How Can You Pay Back The Kindness I Raised With Obsession?

Elliot hurriedly ran over and hugged Hazel, reaching out to Luca. The purifying power that exploded from Luca’s body poured like a tidal wave through the shield spread from his hand.

 

Bang!

 

An invisible force collided and roared. As the shockwave spread, the crystals on the chandelier shattered and the books on the bookshelves crumbled.

 

“Luca, stop the holy power immediately!”

 

But Luca was frozen, not knowing how to contain the power that burst out of him without warning.

 

“Think of something else!”

 

The shield made of holy power cracked as time went on if there was a being using magic within it. No matter how much he has the world’s strongest defense, as long as he’s holding Hazel, he couldn’t withstand Luca’s surge of cleansing power.

 

“Luca, come to your senses!”

 

Luna, who had been hiding under the table, ran over screaming at her and pinched Luca.

 

“Ouch!”

 

At that moment, the purifying power that filled the barrier disappeared like a lie. Only then did Elliot remove his shield and look down at Hazel.

 

“Hazel?”

 

Her eyes were closed. Her body, limp in his arms, was not even moving.

 

“Hazel, wake up!”

 

Hazel’s eyelids did not move no matter how much he patted her bloodless cheek.

 

“No!”

 

Elliot’s scream echoed in the place where the unexpected disaster had scratched.

 

* * *

 

The Grand Duke’s residence, where the children’s nanny and the Grand Duke’s lover were in the midst of death, had a heavy atmosphere like a funeral home. Daniel, who came to the nanny’s bedroom to check on Elliot, sighed quietly. The woman lying on the bed bathed in moonlight was paler than moonlight.

 

‘It’s bleak.’

 

Elliot blocked most of it, but it seemed that the first wave of holy power had swept away the witch by a short distance. As a result, the witch lost all of her mana except for her breath, and was in danger of losing her life as well. Daniel sat in the chair next to the bed and put his hand on the shoulder of his friend who had been locked up for hours.

 

“Elliot.”

 

As if suppressing unspeakable emotions, his shoulders rose and fell. Elliot spoke to her after long killing his feelings.

 

“What’s going on?”

 

She seemed to know that she was not a friend, she was looking for the Grand Duke.

 

“No, just… I want to know what you are doing.”

 

When he asked how she was, Elliot shut him up, and it wasn’t until much later that he murmured.

 

“Even if it wasn’t for the purification power…”

 

Had it been his healing or defensive powers, the witch would not have taken any blows. All of a sudden, Luca manifested the purifying power-type holy power at that moment and came to this point.

 

“Still, it’s fortunate that it’s not destructive.”

 

Daniel offered some comforting words. If it had been destructive, she wouldn’t be as fit as she is now. Fortunately, her body was fine, and she was still breathing. Actually, if he had that level of purifying power, it wouldn’t be strange if she had already passed away. At least last year, she traveled to various villages and spent a lot of her magic, so the witch’s mana capacity grew.

 

“If I had known in advance that Luca’s power was holy power, this wouldn’t have happened.”

 

Elliot, who was looking at her fly-like witch, was frustrated, burying his face in his hands.

 

“Elliot, it’s not your fault. You know very well that it is not easy.”

 

At the beginning of the manifestation, it was difficult to tell whether the power she possesses was mana or holy power. Whether it was magic or holy power, it was because the root of power was the same. No one knows which direction it would go.

 

“It will be a long fight. Reviving Miss Hazel is of the utmost importance, but don’t forget that your younger siblings are also there.”

 

Daniel was on his way to take care of the children who were greatly shocked by today’s events.

 

“It seems like you always say this, but you should be the support for everyone.”

 

Elliot lifted his face from his hands and nodded resolutely at his, and Daniel squeezed his shoulders again.

 

“Of course, I’ll be by your side and be your strength.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

“Of course.”

 

His head grieved over the Grand Duke’s love for the witch, but his heart shed tears at the lover’s tragedy. Daniel was also a man who fell in love after all. Falling in love with the world pointing fingers also resembled his friend’s love.

 

‘That’s why I can understand your heart.’

 

* * *

 

It felt like being submerged in deep water. Like the moment she transmigrated here. But she wasn’t out of breath. As she took a deep breath, a familiar male voice spoke to me.

 

“Hazel, why? Where are you uncomfortable?”

 

It sounded like it was when it was really submerged. She wanted to say no, but her mouth didn’t move. She wanted to go to the surface, but she didn’t have the strength. Her whole body felt languid and heavy. She was tired. As she fell asleep again, she heard another voice.

 

“Oh, that’s a big deal.”

 

With a strange woman… 

 

“I guess I’m still a long way from coming to my senses.”

 

Grandma?

 

“Anyway, why did that child make a marriage proposal?”

 

A strange woman chatting with her grandmother made an incomprehensible sound.

 

“It’s not like that, but my granddaughter doesn’t understand that kid’s words. Still, the kid is good.”

 

Grandma too. She laughed and fell asleep again.

 

* * *

 

While the Grand Duke struggled with the tragedy, another tragedy unfolded in the north. 

The kingdom of Billund invaded the Empire without a declaration of war. Billund’s current queen was Regina, the former princess of the Brillant Empire. She cited a trivial dispute with the Duchy of Monette as an excuse for war, but it was self-evident that Regina had incited the King of Billund to seek the throne. Even though the war was caused by family quarrels, the Emperor shamelessly transferred the Duty of defending the border to the Duchy of Monette again. Billund was still a headache for the Empire, but it was a small kingdom and had no record of destroying a duchy. That was what the Emperor believed. Up until now, the Grand Duchy of the West was peaceful, as war clouds only hung over the North. Of course, the Grand Duke did not. Three months had passed since Elliot devoted himself to reviving Hazel. Not long after Hazel fell, the Wizards Association called the witch every day and artificially injected mana. Thanks to that, he was able to overcome the big hurdles, but there were obvious limitations.

 

“Why aren’t you waking up?”

 

“It is not enough just to inject mana from outside.”

 

The senior witch from the association gave a prescription and left.

 

“You need to restore the broken Mana Fountain so you can create mana yourself.”

 

From then on, she devoted herself to restoring the fountain of mana. Meanwhile, when it was clear that Hazel’s life was saved, Elliot, who had regained some of his peace of mind, devoted time to Luca as well. He taught him how to control his holy powers. The shock of the day must have been so great that even Elliot’s consolation that it was an accident was of no use. Luca worked day and night on his training, and in barely a month, he was able to suppress and store his holy powers as skillfully as Elliot. Luna overcame the shock of the day in a different way. She shut herself up in the library, and when she did something, she studied random things about mana.

 

“There is a record in an ancient book that the flower of the Spirit Plant, which blooms only on snowy days in the southern island area, is a special potion to restore the Mana Fountain.”

 

Unfortunately, it was spring now and it rarely snowed even in winter in the south. Elliot searched the whole Empire for the rare material Luna said, but he had no income.

 

“This must be drying up and twisting in the corner of the witch’s hut in her countryside.”

 

“That’s Hazel.”

 

It was dark under the lamp. But her hopes were soon dashed. Hazel, a witch hiding in her countryside, had no spirit plant flowers in the corner of her hut. It was the time when his eyes went dark and he even had the crazy idea of sneaking into the lab of the mages in the imperial palace.

 

“I found the spirit plant flower, Your Highness!”

 

Truly, as Luna joked, she found dried spirit plant flowers in the dusty laboratory of an old wizard in a rural area. That precious flower has now become a cup of tea. Elliot looked down at the teacup in his hand. The water with the flowers of the spirit plant took on an unusual blue color. He poured a spoonful of tea into Hazel’s mouth as he leaned against the head of her bed, hoping it would have an effect as unusual as the color.

 

“Hazel, it’s tea time.”

 

She didn’t answer. She occasionally regained consciousness, but not for very long. While consciousness was going back and forth like that, Hazel caught a cold and Elliot said she was on the verge of becoming a living corpse. It took quite a while for the teacup to be empty, as he carefully scooped out the tea to keep it from entering her lungs. Elliot put away the empty teacup and tried to put Hazel back down, but hesitated.

 

“Why are you so cold?”

 

Elliot’s room was so warm that he was sweating with the blanket over him, but Hazel’s skin against his hand was cold. In addition, Elliot, who was conflicted by looking down at the woman who seemed to be paler than before, took off his jacket and climbed onto her bed.

 

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Translator Note: