## Chapter 177 – Heavy Secret (3)
“Carla? Carla? Are you going to shower first?
You worked so hard today.
It must have been tough helping me…?”
“Uh… Uhm…? No…!!
It was more fun than I thought…
Then, I’ll shower first? Ahaha!!”
“Ah!! Carla!! Take a towel with you!!”
Having finished their volunteer work for the day, the two girls were busy tidying up from the moment they entered the house.
Yui took out some of the tools she had brought and began to clean them, and thanks to her, Carla, who was able to soak in the tub first, hurried into the bathroom and started filling the tub with water.
Carla, watching the stream of water falling into the tub with a whooshing sound, was lost in thought for a moment before she began to take off the clothes and underwear she had been wearing.
“Uuuu…♡”
And after a while, Carla, who was finally able to soak her body in the warm water of the half-filled tub, leaned her back against the wall of the tub with a sweet moan.
But despite this pleasant act, her mind could not be at ease.
Carla’s mind was filled with a subtle sense of unease as she pondered what she had seen.
‘What… was that……?’
‘Haa… I’m sweating……
It’s a relief you’re here.’
The blue-haired woman was talking to herself as if someone else was there.
And then, some entity that could be called her ‘skin’ wriggled as if responding to her voice.
The black membrane that suddenly covered her entire naked body showed an irregular and fluid appearance that could be called a living thing.
‘At least… it’s not something from Barmhausen…
Still… no matter how I think about it, I’ve never seen anything like that……’
Barmhausen, known as the ‘Steel Nation,’ is a country with highly developed engineering technology.
In Barmhausen, where the smell of iron and lubricant is always present, there was no story of creating something with such liquid metal, let alone something similar.
Besides, if the blue-haired woman had used something related to that, there was no way Carla herself would not have smelled it on her.
‘I have a nose trained with all sorts of chemicals…!!’
That might be a bit dangerous, though.
Anyway, all she felt from the woman who approached her was her strangely sweet scent.
It was incomparable to the smell of iron or lubricant.
‘Or… Chaoxing…?’
But comparing it to the woman’s face and external characteristics, it was easy to conclude that it was not.
A Chaoxing person with blue hair and blue eyes.
Even the kind-hearted Yui would not be able to hold back her laughter at such a thing.
The Chaoxing people, who have a strong sense of pride in their ethnicity, were also known for not arbitrarily changing their external characteristics.
The women there had very simple makeup styles like Yui, and there was a social atmosphere where they didn’t bother dyeing their hair.
‘Yuiii…!! Just once!!
Let’s pierce them just once… huh??
Let’s get matching earrings~!!’
‘Hiiiik!! S-Stop it, Carla…!!
You really shouldn’t do that…!!’
How many months did it take to pierce Yui’s ears and put on earrings, as she ran away saying something strange about physical body… something?
Yui, who was now accustomed to overseas culture, didn’t seem to care much, but just thinking about her reaction back then, it seemed that this kind of thing was not easy.
Recently, however, exchanges in fashion have become somewhat active due to trade between Groden and Barmhausen, or so I heard?
‘Did they say that people who dye their hair are dangerous people to avoid…?’
Anyway, if we assume that what was covering her skin was a product of biotechnology, the circumstances could fit quite naturally.
The field of life science is definitely their specialty.
However, they were said to be sensitive to the leakage of technology outside the family.
They would not have allowed foreigners to leak their technology arbitrarily.
‘Maybe… a person from Groden… maybe……
Then… what the heck was that……?’
In the current situation where there was nothing she could be sure of, Carla’s expression was gradually darkening.
The black membrane that began to surround the blue-haired woman’s body as if a planarian was spreading its body, sticking to her attractive naked skin like a coating, and feeling alive.
No matter how much she thought about it, it was impossible to understand the sight of that black entity, which revealed her figure, changing to blue as if melting and becoming a beautiful dress.
‘Maybe… magic…?’
She had heard that there were many kinds of magic, so she thought that maybe what she saw was part of that.
At least, she couldn’t explain this phenomenon with what she knew.
Magic that changes physical laws, magic that summons something, magic that manipulates the essence of things, etc., most of the things she didn’t know could be said to come from magic.
Today’s incident, which was nothing more than a happening, only needed to be passed over as it was.
‘I don’t know……’
The questions and sense of unease that filled her head, which she didn’t know why they were tormenting her.
It felt like she was forgetting something important.
It felt like she could realize something if she waited a little longer.
“I want to… know……”
If there was anything she could know for sure now, it was only one thing.
The family of a friend who was not in the same department or particularly close, but who had once spent a pleasant time together in the same place, was about to abandon her dignity.
‘Am I overthinking it……?’
Of course, she was even more troubled because she, an outsider with no real connection, was not qualified to interfere with Marie’s decision, which she had made after careful consideration.
However, she felt that Anne, Marie’s younger sister, would surely be saddened when she found out about it later.
Even if it was unnecessary meddling, she was driven by the desire to avoid such a situation if possible.
‘If I can help Marie…
And… if I can find out about that woman…’
If that were the case, something would surely change.
She thought that her current frustrating feelings would be resolved in an instant.
At that time, she was thinking that as she left the dormitory with Yui, who was wondering when she would give up and was having a hard time even coming up with a scenario to deceive herself, she was stamping her attendance at the brothel for four days, which was as good as going to work.
Carla, who was still with Yui today, was stepping into the brothel again with a smile on her face, greeting the thugs who worked as guards and nodding their heads at her, as if they were familiar with her face now.
“Ugh… so…… today…
Disinfection…!! I’m going to disinfect…!!
Soaking the things people use in hot water…
Killing germs with heat!! Then everyone will be healthy!!”
“Wow…!! Yui is so cool today, too!!”
Carla, who praised the ever-changing Yui every day and began to help her with her work, had her mind focused on other things.
A blue-haired woman wearing a blue dress of almost the same design as yesterday, as if she were a one-dress woman.
The fact that she had learned during that time was that she was called ‘Vivian’ by her subordinates, and was nicknamed ‘The Blue Slaughterer’.
When she asked questions like she liked the brothel or was curious about this place, the bachelors who were young and green thugs were 넘어가버린 by the aegyo of a young girl, and that was what came out of the story they were telling.
Carla’s throat was throbbing as she swallowed hard at the truly eerie nickname.
‘She fought 17 against 1 against the same thugs… by herself…?
Maybe she used magic……?
If so, that might make sense…?’
As the ‘Vivian Magician Theory’ gained strength in Carla’s mind, which could also explain the unidentified object that was covering her skin, this time there was something new that was holding her back…
‘But… if she used magic to defeat 17 people…
Wouldn’t there be a sign…?’
The fundamental energy of magic was quite powerful to clean up a lobby full of corpses by just cleaning it up a little.
Of course, since magic is the use of magic power, the destructive power can be adjusted by touching various parts of the casting process.
But the important thing was speed.
‘The reason why the Department of Magical Design and the Department of Magical Application are divided……’
Although it was a story she heard from a friend, there was a fundamental difference between the two.
The Department of Magical Design specializes in creating magic, and the Department of Magical Application specializes in utilizing created magic.
In other words, the ability to utilize magic was an indispensable element.
The biggest factors were casting speed and casting delay.
It meant how quickly the casting of magic could be completed from a certain moment, and how much time was needed to organize the magic power inside the body after using magic once until the next magic could be used.
But she used magic that could kill 17 people, and there was no damage to the surroundings at all?
That meant that she didn’t use powerful magic that could kill 17 people at once, but killed them one by one with small firepower magic, waiting for the casting delay.
‘The casting delay of frontline combat magicians was… about 10 seconds…?’
Even really good people had to wait that long every time they used magic to use the next magic.
Then, even with a very simple calculation, the time it takes to kill 17 people is 17 seconds.
But every time you use magic once, the time you have to wait for the casting delay is 170 seconds.
Even if she killed one or two thugs with magic while trapped in the lobby, she would be helplessly attacked if the rest of the people rushed at her in droves.
The time was about 3 minutes when predicted optimistically in all aspects.
How did she survive during that long time when she could have died several times, and why was such a talented person working as a manager in this brothel?
A difficult task even for a very talented application-type magician
Maybe she underestimated magic too much.
Magic was as vast a field as alchemy.
Maybe there was something that would buy her time to endure those 3 minutes, and it was common for individuals to overcome their weaknesses with their own senses.
But at least Carla could only think like this now.
‘She’s not a magician……
Was the assumption wrong from the start……?’
But the fact that these thugs with threatening impressions treat Vivian with respect is proof, so the rumor can’t be false.
‘Manager? Has she been here for about ten days today?’
‘That’s right, ten days. Yesterday was nine days.’
‘Isn’t it the opposite? Today is nine days!!’
‘Come on, I’m right!!’
And the next day, while chatting with the thugs, Carla’s head was gradually becoming more complicated as she got the strange information that the woman Vivian had only appeared a little over a week ago.
That woman Vivian appeared a few days before they came to this brothel?
‘It’s strange……’
She was feeling an incomprehensible sense of unease.
“Are the supplies ready?”
“Perfect!!”
“Good, fill them up before you start working.
We’re expecting a group of customers who made a reservation yesterday.
Make sure to check properly and receive customers in the afternoon. Got it?”
The woman, who looked like a manager or madam managing the brothel no matter how you looked at her, didn’t look that old the more you looked at her.
Of course, if you only looked at her face, she looked a little haggard.
‘Mid-30s…? Maybe early…?
No… something’s… different……
Maybe… she’s the same age as me……?’
You can know a lot from just one face, but you can’t judge a person’s entirety with just that, can you?
Carla, who was a popular insider in the Department of Alchemy and had seen countless people, did not doubt her ability to see people.
Besides, the way she treated others was too dignified to be considered a commoner.
Even Carla herself, who usually thought etiquette was cumbersome, could be sure that the woman had received professional etiquette training.
In addition, for someone of that age, whose physical strength decreases with age, she had a neat and energetic, bouncy, and girlish behavior.
‘That’s definitely……’
It was similar to how immature young ladies from noble families try to imitate noble ladies clumsily.
In reality, it didn’t feel that clumsy, though.
Her behavior was definitely correct, and it was difficult to find even a single flaw.
However, she had received etiquette training and absorbed it quite well, but it didn’t feel like it was ingrained in her body.
It wasn’t at the level where etiquette was ingrained in her body and breathing was etiquette, but at the level where she was trying to follow it by forcing herself to pay attention to it.
Maybe if she tried to imitate her mother, it would definitely feel like that.
She was an adult now, but she couldn’t imitate the余裕 as an adult that her mother had learned through experience.
And above all, her skin was firm and elastic without any blemishes, which was something you wouldn’t expect from an older woman.
‘There’s always a reason for a sense of unease…
On the surface… there doesn’t seem to be any problem…
There’s something uneasy…… for sure…’
Carla, who was staring at the woman who looked like her peer in everything except her face, noticed her disappearing somewhere and began to follow her again, glancing at Yui.
“Okay. If you boil it like this…
It becomes clean and hygienic…
Carla…? Carla……?!
Did she go to the bathroom…?
She should have said something……”
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‘Where is she going…?’
It was still a little early for Marie to arrive, who comes here every evening.
It was still early for lunch, and Carla’s head was filled with questions as she quietly followed Vivian, who was starting to wander around the brothel.
Of course, she wasn’t very good at it, so she almost got caught yesterday.
Fortunately, she made an excuse that she was going to the bathroom right next to her and ran away to Yui’s side and hid.
But once you learn, everything improves, and after a day or two of following, Carla learned and felt something, and was able to use her head a little.
Vivian’s figure, turning around the corner at the end of the hallway, was reflected in Carla’s eyes, who took off her slippers for guests and walked lightly with her bare feet wearing only socks.
As Carla approached the corner with quick steps and slightly extended her head, she could see Vivian standing in front of a door and knocking on it.
‘Hmm… whose room was that……?’
She thought she remembered it, but she couldn’t help but think that she still didn’t know it well.
Soon, the door opened and Vivian entered, and Carla, who was about to move forward to peep through the keyhole this time, was about to move forward.
“What are you doing?”
“……Eek…!!”
Carla, startled by the grip on her shoulder, turned around without even screaming, and a familiar face was coming into her face.
Hye-ryeong’s suspicious eyes were on her, wondering why she was here again.
“Is there anything there?
More than that, what are you still doing here?”
“You…!! Why are you here…!!”
Carla’s face was filled with surprise at Hye-ryeong’s expression, who was expressing her bewildered feelings with very eerie eyes.
“I couldn’t find you in the dormitory, so I thought you might be doing this and came to find you?
Did you forget? This is the back alley.
It’s not a place for students to wander around.
Especially not the daughters of 명가. Let’s go back.”
As she became like a child caught doing something bad, Carla, who was actually caught doing something bad, tried to squeeze out words somehow.
“What are you talking about all of a sudden…?
It’s… it’s none of your business…!!”
“Why isn’t it none of my business?”
But Hye-ryeong seemed to be really worried, and she grabbed Carla’s hand.
‘Ah… she’s a strange person, but actually she’s nice……’
Carla, who was about to be slightly moved by those words, couldn’t hide the fact that her cheeks were puffing up at Hye-ryeong’s following remarks.
“I’m worried because you’re 서방님’s younger sister.
If you weren’t, I wouldn’t have even looked at you even if you were selling your body here.
Are you going to get your brother involved in gossip? Let’s go back quickly.
I will never forgive you for leaving a stain on the path 당문 is taking.”
“Yui and I can take care of ourselves…!!
And who decided that you’re 서방님!!
Not until dirt gets in my eyes…!!”
“You’re doing something that even a child wouldn’t do, so what are you talking about taking care of yourself?
Don’t waste your energy and just follow me.”
In the end, Carla, who couldn’t leave like this, and Hye-ryeong, who was trying to take her away somehow, started a tug-of-war.
Carla, who was inevitably being dragged away due to the two-step difference in body size.
“L-Let go…!!
I can’t……!!”
But something dark silver that suddenly popped out from next to Carla’s face reflected the sunlight and sparkled, and Hye-ryeong’s eyes, who had stopped trying to drag Carla away, were narrowing.
“How about taking your hands off our guest?”
Although it popped out from behind Carla, it was actually the figure of a sword aiming at her.
And the figure of someone holding the sword with blue hair fluttering slightly in the wind blowing through the window.
Hye-ryeong stopped there and began to glare at the opponent with resentful eyes.
“I’ve never thought of you as a guest either?
I hope you’ve thought about who you’re pointing a sword at?”
“It doesn’t look like it at all?
I don’t know who you are, but you know this isn’t your area.
And the policy here is to kick out guests who cause trouble.”
Hye-ryeong’s face was properly distorted as Vivian, who was not at all discouraged by Hye-ryeong’s threat, countered her words.
The reason why Hye-ryeong, who was being threatened with a sword, was still was not because she was afraid of the sword in front of her, or because she was worried about getting hurt herself.
Hye-ryeong was expressing her confidence that she could subdue the opponent in front of her without even making a single scratch on Carla, who was caught in the middle.
But to Vivian, who seemed to mistake it for recklessness.
Hye-ryeong, who had been glaring at Vivian like that, began to widen her eyes as if she was dumbfounded, with the smile on her lips completely disappearing.
“You’re just a pimp who sucks the blood of the lower ones.
Are you daring to try to teach me without knowing your place? Interesting?”
“No? I’m threatening you? You’re interfering with my business right now?
And 매 is 약 to a 년 who doesn’t know that it’s dangerous outside the blanket, even though she left home?
Are you going to quietly disappear, or are you going to get a taste of something hot? The choice is yours?”
And the atmosphere was heating up even more as Vivian’s relaxed counterattack, with the smile on her lips getting even thicker, was met with.
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