Chapter 117

Chapter 117: Wife's Shocking Announcement

Rin took the wooden box in her hands.

"What's this?"

"Open it."

"Yes!"

Rin opened the box.

Inside was a wand, shimmering luminously.

Rin's eyes lit up as she picked it up.

"Is this a staff wike Auntie Wuina's?"

"That's right, it's a magical wand like that. Hold it while growing plants, and it'll have an effect."

"Wow! Tank you for the pwesent, Papa!"

Rin kissed me on the cheek.

Seeing how happy she was, I was glad I had gifted it to her.

"Rin wants to twy it wight now!"

"Go ahead."

Rin climbed down off my lap and began growing the plant in the pot on the end table.

WHOOOM!

Emerald light surged through the wand.

The Persistent Highest-Grade Magic Stone at the wand's tip began to glow as well.

However—

'Even with the magical wand, it's still not working.'

Making sprouts grow from the Arcana Mana Fruit seeds truly wasn't easy.

Rin stopped her growth attempt and her shoulders quivered.

"I'm so sowwy... Papa gave me a pwesent..."

She was about to cry.

I went to Rin and embraced her.

"Why are you sorry? It's all right if you can't make it grow—don't be upset."

"But... Rin wants to give Papa a pwesent too."

"To Papa, there's no bigger gift than you, Rin."

Ria chimed in beside me.

"That's right, Rin. For us, you are the greatest gift."

"...Mm."

Rin dabbed at her eyes.

Then she looked up at us with resolute eyes and said,

"Rin's going to twy one more time!"

I couldn't stop her when I saw those eyes.

"Go ahead."

Rin took a deep breath, gripped the wand, and concentrated her mana on the pot.

Five minutes passed, but still there was no change.

Then Rin took another deep breath and focused her mana even more powerfully.

In that moment, an illusion struck me—as if we were in the middle of a lush forest.

My lungs felt refreshed.

At the same time, I caught the scent of flowers.

'This is...?'

The area around Rin was tinged with emerald mana, and shapes of vines and flowers flickered.

Watching her, Ria said,

"Rin has Awakened her power."

"She's Awakened her power?"

"Yes. Records say that when a fully grown adult Dryad uses her abilities, emerald mana tinges the area around her and the scent of flowers fills the air."

"I see."

The abilities of an adult Dryad.

And our little Dryad Rin was already using them.

The effect was tremendous.

WHOOSH!

Sprouts began to push up from the pot,

and stems grew, bearing blue leaves.

Those leaves were unmistakably Arcana Mana Herb.

After two weeks of effort, Rin had at last Awakened her power and successfully grown the Arcana Mana Herb.

The result of persistent effort and refusal to give up despite continuous failure.

When Rin stopped the growth and opened her closed eyes, the flowers and vines of emerald mana swirling around her vanished.

"It gwew...! It gwew! Yay!"

Rin jumped up and down, looking at the Mana Herb she had grown.

"Papa, it gwew!"

"Well done, our daughter!"

I went to Rin, caught her by the sides, and lifted her high.

Rin gave a thumbs-up in mid-air.

For a moment, it overlapped with a meme of a hedgehog giving a thumbs-up that was going around online.

Anyway, watching my daughter's growth, I was so moved I was on the verge of tears.

Not just me—Ria's eyes reddened as well.

"Well done, Rin. I'm proud of you."

"Mama, heh!"

Rin beamed as Ria held her.

Truly, a lovely mother-and-daughter scene.

I then touched the Arcana Mana Herb leaves.

[Arcana Mana Herb Leaves Grown by a Dryad]
[Effect: Consuming it immediately restores 7 Mana.]

Because Rin had grown them, the mana recovery was 2 higher than the Mana Herb I had received from the Golden Goblin.

'I can make mana potions with these leaves.'

I plucked one leaf and tasted it.

Slightly bitter.

"Rin, thank you for the gift."

"Heh! Rin's going to pwant wots and wots of hewbs."

"How many do you want to plant?"

"Rin's going to pwant the whowe outside fowest fuww."

She must mean the forest outside the Rift house.

"Why do you want to plant so many?"

"Because Wuina—no, for Papa. The picture book said that's how you become a good daughtew."

"...Rin."

How could such a good girl exist?

"Still, let's only plant a little so it isn't too hard for you to manage, Rin."

"Yes!"

She answered "Yes!", but I had a feeling she'd plant a lot.

And the next day.

Rin took my hand and led me to the outer forest.

There, blue Arcana Mana Herb leaves had bloomed in abundance throughout the outer forest.

She was a daughter with impressive follow-through.

***

Once enough Arcana Mana Herb had been gathered, I dove into experiments right away.

First, I put water in a heatproof glass pot, added the herbs, and simmered over low heat.

The water turned blue.

But even after cooling it, no system message appeared.

'The effect is gone.'

It had just become blue water.

Apparently, exposure to heat destroyed the effect.

Then I minced the leaves with a knife and steeped them in cold water.

Two days later.

The leaves had turned white—their ingredients seemingly leached out—and the water had turned a deep blue.

Then came the system message.

Cold water had been the answer.

[Darot Mana Potion (Concentration 56%)]
[Blessing of Dexterity effect per 100 ml: Consuming it immediately restores 11.2 Mana.]

Darot was the true name of the Applecherry fruit.

It had worked, but the concentration was low.

I calculated the original ratio of herbs to water and re-steeped at a ratio aiming for 100%.

Two days later.

[Darot Mana Potion (Concentration 99.8%)]
[Blessing of Dexterity effect per 100 ml: Consuming it immediately restores 19.9 Mana.]

There was a slight margin of error, but this was close enough.

Calculated at this ratio, making it into a potion gave three times the mana recovery effect of eating the raw leaf.

Now I took 100 ml of the mana potion and mixed it with 50 ml of Applecherry juice.

[Darot Arcana Mana Potion Juice]
[Blessing of Dexterity effect: Consuming it immediately restores 30 Mana. Mana recovery rate increases by 100% for 2 hours.]

The concentration percentage on the mana potion disappeared, and the effect rose by a factor of one and a half.

Not only that, mana recovery rate was boosted as well.

"Impressive effect."

The mana potion worked not only on Awakened who had system windows, but also on those from the Continent of Bellinta.

Ruina fired spells into the air one after another.

Then—

GLUG-GLUG!

she downed a bottle of the mana potion I had made.

"Master Seon-u, this mana potion is quite effective. If I keep drinking this, I could use mana endlessly."

"Until you're too full to drink any more, probably so."

"I can eat and drink a lot of anything, so I'm fine! And thanks to the Applecherry, it tastes great too."

The Knight Quartet generally ate and drank a lot.

Ruina smacked her lips.

It looked like she wanted more.

"I'll make you a box of it next time."

"Heh! Thank you."

And not just those from the Continent of Bellinta—it worked on Rin too.

GLUG-GLUG!

Rin drank the mana potion juice deliciously.

"Tasty."

With that mana boost, she went back to eagerly growing crops.

A virtuous cycle—replenishing her mana through potions made from Applecherries and Arcana Mana Herbs she herself had grown, then growing more crops.

Watching her, I let out a small sigh.

"Her problem is that she's too hardworking."

To my grumbling, Ria—sipping tea at the next seat on the outdoor bench—said,

"This is happiness for Rin. Let's leave her be."

"I'll have to."

If Rin looked distressed it would be one thing, but with her smiling all over like that—

Watching her, it was healing and adorable.

Then—

Thump!

The baby in Ria's belly kicked again.

I spoke to Ria's belly.

"Our second little princess. She must be bored."

"She wants to come out and play with her big sister."

"That must be it."

***

Time passed.

Ria reached the twenty-sixth week of pregnancy.

And then Ria dropped a bombshell announcement on me.

"Seon-u, I want to give birth at the Rift house."

"At the Rift house...?"

"Mm."

"You should go to a hospital. At home, it's dangerous."

"It isn't. I'll be fine—Ruina is here. And even without Ruina, I can do it on my own."

Given Ria's mental fortitude, she probably could do it alone...

"Still, no."

"Please, hm?"

"What's the reason you want to do it this way so badly?"

"It's that—this place is the space that brought you and me together, and it's also the crossroads between the world I grew up in and the world you grew up in."

I understood the sentiment.

But that didn't mean I could accept the risk.

"That reason alone isn't enough for me to agree."

"It's not only that—I feel I have to. It's a gut feeling."

A gut feeling, hmm...

Ria continued,

"And Ashley has offered to make a bracelet artifact that will protect the body with mana. With that, the baby won't be harmed by the Rift either, the same as an Awakened, a knight, or a mage."

"Hmm..."

Even with that issue addressed, I still couldn't easily grant Ria's request, in case of any unexpected emergency during childbirth.

A difficult problem.

As I agonized over it, Ria took my hand and looked up at me with doe-like eyes.

"Please. Just this once, let me do it the way I want."

"...Does it have to be this way?"

"Yes, at least this once."

Ria spoke firmly.

If I said no, wouldn't pregnant Ria be stressed?

And when she was asking so earnestly, I couldn't refuse.

I'd have to trust my wife's instincts.

"...All right."

"Thank you."

Beside us, Ruina said,

"Master Seon-u, with me by her side, please don't worry too much. From today on, I'll study midwifery fiercely."

"Understood."

"So please order midwifery books."

"Mm, I'll order them."

"And I'll go to your place outside the Rift now and then to study videos on the desktop computer."

"Do that. Thank you, Ruina."

I ordered various books related to midwifery for Ruina.

From books for the professional midwifery certification to guidebooks by old-time midwives.

With the books in hand, Ruina began studying truly diligently.

Every other day, she came to the house outside the Rift and took online lectures for the midwife certification on the desktop.

Perhaps thanks to her high-circle mage's sharp mind, she seemed to be learning very quickly.

Watching her, I was somewhat reassured.

And at the time of delivery, Han Se-a would assist Ruina.

***

The mana potion juice began selling at the Hunter Shop on the first floor of the building.

Before I started selling mana potions, other Hunter Shops had sold mana potions as well.

Mana potions made from herbs gathered by Hunters with herb-related skills.

But the mana recovery effect wasn't large.

'Highest-Grade recovers 20.'

But my potion juice, made from Arcana Mana Herb Rin had grown, restored a whole 30.

Higher than existing Highest-Grade Mana Potions.

And that wasn't all—it also boosted mana recovery rate by 100% for 2 hours.

Yet the price was the same as a Highest-Grade Mana Potion sold at other Hunter Shops: eight million won.

'Today too, the line started forming before opening...'

Looking down from the apartment window, a line of Hunter customers snaked around the building.

Word must have spread that cheap, highly effective mana potions were on sale.

Ria came beside me, leaned on my shoulder, and said,

"I woke up at four in the morning, and the line was already there from that point."

"Really? I may have to start taking customers by reservation. I feel bad for the Hunters waiting since dawn."

"That's a good idea."

"By the way, you rarely wake at the Rift house once you're asleep, but lately you seem to wake often when we sleep at this house."

Our family was living between the Rift house and the house outside the Rift.

Some days we slept at the Rift house, some days outside.

Lately, though, Ria seemed to wake up often when she slept at the house outside.

"I think our second daughter must prefer the Rift house more. When I sleep outside the Rift, she'll kick once or twice in the early morning and wake me up. But she doesn't at the Rift house."

"Really?"

That might be why Ria felt strongly she should give birth at the Rift house.

Perhaps the baby instinctively wanted to be born inside the Rift.