looked out through the window of his study.

The study, on the top floor of his three-story mansion, faced the garden and the front door.