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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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Right after Kerry asked about how to use the orb, Lina replied casually,
“I certainly know how to use it. It’s not that difficult.”
‘She says it’s nothing special, but why does she look so grim? Is there something about this orb?’
“Do you know how to manipulate mana? You infuse the orb with mana and visualize the inscribed magic.”
“…”
“If you can’t manipulate mana… it might be better to get rid of that useless orb. You could get caught up in something troublesome.”
‘There definitely seems to be something about this orb. But I can’t just throw away something this valuable. Let’s not give up yet and ask the Regressor how to manipulate mana.’
Despite his ignorance of magic, he knew how valuable magical knowledge was.
This was especially true in this other world, with its closed-off, elitist society. Even a Regressor might not readily share such information.
“Lina, could you teach me how to manipulate mana?”
“It’s not something you can learn in a short time.”
“…I figured as much.”
Even a pushover Regressor wouldn’t easily teach him about magic.
It seemed better to find another way or wait until they were closer.
However, seeing his dejected expression, the Regressor adopted an apologetic tone.
“But since you seem so interested in magic, I’ll give you a demonstration.”
“!”
Lina took the magic orb from his hand and held it out in front of her, just like the bandit had done.
However, even though the action was the same, the elegance and atmosphere were completely different.
Lina’s silken blonde hair swayed slightly, and the orb glowed with a pure light, far surpassing the bandit’s.
Kerry felt a strange, blue current. Then, a beautiful voice reached his ears.
“Wind Blade.”
Crackle!
Following Lina’s soft incantation, a wind blade shot out, scraping the ground as it spread outwards. It was the same magic, but Lina’s was clearly much more powerful.
“…Wow.”
“The trick is to visualize the mana within your body flowing into the orb. This orb was actually developed for easy spellcasting, so even beginners can use it relatively easily.”
“…”
“However, it usually takes at least a year to develop the sense for mana… so it would be difficult for you to use it now, Kerry. It might be better to focus on swordsmanship rather than magic…”
Lina’s words, though spoken right next to him, felt distant. The blue current he had just seen, the subtle movement he felt within Lina’s body…
Could that have been mana?
He couldn’t be certain, but he had a strong intuition that it was.
‘Focus. The mana within me… hmm. Did I even have mana? I shouldn’t. No, don’t give up. At least try to find it.’
Opportunities like this were rare. It was like taking a pop quiz right after seeing the answer key. Except the question was incredibly difficult.
He concentrated, and as he swept his inner self, he felt something tiny, like a grain of sand.
It was so small that he wondered if he was just imagining it.
‘The trick was… to visualize the mana flowing into the orb, right?’
The moment he focused on sending that tiny bit of mana into the orb,
“!”
The orb flickered like a light bulb turning on, then went silent.
No wind blade, not even a gentle breeze, materialized.
“…I tried it because I thought it might work, but it didn’t.”
He felt a bit embarrassed. He had focused all his energy, but aside from a brief flicker, nothing happened.
However, Lina was looking at him with a surprised expression.
“…Did you just imitate what I did?”
“I couldn’t even imitate it properly. It just flickered and that was it…”
“That’s not the point… Kerry, have you really never learned magic before?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“If that’s true… I’m surprised.”
“Huh?”
“The fact that it flickered means you properly moved your mana. The reason it went out after flickering is, from what I can see, simply because you lacked mana. If you had enough mana, the magic might have worked.”
“…”
Could he be a magic prodigy?
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‘This world is beautiful.’
The Regressor, who must have been surrounded by countless talented individuals, said he had remarkable magical talent.
He was so moved that he cried out involuntarily.
“Ah, this world is so beautiful! Beautiful!!”
“Uh… y…yes. The weather is lovely today.”
The innkeeper, who was cleaning, flinched and replied.
Kerry wanted to have a deeper conversation with the innkeeper about the beauty of this world, but the innkeeper, looking at him as if he were crazy, fled.
“Even the sunlight reflecting off the fleeing innkeeper is beautiful.”
It felt like his life had changed from a cruel thriller to a rosy, healing story.
The two years of suffering in this other world were just the rising action for the true healing to begin.
As he basked in the emotion, the window on the second floor of the inn opened, revealing the grandmother’s wrinkled face.
“Mr. Adventurer! Everyone is waiting, what are you doing out there?”
“Sorry. And I told you to call me Kerry.”
“Hmm, right.”
He had already given the hobgoblin’s heart to the grandmother. She had said that she had finished all the other preparations and told him to come to her room in an hour.
Knock, knock
“Come in.”
Knocking was essential since it was a room full of women. As he entered, Natasha smiled and embraced him.
“Honey, thank you so much for your help!”
“Natasha, was the curse lifted successfully? Haa… wait, could you hug me a little less tightly? I… I can’t… breathe…”
“Oh, sorry. I was just so happy to see you.”
‘She seems stronger, so the curse must have been lifted successfully.’
“Natasha’s curse is half-resolved.”
“Half? It wasn’t completely lifted?”
“That’s right. Mr. Adventurer… no, Kerry. Even with my power, I couldn’t completely lift the curse. Those bastards, to cast such a powerful curse…”
“You call yourself the greatest shaman… Grandma, are you sure you’re not a quack?”
“Of course not!”
“My grandmother is the greatest shaman of our tribe. If it were a simple curse… my father and the warriors wouldn’t have fallen victim to it.”
So, it was a powerful curse. Considering how the Regressor Lina had immediately started looking for the skinny skeleton and the pig-nosed man after returning, they might be future big shots.
“The only way to completely lift Natasha’s curse… is to kill that skinny bastard and offer his bones as a sacrifice. That’s how potent this curse is.”
‘Shit… I’m scared to fight such strong opponents.’
Since the fighting would be the Regressor’s responsibility, it shouldn’t be a big problem, right? He used the Eyes of the Goddess on Natasha since she said the curse wasn’t fully lifted.
Checking her status, he saw the curse, not completely removed, just as the grandmother had said.
Natasha seemed happy that the curse had been partially lifted.
She clung to his arm and gazed at him with lovestruck eyes.
Natasha’s breasts pressed against his arm.
Even though they had had sex, they hadn’t engaged in any other physical intimacy besides intercourse, so this sensation was new. He rather liked it.
“Honey, thank you so much. Hee hee.”
Seeing Natasha clinging to him, trembling slightly, he wanted to stroke her hair, but a worry crossed his mind.
‘Why… doesn’t she even glance at Lina?’
It was Lina who had actually killed the hobgoblin. Honestly, he wouldn’t have even dared to go after a hobgoblin alone.
He was worried that Lina might be feeling left out, so he glanced at her cautiously.
Lina was looking at them, smiling warmly and nodding.
‘Pushover Regressor, nice…’
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Lina smiled warmly, watching Natasha fawn over Kerry.
Natasha’s current demeanor was drastically different from her past life.
In her past life, her enemies had given her the nickname ‘Red Maelstrom,’ fearing the sight of her with her red hair flying wildly, her body drenched in blood.
[The weak deserve to be killed.]
Her mercilessness, tearing enemies apart with her bare hands, was the very embodiment of terror to her foes.
She often showed an extremely hysterical side, especially towards men, so no one except Lina dared to approach the ‘madwoman.’
‘Back then, it hurt my heart to see Natasha like that…’
It was especially painful because Lina knew that Natasha’s obsession with blood stemmed from past trauma.
But what about now?
“Honey, when are we getting married? I’m fine with a small ceremony…”
“We’re not getting married, so why would we have a wedding…?”
Natasha looked incredibly happy next to this man named Kerry. It was impossible to imagine her as the Red Maelstrom.
Honestly, Lina felt a bit hurt.
She had regressed and immediately sought out Natasha to help her overcome her trauma, but Natasha was infatuated with a man and treated Lina like a rival.
But Lina was understanding enough to accept it.
‘My original plan was to rescue Natasha and become close friends with her again, like in my past life, but…’
What did it matter? Natasha looked happy now. That was enough for Lina.
“Well, Natasha’s recovered somewhat… isn’t it time we got moving?”
The grandmother, who had been puffing away on a cigarette in the corner, spoke. Everyone agreed.
Judging by the fire in the grandmother’s eyes, she seemed to hate the people who massacred her tribe just as much as Natasha.
“I’d love to set off right away, but we don’t have a single clue. Do you know anything, Lina?”
Lina seemed to be deep in thought. To Kerry, it looked like she was searching her memories.
“I’m not certain, but… I know a place where they might be.”
“Sigh. Then it’s decided. Let’s go there.”
“Yes. However… it would be best to stay here for another day.”
“No way!”
It was Natasha who shouted.
“We need to find them as soon as possible… I can’t stand the thought of them breathing the same air… grrr!”
Natasha was still clinging to his arm, and he could feel her body tense up. He could even sense a chilling, almost tingling, killing intent.
‘Shit. That’s scary.’
“It can’t be helped. The road to the nearest town to their hideout is dangerous, and it will take the rest of the day to hire a coachman to guide us there.”
“…”
“I want to catch them just as much as you do, so please be patient.”
“…”
Natasha, realizing she had gotten overly excited, seemed embarrassed and quickly composed herself.
Kerry answered on behalf of the flustered Natasha.
“Alright, Lina. Let’s wait until tomorrow.”
The grandmother nodded in agreement, and the day’s schedule was concluded.
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“Did you hear?”
“Hear what?”
“Mr. Adventurer and Lina are leaving tomorrow!”
“What? Really?”
The former hostages whispered amongst themselves in the inn’s common room. They had received so much.
They felt uneasy about letting them go like this, but they had nothing to offer in return.
“We’ve only received kindness.”
“Is there anything we can do to help…?”
These women were all widows, their husbands murdered by the bandits. Without Lina, their future would have been bleak.
But not all of them were purely thinking about repaying the kindness.
Kemi couldn’t forget the erotic scene she had witnessed between Mr. Adventurer and Natasha.
Kemi, once hailed as the most beautiful woman in the village, had been practically sold off to a wealthy but much older man.
However, the young Kemi had constantly refused to have sex, and her relationship with her angered husband had deteriorated.
In the end, Kemi’s first sexual experience was practically rape, leaving her with a deep-seated aversion to sex.
But the scene she had witnessed in the prison was different.
‘It was completely different from the sex I had with my husband…’
Moreover, Kerry’s impressive size, far surpassing her husband’s, had truly shocked her.
But it wasn’t just his size.
The way Natasha and Kerry shyly made love was a revelation to Kemi, whose first experience had been traumatic.
Natasha’s affectionate moans had even aroused Kemi, despite being a woman.
‘How good must it have been to make such erotic sounds…?’
Kemi was approaching thirty, but her beauty and figure hadn’t faded at all.
Ample breasts, a slender waist below, and naturally red, luscious lips that didn’t need lipstick.
The village’s most beautiful maiden had retained her allure.
The other women in the same predicament chattered next to Kemi.
“We’re saying goodbye to Kerry tomorrow… I’m sad.”
“Should we go visit him together later?”
“Don’t bother. Do you think Kerry would welcome married women like us? He’s such a handsome young man.”
Kemi shook her head.
‘I’m different from those women…’
Kemi knew she was beautiful. Her confidence had waned slightly with age, but when she looked in the mirror, she still saw her former self.
‘If only I could have a fling with Kerry…’
Kerry was different from the rough, unkempt men of this world who had suffered hardships and lacked self-care.
Kerry’s noble-like face was enough to make Kemi’s heart flutter.
‘Alright, I’ve made up my mind!’
That evening, there was a knock on Kerry’s door.
“Who is it?”
“Mr. Adventurer, it’sh me. Kemi.”
‘What’s with that slurred speech? Is she drunk?’
He opened the door and saw a beautiful woman with a flushed face, as if intoxicated.
It was Kemi.
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She might get killed by Natasha