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Chapter 79
“Didn’t you hear me tell you to get lost?! Knock on my door one more time, and I’ll cut your hand off!”
It wasn’t just a little rough—it was outright threatening, and Iva’s shoulders tensed, making him flinch slightly.
Bridget knocked again.
“Grandma, it’s your grandson.”
“Huh? Now you’re messing with my family too?! Not on my watch. Today, I’m going to smash you!”
“I’m Bridget.”
“Huh? Berry?”
A familiar, playful voice came from inside the house. Despite his large frame, the nickname didn’t suit him, making Iva twitch his lips and look up at him.
“So you’re called Berry?”
“If you like, Iva, you can call me that too. Being your Berry wouldn’t be so bad.”
He twitched his nose without a hint of embarrassment. There was no teasing tone, so Iva just laughed along.
“Berry, huh?”
Suddenly, the door opened from inside, and an elderly woman appeared. Her short, pale purple hair was lighter than Bridget’s, and her height was similar to Iva’s. Her thin, angled eyes gave her a frightening look.
She seemed warm-blooded, wearing a sleeveless dress despite the cold.
Would she exchange some touching greetings with her grandson first?
“So you’ve joined the side of the palace now? Did Caroline send you to capture me?”
Unexpectedly, a huge blue leaf shot forward and struck Bridget in the chest. Iva jumped back in surprise, but Bridget seemed perfectly accustomed to it.
“Grandma, I came for something else today.”
“Of course, I knew your little tricks. You’ve completely become Caroline’s dog… Huh? What’s this?”
Only then did the grandma notice Iva and shield her face with the leaf.
“Are you getting married?”
“Does it suit me?”
“Wait? Sir Bridget, how could you introduce us like that? We’re not like that.”
Thinking he’d just brush it off casually, Iva stepped in.
“Then what is it? Are you Caroline’s dog?”
“No, I’m Iva Blanche from the Wegen Agay Empire. I came to ask about black magic.”
Hearing the words “black magic,” the grandma slowly scanned Iva from head to toe, then clicked her tongue sharply.
“Wh-why are you doing this?!”
“Stay still!”
Suddenly, she tapped Iva’s shoulders, ankles, and chest with the leaf. Startled, Iva raised his hands to shield his face.
“That’s enough. Come in.”
As soon as she gave permission, the leaf attacks stopped.
“Berry, you come in and help me.”
Bridget entered, taking off his coat with ease. Underneath, he wore a tight black short-sleeved shirt, showing off his impressive arm muscles.
Iva had no time to admire that and hurried inside.
“Excuse me for a sec… huh? What’s happening? Why does my body feel like this?”
He felt impossibly light. Where his body had once felt like it would sink through the ground, it now felt like feathers.
“You can’t bring that kind of thing into my house.”
“Was something on me?”
“What? You brought up black magic and didn’t even notice something clinging to you? Pathetic. This is why skinny things are useless.”
Shaking her head, the grandma continued her explanation.
“Your body is a mess right now. You’re like a thin branch blowing around in a strong wind.”
She definitely had the aura of an expert—completely different from Medi.
“Unfortunate curses were clinging to you. They weren’t strong, but annoying. You’ve probably been tripping or hurting yourself recently, haven’t you?”
“That’s right! I almost slipped several times recently.”
“You were lucky. Be grateful you didn’t break a leg.”
The entire house was scattered with herbs and papers. Carefully avoiding them, Iva sat on the sofa while Bridget and the grandma built a fire in the middle of the room and started boiling something in a metal pot. Their teamwork was seamless.
“But I heard the black magic on my body came from someone else.”
“Oh? How did you find that out? Then you should’ve taken care of it yourself instead of bothering me.”
“I asked around, and a kid told me. But that kid is an amateur and didn’t know the details.”
“Hmm, smart kid. If you introduce them to me, I’ll help you.”
The grandma sprinkled some unknown black powder into the pot as she spoke.
“The kid?”
“Yes, Berry here didn’t follow me and became the palace’s dog, so I have no one to clean up behind me.”
Iva quickly glanced at Bridget.
“Sir Bridget, do you know about black magic too?”
“I can’t see as much as Grandma. I can only faintly sense it. Also, it’s not an area to speak recklessly about, so I didn’t.”
Of course, if you came as an envoy and said someone had black magic on their body, no one would believe you. Even Iva hadn’t believed it until he saw it himself.
“So, will you send that kid to me or not?”
Waving the leaf in front of Iva, she urged him. He raised his hand, caught the leaf, and looked the grandma straight in the eye.
“First, you need to tell me what I want to know before I can answer you.”
The grandma chuckled lightly. Huh, despite her appearance, she had a lot of backbone.
“What do you want? Speak up.”
By now, the pot contained bubbling water of a strange color—not green or black. Bridget sat beside Iva, and the grandma sat opposite.
“Please tell me everything about the black magic on my body. I want as much information as possible.”
“So damn simple.”
The grandma stirred the thick mixture with a wooden spatula, then tapped the side of the pot irritably.
“Your body is in serious trouble.”
Her serious tone sounded like a doctor giving a terminal prognosis.
“Do you know what kind of black magic it is?”
“Yes, it said it rewinds time.”
“Hah, the more I hear, the more I want it. It keeps repeating time, not just a few minutes.”
“…It repeats my life, right?”
Since she understood his condition well, no introduction was needed.
“You’ve done a lot of research, I see. Do you know who it came from?”
“No, I only heard someone deeply thought of me and passed it along.”
“Right, black magic spreads through emotion. It probably caused chaos here and there, making people dislike you.”
“…I guess so.”
“You can’t know who it spread to. Only the person affected can know.”
“Then should I just wait until that person removes it? It feels unfair even to have it transferred to me.”
The grandma smiled, tore a leaf, and dropped it into the pot. The contents swirled and condensed into a single hexagonal cylindrical crystal, glowing a radiant blue.
“I have a principle. If someone attacks me, I repay them tenfold, a hundredfold.”
“I totally agree.”
Iva nodded vigorously, and Bridget quietly chuckled beside him. The grandma handed the “crystal” to Iva. It felt warm, almost alive.
“You don’t need to find the person who got the black magic. Just find the one who cast it.”
“The one who cast it?”
“Do you have a suspect?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Well, that’s perfect. With this crystal, you can retaliate too.”
“Retaliate? Not just remove the black magic?”
“Only the one who cast it can remove the curse. No one else can touch it. But there’s another way.”
The solid exterior of the crystal was hard, but inside, the liquid swirled continuously.
“Drive the crystal into the heart of the one who cast the black magic. The curse will be broken by the power of the crystal.”
“Drive it in? That’s murder.”
“Berry, show him.”
Bridget took the crystal and stabbed it hard into his own heart.
“Sir Bridget!”
It happened so fast that Iva jumped up in alarm.
“Huh?”
“Ha, I’m glad you’re worried.”
The crystal didn’t pierce his flesh, instead squishing like slime. When it fell, it returned to its original form.
“The crystal only reacts to the one who cast the black magic. It will enter the heart and remove the curse. Another solution, you see.”
Seeing the magic firsthand gave hope that the black magic could be undone.
“But it won’t be easy. The caster will sense the crystal’s energy. If you don’t drive it completely in, there could be side effects.”
“Side effects?”
Iva carefully took the crystal from Bridget.
“The black magic will run rampant, tearing your body apart. The one who cast it will die too. You have to get it right in one shot.”
Mistakes weren’t allowed. Iva swallowed hard.
“If you think you can’t do it, just leave it. You’ll need rare herbs anyway.”
“I’ll take it with me.”
Iva slipped the crystal into his coat pocket. Nervous, but thrilled—finally, he might end this repetitive life.
“Thank you so much. I’ll definitely remove the black magic.”
Having gotten the information, Iva and Bridget prepared to leave quickly.
“Do that on your own, but don’t forget your promise to send the kid to me.”
Excited to have a weapon to defeat the “boss,” Iva hugged the grandma tightly.
“Gross! What are you doing?!”
“The kid will come if it’s okay with them. I can’t force it.”
“What?! You’ll send them no matter what…”
“Thank you!”
Iva kissed the grandma on the cheek and dashed outside. Even her real grandson wouldn’t do that. The grandma was dumbfounded but smiled.
“You really take after me, huh?”
Bridget also smiled and put on his coat.
“Take after me? Now get lost, both of you!”
“Yes, we’ll come again next time.”
“No need.”
Though her tone was sharp, the grandma couldn’t take her eyes off the two leaving.
“Oh, I forgot to mention—the curse of misfortune was only temporarily removed.”
But they had already gone too far.
“Tch, the curse was weak, so no big accident should happen.”
She entered the house with a slightly uneasy feeling.
