Chapter 115

Chapter 115

BOOM!

A small explosion erupted inside the little cauldron.

Briel carefully peered into the cauldron.

It was an item called the Witch’s Cauldron.

Briel had gone through great difficulty to obtain it from the Goblin Market, and it was an item that increased the success rate by a full twenty percent.

That was why her expectations had been high, but the result was a complete failure.

Inside the cauldron, instead of golden liquid, there was a black substance that looked like porridge.

Briel grabbed her head with both hands and screamed.

“Aaaah! Another failure? This makes no sense! It raises the success rate by twenty percent, so why did it fail? That scammer bastard! He definitely sold me a fake. Otherwise, there’s no reason I should have failed.”

After throwing a fit for a long while, Briel huffed and put on her pointed hat.

She intended to go find the merchant who had sold her the Witch’s Cauldron.

“Yah!”

Briel threw herself out the window.

As her body plummeted at terrifying speed, a wind blew in and gently embraced her.

Thanks to that, Briel was able to land safely.

Briel headed straight for the Goblin Market.

Since she went there at least once a day, she could now find her way there with her eyes closed.

After entering the Goblin Market, Briel went into the shop that had sold her the Witch’s Cauldron.

“You scammer old man!”

“Well, who do we have here? If it isn’t our VIP young lady?”

The old man with the strawberry nose greeted the furious Briel.

He was Corwin, the owner of this shop.

Corwin was one of the old fixtures of the Goblin Market, and he had collected countless items over the years.

The Witch’s Cauldron was one of the items he had collected that way.

Briel shouted,

“I used the Witch’s Cauldron, and it failed. It’s fake, isn’t it?”

“You must be upset because your alchemy failed, our little lady.”

“You sold me a fake, didn’t you?”

“Now, now. Don’t get angry. Sit here. Failure is common when you do alchemy.”

“Ugh! I bought it because you said it would raise the success rate by twenty percent.”

“Statistically, yes. But how could you succeed on the very first try? That is why they say failure is the mother of success.”

“How can failure be a mother?”

“It’s just a saying. Ho-ho!”

Corwin looked at Briel with a warm expression and gaze, as if he were looking at his own granddaughter.

At his gaze, Briel felt her anger soften a little.

“Sit here and have a warm cup of cocoa. It’ll put your mind at ease.”

“Do you think I came here to drink cocoa?”

“I know! You came to complain. Still, have a cup of cocoa first, then complain.”

Without listening to Briel’s answer, Corwin prepared the cocoa.

At the sweet scent tickling her nose, Briel swallowed without realizing it.

“Here, try it! This one came in from Neo Seoul, so it should be quite good.”

“Tch!”

Briel wrinkled her nose and accepted the cup of cocoa.

Corwin watched Briel drink the cocoa with a warm smile.

Before she knew it, her mood had improved, and she was swinging her feet as she drank.

“Is it good?”

“Yes!”

“I’ll pack some for you when you leave, so take it with you.”

“Yes!”

Briel nodded.

The idea that the Witch’s Cauldron was fake had already vanished from her mind.

It had been nothing more than an excuse.

Whenever she came here, Corwin always gave her warm cocoa.

In the slums, this was the only place where she could drink cocoa.

Corwin asked,

“What about Zeon?”

“He hasn’t come back yet.”

“Oh dear! You must be bored.”

“I’m fine! I can just research alchemy.”

“Aren’t you worried?”

“No! Because I know Zeon is safe.”

Briel answered in a voice full of certainty.

When they made the Soul Covenant, the two of them had become connected by an invisible thread.

Zeon might not know it, but as a High Elf, Briel could feel Zeon’s condition to some extent.

That was why she did not worry even when they were apart for a long time.

“How impressive, our VIP young lady!”

“Heh!”

Even as Briel’s nose rose proudly into the air, Corwin only smiled.

Corwin had no family.

After losing his son’s family to monsters decades ago, he had lived alone until now. To him, seeing Briel come by from time to time was a great joy.

That was why he had handed over the incredibly precious Witch’s Cauldron to Briel at a bargain price. And now he was wondering what else he should give her.

Corwin said to Briel,

“Should I give you this too?”

＊＊＊

“Hm! Hm!”

Briel walked down the street while humming.

She was in a good mood because she had received several precious materials from Corwin.

Of course, they had not been free.

Briel believed there was no such thing as a free gift without a reason, so she had paid for them. It was only that the discount had been unimaginably enormous.

Briel murmured,

‘Now I can open a subspace too.’

There were only a tiny number of magic-type Awakened who could open a subspace.

Even among those of the same grade, some could open one, while others could not even after a lifetime. Most magic-type Awakened belonged to the latter group.

Fortunately, perhaps because Briel was not human, she could open a subspace.

Briel’s subspace was not very large.

It was only about the size of a small room.

But for Briel, that was enough.

She had stored all her reagents and precious materials inside her subspace. Even after that, there was still room left, so she also stored the materials she had received from Corwin.

The thought that she could return home and resume her alchemy naturally lifted her spirits. But then a voice shattered her joy.

“Hey! Kid.”

At the unpleasant voice, Briel turned her head and saw men who looked thoroughly rotten beckoning to her from an alley.

“Me?”

“That’s right, kid. Why don’t you come here for a second?”

“Why should I?”

“Fuck, you talk a lot. Your big brothers just want to see your face.”

The men spoke like thugs.

Briel looked them over carefully.

“I’ve never seen you humans before. You must have come from another district?”

“Ah! You fucking bitch! You really talk too much. Yeah, we came to Shinchon for the first time today.”

“Ah! I see.”

Briel nodded.

The Awakened and men in Shinchon never touched Briel.

That was because they knew her guardian was Zeon.

In addition, Eton, the ruler of Shinchon, had ordered his subordinates as well.

He had told them never to touch Briel.

That was why no one approached Briel even when she walked alone through the dangerous slums.

The men appraised Briel.

“If we dress her up a little, she’ll sell for a lot.”

“Fuck! If we just take off that damned pointed hat, she’ll be usable.”

“Before selling her, why don’t we...... What do you think?”

The men exchanged glances.

They were Awakened who had crossed over from another district.

They were all Grade F, but they still possessed strength ordinary people could not compare to.

That was why they had survived until now, committing crimes while moving from district to district.

Their target this time was Briel.

There were quite a few buyers who liked girls as young and delicate as her. If they handed Briel over to them, they would be able to make quite a lot of money.

SHING!

“Come here while we’re still asking nicely. Before I carve up your face with this blade.”

One of the Awakened drew his sword and threatened her.

He seemed to think he was making a frightening face, but it did not move Briel at all.

Although she specialized in alchemy, she could use quite a few other types of magic as well. Small fry like them were no match for her.

“Haa!”

Just as Briel sighed and was about to cast magic, it happened.

“Move! Don’t block the road.”

A heavy voice suddenly came from behind the men.

“What?”

“Fuck! What son of a bitch is......”

The men spat curses and turned around. Then they saw a man walking toward them from the opposite side of the alley.

The man was wearing a shearling coat made from the hide of some unknown monster.

An enormous amount of fur was attached to the collar of the shearling coat, making the man look even larger.

In truth, the man was quite large.

His short hair, yellow eyes reminiscent of gold, and the large scar crossing his right cheek made him look both mysterious and intimidating.

The yellow-eyed man said coldly,

“I told you to move.”

“You son of a bitch, who do you think you’re talking to......”

“Beat him up!”

“Die!”

The men flared up and charged at the yellow-eyed man.

Before anyone knew it, each of them had a weapon in hand.

As expected of martial-type Awakened, they approached the man in an instant and thrust at his vital points.

The moment their weapons were about to sink into the man’s body, a savage light appeared in his eyes.

“Vermin like you......”

FLASH!

At that moment, lightning of tremendous brightness flickered from the man’s body.

The powerful lightning struck the bodies of the attacking men in an instant.

“Kraaagh!”

“Aaagh!”

“Ghhhhh!”

Their screams were the last sound they made as their bodies were instantly burned black.

The smell of burning flesh spread through the alley.

Even at the unpleasant smell, Briel could not frown.

Her face was clearly tense as she looked at the man.

‘He’s strong.’

Lightning-type, a rare branch even among magic-types.

And among them, he was a high-grade Awakened.

Among all magic-types, lightning-type destructive power was tremendous enough to rank within the top two.

The problem was that although its destructive power was overwhelming, it was not easy to control its range.

Even when activated at minimum output, lightning and flame-type Skills were the kind that devastated an entire area.

Because of that, places where lightning or flame-type Skills were used were usually reduced to ruins.

But now, there was not a single scorched spot in the alley.

Only those who had attacked the man had been turned into lumps of charcoal.

He had drawn out exactly enough lightning to kill only the people.

Briel knew that this was far harder than increasing destructive power.

The man looked at the corpses that had turned into lumps of charcoal and said,

“As expected of the slums, trash is lying around everywhere. This is why I didn’t want to come this way.”

It felt as if simply breathing in the slums allowed filthy waste to enter his body.

The man looked at Briel.

“Usually, in times like this, shouldn’t you thank someone for helping you?”

“Hmph! I would’ve been fine even without your help.”

“So you’re an Awakened too?”

“At least I can protect my own body from trashy humans like that.”

“Then I stepped in for nothing. Still, I did help you out of goodwill, in my own way.”

“Well, it was a little helpful. I didn’t have to dirty my hands. For that, thanks!”

“For an elf, you do know some manners.”

“Elf? How did you know?”

Briel leapt backward and grew wary of the man.

The only humans who knew she was an elf were Zeon and Levin.

Everyone else thought she was human.

But a man she had never seen before had seen through the fact that she was an elf.

It was only natural for her to be wary.

“How could I not know when you’re giving off such a distinctive scent? Well, there’s a bit of a rotten smell mixed in, but that doesn’t change the essence.”

The man’s golden eyes gleamed intensely, as if they could see straight through Briel.

Before his piercing gaze, Briel felt as if she were standing naked.

Briel gathered mana in both hands and said,

“Who are you?”

“There’s no need to be so wary, little elf. If you had been my goal, you would already be dead.”

“I asked who you are!”

“My name is Lee Ji-ryeong.”

“Lee Ji-ryeong?”

“Where is Zeon?”

The man, Lee Ji-ryeong, approached Briel.

Briel stepped back with fear on her face.

At that moment, a calm voice came from directly behind her.

“I’m here.”