Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 2082, page 2054: Hometown Hairdressing
Lan En headed to the other side of Shadow City to find Melina, but he didn't expect that he had only been there a short time.

"Lan En?"

In the empty and gloomy corridor, where only a few candlelight provided some warmth, the echo of a young girl's voice reverberated.

The Witcher turned his head and saw the Soul Girl walking towards him from the other end of the corridor.

"I've been looking for you."

Melina's voice was as steady and unhurried as ever, and her pronunciation was clear and distinct, almost like she was reciting a formal text.

People who don't know her well might think her tone and voice are cold.

However, Lan En had spent a long time with her and experienced many ups and downs that revealed people's true nature, so he knew that this was just a girl's way of speaking.

The Witcher waited for Melina to come to him, but did not speak immediately.

The words he wanted to say when he came to find her, under the clear gaze of Melina's right golden pupil, made Lan En only slightly open his mouth, but ultimately he didn't say them at this moment.

"What's wrong with you?"

Melina asked calmly as usual, her right eye filled with worry and inquiry.

"No, it's nothing." Lan En shook his head at that gaze and asked in return, "You were looking for me?"

“Yes,” Melina nodded gently, “the Holy War Army is almost in position, and the war is about to begin. Before that, I want to take you somewhere.”

Her light reddish-brown hair swayed, looking glossy.

Lan En didn't say much, just nodded, indicating that he would follow.

Although Melina was a little surprised that he had come here today, she didn't think much of it and simply led the way.

They walked all the way to the bottom corridor on the other side of Shadow City, and further ahead was the archway leading out of the castle.

Looking out, you can see a messy, broken forest.

This area was originally the residence of the old general Gaius. His mount, a wild boar, was extremely irritable and would often charge around. This forest was ravaged like this by that giant wild boar.

Melina had no intention of taking Lann outside the castle.

There is an inconspicuous side door in this corridor, which leads to a small room containing a stone statue of Queen Marika.

The room looked to be only about 20 square meters, and it resembled a very common, simple chapel, built to meet the religious needs of the castle's garrison.

The Eternal Queen statue inside is about four meters tall, and its image is similar to that in the churches around the border, all depicting the queen with her arms outstretched.

After entering the simple chapel, Lan En was puzzled.

But Melina ignored him and instead walked to the statue of Queen Marika, looking up at it.

"Do you usually pray to the Queen, Lann?"

Melina's sudden question made the Witcher shake his head: "I... I don't think I've ever prayed for anything."

"is it?"

Melina said nothing more. She simply stretched her hands out from in front of the wide cloak, deftly flicked the cloak back, and knelt down in front of the Queen's statue.

She usually does this when she sits with Lan En, so it's not surprising.

But in this setting, facing Queen Marika's statue... it was the first time Lan had ever seen it before.

And Melina didn't just kneel down; she brought her hands, which had been shaking her cloak backward, back to the front, with both palms facing upward.

Her head was bowed deeply, but her hands were raised in a supporting motion.

A word, almost a murmur, escaped from Melina's lowered lips.

"...Mother."

Lann couldn't discern the complex emotions Melina felt when she uttered the word 'mother' before Queen Marika's statue.

After all, her identity is unusual, her 'birth' is unusual, and she even carries an unusual mission...

Does she really deserve, or even be qualified to, call Marika "mother"?

Lan En could sense her confusion.

However, in front of the girl, the stone statue emitted a hissing sound as the bricks and stones rubbed together.

The stone statue, along with a section of wall, was moved aside, revealing an archway.

Lan En straightened up slightly, because he hadn't seen any trace of a hidden door on the wall before the noise started.

Melina stood up from the ground and wrapped herself back in the large cloak.

"At least this memory is still quite clear." She murmured to herself, then turned to face Lan En. "Come with me."

Lan En followed Melina out through the archway that was visible in the wall.

The moment I took that first step, I immediately felt the difference in the simplest physical sensations.

Despite being separated from the gloomy Shadow City by only a wall, this area hidden behind the secret door is sunny and even warm and pleasant.

It seemed as if the heavy, gloomy sky of the Shadowlands had no effect whatsoever on this place under the same sky.

The ground is covered with blooming flowers and lush vegetation, with colorful flowers carpeting the ground, giving it a vibrant feel.

The drastic and distinct environmental changes made Lan En look in surprise at what was in front of him, and then turn his head to look at the Shadow City behind him.

But Melina seemed to know the way well, walking straight through the flowers and grass.

Lan En followed her for a few steps before pausing and whispering, "That's... a tree guardian?"

A slight tremor came from the distance from the ground covered with flowers and grass, the sound of tall knights and their warhorses trotting the ground, even though they were just taking a stroll rather than charging into battle.

Two large tree guardians, covered in heavy golden armor, strolled along a flower-lined path in the distance.

He was armed with a large shield and halberd, but he didn't seem to be in a fighting state.

“Messermo is gathering his legions,” Lann said, standing beside Melina and looking at the two tree guards in the distance. “How could the Flower of the Golden Dynasty’s Knights not be on his conscription list?”

Melina simply shook her head upon hearing this: "No matter what, he won't remove the tree guards here... They are the house keepers." "House keepers? What house?"

In response to Lan En's question, Melina simply uttered a single word: "...home".

Melina finished speaking and walked ahead, with Lan En following closely behind.

The two tree guardians acted as if they hadn't seen them, continuing their patrols and guards on this flower-covered land, day after day.

As Melina led them, the flowers on the ground grew more lush and abundant, and the sunlight seemed warmer, almost a golden hue that should never appear in shadowy sunlight.

A simple house nestled against a small hillside is situated within this meadow of flowers and grass.

As soon as he stepped into this place, Lan En felt as if he had returned to the borderlands a few months ago, to the same time he had felt when he first arrived there—the glorious age of life, the prosperous age of the Golden Law.

“No,” Lan En suddenly muttered to himself, contradicting himself, “it’s not quite the same.”

The Golden Age was indeed prosperous and as enduring and stable as gold, but like gold, it was also almost unchanging, consisting only of rules and stability.

This, in turn, makes people feel cold under the radiance.

But here... the golden sunlight makes you feel warm and cozy.

Melina walked toward the small house built of bricks and rammed earth, but in the very middle of the flower field, there stood a very small tree.

The flowers and grasses growing luxuriantly on the lawn are mostly lichen-type plants, so although they are lush, they only reach ankle height when stepped on.

Although that sapling was also quite short, only reaching the height of an average person's thigh, it was indeed exceptionally tall in this environment.

The sapling swayed in the breeze. Its trunk and leaves were a normal brown and green, but somehow, it always gave the impression that it was emitting a hazy golden light from within.

As he walked past, Lan En glanced down at it, but inexplicably felt that he understood something.

【Little Golden Tree】

This little tree itself is a prayer.

A prayer that was personally released here by Queen Marika.

That is gold that has only gentleness, but no law.

Marika released it here, letting the gentle gold envelop... her long-abandoned homeland.

"This is," and as Lann realized what the small tree was, a fact was already before him, "Queen Marika's homeland?"

Lan En sighed, looking at the small house not far away with mixed feelings.

He had visited Rodel's palace and witnessed the grandeur of that golden city and its transcendent status standing beneath the golden tree.

Everything there was magnificent, especially in the palace, which seemed to be 'unworthy of the golden tree's base if it wasn't grand'.

Queen Marika was the creator of everything in Rodel.

He is the only god in this world.

But her hometown, the place where she lived in her childhood, was right in front of Lan En.

It wasn't fancy or grand at all; it was just a small bungalow nestled against a hillside, made of brick, rammed earth, and wood, with a tiled roof.

Melina, like Lan En, simply stopped for a moment in front of the small house.

If Marika is considered her mother, then her mother's hometown is, of course, her...home.

Then, Melina walked up the hillside behind the small house.

She waved, silently signaling Lan En to follow.

It's only a matter of forty or fifty steps to reach the top of the small hill, where there is a fairly large tree.

However, the tree trunk had naturally become hollow, and the open opening was large enough for a child to crawl through.

Inside the hollowed-out tree trunk, there was only a moss-covered female stone statue. She knelt on the ground, her arms outstretched as if to embrace something.

Although the statue's face was already blurred, Lan En, who had recently treated many of the 'contents of the pot,' could still roughly sense that it was a gentle-looking female sorceress.

“This is it,” Melina said, kneeling down at the opening in the tree trunk. “I want to give you… this.”

She reached her burned hand toward the stone statue inside the opening, seemingly hesitating halfway before finally reaching in and taking a piece of brilliant golden braid from the statue's hand.

Lan En watched quietly from the side, while Melina stood up and walked over with the piece of golden braid in her hand.

“This is a piece of braid that Queen Marika offered to her grandmother.” Before Lann could ask, Melina began to speak, “No one knows what she wished for, offered it, or repented for. Even I don’t know.”

"But she has never come back since she left here."

Lan En looked at the stone statue in the tree trunk. According to Melina, the stone statue was Queen Marika's grandmother.

Speaking of braids, in the statue of Queen Marika, her two long braids are depicted flying on either side of her outstretched arms.

But it is indeed one long and one short, and the shorter side looks like it has been cut off.

It now appears that before she appeared as a deity, she had already cut off this golden braid herself and offered it to her grandmother.

Her golden braids shone with a golden luster, as if they had just been cut from Queen Marika's body.

Melina lifted Lann's arm, intending to wrap the section of blonde hair around his wrist.

“This is the braid of the God of the Golden Law. Since we are going to be enemies with Michaela, having this braid on my body will naturally make the golden power quieter and more subdued when people get close. It will be very useful.”

Lan En looked down at Melina, who was also looking down and trying to braid her hair properly.

"So, you want to tell me here?"

"say what?"

"About how to light the golden tree."

Suddenly, the girl stopped what she was doing.

(End of this chapter)