Chapter 171

After setting out to find Abel, the seventeen Marrens set out for the city of Lomarn, based on Gizel’s guess .

On the first day, the adults of the Marren tribe were eager to catch Abel and have him make the incense-smoke leaf, but after only the second day, they were all exhausted from the unfamiliar journey .

Wary of magical beasts during bedtime, uncomfortable beds, not being able to eat their favorite foods whenever they wanted, long hours of walking, and saying goodbye to the people they had left behind in their homeland .

These were unexpected blows to the Marrens, who had been living comfortably among their families in a closed community settlement .

Exhausted, they continued on their way and spent a restless bedtime .

When they woke up in the morning, they were still feeling tired from the day before .

The Marrens, weakening in body and mind, we’re slowing down every hour, not to mention the days that passed .

“Ev-, everyone, please walk faster! While you’re doing this, brother is…… brother is definitely lonely! Maybe he’s suffering alone in some unknown place! Please!”

Gizel bowed her head with tears in her eyes .

The first day, the Marrens had squeezed the energy out of their healthy appearance, but most of them had already reached the end of their tether .

“I’m sure I…… won’t be able to go back to the village anymore…… to die in the wild . ”

“Look…… fufu . I carved Ortem to emulate my wife, daughter and son . I did a foolish thing …… leaving them alone and looking for Abel for the incense-smoke leaf…… I’ve been struck by bad luck……”

The first day’s supremacy was already gone .

Of the seventeen, only four of them, including Gizel, hadn’t yet celebrated adulthood, but the adults who had lived in the village for a long time seemed to have been more damaged .

Some were mourning, some were heaving and motionless, and some were holding Ortem and crying .

The Marrens realized how blessed they had been .

They had never imagined that it would be so harsh out there .

They thought of their home away from home and only regretted their foolishness .

The Marren had a law that they could not leave the Marren village .

And there was a legend that anyone who left the Marren village would surely regret it .

“This was …… this is what it was about…… I didn’t know that the world outside was such a painful place . ”

A single tear ran down from one man’s eyes again .

He continued to meditate on his eyes and cut a cross in the air with his left hand, saying, “The spirits of our Marren ancestors, forgive us……” .

This is the cliché of the Marren tribe when they ask for forgiveness from the spirits of their ancestors .

“I-, it’s only the third day, isn’t it! My brother left the village alone, and how much …… he should have already left the forest if it were true, but this ……”

Gizel was normally angry at them for following her on their own volition, demoralizing her and continuing to delay her progress as well .

The arm holding the grimoire trembles .

“Ca-, calm down, Gizel-chan! Relax! Everyone is tired! I’m pretty tired too, so I thought why not rest for the day……”

“Shibi-san, what are you……! Even Shibi-san is saying that you don’t care about brother!”

“No, no, it’s more efficient that way! Right? We’re tired from walking all day long . We’re so tired, so we’re thinking negatively……”

“But as soon as possible…… that’s right! Firo-san also wants to see brother soon, don’t you? Right? I know, you know! Firo-san also feels about brother……”

With that, Gizel looked over to Firo .

Firo was shrinking back on the stone, curled up in a ball, sitting up and shaking .

Her eyes were frightened and her mouth was moving in a mumbling manner .

“Abel…… Abel~……”

“………… Firo-san?”

The Marrens were extremely vulnerable to stress and environmental change .

The former secret weapon of the Dinrat Kingdom was nowhere to be found .

They had become fragile in many ways as they straddled the generations since they were neglected by the royalty and no longer sent off to war, and enjoyed peace without being threatened by anything .

Hunting was now done with bows and arrows rather than the highly individualized sorcery, and the powerful magic medium that was the symbol of their people, the Ortem, had been reduced almost to a ritual and interior decoration .

The Marren are such a peaceful community that a mere incident of vegetable theft would cause a tribal summit to be held .

The culprit was later discovered to be a horned rabbit of the Horbit species .

“Let’s take a break …… Gizel-chan, okay? Not everyone is as strong-willed as Gizel-chan, or something…… No, Abel-san is important to me, you know . I don’t mean to disrespect Abel-san, but really ……”

Gizel paragraphed disappointedly as Shibi approached her .

“Sim-san is……”

Gizel flipped open the grimoire she was holding and looked at the newly floated words in spirit language .

“…… Okay, if that’s what you say, too, Sim-san . ”

Gizel decided to follow the grimoire’s decision and focus on resting for today .

— The next day, it rained heavily in the forest .

The ground was slick with mud and the sideways rain took away their vision and body heat .

The Marrens used their magic to create a rain shelter from the soil and lit a fire in the center, rattling and shivering in one place .

“O-, our Marren ancestors spirits, forgive us ……”

“The spirits of our ancestors are angry!”

“Frio! Sisker! I’m sorry! Seems like Dad can’t go home, I’m sorry!”

Most of the Marrens kept bowing to an Ortem and begging them for forgiveness .

Gizel was pouring her magic power desperately into the Ortem, exercising her cloud-avoiding magic while Shibi instructed and helped her .

However, her face was half in tears . As expected, even Gizel was also heartbroken by this heavy rain .

“Li, Lil-chan …… the rain …… when is it going to stop?”

Lil was one of the few children who had followed the journey to find Abel .

She was not related to Abel, but she was brought here because she came from a family of astrologers .

“No, I want to go home, I don’t want anymore!”

However, Lil was not in a mental state to be able to perform divination .

“bro-, brother……”

Gizel somehow managed to keep her mind on Abel and focused on the task of driving the rain clouds out .

Thanks to Gizel’s magic, the rain stopped in the afternoon .

But the Abel search party disagreed internally and insisted that the Seven would return, and ran off in the direction of the village as if to escape .

Gizel stared at their backs with resentful eyes .

“I-, It can’t be helped, Gizel-chan…… I don’t think those people had any choice but to stay any longer than that and……”

Shibi had a point .

Gizel also regained her composure, which should make the move easier .

“I’m leaving too! I want to go home too!”

“We are in desperate need of Lil-chan’s help in the search for brother! Please!”

However, only Lil was not allowed to return home .

As long as the purpose was to find Abel, Lil, the diviner, was indispensable .

Of the seventeen, only ten remained .

On the fourth day of the journey to find Abel, the Abel search team was on the verge of being half destroyed .