EP: 78
The Black Wizards were doing everything in their power to construct the monster moat, but they faced several problems.
“Pull it properly!! Don’t back off…! don’t get scared… Aaah!!”
One of the black wizards, who was struggling to pull the rope to capture the corrupted Lakerta, freaked out and stepped back when the tail of the rampaging creature touched his cheek. He shot a flame and killed it. Again, they failed to capture the monster alive.
Muriel sighed at the flame clearly too huge to catch a small lizard. Indeed… the black wizards were too skittish. In addition to being afraid of monsters, they were also disgusted by them. Wizards using demons and monsters as their subordinates was a widely-known story, but the rumour was laughable.
“Sigh… No, this won’t work. Let’s try with a smaller monster.”
The wizard, who killed the Lakerta monster without even getting close to the construction site, wiped off his sweat and spoke. He still shivered as he rubbed his arms, unable to calm down.
Finding something smaller… Lakerta was already small. Lakerta was a type of reptile that lived by devouring small spirits that weren’t too fierce, primarily insects and fruits. Even though it became a bit fiercer after turning into a monster, finding a creature that was even milder than the usually mild Lacerta wouldn’t be as easy as one might think.
A whopping three black mages had just rushed in to capture the small Lakerta monster alive. Considering that Auguste alone captured dozens of massive monsters a day, their work efficiency was pitiful and terrible.
But she didn’t think it was fair to blame the black wizards. It was true that capturing demons was more challenging than simply killing them. It required boldness, skill, and overwhelming power to capture them alive.
Muriel once again realized the monstrous strength of August and Kaiton. She hadn’t fully grasped how difficult it was until she saw ordinary wizards struggling so much. It made her appreciate just how great the two were.
Sigh… maybe she should’ve just left it up to them?
Muriel, with regret creeping in, approached Debbie, who was squatting on the moat.
“Another reinforcement, huh?”
The design for the maat had already been completed, but Debi couldn’t keep her hands off from improving and reinforcing it. This mainly because the skeleton of the moat frequently cracked or was being damaged. There was also the issue of the structure corroding due to the monsters’ venom. However, despite all that, the moat was still only half-finished, which posed a threat to future stability.
“Oh… It’s nothing too big. I’m done.”
Debbie dodged giving the answer and subtly covered the magic circle she was working on with her body. Even though Muriel couldn’t see it, judging by Debbie’s attitude, it seemed the problem wasn’t as small as she said.
Muriel narrowed her eyes fiercely and questioned Debbie.
“Hmm… Is there a design issue?”
“No… No way!! Absolutely not!! August said it was a good design too!”
“Then, is it a problem because our construction ability is a mess?”
“…It’s because the materials are lousy… Like I said, we need something stronger than steel…”
Debbie’s voice, lacking confidence, gradually retreated inward. At that moment, beneath his feet, the cover moat rattled and vibrated. It was because the monster trapped inside, desperate to escape, was pushing against the cover with its entire body.
When Muriel looked at Debbie flinching in surprise, Debbie sweated as if she felt unfair.
“Um, just… surprised?”
“Yeah. It’s not like I’m hurt, just surprised.”
In fact, Debbie was just as skittish as the other wizards, if not more so. Whenever she worked on site, she was so nervous that she crouched pitifully. She constantly spewed out snide remarks, trying not to show any weakness, but her trembling and nervousness betrayed her, making her look like a pitiful squirrel. Just like that, she was also like a stupidly curious wizard that couldn’t leave the walnut tree even when it was crawling with snakes. Muriel sighed softly as she looked at Debbie’s hunched shoulders and bent back, which had been stooped for so long.
“The truth is, this is my first time… I can’t help it… I can’t be good at everything, you know! If only I had good workers and tapahite, I could have done better!”
Debbie… after agonizing for a bit, she finally admitted her shortcomings. She even frowned her brows in frustration and even tried to act tough.
Cute… Muriel could understand why Pacio was compared to passion when she looked at her. She poured out her energy and burned herself up, all to become better at magic, to make a better moat. Looking at her like that, Muriel could feel something hot soaring and stirring inside her, something she wouldn’t have felt if she had only seen Kaiton and August, who used pacio as comfortably as they breathed.
Indeed, it was a good decision to entrust the construction of the moat to the Black Wizards, even though they were slow and clumsy.
“Well… how could we be satisfied with everything from the beginning? We should continue to improve until we can.”
Once again, Muriel, filled with courage thanks to Debbie, hid her happiness and spoke with her head held high, like she was trying to be generous. Debbie turned her head as if her pride had been hurt and walked away. Looking at her stubborn back, it was a signal to not talk to her anymore because she was busy working.
“Debbie! Debbie, look at this!!”
At that moment, Sadie came running with her usual energy and shouted loudly. In her hand was a butterfly hanging from a string, with one wing even larger than its body.
Debbie, who seemed like she would never turn back, glanced sideways. Debbie was reserved and stubborn, but she never showed that side to Sadie. When Muriel once asked her about the reason, Debbie replied firmly, “You shouldn’t show your back to a crazy dog. If it’s a fight where you have to shed blood anyway, minimizing injuries is the best option.” Debbie trembled as if she was reminded of some suffering, but Muriel secretly laughed. It was because she thought that Sadie, who ran towards Debbie like an excited puppy, and Debbie, who silently endured with a tired expression, were a perfect match.
“Why did you bring that? That’s not a monster.”
“Look at this! You don’t know it? it’s a dream butterfly!!”
Sadie’s eyes sparkled with excitement as she smiled insidiously. Even after she’d narrowly escaped a life-threatening situation after falling into the lake, Sadie showed no sign of being discouraged or scared. Rather, she seemed satisfied after seeing Debbie crying because she thought she was hurt.
Sadie wasn’t that scared at all… or maybe she didn’t have any fear at all. Among the Black Wizards, she was the only one who didn’t fear monsters. However, she didn’t contribute much. She was rather sluggish in her work, only focusing on observing rare materials and spirits that couldn’t be found in the plateau while wandering around the territory. Still, her fellow wizards had no complaints. They even cheered when she slacked off. The reason was that she only caused accidents when she was present.
“Let’s try this.”
“Are you crazy?! Why would you do something dangerous like that?”
Debbie jumped up in disgust, and even backed away as if she was afraid of being caught by Sadie.
“What’s that?”
Debbie’s slightly embarrassed attitude was unusual, so Muriel asked, and Sadie responded with a sly smile.
“Do you want to try, Captain? Dream butterflies show the person you like the most.”
“Ah…”
Why did Sadie’s words make Kaiton’s face come to mind…
Muriel’s face was suddenly burning for no reason, so she frowned and rubbed her forehead. She still hadn’t gotten the blue talismans back from Kai. She had tried to get them back, worried about the ominous dream, but now even that effort had come to a halt.
“I thought you meant ‘kiss me’.”
Every time she asked him to return the earring, the war of nerves somehow led to a kiss. Fierce kisses, as if they were devouring each other. After Kaiton started associating the word “earring” with a kiss, she couldn’t even bring herself to ask for the earring anymore.
Even though you want to kiss me, you like me, you always make excuses. When I’m not the one who wants to kiss.. I’m really not…
Muriel, thinking of Kaiton, casually licked her lips. They were neat and smooth without a single scratch. Kaiton left his mark every time, but Muriel quickly used healing magic. It was only natural that she should do so, but if she felt a sense of regret for no reason… yes, that was probably an illusion. It was clearly only because Kaiton walked around with his disgracefully torn lips without letting her heal them and that made her unsatisfied.
“Really… shows the person you like?”
“It’s a matter of life and death for some people, isn’t it? Do you want to try, Captain? It’s not that dangerous. Just meeting the person you like in a dream… Hehehe, things like this… Fufu. Those kinds of things… Fufu… It’s just something really nice… That’s all. Once our subconscious desires go away, the dream butterfly quietly leaves the dream.”
Sady’s ominous laughter was disturbing, but it was tempting. Did she really like Kaiton? Of course, the kisses felt good. Every time she was swept away, she forgot about the earring and hugged Kaiton’s neck so… It was also true that she had special feelings for Kaiton. However, to think she liked him… it wasn’t something to accept so easily.
“…Should I?”
Could she say her feelings toward Kaiton were affection? Isn’t love supposed to be softer, cuter, and more fluffy? The emotions she felt towards Kaiton were far from those things.
More… intense, fiery.. Like it was boiling hot, and nervousness… Yes, it was exactly like a kiss with him. A desire to snatch each other away without giving a moment to catch their breath. Like stupidly drinking seawater while knowing it only makes you more thirsty. Wouldn’t it be harmful if the more they touched, the more her nervousness and greed stirred up endlessly? Could she package something like that with cute words like ‘I like him’?
Debbie’s roar awakened Muriel, who was recalling her kiss with Kaiton again like he was possessed.
“Snap out of it!! Are you both crazy?! A dream butterfly is also a monstrous spirit! People who can’t even handle water spirits are trying to mess with them? Stop it right now.”
“Oh my. Debbie… Are you that worried about me? Hehe. Then you can personally take care of these things… those things… for me… Then I won’t need dream butterflies anymore…”
“This… This… You shameless pervert… What are you saying, really…!”
As Sadie groaned and squirmed, Debbie grimaced and decisively snatched the rope connected to the dream butterfly from Sadie’s hand. Then, without giving Sadie a chance to stop her, she opened the lid of the moat and threw the dream butterfly in the middle of the monsters.
“Ah!”
Sadie let out a scream and fell to her knees in frustration.
“Ugh… Debbie… You…!! Do you know how precious that dream butterfly is? The people of the kingdom are waiting for it with dreams and hope… And you just threw it into hell…”
“Hmph…! It’s not dreams and hopes, but lust and greed. Don’t underestimate the dream butterfly. If you mess up, you will be trapped forever in the unconscious world created by the dream butterfly, unable to come out.”
Debbie, though afraid that Sadie might rush in and get angry at her, stood her ground without backing down.
“That only happens when the dream butterfly is in danger of dying…! I wanted to make the dream butterfly my familiar and be together for a very, very long time…! Why would you kill it?”
“Fam… Ha! Familiar…?! Bringing a dream spirit as your familiar?! You pervert!!”
Debbie thoughtfully screamed at Sadie’s statement when she expressed her desire to make a contract and be together with the dream butterfly forever. Sadie, gazing affectionately at the dream butterfly, fluttering desperately to evade the approaching monsters, responded wistfully.
“If you want, I can tell you everything, but… you probably wouldn’t want to know…”
Muriel looked down at the dream butterfly with a hint of disappointment. Now that it had fallen into the clutches of the monsters in the moat, the dream butterfly would soon lose its colors and undergo a transformation into a monster. It became impossible to know who the dream butterfly would show her.
“I wanted to know…”
