The Suspicious Mage
Syucali approached the snake that had claimed the path without hesitation. At first I thought it was reckless, but after seeing my stats rise earlier, I figured it might actually be doable.
-Slice! Clink!
She grabbed a vial and smashed it against her dagger blade. Black poison flowed down, staining the entire surface of the weapon. It wasn’t for nothing that she was called the Black Blade. They said anyone who saw her dark blade would be sliced apart on the spot. Having absorbed some of her stats, I knew exactly how deadly that poison was.
Goblin venom, spider toxin, snake venom, bee stings—there were all kinds of poisons in the world, but the special black poison Syucali made was a penetrating toxin that could pierce through armor and thick hides alike.
-Swoosh!
“Sssshhh!!”
The massive variant snake that had been sleeping jolted awake in alarm. Its thick scales were sliced apart like paper, and part of its body fell away in a spray of blood. Acting on instinct, the snake coiled itself into a defensive posture. But that only made its death slower.
-Schlick! Schlick! Schlick!
The more it coiled, the faster Syucali’s black blade moved. Before long, only the snake’s head remained, its mouth hanging wide open.
“Gross.”
The giant variant snake died almost pathetically.
“What do you think, Master Kang Seo-ja?”
“You chopped it up when you could’ve killed it quickly.”
“If I’m going to prove myself, I have to show everything, don’t I?”
For some reason, I understood what she meant. Syucali instinctively knew it too. The world didn’t care what kind of life you lived or how you survived. That was a personal matter. But a show put on for everyone created rumors, and those rumors naturally rose to the surface.
“I’ll use you as a slave.”
“Thank you! I’ll do my absolute best to serve you, Master Incubus!”
It was an overly heavy oath, but not a bad one. ‘To think someone with this much talent was rotting away inside the village.’
Others called her the Black Blade, but after watching Syucali’s abilities for a while, my impression could be summed up in one word: eccentric plague doctor. Her talent and knowledge shone not just in thievery, but in the creation of medicines and poisons. She had a personal laboratory in her hideout, and most of the drugs she made succeeded as intended rather than failing. Calling her an eccentric… no, a genius seemed more accurate.
“Grab one of the large scales and let’s head back.”
“Yes, Master Kang Seo-ja.”
I vaguely remembered hearing somewhere that the difference between an eccentric and a genius was only a single sheet of paper… but it wasn’t important.
We collected the butchered remains of the giant variant snake as trophies and turned back the way we came.
“You seem very interested in drugs.”
“I trust potions more than people. When saving someone, use a stamina potion~”
Syucali spoke in a playful tone. But behind that choice must have been a hellish past.
“So the trigger was a stamina potion?”
“Um… yeah, I guess?”
The method Syucali had chosen to survive alone was drugs. Then what had I chosen to survive?
My gaze drifted to her backside—to the place where I had stamped the Slave Mark.
“I am a slave.”
“Huh?”
It looked like I would need to experiment with all sorts of things on a slave.
“How much does a normal slave usually cost?”
“Around… fifty… forty gold. Old ones go for twenty gold, sometimes even ten.”
“That’s incredibly cheap.”
“Cheap slaves are usually frail and die quickly. Expensive ones are different.”
“And the expensive ones?”
“The ones with high market value start at five hundred gold.”
“If I’d been sold, I probably would’ve gone for that much.”
“Ahaha… about a million gold…”
“Don’t inflate the number. It only makes me feel worse.”
“Eek! I’m sorry!”
I ignored Syucali as she bowed her head and kept walking forward.
“Ah! Please don’t abandon me!”
She quickly lifted her head and stuck close to my side again.
“You were living just fine on your own before.”
“Now I can’t live without Master Kang Seo-ja!”
It seemed Syucali was cleverly abusing the power of absolute obedience. Seeing her act playfully while still thinking of my needs, I couldn’t help but think she was truly impressive.
‘There are a lot of incredibly capable women around me.’
There was the S-rank adventurer known as Massacre, Helga, and the merchant who dealt with royalty, Isabella. If I slept with women like them, I could obtain some of their abilities. Rather than taking random high-paying sex requests, it seemed far better to target women who could grant me a variety of stats and skills.
That meant I needed to return to the adventurers’ guild and check the sex trade board again. If I played my cards right, I might be able to gain special abilities like noble swordsmanship or tool expertise.
“Master Kang Seo-ja, there are people up ahead.”
“Just pass by.”
“Yes.”
No matter how bad public security was, it wasn’t as if people never left the village.
“There they are again. Fellow adventurers, perhaps?”
“They’re heading in a different direction from the path to the village. They might be wanderers?”
As expected, they were moving in a party. I saw similar scenes often while returning to the village. They were either coming back after completing requests around the village or setting out to fulfill new ones. It was an extremely natural sight and didn’t feel particularly threatening.
Of course, some of them might suddenly attack, but…
“Syucali?”
“Belsi, long time no see.”
“I thought you were holed up in the village and never coming out. What brings you out for a walk?”
Syucali’s presence was what kept them from attacking. There probably weren’t any crazy adventurers near this village who would make the first move against the famous C-rank adventurer known as the Black Blade.
“Still as rude as ever, I see?”
“Hehe, how about we grab a drink at Grape Hill and talk about manners?”
“Can’t. I’m busy.”
“Tsk… says the one who’s always busy.”
“I have a mountain of things to do, so it can’t be helped.”
“Same excuse as always.”
The party exchanged light greetings and passed by. Though at the very end, they did shoot me a look full of suspicion.
“You have a lot of close comrades.”
“They’re not comrades. They’re enemies.”
People traveling alone were probably more dangerous. They were either incredibly strong or not even human. The reason I traveled alone was because of the rumor that black hair carried a curse, after all.
“We’ve arrived, Master Kang Seo-ja.”
As the sky began to darken, we reached the campsite where we had stayed the night before.
“Go wash up. I’ll start the fire.”
“Yes, I’ll be back soon.”
Just as I was starting to understand Syucali, it seemed she was gradually figuring out what kind of person I was too. If this had been the beginning, she would have tried to start the fire without washing off the smell of blood, but now her first priority had changed to cleaning herself.
-Whoosh!
I lit the campfire and watched the sky grow dark. Just as I was enjoying the crackling sound of burning wood and the quiet, I sensed movement in the bushes.
“Phew, thank goodness someone’s here.”
“Who are you?”
Thinking it might be a monster, I placed my hand on the hilt of my sword inside the robe. But it was a person.
“Just an ordinary traveler. It’s getting dark—would it be all right if I spent the night with you?”
It was a blonde woman wearing a robe, just like me.
“I wouldn’t recommend it.”
“Oh my… you’re a man?”
She seemed surprised by the tone of my voice. Or rather, she was pretending to be surprised.
“A man traveling alone outside the village? That’s dangerous…”
“There’s no need to worry. I have a companion.”
“Ah, I see.”
I still hadn’t taken my hand off the sword hilt. As I’d said before, ordinary people usually traveled in parties to complete requests. Every adventurer I’d met on the road so far had been like that. But this blonde woman was alone.
“Don’t you have any companions?”
“I overslept, so they left without me.”
“Still, traveling alone seems dangerous, doesn’t it…”
“Don’t worry. I may not look it, but I can protect myself.”
-Snap!
The blonde woman flicked her fingers. At that moment, a thin membrane spread out around us, forming a dome.
“A mage?”
“Oh, your companion has arrived too.”
The opaque barrier appeared just as Syucali returned. Knowing exactly what that power was, Syucali shook the water from her hair and asked,
“I’m late with my introduction. I’m Margaret, a 4-Circle mage.”
“4-Circle… You must be quite a skilled mage.”
Syucali also seemed wary of the mage as she slowly walked over to my side. A 4-Circle mage was apparently a fairly powerful adventurer.
“Here is my B-rank adventurer badge.”
B-Rank Adventurer Badge verified.
“…You may join us.”
“Ho ho, thank you.”
The moment I saw the B-rank adventurer badge, I accepted her request.
“But is this really all right?”
“Pardon?”
I removed the robe that had been covering my head.
“A black-haired man… the one said to be cursed…”
“I am Kang Seo-ja. This is Syucali.”
“Syucali… Syucali… Ah! I’ve heard of you. The Black Blade Syucali—your name is quite famous even in Pit Village.”
Maybe because she was a mage, she even remembered the names of adventurers from other villages.
“A B-rank adventurer whose party left her behind just because she overslept. That’s ridiculous.”
“Right? It doesn’t make any sense, does it? Ho ho.”
Mage Margaret seemed briefly startled by my appearance, but she soon brushed it off lightly. Since magic itself was mysterious and bizarre, a cursed black-haired man probably just seemed interesting to her.
“Since we’ll be sharing a campsite, I’d like to treat you to a meal.”
Margaret had a relaxed and gentle demeanor, like a caring older sister. Her behavior matched that impression perfectly. She clapped her hands, creating a black space beside her, and pulled something out from within.
“Do you happen to have any cooking tools?”
She took out a well-cut chunk of meat and shook it, then even sprinkled spices on it to show us.
“That’s impressive magic. Pulling meat out of thin air.”
“It’s spatial storage magic. Most mages have it, you know? Ho ho.”
“Not most—only those above 4-Circle.”
“Oh my, Miss Syucali knows her stuff.”
“Storage magic is so fascinating that rumors spread quickly.”
-Sizzle…
As the meat cooked on the pan, night fully settled in.
“So what brings you to Cashew Village?”
“I need to meet Lady Isabella.”
“You have business with Lady Isabella.”
“Hehe, that’s right.”
The Isabella she spoke of was undoubtedly the same wealthy merchant I knew. A guest of hers, huh. As expected of a major merchant—her guests were on another level. A mage by profession, 4-Circle, B-rank adventurer, and traveling alone…
There was only one conclusion I could draw.
She was extremely suspicious.