Chapter 115
Boom!
A small explosion erupted inside the tiny cauldron.
Brielle cautiously peered inside.
It was an item known as the Witch’s Cauldron.
She had gone through great trouble to obtain it at the Goblin Market—it was supposed to increase the success rate by a whopping twenty percent.
Naturally, her expectations had been high.
But the result was a complete failure.
Instead of a golden liquid, the cauldron contained a pitch-black, porridge-like sludge.
Grabbing her head with both hands, Brielle screamed.
“Uaaaah! Another failure? That makes no sense! It increases the success rate by twenty percent—so why did it fail?! That scamming bastard! He definitely sold me a fake. There’s no other explanation!”
After raging for quite a while, Brielle, still fuming, put on her pointed hat.
She was heading to find the merchant who had sold her the Witch’s Cauldron.
“Yaaap!”
Brielle flung herself out the window.
As her body plummeted at a terrifying speed, a gust of wind rose up and gently embraced her.
Thanks to that, she landed safely.
Brielle immediately headed to the Goblin Market.
She went there once a day without fail, so by now she could find her way there with her eyes closed.
Entering the market, she walked straight into the shop that had sold her the cauldron.
“You old scammer!”
“Oh my, who do we have here? Isn’t this our VIP young lady?”
The strawberry-nosed old man greeted the furious Brielle.
He was Cowon, the owner of the shop.
A long-standing figure in the Goblin Market, Cowon had spent many years collecting countless rare items.
The Witch’s Cauldron was one such item.
Brielle shouted,
“I used the Witch’s Cauldron, and it failed! That thing’s fake, isn’t it?!”
“Ah, so your alchemy failed and you’re upset, little miss?”
“You sold me a fake, didn’t you?!”
“Now, now, don’t get angry—come sit down. Alchemy fails all the time.”
“Ugh! I bought it because it said it increases the success rate by twenty percent!”
“That’s true probabilistically, but how could you expect success on the first try? That’s why people say failure is the mother of success.”
“How is failure a mother?”
“It’s just an expression. Hoho!”
Cowon looked at Brielle with warm eyes and a gentle expression, like a grandfather looking at his granddaughter.
Under his gaze, Brielle felt her anger begin to subside.
“Sit down and have a warm cup of cocoa. It’ll calm you.”
“Who said I came here to drink cocoa?”
“I know—you came to argue. But have a cup first, then argue.”
Ignoring her protests, Cowon began preparing cocoa.
The sweet aroma tickled her nose, and before she knew it, Brielle swallowed.
“Here, try it. I just brought this in from Neo City—it’s quite good.”
“Hmph!”
Brielle wrinkled her nose as she took the cup.
Cowon watched her with a warm smile as she drank.
Before long, her mood had lifted, and she sipped her cocoa while lightly kicking her feet.
“Is it good?”
“Yeah!”
“I’ll pack some for you to take when you leave.”
“Okay!”
Brielle nodded.
The thought that the Witch’s Cauldron might be fake had completely vanished from her mind.
It had only been an excuse.
Whenever she came here, Cowon always gave her warm cocoa.
In the slums, this was the only place she could drink something like this.
Cowon asked,
“And Zeon?”
“He hasn’t come back yet.”
“I see… you must be bored.”
“It’s fine! I can just work on my alchemy.”
“You’re not worried?”
“No! I know Zeon is safe.”
Brielle answered with complete certainty.
Through their soul pact, the two were connected by an invisible bond.
Zeon might not know it, but as a High Elf, Brielle could sense his condition to some extent.
That was why she didn’t worry, even when they were apart for a long time.
“How remarkable, our VIP young lady!”
“Hmph!”
Even as Brielle lifted her nose proudly, Cowon only smiled.
Cowon had no family.
Decades ago, he had lost his son’s family to magical beasts, and had lived alone ever since.
For him, seeing Brielle—who visited from time to time—was a great joy.
That was why he had sold her the extremely rare Witch’s Cauldron at a bargain price.
And now, he was already thinking about what else he could give her.
Cowon said,
“Shall I give you this as well?”
***
“Hm-hm~ hm~”
Brielle walked down the street, humming to herself.
Her mood was bright after receiving several rare materials from Cowon.
Of course, they weren’t free.
Brielle firmly believed that nothing in the world came without a price—so she had paid.
It was just that the discount had been unbelievably large.
She muttered to herself,
“Now I can open a subspace too.”
Among magic-type Awakeners, only a very small number could open a subspace.
Even at the same level, some could open one, while others could never do so in their entire lives.
Most magic-type Awakeners fell into the latter category.
Fortunately, perhaps because she wasn’t human, Brielle was able to open one.
Her subspace wasn’t very large—
about the size of a small room.
But that was more than enough for her.
She stored all her various reagents and rare materials inside it.
Even after that, there was still space left, so she put away the materials she had received from Cowon as well.
Just thinking about returning home and resuming her alchemy lifted her spirits—
but then a voice shattered her mood.
“Hey, kid.”
At the unpleasant voice, Brielle turned her head.
In an alleyway, a group of rough-looking men were beckoning to her.
“Me?”
“Yeah, you, kid. Why don’t you come over here?”
“Why should I?”
“Damn it! You talk too much. We just wanted to take a look at your face, kid.”
The men spoke crudely.
Brielle calmly looked them over.
“Haven’t seen you around before. You must’ve come from another district?”
“Ah, you damn bitch, you really talk a lot. Yeah, we just got to Sinchon today.”
“Oh, I see.”
Brielle nodded.
The Awakeners and men in Sinchon would never touch her.
Because they knew her guardian was Zeon.
Also, Eaton—the ruler of Sinchon—had given strict orders to his subordinates:
Never lay a hand on Brielle.
That was why she could walk alone through the dangerous slums without anyone approaching her.
The men sized her up.
“If we dress her up a bit, we could sell her for a high price.”
“Damn, just take off that stupid pointy hat and she’d be usable.”
“Before we sell her, why don’t we have some fun first… what do you think?”
They exchanged glances.
They were Awakeners who had crossed over from another district.
All of them were only F-rank, but even so, they possessed strength far beyond ordinary people.
That was how they had survived this long, committing crimes while moving from district to district.
And this time, their target was Brielle.
There was a market that favored young, fragile-looking girls like her. If they handed her over, they could make quite a lot of money.
Shing—
“Come here nicely while I’m asking. Before I carve up that pretty face of yours with this blade.”
One of them drew his sword and threatened her.
He tried to look intimidating, but it had no effect on Brielle.
Though she specialized in alchemy, she could use plenty of other magic as well.
These small-time thugs were no match for her.
“Haa…”
Brielle let out a sigh and was about to cast a spell—
“Move. Don’t block the way.”
A deep voice suddenly came from behind the men.
“What?”
“The hell? Which bastard—”
The men cursed and turned around.
From the other end of the alley, a man was walking toward them.
He wore a shearling coat made from the hide of some unknown magical beast.
The thick fur lining around the collar made him look even larger than he already was.
In reality, he was quite big as well.
Short-cropped hair, golden eyes reminiscent of molten gold, and a large scar running across his right cheek—
All of it gave him an aura that was both mysterious and intimidating.
The man with the yellow eyes spoke coldly.
“I said move.”
“You crazy bastard, who do you think you’re—”
“Get him!”
“Kill him!”
The men rushed at him in a rage.
Weapons had already appeared in their hands.
True to martial-type Awakeners, they closed the distance in an instant and aimed for his vital points.
Just as their weapons were about to pierce his body—
A savage glint flashed in the man’s eyes.
“Pathetic vermin…”
Flash!
In that instant, an intense bolt of lightning burst from his body.
The powerful electricity struck the attackers all at once.
“Aaaargh!”
“Aaagh!”
“Grrrk!”
Their screams were cut short as their entire bodies were instantly charred black.
The smell of burning flesh filled the alley.
Despite the nauseating stench, Brielle couldn’t even frown.
Her face was tense as she stared at the man.
He’s strong.
Among magic-type Awakeners, lightning users were extremely rare.
And among them, he was clearly of a high rank.
Lightning magic possessed one of the greatest destructive powers of all magic types.
The problem was that, while incredibly destructive, it was notoriously difficult to control.
Even at minimum output, it could devastate an entire area.
That was why places where lightning or fire magic was used were usually reduced to ruins.
But the alley remained completely intact.
Only the men who attacked him had been reduced to charcoal.
He had released just enough lightning to kill—no more.
Brielle knew that controlling it so precisely was far harder than simply maximizing its power.
The man looked at the charred corpses and muttered,
“As expected of the slums—trash everywhere. This is why I try not to come to places like this.”
It felt as though simply breathing here would fill his body with filth.
Then he looked at Brielle.
“In situations like this, shouldn’t you thank the one who helped you?”
“Hmph! I would’ve been fine without your help.”
“Oh? So you’re an Awakener too?”
“At least enough to protect myself from trash like them.”
“Then I interfered for nothing. Still, I helped out of goodwill.”
“Well… it did help a little. My hands didn’t get dirty. So thanks.”
“For an elf, you at least have some manners.”
“An elf? How did you know?”
Brielle quickly stepped back, her guard up.
Only Zeon and Levin knew she was an elf.
Everyone else believed she was human.
Yet this stranger had seen through her at a glance.
Naturally, she couldn’t help but be wary.
“With that distinctive scent you’re giving off, how could I not know? Though there’s a bit of rot mixed in, it doesn’t change your essence.”
His golden eyes shone intensely, as if piercing straight through her.
Under that gaze, Brielle felt as though she were standing naked.
Gathering mana into both hands, she spoke.
“Who are you?”
“No need to be so cautious, little elf. If you were my target, you’d already be dead.”
“I asked who you are!”
“My name is Lee Jiryung.”
“Lee Jiryung?”
“Where is Zeon?”
The man—Lee Jiryung—stepped toward her.
Brielle retreated with a fearful expression.
At that moment, a calm voice spoke from directly behind her.
“I’m right here.”