"Waaah, Tia, you're finally back!"
In the village chief's room, Talia clung to Sylutia and wiped away her tears. If the girl hadn't come back soon, she wouldn't have known what to do.
"It's okay. I'm back now." Sylutia held Talia around the back, comforting her as she stroked her hair.
It really had been her fault. She hadn't understood how her Aspect Power worked and had fallen into the World of Shadows.
After they'd spent a long while catching up, Sylutia asked the old village chief how long she'd been missing.
"About a day and two nights. I sent quite a few villagers up the mountain to look for you, but they found nothing. If we still can't find you by today, I'll have to send someone to Scorched Stone City right away to inform the bigwigs." The old village chief looked worried sick.
"I'm sorry for the trouble, Chief." Sylutia was very grateful to the old village chief.
When she'd first entered this world, still bewildered and unfamiliar with everything, the villagers' kindness had helped her settle in peacefully and avoid any mishaps.
"Never mind, as long as you're back. Now Talia and I can finally get a good night's sleep. Hehe." The old man's spirits had lifted considerably.
Sylutia spent another night resting at the village chief's house. The next day, she and Talia set off to return to Scorched Stone City.
December was drawing to a close, and the assessment would take place on some day in January or February of the coming year. Sylutia didn't have much time left to prepare.
Back at Lady Falan's residence, Sylutia found a chance to tell her roughly what had happened when she fell into the World of Shadows. She left out anything about Melancholy Praying in the