Chapter : 14
Once again, today, Maryhen was busy creating a chimera to send to Louisa’s house when she heard a loud thud from outside her door. Frowning at the noise, she stood up from her work.
“Ah, really. That sound just messed up my eye placement,” she muttered.
She had just finished creating a quite well-made chimera and was satisfied with her work. But now, it had been interrupted.
Maryhen opened the door, intending to find the culprit and tear them apart, but when she saw the woman standing there, all thoughts of violence immediately vanished.
“… Louisa? Why are you here again…?”
“Oh, you fixed the door? I hope it doesn’t break this time,” Louisa casually said as she walked past Maryhen and entered the house.
Maryhen, still frowning, followed her with her eyes and asked, “What is it?”
“Tell me this isn’t the chimera you’re sending to my house,” Louisa said, pointing at the chimera lying in front of Maryhen.
Maryhen tried to smile awkwardly, lifting her lips stiffly, “What are you talking about? I just made it.”
“Oh, really? Then I can break it, right?” Louisa asked, her tone playful.
“Wait…!” Maryhen called out in panic.
Crack!
Despite Maryhen’s desperate plea, Louisa used her magic to instantly turn the chimera to dust. Maryhen’s eyes flared with anger, but she worked hard to hide it, keeping her composure.
“Louisa, surely this is going too far?” she said, trying to keep calm.
“It was a chimera for me anyway. You’ve saved me the trouble of sending it over, so you should be grateful,” Louisa responded casually.
That crazy woman, she actually said that!
Unable to contain her growing irritation, Maryhen was about to speak, but before she could, Louisa threw a human body into her arms.
“Here, take it.”
Still fuming, Maryhen awkwardly laid the human on the experiment table. But to her surprise, the body, which she had expected to be a corpse, was breathing steadily.
“Louisa, what is this…?” she asked, confused.
“I’ve severed all of his mana circuits. Take care of him. Don’t kill him right away though. He’s committed too many sins,” Louisa answered nonchalantly.
“…” Maryhen was silent.
“I took Adel from you, so consider this even,” Louisa added, her tone implying that Maryhen should just accept it.
Though Louisa was the one who took Adel first, she spoke as though Maryhen should simply accept the situation. Maryhen felt a flash of anger, but realizing how unpredictable Louisa could be, she raised her voice to match her tone.
“Fine. I haven’t made a chimera in a while anyway.”
Louisa chuckled lightly at her response, as though she had easily forgiven such a small lie.
Maryhen’s eyes momentarily shook at the kindness in Louisa’s smile, a faint memory flashing through her mind. However, Louisa didn’t notice and simply walked past her.
Before long, Louisa stopped at the door and, noticing familiar shoes, lowered her voice and warned, “Now that Adel’s going to live in my house, don’t send me any more chimeras. Don’t test my last remaining conscience.”
“…”
“Stop doing stupid things like that. Live like everyone else.”
Maryhen stood there, staring blankly at the empty space where Louisa had been, the words echoing in her mind.
“That disgusting woman.”
It was Louisa, the one who had made her this miserable, horrible person.
Alone in the room, Maryhen clenched her teeth in frustration.
Later that day:
As soon as Maryhen left the house, the sound of objects being thrown around could be heard from inside. Since she couldn’t yell at Louisa, Maryhen assumed she was venting her frustration on the furniture.
“That trash is going to die,” she muttered to herself.
Ignoring the chaos, she calmly walked down the alley, her thoughts preoccupied with the situation. She noticed that, for some reason, people who hadn’t seen her in a while were now walking confidently in the streets, but as soon as their eyes met hers, they quickly ran away.
‘Am I some kind of plague?’ she thought, exasperated by their reactions.
Noticing something odd, she raised her arms and inspected her body. After a brief skirmish earlier, she had blood splattered all over her clothes and skin.
It made sense now.
Her clothes and skin were soaked in blood, and it was obvious her face looked equally messy. She decided to stop by the guild, but then changed her mind and headed toward her grandfather’s house to wash up before going to Adel.
‘I hope she’s not still upset.’
Adel had a tendency to sulk and easily forgive, but she had seemed quite hurt last time.
… Oh well, she’d be fine.
But just as she had this thought, her grandfather’s voice echoed in the hallway before she could even knock on the door.
“Where do you think you’re going, coming here!”
Before Maryhen could even open the door, she was met with rejection.
“I don’t know you, go away!” he yelled, treating her as if she were a stranger.
At this point, Maryhen just sighed and turned to leave, deciding to go home and take a shower instead, though she really needed to see Adel.
“… Louisa?”
Her grandfather’s surprised voice made her stop. When she heard his voice and saw him looking pale, she froze.
“Oh my God! What happened to you!?”
“…?” Maryhen stared, confused, as her grandfather rushed to her side.
“You’re bleeding! Are you okay? Your mana circuits—wait, no, let me check your hands!” he said, grabbing her hand.
It was because of the magic barrier on the door that her hand had been slightly burned when she grabbed the knob. She didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, but her grandfather immediately began fretting over her.
“You should’ve said something! How could you withstand that electric magic with such a frail body? Who did this to you!?”
“I’m fine, Grandpa. It was your magic that did this to me…” she said, sighing.
“I’m going to burn that damn bastard with fire magic!” he yelled.
But she couldn’t let her grandfather use fire magic on himself.
Her grandfather was pacing around angrily, rolling on the floor, while muttering about how upset he was. He then pulled her inside and began tending to her.
The dark and unpleasant street scene changed in an instant as her grandfather pulled her into his house. He made her sit on a chair, and before long, he was preparing medicine and salves.
“Grandpa,” Maryhen said, her voice tired.
“What’s wrong? Does it hurt that much?” he asked, concerned.
“No, it’s not that, I just need to shower,” she replied.
“Oh! I bet it’s hard to put ointment on you in this dirty state. Go wash up first,” he said, pushing her toward the bathroom.
As Maryhen stepped into the bathroom, she couldn’t help but smile. The place was much nicer than it used to be, likely because her grandfather now had a magical assistant.
When she finally washed the blood off, her body appeared clean and unhurt. She hoped her grandfather wouldn’t make a fuss over her appearance.
