Chill carried the sleeping Tike into a small room inside the guild and prepared a soft bed for him.
He settled the other three girls there as well and provided them with dinner.
Afterward, amidst Alice's gentle humming, Kagura and Yukino nestled beside Tike and soon drifted into sweet dreamland.
Looking at the children's peaceful sleeping faces, a kind smile appeared on Chill's face. He bent down, picked up the tableware the little girls had just used, and quietly exited the room with light steps.
Erza silently helped carry out the remaining tableware. As she was about to return to the room from the kitchen, a trace of hesitation appeared in her clear eyes.
Sensing her unease, Chill asked, "Is there anything else you need help with? Feel free to ask; don't be polite with me."
Facing Chill's inquiry, Erza bit her lip, hesitated for a moment, then mustered up the courage to ask timidly, "Guild Master Chill, could you give me some guidance on magic?"
"Of course, no problem! I thought it was something major! So you want to learn magic; I'd be happy to guide you!" Chill paused, asking with interest, "By the way, Erza, let me understand your basics first. Do you know any magic right now?"
Erza looked up, a glimmer of hope shining in her eyes.
"I can use a little Space Magic. I can store some objects, like weapons, into a special magical space."
Chill listened seriously to Erza's description, stroking his chin in thought for a moment.
"Space Magic, huh? That's quite a rare magic; I don't know much about it either. However, I remember there are some grimoires about Space Magic in the guild's library. I can lend them to you for reference."
He looked up at the gradually darkening sky outside the window.
"But we'll have to wait until tomorrow. I have some things I need to go out for right now."
"Thank you so much!"
Erza was genuinely grateful for Chill's generosity and help. She bowed deeply to Chill to express her sincere thanks. Then, with a heart full of joy and anticipation, she returned to the room with brisk steps.
Chill watched Erza's energetic retreating figure, but the smile on his face gradually faded, replaced by an indescribable heaviness and sorrow. He sighed softly, turned around, and walked out of the guild gate.
As night approached, pedestrians on the street were scarce. The streetlamps emitted dim yellow light, elongating Chill's shadow. He walked alone on the silent street to a flower shop in town and selected two bunches of white chrysanthemums.
Afterward, holding the white chrysanthemums, Chill walked with heavy steps to the cemetery on the outskirts of town. Passing through rows of silent tombstones, he finally stopped in front of two graves, one large and one small, and placed the two bunches of white chrysanthemums before them.
The smaller tombstone belonged to his son, a lively and lovely child. The larger one belonged to his beloved wife.
Five years ago, a sudden illness claimed the young life of Chill's son. Not long after, his wife passed away from depression, unable to bear the pain of losing their child.
The blow of losing two loved ones in succession left Chill in agony, nearly breaking him.
During that time, he felt the whole world lose its color, becoming gray and cold. He had even thought more than once about following them, reuniting the family in another world.
However, he had already taken over the heavy responsibility of protecting the "Heart of Blazing Flame" guild and the entire town from the old guild master. He couldn't just die selfishly like that, abandoning his guild companions and the town's residents.
So, no matter how painful it was, Chill gritted his teeth, forced himself to pull it together, and buried his sorrow deep in his heart.
Today, when Tike threw himself into his arms, he seemed to see the small figure who used to love rushing into his embrace.
If his child had lived until now, calculating the age, he should be about the same size as that girl named Erza.
Chill took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and let the white smoke rise slowly, blurring his face. He said nothing.
He had long understood the cruel reality that the dead could never respond to the calls of the living.
He no longer poured out his heart to the cold tombstones like he did in the beginning.
He just wanted to watch quietly like this, remembering his lover with hair as white as snow, and his lovely son who had inherited her beautiful hair color.
Chill was so immersed in memories of the past that he was completely unaware that the cigarette between his fingers had burned out.
Drip.
It wasn't until a drop of water fell from the sky onto his shoulder that Chill was finally pulled back to reality from the vortex of memories. He was slightly startled, looked up, and only then realized that a light drizzle had begun to fall from the sky.
Chill sighed. Just as he was about to leave, a voice suddenly called out to him from behind.
"Uncle Chill!"
Chill stopped and turned around with a slight doubt, only to see a boy with short blue hair running up to him breathlessly, handing him an umbrella.
"Please use this! Uncle Chill!"
Chill took the umbrella from the boy, gazing at the little guy who had a strangely shaped birthmark on his face. Behind him, a blue-haired woman with slightly red eyes was walking quickly towards them.
"Mary, Siegrain, you came to see Will, right?"
Will, Mary's husband and Siegrain's father, had lost his life in the previous attack by the black magic cult.
Chill had been busy dealing with the aftermath recently and hadn't had time to properly offer his condolences to them.
Hearing Chill mention her husband's name, the tears Mary had been holding back could no longer be suppressed. She raised a trembling hand to wipe away the tears constantly welling up in her eyes and nodded with a sob.
Siegrain appeared calmer than his mother. He pressed his lips tightly together, controlling his emotions and refusing to let his tears fall easily.
"Uncle Chill, isn't the Magic Council an organization that manages all wizards? Why do they allow those guys from the black magic cult to be so rampant?"
Looking at this child who had lost his father but was still suppressing his grief, Chill reached out his slightly rough palm and gently stroked Siegrain's soft hair.
"Of course, the Council has listed the black magic cult as a target, but those guys' influence is deeply rooted and intertwined, even connected to the most powerful force in the dark world—the Balam Alliance. They can't be completely eradicated so easily.
Moreover, the Council has too many things to manage: maintaining peace on the continent, dealing with disputes between various wizards... The manpower allocated specifically to deal with black magic cult incidents is actually very limited."
"Are we just supposed to let them do whatever they want and let people like Dad die in vain?"
Hearing Chill say this, Siegrain's body trembled slightly, but the light in his eyes grew increasingly determined.
"Uncle Chill! When I grow up, I will definitely join the Magic Council and become an outstanding council member! I want to establish a specialized special department within the Council dedicated to dealing with those hateful black magic cults! I will wipe out all those guys who killed Dad, leaving no one behind!"
read more inpat***
belamy20