#40: Episode 4: Twilight (10) — Try Again, Villainess?

◃'◤⌌ Kairen’s POV⌍◢╨▹.

“Corin? What did you put in this?” I felt something wrong the instant the water flowed down my throat.

“Huh? Is there anything wrong with the water? I added a little bit of cinnamon because I heard it was good for health. Uh…could it have already gone bad?” Looks like she genuinely didn’t know…?

‘I know Cinnamon is supposed to be spicy but why does it taste off?’

I looked over to Lowe and Glenn who had drank the cinnamon-laced water as I did. Their expression seemed to say that it tastes spicy.

Lowe invited Corin to join us for game night, a staple routine we have been having ever since we decided for all three of us to sleep together in this room.

For Lowe, she thought it was more comfortable to be in the presence of someone than to be alone, so the past few days, she slept with us in the same room. However, with only two beds, I could only take the floor ever since that incident I had with Glenn. I’d rather die than to sleep on the same bed as him.

Corin grabbed my glass, turned it to the opposite side where my lips had touched, and tried a few sips.

“H-Hey…” What the hell was she doing? I almost thought that was an indirect kiss.

“M-Maybe it’s not to your taste? I-It seems fine to me though… do you want another drink instead?” Corin spoke nervously.

“No. It’s alright.”

After the talk with Ms. Primillia earlier in the morning, I decided that it wasn’t apt to keep waiting around for things to happen.

So I confronted Croin directly with the threat that there would be no cake for her if she didn’t confess, and she opened up to the truth.

A suspicious vial containing a suspicious grey liquid. She had already passed the potion to me, that which YiLin took to Primillia to analyse. The result of what the potion was hadn’t been revealed yet.

‘Still. What is this unnerving feeling? As if something is wrong here?’

In the end, I decided to not drink any more of the water.

“Kairen, what game should we play tonight?” Lowe pulled out the stack of board and card games from underneath her bed.

“Huhh… definitely not the fiefdom one.”

“Okay. Fiefdom Lords it is.”

Did I not just say I didn't want to play that?!

Resigned to follow the Saintess’ every order, the four of us band together to play a game of emotional abuse.

It was all fun and games with me surprisingly turning the tables and getting my revenge on Lowe—

… When my suspicion was later proven when the clock struck midnight.

We were finishing up the last game when suddenly everyone was seized by a strong fatigue. Corin was the first to go, followed by Glenn and Lowe.

I bit my tongue to stay awake and responded by circulating my mana in the reverse direction of blood flow.

The blight in my bloodstream had likely suppressed the effect of whatever substance was working in me. And following that, the decontamination spell completely removed it from my system.

‘Damn it. I knew it.’

The drowsiness was still subtly present, however I was no longer feeling the urge to simply pass out.

The potency of the poison was incredibly strong. Even the passive destructive properties of blight didn’t completely get rid of it.

Regaining my footing, I got up and grabbed my sword leaning nearby.

Just then, I saw Corin’s body twitch, followed by Lowe and Glenn. Then suddenly, they opened their lifeless eyes and stood right up.

“Black magic my fucking ass.”

Corin walked to the door and attempted to leave by pulling against the handle. Unfortunately for her, I had already sealed it with earth magic.

Noticing that the door wouldn’t budge, she turned to me.

“Why are you not affected?” Corin spoke aloud, her round glasses gleamed eerily.

“So the magic can even do this huh?” It seems the victim’s ego can be utilised by the magic to allow a degree of autonomy.

“In that case…” Corin turned to Glenn as if provoking a signal.

He nodded, calmly walked up to me. I readied my sword locked in its sheath in case I needed to knock him out using the blunt force.

Yet he didn’t attack. Instead, he brought his hands around my back and… gave me a gentle hug.

Feeling the oddly comforting warmth of his soft body, my mind froze.

“Ah fuck… fuck, fuck…!’

The traumatic memories all came flooding back.

I didn’t realise what was happening until I saw Corin break out of the room with Lowe in tow.

‘Bitch! You’re using this trap to hold me down!’

I tried to pry myself out of Glenn’s hold which was tighter than a strip jacket.

“Damn it Glenn! You leave me no choice, you pervert!”

Like a certain rat from a monster catching anime, I discharged electricity from my body.

Glenn’s body tensed up, relaxed then fell to the ground.

“Sorry.” I quickly adjusted his posture on the bed then ran out to catch Lowe and Corin.

I dug my pocket and realised that the communication device Ms. Primillia gave me wasn’t there.

‘Damn, did I drop it back there?’

A mana shockwave was sent out to find their location.

Regardless, priority first would be trying to figure out where they went.

Following the route I immediately recognised that they were headed straight for Eugene’s office.

I climbed the tower, realising that I had arrived at the moment the door had shut behind them.

I didn’t hesitate to exercise violence. Smashing through the door with my shoulders…I was greeted with an empty room.

‘What…? Where the hell did they go…?’

I sent out another burst of mana… to learn that indeed there was absolutely no one in this room.

I was thinking of asking Ms. Primllia for help when I saw Glenn enter the office with his lifeless eyes.

He ignored me and walked towards a full body mirror located at the corner of the grimly lit room.

He walked right through his own reflection, the glass surface rippled like mercury.

“Huh?” What the fuck did I just see?

I walked up to the mirror and placed my hand on it. A ripple spread from where my hands touched, the sensation felt more like soft foil than water.

Is this kind of teleportation magic even possible?

Feeling the sinking sensation of my fingers, and the air current on the other side, I crossed the space.

I found myself standing in an underground basement-like dungeon… and behind prison bars. Glenn and Corin were stuck in the cell together with me. Meanwhile Lowe was outside, standing obediently beside—him.

“I’m glad you came.” The dark magician, Eugene said.

“Same here—” I drew my blade.

Coating my sword with a layer of aura, I slashed against the metal bars.

“What…” To my surprise, the sword was deflected completely.

Did he reinforce this with magic? I slashed a few times more to realise that a ‘slip-rebound’ wind magic was in effect, preventing contact between my sword and the surface.

“Trespassing an office of a tower mage without permission, especially a person like you, can be subjected to court. What do you think you were trying to steal?” Eugene questioned with a probing eye.

“What? You should look at yourself in the mirror. What the hell do you plan to do with the Saint?” I could only be confused by the intangible question he posed.

“I see. So you must be her guardian. That explains your quick wittedness.”

I discharged lighting through the gaps of the bars. I felt an usually heavy impression when the spell was cast, and the output of the lightning was severely lacking. Punching an invisible barrier, a runic pulse spread throughout my surroundings.

‘Ah… is this karma?’

I realised that I was stuck in a barrier operating by the same principle as the cage I had placed YiLin in.

A type of engineering magic that one: absorbed the caster’s mana; and two: created a mana void zone. It turns any magic we used into its fuel source, strengthening its barrier and rendering any discharge-type magic useless.

Eugene glanced at me once. Saying nothing more, he left with Lowe following in tow.

—Crunch.

“Huh?” I turned around to that foreboding sound.

Seeing Corin, under her foot was the communication device Primillia had given me.

‘Well. This is just fucked.’

I felt like punching myself. I didn’t even realise when she had stolen it or how she even knew.

“Huh? W-Where is this? W-Wha…! What did I just break?!” Then right on cue, Corin awoke from her trance, and began panicking.

“It’s a prison.” Glenn too regained his consciousness in that instance, muttering a comment as if unperturbed by the sudden change of scenery.

“N-N-No…! Don’t tell me I… I…!” Corin suddenly paled, realising that she had been the one who caused this.

“Kairen, what happened?” Glenn asked with a rarely seen serious expression.

“Everyone was drugged.” I answered.

“Is that so?” Funnily enough, Glenn titled his head as if not surprised. Then digging his sleeve, he pulled out the anti-blight potion I made earlier in the day and swallowed the jelly-like contents.

In a way, the anti-blight potion was effective against most general slow acting poisons.

‘Since I could decontaminate myself of the effect, I’d say the antidote should also work for them.’

In a way, the anti-blight potion was no different from lending someone else my bloodline ability for a short duration.

“Circulate your mana.” I added.

Corin too quickly drank her potion. Her complexion didn’t look too good, all teary and guilt ridden.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry… I’m sorry! I-I never do things right uwuwuwuwuwu…!” She began crying.

“You didn’t do it on purpose.” Glenn got down to her height and consoled her. Meanwhile, he kept glancing at me wondering what our next plan was.

I glanced at the broken device and sighed. Crying over spilt milk wouldn’t help.

I decided to begin with an assessment of our situation. I pushed my hands through the bars, it stopped when it came into contact with the runic barrier. I could subtly feel the pull of my mana towards some direction.

‘I can’t use blight.’

If it came into contact with this absorption barrier, it would definitely break. But, I risk corrupting the main mana source powering the barrier, which could lead to an even bigger issue.

‘Then something else…’

Since this barrier only ate magic that was discharge-based, then an enchantment-type would be most effective. But what enchantment-type magic would be effective against that slippery wind?

Recalling an unpleasant memory of the past, I grabbed my sword and started carving the ground.

⌌✧ ⫺⪼▫◆▫⪻⫹ ✧⌍

A speck of dust fell on her nose. Lowe blinked, feeling as if she had just woken up.

She grabbed her head, unable to understand why she was standing upright.

A massive underground dome with various unknown instruments and black obelisks. On top of those obelisks stood odd sculptures, most made of thick twisted metal, some made of organic resin. There were also empty vats filled with strange glowing liquid which smelled oddly sweet like grape, unused but well maintained.

The air was cool, but the sterile atmosphere gave the space an eerie sense of isolation.

Realising that this wasn’t the comfy bedroom she knew, she was startled.

And she wasn’t alone in this space either.

“Are you awake?”

Lowe focused her eyes and saw the appearance of a man. Messy black hair hanging down, and a haggard look and with panda eyes.

She recalled who he was—Corin’s mentor. The one whom the frightened girl revealed to have some kind of scheme behind their backs.

The fact that Lowe had been brought here, did this mean Corin had betrayed them?

That wasn’t it, it couldn’t be. She had confessed no? So how did it happen?

She thought back to Kairen’s suspicion—the cinnamon-laced water.

First things first, she needed to deploy some kind of diversion to drink the antidote Kairen…

“I hadn’t planned to do this so brazenly. I apologise for this unforgivable rudeness.” Eugene enunciated each syllable with utmost respect. “However, Saintess, I must ask you for a favour, as Glenn’s friend.”

With the polite speech, Lowe was thrown into a brief confusion. Glenn’s friend? What did he mean? Was this some kind of deception? Should she run or listen to what he has to say?

“I promise I have no intentions to harm. I merely require your assistance with this.” Eugene walked up to a clothed object. Pulling the fabric away, what revealed underneath was a glass coffin. He gently stroked the frame.

Lowe downed the potion in that brief moment he revealed the object of interest. It didn’t seem like he was particularly bothered by what Lowe had drank.

“Come here.”

“Huh?” Lowe’s body moved on its own. Yet she could feel the control loosening albeit gradually. It would seem that it’d take some time for the antidote to take effect.

“This.” Eugene pointed to the ‘person’ inside the coffin.

“…!”

It was a corpse—as if frozen in time, it was the body of a lady whose white skin looked as healthy as the day she had died.

Faint traces of dried blood clung to her pale lips, dusk-red specks accenting the snowy white of her dress. Her pearl-jade hair shimmered with a soft lustre, as though spun from moonlight and iridescent sea foam. There was an almost dreamlike quality to her—so much so that, if not for the clean bisection of head and body, Lowe might have thought she was simply asleep

This woman, Lowe thought, resembled a certain someone…

“My fiance. I want to wake her up.” Eugene mourned. He turned to Lowe.“And to do so, I believe your magic is required.”

Lowe’s body shook. “You’re saying…”

“If you have any remorse for a friend whose mother is still here, I beg of you, please lend me your strength.”