novelraw Chapter 57 : Last Hope
Chapter 57 : Last Hope
Mama was gone again. Out in the world with her cloak drawn tight, hunting beasts for coin.
That left me training alone.
I sat in the yard, sweat dripping down my forehead as I forced mana to cycle between my two cores. Blue and green pulsed against each other, one heavy and steady, the other sharp and lively. Balancing them felt like walking a tightrope while carrying buckets of water.
[ Dual Core Synchronization: 9% ]
“Ughhhh, you’re still so slooow!”
I groaned as Maori tumbled from her branch, landing on my shoulder like a smug cat. Her little leaf-like hair swayed as she poked my cheek.
“Faster, caretaker! At this rate you’ll be old and wrinkly before you’re strong enough to protect me!”
“I’m three years old,” I muttered.
“Exactly! Ancient already!”
I rubbed my face. Training without Mama was already hard enough, and Maori’s constant pestering didn’t help.
Still, she watched every flicker of magic, demanding more Aqua Balls, more sparks, more circulation. At first it was annoying—her treating me like a servant. But when I saw the HUD glow with steady progress, I swallowed my complaints.
At least it was working.
When I finally dropped back in the grass, panting, I stared up at the tree and spoke without thinking.
“…Hey, Maori. Who gave me the seed?”
She blinked, tilting her head. “Huh?”
“The fairy,” I said. “The one that showed up in the house. Who sent her?”
For once, Maori didn’t joke. Her expression softened, almost solemn. She climbed down to the grass, sitting cross-legged in front of me.
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
“That fairy wasn’t just a servant. She was the last spark of my last reincarnation. The last breath I had left in this world.”
Her voice, normally playful, dipped low.
“You could call it… my last hope. A shard of me, searching for someone. Someone who could give me a chance to grow again. To revive my land.”
I stared at her. “…And that someone was me?”
She smirked faintly, but her eyes shimmered. “You fed me. You planted me. You gave me mana, even when it hurt you. That’s more than any elf or priest ever did in the end.”
For the first time, she didn’t look like a clingy child-goddess. She looked… lonely.
I sat up, brushing dirt from my hands. “Then I guess I can’t stop now, huh? If you’re trusting me with your last hope.”
Her grin returned, wide and mischievous. “Exactly! So no slacking, caretaker! Double the training tomorrow!”
I groaned, flopping back in the grass. “…I walked into that one.”
The HUD flickered faintly:
[Bond Deepened: Maori – Goddess of the Tree]
[Dual Core Synchronization ↑]
After training, I wandered toward the fields.
Papa was there as always, bent over the rows of barkwheat, his calloused hands steady as he cleared weeds. Sweat ran down his brow, but his movements were firm, practiced.
I crouched beside him, poking at a sprout. The soil here was changing—softer, darker, alive. The blue-green grass spreading from Maori’s tree had started creeping into the fields too.
“Looks good,” I murmured.
Papa chuckled, wiping his forehead. “Better than the first season. Back then, nothing lasted a week.”
I remembered the hollow eyes he’d carried then, watching every seed wither in his hands. Now, though, the sprouts stood strong.
“…So why not just eat the beasts?” I asked suddenly. “They come here all the time. Wouldn’t that be easier?”
Papa’s hands froze. He sat back, looking at me with tired eyes.
“Rooga… beast meat isn’t like normal meat. It carries corruption.”
My brow furrowed. “Corruption?”
He nodded, picking up a fallen wolf fang from the dirt. “Every beast that comes from the corrupted land is tainted. Their flesh rots faster, their blood turns bitter. Eat too much of it, and it poisons your body, twists your mana flow. Some call it beast rot.”
I blinked. “…So that’s why everyone hunts them but doesn’t eat them.”
Papa gave a faint smile. “Exactly. We use their bones for tools, their hides for leather. But their meat? Only the desperate touch it. And most who do don’t live long after.”
I looked back at the rows of sprouts, green against the corrupted land’s dull soil. Suddenly, they felt even more precious.
Papa placed a hand on my head, ruffling my hair gently. “That’s why this matters, Rooga. Growing food here… it’s more than survival. It’s hope.”
Behind us, Maori was sprawled on a root, kicking her legs. “See? That’s why my crops taste better! Beast meat is yucky~”
Papa frowned at her. “…And who invited the goddess into our field?”
She stuck out her tongue. “I go where I want, scary farmer!”
I couldn’t help but laugh, even as Papa sighed and went back to work.