Chapter 300

"Uh, mother..."

Shan smiled awkwardly as she grabbed the doorknob of the room.

"Are you back?"

She tried acting cute in her own way, but it didn't work at all.

"Shan".

"...Yes, mother."

"I've told you so many times. Don't interact with outsiders anymore."

"That's right... I did."

Soura did not ban the meeting between Shan and Avane from the beginning.

Rather, unlike the villagers, she was secretly proud of Shan who took an interest in outsiders.

Even, it was Soura who recommended to go and talk.

It was about three months before her attitude changed.

Suddenly, one day, Soura completely reversed her attitude toward Avane Rophili.

"I don't quite understand, mother. Why do you keep saying no?"

In the end, Shan honestly said what she thought.

"At first, I thought my mother saw something about Avane Rophili. Maybe she's someone who's different from the outside."

So Shan was also wary of her for a while.

"But Avane Rophili is a good person. She's full of passion for research, so there's no time for her to squeeze into other thoughts. So... If there's a problem, it's not her, it's me. It will be."

Shan stared at Soura's face and said.

"What the hell did you see, mother?"

And she saw Shan.

Soura's eyes, which had been expressionless just before turning her head as if avoiding gaze, shook once.

"Don't talk nonsense, Shan."

Soura said, smirking and clicking her tongue.

"You are also my daughter, but before that, you are a member of the Chara tribe. You just have to follow what I say."

"Don't ask or argue. Just follow my mother's order?"

Anger began to permeate into Shan's voice.

"Follow unconditionally. It's not like Soura who is the wisest leader who has ever led the Chara tribe."

Bang!

Eventually, Soura hit the floor hard with the cane she was holding.

Then she turned toward Shan and shouted loudly.

"Tell me if you want to know why! You are the child who will inherit this tribe after me. Do you know what the Presbyterian Church is saying about getting along with outsiders?"

Soura's hazy eyes were filled with anger.

"If you keep going like this, your future could be at stake!"

There was silence.

Shan shook her head as she slowly lowered her head.

It looked like she was repenting. But after a while, Soura realized that her guess was wrong as she raised her head again and saw her daughter's frown.

"That's not it."

Shan spoke quietly.

"You're lying now."

Lie.

Soura's hand holding her cane flinched at the word.

"The leader's position is inherited by the strongest and most capable person of the time. And there is no one who can surpass my ability to see the future. The Presbyterian Church knows this very well, so they can't rebel against my mother. The next leader of the tribe will be me, my mother's daughter."

Shan looked straight at Saura.

"I am my mother's daughter before I was a member of this tribe. I know my mother better than anyone."

"...Shan."

"Tell me, the real reason."

Once she made up her mind, Soura never gave up.

However, Shan was also her daughter who inherited Soura's personality.

"If you don't tell me, I won't listen to my mother."

Shan stubbornly said.

But there was no answer back.

"......"

Soura hesitated for a moment, then just shook her head.

And Shan, who was looking at it with disappointing eyes, quietly turned around and entered her room.

***

It was noisy with the voices of people dressed in strange clothes everywhere.

It was the first time in her life to see so many people at once.

Shan looked down at the place she had stepped on.

It was not the land of a village with fine soil.

It seemed that not a single grass could grow on the floor, which was completely laid out with rough and hard stones.

This time, she raised her head and looked around.

In the village, instead of the trees that could be seen everywhere, there were tall buildings.

She started walking along the long, straight road.

It was a strange world full of things she had never seen before.

The stone path, not the soft soil, made her feet hurt.

But Shan kept looking forward and walking.

Like a person with a destination.

And at the end of the road came an open square.

In the center, something huge was seen spewing water up.

Is it the fountain that Avane was talking about?

She paused for a moment.

Do I want to appreciate the scenery of the square from afar?

But her gaze did not turn to the fountain.

She was looking at a man sitting under it.

Whenever the wind blew, the long hem and brown hair he was wearing fluttered.

While drawing something passionately, he raises his head to the sound of children laughing.

There was warmth in his eyes that smiled softly at the children running right in front of him.

Then suddenly, the man's eyes turned this way.

At first, the man seemed to be just looking at the street, but suddenly he was looking at Shan.

He didn't even blink, as if frozen.

Although there was quite a distance, the two of them were entwined with their eyes for a while.

Shan began to walk again.

It was towards the man.

And when she finally stood in front of him, the man was staring blankly at Shan.

"Hi."

Shan greeted with a smiley voice.

"What's your name?"

The gentle eyes with the corners of eyes slightly lowered blinked wide.

"...Gallahan."

He answered in a slightly shaky voice.

"My name is Gallahan."

Shan opened her eyes.

"Gallahan......"

Her heart, which just woke up, was pounding loudly.

She slowly got up and sat blankly for a moment.

Today, there was no need to open a notebook to record the contents of the dream.

She won't forget this dream.

"That person's name was Gallahan."

The man who she has dreamed several times, but has only recently been able to see his face.

Finally, she knew his name.

Besides.

"I talked to the man."

In the future she saw in her dreams, she was out of the village.

I don't know exactly where I met the man, but considering the topography and climate, it must have been a very far place from the jungle.

What the dream meant was clear.

"I'm... leaving this place?"

Shan didn't think for a moment.

It was something she had never imagined.

Leaving the tribe.

Shan swallowed heavily.

And she measured the time.

It was still early, but it was quiet outside the room.

Because today was the day of the elders meeting with the sunrise.

Shan jumped out of bed, quickly changed clothes, and half ran out of the house.

The small steps echoed through the quiet village road.

"Oh, Shan! Sister Shan!"

A four-year-old kid, Onta, who had been playing with dirt in front of the house since morning, waved his hand happily at Shan.

"Hello, Onta. Good morning."

"Hehe, Good morning!"

It was an Onta with a lot of laughter and cuteness.

His appearance was so cute, and he was a small child who had not yet shown his abilities, but there were already more than one or two families marked him as their future son-in-law.

"If you run, don't do it! You'll hurt because of the thud!"

Shan waved loudly to Onta, who was worried about her falling.

"It's okay because your sister's strong! Have fun, Onta!"

"Uung!"

Onta waved his hand in front of her with a big smile on his face.

Eventually, Shan arrived in front of Avane's house in less than half of the usual time.

"Ha, hoo, teacher Avane! Are you up already?"

"Huh? What's going on so early in the morning? Shan, come on in."

Fortunately, Avane, who was just having breakfast, welcomed Shan.

"You haven't had breakfast yet, have you? I was lonely to eat alone, so sit here."

Eventually, a bowl of white and sweet grain porridge was placed for Shan.

However, as a courtesy, even after holding a spoon, Avane, who pretended not to notice Shan eating little food, finally burst into laughter.

"I think something good happened. What happen?"

"That... I had a dream. About a... man."

"Oh, a man?"

Avane even put down the spoon she was holding in her hand, twinkling her eyes.

"Then did you dream about your future husband? You said Shan's dreams were never wrong!"

"No, it's not! Husband..."

Shan's face turned red.

"I just dreamed of meeting a man."

Avane Rophili deliberately smiled more and asked.

"How was it? Did you see his face?"

"Yes."

"Is he handsome?"

"...Yes."

I can't lie.

Shan comforted herself like that.

"Nice, C- cute.. I got it."

"Damn, I don't know!"

Eventually, she stomped to Avane.

"Now that you know his face, you'll be able to see him soon, right? Right?"

"Oh..."

Shan's complexion darkened in an instant.

"Perhaps that will never happen."

"Why?"

"Because..."

A sigh was mixed with Shan's voice.

"He's not from our tribe. He seemed like someone outside."

"Someone... outside?"

Avane Rophili asked in surprise.

"It was a big city. There's a fountain, too. I met the man down there."

Even after waking up from the dream, her memory was clear enough to explain the contents of the dream one by one.

"But I'm not leaving this forest. We won't have a chance to meet."

"Ah, that..."

Avane, who looked at Shan for a moment, carefully spoke out her words.

"I don't know well, but it's not easy for a tribe member to leave the forest, right?"

"Yes, of course."

"But if that man really is Shan's destiny..."

The conversation was cut off between the two for a moment.

After a heavy silence, Shan asked Avane a question.

"Is the name 'Gallahan' a common name outside?"

"Gallahan? Hmm."

Avane tilted her head.

"It's rather a very rare name, Shan. Among the people I know, there's not a single person named Gallahan."

All she knew was the appearance of the square where she met him and the name of 'Gallahan'.

Can I find that man with this?

Of course, that was also the story of when she was able to leave this forest.

"Phew."

Probably not.

It was time when Shan sighed thinking so.

Avane said 'Ah!' while clapping her hands once.

"Come to think of it, the name of the third son of the Lombardi family is Gallahan!"