Now This Family Belongs to My Mother Chapter 146

* * *

Whoosh. An artificial garden that looked as if a real one had been transplanted. Inside the glass greenhouse at its center stood a large golden birdcage. It was a sanctuary for the divine beast, Phoenix. However, at a glance, the thing inside the cage looked less like a phoenix and more like a lump of red. That was because it was curled up and asleep.

 

“Piit!”

 

The divine beast’s avatar, Ppinix, approached the phoenix and nudged it with its beak. Phoenix then raised its head in acknowledgment. Then it quietly looked at Hubert, who was standing in front of the cage. But it showed no interest in my mother standing beside him.

 

Why…? Now that she had even obtained the avatar of the divine beast. You told me to bring you the successor, Phoenix. I whispered resentfully in my mind. I kept my promise!

 

That was when it happened.

 

—I can’t see it.

 

Phoenix’s voice came into my mind.

 

—I can’t sense the successor. Something evil is blocking the connection between us.

 

Something evil? I looked at Mom, whose expression remained calm. It must mean the curse, right? If so, perhaps the curse Kobel had placed on Mom had the effect of severing her connection with the phoenix. But is there really a curse among the dark magic used by humans that can affect even a divine beast?

 

At that moment, Phoenix breathed a red breath into Ppinix. Then Ppinix’s red flames grew even brighter.

 

“Phoenix has given its avatar some of its power,” said Hubert.

 

Ppinix immediately flew out of the cage and came toward Mom. This was Phoenix’s way of helping Mom.

 

When we returned to the room, we washed up and went to bed together. We were still sharing the same bed. Mom stroked my hair and said, “People would criticize us if they found that we still sleep in the same bed.”

 

“I don’t care. I like sleeping with you, Mom.” I said as I burrowed into Mom’s arms.

 

“Me too, Epirosa.”

 

Just then, Ppinix squeezed itself between Mom and me.

 

“What are you doing, Ppinix?” I protested, but Ppinix shamelessly settled itself into place and buried its head.

 

When I pouted, Mom comforted me. “It should be warm tonight. And perhaps Ppinix is trying to share with us the power it received from Phoenix.”

 

“If that’s the case… that would be nice.”

 

A thought suddenly occurred to me. Maybe the reason I had suddenly become so good at shooting a bow was because of the power Ppinix had passed to me. If that’s the case, please then give me lots of power. I still have so much to do.

 

Before long, I intended to go retrieve the treasure of the Magic Tower. To completely break Mom’s curse. Getting the treasure of the Magic Tower was much harder than obtaining the archmage’s heart. It was because I had to avoid the Magic Tower’s intricate security measures. If it hadn’t been for Kobel, who once worked in the Magic Tower, revealing the secret passages and traps, I would never have been able to obtain it.

 

Even knowing all that, it was still an extremely dangerous task. No matter how dangerous it was, I had to accomplish it. Because I had returned to the past with the intention of setting everything right.

 

* * *

It was the next day. I received a message from Cardinal Lenon Gianni. He said he had finished interpreting the paper I had given him. But he added that there was something to discuss, so he asked me to come in person.

 

That afternoon, I headed to the temple. After making a generous donation as a gesture of gratitude, I entered the cardinal’s office.

 

“You’ve arrived. I’ve been waiting for you.” As always, Lenon greeted me warmly and kindly.

 

Seriously, who are the people calling someone this kind-hearted cold? I couldn’t understand it as I sat down in the seat he guided me to.

 

Lenon placed the paper I had given him and the deciphered versions on the table. But there were two deciphered versions.

 

“Cardinal, why are there two interpretations?”

 

“That’s why I asked you to come in person. Please read them first.”

 

Following his words, I read through the interpretations.

 

[The following are the three keys that connect one to a divine beast. The heart of Archmage Urquil. The root of the World Tree. The horn of the unicorn.’

 

As expected! If I use those, I can lift Mom’s curse and communicate with the divine beast again! Filled with hope, I continue reading the rest of the content. The following section described the location where they currently were. They were things I already knew quite well.

 

[All three of these keys must be used in order to fully open the door that connects one to the divine beast.]

 

But at this point, I couldn’t help but despair. All three of them have to be used? Then this method was useless. Because I had already given the archmage’s heart to Ludwig.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“The archmage’s heart… is already gone.”

 

At my words, Lenon flinched in surprise. “Are you certain? Maybe you should double-check…”

 

“I’m sure. I can’t explain everything right now, but I saw it with my own eyes.” I spoke honestly to him, someone who had been a great help and whom I trusted. “The truth is, my mother can’t connect with the divine beast. It’s because of the curse Kobel placed on her.”

 

“So that’s why you asked me to decipher this, to find the keys that would connect your mother to the divine beast.”

 

“Yes.” I nodded sadly.

 

As he watched me, Lenon pondered deeply before speaking. “There is still hope.”

 

“What?”

 

“If you look here carefully, it says, ‘All three of these keys must be used in order to fully open the door that connects to the divine beast.’”

 

As I listened to his words, something dawned on me. “So, you need all three to connect with the divine beast ‘completely,’ but even with just two or one, a connection is still possible. Even if it’s not perfect.”

 

“Yes. Of course, it would be better to have all three, but it is still too early to give up.” Lenon spoke, sincerely comforting me. “If any problems arise, I will do everything in my power to help. I promise on the honor of a cardinal. So please, don’t worry.”

 

“If anything goes wrong, I will do everything in my power to help. I promise on the honor of the Cardinal. So, don’t worry.”

 

“For Cardinal to say this much, thank you.”

 

I felt like I was about to cry from his kindness. Honestly, I have no idea what kind of side effects might occur if I use only two keys. But that doesn’t mean it makes sense to give up when there is still a possibility.

 

As I regained my composure, Lenon spoke cautiously. “Now, please read the final line. This is where the interpretations differ.”

 

I read the part he pointed to with his finger. Most of the contents of the two interpretations were identical, but the final line was different.

 

[To use the keys, a sacrifice is absolutely necessary.]

 

[To use the keys, qualification is absolutely necessary.]

 

Sacrifice and qualification? My eyes widened in surprise.

 

“The priests were fiercely divided over the interpretation of this part. In the end, they couldn’t reach a single conclusion, so I decided to show you both versions.”

 

I thought back to my previous life. Kobel used sacrifices whenever he conducted experiments. In the end, he even sacrificed Mom and me. And when he conducted experiments, he said that he would use the keys to make Gale the master of the divine beast… He had Gale and the keys placed inside the same magic circle. Though the experiments always failed, and the results of the magic were unknown, in reality, it was probably… not a spell to make Gale the master of the divine beast. But a spell meant to sacrifice Gale in order to activate the keys.

      

The realization sent chills down my spine. Even Gale was nothing more than a sacrifice to Kobel. But when neither this nor that worked, Kobel eventually resorted to using Mom and me. Was it because he wanted to become the phoenix’s master himself?

 

In my memories, Kobel ultimately failed. Failure after failure. Considering that, Kobel must have misinterpreted the text. The true interpretation must be ‘To use the keys, qualification is absolutely necessary.’ Kobel had obviously mistaken ‘qualification’ for ‘sacrifice.’

 

“Cardinal, ‘qualification’ is the correct interpretation.”