The next day, Lyria and Livy woke up early as usual and headed outside toward the training grounds.

  Throughout their entire training session, Eric never appeared.

  Lyria and Livy found it very strange, as Eric rarely missed both evening and morning training back-to-back.

  They didn’t think too much of it. Maybe he was just tired and still sleeping?

  At breakfast, they asked the workers if Eric had eaten yet. The answer they received was that he hadn’t, and they also hadn’t seen him since morning.

  Lyria and Livy decided they should visit Eric, as it was already past 10 a.m.

  After breakfast, they knocked on Eric’s door, but there was no reply.

  While Lyria hesitated, Livy simply opened the door and walked in.

  Lyria glared at Livy.

  It was a boy’s room! What if they saw him inappropriately dressed!?

  Strangely, that thought excited Lyria more. She quickly went inside, only to find it empty.

  Eric seemed to have already woken up and gone somewhere.

  Lyria and Livy decided to wait.

  Perhaps he had gone outside to do something. They couldn’t just force him to spend time with them constantly, even if they wanted to. Who knew what Eric might think if they clung to him too much?

  But now that Lyria thought about it…

  'Weren’t we already too attached to him, following him everywhere?'

  Lyria blushed.

  But Eric had also never shown any annoyance at them tagging along…

  Lyria and Livy went back to their rooms.

  They then casually chatted among themselves and played chess that Eric had built for them on their 12th birthday.

  During this entire time, Livy was having an unexplainable bad feeling in her heart, and due to this, she was too distracted and lost the game—which almost never happened, as she was quite invincible in chess among the three.

  Eventually, it was noon. Lyria and Livy once again checked on Eric, but he was still not back.

  At lunchtime, they met Hannah along with her two-year-old daughter, Nahurn. Wilhan was already five years old and was staying with Wilburn in his carpenter shop.

  Hannah also answered that she didn’t know, and Eric hadn't informed her of anything.

  Lyria and Livy's expressions were calm, but they were extremely panicked inside.

  Eric had never left for so long, not to mention without saying a word of it.

  Indeed, they always forcefully tagged along with him wherever he went. Was he that dissatisfied with them for this?

  Both Lyria and Livy suddenly felt empty, as if a large void had appeared within their hearts.

  They had never thought they would feel so empty and lost just because they hadn’t seen Eric for a single day.

  They moved their bodies like the undead toward their room, but Livy stopped before Eric's door and slowly opened it—which was still empty, with his large window, usually left open, now closed.

  She stood outside the room for a long while and then slowly walked in.

  Lyria, who was also lost and couldn’t think straight about what she was feeling, followed Livy inside Eric’s room.

  Livy opened the window with trembling hands. She felt as if she was opening the window of a dead person’s room.

  Her tears started falling while vacantly gazing at the beautiful, bright scenery outside.

  While gazing at Livy’s back, Lyria tried to play it cool and laughed awkwardly, "Geez, calm down. Why are we being so overdramatic? Brother Eric probably left early this morning and will be back by evening. There’s no way he’ll leave us all alone in this town and go off adventuring by himself. I’m sure!"

  Lyria was, in fact, not calm at all.

  She was just as lost as Livy and couldn’t make sense of why she was feeling so heavy and heartbroken. To her, it was almost as if the world had suddenly lost all color and turned black and white after not seeing Eric for a single day.

  She stiffly sat on one edge of Eric’s bed.

  Even after taking many deep breaths, her mind still couldn’t properly organize any thoughts, so she unknowingly sat there, gazing vacantly at the opposite wall—where there was nothing.

  Livy just stood in front of Eric’s window and didn’t make a single sound, but her silent tears never stopped falling. She also couldn’t understand why she was so grieved, feeling as if she had lost something very precious to her.

  For a long, long time, Livy simply stared at the outside scene without focus, while Lyria kept staring blankly at the empty wall.

  Hours went by, and it was time for evening training.

  Livy came back to her senses and wiped her completely red eyes.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  She had no recollection of how long she had cried, but her heart was still bleeding with deep longing.

  Livy’s eyes were swollen, but she didn’t move and waited for another dozen minutes.

  But nothing changed—Eric still hadn’t returned.

  She once again felt like crying but held back and asked Lyria without turning back, "L-Ly, it’s already past training time. Why hasn’t B-Brother Eric come back yet?" Her voice was extremely hoarse.

  Lyria, who had been sitting dazed, staring at the wall for hours, hadn’t noticed that her eyes were also filled with tears.

  When she heard Livy’s voice, she came back to her senses and turned toward Livy—only then noticing her own blurry vision and wet cheeks.

  Lyria, in fact, still hadn’t registered that Livy had been standing in front of the window for hours.

  She quickly wiped her tears and tried to speak. "I-I—" She paused, almost not recognizing her own rough voice. After coughing and swallowing her own dried saliva, she continued, "I... I don’t know. Maybe he’ll come back anytime now..." Her voice trailed off as she glanced at the dimming sunlight outside the large window.

  She hadn’t even realized it was already evening—soon to be night. Her eyes widened in shock.

  Livy, who had returned to her senses much earlier than Lyria, turned around and reached out toward Eric’s bed.

  She didn’t even glance at Lyria, her mind occupied with something else.

  Lyria stared at Livy’s completely red eyes and didn’t know what to say.

  ‘Was she crying that hard?’

  Lyria hadn’t realized her own eyes were also swollen red.

  Livy went toward the other end of Eric’s bed and lifted the mattress, then stood still as if she had lost her soul.

  Lyria watched Livy’s action with confusion.

  ‘What is she doing? Staring at the bed with wide eyes...!’

  Her own eyes widened, and she immediately rushed to Livy’s side. After noticing the empty space beneath the mattress, her pupils narrowed.

  Both of them knew Eric always kept his dagger in that spot. They also had a similar-looking dagger as a birthday gift, kept under their own mattresses for quick access in emergencies.

  But they had never moved the dagger from that place ever, even when they traveled around the Town. The reason was simple; there were no mortals that they couldn't defeat without a weapon. And for those who were Mana Wielders, they couldn't defeat them even if they had weapons. So, there was simply no point in carrying one. It was only left for safety and emergency purposes alone.

  They or Eric had never taken it away from their rooms; in fact, they hadn’t even taken it outside their beds for a while, as it had been years since they received it, and they no longer admired it every few days, like in the past.

  Even just a day before, when they visited Eric’s room, they had noticed the bulge in the bed as always.

  They had almost forgotten about the dagger, and that was why Lyria was confused by Livy’s action previously.

  Now that Lyria was watching the empty bed, she was struck with thunder just like Livy, who similarly stood silly beside her.

  After a few moments, Livy came back to her senses.

  Her suspicions were indeed correct!

  She gently touched the empty space with her slender finger, just in case her eyes were deceiving her.

  After confirming the dagger was truly missing from its spot—where it had always been for the last couple of years—Livy gently dropped the mattress and spoke while staring ahead, "Let’s go."

  She turned and headed outside the room with decisive steps.

  Lyria quickly chased after Livy. She knew where Livy was going, and that was where they could find all their answers!

  Bella Noll heard a loud, impatient knock from outside her door. She was actually quite surprised, as she had been expecting this knock hours earlier.

  She calmly answered, "Come in."

  The door opened, and Livy and Lyria barged into Bella Noll’s room, completely forgetting to close it behind them.

  Bella Noll glanced at Lyria and Livy’s overly swollen, reddish eyes and didn’t know whether to worry or laugh.

  She, in fact, truly wanted to laugh.

  'This is a bit too exaggerated, no? Livy can be understood barely, but why does Lyria also have similar swollen eyes?'

  She had always thought Lyria was the calm-headed one—except Eric—and didn’t get too emotional easily, or at least didn’t show it outside and knew well how to hide it while keeping a calm, demure exterior.

  Was this that shocking? Or was it that painful for them to notice Eric’s sudden departure?

  Bella Noll felt she had underestimated Lyria and Livy’s affection for Eric.

  She knew both Lyria and Livy liked Eric, while Eric also liked them but consciously kept a boundary and watched them only as friends.

  Bella Noll could also understand Eric’s intention for doing so.

  That was Eric’s way of caring for both Lyria and Livy. After all, he could simply love them for a few years and then walk away for his own journey, leaving them here waiting.

  Bella Noll had seen such cases quite a few times, and that was why a Mana Wielder marrying a Mortal was almost never a good option. They lived far apart in two different worlds. A Mana Wielder’s way of thinking and actions were also different from Mortals’.

  It didn’t mean that a Mana Wielder couldn’t love a mortal. Also, it didn’t necessarily mean that Eric wouldn’t come back—if he didn’t die along the way.

  But Lyria and Livy would keep waiting for Eric, and who knew for how many years. After all, the world was huge, and not everyone was wealthy enough to take a Space Gateway, fly in an Airship, or borrow a Mana Beast ride from Animal Handlers to travel everywhere.

  Maybe after dozens of years, Eric would return—and until then, how would Lyria and Livy live? It would be quite hellish for both of them. They wouldn’t even know whether Eric had died or not, after all—Ringwood Town didn’t even have any communication artifacts.

  So, Eric keeping the boundary was for both Lyria and Livy. And he was sensible enough not to take advantage of these two absolutely beautiful ladies and play with their hearts and bodies.

  Even Bella Noll, who had seen many beautiful and handsome people, would say confidently—Eric, Lyria, and Livy were very, very attractive, to the point she could even say that within a few more years, all three would have charms and features that would attract everyone’s attention toward them, even if they just remained as mere mortals.

  But still…

  'Why are they so depressed over just not seeing Eric for a day?'

  Both Lyria and Livy’s eyes were so swollen that it almost looked like someone had punched them in each eye!

  Bella Noll shook her head and held back her laughter.

  For an adult or a logical-thinking person, the current situation might seem a little too silly and stupid, but it wasn’t so for Lyria and Livy. After all, if they hadn’t felt anything significant over Eric’s disappearance, then why would they shed so many tears until they had such swollen red eyes?

  Both Lyria and Livy’s condition wasn’t something she should judge. They had their own lives, their own way of thinking, and their own feelings.

  And so, as an old adult, she could only try her best to be on their wavelength and not outright impose her 'mature' and stupidly 'grown-up mentality' to judge young adults’ situations.

  She coughed, seeing how both Lyria and Livy, after coming inside her room, not only didn’t close the door but also didn’t sit down and were silently staring at her… menacingly!

  "Cough, cough. Are you girls here to inquire about Eric’s whereabouts?" Bella Noll asked in a calm voice, though her lip was twitching.

  Both Lyria and Livy’s eyes shone after hearing Bella Noll’s response.

  They weren’t 100% certain that Bella Noll would be aware of Eric’s whereabouts, but it seemed the 99.9% chance of her knowing was right after all!

  Both of them nodded their heads simultaneously.

  Bella Noll saw red light flash across both girls’ reddish eyes.

  'Killing intent?'

  Bella Noll tried to speak as calmly as possible to avoid provoking them into truly killing her after hearing her answer.

  "You see… Eric has left for a small business of his own. He should return within a few days. So don’t worry and wait, alright?"

  "Where did he go, and when will he return?" Both Lyria and Livy asked simultaneously. Their voices were extremely hoarse. They didn’t even glance at each other for asking the same question together.

  'Are they perhaps one soul? And put into two different bodies?' Bella Noll wondered.

  "Cough, he… he didn’t tell me, alright… But let’s say he will return in… seven days!"

  Bella Noll decided to increase the days to a week; otherwise, if she said four days, then the chances were high that both girls would probably kill her to get the answer on Eric’s whereabouts after four days. And if she told them the location, she wouldn’t be surprised if both Lyria and Livy immediately ran everywhere within the forest before these seven days.

  Although the southeast forests didn’t have any Mana Beasts, the Mortal animals were also not to be underestimated—they only needed a moment to snap a human’s neck.

  Lyria and Livy wouldn’t be in their right minds, so they would definitely miss many clues of danger in the forest, which could become life-threatening. So Bella Noll preferred if they didn’t visit that forest until Eric came back.

  'Eric… I’m putting my last remaining months of life into this; you better come back in three or four days!' Bella Noll cried inside her mind. Of course, it was a joke, but she was also very serious—after four or five days, even she would start getting worried and would also be helpless, as she no longer had a body that could run around everywhere.

  Lyria and Livy were, of course, not happy with that answer. And they immediately reacted.

  "Three days!" Lyria demanded.

  "One day!" Livy pushed at the same time.

  'Thankfully, they were not one soul after all!' Bella Noll sighed in relief.

  'No, before that—why are you girls bargaining over such a thing? Not to mention, bargaining with me? How do you think I can contact him while always staying within this room? Do you think I’m hiding him here?'

  Lyria was actually subconsciously considerate and thought that if Eric had left, then three days was the maximum she could wait without seeing him. But Livy didn’t care—she wanted to see Eric immediately, so one more day was enough consideration from her!

  Both Lyria and Livy glared at each other.

  They didn’t know what they were glaring about, so the glare only lasted for a split second, and they immediately glared back at Bella Noll.

  Bella Noll sighed, feeling exhausted.

  She also suddenly started to miss Eric, but she was mature enough not to cry out for the missing—'two days.'

  Bella Noll took Lyria and Livy’s bloodthirsty glare head-on and replied 'calmly,' "You see, I’m not hiding Eric within this room, nor do I have any way to contact him. So just wait, okay? He will eventually return in… seven days."

  Both Lyria and Livy struggled within themselves.

  They had calmed down a little and become rational enough to see the situation logically.

  At least Eric was safe, had left for somewhere, and should return within seven days—and since Bella Noll had allowed him to leave, it should be safe enough. They needed to hold on and wait—that much they should do, even if not for themselves, at least for Eric.

  Lyria and Livy sighed internally and once again simultaneously glared back at Bella Noll and 'threatened.'

  "If—if Brother Eric isn’t back by the seventh day, early morning… W-we will search for him everywhere! Outside the town!"

  After saying this, both Lyria and Livy stormed out of Bella Noll’s room without turning back.

  Thankfully, Lyria was sensible enough to close the door while leaving.

  Bella Noll massaged her temples.

  This was not a joke! She didn’t want girls as beautiful as Lyria and Livy running everywhere outside the town.

  She would have to tell them the location if Eric didn’t return within a week.

  She sighed, feeling the pain of being a mother of daughters—no, she was a grandma!

  Why did a grandmother have to go through all this?!