Axel Valentine never tried to impress his peers. Always in a commanding tone, never giving proper explanations, mercilessly swearing at them when they showed weakness, and kicking or hitting them when they whined. If his colleague sat motionless, he would thrust a knife into his throat, or stab him for real. If he kept grabbing his ankle, he would just throw it away. Allies who continued to rebel or betray were killed.
‘Thinking about it again, it’s a dead end.’
Even if he acted like that, most of his colleagues recognized the main character as their leader and followed his words. Axel Valentine was not greedy for self-interest, and his instructions and judgments were rarely wrong. His goals were clear, and when he treated people badly, there was a definite reason.
‘He was a man who dedicated himself to the one goal of conquering the Great Labyrinth.’
When the goals were the same, people would follow a talented and bad-tempered person rather than an incompetent and good person. The more dangerous the situation, the more so.
She would be the icing on the cake if she was competent and had a good personality, but she didn’t have the confidence to be such a perfect person. A leader that all of your colleagues like and follow wholeheartedly? If that was possible because she wanted it, she would have been able to become a child loved by her grandmother in the previous life and her father in the present life.
It was ambiguous and difficult to get a crush on. The path to gaining trust was much clearer and more reasonable.
‘It’s more difficult not to gain trust when you know all about the original story and have a great talent for spirit magic. There are many opportunities ahead.’
“Hey! Skull!”
She was about to leave the garden, but before she knew it, Erich, who had followed her, blocked her way. Unlike before, it was quite serious.
“The place where you were a while ago, the Contaminated Plant Containment Area.”
“I know.”
“I just looked and there was a daffodil I hadn’t seen before? It’s a flower bed where only polluted plants are planted.”
Even if what he did was like an immature child, the wizard was still a wizard. Seeing that he found something strange he could not contain himself.
Ariadne replied calmly.
“So?”
“So what? is that what you did? Are your experiments related to polluted plants? Are you studying botany? Why did you come to Weaver with contaminated plants because you were a botanical genius?”
“I don’t know what you are asking a child like me.”
“It’s not like I’m a kid, so I’m trembling. Don’t lie…”
The end of Erich’s words, which had been irritating her, faded. The boy pointed at her in bewilderment.
“Uh, hey, you, that, that, nose, nose.”
“Could you clarify anything you want to say?”
“Blood.”
Erich couldn’t even speak to her properly and he just pointed at her nose. Come to think of it, her nose was a little hot. As she thought, something dripped from her nose. When she wiped it off with her hand, it was bright red blood. She looked down at her bloodied hands and involuntarily frowned.
‘Is it too much to go out to the garden after making the elixir?’
“Hey, you, it’s okay, it’s okay…”
Erich’s stuttering complexion turned blue. Ariadne covered her nose with a handkerchief and nodded her head.
“I’m fine.”
“Gye, it keeps flying.”
Why was he so scared? She looked at him curiously and suddenly realized.
‘Oh, he’s on probation for three months because of me.’
“Don’t worry, it’s not little Count’s fault.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Just say you found me like this while passing by. Then there will be no misunderstandings.”
“Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding’?”
“You’re worried that you might be misunderstood that I had a nosebleed because of the young Count. I’ll make it clear that it’s not your fault, so don’t worry about that.”
Ariadne covered her nose, spoke in her snot, and then turned away. Erich saw the half-sized child staggering away.
Her handkerchief turned bright red in an instant. Everyone who sees it is frightening, but Ariadne seemed used to it. Not to mention asking for help, saying not to worry because it’s not their fault.
In the meantime, she naturally treated him as a bad guy who only cared about getting punished whether or not the child bleed his nose right in front of his eyes. Honestly, it’s true that he was worried about getting scolded because of that kid, but that’s the case.
‘What’s with all this?’
Erich looked at Ariadne with his dumbfounded eyes, then strode over her and caught up with her.
“You…”
He grabbed her shoulder, which wasn’t even a handful, and, ah, she turned her teeth and swallowed her tongue. Ariadne’s blue eyes, looking back, were out of focus. Cold sweat broke out on her little forehead.
He was terrified that the kid who had been acting cheeky with her pouty eyes just a little while ago had suddenly acted like this.
‘Her father only said that she was weak, but I don’t think this is just weak?’
“Are you really okay? What disease do you have?”
“No, I’m just a little tired…”
Ariadne’s head, which had been shaking, suddenly snapped. Erich was startled and held up the child.
‘Why is it so light, wait, her body is a ball of fire!’
“Hey, hey, skeleton? Wake up.”
He hurriedly hugged the child, but the child drooped helplessly. The nosebleed still hasn’t stopped.
‘Are you going to die like this?’
He was even more scared. He put the child on his back and ran frantically to the doctor’s room.
When she opened her eyes, she was inside the fantasy library.
‘When did I enter the fantasy library?’
Someone stopped Ariadne from raising her body.
“Aria, rest. You need a break.”
“Huh?”
“Aria doesn’t hurt in the fantasy library. Resting place. Shelter.”
Pi said with a worried look on her face and pulled her over. She puts her book on her pillow and covers her with the blanket she brought earlier.
“Aria, rest.”
Pi with her grin patted her with her little hand. Through her white hair, her golden eyes, pretty as amber, looked down at her.
Even in the midst of her drowsiness, she had questions in her mind. Ariadne asked in a sleepy voice.
“Pi… You take me into the fantasy library… Did you call me?”
“Huh. Going to suffer. I hate Aria being sick. Pi sang to Aria. Summons. Call. Invite.”
“Late… You let it go as you please, now…”
Was it possible to call in now? What was Pi? How was that possible? Was it because it was a great spirit? She wanted to ask, but she couldn’t because she was sleepy. She was swept away by the pouring sleep. It was a pleasant and comfortable sleep.
* ♦ ♦ ♦ *
When she opened her eyes again, she saw the familiar bedroom ceiling. Her body was getting lighter. As she was about to get up from her chair, her eyes met those of golden eyes looking down.
‘Pi?’
With one blink of her cloudy eyes, she could tell it was someone else. The owner of the golden eyes was not a white-haired kid, but a young man with a gentle and well-groomed look. The man who was looking at her smiled and looked behind her.
“You are awake.”
“Miss!”
“Aria!”
It was Lucy who shed tears, the Countess let out a sigh of relief, and the Count held her hand with her vehement cry. It seemed that everyone had gathered except for the Archmage who had recently left for the capital and Erich, who was on probation.
Jayleen came to bed with her tools.
“Thank you for your hard work, priest. May I examine Miss Ariadne?”
“Of course.”
The man backed away slightly, and Jayleen wrapped her arms around her to examine her. The attending physician immediately smiled faintly.
“You are almost recovered. To the extent that you can increase your stamina through exercise.”
At those words, the Margrave seized the priest’s hand this time.
“Thank you. Really.”
“No, I just reapplied the divine power bestowed by God. I’m sorry for coming rather late.”
“Weaver is a place that even knights find it difficult to come and go in winter. It is natural that priests are difficult to come. Let’s move on and talk about the details.”
The Marquis beckoned outside.
The priest stood up after ignoring Ariadne with a smile on his face. A white robe embroidered with gold thread fluttered behind the priest’s back as he turned around. He followed the Marquis out of the room.
‘Gold… That’s right, all the priests here had golden eyes. If you can use divine power, your eyes will turn golden…’
Ariadne absentmindedly traced the setting of the original story. In the meantime, the Countess approached her and met her gaze with her.
“Are you feeling better, Aria?”
“Ah yes.”
“You were in bed for two days. Aren’t you hungry?” she asked softly.
The moment she tried to nod her head saying it was okay, there was a loud growl.
Ariadne’s face turned red.
“As expected, it would be better to start with a meal.” The Countess smiled lightly.
“I’ll bring you something warm soon, lady!”
Lucy wiped away a tear and ran outside. In the meantime, Jayleen, who had packed her test kit, cleared her throat and opened her mouth.
“Miss Ariadne.”
“Yes.”
“I was going to tell you before… Looking at it this time, I’ll be sure to tell you. This is what I have already informed the Count couple.”
The Countess crossed her arms with a bitter expression. Jayleen hesitated for a moment, touching her glasses, then she cautiously continued her words.
“You seem to have lost your sense of pain a little bit.”
“What does that mean?”
“So, um, it means that even if you get the same wound, it hurts much less than others.”
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. Thank you very much for reading.
Next post will be released on May, 13.
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