Ch.39The Mage Milia (5)

# Mage Millia (5)

“Happy birthday!”

“Kyaa! Lady Millia! You’re so beautiful!”

“……”

Esmeralda remained silent amid the heated atmosphere of the party venue.

It was incredibly awkward.

Is this what normal was supposed to be?

The birthdays she remembered were just days for eating meat.

Even in the hero’s party, they mostly ended with just eating delicious food.

But this was supposed to be normal?

Throwing such a large-scale party?

For something as trivial as a birthday, not even a centennial celebration of a magic tower?

‘Damn nobles.’

Esmeralda felt the wealth gap.

Looking at Millia’s chest from afar as she received everyone’s welcome, she couldn’t help but feel the wealth gap even more.

Though she herself wasn’t small by any means, power holders like Eirene or Millia all seemed to have larger chests than her.

That’s why Tina must have lived a more unfortunate life than Esmeralda. Perhaps she had wandered through slums?

Seeing that she had no power pocket at all, she might not even have had citizenship.

‘I’ll make sure you’re happy, Tina.’

Esmeralda managed her expression while promising herself to treat Tina well, who must have suffered a lot.

Though the rich people’s entertainment was irritating, this was a time for celebration.

She didn’t want to appear narrow-minded in front of her friend.

“Millia! Happy birthday!”

“Thanks, Esmeralda. It might not be familiar to you, but enjoy yourself.”

“……”

Esmeralda wondered if Millia was trying to provoke her.

What did she mean by “not familiar”? Was she overthinking?

But Millia’s expression and intentions seemed genuine, so she realized it was just her own insecurity.

“Here’s your gift, Lady Millia. It’s not much, but it’s holy water and elixirs made by the Divine God’s Order.”

“Thank you as always, Eirene.”

Millia smiled broadly.

Then, as if it were natural, she turned her head to look at Esmeralda.

The critical moment of crisis had finally arrived for Esmeralda.

‘I don’t have a gift… If I had known, someone could have given me a heads-up.’

The situation was uncomfortable.

When exactly had it happened?

Just as she thought she had become close enough with Eirene to share her true feelings, Esmeralda found herself on the outside of the party.

Was she the only one who thought they were friends? Even now that she had opened up to Eirene, was she the only one who considered them friends?

Was she the real loner, not Millia?

The inferiority complex stemming from social status differences.

Esmeralda, like any girl her age, was troubled by such thoughts.

“Hero, please take this.”

As she kept her head down, surveying the atmosphere, Esmeralda felt something poking her waist.

Looking up, she saw Eirene offering a wrapped gift from behind her back with an embarrassed smile.

Yes, despite everything, Eirene was indeed a friend.

She had prepared a gift on her behalf in case of such a situation.

“Millia, happy birthday. It’s not much, but here’s a gift.”

“Thanks, Esmeralda.”

Millia smiled broadly again as she accepted Esmeralda’s gift.

Fortunately, there seemed to be no discrimination. Millia was genuinely happy and opened the gift right there.

Inside was a book.

[What is Sex?]

[Recommended for ages 10-12]

“Ah… Hahaha. I just remembered an urgent matter, so I’ll excuse myself for a moment.”

It was the book Eirene had been reading.

Eirene seemed to search her pockets briefly, then left carefully with an awkward smile.

Millia, still with little change in her expression, held up the book.

She held it up with both hands facing forward, and Esmeralda could see others stealing glances at it.

“……”

The surrounding air grew chilly.

The dagger of social assassination that Eirene had unexpectedly thrust had pierced Esmeralda’s heart.

Yes, the two of them were becoming true friends in real-time.

Of course, that wasn’t Eirene’s intention. The book gift for Millia had simply been mixed up by accident.

Had she confused them during the wrapping process?

Besides, she never expected Millia to unwrap the gift right there.

For a noble, who would receive numerous gifts, it would be normal to have them checked separately for assassination threats.

The resulting disaster.

The murder of the hero’s public image.

“Isn’t that an insult?”

“Even though Lady Millia is known to care only about magic…”

Millia blinked her eyes for a while, still holding the book up, then looked at Esmeralda and said:

“I’ll read it later and tell you what I think.”

“…That’s not necessary.”

Millia seemed unfazed.

Her heart seemed as vast as the ocean, just like her enormous chest.

Quite different from Eirene, who had a petty heart despite her chest.

Perhaps because of Millia’s attitude?

“Well, Lady Millia probably hasn’t read such books either.”

“She’s traveled with the hero, so she must know well. Of course, she only knows about magic.”

People who had been criticizing Esmeralda just moments ago suddenly changed their tune.

Esmeralda realized what kind of organization the magic tower truly was.

And how frightening social life could be.

Honestly, it didn’t look appealing.

“Yes, basics are important.”

Regardless, Millia hugged the book to her chest and smiled broadly.

That sight made Esmeralda’s heart ache even more.

Esmeralda just wanted to leave this humiliating situation as soon as possible.

And once she left, she would find Eirene and hunt her down.

‘Eirene… I’ll beat you to death and feed you to the dogs.’

Esmeralda had thoughts that a hero probably shouldn’t have.

***

Esmeralda searched for Eirene as composedly as possible.

Of course, she was concealed with invisibility magic, just as she had done at the Divine God’s Order.

If Eirene knew she was looking for her, she might run away or hide.

So to capture Eirene, she needed to launch a perfect surprise attack without her noticing.

Fortunately, the anger that had filled her to the brim had somewhat subsided during the search.

‘I’ll just flay her skin off for now.’

Esmeralda reduced the sentence with a merciful mindset.

After searching for Eirene for about 30 minutes, surprisingly, she found her waiting in her own room.

Or perhaps, knowing she couldn’t run for long?

Eirene had fortified her room.

So that even if Esmeralda found her, she couldn’t attack recklessly.

To eliminate any situation where she could be ambushed.

If Esmeralda could think of it, so could she.

But there was something even Eirene hadn’t anticipated.

“Do you think that will stop me?”

That was Esmeralda’s reckless personality that made her who she was today.

Crack!

Esmeralda drew her holy sword and thrust it into the barrier.

Indeed, an item said to have been created by the combined power of the gods.

It could easily tear through Eirene’s barrier.

Crunch!

Esmeralda tore through Eirene’s barrier with a broad smile.

As the shockwave spread throughout the magic tower,

Esmeralda needed to finish quickly before others arrived, so she immediately grabbed Eirene by the collar.

“…Hero, it’s my fault. But it was all a mistake. And I never imagined she would unwrap it right there! I mean, what kind of person with a title lacks such crisis awareness?”

Honestly, Eirene felt wronged too. Who could have predicted this?

She had intended to give a proper book as a gift. She had prepared the holy scripture of the Divine God’s Order.

She had planned to gift something symbolic that she usually carried around, but she forgot that the book she had been carrying recently wasn’t the scripture.

And Millia was Millia.

She shouldn’t have displayed it as if showing it off; she should have hidden it right after checking. What was there to boast about in such a book?

Her foolishness in expecting common sense from members of the hero’s party.

That was Eirene’s sin.

“If you stab someone, be prepared to be stabbed back.”

It was time to pay the price.

Esmeralda would physically kill Eirene, who had killed her social position.

“Come on, open wide. Corn harvest coming in. Being from the countryside, I’m quite good at this.”

Calm madness.

With the confident words of a former farmer, Eirene realized the high credibility of what Esmeralda was saying.

“Wait!!”

Feeling Esmeralda’s sincerity, Eirene desperately tried to explain.

She needed to be forgiven somehow.

Wasn’t it just an unfortunate accident?

Of course, if there’s a victim due to an unfortunate accident, the cause needs to be identified.

Though whether Esmeralda would consider it an accident was a separate issue.

“W-wait! Haven’t you ever thought something was strange?!”

Fortunately, because Esmeralda was simple-minded, there was a high chance she would forget this incident if distracted by something else.

“If you think you can deceive me with that clever tongue of yours, you’d better give up. No, go ahead and try? From now on, you’ll be lisping when you pronounce corn!”

But no matter how stupid Esmeralda might be, she wouldn’t fall for such an obvious trick.

Still, Eirene gave it her all.

“Lady Millia! She might have known everything!”

“That’s a novel piece of nonsense. Go ahead, spill it.”

Esmeralda, who had suffered social death, had become quite rough.

To the extent that even Eirene was intimidated.

Yes, there was a sense of unease, as if encountering someone who didn’t care about the consequences.

“First of all, Lady Millia knows that Lug is a demon.”

“Well, considering you knew too, that’s possible. How boring. Why not say Tina knows too and is a half-dragon?”

“…From what I could tell, Lady Tina didn’t seem to know.”

Esmeralda was secretly moved.

In a hero’s party full of liars and con artists, Tina was the only safe asset.

“Save your emotions for later. The important thing is that Lady Millia has feelings for Lug, no less than mine.”

“No, probably more than yours.”

For someone whose eyes roll back at the mere mention of Lug being in danger, is “feelings” even the right word?

Esmeralda tilted her head.

“Anyway, in this situation, you and I have left the venue. Isn’t that suspicious?”

“What… Do you think everyone in the world is like you?”

This level of paranoia is a disease. And fists have traditionally been a specific remedy for those with mental ailments.

“Out of all those gifts, she only opened yours! And she subtly pressured you with her gaze to give her a gift. If you hadn’t, you would have been socially killed anyway, right? Ow! Stop!”

Esmeralda was about to harvest Eirene’s corn before autumn ended, half-listening to her nonsense.

Suddenly, her fist stopped.

It wasn’t because Eirene’s corn was too white and not ready for harvest.

Post-ripening could be a good method too.

In that sense, the reason Esmeralda had to stop was elsewhere.

“……”

Honestly, what Eirene was babbling now was just an excuse.

She was just desperately trying to survive by rambling incoherently.

This was speculation at its worst.

But regardless, Esmeralda was struck by the fact that Lug was now alone with Millia.

Esmeralda finally released Eirene. This wasn’t the time for internal strife among comrades.

“…Hero?”

“I, I just realized we shouldn’t be here right now.”

“What?”

“There’s something I didn’t get to mention, but back at the party, Millia had a new trait.”

Due to the gift commotion, she hadn’t paid attention, but there was a trait that had appeared while she was changing clothes.

It was well known that Millia was incredibly talented, so it wouldn’t be surprising if she had learned a new magic in that short time.

The problem was…

“Do you also not care about life or death as long as you can get your hands on Lug?”

[Necromancy Lv. 2]

The issue was that she had suddenly started to unlock the necromancer route.