TRVLT 46

Chapter 46

Lashian took the small hand offered to him.

I thought he was going to shake hands, but the child slid Lashian’s hand upward. As the sleeve fell, his thin wrist was exposed.

“…?”

“You’ve got a long way ahead.”

Ariletti said coldly.

The sorrow that had lingered on the child’s face just moments ago melted away, replaced by the sharp eyes of a strategist.

“What excuse did you use to leave the palace? How long can you stay at Hezeite?”

“…For rest and recovery. About three years. It can’t go beyond that.”

“Right. Even in the second round, the royal command said you must return exactly after three years, didn’t it?”

“Y-Yes…”

Three years. For Lashian to return to the capital without being ignored like now, the Hezeite family’s influence must grow far beyond its current level within those three years.

He must also rebuild this tiny, fragile body.

Then he could at least hit Albert or Lucio once. By now, Lucio’s probably grown as strong as any young knight.

Thinking of the princes stirred old anger within me.

Even if revenge is secondary to repayment… it’s still a small hope of mine…

Since we’re doing it anyway, why not do it together?

Ariletti immediately grabbed the day’s potion and shoved it into Lashian’s mouth.

“Drink.”

“Ugh!”

“If you break it again, I’ll have Elardio feed it to you.”

Lashian raised his eyebrows but didn’t refuse this time.

“How does Dream Forecasting work? Can you see any future you want?”

“It’s not about seeing the whole situation. I inhabit someone to view the future through them.”

Lashian avoided the question. He didn’t want to admit that he had been inside someone else’s dream.

“I see the future with the highest probability, based on chance and likelihood. You can’t see everything you want.”

“So?”

“Sometimes you can’t see even if you want to, and sometimes you’re forced to see even if you don’t want to… Also, I can’t see the future of people I don’t know. I must have met them at least once, even briefly.”

“Hmm.”

While Lashian struggled to finish the bitter potion, Ariletti spoke to the rabbit doll.

“Why is Dream Forecasting so complicated?”

• Because the future isn’t fixed.

A reasonable answer.

• And normally, powers aren’t easy to use. It’s the master who’s abnormal! You should be grateful for my help, silly master!

“Then if using powers drains your life, does it do the same for you, my lord?”

• …Are you even listening?

The doll sighed.

• I said it. A sage’s power should only be used to protect the White Forest. If used selfishly to interfere with fate, a curse triggers between the forest and the sage.

“Then with Dream Forecasting, what counts as ‘selfish’?”

• Just seeing a few scenes of the future won’t trigger the curse. Only if you break causality or interfere with the Gravekeeper’s powers… But the kid is still clumsy and doesn’t know how.

So, there’s no limit to the number of times Dream Forecasting can be used. He can see the future with the highest probability.

Ariletti suddenly pushed Lashian onto the bed.

“Lie down.”

“What… what?”

“Lie down and dream, obviously.”

“…?”

Ariletti carefully covered Lashian with a blanket. Her teal eyes glinted mischievously.

“Forecast. Anything about the future of Hezeite lands is fine, but it’d be great to see what will happen in Caspel first.”

It sounded almost like a threat to prove his usefulness immediately.

Lashian had no choice but to close his eyes.

One hour later.

Lashian groggily muttered with half-open eyes:

“Hey, Ismail Trading… isn’t that the company contracted with Hezeite? Based in Caspel?”

“Right. Why?”

Ariletti, still persistent, asked immediately.

Lashian shook off the sleep and frowned deeply.

“They say… it’s about to be robbed?”

Ariletti slammed both hands on the bed.

Here it comes—the thief!

‘I’ was staring at the empty warehouse.

It was my first time seeing it in person. The frozen warehouse storing monster byproducts and rare herbs from Hezeite was large and cold. Even a loud shout would echo.

It shouldn’t be this empty.

“…What happened?”

No need to ask. It had been robbed.

Ismail kept sniffling behind me, his face swollen from crying since we arrived.

“I’m sorry, sir. I should have strengthened security. It was my fault…”

No, it wasn’t the security’s fault. Even doubling guards and adding magical devices wouldn’t have stopped the thief.

‘I’ knew who could do something like this in Caspel.

The broken lock still held faint traces of magic.

“When was it first discovered?”

“Fifteen mornings ago. The thief probably came at dawn. We noticed immediately and contacted you…”

Even with the distance between Caspel and Hezeite, by the time we arrived, two weeks had already passed.

“The Detective Guild investigated, but apart from confirming it was a mage, there’s no other leads.”

‘I’ bit my lip and looked around the empty warehouse.

I expected someone would want the ice-element materials, but I didn’t expect them to act this fast.

The stolen materials would have taken Hezeite’s knights three full months of monster hunting to gather. Most were already packaged and ready to ship to pre-orders.

If we knew the thief’s location, we might track them, but their ability made that impossible unless they were caught in action.

Even after two weeks, no clues had been found.

“We’ve informed customers of delays…”

“They’ve already paid. It will take at least four more months to gather enough stock again.”

If orders are canceled, how would refunds be handled? So much money has already been spent to manage the lands. Emergency funds exist, but using them all would drain Hezeite’s budget.

‘I’ staggered under the shock. Glenn quickly held me to steady me.

“It’s okay, Aril. We’ll gather the materials and make up for it.”

What’s okay? It’s not okay.

Ah, my credit. More accurately, Hezeite’s credit.

If powers were fully functional, I could just turn back time and fix this easily. But my body isn’t capable.

‘I’ felt endless frustration.

I should have forced Lashian to see the forecast earlier, kept him dreaming for a whole week. If I had known sooner…!

‘I’ clenched my fist and swallowed tears of regret.

It was the worst disaster before even hitting the jackpot.

“-That’s what happened. You were regretting it…”

Lashian, describing the future he saw in the dream, frowned.

“What are you doing?”

The pink-haired girl was stuffing unknown items into her bright yellow bag.

“Can’t you tell? I’m packing.”

“Now? Right away?”

“Yes.”

The bag soon became bigger than the girl.

Ariletti, with the stuffed bag on her back, lifted her head determinedly.

“Let’s go immediately. To catch the thief.”