Chapter: 305
On our way back to the city after hunting the Witch of Lust.
We were bustling with joy, celebrating the successful mission without any casualties, but soon fell silent.
As the tension eased, everyone was suddenly overwhelmed by fatigue.
Well, it was no surprise that people were feeling this exhausted.
Even though it may seem like an insignificant task because there were no casualties, we had invaded the witch’s stronghold, which was crawling with countless demonic beasts.
Everyone had to face an endless wave of foes without a moment’s rest for the thirty minutes I had asked for.
It was a fight that would tire even the most elite heroes of humanity.
Marin, who was half-passed out over there, must have had an especially tough time.
For the record, even if I looked fine on the outside, I was internally pretty worn out.
The Witch of Lust’s abilities must have been incredibly intense.
I’ve nearly lost my sanity from the brainwashing and other dangers, which left me mentally exhausted.
Looking back now, it feels miraculous that we can return unharmed.
While I was internally sighing in relief, Sylvia broke the silence, seemingly curious about something.
“By the way, Miss Scarlet, I have a question. Can I ask you one thing?”
“A question? What is it?”
“Now that it’s all over, I was wondering… you went in so confidently against the Witch of Lust, yet it took longer than expected, didn’t it? It was quite nerve-wracking.”
At Sylvia’s question, I flinched.
She suddenly shouted as if she misunderstood something, trying to clarify.
“Ah, I’m not trying to blame you or anything, so don’t misunderstand! I was just wondering if something dangerous happened inside. You tend to overextend yourself, after all.”
I knew it.
I understood that Sylvia was just worried about me.
But I couldn’t just tell her the truth about what had happened there.
For good reason…
‘Yes, Master…’
‘Gasp?! Hah?!’
How could I say that out loud!!!
Recalling the embarrassing incident during the brainwashing that lingered vividly in my memory, I felt my face stiffen.
If the details of my battle with the Witch of Lust got out, I wouldn’t be able to face anyone…
So, I had to keep the events a secret from everyone else except myself.
Making that decision, I looked at Sylvia with a serious expression and replied.
“…Nothing happened…!!!”
“That expression…! Something definitely happened!”
“I told you, nothing happened!”
Noticing something in my response, Sylvia seemed intent on digging deeper, and beads of sweat began to drip down my forehead.
At this rate, my embarrassing secret would be exposed to the whole world…!
Feeling the urgency, I desperately looked around for a new topic of conversation.
Then I spotted them.
Florene and Dwight, who had been acting strangely for a while.
Internalizing a “That’s it!” moment, I hastily called out to the two.
“U-uh, you two! What’s been up with you? The atmosphere has been off for a while—what happened?”
“Hm? Ah, you mean Florene and Dwight? Yeah, I’ve been a bit concerned too, actually.”
When I mentioned Florene and Dwight, I was thankfully able to divert Sylvia’s attention.
But truthfully, I was genuinely curious, so I focused my gaze on the two. Florene muttered something to Dwight.
“Dwight… you said you’d answer if we made it back alive, right?”
“…Yeah.”
Dwight, who had been exchanging cryptic words with Florene, suddenly looked around nervously.
Then, shyly, he glanced down and gently took Florene’s hand.
Florene blushed and smiled shyly while holding Dwight’s hand.
Even someone like me, who prided myself on being perceptive, couldn’t help but notice how blatantly obvious they were being, and Sylvia seemed to catch on as well, asking curiously.
“Oh my, are you two…?!”
“…Well, it happened.”
“Okay, can you please tell us more?!”
With Dwight’s admission, Sylvia perked up with great interest, eager to pry more details from the two.
Then Florene, blushing but smiling, began to tell her story.
As always, love stories are entertaining, so even those pretending to be uninterested could not resist listening to Florene’s tale.
The expression on Diakonos’ face, hearing about his daughter’s love life, seemed quite complicated.
Anyway, I watched Florene talking with Dwight while holding his arm, and a genuine smile from deep within me surfaced.
I had been carrying so much weight.
Ever since Yoon Si-woo sacrificed himself to save me, I felt I had to at least do right by him.
But seeing them like this, laughing and chatting about love, made me feel like I wasn’t completely failing at everything.
And that made me smile.
…It had nothing to do with Sylvia’s interest being diverted somewhere else, I swear.
Really.
And so, we arrived at the city in a hopeful mood.
*
A problem occurred.
As soon as the hunting party returned to the city, they disbanded.
The injured headed to the hospital for treatment.
Most people went off to rest, but Sylvia, a few others, and I decided to skip rest for now.
There was something more pressing that needed to be prioritized.
That important task was,
“…So, this is the sacred remnant we brought back this time?”
It was research on the sacred remnant, one of the main objectives of our hunting mission.
“Based on its appearance, this looks like the sacred remnant of mermaids recorded in literature, the Tears of the Ocean.”
And as we began our research, we quickly realized the sacred remnant had problems.
“But we have an issue. This should originally be a blue gemstone, but as you can see.”
“It’s black?”
“Yes, it’s pitch black. It seems to have been tainted by miasma.”
“…Does that pose a problem?”
“…Yes, it’s a serious problem.”
Last night, after experimenting with the remnant for hours, Dwight placed his hand near it and infused it with magic.
But there was no response from the sacred remnant.
As the remnant showed no reaction, Martina raised her eyebrows, wondering why it was like that, and Dwight let out a sigh before answering.
“As you know, most sacred remnants have the ability to amplify power. However, possibly because it’s tainted by miasma, it only reacts to miasma. Scarlet?”
At Dwight’s words, I demonstrated by summoning a small flame in my left hand and holding the sacred remnant with my right.
Suddenly, the flame in my left hand flared up brightly, as if I had tossed in some kindling.
I realized I could amplify my powers through this sacred remnant, just like the Witch of Lust had done.
But what we needed was not something to enhance the witch’s power.
“That’s not good…”
“Exactly. What we need is a way to suppress the Witch of Gluttony or an item that can enhance that.”
I muttered with a wry smile.
I knew better than anyone that enhancing my abilities with the remnant wouldn’t matter against the Witch of Gluttony.
If they were something you could take down easily with sheer firepower, we wouldn’t have gone through all this trouble.
Martina, who had been gazing thoughtfully at the remnant, then casually asked Sylvia.
“Isn’t there any way to purify it?”
“…It’s better to show you.”
In response to Martina’s question, Sylvia conjured starlight in her hand and brought it near the remnant.
Unlike when we infused magic, a sharp sound rang out, and the remnant trembled as if it might shatter at any moment.
To summarize the remnant’s reaction in one word,
“…Repulsion?”
At Martina’s murmured word, Sylvia nodded and withdrew her hand.
She then explained.
“As you saw, it’s repulsed by my powers. Although I call it purification for convenience, the true method is to negate the miasma with a power that opposes it. It would be better described as neutralization. The problem is that since this remnant is entirely infused with miasma, if we try to purify it carelessly, it’s highly likely to break.”
“…So, there’s no way to purify it at all?”
“Well, if we take our time and gradually work to erase the miasma that has settled in the remnant, it might be possible…”
Sylvia didn’t elaborate further.
As everyone knew, we didn’t have much time with the Witch of Gluttony potentially waking up at any moment.
As a result, everyone’s expressions turned somber, and Martina tried to lighten the mood with a cheerful voice.
“Well, we’ll figure something out as we search! Besides, everyone just returned from a hunt and didn’t get any rest while researching. For today, let’s just relax and start looking for a solution again tomorrow.”
“…Yes.”
I nodded along, but as soon as Martina excused herself, I felt overwhelming frustration bubble up.
“Seriously?! We went through so much trouble to get this only for it to be useless?!”
“…Well, we have no replacement for this cursed object right now, so as Captain Martina said, we have no choice but to find a way to make it useful. For now, let’s split up and rest. Scarlet, you take care of the sacred remnant.”
“U-uh… See you tomorrow, Dwight.”
Since it was an item tainted by miasma, I took charge of the remnant and parted ways with Dwight.
Left alone with Sylvia, we stood in silence for a moment before finally facing each other and sharing wry smiles.
“…So, shall we go get some rest now?”
“…Yes, let’s.”
Returning to the mansion with Sylvia, I tossed the remnant onto the table next to my bed and buried myself in the bed.
I thought everything was going to turn out fine, but what is this?
Turning my head, I saw the cursed relic glowing black from the miasma, like a demon.
Looking at it made me feel like all this black miasma was the root cause of everything.
So just before falling asleep, I muttered.
“…I wish all the miasma in this world would just disappear.”
Because of that, I had a dream.
In a world free of miasma, where everyone was smiling without worry.
I didn’t actually appear in that dream, but it was still a lovely sight.
*
“Ugh… my head…”
The next morning, perhaps due to the fatigue from the hunt, I woke up feeling strangely dizzy.
And then
“…Huh?”
I rubbed my eyes.
Wondering if I was seeing something wrong.
But no matter how much I rubbed my eyes, the scenery didn’t change.
Then I realized with a flutter of panic.
“…Why has it turned blue?”
The sacred remnant, which had been black and tormenting us yesterday, was now inexplicably glowing with a blue light like the sea.
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