CATB Chapter 38

"Hit me!"

"You think I won't hit you if you tell me to?"

"Why can't you hit me? Are you scared? Afraid you'll get arrested?"

"You son of a b*tch!!"

Thwack

"You really hit me! Do you really want to die?"

"You told me to hit you! Try killing me! Can you even kill me? You're weaker than me!"

"I'm not weak!!"

As we exchanged blows while shouting, the bastard started getting pissed at my words.

"Hitting a woman and being weaker than a woman too!!"

"You're a woman? Huh? Are you a woman?"

"Then what am I if I'm not a woman! If I so much as lift a finger, you're done, you know? You weakling!"

I held up my middle finger and made a throat-slitting gesture. The bastard's face started turning blue with rage.

"I'm not weak! This b*tch really needs to taste some heat...!!!"

The bastard fumed and curled his unrestrained hand into a round shape, as if cradling an invisible ball. Between his hands, I thought I could see a flickering green light, but then a thunderous roar of a voice filled the market.

"Killian!!!!"

The bastard flinched.

"Do you truly wish to die! I told you not to act recklessly."

Following the initial tiger-like roar, a voice that seemed to be suppressing anger continued. I stared at the middle-aged man who had pushed between us. A man with the same auburn hair and large build stood next to the bastard who had been called Killian.

Your name is Killian? I really want to kill him...

"Send away the spectators."

When the man gave a low command, the attendants who had followed him shooed away the people who had been watching us. Soon, only me and these people were near the old woman's stall.

"Did I not say that it's not a power to be used so carelessly!"

The man scolded Killian severely in a voice meant only for him, but given my proximity to this bastard, I could hear it clearly enough.

"Father! This b*tch started trouble with me first!"

"This b*tch? Do you really want to get your mouth beaten to a pulp once?"

When I yelled angrily, the man's gaze turned to me. Daddy? It's a bit unfair if it's two against one... Well, it's not the first time I've faced multiple opponents alone anyway, so I was fully willing to fight spiritedly.

"Alexa."

A quiet but anger-filled voice rang out from behind. This time it seemed to be my turn to shrink back like the bastard who had flinched earlier. Damn it.

"Didn't I tell you to wait in that spot?"

Belkellion approached me in an instant. His black eyes quickly swept over me, the wrist I was firmly gripping, Killian, and the man.

"Ah... well, I wanted to look around a bit..."

"You should have told me before going. I thought you were lost."

"I'm sorry. I was trying to come back quickly but..."

"Oh my, what an eyesore. Hey, hey, curse at me like you did before. Try attacking me."

Seeing me struggling with Belkellion, Killian taunted me. That bastard really wants to get hit once.

"What happened?"

Belkellion asked, looking down at me and the two men. I saw Killian flinch slightly at his gaze. Coward bastard.

"Your woman..."

"I was looking at the pen first, but this person stole it. It was mine. And he hit my head too!"

I quickly tattled before Killian could open his mouth.

"That's ridiculous. No, Father! I paid for all of this but she suddenly came and told me to give her the pen..."

"Did you lay hands on the lady?"

"What lady? She's not a woman! She's a monster! She tried to break my wrist first. Really, Father!"

Killian made excuses as if wronged.

"Belkellion. I didn't break it. I just asked him to return the pen, but he tried to run away..."

"What running away! The thieving bastard tried to snatch my pen out of nowhere!"

"Don't curse! He called me crazy bitch and young girl earlier!"

"You called me a crazy bastard and son of a b*tch too!"

"You cursed first!"

"Then don't start trouble!"

"Enough!!!"

The tiger voice made me and Killian stop fighting.

"Be quiet. What kind of disgraceful behavior is this, like ten-year-old brats?"

"But Father, she started it first!"

"Killian."

When the low voice warned him, Killian grumbled and closed his mouth. The man saw this and turned toward us, greeting us - no, greeting Belkellion.

"It's been a long time. Grand Duke Belkellion."

He nodded.

"Count Ergen."

Ergen? Ergen?

I dredged up an old name buried in my memories. I knew Count Ergen had already passed away... Ah, surnames are inherited. Then the middle-aged man before my eyes must be Duncan, Camilla's brother and my uncle. I looked him over carefully. He had a kind impression as if the traces of time had slowly passed him by, but befitting someone who led a large trading company, only his eyes were sharp.

"I'm deeply ashamed to face you under such unpleasant circumstances."

"......"

"I apologize for the rudeness my thoughtless son showed to the lady accompanying you."

"Father! Why are you apologizing!!"

Killian protested dissatisfiedly, and despite the count offering an apology first, Belkellion didn't open his mouth. Come to think of it, I hadn't done well either, shouting and fighting, so I poked at him. He carefully turned my head and examined it here and there.

"Is it here?"

His cool fingers touched my forehead area, which was throbbing from how hard it had been flicked.

"It's swollen."

It was a low voice, not very loud, but audible to me, Killian, and Count Ergen. Killian glanced at the count's reaction to his words. Belkellion took his eyes off me and his gaze fell on the fountain pen Killian was holding.

Belkellion silently extended his hand toward Killian. Under the wordless pressure, Killian unconsciously placed the pen that had started this whole fight on his palm. After seeming to look down at the pen for a moment, he spoke.

"It's a pen cursed by demons."

"Killian!"

As soon as Belkellion finished speaking, Count Ergen glared at Killian. Killian pretended not to know and turned his head away, looking down.

"You didn't know what you were getting into either, I assume."

Belkellion asked me in a low voice. I was about to strongly deny it but hesitated slightly. It seemed a bit foolish to have rushed at a single dusty old fountain pen so crazily. It wasn't as if I was completely blameless for not listening at all to what the old woman was saying. That thing had powerfully drawn my attention from the start, but I never imagined it was a demon's curse. F*ck, I almost bought a piece of trash. But knowingly? Killian knew and still tried to buy this? What is this guy? What does this bastard do?

While I was lost in thought, Belkellion approached me, placed his hand on my shoulder, and said.

"Some has already been stolen."

What? Stolen what?

I stared at him with wide eyes. When Belkellion turned his head to look at Killian, Killian shrank back with a start.

"She's only fine because I was holding it! Otherwise she would have been completely drained!"

"Is that what you should be saying, Killian!"

The count yelled at the bastard.

What, what is it? Belkellion explained to me as I stood there with a puzzled face.

"This pen is quite dangerous. It excessively incites people's desires and absorbs surrounding mana to lead them to ruin. Someone like Alexa is walking prey. You have high inherent mana, so the absorption rate is faster too. If you had bought this fountain pen, the mana in Alexa would have been completely drained within at least a year. That period would be even shorter if you actually used it directly."

F*ck? My mana gets drained? This was a life-or-death moment when my livelihood almost got cut off?

However, I realized an even more shocking fact.

"I... I couldn't feel anything. Usually I can feel things moving... flowing..."

"It's a high-level magical item already filled with mana deeply stained with blood. It wouldn't be detected so easily. Rather, as a reaction to having mana stolen, obsession with this object increases."

"A lot... was a lot stolen? I still can't feel any reduction at all... what should I do..."

"It's still a minimal amount so far. But mana absorbed by a curse cannot be recovered."

I don't know how well he knows about this field, but I felt like I had become a complete idiot.

"How can such an item be available on the market?"

I expressed my doubt while looking for the old woman who had been selling the pen. At my looking around, Killian sneered.

"She ran away ages ago."

What?

I was trying to find out how a mere old woman could have an item cursed by demons, and through what circumstances that thing came to be outside, but the old woman ran away...

"You let her run away?"

"That was my goal anyway. If you hadn't butted in, it would've ended smoothly."

"I clearly said I was looking first and trying to buy it!..."

Suddenly I realized one fact. The old woman had first suggested I take a look and brought me here to show me the items. And I immediately became fixated on the pen. Could this... could this really be a coincidence?

She tried to sell the pen to Killian too, so am I misunderstanding? Then why did she run away? Why was she watching me?

"Belkellion. Are these cursed items common in this market?"

"No. Most are sealed or scattered across the continent. This is the first I've seen in Pellipe."

"......"

I felt uneasy.

Alexa's mana is widely well-known. If I assume someone deliberately exposed that pen to me to eliminate my mana, would that be too far-fetched an assumption? Being so obviously enchanted by the power of the curse, I realized for the first time in this world that I wasn't an absolute strongest being.

No matter how strong in combat and overflowing with mana, Alexa was not a god. That meant danger existed equally before this child too. I had thought I could just smash and break things and win with strength when things went wrong - no, I still think that 95% of the time - but the remaining 5% hadn't considered that there were dangers even Alexa had to be wary and careful of.

How could I be so stupid? Did I already forget that this place is another battlefield? I really lost my mind.

If my assumption is true, it means someone who seriously guards against Alexa has emerged in Pellipe. It means my recent moves - being discussed as Military Commander and refusing the king's command - brought about that change. It was absolutely not a good thing.

Damn it.

While I was rapidly trying to assess the situation internally, I suddenly noticed Belkellion still holding the fountain pen. Didn't he say contact would drain mana faster?

"How are you..."

Not having your mana stolen? As if he understood the unspoken latter part of my sentence, he smiled bitterly.

"Demon curses submit to demons. Even if not a proper demon, the blood flows."

"I see. Then that thing..."

At my words, Belkellion turned toward the count.

"It's an item that would do no good coming out into the world."

"I'll leave the disposal to the Grand Duke. This hopeless fool of a son..."

The count nodded and glared at Killian again. Serves him right in the meantime.

He clearly knew my mana was being stolen but didn't tell me. How is he fine then?

"You were holding the pen but you're fine?"

"...you looked fine on the outside too."

Killian answered. With an air of reluctantly answering because of the count and Belkellion.

"What are you?"