Chapter 74
Chapter 74
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Inexplicable Existence
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After returning to the lodging with Rishir.
Katria felt as though she were drifting through the deep sea.
Suddenly, the pond she had gazed at with him came to mind.
What if she sank into its deepest depths? Would it feel like this?
The sights and sounds around her.
Everything felt blurred.
She tried to recall their final moments together, and that's how it became.
Paradoxically, because she was aware that those were his final moments.
When she finally came to her senses, she found herself huddled in a dark corner of the room.
Ah.
I see.
It's all over.
Regret came crashing in late.
Couldn't I have done better?
Of course, she knew it was a meaningless assumption.
From the moment she had driven his life to utter ruin, every related action was nothing but deception and self-satisfaction.
She felt as though she understood the meaning of despair.
Her heart felt hollow, as if it had been carved out whole.
She knew.
She couldn't let this despair dominate her.
There were countless tasks left to do.
She had to take responsibility for what she had done, clean it up...
Katria tried to calmly plan her next steps.
She tried.
"..."
But when she came to her senses, she was staring blankly at the wall again.
Lying on the bed.
How much time had passed?
She didn't know.
This isn't right.
I know.
So...
...
...
...
Chirp chirp chirp.
The faint sound of birds chirping drifted in.
Morning had come before she knew it.
"...Ah!"
Katria bolted upright reflexively.
A lively smile bloomed on her previously dazed face.
It was almost time for him to wake up.
She needed to prepare breakfast quickly and get ready to wake him-
"...Ah."
Right.
Her duties as a maid.
She didn't have to do them anymore.
Katria froze, her expression and posture unchanged.
The daily routine that had dominated her recent life had lost all meaning at its root.
It's fine.
Being a maid was just a temporary role, after all.
There were plenty of other things to do besides maid duties.
For example-
"..."
When she came to her senses, she was lying there staring blankly at the wall again.
She couldn't take any action.
She couldn't form any thoughts.
She thought this wasn't right.
But that was all.
Didn't she look like a worthless shell to anyone watching?
'...Shell?'
Katria sat up and headed to the storage cabinet in the corner of the room.
A pouch stored deep inside the cabinet.
From that 'subspace storage artifact,' she pulled out two vials of 'Muddy Truth.'
One vial had turned into harmless liquid for some reason she had desperately tried to uncover but ultimately failed to identify.
The other was still unopened, brand new.
The reason Katria had received another vial of Muddy Truth from Kairen was to uncover whatever factor had purified the Muddy Truth.
Now that it meant nothing, Katria stared blankly at the vial.
'...'
A certain method of atonement came to mind.
The usual Katria would have known that such atonement was absolutely wrong.
She never would have thought of it if she hadn't stayed up all night in such a mess.
But her mind now was as hollow as her emotions.
And at that moment, when Katria's hand touched the Muddy Truth.
Knock knock.
A voice came from beyond the door along with the knock.
Katria gave a wry smile.
She knew her current state wasn't normal.
But she hadn't expected it to be this bad.
"Tia. Get up. We have to go sightseeing in Bondalles."
"..."
A voice that shouldn't be there said exactly what she wanted to hear most right now.
Suddenly, she wondered.
Did he come to greet her?
That thought strengthened her resolve.
Katria picked up the Muddy Truth.
"...Tia? Nothing wrong, right? I'm coming in?"
At that moment, the door opened.
Rishir spotted Katria standing in front of the cabinet near the door and tilted his head.
"What, you're awake? But why-"
"..."
"No way, pretending to sleep because you're afraid of getting scolded for oversleeping and not preparing breakfast? Damn. This is embarrassing. What to do? Should I pretend nothing happened, close the door, go back out, and lie in bed in my room?"
Was this an illusion too?
No. Her imagination couldn't produce such verbose, vivid nonsense.
Katria murmured blankly.
"Rishir...?"
"Not master? Did I just get stripped of master status? Damn. Fired by the maid. Total master failure. Stripped of master qualification, master disqualification..."
Rishir muttered nonsense with the most serious face in the world.
At that moment, his gaze fell on the Muddy Truth in Katria's hand.
Katria instinctively tried to hide the Muddy Truth.
Was it her imagination?
The distinctive purple hue symbolizing its toxicity seemed to be fading.
Katria brought the Muddy Truth right up to her eyes and examined it closely.
Then, she could clearly see it.
The Muddy Truth's distinctive purple fading in real time.
And beyond the vial, Rishir looking at her.
"What's that?"
Rishir joined in observing the Muddy Truth.
He leaned in close, peering at it.
The deadly poison Muddy Truth.
Turning into clear water.
"?"
Katria turned the Muddy Truth this way and that, observing it. She even shook it for no reason.
And observed again.
The deadly poison Muddy Truth.
Clearly turning into water.
Katria set down the Muddy Truth and stared at Rishir with a utterly dazed expression.
"What's wrong? You're acting weird today. Something happen?"
"...No. Just, a bit, very, extremely, hugely confused."
"Oh dear. If 'a bit very extremely hugely confused' is the scale, how confused is that? Might need to calculate it. Anyway, you okay? Can you go sightseeing in Bondalles?"
"..."
Amid the confusion, Katria nodded unconsciously.
"Oh right. Tia. If it's okay, before we go sightseeing in Bondalles, can we stop somewhere for a bit?"
The place Katria arrived at following Rishir was the alchemy tower, Master Didoa's laboratory there.
"Didoa. You called for me?"
"Yeah. Sorry if it bothers you. Of course, I didn't call Rishir for my personal errands. Remember when Rishir asked about something? I think I figured it out, so I ended up calling him like this. Sorry if you were busy. Nice to see you. Good morning. Seeing Rishir first thing makes me excited. Did you eat breakfast? Actually, I discovered a new sandwich combo lately. I'd love if Rishir tried it and gave his opinion. Not forcing you, opinion's just an excuse, really want to treat Rishir to food I like-"
"Calm down, Lung Capacity Didoa, calm down. I'm the one listening and I'll pass out."
"Ah. Sorry. Got too excited seeing Rishir. Sorry if it bothers you."
"Thanks for not bothering me. Oh, that new combo sandwich you mentioned, can I try it? Perfect timing, our maid at home stayed up all night for a picnic or something, overslept, so I skipped breakfast."
"Really? Great. Didn't think Rishir would actually eat it. Here."
Didoa handed Rishir a plate.
Rishir's head tilted upward.
A majestic tower of sandwich loomed over him.
"Your hands are a bit large."
"Sorry if it bothers you."
"Tia, hear that? If we leave any, Master Didoa will feel bad. Think of it as visiting grandma's and stay sharp."
"..."
Rishir and Katria sat and began reducing the layers of the sandwich tower.
In front of them, Didoa continued.
"Listen while you eat."
In Didoa's gloved hand was a rough mana stone.
A mana stone containing Rishir's mana.
Rishir had consulted Didoa to identify the cause when fire affinity suddenly appeared in his mana.
"I'll get to the point so it's not unpleasant while eating. Remember when you said, for some reason, fire affinity suddenly started mixing in your mana? Actually, it's not fire affinity."
"Mmm mmm ma mmma? (It burned pretty hot though?)"
Rishir replied, chewing his sandwich.
"More fundamental than fire affinity, I suppose? Thermal energy. Specifically, what southern alchemists call 'Heavenly Mirage.' Means solar energy."
"Mmme mmm mimo? (Solar energy?)"
"Extremely rare. To acquire solar energy postnatally. Rishir. Have you recently refined and consumed any herbs?"
"Mmmyo? (No?)"
"I ask because ways to acquire solar energy postnatally are limited. Mainly refining and consuming ultra-rare herbs like Four Hundred Lotuses, Lava Grass, Mandalian Flowers. Not to mention, continent-wide, few can refine them properly."
"Gulp. So, did I unknowingly eat those herbs?"
"Unlikely. Those herbs bloom once every few decades in the most concentrated energy spots in the remotest wilds. Most are strictly managed by local overlords, rarely exported. Exaggerating a bit, we'll never see them in our lifetime?"
"Then, why did this solar energy suddenly move into my body? I have been sunbathing more lately."
Katria, who had been busily chewing her sandwich, gaped open-mouthed.
Poison herb Four Hundred Lotuses.
Refining in the stomach.
After leaving Didoa's lab, the next place the two headed was the magic tower, Master Meltas's laboratory there.
"Rishir. You're sure the name you mentioned was Verbandes?"
"Yes. That's right."
"Where did you hear that name?"
"I coughed."
"?"
"And a black bead came out."
"?"
"That was Verbandes's remnant."
"I see. Perfectly understood. Happens all the time."
"Really?"
"By the way, 'happens all the time' refers to you doing something utterly absurd."
"Heh heh. So, what kind of guy is this Verbandes fellow?"
"A mighty demon who dominated the ancient southern desert region for centuries."
"Why was a guy like that inside me?"
"I'm dying to know. What the hell did you do? Verbandes should be sealed by the Sahila family ruling the south."
"Ah. I have a hunch."
"What!? Tell me!"
"Didoa said I have solar energy. The desert and my body have similar climates- Ah, no. Pretend you didn't hear that."
"Good thinking."
"..."
Katria, listening intently from the side, twitched at the corners of her eyes.
Demon Verbandes.
Being digested.
She compiled all the information she had gathered so far.
And-
"Huh? Tia. What's wrong?"
Probably because she had stayed up all night.
Having locked eyes with that inexplicable existence, Katria lost consciousness.
"She's okay, right? That maid girl."
"Yes. No idea what, but she seemed to have stayed up all night. Definitely not because Sir Meltas's talk was boring, so don't worry."
"Reminding me of things I hadn't even thought to consider as nonsense."
"Huh?"
Rishir, who had laid Maid Tia on the lab sofa and covered her with a blanket.
He tilted his head.
"What's going on?"
"Talking... or something?"
"Ah, she woke up already? Maid girl."
"No, not this one."
"Hm? Then who- Speak clearly."
"Verbandes. That guy."
"What?"
"...So, what did this Verbandes guy say?"
"...He wants to make a contract."
"What'd you say?"
"...Said no. Then he wants to talk."
"What'd you say?"
"...Said no. Then he begs me to at least listen."
Demon Verbandes.
Trapped in a human body.
"..."
Even though Meltas had steeled himself, he was shocked.
"A demon, begging a human...?"
It was a first even in the vast knowledge of the mage tower master.