Chapter 72: Let Me Handle This

"Ugh... Where am I...?"

When Mira opened her eyes, she found herself in a dimly lit room. She sat up and looked around.

A few dead insects were pinned and displayed on the walls. Maybe some kind of collection. But who would collect this many venomous insects?

"You’re awake."

Mira’s eyes snapped toward the door when she heard a woman’s voice.

"Aunt Centipede."

Honestly, just seeing a room with walls full of insect collections was enough to tell it was Aunt Centipede’s house.

The woman then walked to the side of the room and started picking up a few things from there.

"What happened?"

Hearing Mira’s question, Aunt Centipede answered right away without stopping what she was doing.

"You lost control and almost cut your brother in half."

Mira lowered her head right away. Her face turned gloomy after hearing that.

Noticing the change in Mira’s expression, Aunt Centipede walked over and sat down next to her.

"Don’t be like that, Mira."

"But... Seeing my brother like that..."

"I know you must be shocked, sad, and angry. But listen to me first. Your brother did all of that of his own free will."

"What? You mean, he lost his arm of his own free will?"

"No, no, that’s not what I meant. It’d be a long story if I explained everything. So I’ll keep it short.

"You know, the mother of those two Nocturne ladies used to suffer from Mana Decay, a disease that tortures whoever has it. And back then, her condition was already critical."

"But what does that have to do with my brother?"

Aunt Centipede sighed before shrugging her shoulders.

"I don’t know either. But maybe he felt it was his chance to get closer to the Nocturne family."

Hearing Aunt Centipede’s statement, Mira raised her eyebrows. There was a hint of irritation in her voice when she asked.

"Even if it meant losing his arm?"

"Mira, losing an arm wasn’t something Elias expected to happen either. Besides, it all went down in Blackwood Forest. A forest that’s never touched by sunlight and completely untouched by people."

Mira fell silent again. She bowed her head, clenching both fists on her thighs.

"I know you must feel like all of this is unfair. But look at the bright side. Your brother earned the trust of the Marquis and his family. On top of that, he also gained experience from standing on the edge of life and death."

"...That’s true, but..."

What Aunt Centipede said did make sense to Mira. But she still couldn’t accept the fact that her brother had to lose an arm.

"When you let Elias become a Caretaker, did you know he’d lose his arm? No, right? Neither did Elias. He never knew something like that would happen either.

"And besides, protecting the Nocturne ladies is already his job.

"Most importantly, he doesn’t mind any of it himself. Didn’t you see him earlier? His smile and laugh were the same as always, like there wasn’t any burden in his heart at all."

Mira went quiet for a moment. Her mind went back to a few moments with her brother.

When he got mad after being teased by the Guard Uncles. When he laughed while hugging the Village Chief tight. And when he looked at Mira with that same gentle smile as always.

Even though their heights were different now, that person was still the Elias she’d always known.

Noticing that Mira was starting to think about her words, Aunt Centipede added.

"But, Mira. People don’t stay the same forever. They can change, whether it’s because of time or the place they’re in."

The woman then looked at Mira, who was looking back at her.

"Like you. You were pouting a moment ago, and now you’re smiling again."

"Eh? I-is that so?"

Not really, actually. It was true that Mira was smiling now, but that happened after Aunt Centipede said all that stuff earlier.

But Aunt Centipede would never admit the truth, not in a million years, unless Mira asked again...

"Thank you, Aunt Centipede. By the way, where’s Big Bro?"

"Elias? He’s harvesting potatoes with Aunt Potato."

Hearing that, Mira immediately smiled brightly and clapped her hands together.

"Ah, okay! I’ll go to—"

"And the Nocturne ladies."

"..."

The smile on Mira’s face faded right away when she heard her brother was with Evelyn and Elysia.

"Auntie, excuse me."

Aunt Centipede could only watch Mira leave with hurried steps and an irritated face.

"Mira, you have to learn to accept reality."

* * *

In Aunt Potato’s potato field, Elias was lifting a big sack full of potatoes.

Back then, lifting a sack this size felt super heavy to him. But now, he could probably even carry two sacks at once.

’Well, if only I still had two arms.’

Even though he regretted losing an arm a little, Elias could only sigh. There wasn’t much he could do to change that reality.

What’s done is done.

*Thump.

After putting the sack of potatoes on the horse cart that would take it to the market, Elias looked back at the field.

The hot weather made him sweat. Feeling stuffy, he finally took off his shirt before picking up the next sack.

Then he walked over to Aunt Potato, who was busy pulling up potatoes.

"Auntie, which one’s next?"

The woman looked back. But the moment she saw Elias standing there shirtless with his body drenched in sweat, her eyes suddenly froze on him.

"My, my..."

Realizing the woman was way too focused on staring at him, Elias frowned and pinched her cheek.

"I asked, where’s the next sack, Auntie?"

"Ouch! You didn’t have to pinch me... You’re so mean!"

"That’s your own fault for not listening to me."

"That one, over there."

Aunt Potato pointed at the sacks behind Evelyn and Elysia. Then she rubbed her sore cheek.

"Are they doing okay?"

"Who knows. When I was teaching them earlier, they said, ’Auntie, we’ve got it! Let us do it ourselves!’ just like that."

Elias could only smile bitterly after hearing Aunt Potato’s story.

"Is that really okay? I’m a little worried, honestly."

"It’s fine. Besides, this harvest is really good. So if the quality of their work isn’t great, just let it go."

Even though Aunt Potato spoke with a smile like everything would go smoothly, Elias still couldn’t shake his worry.

He then walked over to the two girls to check on their work and grab the sacks there.

Before long, Elias arrived at the part of the field where Evelyn and Elysia were.

"Ladies, are you two doing alright?"

Hearing Elias call her, Evelyn turned around right away with a wide smile. In her hands were a few potatoes she’d managed to pull up herself.

"Look, Elias! I managed to pul— Wow...~"

Evelyn stopped mid-sentence when her eyes landed on Elias’s shirtless body. Her face slowly flushed, while her breathing started to get a little heavy.

*Thump... Thump...

But Elias didn’t notice the change in her at all. Instead, he laughed bitterly when he saw the potatoes in Evelyn’s hands. Some were still covered in clumps of dirt, while a few others had gashes from something sharp.

"Haha... That’s good..."

Then he shifted his gaze to Elysia.

"What about you, Lady Elysia?"

Elysia nodded before standing up, holding a few potatoes she’d dug up.

"Uhm! I’ve got the hang of it no—!!!"

Just like Evelyn, Elysia stopped mid-sentence too when she saw Elias standing shirtless in front of her.

Elias’s muscles looked slightly tense from the work he’d just done. A few faint veins showed on his arm and shoulder, while the sweat soaking his body slowly trickled down his chest to his abs.

Under the sunlight, the body that once looked so ordinary now looked a lot more solid and sturdy.

"Ah..."

Evelyn let out a small sound without realizing it. Her face turned even redder when she noticed she’d been staring at Elias for too long.

Meanwhile, Elysia just froze with her eyes slightly wide. The potatoes in her hands almost slipped out.

"..."

Once again, Elias didn’t notice the girls’ reactions at all. His attention was still on the potatoes Elysia was holding, which came out more or less the same as Evelyn’s.

He then scratched his cheek with a wince.

"Good job, Ladies. But actually, the way you pull them out still isn’t quite right."

"Ah... I see..."

"We’re sorry..."

Seeing the two girls suddenly look glum, Elias immediately felt guilty.

"Ah! It’s no problem! That’s normal for beginners! Even I was like that back then!"

Realizing Elias was trying to cheer them up, Evelyn finally smiled a little. Meanwhile, Elysia just let out a small sigh before smiling faintly too.

Elias let out a sigh of relief after seeing them smile again.

Then he took the potatoes from their hands and put them in the sack.

"I’ll teach you again how to pull potatoes the right way."

"Okay!"

"Alright."

Both of them crouched down again to watch how Elias pulled potatoes.

But before Elias could start, Mira’s voice suddenly called out to him.

"Big Bro. What are you doing?"

Elias and the two girls turned around at the same time. They found Mira, already dressed in her work clothes for the fields. She stood with both hands clasped in front of her.

"Mira? You’re up!"

"I asked, what are you doing?"

"Ah, I’m teaching these two how to pull potatoes."

Hearing Elias’s answer, Mira glanced at Evelyn and Elysia behind her brother, then shifted her gaze to the sacks of potatoes around them.

After that, her eyes moved to the bandage covering the stump of Elias’s left arm before finally looking back at her brother’s face.

"Stop teaching them."

"Eh... Why?"

"Just stop teaching them and carry these sacks."

"Mira, what’s your problem?"

"Just do what you were doing before, Big Bro. Let me deal with those two."

Hearing Mira, Elias obviously felt worried. He thought Mira was still angry about what happened earlier.

Just as Elias was about to say he didn’t want to go, Evelyn suddenly patted his shoulder.

"It’s okay, Elias. Just go back to your work. We can manage by ourselves."

"But, Lady—"

"Big Bro! You’re not gonna listen to me?"

Mira raised her voice right away.

Hearing that, Elias flinched. He then looked at Evelyn and Elysia, who both signaled for him to just go.

In the end, Elias lifted the sack of potatoes beside him and left the three girls behind. But the worry was still clear on his face.

’Mira...’

* * *