Chapter 23
Chapter 23
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Curse (2)
"What bitch...!"
Freya scowled, her pretty face twisted in irritation as she stood on tiptoe and grabbed Zeke by the collar, shaking him.
"Ugh!"
Freya glared at Zeke with the fierce eyes of an enraged cat.
This liar!
That's what she wanted to snap at him.
But having told a little white lie herself just moments ago, her conscience stung at the thought of calling someone else a liar. So she held back and just kept glaring.
"Why... why are you doing this?"
Zeke tried to pry Freya's hand off his collar, urging her to calm down.
"What did you say when I asked if you'd ever run into another witch?"
"I said I hadn't."
Freya's eyes narrowed even more sharply.
The bridge of her nose twitched.
She made no effort to hide her displeasure.
Her usual blank expression made it hard to read her emotions, but once those feelings stirred, they showed plainly on her face.
Right now, Freya was pissed.
"So why is another witch's mana mixed into your mana? Huh?"
She pressed him like a wife shoving proof of infidelity in her husband's face during an interrogation.
"Another witch's mana is mixed in?"
It was news to him.
Zeke himself had been completely unaware.
Rumble...!
The mansion shook as if struck by an earthquake.
A powerful surge of mana vibrated violently, threatening a massive explosion.
It was Freya's mana, unleashed in fury.
Betrayal.
Zeke's utterly baffled expression seemed genuine—he really had no idea.
If he'd been lying, he wouldn't have been able to meet her eyes. But here he was, staring straight into Freya's blazing gaze.
Even if he truly didn't know, it still felt like betrayal.
No, not betrayal.
Jealousy.
Interfering with someone else's mana required a foundation of trust.
Ordinary trust wouldn't cut it.
It had to be an unbreakable bond, something like fate itself.
Because allowing someone else to tamper with your mana was incredibly dangerous.
They could seal your mana channels, leaving you unable to cast spells for life.
They could trigger a mana clash that crippled you.
If they really meant business, they could rupture your core and kill you outright.
There was a famous case.
The Witch of Wrath.
Long ago, she loved a prince, only to be betrayed by him and left half-crippled.
The prince had intended to kill her.
But he failed.
Right before her mana circuits were utterly destroyed, she burst his head open.
Realizing the man she'd loved and devoted herself to had only been pretending—to murder her—she was tormented by betrayal.
That torment turned to rage, and the rage burned away her sanity, driving her mad.
The maddened witch annihilated his entire kingdom to erase every trace of their time together.
The incident sparked the witch hunts, making it a historically infamous tale.
In any case, permitting mana interference was so risky that it should only be allowed between those with absolute trust.
"I really have no idea. Please believe me."
Freya released his collar with a heavy sigh, reining in her mana.
The mansion's shaking finally stopped.
"Sorry. I got way too worked up there—not like me at all."
Of course she believed him.
If he'd let another witch mess with his mana circuits in the past, he would've refused when she offered to check his mana.
So how?
How had another witch's mana gotten mixed in?
She'd taught him mana theory herself and explained the dangers of interference.
He knew the risks well enough that he wouldn't have let anyone touch his circuits.
Which left only one possibility.
Some sleazy witch had slipped her mana into his while he was defenseless.
No ordinary witch could pull that off.
It had to be at least a 15th-rank witch or higher.
It might not even be a witch, but the mana's purity screamed witch.
Witches' mana was purer than anyone's.
Though their intentions never were.
This witch's mana was flowing through Zeke's circuits, etching a magic circle.
The spell type: curse.
She recognized it as a curse, but this was a new one to her.
It was probably why Zeke kept passing out.
Removing it carelessly could trigger a backlash.
The safest way was for the casting witch to dispel it herself.
"Zeke, were you ever seriously injured on the battlefield?"
Zeke rubbed his chin, thinking for a moment.
Seriously injured...
Not just once or twice.
In his later years, he'd cut through enemies without a care, but before mastering swordsmanship and battle experience, he came home wounded every time.
Slashed by blades.
Stabbed by spears.
Blasted by spells.
So many brushes with death...
Which of those might connect to this?
One memory suddenly flashed in his mind.
"Come to think of it, I got mauled by a magic beast once—nearly died."
"What?!"
Freya's face drained of color.
He was fine now, and it was in the past, but just hearing about it made her heart lurch.
"Dare lay a tooth on my disciple... What kind of beast?"
She'd wipe its entire species off the map.
"I subjugated that beast."
Zeke laughed it off like it was nothing.
"Anyway, a healer on the border helped me out back then."
"A woman?"
"Yeah."
Not every woman was a witch, but every witch was a woman.
"I stayed at her mansion for a few days to recover."
"Do you remember her name?"
Zeke racked his brain.
Three years had passed—he figured it'd be fuzzy—but it came right back to him.
"...Seduser. Yeah, that was it. Seduser."
Freya's face crumpled the instant she heard the name.
She knew it.
She didn't know every witch, but some were infamous even among their kind.
The Witch of Wrath was a prime example.
And Freya, the Witch of Sorrow, was a celebrity in witch circles too.
As was...
The Witch of Seduction, Seduser.
Infamous for turning this man and that into her slaves for wild orgy parties—a total slut.
Suddenly, the ridiculous curse made perfect sense if she had cast it.
Seduser was notorious for her obsessive possessiveness. She'd slap a curse like this to keep him from sleeping with any woman but her.
Staking her claim.
The sheer arrogance of it.
"That woman's a witch too."
Zeke's face lit up with shock—he'd had no clue.
"She probably mixed her mana into you while you were out cold, using 'treatment' as an excuse."
"Why the hell would she...?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
Freya reached out, cupping Zeke's face in both hands.
"Look at you—so handsome. You think women would just leave you alone?"
It wasn't just the looks.
He was tall.
His body was toned and solid with muscle.
And he was packing.
Not judging him as his master, but as a woman sizing him up—he had every quality women went crazy for.
No way they'd leave him be.
He seemed oblivious, but women had probably thrown themselves at him left and right.
"R-Really?"
Zeke grinned sheepishly.
"First time hearing that."
"Hearing what?"
"Master calling me handsome. So you've thought I was this whole time."
Freya's cheeks flushed for no good reason.
"I was just stating a fact!"
"Master's really pretty too."
Her face burned hotter.
Her disciple's smooth flattery had her heart fluttering.
"Th-This isn't the time for that!"
Embarrassed, Freya raised her voice needlessly.
She fanned her face with her hand to cool it down.
"Anyway, it's not me you should be worrying about right now. It's you."
Zeke was the one cursed.
The Witch of Seduction, Seduser.
She wouldn't get off easy.
For laying hands on her precious disciple's body under the guise of treatment.
For interrupting the happy moment of two people who'd just confessed their feelings.
She'd make her pay dearly for those sins.
Freya's pink eyes blazed with fury.
Daring to touch another woman's man.
Unforgivable.
Though calling him "another woman's man" was a stretch—he wasn't officially hers yet.
"Do you remember where that mansion is?"
"Yeah."
Zeke nodded as the memory surfaced.
"Outskirts of Redlegio Town."
"We're going. Now."
Freya snatched up her witch's hat, gearing up to head out.
"Right now?"
"Got a problem?"
"It's the middle of the night."
"And?"
She tilted her head like it was the dumbest question ever.
"It's a full week's ride by carriage from here to Redlegio Town. Pack up first, then we can—"
"Not taking a carriage."
"Then how?"
"Gates, obviously."
Gates connected cities for instant travel.
Step through, and you were there.
Took less than a minute.
Not that just anyone could use them.
Only those with a Magic Tower gate pass.
And Freya had one.
"Let's go."
Freya didn't take her usual elegant, mincing steps. She strode out of the room with purpose.