Episode 31

Idwild flinched after being slapped on the butt and said,

“Ha… hit me one more time…”

“I’m afraid you’ll pee on my shoulder, so I can’t hit you again.”

I quickly silenced her and strode up the stairs.

I threw her onto the single bed on the second floor and said,

“You can heat cold water with magic, right?”

“Yeah…”

“I’ll bring the water, so wait here.”

I scooped water from the large oak barrel behind the inn and poured it into the room’s bathtub.

As expected, Idwild waved her hand simply, and soon steam rose from the bathtub.

Seeing that amazing sight, I was seized by the urge to have a magician at the Inn.

But Idwild is a no-go.

Dark magic contaminates the surroundings.

She’s just so pitiful that I’ll let her stay for one night.

“Wash up and sleep.”

“Thank you…”

After Bertrand left, Idwild took her robe off.

The thin linen shirt she wore under the robe was soaked with sweat, making her chest visible.

She tore at the shirt clinging to her chest and struggled to take it off.

Because her chest was so large, she always struggled like this when taking her top off.

As for the bottom… she wasn’t wearing anything.

She had taken her panties off because she had wet herself in the workshop earlier.

If she had known this would happen, she would have brought a spare set of clothes…

Standing naked in front of the mirror, Idwild slowly examined her body.

Short stature, large chest that made her look clumsy, fleshy hips and thighs…

Her hair hung down messily, and her face underneath was gloomy.

Idwild recalled the fresh and lively woman she met earlier.

Wasn’t her name Hildeba…?

‘Unlike me, she’s slim and fair-skinned.

She’s tall and her brown hair is elegantly styled.

Her eyes with glasses sparkled with a kind light, and her plump lips had a healthy color like cherries.’

In comparison…

Not wanting to see herself in the mirror, Idwild quickly got into the bathtub.

“Ha… nice…”

As she soaked in the warm water, a moan involuntarily escaped her lips.

Embarrassingly, it’s been so long since she’s had a bath…

She washed her body.

She lifted her under-boob, which sweated a lot, and washed it, and she washed her hair.

She picked up the soap and smelled it, and it had the same scent as the one from that Administrator earlier.

While lathering and scrubbing her shoulders, Idwild remembered the Holy Sword that burned her shoulder in the workshop and shuddered.

It didn’t leave a physical wound, but the dark magic boiling inside her caused her immense pain.

The Holy Sword is the epitome of holy power, while dark magic is its polar opposite.

Such reactions occur when these opposing forces meet.

That’s why the Holy Sword, blessed by the Goddess, is merciless against monsters.

No monster in the world can defeat someone wielding the Holy Sword.

No matter how powerful the monster, it’s ultimately a creature of the Goddess’s world, and the Holy Sword represents the power of the master of this world.

‘But why does Bertrand still receive the Goddess’s blessing…’

He said he would retire after killing the Demon King, so he must not be a hero anymore…

When Velda’s Cursed Vine entangled Bertrand, Idwild held a fleeting hope.

She harbored a twisted hope of being able to embrace Bertrand, whom she couldn’t hold through normal means, even if it meant using the illicit power of dark magic.

But her hope crumbled without mercy.

Just as it had throughout her life.

The Goddess’s light, which warmly shines on everyone else, was nothing but frustration and despair for her.

“Bertrand…”

She remembers Bertrand, who first visited her workshop, saying he needed knowledge of dark magic.

The indifferent gaze as he looked around the workshop and his unkempt black hair from rough travels.

Bertrand had no qualms about traveling with Idwild, a dark magician.

A short time of just a few weeks.

But for her, never in her life had she spent so long with someone, nor had she had so many conversations.

Born with a cursed fate, she caused her parents’ death at a young age and has been alone ever since.

Even though Bertrand accompanied her out of necessity, for Idwild, it was precious and vital.

Attention, conversation, warmth, gaze.

All of Bertrand’s being was burned into Idwild’s mind as if seared with a branding iron.

“Bertrand…”

Idwild murmured his name gloomily, but with affection.

At the same time, she moved one hand to her chest and the other between her legs.

Her arm began a repetitive motion, causing ripples in the bathtub water.

The soap bubbles swayed and scattered with the water, and as they spread, Idwild’s face flushed more deeply.

After a while, she trembled intensely at one moment.

“Hmmph…!”

Water spilled over the bathtub.

After convulsing several times, she went limp as if all her strength had left her.

And then she whispered with a sigh,

“I… want to live here too…”

Early in the morning, Hildeba left for work, and at dawn, Della woke up to prepare for business, but Idwild still hadn’t come out.

After serving breakfast to the merchants, I went up to the room just in case.

I was worried that this gloomy dark magician might have run off during the night.

“Hey. Are you awake?”

There was no answer, so I gently turned the doorknob, and the door wasn’t locked.

Idwild was sleeping on the bed with the blanket pulled over her head.

“Get up. Eat and then sleep.”

As soon as I pulled off the blanket, I was so shocked that I quickly covered her up again.

Damn it… why is she sleeping naked?!

I looked around and found a damp shirt on the floor.

Could she possibly have no clothes either, just like with the shoes…

What kind of magician is this…

“Bertrand… don’t do this… the back isn’t ready yet…”

Idwild made some very inappropriate sleep talk under the blanket.

There’s something she needs to do before the Palling Trading Company people leave…

After some deliberation, I gently pulled the blanket and shook Idwild’s bare shoulder.

“Hey. Hey. Get up. Hey. Idi.”

Calling her nickname, Idwild groggily opened her eyes.

Through her messy black hair, her black eyes slowly turned to look at me.

Then she opened her eyes wide and grabbed the blanket.

“Oh… no…! Bertrand…! That’s where poop comes out…!”

“What are you talking about! Get up quickly!”

When I shouted, Idwild finally came to her senses and looked around inside the blanket.

“Oh… sorry… I thought it was a dream…”

“Come down, eat, then sleep. There’s something you need to do.”

“Something to do…? With clothes on, or…”

“Want to get hit on the butt with the Holy Sword?”

“Sorry…”

Leaving her behind, I went down to the first-floor hall.

Fortunately, the merchant with the Sansa around his neck was still eating in the hall.

After a while, Idwild, wearing her robe, came down covering her butt and chest.

I wondered why, but then realized she wasn’t wearing anything underneath, so she had no choice.

She circled around, avoiding the merchants as much as possible, and came to me.

“What do you need me to do…?”

“See that person over there? The one with the Sansa around his neck.”

Idwild nodded as she looked at the man.

“Remove the dark magic from that Sansa. Turn it into just a useless head decoration. Got it?”

“Yeah… got it…”

Idwild made some complex hand gestures toward the man.

“Done…”

“Are you sure? Nothing seems to have changed.”

Idwild extended her hand to me.

In her hand, a black dark magic orb about the size of a quail egg was swirling around.

“Ew, gross. Get rid of it.”

When Idwild closed her hand, the dark magic absorbed into her palm.

For a moment, black veins stood out on her hand, then faded away.

“Dark magic is really… disgusting…”

Anyway, now that merchant won’t die a horrible death in a few years.

Staying at this inn was a huge stroke of luck for him.

To avoid misfortune, he carried a talisman of misfortune, and the one who made it removed its power, allowing him to finally avoid misfortune.

“Do you want to eat?”

“I don’t… have money…”

“I’ll give it to you for free.”

“Then I’ll eat…”

Idwild sat on a round stool at the bar without a backrest.

But her butt was so big that the stool seemed too small, so she kept shifting around.

I gave her a plate heaped with bread, chorizo sausage, and fried eggs, and asked,

“Are you starting the statue today? How long will it take?”

“About a week…”

“Why so long?”

Idwild hesitated to answer and avoided my gaze.

I realized she was lying.

“See that?”

Idwild shrank when she saw the Holy Sword hanging on the wall behind me.

“S… sorry… it’ll be done by tonight…”

I handed her a pouch of gold coins I had prepared in advance.

“An advance payment.”

Idwild took the coins out from the pouch and counted them.

It took her a long time just to count ten coins.

“Ten coins… correct…”

As she put the coins back in the pouch, Idwild suddenly burst into tears.

Big teardrops fell one by one onto the gold coins.

“Why are you crying again? I gave you money?”

“Oh my? Why are you crying, Miss?”

Della, seeing Idwild for the first time this morning, was startled and rushed over.

“Miss, why are you crying so sadly?”

Della consoled Idwild with a gentle voice and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

“Boss. Why did you make her cry?”

“I didn’t make her cry, she just started crying suddenly.”

“That can’t be.”

Della looked at me with a baffled expression.

I thought about making an excuse, but it seemed like it would just prolong the conversation, so I stopped.

Seeing Idwild crying while clutching the gold coins in both hands looked so pathetic.

Why does she look so pitiful…

After she stopped crying and forced herself to eat breakfast, Idwild went outside and didn’t come back until sunset.

Looking out the window, I saw her wandering around the vacant lot I planned to use as a parking area, doing something.

She strongly warned me not to go near the area, so I couldn’t even bring her lunch and had to watch her work from here.

In the evening, another group of people came to the inn.

I was busy serving and attending to them, so I forgot about Idwild for a while.

After the meal was over and people went up to their rooms, Idwild finally came through the inn’s door.

“It’s done… come and see…”

I followed her across the road to the vacant lot.

The vacant lot didn’t look particularly special at first glance.

Since it’s magic, it might be something invisible.

“Where’s the statue?”

“There…”

Idwild pointed to the middle of the lot.

As the sun set behind the Buern Mountains, casting shadows over the lot, a white marble statue stood.

Seeing that, I was seriously bewildered.

“What… what is that…”