“Mom, I want that!”
When Nona was only eight years old, these words were like Aladdin’s magic lamp. The moment she uttered them, all her wishes would come true.
Delicious candies, beautiful dresses, enchanting storybooks—whatever she desired, her mother seemed capable of plucking even the stars from the sky for her.
In those days, she truly adored her mother, believing her to be omnipotent, the most formidable person in the entire world.
As she grew older, however, she discovered this was not entirely true.
There were many things her mother couldn’t do, and their perspectives began to clash.
“Cough, cough…”
Nona couldn’t recall the exact day, but she remembered returning home to find her mother still coughing, her complexion terribly pale, as if gravely ill.
“Mom, let’s go see the priest.”
“No need,” her mother replied. “I just need some rest.”
Nona wanted to take her to the priest, but her mother always refused with the same excuse. This time, however, Nona was unusually insistent, practically dragging her mother to the town’s priest clinic.
It was only then that she realized her mother’s strength was actually quite meager; she couldn’t pluck stars from the sky after all.
After the examination, the priest concluded that her mother was simply exhausted, having overexerted herself, and needed several days of good rest. Once they were back home, her mother grumbled with a resigned expression:
“See? I told you. I just needed some rest. There was no need to see the priest, and now a whole afternoon has been wasted.”
“Seeing the priest brings peace of mind, though.”
As they left the clinic, Nona understood that her mother was actually distressed by the cost of the priest’s visit.
As a child, she had no concept of money, but looking back now, if they could afford a wardrobe full of dresses, their family shouldn’t have been too short on funds.
Yet, reality, it seemed, was quite different.
That year, just before she blew out her sixteenth birthday candles, her mother presented a jewelry box to her, smiling as she said, “Nona, this is your birthday gift.”
‘A jewelry box?’
Nona took it and opened it.
Inside lay a silver ring, intricately carved with a gardenia pattern.
“Huh? Why are you giving me a ring?”
“Don’t you like it?”
“No, it’s not that, it’s just… rings are quite expensive, aren’t they?”
Her mother understood her concern and let out a soft chuckle, covering her mouth.
“As long as you like it, that’s all that matters.”
Her mother was always extravagant when spending money on her.
Two years later, when Nona turned eighteen, she passed the hero selection trials and became a true hero.
Returning home on her birthday, her mother was again there to greet her. It was then that Nona realized her world seemed to contain only her mother.
For over a decade, her mother had made no friends, dedicating herself solely to raising Nona. Sitting beside the table, Nona could feel the profound loneliness and solitude emanating from her.
‘Perhaps, Mother was never truly omnipotent.’
After becoming a hero, Nona was truly grateful that her mother lived in a remote town.
The people here possessed no magic, and the public order was relatively good. Otherwise, given her mother’s beauty, she might have long since been abducted by some magic-wielding villain to become their wife.
“Mom, I’ve become a hero. From now on, I’ll take care of you.”
Although heroes had to travel extensively, the money they earned was substantial. If Nona gave it to her mother, she could live out the rest of her life in happiness and comfort.
Buying a villa, hiring a few servants, spending her days tending flowers and reading books… As an ordinary woman, her mother would surely love such a life. Nona would also return occasionally to visit her, sharing tales from her travels.
‘She would be very happy, wouldn’t she?’
It was precisely because of these thoughts that she uttered the words, “I’ll take care of you.” Yet…
“Too late. You won’t be seeing her again soon.”
The silver-haired woman affectionately stroked her mother’s cheek, declaring her claim. “She is my mother now.”
With that, she vanished with Nona’s mother, and the beautiful, warm living room instantly transformed into an abyss, plunging Nona into a terrifying sensation of falling from a cliff.
“Mom…”
****
“Mom!”
Nona abruptly opened her eyes and sat upright. After a moment of daze, she let out a sigh of relief upon realizing she was in a deep, dark forest. Leaning against a tree trunk, she reached up to touch her face.
Her cheeks were damp, still bearing the traces of recent tears.
Tears had dampened the gardenia ring on her left middle finger. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, glinting on its surface with a crystalline luster. Nona raised her hand, gazing at it for a long moment before lowering it.
This ring was her sixteenth birthday gift.
“Another nightmare?”
A soft voice drifted from nearby. A young woman, clad in a magic robe, pushed aside the bushes and appeared before Nona.
The young woman possessed a beautiful face. Her long silver hair cascaded down her shoulders like a waterfall, hinting at a delicate, almost easily-bullied vulnerability.
Her lengthy magic robe concealed her figure, yet rather than diminishing her allure, it only intensified the desire to glimpse the form beneath.
Lucrecia, a young lady from a noble family and a mage by profession, was a member of Nona’s hero team.
“…Mm.”
Nona slowly lowered her head and hummed in acknowledgment. Lucrecia, clearing weeds with her staff, came to her side and offered comfort: “We will rescue her.”
The members of this hero team were all aware of what had happened to Nona’s mother.
“Yes, we will.”
Though she spoke with an air of nonchalance, Nona knew that rescuing her mother would be incredibly difficult.
After all, she didn’t even know the most basic facts: who the woman who took her mother was, or why she had been taken.
All she knew was the woman’s appearance, nothing more.
‘Did her mother’s past intersect with that woman’s somehow?’
With this thought in mind, Nona carefully sorted through her mother’s belongings before leaving home. She ultimately took with her a golden leaf-shaped emblem and the wooden sword she had used for training in her childhood.
The former might be connected to her mother’s identity; the latter was a cherished memory from her childhood.
Her mother had given her the wooden sword after seeing Nona’s yearning to become a hero. As a child, Nona loved to swing the sword in open spaces, and whenever her mother had free time, she would sit nearby, watching her quietly.
Whenever Nona grew tired and looked toward her, her mother would offer a gentle smile. At the same time, the wind would often tousle her mother’s hair, forcing her to brush it behind her ears.
Everything felt as though it had happened just yesterday.
“Olivia sent back a message,” Lucrecia announced. “They found a village up ahead. We should hurry and catch up, and perhaps rest there while inquiring about clues regarding the Hero’s Sword.”
Olivia was another member of their hero team, an elf skilled in archery. Despite her short stature, she liked to refer to herself as an older sister due to her age.
As for the Hero’s Sword, it was the ultimate objective for their hero team.
After all, it was a treasure capable of slaying gods.
Watching the sun above the forest begin its descent towards the western mountains, Nona, having rested briefly in the woods, agreed to Lucrecia’s suggestion.