Chapter 136: A New Comrade
Jean Emilia. A self-proclaimed genius archmage, Sue Byron’s only hope, and her business partner. He seemed obsessed with money, but he also had a mage’s pride. A “beautiful person,” as Sue called him. Sue believed in him unconditionally, believing that he would one day remove the snake that was attached to her body.
“What’s its name?”
“It doesn’t have one.”
“It doesn’t?”
“Literally.”
“Should I give it a name then?”
“No need.”
“Why not?”
Rem, who had been out of the forest for a while, was grazing in the yard, then fell asleep. The water in the spring was as clear as a polished glass bead, as always. For some reason, the summer heat didn’t penetrate Jean’s barrier. Sue casually dismissed the random thought that crossed her mind, wondering how many spells were woven into this workshop.
“A name is nothing but a useless shackle. Just call it whatever you want.”
“Really? Then I’ll call it High Priest. Your name is High Priest from now on.”
“…Tch.”
*Now, let the interrogation begin.*
Jean smirked, a sinister glint in his eyes. He looked very pleased with himself as he fastened his white gloves with his teeth.
The high priest, his entire body bound tightly to a hard wooden chair, his back aching, could only twitch his left leg in discomfort. He had been trying to use his “power” but to no avail.
Sue was standing behind him. Her hand was wrapped around his neck, as if she was about to choke him.
A shabby interrogation was about to begin in this place that looked like nothing more than an ordinary house.
“Let’s get straight to the point. Where did you get this?”
Jean asked, lifting the hem of the high priest’s robe with his foot. His robe was already torn and tattered from his escape from the soldiers. As the hem was lifted, the familiar snake mark on the high priest’s ankle was revealed.
“W-what is this?”
It was a summer afternoon. But a chilling sensation, like a snake slithering up her spine, ran through Sue. The high priest instinctively tried to pull his leg back, but his entire body was bound.
“What is it? Your damn black snake. Where did you get it?”
Jean, annoyed by the high priest’s attempt to deny it, propped his foot on the edge of the chair and stood arrogantly.
“Aren’t you going to answer?”
The high priest remained silent, trapped in Jean’s shadow. Jean smirked and clapped his hands. That was Sue Byron’s cue.
“Aaaaaah! What… what’s happening?!”
The high priest’s body suddenly jolted. A tingling pain, like a mild electric shock, ran through his neck, where Sue’s hand was wrapped.
It was a simplified version of the Byron family’s secret curse magic. It was also one of Sue’s few specialties, a magic she had used countless times in the basement of the glass garden.
“It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!”
The tortured man writhed in pain, tears welling up in his eyes, but it was mostly an act. A true mage, hit by this curse, would be writhing in agony, unable to breathe, but Sue’s version only caused a slight paralysis.
Pathetic magic talent. It was also why Sue mainly used physical violence in the basement.
“Khehe… Tell me while I’m still asking nicely, you coward.”
“I-I don’t know! I don’t know!”
“Uhahaha! Liar!”
Jean chuckled, enjoying the sight of the high priest trembling like a leaf. Sue, watching him, felt a bead of sweat trickle down her back.
He was kind of like Enzhe…
This was Jean’s workshop. If what he had said was true, the fastest way to get information about the curse would be to use telepathy, as a self-proclaimed genius mage. But the reason why Jean wasn’t doing that was because he was enjoying the interrogation. And the powerless Sue had no choice but to play along.
“I-I’m telling the truth! I don’t know! I really don’t know where I got this!”
It was hard to know how to react to the sight of the “infamous leader of the Holy Demon Religion” crying and wailing over a pathetic curse. Even though she was the one inflicting the curse, Sue wondered if her magical power had suddenly increased.
“Hmm, Sue.”
Fortunately, the torture, which wasn’t even real torture, didn’t last long. Jean, bored with his own antics, stopped laughing and gestured for Sue to stop. The high priest’s face relaxed as Sue’s curse stopped.
“He’s not lying. He really doesn’t know.”
Jean’s deep purple eyes flashed brightly for a moment. He had read the high priest’s mind, briefly.
The high priest, oblivious to the fact that his mind had been read, cleared his throat and replied,
“That’s right, I don’t know. I don’t know who did this to my ankle.”
“But you know how you got it, right?”
“….”
Jean’s eyes returned to normal.
A faint sigh escaped the high priest’s lips as he stared at the floor.
“…Yes, I guess there’s no harm in telling you.”
It wasn’t a big deal anymore.
The high priest had given up on clinging to his pride. He started to talk, recalling his memories, providing Jean and Sue with the information they needed, without any resistance.
“It was a deal.”
“A deal?”
Sue repeated his words unconsciously, and the high priest caught it. He continued in a gruff voice,
“Yes, a deal. I made a deal with someone. And this snake is proof of it.”
All eyes were on the black snake on his ankle again. It was much smaller than Sue’s, but it was identical in shape.
Jean asked again,
“What kind of deal?”
“Ah…”
But the high priest hesitated, his lips pursed. And then, as if he had given up on everything, he slumped his shoulders and mumbled in a sullen voice,
“I asked to be rescued from the Wastelands. And to become a billionaire.”
“Wastel…?”
Sue instinctively stepped back at the unexpected word. The high priest scoffed at her.
“Even the great Marie is disgusted by the residents of the Wastelands, huh?”
What the hell is the great Marie?
She was just surprised that the high priest of the Holy Demon Religion was from the Wastelands. It wasn’t easy to “escape” from the Wastelands. Even the genius Halo hadn’t been able to escape on her own and had to leave her uncle and brother behind.
But the high priest continued before Sue could say anything,
“Anyway, that was my wish. And that person gave me this… power.”
“This power… You mean the brainwashing magic?”
“Yes.”
He nodded, his voice filled with resentment.
“The power to control people… No, magic, right? To be precise, the ability to use that magic. No, wait… Ah, I don’t know! I’ve never used magic in my life. Hmph.”
The high priest snorted. Jean, ignoring his childish tantrum, sat down on a chair, organizing his thoughts.
“Your memory of the deal was erased. The dealer erased your memory. So the curse caster is someone who can do such delicate work. This is getting interesting.”
He had wanted to find out the curse caster’s identity before breaking the curse.
Jean’s personal desire was thwarted before it could even bloom. Of course, if he dug deep enough into the high priest’s mind, he might eventually reach the curse caster, but it was too inefficient.
The high priest would die soon if he tampered with his brain, and Jean’s real goal was to break Sue’s curse.
“To be honest, I don’t even remember clearly how this snake was engraved.”
The high priest, perhaps relieved to finally have someone to talk to about the “curse,” started rambling about things they hadn’t even asked about.
“I just gained the ability to brainwash people. And when I tried it, even mages couldn’t detect it? It’s quite an interesting ability. I was dissatisfied at first, but it’s been quite useful. It’s only difficult at first, eventually, it paid for three years of my life. No, wait, I guess it didn’t, since I got caught.”
“Paid for…?”
Sue, who had been staring blankly at the back of the high priest’s head, repeated his words unconsciously.
“What do you mean, paid for?”
And then, she suddenly raised her head, her eyes meeting Jean’s. Jean’s face had hardened, he also understood what the high priest had meant.
Jean asked, his voice stiff,
“What did you give him?”
“What?”
“What ‘what’? What did you give your dealer?”
The high priest, unfazed by Jean’s serious tone, answered Sue in an annoyed voice,
“Jeez, didn’t you hear me? I gave him three years of my life.”
“Ha…”
It wasn’t a lie.
Sue felt faint. Jean was also startled, but he quickly regained his composure. His mind raced.
“Three years of your life… That’s a rather vague number.”
“Yes! Now that I think about it, it is vague! That’s why he only gave me this pathetic power! Damn it!”
Pathetic? It was powerful enough to swallow the capital. A future that only Sue knew, for now.
“And that’s why you created the Holy Demon Religion?”
“Yes.”
The high priest nodded. Jean frowned, as if he didn’t understand.
“If you wanted money, you could have just controlled the minds of nearby merchants or nobles.”
“That was my plan at first.”
“Huh?”
The high priest continued, unfazed,
“But I can’t control this power freely. It only works on poor beggars with minds as soft as tofu. And rich people usually have anti-magic resistance. It’s not impossible, but it’s difficult.”
As the high priest had said, the effectiveness of brainwashing and hypnosis magic depended on the target’s mental strength.
But there was always debate about what exactly constituted mental strength, and the difference between anti-magic resistance and mental strength, so mind magic was always a blue ocean for research.