Chapter 44
Chapter 44
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: The Pink-Haired Girl (1)
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Chapter 17: The Pink-Haired Girl (1)
“Kyaaak!”
Crash!
A transparent flask shattered, spilling its contents—a liquid and an experimental rat—across the floor.
The culprit, a cute girl with pink hair tied in twin tails, pulled a long face as she began picking up the shards of broken glass.
She adjusted her round glasses and let out a sigh.
“I’m gonna get chewed out again.”
And sure enough.
“Ah, Vena! You idiot broke another one?”
“How do you manage to smash a flask every other day? You think research funds grow on trees?”
“S-Sorry……”
Vena kept apologizing nonstop, not even daring to lift her head amid the sharp curses from her colleagues.
It had been ten years already since she’d ended up in this situation.
I didn’t even want to become a Black Sorcerer.
That’s right.
The cute pink-haired girl getting an earful right now was none other than the Black Sorcerer, Vena.
And the place she’d spent the last decade was the Gav Black Magic Sect, one of the black magic schools.
Having lost her parents young, Vena had caught the eye of Gav, the sect leader, and ended up here.
She hadn’t wanted to at first, but with nowhere else to go, and Gav treating her well, her extremely timid nature wouldn’t let her refuse.
Already ten years.
At first, people had been kind to her as a novice, but as the years passed without any progress—only more mistakes piling up—even her colleagues started badmouthing her.
The two Black Sorcerers in this lab who were now cursing her had joined two or three years after she did. They were her juniors.
But in the magic world, as in this place, strength determined respect.
“Useless trash. Quit moping and go run this errand.”
A cold-faced man tossed a piece of paper at her like it was garbage.
Vena picked up the paper from the floor.
“Now get lost.”
“Y-Yes……”
Vena slunk out like a criminal.
Once she was gone, her fellow Black Sorcerers cackled and kept trash-talking her.
“What a moron. Wonder when she’ll finally piss off.”
“Makes my stomach turn just looking at her. Why does the sect leader keep that loser around?”
“Eh, makes us shine brighter by comparison. Let’s get back to the experiment.”
They chattered noisily as they resumed their work.
Meanwhile, Vena stood in the stairwell corridor.
I haven’t even left yet.
Tears welled up from the hurt.
As dusk settled.
The Welton family carriage finally arrived in Nesman.
“The city at last.”
“Ughhh…… Now we can finally rest.”
Riki stretched with a yawn in response to Sears’s words.
It had been a week since leaving Hice. Spending that time cooped up in the carriage together, Sears now treated the Riki siblings like her own kids.
Thanks to that, Riki and Anna had grown comfortable around her too.
“I wanna wash up.”
“Me too.”
Sara nodded at Anna’s words.
The two young girls were stiff and sore from being stuck in the carriage so long.
“Are you okay, Jamie?”
“I’m fine, Mom.”
Jamie nodded at his mother’s question.
It had been boring, but ever since absorbing the Orb of Life, he barely felt fatigue anymore.
The effects are getting stronger day by day.
He’d expected it, but feeling it in his body made him proud.
After a brief inspection at the gates, the carriage entered without issue and headed straight for the lord’s castle.
“We’ll get a delicious dinner once we arrive.”
Nesman’s lord was Count Nelson Fiol, who maintained good relations with Count Welton.
Count Welton had sent a messenger bird personally requesting hospitality before they left, so a feast was sure to await.
“Blanqui’s was already so good.”
Riki’s voice brimmed with anticipation.
Three days prior, they’d passed through Blanqui, where Viscount Shane had treated them to a lavish banquet.
“This’ll be even better.”
“Really?!”
“Yay! So exciting!”
Riki and Anna grabbed each other’s hands and shook them gleefully.
For orphans like them, noble feasts were the stuff of dreams—it’d be weirder if they didn’t get excited.
Sears smiled contentedly at the happy children, and Sara giggled along as she watched the siblings.
Kids these days.
Jamie shook his head and peered outside.
True to its role as the gateway between the capital and the north, the streets teemed with people.
Blanqui had felt a bit rural and dull, but this place seemed fun for a nighttime stroll.
Then, Jamie’s eyes caught a certain figure.
That girl.
A girl with pink hair in twin tails, giving off an inexplicable sense of incongruity.
But the carriage sped past her in an instant.
Jamie stuck his head out the window to search for the pink-haired girl, but she’d vanished into the crowd.
“Jamie, what’s wrong?”
Jamie shook his head with a dazed look at Sears’s question.
“……Just a mistake, I guess.”
“What a bland kid.”
“Bland!”
The carriage erupted in laughter as Sara mimicked her mother.
Jamie gave an awkward smile and looked out the window again.
Was it really just my imagination?
It had all happened too fast to check properly.
She just looked ordinary.
Yet a subtle unease lingered.
He couldn’t pinpoint what it was, but somehow, he felt he’d run into her again.
By the time the sun had fully set, they arrived at Count Fiol’s estate.
“You must be tired from the long journey. Come on in, everyone.”
Count Fiol was heavyset overall, with plump cheeks giving him a cute, middle-aged look.
The dining hall they entered under his guidance featured a jaw-dropping feast.
“At Count Welton’s request, I asked our family’s head chef to go all out. Dig in.”
“Wow!”
“Oppa, it smells so good!”
The Riki siblings were overwhelmed by the explosion of delicious aromas.
“The best meal of my life.”
Ras stared at the spread, speechless.
Only Sears, Jamie, and Sara managed to stay composed before the banquet.
Sears expressed her gratitude to Count Fiol.
“Thank you so much for going to all this trouble for us.”
“Nonsense. With my ties to Count Welton, this is the least I could do. If anything, I feel a bit ashamed. It’s not enough for a daughter of the great Bell family.”
“It’s more than enough.”
Count Fiol sighed in genuine relief at Sears’s satisfied reply.
“Let’s eat.”
At the count’s signal, everyone began the meal.
Count Fiol and Sears discussed family matters, while Riki fed his sister as he ate.
Ras savored the food like he might burst into tears any second, and Jamie……
“Oppa. Ahh~!”
Sara, sitting beside him, clumsily speared a sausage on her fork and held it out to Jamie.
Jamie said, a bit flustered.
“I-I can feed myself.”
“Ahh~!”
Undeterred by her brother’s refusal, Sara held out the food with an innocent smile.
Jamie had no choice but to eat the sausage.
Sara beamed and stabbed at another dish with her fork—her fork skills still clumsy, two tines sticking out awkwardly.
“Oppa. Ahh~!”
“I said I can feed myself.”
“Ahh~!”
“Sara.”
“You don’t want what I’m giving you?”
Sara pouted.
Her big eyes welled up like she’d cry any second.
Jamie sighed and smiled as he opened his mouth.
“Ahh.”
“Ahh~!”
Ever since the Mayatre Mountains incident, Sara had been paying extra attention to Jamie.
Though her affection felt burdensome, after experiencing a full-blown tearfest from rejecting her once, Jamie had no choice but to play along.
“Heh heh. Such heartwarming sibling love.”
“Yes. Lately, my daughter’s been doting on her brother more than ever.”
Sears beamed proudly at Count Fiol’s praise, watching Sara feed Jamie and him awkwardly accepting.
Jamie thought as he glanced at her.
Stop watching and make her stop!
Of course, Sears had no such intention.
But the problem wasn’t limited to this.
“Anna. You gotta eat.”
“……”
Anna sat still with a sulky expression.
Riki tilted his head at his sister’s demeanor.
“Anna, something wrong?”
“I wanna feed you too.”
“Huh?”
“I wanna feed Oppa too.”
Riki squinted at Anna’s out-of-nowhere declaration.
But before he could stop her, Anna grabbed a fork and started poking at the meat on her plate.
It wasn’t working well, and soon she pouted.
“Hiiing…… I wanna feed Oppa too.”
“Anna.”
Riki patted his sister’s head.
“It’s fine. You can do it all you want once your eyes heal.”
“Oppa……”
“C’mon. Let’s eat. Ahh~”
“Ahh~!”
Anna resumed eating.
“The next saint and saintess of the Pyro Church, right? Amazing that siblings both have the qualities, but their bond is truly deep.”
“They’re remarkable children.”
Count Fiol wiped away moved tears.
Sears thought he was quite the sentimental fellow.
After dinner, everyone headed to their assigned rooms.
Sara and Anna bunked with Sears, while Jamie and Riki shared a room.
Ras went with the knights.
“Whew. I’m stuffed to bursting.”
“Tell me about it.”
Jamie patted his bloated belly and let out a burp.
“Sara really kept feeding me the whole time.”
“Thought I was gonna die. She’d cry if I refused.”
He wished Sara would go back to her old indifferent self.
Jamie sighed deeply and stood.
“Where you going?”
“Night stroll.”
“Suddenly?”
“Gonna look around.”
“I’ll rest.”
Riki flopped onto the bed.
“Go ahead and sleep first.”
Jamie opened the window and floated into the air.
Riki, lounging diagonally on the bed, marveled at Jamie’s magic.
“Amazing every time I see it.”
“Anyone else seeing you would think the same. If they learned your secret, that is.”
The boy who wielded both undead and apostle powers was Riki. What reaction would anyone have if they knew?
“Anyway, I’m off.”
“See ya.”
Once Jamie vanished outside, Riki sighed.
“Time to wash up and crash.”
A hot bath would melt away all fatigue for a deep sleep.
Jamie roamed the city streets, using Black to dye his hair black.
“Nothing to see here.”
Nesman’s nightlife was more lackluster than expected.
This was just a gateway to Appleton, after all. The entertainments were all for adults.
No scenic walkways, no intriguing shops.
“Yawn. Kinda sleepy. Head back?”
Squeak.
Black replied quietly to Jamie’s question.
Out after so long, it didn’t want to return early.
Jamie chuckled.
“Yeah. Won’t get out for a while anyway.”
He decided to wander more, just in case something interesting turned up.
Meanwhile, two groups were watching Jamie.
The smaller man spoke first.
“That bracelet.”
“Yeah. Looks impressive.”
The burly man eyed the bracelet on Jamie’s wrist with greed.
“Definitely an artifact.”
“A pretty powerful one too.”
“Why’s a kid that age have it?”
“Dunno. But he looks kinda fancy. Noble maybe?”
“I think noble too.”
“Quit copying me.”
“Copying what?”
“I said noble first.”
“No, you’re being weird again……”
“I said it first.”
“……Fine, I copied you.”
“About time.”
Pis strutted triumphantly, and Tom shook his head like he couldn’t deal.
“Anyway. Sect leader’d love it if we nabbed that.”
“Might even reward us.”
“What kind?”
“Our own lab maybe.”
“Same thought.”
“Quit copying!”
“……Gonna lose him. Move.”
“Got it. But why’d you copy?”
Tom ignored Pis and started tailing Jamie.
Pis shot him a dirty look but prioritized the stalk—grilling him could wait till they snatched the bracelet.
But they didn’t know one thing.
Two guys tailing me.
Jamie had already noticed them.
No idea what they’re after.
His boring stroll just got interesting.
Jamie grinned and ducked into an alley.