Voice Magic #1
Voice Magic #1
The words she'd spoken—she didn't want to lose me.
The confession that she'd finally realized her own heart.
The moment I heard Kate say it, my heart pounded. My face burned so hot I couldn't open my mouth. A numb daze, like I'd been whacked in the head with a hammer without warning.
"...Later."
"What?"
"I'll come see you again later, Mongma-nim."
Kate wiped her tears with her fingers and stepped back. Without thinking, I let my arm fall away from her waist. If I'd kept holding her close like that, I didn't think I'd be able to control the feelings pouring out. I might've done something I couldn't handle.
"...Because I want to keep meeting you from now on, Mongma-nim. This is the right way to part for now, isn't it."
Kate murmured it with a bitter expression, then turned her back and walked out of the alley. I couldn't move a muscle until she'd vanished from sight. I just stared up at the sky, grinding my back teeth.
I'd tried to wrap things up in a way that was good for both of us. I'd hoped Kate and I could just stay good friends. But things had gone spinning in a direction I couldn't control. If I wasn't a clueless idiot, there was no way I wouldn't pick up on what Kate meant.
'She has feelings for me?'
She'd trailed off vaguely, but it was practically a confession. My head spun just thinking about what would've happened if Kate had pushed just one step further. Because I wouldn't have been able to answer her feelings.
'I'm already seeing someone.'
Because I had Rebecca. A redheaded lover more precious to me than anything. So much so that even while exploring the underground waterway, thoughts of her had kept rising in my head.
"Haa."
My head felt so tangled I couldn't sort it out.
Should I just pretend I didn't know how Kate felt? Or should I draw the line with her bluntly and directly?
I couldn't really think of any other options.
It was a greedy thought, but I still wanted to keep a close relationship with Kate.
I went back to my inn room, feeling troubled.
I didn't see Kate anywhere on the main street.
When I saw her again, I had no idea what kind of face I was supposed to make.
Late afternoon, around sunset.
When I got to my inn room, I dumped my gear and collapsed onto the bed. My whole body felt exhausted, and I planned to just rest like this for the whole day. If I tried magic training in this mental state, the floor might end up underwater.
Just as I closed my eyes and tried to settle down.
A sudden knock sounded at my ear.
I heard the voice slipping through the crack in the door and realized who it was.
"Luke—! Are you in there?"
It was Rebecca's voice.
I dragged my fatigue-soaked body up and hurried to open the door.
The moment the door opened, Rebecca looked at my face and let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness. You don't look like you got hurt badly."
"Huh?"
"You just got back from finishing the quest. You must've roughed it alone without me, so I'm glad you're all in one piece. Nothing happened in the underground waterway, right? You didn't go around getting smacked by monsters or something—?"
"I took them all out before they could land a hit."
"Oooh. Not bad."
I led the smiling Rebecca into my room. After all, I'd promised to tell her about the quest before I left. Asking her to grab a meal together at the same time was a bonus. Even though an unexpected disaster had made me come home way too late.
"Did you wait up for me last night, Rebecca?"
"Why would I wait up for you—."
"Your face looks a little haggard. Don't tell me you couldn't sleep last night?"
"Urk."
Rebecca couldn't answer when I asked if she'd slept well. Had she lain awake all night because I didn't come back?
Rebecca glared at me for a moment, then sighed and opened her mouth.
"So why were you late? That underground waterway exploration wasn't supposed to take more than a day, was it?"
"On the way back, monsters were raising hell in the waterway. These things called Rattmen were fighting a territorial dispute, and it just happened to break out right near me. To avoid getting swept up, I had no choice but to hide and sleep there overnight."
"Y-you slept inside the underground waterway? You said it was crawling with monsters."
Rebecca asked, flustered.
"There was a spot inside the waterway that worked as a shelter. I slept there and came back."
"Then there's something weird about this."
Rebecca stared at me and tilted her head.
"Weren't you moving with that blonde sister? She was the client, right? So that means...?"
"Yeah. We slept together. Though we took turns on night watch."
"D-did anything happen? That blonde didn't mess with you during the night, did she? Play some weird prank on you or something!"
A weird prank!
Rebecca's guess was dead on!
Was this what they called women's intuition? I'd unmistakably been toyed with by Kate last night. Even though I was a dream demon, I'd let a slender nun have her way with every inch of my body. The second I heard Rebecca's words, I was so shocked I choked on my own spit.
"Cough."
"What happened, did that bitch toy with you? I'm going straight to the church right now and crack that blonde bitch's skull wide open—!!"
"Nothing happened! We just took turns on night watch, I said."
"Really—?"
"R-really."
For Kate's honor and my own safety, I decided to stay silent about what had happened last night. But Rebecca was staring right through me with a puzzled expression.
'Shit.'
Rebecca's gaze had me on edge. If she pushed me any deeper, my guilty conscience would probably spill everything. The way Kate had toyed with me deep at night, the kiss I'd gotten out of her in return earlier today.
Honestly, my reaction gave her every reason to be suspicious.
But Rebecca just nodded as if she understood.
"Alright! Well, that's not what's important right now, anyway."
"Then what's important?"
"...That you came back safe. That's the most important thing."
Rebecca's answer, brimming with affection.
I couldn't speak for a moment. The overwhelming emotion clogged my throat. To think I'd meet someone in this unfamiliar otherworld who'd care about me this much.
"What are you staring so hard for?"
Rebecca must've been embarrassed by my look, because she coughed dryly.
I took Rebecca's hand and asked.
"Didn't we say we'd go out to eat?"
"Y-yeah."
"Where do you want to go? I made a pretty good haul on the request fee this time. I even picked up something valuable inside the waterway."
Actually, I hadn't gotten the 7 silver directly from Kate when we parted ways. But that was something I could just collect next time we met. I wanted to keep my promise to Rebecca.
"The Moon's Blessing tavern?"
"We've gone there way too often. Let's go somewhere else. I know a decent place."
"Then take me there!"
A little later, I led Rebecca out of the inn. With her by my side, I felt energy naturally flowing back into my exhausted body. Watching Rebecca laughing happily beside me, I was able to steady my heart.
My head might've been a mess because of what happened with Kate.
But no matter what happened, my lover was Rebecca.
I couldn't betray a woman who loved me.
About that, at least, I was dead certain.
*
The day after I'd come back from eating with Rebecca.
I'd just finished a quest, but I couldn't rest—I had no choice but to hustle. There was too much to do to prepare for the Silver Tier promotion match. And I didn't just mean magic training. The time had come to start filling up all my achievement points so I'd be eligible to compete in the promotion match in the first place.
Early in the morning, I went to the theater and asked Michelle to file her report.
The report on the stalker extermination quest. There was no reason to keep putting it off anymore.
"Is Miss Michelle in?"
"Adventurer! What brings you here?"
"I'd like to ask you to report on the quest we finished the other day. Is that possible today?"
"Of course. I can just swing by the Adventurer's Guild for a bit during lunch. I already finished writing up the report to submit to the guild, too."
Around lunchtime, I left for the Adventurer's Guild with Michelle. Since I was finishing up the report on the stalker extermination quest, I wanted to check my achievement points while I was at it.
When we stepped inside the guild building, Wendy, sitting at the reception desk, greeted Michelle and me warmly.
"Mister Luke, you made it back safely! I got a report from Sister Kate yesterday. It sounds like you completed the quest commissioned by the church splendidly."
"Kate already finished the report?"
"Yes! She came by yesterday evening and submitted the report. Did something happen?"
"Nothing happened."
"Really? Sister Kate's face looked a little swollen."
I didn't need to spell out all the details to Wendy. I was just surprised that Kate had wrapped up the report so promptly. Instead of explaining, I simply asked Michelle, who'd been waiting beside me, to file her report.
"Miss Michelle, please go ahead with the report."
"Yes. Um, adventurer?"
"What."
"The receptionist is incredibly beautiful."
"I know."
Michelle tossed out that one remark, then approached Wendy with a slightly deflated look. After submitting the report and placing the brokerage fee on the counter, Michelle hurried out of the guild. It was true that standing next to Wendy made most women shrivel up like squid. She'd probably bolted because she'd felt inferior.
"So while I haven't seen you, you've been exterminating vicious stalkers—and the stalker turned out to be a wandering mage?"
"Yes. So with that, my achievement points are sufficiently filled, right? The achievement points I need to challenge the Silver Tier promotion match."
"Absolutely. Actually, your achievement points were already completely filled just by completing the quest commissioned by the church. Now all that's left is to take the promotion match."
The promotion match!
At last, I was going to participate in the promotion match being held two weeks from now. Wendy told me the date of the match and the assembly location, as if she were telling me for the first time. I had to keep it secret that she'd already slipped me the info in writing.
"Just come by the Adventurer's Guild two weeks from now. The briefing for the promotion quest will be held at the guild's annex. And take this wooden tag stamped with the guild's seal."
I received a specially crafted wooden tag from Wendy. A wooden tag bearing the guild's seal, issued to adventurers taking the promotion match.
"Is that it once I get this wooden tag? Nothing else?"
"Yes! On the day of, you just need to show up. We don't depart immediately on the assembly day anyway. You'll get briefed on the quest and then have about a day to prepare."
"Thanks for the pro tip."
"Pro tip? Ah, you mean a good tip? Mister Luke sometimes says the strangest words."
I bowed my head to Wendy in thanks and left the building.
I'd earned the right to take the promotion match, but my day's work still wasn't done. I had an item I wanted to dispose of immediately. The 30-silver orb I'd picked up in the underground waterway.
Ssssk.
When I reached into my pocket, the smooth feel of the orb was distinct against my fingers. To think a little orb like this could sell for a whopping 30 silver. If I lost it while carrying it around, I'd weep tears of blood.
"Wonder if Lili's at the shop today?"
They said you had to sell orbs at a magic shop to get their proper value, right? There was only one magic shop in Yoen-su that I knew of. The one near the underground waterway entrance.
Visiting the magic shop was my last errand of the day.
But when I got to the magic shop a while later, it wasn't Lili who greeted me. A black-haired woman who looked a lot like Lili was keeping watch at the counter. The resemblance was so strong that at first glance, I'd mistaken her for a super-accelerated-growth Lili standing in front of me.
"Incubus customer—? What would you like to buy? Our shop doesn't deal in adult trade, I should warn you—."
"I'm not buying. I came to sell an item."
"You came to sell an item? Ah, but just a moment—."
The black-haired witch, clad in a robe, examined my face closely, then spoke up with a surprised expression.
"Blonde hair, tanned skin? You're the adventurer who's always passing by in front of the shop, aren't you—."
"You know me?"
"Of course—. And besides, I've heard all about what kind of person you are from my niece."
The black-haired witch looked at me with a gaze full of good will.
"I heard you saved my niece's life?"
"Niece?"
"I'm talking about Lili—."