Back to Garden #1

 

“You have proven your perfect purity. The pure white radiance acknowledges you.”

In the halo of light that brightly illuminated the darkness of the underground sewer, only I could clearly see my surroundings.

“Ugh- I can’t open my eyes⋯.”

“What, what is this light? Ahh-”

Unlike me, the party members covered their eyes with both hands and writhed in agony.

⋯Was it always this bright?

There is literally no solar sphere.

Although they quickly gathered the light, everyone staggered around for a while, unable to come to their senses.

‘The snowballs are crazy.’

The artifact acknowledged me, but I didn’t want to accept it.

chastity?

I?

Are you crazy? I’m a man.

Now, somehow I’ve possessed Estelle’s body, but this is still a bit off.

There’s no way a golden unicorn would like me.

You shouldn’t like it.

‘No, to meet the unicorn standard, don’t you need to have all three elements, like a heartbeat and a body, in order to meet the criteria?’

Okay, let’s make a hundred concessions and say that at least the body is clean.

It’s surprising that Richie has lived for hundreds of years and never held a man’s hand, but it’s not entirely unreasonable.

But that’s not what’s important.

I’m already mentally rotten.

You’re not the pure girl that the unicorn wants.

You unicorn, you’re being fooled. I’m not that kind of person.

“The pure white radiance welcomes its new owner.”

Despite my vehement denial, the bracelet clung to my wrist and refused to fall off.

White light shot into the air like firecrackers, dancing around the body.

It’s really annoying.

“It seems that Estelle really likes that bracelet.”

Wagner said, rubbing his eyes to see if there were still afterimages of the light.

“Yeah, kid, take that. I really thought I was going blind.”

Mitchell also wiped away the tears from his eyes.

This is how I naturally became a flow of pure white brilliance⋯

Why does my heart feel so uneasy?

It’s a unicorn certification mark.

I didn’t want to get labeled like that.

But that doesn’t mean I can force myself to move.

I’m really going to die.

***

It’s been three days since we returned to the Garden Colony.

Our party spent three days collecting loot from the dungeon.

It took longer than I thought, but there was nothing I could do.

Right now, in Garden, vigilante leader Dawson is busy controlling the hunting grounds.

If you sell a large amount of monster byproducts in this kind of atmosphere, you’ll definitely be caught by the vigilantes.

Plus, there’s also some vigilante gear among the loot.

If you ask us where we got this, we will be at a loss for an answer.

There’s no need to rush and take risks.

As carefully as possible, so as not to attract unnecessary attention.

After disposing of the loot, we finally gathered at a bar and had a small celebration.

“Hehehe⋯.”

“Hehehe. It’s all money.”

“Ahem.”

We exchanged secret smiles in a corner of the bar, our purses in front of us.

It’s not always easy to be happy without others knowing.

“Disposing of the monster’s byproducts brought a total of 37,400 gold. And selling the vigilante’s equipment brought in 40,500 gold… That’s awesome.”

Mitchell whispered quietly, suppressing a laugh.

“Now we need to divide this money fairly. The distribution is as we said at the beginning. Right, kid?”

“uh.”

1/N, fairly and without any backtalk.

Dan Wagner agreed to take a set of the Vigilante’s steel armor, and in return, receive a reduced share of gold.

The Vigilante armor is of comparable quality to the Imperial Guard armor, and it also comes with the “Size Adjustment” rune, so Wagner’s decision is quite a smart one.

Originally, I would have to pay that much money since I also got the artifact bracelet Pure White Glory.

I was in charge of the trouble of cleaning up the byproducts of the monster, so I decided to take over the job.

In conclusion, the share that fell to me was a whopping 23,000 gold.

“I’m rich now!”

Flora smiled brightly.

“Where do I spend all this money? What should I buy first?”

“Oh, Miss, you’re really excited? Then I’ll pay for the drinks first!”

“Okay. I’ll pay today!”

When Mitchell urged her on, Flora quickly fell for the temptation.

Oh my. That, that⋯.

“Again! Is there no other place to spend money?”

“Lend me this much gold. I’ll return it to you three times as much.”

“Okay, here-”

“⋯Senior, put that money in.”

I couldn’t stand to watch so I intervened.

You really have thin ears, kid.

That’s why I can’t leave you alone.

There is no child left out on the water.

“Mitchell, don’t play that kind of game. Seniors really get fooled.”

“Oh, man, I told you not to do that! It’s blinding!”

Mitchell grumbled as I nagged him and pointed the light from the bracelet at his eyes.

“Oh, that’s really… I got a useless bracelet for nothing.”

I kept practicing shooting light as I came back from the underground passage, and now I’m pretty good at it.

The name of the technology has not yet been decided.

The snow cone beam is not cool.

The virgin ray⋯is too direct.

Wouldn’t white light be better?

Actually, it doesn’t really matter what the name is.

“You must have learned how to use it quickly.”

Wagner, who had been drinking silently, showed interest.

“If you use it well, it will be of great help in real life.”

“Right? And you can do other things too. Want to see?”

“Hmm. I’d like to see it.”

The pure white glow is not just an artifact that serves as a flashlight.

Depending on how you use it, the same light can produce many different variations.

I manipulated the light to create small particles and scattered them on the table.

“This is also possible.”

“oh-“

“That’s amazing.”

It doesn’t end here.

The light particle bounced around the table as if it were alive and moving on its own, then entered Mitchell’s nostril.

A bright light leaked out from the elf’s nose, and Flora and Wagner burst into laughter.

“Oh, shit. Don’t do that.”

Mitchell shook his head repeatedly, then snorted loudly.

Later, without any shame, he puts his finger in and starts to poke around.

Even so, if I don’t take it out, the light grains won’t come out.

“It’s like that for now. It suits you.”

“Ah- kid, do you want to die?”

“It’s a punishment for trying to scam my senior.”

“Who said I was cheating? No, I can really triple your money—just believe me.”

“Do you believe me? If you were going to do it for money, I told you to do it with your own money.”

He made more light particles and this time put them into Wagner’s nose.

Then, he manipulated the light that had come out to travel into Mitchell’s nostrils.

From nose to nose—

“What the fuck-!”

As expected, Mitchell trembles and swears.

However, the light particles coming out of Wagner’s nostrils continued to enter Mitchell’s nostrils.

Even if I turn my face and block my nostrils with my hands, the formless light penetrates between them.

Mitchell, unable to bear it any longer, jumped up.

“It’s so dirty I can’t stay with you. I’m going.”

“Where are you going?”

“I bet you’ve got some money. Let’s go have a go.”

Mitchell grinned, rubbing his thumb and index finger together.

“We’re all getting ready and regrouping until the next expedition, right? I’ll see you then.”

Step by step.

Mitchell, who was walking out of the bar, suddenly turned around and came back to the table.

“Miss, please take this out of my nose. How long do I have to keep it in?”

Mitchell’s face twisted into a sullen frown.

***

In the back of the village, in front of the tent of the orc shaman Yurka.

I am waiting for Yurka alone.

Yurka was away, probably doing some work.

‘If I wait, it will come on its own.’

I sat down on the chair Yurka had been using and opened the Blood Magic Book.

A magic book that will be of great help to me in the future, no less than the pure white brilliance of the artifact.

However, this tricky magic book does not easily grant magic.

As its name suggests, it is a pesky creature that is only satisfied by harvesting the blood of living beings through killing.

“You have collected a sufficient amount of blood. The Book of Blood expresses its deep satisfaction at your brutal and ruthless slaughter.”

“You can learn the level 1 spell, Raise Corpse, from the Blood Magic Book.”

Step 1 was an easy way to fill the quota by killing the vigilantes and Max.

I learned magic without delay.

“Raising a corpse”.

Although it is the most basic of the basics of necromancy, it is a magic whose usefulness cannot be underestimated.

I looked around.

Is there any corpse I can test it on?

Outside Yurka’s tent, the corpses of rats were seen strung on ropes.

It looks like they’re dried to eat meat, so I guess one can be used.

I focused my magic power into my hand and caressed the dead rat.

“Cast Raise Corpse.”

“A lost experience comes back to me vaguely. I receive a bonus of exceptional talent.”

“You have excellent aptitude for command magic. You receive an aptitude bonus.”

A sinister magic, completely different from cold magic, flowed through his hand.

A dark purple magic that drips down like an undertaker’s medicine.

Magical energy began to envelop the rat’s body and flow into its body through its eyes, nose, and mouth.

Then⋯

—Clang.

The tips of the rat’s whiskers moved.

Soon, it twitches its nose, wags its tail, then suddenly gets up and crawls to my feet.

It had already died a long time ago, its fur had changed color, and its body was matted, but if you just look at its movements, you’d mistake it for being alive and well.

“It’s really moving. Hey, rat, come on… Turn around.”

I gave the command hesitantly, and the rat circled in place as I said.

This is amazing.

Not only can it move forward, backward, left, and right, it can also easily carry out complex commands that an ordinary rat would never be able to do.

“Hey, champion, you can do it. Let’s show it. Come on, step, step. Right.”

A bipedal rat steps with its short legs and delivers a one-two jab.

It was so much fun playing with the mouse that I became absorbed in it like a child for a while.

I finally finished my test by making the rat shine with a pure white light.

A shining mouse, also known as a light mouse.

I know, it’s childish.

But it was really fun.

After moving for a while, the rat, whose magical power had been drained, returned to being a corpse.

I wonder if I’ve grown attached to that little rat after playing with it for so long, but I feel a little sad about it.

‘I’m looking forward to the future.’

The power to move the dead.

For now, I’m just playing tricks on a single rat, but in the future, my command magic will become a secret art that will command the army of the dead.

In the world of “Nine Stars”, there are only a few who can master the magic of command.

That means that the method of dealing with command magic is not properly known.

This power will become my greatest weapon.

As I sat there feeling satisfied, the orc shaman Yurka finally returned.

“Oh, girl—you’re here.”

The wrinkled, bumpy face is strangely distorted.

He looks fierce, but he’s smiling despite that.

However, there were two other orcs by Yurka’s side.

“I’ve been waiting for you. I’ve been working hard to make up for my last mistake. This time, it’ll be different.”

“Who are those people?”

“Ah! I can’t wait. I’ve brought the experts.”

The orcs, covered in feather decorations as flashy as Yurka’s, nodded solemnly.

Oh, this kid really prepared for this.

Yurka smiled confidently.

“Now, we will use all of the orcish sorcery’s visions to strengthen you.”