## Chapter 157 – 157. Bella and Grace
#157. Bella and Grace
Having escaped the city guard’s encirclement, I ran through the streets shrouded in darkness. Thanks to knocking out all the guards, there was no pursuit.
Most of the city was as silent as a graveyard, but the lights of the main street remained on.
I quickly dashed through the alleyways and arrived at a certain building.
The sign on the building read “Elmar Merchant Guild.”
*Clang*, I opened the door, and a small bell greeted me. Of course, the inside of the building was dark and quiet.
It was long past closing time, so there was no way any employees would be left.
‘If they were normal employees, that is.’
This was a slave market. Smaller in scale than the auction house, but it had a prison in the basement and slaves to manage.
There had to be people to manage and watch them 24 hours a day.
“A customer this late at night.”
I deliberately made some noise, and then a man with a swaggering attitude walked out from the corner of the store.
We were acquainted; he was the man I had encountered when I visited this place last time.
“Unless it’s really urgent, just go back… Huh?!”
“Call the guild master.”
The man’s face turned pale in an instant when he saw my face.
He probably heard some warning about being careful from the guild master.
The man fumbled around, then hurriedly went upstairs.
*Thud, thud!*
“O-Oh, you’ve come?”
Before long, the guild master, Elmar, came down. Judging by his haggard appearance, he hadn’t gone home and was waiting for me.
Or maybe he heard about the commotion at the auction house.
I followed him upstairs to the reception room. It was larger than the reception room at the auction house, but the overall interior and furniture were far inferior.
Well, if a mere merchant’s building was more splendid than an auction house run directly by the lord, that would be seen as a challenge to the lord’s authority, so he was probably being careful.
“Y-You’ve returned early. How did it go… Did you achieve what you desired…”
I lightly snapped my fingers in front of the bowing guild master.
*Whoosh*, a large fireball bloomed above my finger.
The guild master’s pupils began to tremble slightly, as if he felt the heat through his skin.
“W-Why the magic all of a sudden…?”
“Which do you prefer, burning or being electrocuted?”
“…Huh?”
The guild master wore a blank expression, as if he didn’t understand what I was saying for a moment.
But soon, he looked at my face once more and seemed to grasp the situation, and he began to sweat profusely.
*Thump!* The guild master slammed his head on the table.
“P-Please spare me! I won’t tell anyone about the magician!”
“You want to live?”
“Yes, yes!!”
At first, I was going to kill him. I couldn’t let a slave trader who had the intention of kidnapping Iris live, whether he was helpful or not.
But if he was still useful, I thought it might be okay to let him live a little longer.
“There’s a maid named Laura at the auction house. Return her to her family.”
“Huh? What do you mean…”
“You can refuse if you don’t want to.”
*Crackle*, high-voltage sparks flew above the palm of my other hand.
The guild master swallowed hard and forced a smile.
“H-Haha, how could I refuse? I’m just happy about the magician’s generous disposition!”
“That’s fortunate.”
I stared intently at the guild master. No matter how I looked at him, he had the face of a rat. It was absurd to trust anything to a guy like that in the first place.
Of course, I didn’t think he would cooperate willingly with just threats from the start.
Violence is closer than the law, but unfortunately, it doesn’t reach far.
‘I’m glad the store reset.’
I opened my inventory and took out a small book.
It was not only covered in black, but it also had an ominous aura.
*Ding-*
[Information about the newly acquired item is being collected]
[Lelia’s Little Key
Rank: Epic
A magic book containing everything about the cursed witch Lelia.
Understanding of curses increases.
The power of curses increases.
Resistance to curses increases.]
The cursed witch Lelia.
It was definitely a name I was hearing for the first time, but the contents of the book were real.
1,300 coins weren’t a waste at all.
People who don’t know much about magic sometimes misunderstand curses as black magic, but surprisingly, curses weren’t black magic.
Of course, it was true that black magicians favored it, but curses were clearly one of the magic types that belonged to the regular course of the Magic Tower.
However, like Iris, I wasn’t very interested in curse magic, so I didn’t learn it separately.
In the first place, magicians can deal with curses to some extent thanks to the mana circle, so there’s no need to learn it.
But if violence is the only means, like now, I can’t help but use it.
It was a really short time, but thanks to the app’s buffs and the book’s understanding effect, learning basic curses wasn’t that difficult.
“I’m going to curse you now.”
“…Huh?”
“You didn’t think I’d let you live without any insurance, did you?”
“…”
“Well, you don’t have to worry too much. If you keep your promise, the curse won’t be activated.”
The two curses I was going to cast on him were the Curse of Growth and the Curse of Erosion.
The Curse of Growth, as the name suggests, meant a curse that grows.
It was a living curse that gradually plundered the cursed person’s magic power and strengthened its own effect. If you only heard the explanation, you might think there was such a grand curse in the world, but in fact, the Curse of Growth was only the most basic.
In the beginning, it was weak enough to be removed with weak divine power, and it took a lot of time to harm the opponent.
Would you believe it if I said it would take nearly half a year to kill just one ordinary person who can’t even handle magic power?
That’s why there’s the Curse of Erosion for that.
A smokescreen to buy time for the Curse of Growth to grow.
“The name of the curse I’m casting on you is the Curse of Erosion. Even if you just think about doing something against my will, you’ll be followed by extreme pain, and in the end, it will even take your life.”
There’s something called jujutsu in Japan. It’s a technique with a system separate from magic, but surprisingly, curses and jujutsu have some things in common.
One of them is revelation (啓示), the more clearly the effects of the curse are revealed to the cursed person, the more the power of the curse increases.
“Keep in mind. Keep your promise, don’t harm Laura and those around her, don’t handle elf slaves, and finally, don’t move to undo the curse.”
“…I will keep that in mind.”
The process of setting the activation conditions for the curse was tricky, but I was able to succeed somehow thanks to the book.
Its performance as an artifact was also excellent, but the true value of ‘Lelia’s Little Key’ lay in its value as a book.
If the contents of this book were announced in the magic world, all the textbooks for curse-related classes would be rewritten, so there’s no need to say more.
Of course, it’s not something I, a novice, can easily discuss, but it was definitely an excellent book in every way, so much so that it was chillingly outstanding.
Anyway, I left the Curse of Erosion on the guild master’s forearm and the Curse of Growth next to his shoulder blade, which could only be seen if you looked closely.
“I-Is it over…?”
“Do I have to activate the curse once for you to believe me?”
“N-No!!”
“By the way, I attended with an invitation issued in the name of the Elmar Merchant Guild, and I turned the auction house upside down. Is that okay?”
This wasn’t a word to worry about the guild master.
It was just to prevent the foolish act of signing a contract without knowing that the car I had chosen was a flood-damaged car.
“D-Don’t worry about that part. In the past, there have been several times when people disguised as guests attacked the auction house. Fortunately, each time, the lord generously overlooked it if we ‘donated’ in the name of restoration costs.”
“You’re replacing the price of three elves and the lives of the guards with just that?”
“…”
The guild master was silent with a sullen expression. He seemed to have a card to negotiate with the lord.
Well, I had confirmed that it wasn’t a flood-damaged car, so it was none of my business anymore.
*Slurp*, I took a sip of the black tea that the guild master had brought out.
*Clang!*
I threw the teacup down without saying a word.
“M-Magician?!”
“Guild master.”
The guild master’s complexion, as well as his lips, turned blue with the murderous intent that filled the reception room.
“The black tea is not good.”
“…Ah.”
The guild master blankly stared at the broken teacup and the stained floor.
“For your information, my magic power has penetrated deep into your body. Even if you succeed in undoing the curse, it’s easy to find out your location, so keep that in mind.”
“…I will keep that in mind.”
“And tell Laura that the black tea was delicious. After tasting that bitter trash you brewed, I miss it even more.”
“…”
With those words, I left the guild building.
***
The reason I helped Laura was simply on a whim, nothing more and nothing less.
In the first place, slavery is a deeply rooted culture in this world.
Just like the saying, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do,” I have no intention of doing anything grand like the Slave Liberation Front.
I just didn’t want to watch a woman I liked live as a slave.
But I didn’t like buying her as a slave even more.
‘She’ll live well on her own. I told him to provide financial support so she can live with her family.’
With that, I erased everything about Laura from my mind and headed north to join Iris.
It was late, so of course the city gates were tightly closed. Of course, it wasn’t impossible to get over them.
Using the surrounding buildings, I jumped over the city walls in an instant and left the city, then immediately chased after Iris’s magic power.
The traces of magic power led to the Great Forest.
It was a distance that took several hours during the day, but it wouldn’t take more than a few minutes to run at full power.
As I approached the entrance of the Great Forest, I felt a familiar presence.
“Hyunwoo-nim!”
Iris must have felt my presence, as she came out to greet me.
Sylvia and the elf mother and daughter were also there.
They seemed to be resting by a fire in a suitable place.
Of course, Sylvia glared at me as if she was displeased, but the others didn’t.
The elf mother and daughter, who were warming themselves by the campfire, carefully got up from their seats and approached me.
“T-Thank you…”
“Thank you…”
The two bowed carefully. The more mature person was probably the mother, and the person with a fresher feeling was probably the daughter.
The youngest-looking girl was very shy and only peeked out from behind the elf who seemed to be her mother.
Fortunately, all three seemed to be free from the effects of the drug.
“I’m glad you seem to be safe.”
I took out a blanket and some simple food from my inventory.
The mother and daughter ate the prepared food deliciously, as if they were hungry. It was a bit strange to see an elf eating meat.
Iris watched the scene with a happy expression while drinking green tea.
“Aren’t you going to eat?”
“…I’m fine.”
I tried talking to Sylvia, who was sitting right next to Iris, but all I got in return was a cynical answer.
“Honorifics? Didn’t you speak informally earlier?”
“…How can I lower my words to the person who Iris-nim has acknowledged as her partner and who will become the Pelledia’s royal consort?”
Even though she said that, her expression and momentum were extremely fierce.
The way she endured her anger without even giving me a glance was quite impressive.
Well, there will be plenty of time in the future, so there’s no need to provoke her.
We ate a late dinner with the sound of insects as background music.
When it was time to go to bed.
“Um, Hyunwoo-nim.”
“Hmm?”
“I was wondering if it would be okay for Sylvia and I to leave for a while to talk about things we haven’t been able to talk about.”
Iris, who had undone her transformation magic, approached me. Behind her, Sylvia stood like a puppy waiting for her owner’s touch.
“Of course, go ahead. Should I wait?”
I only had a vague guess about the exact relationship between the two, and I didn’t know anything exactly.
Maybe they were queen and bodyguard.
Of course, they may have been closer than that in reality.
It wouldn’t be strange to want to reunite as soon as possible.
“You can go to sleep first. It seems like it will take a while.”
I lightly hugged Iris and sent her off.
The two were already eager to talk, as they headed into the forest while having various conversations.
‘…I’ll have to chase after them if they go too far.’
I had left my magic power on Iris’s body while hugging her.
If Iris wasn’t wearing the seal, she would have noticed, but she didn’t seem to know now.
This was insurance in case of an emergency.
Iris seemed to trust Sylvia, but I was meeting her for the first time.
‘…There’s no way I can completely trust her.’
Of course, that didn’t mean I was just suspicious.
It was just that the attack during the Cheonyeohwa incident came to mind, and I reacted sensitively without realizing it.
‘Three tents should be enough.’
One for me and Iris, one for Sylvia, and one for the elf mother and daughter.
The tent sizes were large enough, so it wouldn’t be uncomfortable because it was too small.
Before long, the tent installation was completed.
“The three of you can sleep here. If you have any discomfort, please tell me anytime.”
“Not only did you save us, but you even did this for us… Thank you so much…!”
“Thank you!”
As I listened to the two’s words of gratitude, I was about to enter the tent first when.
*Tug, tug*, I felt a hand pulling on my coat.
When I turned my head, there was a little girl standing there. It was Mia, the youngest daughter of the elf mother and daughter.
She had only looked at me while eating, and she hadn’t said a word.
“What’s wrong?”
“Th, tha…”
“Hmm?”
I couldn’t hear what she was saying, so I bent down for a moment, and at that moment, something rushed at me.
*Chu!*
“Thank you for saving us, oppa!”
The elf girl who kissed me on the cheek immediately ran into the tent.
I was sure it had been a day with a lot of consumption of stamina, magic power, and mental strength, but strangely, I felt like I had strength.
‘…Ellie would be angry if she knew?’
Of course, I was definitely not a lolicon.
The two apologized to me repeatedly, as if they hadn’t expected the youngest daughter’s actions, but I said it was okay because I hadn’t done anything wrong and entered the tent.
Thanks to the kiss, I had strength, but I couldn’t help that my body was heavy.
But I couldn’t fall into a deep sleep in order to keep an eye on Iris. I closed my eyes while awakening some nerves in my brain with magic power.
How long had it been?
*Rustle*, I felt a presence nearby.
Fortunately, it wasn’t an enemy attack.
“What’s wrong?”
“Ah…”
“Oh…”
When I slightly raised my body, Bella, the mother of the two elf sisters who had secretly entered the tent, and Grace, the eldest daughter, were flustered.
“If you’re uncomfortable sleeping…”
“Th, that’s not it…”
“Then…?”
Grace couldn’t say anything and only blushed, and Bella quietly took a deep breath and took off the robe she was wearing.
*Swish*, fair skin that you wouldn’t think belonged to a woman who had given birth to two children was revealed.
Of course, she wasn’t naked. She was wearing the thin clothes she had been wearing when she was trapped in the underground prison.
If I were to choose clothes similar to that in modern times, the lingerie that came down to the thighs would be the closest.
“…I know it’s rude, but could you please give us a chance to repay the grace of saving our mother and daughter?”
