Chapter 103: The Day Before the Storm (5)

Chapter 103: The Day Before
the Storm (5)

“Gee,
seriously⋯?!!
What is that!!!”

The
virgin Serif, vouched for by Earth Mother, exclaimed, blushing
profusely at Idelbert’s blunt words.

A
look of embarrassment, shame, and bewilderment were mixed together as
her white cat tail wagged so hard that it was no longer there.

“Hmph.
It’s too early for a noble saint to know.”

Idelbert
crossed her arms and sneered.

It
was not something she should have said, as she was forced to remain a
virgin under the Curse of Rejecting Lousy Dicks.

I
stared at them for a moment, then turned to Idelbert.

“I
think I may have intruded on your conversation without realizing it,
I’ll come back later.”

“No.
That’s not necessary. I’m almost done with what I have to say, and
you’re here to train anyway, so just wait a moment.”

I
debated whether or not to open the door, as there was a seriousness
in the air, but thankfully Idelbert told me to stay.

I
stood for a moment, staring at Serif and Idelbert.

They
must be sisters, but it’s a strange combination, partly because of
the difference in their titles, as a saint of the temple and the head
of the Explorers’ Union, and partly because of the difference in
their personalities.

‘Because
Serif has a strange dislike for Idelbert.’

I
recalled a conversation I’d had with Serif the day before, when I’d
been granted a miracle by her in the temple.

-The
evil spirit who abandoned the faith, the wicked traitor⋯

Idelbert
hadn’t said anything about Serif, but Serif had called Idelbert a
cunning traitor.

‘I
wonder what the two people who don’t get along well were talking
about.’

From
the other side of the door, I heard a few key words: fifth floor,
twentieth floor, sealed.

When
I told her about my encounter with [Gluttony] last time, Idelbert
said something similar.

These
are secrets about the labyrinth, information only accessible to
intermediate or upper-level explorers.

However,
the information about the fifth floor gave me some insight.

’Did
something similar happen on the twentieth floor, to what I
experienced on the fifth, and did they share information about it?’

The
thought stopped there.

“I
think I’ve said all I need to say. Shouldn’t you get back to the
temple?”

“⋯Uh!”

Idelbert
had her arm around my shoulders as she said that.

-Sigh.

A
black cat’s tail curled around my waist, too.

Serif’s
puffy eyes automatically traveled to Idelbert’s arm and tail.

“Now,
as a master, I must ‘educate’ my one and only pupil.”

Idelbert
said, leaning slightly closer to me.

A
shiver ran down Serif’s spine at the action and the word ‘training’.

His
white feline ears twitched as if she was thinking of a plan.

“Hmph.
I’m afraid I can’t do that. I owe him a great debt of gratitude for
his service, and until I can repay it, I must stay with him.”

“Hmm.
I suppose you can repay him at the temple, or perhaps you could just
perform a small miracle for him now.”

“⋯Balkan
is a rising star, and I’m personally interested in his growth, so I’d
like to watch
him train.”

“That’s
not allowed. As the head of the Explorers’ Union, I cannot stand by
and watch you steal information from my protégé, who I believe will
be a great explorer in the future.”

“⋯⋯”

Sparks
flew from the eyes of the two female cat sisters.

Idelbert,
the leader of a faction, and Serif, who holds a high position, are
arguing over whether to place me in their organization.

‘My
heart swells with pride.’

Aside
from the need to push myself harder, Serif was being played by
Idelbert.

Serif’s
tail and cat ears drooped in defeat as she and Idelbert argued.

“It
was nice to talk to you after such a long time. Let’s go too,
disciple.”

Idelbert’s
grip on my shoulder grew stronger and I was about to follow her
naturally.

“⋯⋯⋯⋯sister.”

A
crawling voice came from behind.

Idelbert
stopped moving while I stood dumbfounded, staring at Idelbert’s stone
face.

-Hmph.

The
corners of Idelbert’s mouth twitched.

“⋯?”

She
smiled a lopsided smile that didn’t seem to match her at all.

It
was the kind of expression that a doting father, usually
frighteningly cold and expressionless, might wear when he sees his
daughter being adorably affectionate.

‘⋯What?’

I
rubbed my eyes, closed and opened them a few times, and shook my head
wildly before coming to my senses.

In
the meantime, Idelbert had returned to her usual expressionless face.

‘Was
it a hallucination?’

I
thought to myself.

Idelbert’s
black cat tail wagged so hard it sounded like a whip.

Her
tail wagged frantically, an uncontrollable, instinctive emotion,
which meant that the look on Idelbert’s face was no hallucination.

The
cold, emotionless, unresponsive creature that was Idelbert, except
for her sex drive, had been disarmed by Serif’s soft “Sister”.

“Well,
it wouldn’t be so bad to have my ‘younger sister’ watch the
sparring. As the ‘big sister, who is like heaven,’ I will allow
that much.”

At
Idelbert’s words, I could feel Serif’s fists clenching behind me.

She
seemed to feel quite humiliated that she had used the word ‘sister.’

“Hmph.”

I
glanced up at Idelbert, who made an amused snort.

“What
are you looking at so hard, did I get something on my face?”

“No,
no. I’m just, uh, a little surprised.”

I
was a little surprised.

‘⋯You
can’t be that Idelbert, you like your sister so much.’

Something
about it felt so out of place, like a gap-moe.

At
the same time, I felt a strange sense of identification.

‘The
whole reason I’m exploring the labyrinth is to find my sister.’

The
sister who hates her sister and the sister who loves her sister too
much.

I
wondered what happened between them, but I didn’t have time to dwell
on it.

“Today,
we’ll start with a fighting match. Guard up.”

The
grueling training sessions began.

***

“You’ve
grown again.”

I
drank Diana’s breast milk and spent my free points.

Idelbert
noticed my specs after only a few training sessions.

“I
got a little lucky.”

“Hmm.
Luck.”

I
took Idelbert’s offered hand and stood up.

I’m
not so exhausted after a few fights anymore. I certainly knew how to
allocate my stamina properly.

“Milky,
sweet luck again, I suppose.”

“⋯⋯”

Idelbert
seemed to recognize the cause but why does she usually speak so
bluntly?

No,
I wouldn’t expect anything less from her, but ⋯⋯
it was crazy.

“Don’t
take too much of it, it’ll take a toll on her too.”

Idelbert
had said that even though Diana was retired, she still needed her
strength.

“⋯I’ll
be careful and take what she gives me.”

“That’s
fair enough. I’m sure she has an idea.”

Among
Diana’s curses, the most dangerous ones, [Curse of Decadence from the
Black Moon] and [Curse of Breast Milk Climax Stat Drain], had to be
managed meticulously.

Both
have the deadly side effect of leveling down.

I
mentally calculated Diana’s libido management log and milking
dates.

“Milky
clouds⋯?
What’s that?”

Serif,
who was listening to our conversation, shook her head, unable to
follow the conversation.

Apparently,
her sense of smell and perverted paranoia circuitry were less
advanced than Idelbert’s.

“There
is such a thing. A saint with integrity would never know.”

“⋯Don’t
make dismissive remarks like that.”

Serif,
tongue in cheek, approached me.

The
pure white energy from her fingertips permeated my body and my
slightly exhausted body was energized.

“Ah.
Thank you.”

“Haha.
As someone who serves Mother Earth, I did what was expected of me.”

Serif
glanced at Idelbert as she said that.

“Even
though it’s called a duel, isn’t the intensity too high for training?
Even the Paladins of the Temple don’t train this intensely.”

“Don’t
belittle my apprentice by comparing him to a paladin. He can handle
this much.”

“I’m
not disrespecting him, I’m just worried about him⋯!”

Serif
gestured to me, flustered by Idelbert’s words.

I
smiled bitterly and observed the two of them.

‘You
two get along better than I thought⋯?’

It
was quite amusing to see Serif’s usually polite and reserved demeanor
change to a snarl, and Idelbert’s usually stoic demeanor change to a
smirk.

“That’s
enough dueling for today.”

“Already?”

I
questioned Idelbert’s words.

Usually,
my training with Idelbert was a merciless grappling session in which
she would squeeze me with all her might until I had no strength left
to crawl.

I
had so much left in the tank, and it was already over?

“If
you lie down because you’re tired, you won’t be able to see
this.”

Idelbert
pulled an object out of thin air.

I
squinted at the blue light emanating from it.

The
object, bathed in a mysterious light that could only come from an
artifact, was a book almost as thick as an encyclopedia.

“Ugh-”

My
head instinctively ached when I saw the book. It was an instinctive
rejection of books.

Awww.
I, Baby Balkan don’t want to read but I’m also intrigued by the
artifact in book form.

“Uh,
an artifact spellbook?”

The
question was answered by Serif’s exclamation.

It
was an unusual name, to say the least.

“It’s
an artifact in the form of a spellbook that contains the magic of
[Detect Weakness]. It’s a rare thing that, if you read it completely,
you can use the magic regardless of your talent, learning, and
skill.”

All
I had to do was read it, what an effect.

Suddenly,
a memory came flooding back.

When
I was asked to escort the students to the labyrinth they lamented.

-Do
you know the lengths mages go to in order to master a single spell?
Some of the inexperienced ones take an entire school year to learn a
single spell.

-Magic,
mana, these assholes are so fucking sensitive, one wrong circuit and
it’s pointlessly scattered, exploding inside you, exploding outside
you, it’s fucking dangerous.

-And
we’re so busy memorizing theories and laws day and night that we
don’t have time to do anything else.

“So
this is an artifact that replaces all of that in a snap.”

“Yes.”

Idelbert
nodded and I voiced my question again.

“But
why are you giving it to me?”

Idelbert
placed the precious artifact spellbook in my hand.

“Why
would I give you a book? I’m giving it to you to read.”

“No,
you know that’s not what I said.”

“Hmm.
Disciple, do you remember what I promised to give you the other day?”

“Ah.”

Before
I began training with the hypnotic artifact, when we were talking
about Gluttony, Idelbert had promised me one thing.

-It’s
not much of a reward, but I’ll get you something for your efforts as
Alliance Leader sooner or later.

This
artifact spellbook was the reward she had promised.

“Thank
you, master. I will read it carefully.”

I
took the book and bowed my head.

It
was an artifact that Idelbert herself said was priceless.

I
usually hate reading books, but if I could get magic, it was a
different story.

Magic.
Just repeating the word to myself made my heart flutter like I was
back in my childhood.

I’ve
always known about magic, mana, and enchantments, but I’d rarely had
the chance to wield them.

Besides,
the name of the magic tickled me. “Weakness Detection” must be
quite useful in combat.

I
couldn’t wait to read the book.

Idelbert
saw my reaction and smiled slightly in satisfaction.

“Ugh.”

I
heard a nervous grunt from behind me and Serif turned to look at me
with a worried face.

“The
city and the temple also agreed to provide appropriate compensation
for the damages incurred last time!”

“Hmm.
I gave you a reward for merit, and the temple is giving you a reward
for ‘damage’.”

“⋯⋯”

Serif,
who had fallen silent in a cold sweat at Idelbert’s bluster, pulled
two small pieces of paper out of thin air and held one out to me.

It
was a piece of paper emblazoned with the sigil of the Mother Earth
Order.

It
was paper, but not of ordinary material. It was much sturdier and
finer than the paper I had used to make my slave contract with
Grumpy.

“It’s
a curse-breaking power. You can remove a curse once without paying
any cost or price.”

“O⋯”

This
was also a pretty good hand.

Because
in the Labyrinth, you can get blessings, which can lead to new life
and glory, but you can also get curses, which can lead to some very
horrible and absurd things.

The
curse of becoming a slime, Curse of Decadence from the Black Moon,
Curse of Rejecting Lousy Dicks and so on.

The
lineup of curses I’ve seen so far have all been pretty bad, and I’m
definitely on edge.

I’ve
been lucky and blessed so far, but as long as I keep entering the
Labyrinth, I’m bound to get cursed at some point.

Moreover,
the cost of a curse increases with the number of times it is
performed.

This
means that if I’m cursed and in dire straits, I may run into a
financial wall and not be able to lift the curse.

This
curse-breaking power would be of great help in the future.

Satisfied,
I pocketed the paper and looked at the other slip of paper in Serif’s
hand.

“What
is that?”

Serif
shuddered at the simple question, squeezing the paper in his hand
even harder.

“I
want you to remember that it doesn’t mean anything strange, it’s just
a small token of my gratitude, hmmmmm. It’s not for any weird use,
and unlike the curse-breaker, it can be used multiple times, so if
you ever need it, just let me know⋯”

I
wondered what the heck that paper was for.

‘Is
it something more powerful than a curse-breaking ticket?’

After
more than ten minutes of rambling on about the paper’s significance,
Serif finally handed it to me.

I
stared at the paper in my hand.

Unlike
the polished signature on the cursed warrant, the handwriting on this
piece of paper was crooked, as if it were cowering in shame.

But
it didn’t take much to decipher it.

There
was only one sentence on the white paper.

[Serif
Adeline Free Pass.]

I
stared down at it for a long moment.

Then
I looked up at Serif, who handed it to me.

“⋯⋯”

Serif,
blushing and bowing her head, didn’t say anything.

-Bung-bung-bung!

As
if to express her emotion, the white cat’s tail whirled like a
propeller.