“No, what do you mean? Don’t drag me into this! This has nothing to do with me!”
Liami quickly explained, hoping that Sifni and Colin wouldn’t buy Lavinia’s story and turn their suspicious gazes toward her.
However, Colin and Sifni were not the type to believe everything they heard. Colin first signaled Liami to be quiet and listen to what Lavinia actually meant before making any decisions.
“So, what exactly do you mean? What do you mean by stealing this just to help Liami?”
Without Liami’s interruption, Sifni continued interrogating Lavinia.
“What I mean is, Liami has become a woman now, right? And according to legend, the World Tree’s branches have the power to heal all things—no matter the wound or disease, they can restore it to its original state! So I thought, if I could bring this to Liami, maybe it could help her turn back.”
After hearing Lavinia’s explanation, Liami pressed a hand to her forehead, at a loss for words. She hadn’t expected this to really involve her, but stealing a branch from the World Tree for this reason? That seemed a bit much! At worst, she could live as a woman forever! Was it really worth going this far for her?
Liami recalled her past interactions with Lavinia. Were they really close enough for her to steal such a priceless treasure for her sake?
A strong feeling of gratitude welled up in Liami’s heart. She decided that if anything ever happened to Lavinia in the future, she would make sure to help her clean things up perfectly.
At that moment, Colin seemed to have had enough. Frowning, he scolded Lavinia, “Although Liami’s situation is important, you shouldn’t have just stolen such a treasure without considering your own circumstances! Do you know how much danger this puts you in? What if something happens to you because of this? Do you think we’d be happy to see that?”
It was the first time Liami had seen Colin angry at a companion. In her impression, Colin was always a gentleman. He only showed his anger when dealing with notorious enemies.
But now, this was the first time she’d seen Colin angry at a teammate. It seemed this matter really was serious.
Just then, Lavinia’s words suddenly flipped the mood in the room.
“…Honestly! Just listen to me! Who said I stole it? I submitted a proper application. This is completely legal!”
The tense atmosphere instantly shifted after Lavinia’s words.
Colin looked skeptical and asked, “You’re serious? It’s legal? No problems at all?”
“Of course!”
Sifni, still a bit confused, asked, “Then why were you so nervous earlier? You made us think you stole it.”
“Uh, well…” Lavinia hesitated, as if reluctant to reveal the full details.
Seeing this, Colin’s previously relaxed brows furrowed again. He pressed, “What’s going on? Why won’t you say? You said it’s legal, so what’s the problem?”
“Uh, well, it is legal…” Lavinia wavered, unsure if she should reveal the truth. But finally, under the combined pressure from Colin and Sifni—and after Liami pulled out a strange little bottle from somewhere—she finally confessed.
“…Ahem, like I said, it’s definitely legal. It’s just… there were some issues with the procedure.”
“Procedure?”
“Right! The procedure! You see, I did submit the application, but submitting it is one thing—the other side needs time to approve it, right? And after approval, there are still other steps to complete. By the time all of that is done, the earliest we’d get the World Tree’s branch would be in a year or two. I have no problem waiting, but do you?”
“…You mean?” The three present roughly guessed what had happened next.
“I mean, I skipped a few steps. Waiting for the whole process to finish was just too slow, so I… took the World Tree branch ahead of time. But don’t worry! This was after my application was approved! So it’s still legal! It’s just that when I get back, I might get a scolding…”
……
……
……
No one said a word. Liami had already given up on complaining. She knew Lavinia’s way of thinking was not normal but hadn’t expected it to be this far off! Wasn’t she afraid someone with ill intentions might accuse her of being a thief? Did she really have that much nerve?
The others thought much the same as Liami, left speechless by Lavinia’s logic.
“Why aren’t you saying anything? Trust me! I’m not lying! There are plenty of these branches stored in the Elf Forest warehouse! They don’t actually care about one missing! So it really is fine!”
“…Anyway, as long as it’s fine, let’s stop discussing this.”
In the end, Colin spoke up, ending the debate. Sifni carefully put away the World Tree branch. If they couldn’t find a way to reverse Liami’s transformation in “Yiqu,” she would attempt to use the branch to brew a potion. Although she wasn’t sure if that would work.
“So, you came back from your hometown and brought us this kind of gift?”
Liami suddenly questioned Lavinia, truly baffled by her logic. Who would bring such things as gifts for friends? A completely useless pillow, a flute with some mysterious function, and an extremely precious, practically priceless World Tree branch! Did she even understand what gifts were supposed to mean?
“Uh, don’t you all like them?”
Like them? Did we look like we did?
Liami didn’t want to comment further. She couldn’t believe Lavinia actually considered those things gifts.
But Lavinia changed the subject and pulled more items from another suitcase.
“Hehe, just kidding. These are your real gifts!”
Lavinia handed out the real presents to everyone, even some for the new servants like Lora. How did she even know about that?
“Let’s leave Eirno’s gift here for now. Speaking of which, hasn’t she arrived yet? Why is she so late?”
Lavinia looked around curiously and asked about Eirno’s schedule. Liami shared the same question.
So Colin told Sifni to use communication magic to check where Eirno was.
But before Sifni could activate the spell, a spherical light appeared in front of Colin, showing several shadowy figures inside, too blurred to recognize.
Colin’s expression instantly changed to shock upon seeing the communication magic—it was the special communication magic used exclusively by the Sanctuary!