On the way back to the city after subduing the Witch of Lust.

We were bustling with joy, celebrating our successful mission without any casualties, when it didn’t take long for us to fall silent.

As the tension eased, everyone was hit by an overwhelming fatigue.

Well, it was understandable why people were so exhausted.

While one might think our mission was trivial since there were no deaths, it was actually a significant ordeal to invade a stronghold controlled by a witch manipulating countless demonic beasts.

Everyone must have faced an endless onslaught for the thirty minutes I had asked them to hold out without taking a breath.

Even the elite heroes of humanity would be worn out from such a fight.

Marine, who seemed to be half-conscious over there, must have had an especially tough time.

By the way, I appeared fine on the outside, but internally I was quite a mess.

The Witch of Lust must have had some incredibly intense abilities.

With both brainwashing and other dreadful powers, there were numerous moments when I was on the verge of completely losing my mind, leaving me mentally exhausted.

Looking back now, it feels miraculous that I could return safely.

While I went through these thoughts and let out a secret sigh of relief, Sylvia broke the silence, apparently having something curious to ask me.

“Well, Scarlet, I have something I’ve been wondering. Can I ask you one question?”

“A question? What is it?”

“Now that everything is over, I wanted to ask you since you seemed so confident going into battle against the Witch of Lust, but it actually took longer than expected. It was quite a close call, right?”

I flinched at Sylvia’s question.

Then, as if misunderstanding something, Sylvia quickly tried to clarify.

“Ah, I didn’t mean to blame you, so don’t get the wrong idea! I was just concerned that something dangerous might have happened inside. You know, Scarlet, you have a tendency to try to handle everything alone.”

I knew that.

I knew Sylvia was only asking out of concern.

But still, I couldn’t reveal to Sylvia or the others what had truly happened there.

After all…

“Y-yes… my lord…”

“Hyuk?! H-hey?!”

How could I possibly explain that?

As I recalled my shameful behavior during the intense brainwashing, I felt my face stiffen.

If word got out about what happened during the fight with the Witch of Lust, I wouldn’t be able to show my face outside…

Therefore, it was a must to keep that incident between me and nobody else.

Deciding on that, I tried to respond to Sylvia with a serious expression.

“…Nothing happened…!!!”

“That expression…! You definitely went through something!”

“No, I said nothing happened!”

I could sense that Sylvia had picked up on something in my response, and she looked like she was about to pry deeper into what went on earlier. I was sweating profusely.

If this continued, my embarrassing secret would be exposed to the entire world…!

Feeling the urgency, I desperately looked for a way to change the topic and scanned my surroundings.

Then I noticed something.

Flora and Dwight, who had been giving off a peculiar atmosphere since earlier.

Inside, I shouted, “That’s it! You two over there! The vibe is off—what exactly happened?!”

“Huh? Oh, you mean Flora and Dwight? Good point. I was a bit concerned about them too,” I said.

Mentioning Flora and Dwight successfully diverted Sylvia’s attention elsewhere.

However, since I was genuinely interested in what was going on, I stared at the two of them. Flora quietly muttered while looking at Dwight.

“Dwight… you said you’d answer if we made it back alive, right?”

“…Yeah.”

As Dwight conversed with Flora in a way that seemed to be their own secret language, he briefly scanned the surroundings.

Then, shyly lowering his gaze, he discreetly took Flora’s hand.

Flora smiled bashfully, blushing, holding onto Dwight’s hand.

It was so transparent that not even someone like me, who prided myself on being perceptive, could miss it. Sylvia, catching on, asked with a hint of curiosity.

“Oh my, you two…!”

“…Well, it turned out like this.”

“C’mon, please tell us more!”

With Dwight’s confirmation, Sylvia perked up her ears, immersing herself in eager questioning.

Flora, blushing yet laughing shyly, began to share her story.

It seemed that nothing was more entertaining than a love story, as I could feel others pretending not to be interested while actually straining their ears to listen.

Mr. Diakonos, who unexpectedly ended up hearing his daughter’s love story, wore a rather complicated expression.

Regardless, I smiled sincerely from deep within as I watched Flora and Dwight share their story while holding hands.

I had been carrying a heavy burden all this time.

The sacrifice Yoon Si-woo made to save me weighed heavily on me, and I felt I had to do at least as well as he did.

Yet seeing them laugh and share their love story made me realize that maybe I wasn’t doing everything wrong.

And thus, a smile crept onto my face.

…It absolutely wasn’t because Sylvia’s attention had shifted elsewhere.

Really.

*
A problem arose.

Upon returning to the city, the hunting squad disbanded immediately.

Those who had been injured in battle went to the hospital for treatment.

Most people went to rest, but Sylvia, a few others, and I decided to skip the break for now.

There were still matters more urgent than resting.

That important matter was,

“…So this is the sacred relic we brought back?”

It was about studying the sacred relic, one of the main objectives of this hunt.

“At first glance, this appears to be the sacred relic of mermaids, known as the Tears of the Ocean, from the literature.”

As we started our research, we soon realized there was a problem with the relic.

“However, there is an issue. This should originally be a blue gem, but as you can see…”

“It’s pitch black?”

“Yes, it is indeed black. It seems to have been tainted by evil magic.”

“…Is that a problem?”

“…It is indeed a serious issue.”

Dwight, who had been experimenting with the relic through the night, brought his hand near the relic, injecting magical energy.

However, there was no reaction from the relic whatsoever.

Watching the lifeless relic, Martina looked at Dwight as if asking why this was happening, and he sighed before answering.

“As you know, most sacred relics usually have the ability to amplify power, but perhaps because it is tainted by evil magic, it only reacts to that magic. Scarlet?”

In response to Dwight’s inquiry, I raised my left hand, igniting a small flame, and then grasped the relic with my right hand.

Suddenly, the flame in my left hand blazed fiercely, as if throwing in logs.

I realized I could amplify my abilities through this relic, just as the Witch of Lust amplified her powers through it.

But what we truly needed was not an item that boosted the witch’s strength.

“That’s not good…”

“Exactly. What we need is a means to suppress the Witch of Gluttony or an item that can enhance that capability…”

I muttered with a bitter smile.

Because I understood better than anyone that augmenting my powers with the sacred relic meant nothing against the Witch of Gluttony.

If it were a being that could be defeated with sheer firepower, we wouldn’t have struggled this much.

While glancing at the relic with slight annoyance, Martina tentatively asked Sylvia.

“Is there no way to purify it?”

“…It would be quicker to show you directly.”

In response to Martina’s question, Sylvia conjured starlight in her hand and brought it close to the relic.

Unlike when we injected magical energy, the relic vibrated as if it might shatter with a sharp sound.

Describing the reaction of the relic in one word,

“…Rejection?”

At Martina’s mumbled word of “rejection,” Sylvia nodded and withdrew her hand.

She then explained.

“As you saw, it rejected my ability. For convenience, we call it purifying, but this so-called purification is the method of negating magic with the opposing force. If I had to put it in terms, neutralization would be more appropriate. The problem is that this relic is entirely possessed by evil magic, and if we attempt to purify it recklessly, the chances of it breaking are quite high.”

“…So, is there absolutely no method of purification?”

“If we spend a long time, slowly erasing the magic embedded in the relic, it might be possible, but…”

Sylvia trailed off, knowing full well that the Witch of Gluttony could awaken at any moment, and our time was not particularly abundant.

Due to the somber expressions on everyone’s faces, Martina Joked in a cheerful voice.

“Well, we can always find a solution! Regardless, everyone has worked hard studying right after returning from the hunt. Let’s take a good rest today and start looking for a way tomorrow.”

“…Yes.”

I nodded to that, albeit reluctantly. However, the moment Martina left, unable to suppress my frustration, I couldn’t hold it back any longer.

“Seriously, after going to all that trouble to retrieve it, are you telling me there’s no way to use it?!”

“…Well, given that there’s nothing to replace this cursed object, we have to find a way to make use of it as Captain Martina suggested. Anyway, let’s part ways for now and rest. Scarlet, you take care of the relic.”

“Uh… see you tomorrow, Dwight.”

Since it was an object tainted by evil magic, I took charge of securing the relic and separated from Dwight.

Left behind with Sylvia, we stood in silence for a moment before exchanging bitter smiles.

“…So, shall we go rest now?”

“…Yes, let’s.”

With that, I returned home with Sylvia, immediately throwing the relic onto the table beside my bed before burying myself in the mattress.

I thought everything would work out, but here we are.

Turning my head sideways, I saw the cursed object shining black like an enemy beside me.

Staring at it, I felt all the blame for everything rested upon that black evil magic.

So just before I fell asleep, I murmured,

“…I wish all the evil magic in this world would just vanish.”

Because of that, I dreamed.

A dream of a world without evil magic, where everyone could smile without worry.

In that dream, I did not appear at all, but it was still a beautiful dream.