Forgotten Juliet

Is this also a magic stone?

Even if it was just a stone, it was unusually beautiful, and Juliet liked its shape.

She poured out all the magic stones she had in her pocket, leaving only that black stone carefully placed in.

“By the way, there was such a story. When a dragon, the king of monsters, settles, a habitat for lower-level monsters naturally forms around it.”

It was a hypothesis she heard for the first time.

“Therefore, now that dragons are extinct, it is said that no new habitats are created.”

“That makes sense.”

“Right? Then it also explains why such habitats are concentrated in the eastern part of the continent compared to other regions.”

Juliet and Eshel were sitting side by side on the ground, exchanging such talks.

Unable to move due to hunger, they had nothing else to do. If they wouldn’t have to be in this position…

“I’m going to kill Teo Lebatan…”

Eshel burst into laughter in disbelief.

“Don’t laugh.”

Juliet grumbled.

“From the start, if Teo didn’t mess with the tracker, we would’ve left here a long time ago.”

The smile disappeared from Eshel’s face. Thinking about it, that was indeed the case.

“I’m right.”

“Juliet.”

“Yes, why?”

“…People call this point right below the sternum as the solar plexus.”

“And…?”

Without realizing it, Juliet followed Eshel and pointed to her own solar plexus.

Eshel spoke with a resolute face.

“Target the solar plexus.”

* * *

“But this would be hard to break, huh.”

After examining the cliff carefully, they concluded that it would be difficult to escape from this place by themselves.

Juliet muttered quietly.

“Then, are we going to die here?”

Eshel had a very intrigued expression on his face.

Juliet was silently ruminating with her chin propped up.

‘As expected.’

She couldn’t change her fate. In her past life, Juliet died at the age of twenty-five. Would she die this way in this life as well?

‘But Dahlia hasn’t shown up yet, and I haven’t seen Carlyle again, it’s unfair.’

‘If I knew this would happen, I should’ve just…’

Juliet was biting her lip slightly while thinking, and she was surprised at her own thoughts.

But the thought of dying was inevitably bitter. Could that man know if she died here? Or, would he be sad to know?

“After all, it would’ve been balanced if Teo was here.”

While examining the wall, Eshel muttered something incomprehensible.

“Swordsman, magician, and…”

Eshel looked at Juliet straight as he trailed off.

“Summoner.”

Right?

Juliet blinked her eyes.

She didn’t ask the cliched question of how he knew.

“Heooeohh…”

Then, a child who had been sobbing started crying.

As it became the third night since they fell, the little kids began to cry.

They had no food, and they were afraid of the dark. For the young children, it was already incredible that they were holding on until now.

“Don’t cry, kids.”

Juliet recited in a flat voice. Eshel chuckled.

‘Is it a consolation or a threat.’

Uhahh!

One started crying, and then they all started crying in succession.

“Shh. Be good, Deyna.”

Magda tried to soothe the child, but it was in vain.

The already narrow gap in the cliff began to resonate with the crying of the children. Then, one of the guild members who had been lying against the wall on the other side suddenly stood up and yelled.

“Hey! Make those kids be quiet!”

Whose fault is this now?

Juliet glared at them, got up from her spot, and approached the children.

“Are you good? I’ll show you something interesting.”

Something interesting?

Not only the children but even the guild members on the other side were surprised and lifted their heads.

Juliet stretched out the crying child’s hand, briefly touched the palm, and let go.

The next moment, a small light flew up in the darkness like a firefly. Eshel’s eyes widened as he watched.

“Wow…”

A butterfly as small as a fingernail fluttered around.

The children forgot about crying and were busy chasing the fluttering butterfly.

When she returned to her spot, Eshel was looking at her with a surprised face.

“You’re softer than I thought.”

“If the kids cry, the monsters will find us faster. Then we’ll die sooner, right?”

“Ah…”

Juliet muttered grimly, but in a way that only she and Eshel could hear.

“Then, so be it.”

Eshel’s expression seemed to be holding back laughter as he nodded his head excitedly.

However, Juliet seemed somewhat awkward. To be honest, there was a part of her that had believed all along.

That there would be someone to come looking for her if she just survived when she was kidnapped and lost her way. The audacity of trying to harm what was hers must have struck at his pride.

‘But now it’s not..’

Lennox won’t come.

‘It’s the choice you made.’

Juliet made her judgment coolly.

“Eshel.”

“Yes, Juliet.”

Juliet asked a little nervously.

“Are you going to tell my aunt?”

“Excuse me?”

Eshel had a momentarily dazed look on her face, then burst into laughter.

“Why would I?”

“Because you’re a magician.”

Juliet said no more, but Eshel understood what she meant.

“Yikes.”

He dramatically pulled his head back, as if startled. A few butterflies had silently appeared and were menacingly circling him since earlier.

“Please get rid of them.”

Eshel said, lifting his hand slightly as if a razor had been pushed against his throat.

“They’re actually dangerous to me. These butterflies.”

Theoretically, he was right.

“Then swear by the oath of Icarus. You won’t blab to my aunt or uncle until I say it’s okay.”

A glint passed through Eshel’s eyes.

“An oath of Icarus? Where did you hear about that?”

“It’s a promise, isn’t it?”

“Okay. I swear.”

Eshel nodded seriously.

“Hmm.”

The Black Mane Guild members were standing around with very awkward expressions.

“We’d like to talk.”

Juliet was sleepy, hungry, and powerless, so she just sat down there.

“I’m the guild master of the Black Mane Guild, Epsilon.”

“I’m Eshel. I’m a magician from the Marigold Guild.”

Eshel spoke on behalf of Juliet. The other guild members behind Epsilon eyed Eshel warily.

“Ah, I see.”

Epsilon glanced at Juliet over Eshel’s shoulder.

“Well…even though we didn’t meet beautifully, we need to know each other’s abilities now that things have come to this. What was it-“

“Won’t it help to escape?”

Another guild member chimed in.

Eshel had an astonished look on his face but shrugged.

“Fine.”

Then the guild members introduced themselves one by one.

Magda and the children, who had returned to their seats, also told their names. After going around, all that was left was Juliet, sitting on one side with sleepy eyes.

“Hmm!”

Epsilon cleared his throat and asked.

“What kind of skills does that young lady have?”

Juliet, who had been watching with her arms crossed, felt all eyes on her.

Only then did she realize it. They had started the conversation to extract information from Juliet in the first place.

‘I didn’t really want to pull out a butterfly in front of everyone but…’

She had already exposed the butterfly anyway.

Juliet, leaning back casually, opened her palm. Then, a bluish glow rose from her hand, soon taking a fluffy and clear shape.

The light, fully transformed into a butterfly, fluttered its wings and flew upwards.

Flicker.

It energetically went up, but eventually it was blocked by the silver barrier and couldn’t go outside.

Sighs flowed from among the people surrounding her.

“Oh…”

The only one keeping cool was Eshel.

He watched Juliet’s performance with a slightly dark expression.

“It’s a spirit I summoned.”

Juliet answered without any expression.

“Those…”

Juliet hadn’t forgotten Lionel’s advice.

“There’s no need to show everything.”

“They sparkle.”

“…What?”

“Is… is that the answer?”

“Yes, it’s very useful in the dark.”

Juliet replied with a bright smile.

Sparkle sparkle!

The butterflies, as if they understood her words, flew around emitting light more actively than before.