Chapter 371: The Celebration of the Returned

By sunset, the village square smelled of warm bread, roasted vegetables, and freshly prepared soup.

The celebration had started with a simple suggestion, but the villagers had quickly turned it into a community effort. Those who were strong enough gathered supplies, while others sorted through the food that had survived the corruption. Several houses had recovered enough to provide cooking utensils, and the communal kitchen had become the busiest place in the settlement.

It wasn’t an extravagant feast. There wasn’t enough food for that, and too many people still needed rest.

But nobody seemed to mind.

For the first time in years, the village had a reason to prepare a meal together.

Kong stood in the communal kitchen with his sleeves rolled up, carefully arranging a collection of vegetables on a wooden table.

"Those go into the soup. The smaller ones should be roasted, and we need to keep the bread covered until we’re ready to serve it."

Sun stared at him.

"Since when did you become a chef?"

Kong looked up indignantly. "Since I realized you were going to ruin everything if I left you alone!"

"I have prepared meals before."

"You burned water last time."

"That was an unfortunate misunderstanding!"

Mithra, who was helping carry a basket of supplies, stopped in the doorway.

"How exactly does someone misunderstand water?"

Sun straightened proudly. "I was testing whether a greater concentration of heat could improve the cooking process."

"And the result?"

"The pot was damaged."

"And the water?"

"Perfectly heated!"

Melo burst out laughing.

Kong slapped the table. "See? This is why I’m supervising!"

Sun pointed at him. "You are not supervising me. We are working together toward a common goal."

"Then peel those vegetables."

Sun stared at the basket Kong pushed toward him.

"You dare assign me menial labor?"

"Unless you’d rather explain to the villagers why their celebration has no dinner."

Sun hesitated.

Then he grabbed a knife.

"Very well. I shall demonstrate that even the simplest task becomes extraordinary in the hands of a master."

Mithra leaned toward Melo. "How long before he claims the vegetables personally owe their existence to him?"

"Three minutes," Melo replied.

"Two," Kong said without looking up.

Sun glared at all three of them. "I can hear you!"

"Excellent," Melo said. "Then you won’t miss our instructions."

Despite the bickering, the kitchen continued to fill with food. Several villagers joined them, showing Kong how they traditionally prepared their dishes. He listened with surprising seriousness, asking about ingredients, cooking times, and which herbs could be substituted for those they no longer had.

One elderly cook watched him inspect a pot.

"You take this very seriously, don’t you?"

"Of course!" Kong replied. "Food is important. A proper meal helps people recover, gives them energy, and makes everyone happier."

The woman smiled. "Your parents must have taught you well."

Kong paused.

For once, he didn’t immediately respond with a joke.

Then he looked toward the crowded kitchen, where Sun was arguing about the correct thickness of a vegetable slice.

"I’ve learned a few things from traveling with these people."

"Mostly how to complain?" Melo asked.

"Mostly how to recognize when someone is about to ruin dinner."

Sun raised his knife. "I heard that!"

"And yet you continue to prove my point."

Their laughter carried through the open doorway and into the square.

Arthur found Eden sitting beneath a restored tree near the edge of the village.

The branches above her had regained some of their leaves, although several remained bare. She sat with her back against the trunk, watching villagers carry food between the houses and the square.

"You should be resting inside," Arthur said as he approached.

Eden looked up. "I am resting."

"On a bench?"

"The ground is comfortable."

"You’re sitting against a tree that spent the afternoon releasing enough energy to restore an entire village."

"Which makes it an excellent place to rest."

Arthur sat beside her, accepting that he wasn’t going to win that argument.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better than before. My connection to the World Tree has settled, though I’m still tired." Eden glanced toward the distant roots. "The restoration took more effort than I expected."

"You didn’t use Future Manifestation this time."

"No. I didn’t need to."

She rested her hands in her lap, thinking about what had happened beneath the village.

"When I use Future Manifestation, I look toward a possible outcome and bring that possibility into reality. It’s like choosing a destination and forcing the world to follow a path toward it."

Arthur listened quietly.

"But guiding Luna through the root network was different. The path already existed. The World Tree was trying to restore its natural circulation, and Luna knew the original structure. I only helped her recognize the rhythm and follow it."

"So you helped the world do something it was already trying to do."

Eden nodded. "Exactly. I didn’t create a future. I helped reconnect something that had been interrupted."

She looked toward the village square, where golden lanterns were being hung between the restored buildings.

"It’s strange. I have spent so much time thinking about what my ability can make happen that I rarely consider how much it can help me understand what is already happening."

Arthur smiled. "Sounds like you learned something useful."

"I think so. Though I’d prefer to learn it somewhere that doesn’t leave me exhausted."

"That can be arranged."

Eden gave him a small smile before returning her attention to the village.

"Luna seemed happy when she found her grandfather."

"She was."

"I’m glad. She spent so much time preparing herself for the worst that she almost didn’t believe him when she heard his voice."

Arthur leaned back against the tree.

"She deserved to find him."

Eden nodded. Neither spoke for a while, allowing the distant sounds of the celebration to fill the silence.

Then Eden looked at him.

"Are you going to sit here until someone comes looking for you?"

"Possibly."

"Then you should know that Kong has been asking where you are. I believe he wants you to settle a dispute about who deserves credit for dinner."

Arthur sighed.

"Of course he does."

Luna found Eden a little later, carrying two cups of warm tea.

"I thought you might want something to drink."

Eden accepted one of the cups. "Thank you. You didn’t have to bring this yourself."

"I wanted to."

Luna sat beside her and held her cup between both hands.

For a few moments, she watched the celebration from a distance. The square was filling with villagers, and the communal kitchen had begun sending out the first plates of food. Her grandfather was speaking with Mrs. Bell, who appeared to be scolding him for trying to stand for too long.

Luna smiled at the sight.

Then she turned toward Eden.

"I wanted to thank you properly."

Eden blinked. "For what?"

"For realizing the World Tree could help us reach the village. And for helping me restore the root connection."

"You did most of the important work. You understood the original pathway, and you were the one who followed it."

"But you helped me understand what to do. If you hadn’t recognized the Tree’s response, we might never have opened the chamber."

Eden lowered her eyes to her tea.

"I was happy to help."

"I know. But I still wanted you to hear it from me."

Luna hesitated before continuing.

"When I first decided to return here, I thought I was only looking for answers. I didn’t expect to find anyone alive. I certainly didn’t expect to see my grandfather again."

Her fingers tightened around the cup.

"Now, when I look at everyone, I keep thinking about how close I came to never seeing them again."

Eden reached over and gently touched her shoulder.

"You don’t have to spend the whole evening thinking about what might have happened."

"I know."

"Then enjoy what did happen."

Luna looked at her, then smiled.

"All right."

"And eat something. You look like you haven’t had a proper meal in days."

Luna laughed. "You’re starting to sound like my grandfather."

"Perhaps he has a point."

"Don’t tell him that. He’ll become impossible."

From across the square came the sound of her grandfather laughing loudly.

Eden raised an eyebrow.

"Too late."

The food was finally served as the sky darkened.

The villagers gathered around long tables assembled from salvaged wood. Lanterns illuminated the square, and the smell of the meal drew even those who had initially insisted they were too tired to join.

Kong inspected the arrangement with a satisfied nod.

"Everything is ready."

Sun stood beside him, his chest puffed out.

"Thanks to my tireless efforts."

Mithra slowly turned toward him.

"You peeled vegetables."

"Under difficult conditions."

"You complained about every single one."

"Leadership requires sacrifice."

Melo nearly dropped the bowl she was carrying.

"Kong, I think Sun needs a special plate. One with a little crown on it, so everyone knows who heroically peeled the vegetables."

Kong nodded solemnly. "I’ll find the biggest plate we have."

Sun crossed his arms. "Mock me all you want. When everyone tastes this food, they will understand my contribution."

A villager passing by gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder.

"Thank you for helping, young man."

Sun immediately brightened.

"You see? At least someone recognizes true excellence."

The villager continued walking.

"He was very helpful with the peeling," she added to Mithra.

Mithra covered her mouth to hide her laughter.

Sun’s expression collapsed.

Arthur shook his head and helped distribute the remaining plates. The food was simple, but the villagers ate with an enthusiasm that made it feel like a feast worthy of a royal hall.

Stories passed from one table to another. People spoke about the homes they hoped to repair, the gardens they wanted to replant, and the relatives they still needed to search for. Some cried while recounting what they remembered of the corruption, but others shared old jokes and childhood memories.

Athy sat near a group of villagers who were discussing the village’s history.

"Your grandfather kept detailed records of the root network," she said, opening her notebook. "But there are several gaps in his research. Do you remember anything about the original eastern pathway?"

An older man considered the question.

"There used to be a small shrine near the river. The elders said the pathway curved around it before joining the main root."

Athy immediately looked down at her notes.

"That’s it. His records mention an unexplained diversion in the eastern channel, but he never identified its purpose."

"Perhaps the shrine marked the original route," the man suggested. "It was already old when I was a child."

Athy wrote down the information.

"That could help us map the remaining damaged sections. I’ll compare it with the records tomorrow."

The man smiled. "I’m glad someone still cares about these old things."

"Old records are often the only reason we understand what happened," Athy replied. "And sometimes, they tell us what to do next."

Nearby, Luna’s grandfather was telling a story to an increasingly amused audience.

"When Luna was seven, she decided she was going to become the greatest root researcher in the village."

Luna froze halfway through a bite.

"Grandpa."

"She spent three days collecting leaves, stones, and pieces of bark. Then she brought them all to me and demanded that I explain how each one was connected to the World Tree."

The villagers laughed.

"I was curious!" Luna protested.

"Very curious. Unfortunately, she had collected half of them from my garden, including several plants I had been trying to grow for years."

"That was an accident!"

"You told me the plants were conducting an experiment."

"They might have been!"

Arthur laughed, and even Vedas’s mouth twitched.

Her grandfather continued, clearly enjoying himself.

"Then she tried to map the village’s mana pathways. She drew the roads, the houses, the river, and the roots beneath everything. When I pointed out that she had drawn the river in the wrong direction, she insisted that the river must have moved."

Luna covered her face.

"I was a child!"

"And a very stubborn one."

"Grandpa!"

"But she never gave up. If she didn’t understand something, she kept asking questions until she found an answer. Sometimes I had to tell her to stop asking questions long enough to eat."

Kong looked up from his plate.

"That sounds familiar."

"Don’t encourage him," Luna said.

Her grandfather chuckled, then his expression softened.

"Her curiosity wasn’t the only thing that made her special. She was always trying to help people, even when she didn’t understand how difficult the task might be."

He looked directly at her.

"I remember her trying to carry a basket twice her size because an elderly neighbor needed help. She fell over three times before someone finally took half the weight."

Luna smiled despite herself.

"I remember that."

"Of course you do. You were furious when they took the basket away."

"I thought they didn’t trust me."

"And now?"

She looked around the table.

"Now I know that accepting help doesn’t mean people think you’re weak."

Her grandfather nodded approvingly.

"Then perhaps you have learned something since you were seven."

"Perhaps."

The villagers laughed again, but Luna felt warmth spreading through her chest. Her grandfather wasn’t only remembering the child she had been. He was recognizing the person she had become.

Later, when the meal had settled into quieter conversations, her grandfather asked her to walk with him a short distance from the tables.

They stopped beside the restored tree overlooking the square. The lanterns cast a gentle glow over its leaves, and the voices of the villagers drifted through the evening air.

"You’ve grown into someone I can be proud of," he said.

Luna lowered her gaze.

"I still made mistakes."

"Everyone does."

"I was frightened when I came here. Part of me wanted to turn around when I saw the village. I didn’t know if I could bear finding out that everyone was gone."

Her grandfather took her hand.

"But you stayed."

"Because I didn’t want to abandon them."

"And you didn’t abandon yourself, either. You kept moving forward even when you were afraid."

He smiled at her.

"That is something worth being proud of."

Luna leaned against him carefully, mindful of his weakness.

"I missed you."

"I missed you too, little Luna."

For a while, they stood together without speaking.

Then her grandfather straightened slightly and turned toward the square.

"Come. I believe there is something everyone wants to say."

Luna followed him back to the gathering.

Mrs. Bell stepped forward, holding a small wooden lantern decorated with the village’s branching-root symbol. Several villagers stood behind her, their faces tired but hopeful.

"We have lost much," she began. "Our homes, our routines, and years of the lives we once knew. We still have work ahead of us, and some of our neighbors have yet to awaken. But tonight, we have a reason to look forward instead of only looking back."

She turned toward Luna.

"You came home when you could have stayed away. You brought help when we could not help ourselves, and you gave us another chance to rebuild."

Mrs. Bell held out the lantern.

"Luna, granddaughter of our old root keeper, we welcome you home."

For a heartbeat, Luna couldn’t speak.

Then the villagers began repeating the words, some quietly, others with voices strong enough to carry across the square.

"Welcome home, Luna!"

She accepted the lantern with trembling hands.

Her grandfather stood beside her, his eyes shining with pride. Arthur and the others watched from the crowd, giving her the moment without trying to claim any part of it.

Luna looked at the faces around her, at the homes that still needed repairs and the people who would begin rebuilding them tomorrow.

This was not the village she remembered.

It was something new, shaped by everything they had lost and everything they had managed to save.

But it was still home.

"Thank you," she whispered, her voice breaking into a smile. "I’m home."