Ch.189189. When Do You Feel Excited About a Man?

Claire’s General Store.

A makeshift shop created by Claire, who traveled around the continent collecting antiques to fund his travels. True to his unique collection, the store itself had the unusual system of moving around.

In the game, except for the first time you use it, encountering it is purely luck. With bad luck, you might not be able to use his general store until you see the game’s ending.

The items sold by this lively and cheerful man were all treasures with considerable effects, but they often demanded expensive prices or sometimes wanted items other than money in exchange.

“So you’re saying you bought something from Claire’s General Store?”

Ophelia gave no answer to my question.

I sighed with irritation as I watched her lying face down, head bowed, pretending to be dead.

“It would be better to cooperate. My patience for the living isn’t as deep as you might think.”

“Ah.”

Ophelia suddenly remembered my name as the Spiritmaster and that I was also a Black Mage.

One of the convenient things about working in the Griffin Kingdom was that I could openly reveal being a Black Mage.

Since citizens still harbored strong discomfort and fear toward Black Mages, it was effective when I needed to intimidate someone.

“If you’d like to learn that death is not actually the end, feel free to keep your mouth shut. I specialize in hearing the voices of the dead rather than the living.”

“I-I told Hansen! I said I wanted to live with my lover!”

Most people respond immediately with fluttering panic when threatened like this.

For ordinary people, the absolute fear of death and the possibility of something beyond it must be quite a psychological pressure.

“You bought cohabitation with your lover?”

“As payment, I-I gave my daughter!”

“…!”

“After that! This tattoo appeared on my chest! For some reason, I started receiving favor from the opposite sex! That’s really all there is to it!”

Several parts of what she had been saying were disturbing and uncomfortable, but it was clear that the Claire’s General Store she visited was different from the one I knew.

‘Claire’s General Store only sells displayed items; it doesn’t grant vague requests like that.’

When I remained silent, she must have thought I was considering her fate, as Ophelia continued shouting with her head still bowed.

“The people I was attracted to but whose feelings faded—they all died! But I really didn’t do it!”

“…”

“I didn’t use any magic! I didn’t swing any knife! Is it my fault that I simply liked someone and then gave up? How can one control the blooming of emotions!”

Ophelia was asserting her innocence. Since she seemed unable to explain clearly, I needed to untangle the complicated threads of her story.

First, a year ago, Ophelia purchased cohabitation with her lover from Claire’s General Store.

Second, the price Claire’s General Store demanded was her daughter.

Third, people she loved but whose feelings faded were killed by her daughter who appeared. Ophelia’s ex-husband and Hansen were victims.

‘She sold her daughter in exchange for living with Hansen. But as Ophelia’s feelings for Hansen cooled, her daughter appeared and killed him.’

Not to mention, I’d heard there were quite a few other male victims around Ophelia.

‘There must be far more undiscovered victims.’

Since the deaths were disguised as accidents or illnesses, I couldn’t estimate how many men this woman had killed through love over the past year.

But could this woman be charged with murder?

‘It wouldn’t be easy.’

Even if we could somehow connect her to the deaths of her ex-husband or daughter, it would be difficult to prove the other victims.

After all, what the woman did was simply fall out of love—something entirely natural.

And it was her daughter who did the killing.

Even if there was a connection to Claire’s General Store, could we properly explain in court about a shop whose location nobody knows?

The woman before me had probably made these calculations many times, which is why she maintained a certain confidence even after being exposed.

She even adopted a tone suggesting she was the victim while speaking to me.

To solve this case, I needed to see either Claire’s General Store or her daughter at least once.

Since finding Claire’s General Store was nearly impossible, what I needed to do was…

“Do you know when your daughter will appear again?”

At my question, Ophelia nodded, but her expression wasn’t good.

“She appears when I realize my affection has cooled! But… I don’t have feelings for anyone right now.”

“Sigh.”

It didn’t seem like investigating Ophelia further would yield anything.

I had no intention of letting this cunning and shrewd woman go free, and I was determined to make her pay, but…

First, to solve this:

I needed to make her fall in love and then have those feelings cool.

“Haah.”

I sighed deeply.

Who should play that role?

My head was already throbbing at the thought.

Since I wasn’t certain how the daughter killed these men, it was awkward to ask someone else for help.

Still, for now…

To uncover the anomaly of Claire’s General Store that differed from my knowledge, and to prevent more innocent victims in the future.

This woman needed to develop feelings for someone, however shallow.

“It would have been nice if Deus Verdi were here.”

“Pardon?”

“Just talking to myself.”

* * *

“When does a woman feel attracted to a man?”

The main concern I had about this case was whether to share the truth about Ophelia with the women around me.

Even for official business, asking women how to attract another woman seemed insensitive.

I hadn’t decided on myself as the target, but I knew how thoughtless it was to even bring up such a topic.

Yet I didn’t possess any skills for stealing a woman’s heart, so I needed advice.

As I said earlier, it would have been really good if Deus Verdi were here.

Or I should have brought Illuania with me—the regret weighed heavily.

In the end, my compromise was that question.

Getting advice while keeping them in the dark about the actual situation.

Suddenly, I realized it had been a long time since I’d acted so cautiously around others.

Anyway, Findenai, Erika, Professor Per, the Dark Spiritmaster, and Stella in the laboratory all fixed their gazes on me.

Naturally, Findenai was the first to respond.

“Did you get shot in the head?”

“…”

“Are you sick somewhere? Did you get hit hard in the head when fighting the Archdevil?”

It was quite an extreme reaction, but the important thing was that today, everyone agreed with Findenai.

“What’s wrong? If you’re sick, I’ll go to the infirmary and get you some medicine. Or would you rather go rest there?”

“Is-is there something wrong with my prosthetic arm?”

Erika approached me urgently to check my condition, while Professor Per wondered if something was wrong with her prosthetic arm.

[Even ghosts can get goosebumps. I just got some.]

[If you’re very tired, would you like me to give you a massage?]

The Dark Spiritmaster and Stella, who had been talking among themselves on either side of me, also expressed their reactions while looking in my direction.

The situation was already becoming complicated, making my head hurt.

“It’s nothing.”

I waved my hand, thinking I shouldn’t have tried to get advice, but Findenai gave a hollow laugh.

“When do women feel attracted to men? Heh, that’s funny. The master asking such questions.”

“I never expected an answer from you.”

I didn’t think I could get the sentiments of a normal woman from Findenai, who was closer to a beast than a woman.

She just happened to hear the question because she was nearby.

Provoked, Findenai raised her middle finger and answered.

“When I crush the heads of about four Archdevils, that’s when I feel something!”

“Haah.”

“I’m just a woman with big capacity!”

Watching her pound her chest with her fist reminded me of a barbarian or viking.

Looking at Findenai, who showed no change despite all she’d been through, she really did seem formidable.

“When giving… a broken engagement letter?”

“…”

The moment I heard Erika’s sidelong answer, I realized my mistake.

I should have asked normal people about normal dating perspectives, but the people around me were far from normal in the best sense.

“I’ve never experienced anything like that.”

Professor Per scratched the back of her head shyly. Looking at her, she’s always in the lab working on prosthetic arms and legs, so she probably doesn’t have time to meet men.

[When you saved my soul from burning in the Holy Grail’s flames.]

Stella whispered to me with a sly smile.

Now the answers had drifted into reminiscing about our experiences.

I had expected too much from their answers.

I was thinking I’d have to figure it out myself when the Dark Spiritmaster hesitantly answered from the opposite side of Stella.

[Don’t you just naturally feel attracted when spending time together?]

“Hmm?”

My head, which had been lowered over the desk, slowly turned to look at the Dark Spiritmaster. She seemed embarrassed and covered her face with her hand over the black veil that already hid her expression, but.

“That’s more like it.”

From this relatively normal answer, I found my inspiration.