# Chapter 10
Kaian smiled brightly when he saw the red flag fluttering beneath the clear autumn sky.
"Haah... haah..."
"As expected! It's my masterpiece!"
The mission to retrieve Flame Veil had a time limit.
He could not miss field work.
And once he harvested Flame Veil, he had to return within twelve hours.
That meant Kaian had only about eighteen hours in total.
When time was limited, what was the most ridiculous and horrible mistake he could make?
Getting lost.
After Eldarin gave him the mission, the first thing Kaian had done was climb Amber's tree house.
From there, he roughly studied the direction and terrain leading toward his destination.
Then he made several long wooden poles and attached red flags to the ends.
They need to be tall and bright enough to see from far away.
Fortunately, Eldarin's glass greenhouse had plenty of berries and plants that could produce red dye.
Shaping the wooden poles was fairly fun too.
Making them had not been too difficult.
The problem came after that.
Every day after lunch, Kaian ran along the path he would need to use on the day of the mission.
I needed to build stamina.
And there aren't many real roads here.
At regular intervals, he planted the red poles he had prepared.
The next afternoon, he climbed the tree house again and checked whether the route was correct.
If it was not the shortest path, he changed it.
I repeated that for an entire week.
Because of that, blisters had appeared on his feet.
Then burst.
Then appeared again.
Then burst again.
It had been horrible.
Carrying several wooden poles at once had been unbelievably heavy too.
Kaian shook his head just remembering it.
I only dragged them around and my muscles still hurt.
He had considered making a cart.
But it turned out to be harder to build than expected.
And even if he had finished one...
Pulling it with my body would've been a problem too.
In the end, brute force had been the only option.
That meant an entire week's worth of muscle pain had accumulated in his body.
Even now, every time his feet struck the ground, pain spread through him.
But there was one reason Kaian willingly endured it.
Magic.
Every time he completed one difficult task, he thought the same thing.
Magic would've made this easier.
Magic would've made that simple.
Kaian did not dislike using his own hands.
In fact, he found it satisfying.
But...
Being able to do something and choosing not to is completely different from being unable to do it.
Dreaming of the day he would control the flames inside his inner world and use magic freely, Kaian continued forward.
Tap, tap, tap.
He passed another red flag.
"Haah... haah... haah..."
Kaian desperately tried to control his breathing.
How far have I run?
No... how much farther do I have to go?
He had definitely been counting the flags.
At some point, he had forgotten the number.
One thing was certain.
He was getting slower.
"Haah... haah..."
"No..."
"In, in... out."
"In, in... ngh! Cough! Cough!"
He even choked on his own breathing.
This is driving me insane.
Tap, tap, tap.
The sound of his feet hitting the ground filled Kaian's head with useless thoughts.
Maybe he was simply desperate for an excuse to rest.
Come to think of it, field work was much more peaceful.
Even so, Kaian did not stop.
There was a small belief inside his heart.
Eldarin had not sent him alone to retrieve Flame Veil just to be cruel.
There has to be a reason.
His dark-hearted mountain-goat elf teacher always had a plan.
I just don't know what it is.
From experience, Kaian had learned that if he did what Eldarin told him to do, something valuable usually remained afterward.
So even now, he tried to think positively.
"Yes..."
"Haah..."
"This too..."
"Haah..."
"And that too..."
"In..."
"Out..."
"It's all training."
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Kaian viewed his entire life in Eldargrove as one enormous training exercise.
But it was training he could never have endured alone.
I only survived because the earth spirits helped me.
Whenever he collapsed in the yard at night from exhaustion, the earth spirits came to restore some of his energy.
Once, Kaian had accidentally fallen asleep inside their warm yellow light.
When he woke up later, the tiny spirits were struggling together to drag a blanket toward him.
Remembering it made him smile.
When I get back, I'll take even better care of the fields.
Eldarin had said that the more precious the land was treated, the stronger the spirits became.
If the spirits grew stronger, they could help Kaian even more.
Twice as cute.
Twice the healing.
Kaian distracted himself from physical pain with cheerful thoughts.
He still needed to figure out exactly what it meant to treat the land well.
But once he returned, he planned to do everything he could.
Once I learn magic, I could take care of even more land...
With that thought, Kaian finally stopped at the top of a gentle hill.
"Haah... haah..."
His entire body felt like one giant heart, pounding violently.
Whoooooosh.
A cool autumn wind blew past him.
But once his body had heated up, it did not calm easily.
Many thoughts had passed through Kaian's mind while running.
Yet the more he thought...
The clearer one conclusion became.
I absolutely have to repair my inner world.
Kaian gulped down some of Amber's astragalus tea.
Then he stretched his arms and legs.
He adjusted his backpack once more.
Autumn days were not very long.
"Let's run."
If he kept moving...
He would see the next flag soon.
***
