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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 114
Chapter Title: The Cost of a Wish
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Once back in her room, she flopped onto the bed and rolled around happily.
‘Wait, so what do I do with the holy relic now?’
Contrary to her initial plan, Lellia had intended to use the holy relic to heal Calix's eyes.
She had considered it more important than breaking the curse of silence.
But she could create a cure for Calix's eyes once she received the reward from the final quest.
‘The ingredients for the cure are probably in the special shop, or there's some other way to obtain them.’
What that meant was.
There would be no major issue with using the holy relic as she had originally planned.
‘I can break the curse of silence!’
Lellia was itching to speak, to tell someone right away.
‘…Okay, calm down.’
First, she calmed her excitement and rummaged through a storage cabinet in her room.
She was looking for the original half of the holy relic she’d had since childhood, the one she had brought with her just in case.
She then took out the half she had received from Lute and placed them side by side on the table.
Each was one half of a whole, shaped to fit together perfectly.
“……”
Her fingertips trembled with nervous anticipation.
With a trembling hand, Lellia slowly brought the two halves together.
The moment they connected, a brilliant light erupted from the relic. Lellia instinctively turned her head away.
She was glad she’d had the foresight to draw the curtains. If a passing guard had seen the light, they might have thought she was casting forbidden magic.
As the light began to fade, Lellia squinted and turned her head back.
A soft glow rose from the relic on the table, like a lamp filled with collected moonlight.
Floating above it was an unidentifiable figure.
The figure looked like a mirage, as ephemeral as mist that would scatter at a touch.
“……”
Lellia recognized the figure floating above the holy relic.
It was the same as a statue she had seen long ago, back when she lived at the Creutz Temple.
The figure was one of the seven angels who guarded the supreme god—a half-angel who had been cursed by a demon.
As a result, one of its wings was a black demon's wing, while the other was a white angel's wing.
He was the strongest of the seven archangels, but he held the role of the 'Punisher,' who meted out severe judgment upon mortals. For that reason, humans feared his image.
This angel, it seemed, was the guardian of the holy relic.
‘So it really is the temple's holy relic…’
Lellia stared at the figure, still dazed.
Then, a low voice echoed in her ears.
“Mortal, you who have reclaimed the holy relic. Pay the price, and I shall grant you one wish.”
The tone was haughty, yet it didn't feel that way at all.
It was a voice that inspired reverence, even in one who did not follow the Creutz faith.
It was strange; the sound seemed to come from her ears, her mind, and her heart all at once.
“However, you must pay a price commensurate with your wish. Furthermore, you must endure the lingering thoughts and memories of its previous wielders, which may become intertwined with your own.”
Lellia mulled over his words.
‘I have no idea what that means.’
The important part, at least, was that the price for the wish was a matter of equivalent exchange.
She didn't know what price would be required… but she might as well ask.
“I… I want to break the curse of silence that was placed on me as a child.”
“To undo magic intertwined with death, a life is required as the price. Will you proceed?”
“Wait!”
Lellia blinked.
A life as the price? Did… did that mean she had to die?
What was this? It was absurd.
She had to confess the truth to her friends, but she’d sought the holy relic to make this wish precisely because she didn't want to die!
Risk her life? Was this some kind of sick joke?
She was so dumbfounded she could only let out a hollow breath, unable to form words.
“Will you proceed?”
The angelic figure pressed her, impatient with her brief hesitation.
“Just a moment! Please wait. I mean, my life…”
A human life wasn't as disposable as a fly's. If this was the case, she would have been better off using the Philosopher's Stone instead of the holy relic.
Just then.
Suddenly, a selection window popped up before Lellia's eyes with a little *ping!*
[Hold on! ∑(;°Д°) You look like you're in desperate need of Help Mode! ◔ᴗ◔ All transactions require careful consideration! Alche-me will be your personal broker! (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧₊˚]
※Brokerage Fee: 800,000 Crystal
“Uh…”
She blinked in surprise, then finally snapped back to reality.
Help Mode was supposed to be useful in all aspects of life, and she was once again reminded of just how true that was.
‘But 800,000 Crystal…’
That meant 800 million Shillings… an astronomical sum of money.
The amount she currently had loaded into the 'Alchemy Lottery' game was just about that much. It was practically her entire fortune...
Lellia hesitated, her lips parting and closing without a word.
‘Still, I can always make more money. And compared to the price of my life, it's not that much at all.’
Besides, she had some extra funds stashed away in the Superion estate, just in case.
Right. Lellia steeled her resolve and pressed the 'Accept' button.
The moment she did, the angelic figure floating above the holy relic vanished.
Anxious, Lellia paced around the room for a long while.
Just as her anxiety peaked and she felt an overwhelming urge to run outside like a madwoman, the Help Mode window reappeared.
[Ta-da!✧⁺⸜(･ ᗜ ･ )⸝⁺✧ Alche-me has completed the brokerage!]
“So? My wish? My life?”
[If you give the compensation to Alche-me, you can have your wish granted safely, without paying the price of your 'life'!(*•̀ᴗ•́*)و ̑̑]
“You did it! You brilliant thing!”
Lellia clapped her hands in delight. She was so glad she’d wished for the 'Alchemy Lottery' before dying in her past life.
She was so happy she felt like she could give Alche-me a kiss if it were possible.
[ꉂꉂ◟(˃᷄ꇴ˂᷅๑)༡]
So what's the compensation?
“Then what is the compensation I have to give you?”
[The required compensation is 100 million Crystal.]
Wait… what?
100 million Crystal… 100 billion Shillings?
[◔3◔…]
100 billion…
100 billion?
Lellia was so stunned and dumbfounded she could only blink.
[Once the required compensation is ready, please hand it over to Alche-me.ପ(๑•̀ᴗ•̀)* Then your wish will be granted immediately!]
“……”
Lellia slumped onto the sofa, completely drained of energy.
Ten billion? Not one billion, not even one hundred million... where was she supposed to get one hundred billion Shillings...?
Just moments ago, she’d been so happy she felt like she could fly. Now, her body felt as heavy as lead.
But only for a moment.
‘No, this isn't the time for this.’
There was no time for despair. Lellia immediately started thinking about what to do next.
First, to raise that kind of money, she had no choice but to get her business ventures running in earnest again.
To do that, she had to return to her estate.
She had to return anyway, now that she had the holy relic and the ingredients for her grandmother's medicine.
‘Griffith said he would arrive soon…’
Oscar would also arrive by the promised date.
‘Then I'll just see them when they arrive and head back to the estate.’
She would give Calix a large supply of painkillers and sedatives, take care of things at the estate, and then come back to see him.
Once she received the final reward and Calix's eyes were healed, she could work on raising money and increasing the others' affection levels…
“Hah…”
The path ahead seemed so long and daunting that she couldn't help but sigh.
But in another way, it was a relief.
It would take time, but everything was solvable.
Lellia steadied her wavering heart again and again. She felt like a candle flickering in the wind, but her will, the wick, remained firm.
