Chapter 38: Cry If You Want To

Elias was in a very disadvantageous position. Sure, a small part of him was enjoying it, but another part was genuinely annoyed at being played around by those two girls.

The thing weighing on his mind the most though, was that they weren’t even of age yet! Even if the age of adulthood in this world was seventeen, for Elias, who originally came from the modern world, this kind of thing was straight-up criminal behavior.

"Why are you just standing there quiet, Elias? You owe me an explanation—"

"Ah! I just remembered I have a meeting with the team captain! I’m heading out first!"

Before Elysia could even finish her sentence, Elias threw out an excuse to escape the girls’ embrace before the situation got any heavier.

He immediately bolted out of the tent with his face already drenched in sweat.

Evelyn and Elysia just stared at Elias’s back as he got further and further away, both wearing flat expressions.

"That’s a shame. Your plan failed, big sis."

Evelyn then put on the clothes Elias had prepared while answering:

"You mean our plan, right?"

Elysia also started removing her clothes and wiping her body with the wet cloth.

"What are you talking about? I’ve never once thought about a plan like that."

Hearing that, Evelyn could only let out a soft snort with a small smile.

"That’s because you’re the type who goes straight for the ’attack’ without any ’warm-up’ first."

Elysia fell silent for a moment, as if considering her sister’s words before finally turning her face away with a slightly dissatisfied expression.

"...Is that a problem? I just don’t like beating around the bush."

Evelyn then moved closer to Elysia with a teasing smile. She leaned in slightly, as if about to whisper a secret only the two of them knew.

"Didn’t you always enjoy it when I made those step-by-step plans back then?"

Elysia’s face immediately flushed a faint red. She went quiet and didn’t answer right away, her gaze slowly shifting elsewhere to avoid her sister’s mischievous smile.

"...Big sis, don’t bring up unnecessary things."

Even though she tried to maintain her cold expression, the blush on Elysia’s face still hadn’t faded.

Seeing her little sister’s flushed reaction looking so adorable, Evelyn pinched Elysia’s cheek lightly while letting out a small laugh.

Instead of scolding her sister for teasing her, Elysia just let Evelyn continue, even though her face still looked a little annoyed.

* * *

Meanwhile, Elias was tidying up his belongings in his tent. There weren’t many, but Elias deliberately took his time since he was still stuck on what had just happened.

No matter how long he thought about it, Elias still felt a little irritated about being toyed with.

Even though he couldn’t say he’d gotten used to the way those two girls acted, sometimes Elias still couldn’t help wondering why they were so close to him.

"The relationship between a Caretaker and his masters hasn’t even lasted a month. To be called close, someone has to place their trust in another person.

I’m glad if they trust me, but sometimes the way those two act gets really weird."

From the time they suddenly told Elias to pick out a Magic Accessory, to their attitude that could change drastically over trivial things. They’d start firing question after question without giving him a chance to answer, as if every word out of Elias’s mouth had to be examined carefully.

Even before he finished explaining what he meant, they’d already drawn their own conclusions, then thrown out another question in a tone that grew harder and harder to deal with.

And worst of all, sometimes they could say something terrifying while still looking disappointed, as if Elias had truly made a huge mistake.

’In the end, they’ll say something horrifying like tearing someone apart or cutting off their limbs.’

Then they’d also bought him an outfit to wear to a party, when he hadn’t even been their Caretaker for a week!

Maybe they really had grown closer after the incident at Seraphina’s coming-of-age party. But even before that party, the way they treated Elias had already been like that!

With so many questions and mysteries in his head, Elias got a headache. He chose not to think about it too much, since it wasn’t yet time to think about those two girls.

Besides, young people shouldn’t think too much about heavy things. Aside from harming your health, it could speed up aging and cause early baldness.

Elias then stepped out of his tent and looked at the soldiers dismantling theirs so they could continue the search soon.

"Well... let’s think about what we can see first."

Elias started taking down his own tent. A few times he grumbled a little, since the way to take down tents in this world was very different from his old world.

But even so, he managed to take it down and tidy it up before putting it into his storage pouch.

Then, a few minutes later, the entire troop had finished packing and was fully ready to resume the search.

Elias, Evelyn, and Elysia had also finished getting ready and mounted their horses.

"We continue the search in two groups! When it’s almost night, we’ll meet at the designated spot!"

"Yes, sir!"

The soldiers responded firmly to the captain’s words, then split into two groups with twenty-five people in each.

After all, it was impossible to keep searching for that flower all together. With their considerable numbers, splitting up was the best choice. And just in case, of course, Group 2 had someone with strength equal to the team captain.

* * *

On this second day, Team 1, made up of the captain, Evelyn, and Elias, went east. Team 2, made up of the vice captain and Elysia, went west.

They scoured everywhere: up in the trees, under huge rocks, inside dark caves, beneath waterfalls. The two teams kept searching every place while still fighting monsters that could pop up at any moment.

But throughout the search, the results were still nothing, to the point that two days passed without them even noticing...

While the soldiers and Evelyn were setting up tents and waiting for Team 2 to return, Elias was sitting on a tree root with a sharp gaze aimed downward, his forehead slightly furrowed as though he was thinking about something truly serious.

From someone else’s point of view, they’d probably just see Elias spacing out with a gloomy expression.

But what Elias was really looking at was the status panel showing the system quest he’d received earlier.

He glared at the time limit on the blue status panel, which showed that the time left to complete the quest was 2 days.

Elias was clearly frustrated by this, especially when he saw the penalty for failing.

’Of course I don’t want to die yet...’

Over these three days and two nights, the whole expedition team had searched everywhere without exception. Even Elias had gone searching alone at night, but the results were still nothing.

But no matter how depressed he was, it couldn’t compare to Evelyn and Elysia, daughters of a woman in critical condition.

And now, Elias was starting to feel guilty that he’d given those two girls false hope.

Elias rubbed his face hard with both hands, then let out a long sigh while looking up.

’If I die, most likely Evelyn and Elysia will be the first to kill me. Besides, this is the most reasonable cause behind their transformation into Villainesses: their mother’s death.’

Elias sighed again before suddenly punching the tree beside him and shouting in frustration.

"FUCK! WHERE EXACTLY IS THAT DAMN FLOWER?!"

His punch didn’t carry even a trace of energy, yet the part of the tree his fist struck got a hole in it and gave off a thin wisp of smoke.

The shout startled several soldiers nearby. Some even reflexively turned with their hands almost reaching for their weapons. But when they realized the source of the commotion was just Elias taking out his frustration on a tree, all they could do was exchange confused looks.

Evelyn, who happened to be nearby, was startled as well. She looked at the pierced tree, then shifted her gaze to Elias, who was still standing with tense shoulders.

"Hey you, take care of setting up the rest of the tents. Make sure it’s all done before night gets any deeper."

"Yes, Lady Evelyn!"

After giving that order, Evelyn walked over to Elias. But instead of scolding him right away, she stopped a few steps behind the young man, watching his back for a moment before finally speaking in a much gentler tone.

"Elias, what’s wrong? You look really upset."

Elias glanced at Evelyn before loosening his shoulders and turning to face her.

"I just... got a little worked up and accidentally took it out on a tree."

"...What got you worked up?"

"Ah... It’s because we haven’t found the flower yet."

Elias said nothing more. He was upset, but not only because the flower hadn’t been found. He just couldn’t possibly tell Evelyn everything that was on his mind.

Evelyn looked at him for a moment before walking closer.

"Sit down first."

She pointed to the tree root where Elias had been sitting. Elias hesitated, but in the end he did as asked and sat back down there, and Evelyn then sat beside him.

"You know... When Mother was first diagnosed with her illness, I didn’t feel too worried or scared. Because at the time, I could still see her walking and going about her daily activities, even if they grew more limited over time."

Elias just listened to what Evelyn said without a word. He stayed silent, as if inviting her to continue.

"But when I heard that Mother had lost consciousness, I was immediately scared and worried. And when I saw her lying in bed with her face pale. How sad I was then. Honestly, I really wanted to cry, but it felt too embarrassing."

"It’s not, Lady."

Evelyn turned to Elias, tilting her head, looking slightly confused.

"Crying? Is that embarrassing? If you want to cry because of a problem, then cry. Cry as hard as you want. Then go to sleep. Maybe you won’t need to cry again for the next few years."

In fact, Elias had done something similar in his previous life.

When he’d struggled to study for good exam scores, he would sometimes cry as hard as he could until he felt relieved. After that, he’d sleep, then get back to studying even harder once he woke up.

The same happened when he was exhausted but still had to work because his money for the month was almost gone. In moments like that, Elias would usually go under the bridge and cry to his heart’s content before going home to sleep. The next day, he’d still go to work as usual, even though the pay wasn’t much.

"Cry. If living things aren’t allowed to cry, then why were we given the ability to feel sadness at all?"

* * *