Chapter 15 – Miria’s Tactics

We returned safely from the dragon’s cave. We tried to return to the god’s dwelling but was stopped on the way. I came across an acquaintance in the woods of Table Mountain.

His name is Max and he was a good stag. Although he was the leader of the deer, he had a troubled look on his face.

I called out as he was an important friend of mine. “What’s wrong Max? Making such a sad face.”

“oh, Will? Actually…” Max spoke with a dark look.

“My daughter has become sick. She seemed to have fallen ill even though she just got married this spring.”

“That’s hard. I will talk to mother Miria later to make a potion.”

“Thank you for that but things have changed abruptly. I can’t say anything else so I’m going to look for it now.”

By the way, what’s the name of the herb?”

“It’s sacred orchid grass.”

The moment I heard the name I looked up to heaven. I was amazed at how mother Miria was working. When Luna Maria saw the situation she spoke.

“Will, can you talk to animals?”

“Oh yeah, Luna Maria doesn’t understand animal language.”

“Yes.”

I explained what happened to Luna Maria and she nodded. She was just as surprised as I was.

“Well, this is tough, Miria is a good tactician.”

“That’s right. I’m sure she knew this and sent us to the dragon cave. Maybe it was mother Miria who taught Max the name of the herb.”

“When it comes to that, it’s doubtful that only sacred orchid grass can fix the deer’s daughter.”

“Mother Miria is a potion making genius. Maybe other herbs can cure her.”

“Will is wondering whether to hand over the sacred orchid grass here?”

“Maybe.”

“If so, let’s hand over the herbs as they are. I’m sure they are testing the kindness of Will’s heart. They’ll forgive us if we go home empty handed.”

“I don’t think that’s possible. Mother Miria is strict about this and using such a trick would make us fail the test.”

“… sure. Then, will you return without giving it?”

“….”

I looked at the stag Max. His eyes were full of sorrow. It was hard to ignore a friend who looked like this. I took out the sacred orchid grass that I had placed in my backpack. I squeezed it but was at a loss until the very end. Whether or not to pass this test. When I got lost for a few seconds, I found that the sacred orchid grass…

At that time, at the dwelling of the gods. The healing goddess Miria was happily cleaning Will’s room. Seeing a figure, Ronin the sword god asked.

“Aren’t you being a bit overprotective cleaning my son’s room?”

“What are you talking about? Will is only a 14 year old child.”

“14 years and 12 months old, he’ll be an adult in 10 days.”

“If so, I have to spoil him for another 10 days.” Miria hung her duster and Ronin sighed.

“My son hides under his bed what he doesn’t want his parents to see.”

“Don’t let my Will be like you. Will isn’t a pervert.”

“Well, there are no bookstores on this mountain,” with a bitter smile Ronin turned the topic around. “By the way, I can finally say that it’s almost noon.”

“Can you say that?”

“Will will overcome the trials but he is not in a hurry. If he overcomes the trials, he will go down the mountain.”

“Oh, that’s okay, Will will fail the test.”

“Don’t lick the kid. He can easily get rid of a dragon.”

“Well, if it’s a low ranking dragon but if you can beat the low dragon, you can’t beat the time. That is for any hero.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s the same meaning. On the way back from the cave, I placed a deer that needed sacred orchid grass and because Will is so gentle I’m sure that he will give the sacred orchid grass that he collected to the deer.”

“… what a cunning thing to do.”

“I can do whatever I want because he is my cute Will.”

“Well, I know how you feel… but what if Will returns to get the sacred orchid grass? Maybe it’s also on the 10th floor.”

“Yes but it takes hours to get back to the dragon cave from the forest where he will have met the deer and even hours to reach the 10th floor, it’s impossible.”

“Do you believe this is so?” It was Vandal, the god of magic who argued. He approached with a laugh.

“What’s with that laugh?”

“No, I’m surprised that you are underestimating Will’s ability. Will should be able to use the magic of “flying” and return to the dragon’s cave in just 10 minutes.”

“… maybe but it’s impossible to reach the 10th floor because the 10th floor is the dragon’s nest and there are a number of lesser dragons there.”

“It seems that there are a wide variety of red, blue and green dragons living there but Will may cut through them and collect the sacred orchid grass.”

“He can’t.”

“If so, do you want to bet?”

“Okay. What are we betting on?”

“okay. The last person Will hugs when he leaves.”

“That’s okay – I want to, but let’s not bet.”

“Are you feeling afraid?”

“That’s right. I mean, the result is already known,” Miria projected the image in the mirror within Will’s room. The figure of Will running with a smile was reflected there. He had the sacred orchid grass within his hands.

The location changed to the 10th floor of the Dragon cave. There were a number of dragons within the picture, all of them had their body and wings injured. In other words, Will had cut through the 10th floor alone and collected the sacred orchid grass.

Ronin the sword god saw this and murmured. “He’s a kid with no bottom, How strong will he become?”

“Men, if you don’t meet for three days let’s take a look. If Will departs I can’t imagine what kind of hero he will be when he comes back.”

Vandal, the god of magic, stared at Miria, the goddes of healing but she moodily hummed “…hmm.”

But Will seemed to admit that he had overcome the challenges.

“I admit I’m going on a trip but it’s just a little bit. I’ll be back on this mountain in half a year and I’ll never let it go.”

Apparently Miria admitted her defeat and allowed him to leave. Will’s departure was decided by the approval of the strongest opposition to their departure but after that, he argued over how to spend his last time as an adult.