PHIM 16

Chapter : 16

That kid must not know what joy is in life.

Perhaps Adele thought similarly, as she casually brushed off Noah’s words and answered me.

“I like anything.”

“Then let’s go have some beef.”

“Yes!”

Luckily, there was a beef specialty restaurant nearby. As I led Adele and Noah down a familiar path, Noah muttered beside me.

“They sell beef-flavored potions at that shop too. I wonder why no one buys them.”

Would you buy them, you sixteen-year-old with no joy in life?

I couldn’t tell if people in this fantasy world weren’t serious about food, or if it was just me. Either way, Noah was far from normal.

“Don’t feed Adele potions. Buy something for yourself.”

“Fine, I’ll buy something.”

Noah sighed softly, nodding with a face that clearly showed her annoyance.

But when we arrived at the beef restaurant, Noah ate more meat than anyone else there. The shopkeeper even stopped butchering for a moment, looking at her with a dumbfounded expression, which said it all.

And as if that wasn’t enough, Noah packed three extra pieces of beef, forgetting all about the potions she had mentioned.

“You said the potions were so good.”

“Sometimes chewing on actual meat helps too.”

Then, without a hint of shame, she wandered around and bought everything in sight, as if she was going to clear out the whole store.

“Are you really going to eat all that?”

“…Of course.”

I couldn’t quite believe it.

Despite my doubtful stare, Noah bravely completed all her purchases. Before I knew it, she was holding a pile of items in her hands. Fortunately, Noah had a spatial pocket, so all the hassle was quickly dealt with.

I was worried we wouldn’t be able to stop by the guild because of the load, but luckily, it was fine.

“Noah, Adele, do you want to look around the city a bit more? I think I need to stop by the guild for a bit.”

“Why? Didn’t you finish all the requests?”

“I haven’t done the settlement yet.”

Noah nodded enthusiastically at my answer. She said she had a few things to buy too.

Adele looked between Noah and me before subtly grabbing my arm.

“…You’ll be back quickly, right?”

After breaking the first promise, Adele was watching me with uneasy eyes.

To ease her anxiety, I pretended to pat her head while releasing some of my mana.

Formless mana doesn’t do much, but mine was different. Unusually, my mana had divine qualities, and when it flowed into a person’s body, it had a calming effect.

Sure enough, Adele’s expression softened a bit, and I gently patted her head.

“It won’t take more than 30 minutes.”

This time, I wasn’t making promises just to break them.

“Oh, Louisa. You’re here?”

Following the deputy master’s guidance, I entered Leon’s room. It was even messier than the last time.

But that didn’t affect me at all. Whether the papers on the floor were flying through the air or not, I stormed in and grabbed Leon by the collar as he slouched on the sofa.

“Ugh! What’s going on?!”

“Hey, you bastard. Do you think I’m doing this for fun?”

“If you knew that, I wouldn’t have asked!”

This was the only time he wasn’t aware of the situation.

“I think I’ll have to take one of your arms. You incompetent master.”

“Hey! Louisa! What’s going on? What’s wrong? Didn’t you beat that commander and give him to Merihen?”

“Yeah, I heard that quickly, but did you hear that the artifact you gave me didn’t work?”

“Uh? No, what are you talking about?!”

What was I talking about? That your arm was going to get broken.

I grabbed Leon’s arm. As I twisted it with force, he screamed and whimpered in pain.

“Ah! I’ll break! It hurts! It really hurts!”

If I had applied real strength, I wouldn’t have been this surprised.

Just the fact that I grabbed him made him start bawling. As soon as I saw that, I couldn’t help but release the pressure. Leon quickly pulled his arm away and stepped back.

“I really didn’t know! They said it was super effective! The guild leader did!”

“How could you, the guild master, be scammed? Honestly, this is ridiculous.”

Is this really the guild master? The same person they called a brutal beast on the battlefield?

I’d rather have ten fools running the guild than him.

I shook my head in disbelief, and Leon finally seemed to understand the situation, scowling.

“These damned bastards, how dare they…”

Electricity surged from his disheveled hair as his mana exploded. His mana had the characteristic of bursting like a bomb, so the already chaotic office became even more of a mess.

Should I call this a blessing? The office was already in such a state that there was little change after the explosion.

For a while, Leon continued his tantrum. The deputy master, sensing the situation inside, quickly opened the door and entered.

However, when he saw me calmly sitting on the sofa, he smiled in relief.

Isn’t he supposed to stop his master from rampaging?

Even as the papers flew through the air, the deputy master remained calm. Eventually, I had to calm Leon down.

The deputy master kindly smiled at me and simply gave a thumbs-up.

Fortunately, Leon calmed down quickly, though he still acted like he would devour that guild leader at any moment.

The problem was that the guild leader had moved from the underground city to another city.

“Find them right now!”

Just as Leon ordered the deputy master to find the guild leader, the portal to the guild fluctuated with a red light. A figure jumped out from it. It was Noah.

“Louisa! Something’s wrong!”

Noah, scratched and wounded, shouted anxiously. But Adele, who should have been beside her, was nowhere to be found.

“Why are you here? Where’s Adele?”

Noah gasped for air and managed to calm herself as she spoke.

“I was just next to her… but a group of people I didn’t recognize appeared and kidnapped Adele. I tried to catch them, but… ugh…”

Noah groaned, clutching her arm. Just seeing her like that, I could tell what had happened. Even though Noah had been next to Adele, she wasn’t someone who excelled in physical combat.

At the same time, a hollow laugh escaped me. Who would dare kidnap the kid who was right next to me?

My mouth went dry for the first time in a while. Leon glanced at me and added to the deputy master.

“Find out who kidnapped the kid Louisa’s been traveling with.”

“Understood, Master.”

Watching Louisa’s back as she headed to the guild, Adele absentmindedly touched her head where Louisa had patted her.

She could still feel the warmth of Louisa’s hand. Louisa had only used her mana to calm Adele, but to Adele, it felt as though a blessing from a deity had descended upon her.

It was as though Louisa knew about her curse and intentionally gave her a blessing. The curse in her head had long since fled, scared by Louisa’s golden mana.

“Is Louisa really an angel sent from heaven?”

“What are you talking about?”

Noah frowned as he saw Adele asking in a dazed voice. He grabbed Adele’s wrist and hurriedly tried to pull her along.

There wasn’t much time. Before Louisa returned, they needed to gather more books and potions related to the curse, in secret.

But Adele was lost in her thoughts, staring at Louisa’s disappearing figure as she walked far away.

“She said it would only take 30 minutes. Hurry up, let’s go. We’re running out of time.”

Adele didn’t seem to hear him. She didn’t take her eyes off Louisa until she disappeared, and only then did she reluctantly follow Noah, still lost in thought.

Noah didn’t care whether Adele answered him or not and entered the shop alone.

Inside the large shop, Adele was left alone. Occasionally, alchemists would glance at her with curiosity, but after receiving a signal from the staff, they quickly turned away.

Adele stared out the window, her expression empty. Louisa’s mana was slowly fading, and the curse whispered, slowly returning.

‘Do you really think she’ll come back for you? Do you really think her words are true? Huh? Really?’

“…”

It wasn’t bad yet. Louisa would come back soon, and until then, the curse would only whisper, like it always did.

She just had to hold on a little longer. Then Louisa would return and smile at her, telling her she did well.

Adele remembered Louisa’s smile and her warm touch.

She continued to gaze out the window, and after about 10 minutes, she thought she saw someone with hair similar to Louisa’s in the crowd.

Though her mind was a little foggy from the curse, she was certain it was someone with a similar build and golden hair.

‘We’re here…!’

She said it would only take 30 minutes. Could Louisa be looking for them now that she had finished earlier than Noah? But if she couldn’t see them, that’s why she was looking like this…

‘What if she gives up?’

At that moment, the curse, sensing her anxiety and unease, stopped hiding and devoured all her thoughts in one go.

‘Everyone will abandon you. They’ll run from your ugly true self.’

It had been a month. The curse began to unleash the pain it had built up, speaking sharper than usual.

‘That woman doesn’t like you anymore. You were just disposable.’

‘Why were you so complacent? No one else will love you except me.’

‘Bad girl. Bad girl. Bad girl. Bad girl.’

No! No!

Adele shook her head desperately, running out to catch up with Louisa, who had already gone far.

“Gah…!”

But before she could reach her, Adele collapsed from the pain in her neck and lost consciousness.