Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Please Raise Her Well
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“Uwaaaaaah!!!”
I was currently letting out a monstrous scream. Why? The reason was simple.
“Raphael!!!!!”
It was because of the worker who had run off from home. And she hadn’t just left alone—she’d taken her colleague with her, leaving me short-handed.
What I meant was,
“You’re doing a three-man job all by yourself!!”
Yelling didn’t change anything, but I was so exhausted I couldn’t help it. I had to let out some kind of scream.
Splash. Splash.
Every time the water surged up, my rage meter ticked higher.
The one silver lining was that the blue windows in front of me were lowering the gauge. There’s that saying about plus-minus zero, but the minus was piling up way too fast—my current state was deep in the red.
And so, after splashing around for what felt like forever, I purified the curses clinging to the items with holy water.
Thank goodness touching them while they were submerged in holy water didn’t trigger any schizophrenia-like effects, but the Death Reaper’s purification was progressing way too slowly.
It’d take ages to finish.
“Hoo.”
I stood up from my spot and roughly stored the holy water and items from the bathtub back in my inventory.
I’d been fiddling with them alone since coming home earlier that afternoon, and now they were around 10% done. Splashing more holy water on them seemed to nudge the progress a bit higher, but the efficiency was abysmal.
My stamina had hit its limit, so I tossed them into my inventory as-is and stood to take a break.
If Raphael and Lachesis hadn’t bolted, I could’ve assigned one item per person and boosted the efficiency.
As the same thought crossed my mind, I remembered Raphael trying to off herself that morning and smacked my lips.
“Let’s give her today and tomorrow off.”
It felt wrong to just work her to the bone. At least feed her something nice for dinner.
“Guess I’ll go find her.”
She didn’t seem like she was planning to come back, right? Not that I was worried or anything.
I texted Raphael. The 1 disappeared, meaning she’d read it, but no reply came.
Was she that pissed? Feeling a twinge of guilt, I walked along the darkening street when a response finally came.
“What the hell is this?”
This girl was so slow at typing it looked like she’d read and ghosted me. Give me back my guilt. Take responsibility for the emotions I felt, even briefly.
After dragging this out forever, she couldn’t even type a proper message? Even if I gave my phone to a 70-year-old grandpa, he’d type faster than her.
Since she couldn’t type properly, maybe I should just call.
I lightly tapped [Damn Blonde] in my contacts to dial when—
A sound rang out.
Not familiar, but one I knew. A sound someone like me had barely heard in life was approaching.
Click. Click.
Heel steps. The sharp, dull clack against the ground.
I froze and looked toward the sound. A woman was walking over.
A woman I’d never seen before. But I knew exactly who she was.
Light purple hair, dark purple eyes contrasting her locks.
Every step exuded elegance, and for some reason, she seemed like the type to hold a fan—
“She’s holding one?!”
“Oh my. I haven’t even spoken yet. How rude.”
Shhh. She unfurled the fan to cover her mouth as she laughed. I awkwardly laughed along.
“What do you want?”
“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”
Damn, she was rude as hell. I swallowed the words rising in my throat and waited for her to continue.
“I saw you earlier. In the ranking match. Such an unusual spell. First time I’ve seen someone wield an ancient relic like that. So, 1028th place—oops, forget I said that.”
Should I kill her? The thought flashed, but I’d lose in a fight, so I stayed put. Yeah, that’s me. Great self-control against the strong.
The beauty covering her mouth with a purple fan, yet brimming with sass—this was Lucy Violet.
To sum it up simply: scion of a renowned magic family. And why was someone like her talking to me?
Only one reason came to mind.
“You’re him, right? Isia’s master.”
Bingo.
She was Isia’s real childhood friend. Not a forced connection like with Yang Min-ji, but a true friend and rival who’d clashed since childhood.
“At first, I wondered why she lost to someone like you, but now I get it. From what I’ve seen, you must’ve snatched victory with some outlandish trick.”
How’d she know? Two wheelies into an uppercut.
“Anyway, enough chit-chat. Let me get to why I’m here.”
Shhh. The fan snapped shut. Gone was the fake smile; now an icy beauty stared back, cold as a frozen lake.
“Order Isia not to challenge me.”
She said it bluntly, like an order. As if I’d naturally obey.
Her noble house commanded respect in magic and hero circles, so of course she was arrogant. Any normal person would tuck tail here.
But tough luck. I’m Lee Seong-hoon.
“Why should I?”
“Pardon?”
Not the reaction she wanted—she showed a flicker of surprise, then cleared her throat with a ahem and glared at me.
“I don’t fight underlings. While she wasted time playing maid to you, I honed my magic. I don’t need a rematch to know who’s superior.”
Fair point. Isia had been busy tending to me lately. But still.
“Nope.”
“...What? Didn’t you understand?”
I did. She meant Isia was naturally weaker, so don’t waste her time—a good intention.
But no thanks. Isia grows by clashing with Lucy. She has to keep bumping heads, eventually surpass her, and become an archmage.
Her evolution as a mage hinges on beating Lucy.
With Isia as an archmage, my life gets even safer. Why would I mess that up?
“You’re impossible. Fine, I’ll have to prove it—”
“More importantly, you’ve been dissing our maid this whole time.”
Now that I thought about it, it pissed me off. Our Maid No. 1 was a magic genius destined to become an archmage.
Sure, weaker than current ranking 9th Lucy, but Isia’s potential was way higher.
She beats her in the end, after all.
“Wanna bet?”
“A bet? Are you joking with me right now?”
I ignored her incredulous laugh and stuck out my pinky.
“If you win, I’ll release Isia. Make her free.”
Free? Lucy’s pupils shook at the word.
“Yeah. I’ll let her go. You two can hang out or fight or whatever, like old times.”
“Hang out—”
“But if Isia wins.”
I grinned. Lucy shuddered, stepping back and clutching her arm.
“Crawl between my legs on your knees. And say, ‘I’m sorry. This lowly one, Lee Seong-hoon, got cocky.’”
“What?! A-are you insane?”
Fine if you don’t want to. I waited for her flushed face to respond. Didn’t take long.
“Fine. But keep your promise.”
“Obviously.”
I extended my hand to Lucy for a shake—a sign of fair play. But she huffed and slapped it away.
Ow. Let’s see that face when you’re crawling under my legs.
As we locked eyes in a stare-down,
Ding—!
A text chime. Perfect timing—I checked the screen with regret.
“Shit.”
Knew it. I frantically dialed while sprinting. No idea where to, but I had to run.
“Keep your promise!”
“You keep yours!!”
Ring... Ring...
As I ran to the dial tone, a voice called from behind.
“Why do you trust Isia so much?”
Because it’s the set future. Couldn’t say that, so I racked my brain.
For some reason, this called for cool words. No reason. My heart demanded it.
“Who else is gonna believe in our maid if not me?”
“He’s not that bad of a guy.”
Lucy murmured, staring down the street where Lee Seong-hoon had vanished.
From the earlier match and what Isia had told her, he sounded like trash.
But talking to him, he just had a foul mouth—not truly bad.
Who else thinks of their maid like that?
“Hm. I thought I was right, but nope.”
“...What’d I say.”
A person stepped out from behind a tree. A black-haired woman in a neat uniform.
Unlike usual, she was speaking casually. Lucy Violet was one of the few she did that with.
“No way. If you’d seen the ranking match, you wouldn’t say that. You really should’ve watched, but Dad showed up today~”
“What the hell did he do?”
“Eh. Watch the video later.”
Isia muttered that it was obvious what that guy did. Lucy tilted her head. This girl hadn’t lifted her head once.
“What? Mad? My bad. I won’t say stuff like ‘Let me show you that man’s true heart~’ anymore~”
As she approached, Lucy stopped. Something was off. Not sulking stillness.
Her hands trembled, ears bright red? No way?
“Don’t come closer.”
“Could it be?”
“Go away.”
“Embarrassed?”
“No. Wait. Just hold on. Don’t come!!”
Heh~ Lucy’s grin didn’t stop.
No answer.
No read receipt either. What now? She sends one help text and then ghosts? How am I supposed to not worry?
Is this what it feels like for a mom who lost her kid? After sprinting aimlessly for a while, someone appeared ahead.
A man in a gray robe, hood pulled low over his face. He slowly walked into my path.
“Lee Seong-hoon. That you?”
“Yeah. What?”
“...”
I could tell he was annoyed. Tough. I’m busy. Ever felt like you lost your kid? Nah, me neither.
“We’re protecting Raphael. Come quietly.”
“Huh?”
I blurted in disbelief, and he calmly repeated.
“Raphael is under our protection. Follow us.”
“Oh. Really? Hope she’s happy.”
“What?”
“Please raise her well. No need to worry then.”
“W-wait!! How do you know what we’ll do?!”
The man reached out as I turned away, his voice trembling in panic.
Duh. Gray robes are Magic Association mages. They wouldn’t do anything bad.
“Send her home by breakfast tomorrow.”
“N-no, wait—!!”
Realizing I wasn’t stopping, he ran ahead to block me again. Then—
“Please, just come with us.”
Yeah. That’s more like it.
Ten minutes after saying that, following the man, I regretted it to death. What the hell did Raphael say to make me come here?
“Sit.”
Th-that’s Isia’s dad. His eyes are terrifying.