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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: I Told You Not to Abuse Drugs
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“Phew.”
Today marked a month and a half.
Excluding the time she was collapsed and near death, Daphne had been coming to the training grounds every single day to train.
By endlessly gritting her teeth and pushing herself, the number of times she collapsed had noticeably decreased. On top of that,
[Daphne Akion]
Stamina: 70 Charm: 300
Strength: 10 Mana: 5
[Daphne Akion]
Stamina: 70 Charm: 300
Strength: 10 Mana: 5
Her stamina and strength had risen significantly.
At this rate, it seemed like a good idea to try sparring with Arius. She wouldn't be taken down in a single blow like last time.
‘When Arius comes later, maybe I’ll ask him for a round.’
Ever since the day he offered her the lily, Arius had been visiting Daphne continuously.
He would sit beside her and train his mana, or practice his swordsmanship nearby, trying not to leave her sight.
At first, she was wary, wondering why he was acting this way, but lately, she'd reached a point where she felt empty without him.
His constant chatter was bothersome, but in its own way, it was entertaining.
“So this is what it means to connect with a human. To think there are still things I do not know after living for so long. The world truly has much to teach.”
Daphne pursed her plump lips and crossed her arms.
At that, Teiti, who was prostrated with his head on the ground before her, cautiously spoke up.
“Um, Lady Daphne. How about trying to connect with an elf, too? The poor elf before your very eyes is trembling all over.”
“It is a grave sin to have given me a potion without properly explaining its side effects.”
“Ha. Ha. Ha. I did explain, but Lady Daphne ignored me…”
“Are you saying it is my fault?”
“…No, it seems my explanation was lacking. I will continue to keep my head on the ground.”
Teiti was currently undergoing the punishment of prostration for the crime of daring to create a potion that made a dragon cough up blood.
In truth, Daphne had been willing to overlook the potion itself, but this bastard didn't come when she sent Ann, nor when she sent Anna. He was in this position for having ignored this great dragon three times.
“It seems I must learn magic first.”
Daphne hopped down from her chair.
“Since I cannot use summoning magic, this despicable Teiti scoundrel is completely ignoring me and running away, is he not?”
“How could that be! I wasn't running away, I was truly preoccupied with making potions!”
“This whelp dares to talk back. Shall I kill you?”
“Goodness, this wretched Teiti. This Teiti who deserves to die. There is another me inside of me, and this other me keeps acting up. I think you should kill this one first.”
Daphne rested her chin on her hand and stared at Teiti.
She knew that most elves who came to human society were insane, but this was the first time she'd met one this crazy. What on earth was wrong with him to end up in this state? Daphne clicked her tongue.
“Why, are you displeased with your situation?”
“No? Of course not?”
“For ignoring this body for a whole month and a half, this punishment is truly lacking. Is it not?”
“No? It's not lacking at all?”
“Since it is lacking, perhaps I shall cut your Tree of Life in half.”
In that moment, Teiti froze completely.
To an elf, the Tree of Life is like the heart. The heart circulates blood to keep one alive, while the Tree of Life circulates mana, allowing them to become one with ‘nature.’
If his Tree of Life were to be cut as Daphne said, he would become an elf shunned even by nature.
In other words, he would become a powerless elf.
“I was wrong. I will gladly accept any punishment, but the Tree of Life is… a bit much. Could we not do something else?”
“You are all talk.”
“Well, I have made a living with this mouth for many years. No, please don't hit me. What I mean is, I'm really not lying. I was busy making potions. It's true! Even ten bodies wouldn't have been enough! Can't you give me a different punishment? Please?”
Daphne's lips curled into a grin.
“Then bring me more mana stones imbued with your mana.”
“Pardon?”
“There is a limit to how much mana I can increase through training, so I must stuff myself with your mana instead, must I not?”
Teiti's head was spinning. No, Daphne was right, but still, wasn't it strange for a dragon to take an elf's mana? A dragon's mana and an elf's mana were of a different nature.
However, he did not voice such thoughts. If he did, Daphne might impose another strange punishment!
“Yes! I will bring them next time!”
“Very well. You will need to bring a hundred.”
“Pardon?”
Teiti hiccuped.
“A hu-hundred?”
“Yes. It seems I will need to consume that many to recover.”
“…Um, even so, I can't possibly get a hundred mana stones at once. And my own mana has its limits.”
“Aha. In that case, I, who have no limits, shall have to push you to yours.”
“A hundred? Easy as drinking cold soup. Just leave it to me!”
Teiti's change in attitude could be called the fastest on the continent.
Daphne gave Teiti a displeased look for changing his tune so quickly, but said no more.
If Teiti gathered the mana stones as ordered, it would help Daphne's body recover quickly. And if he failed to gather them…
‘I can simply cut his Tree of Life and use it myself.’
Either way, things would go well for Daphne, so she could stop tormenting him for now.
Daphne looked down at Teiti once more.
“So, what is this potion you mentioned?”
“Yes! Allow me to explain!”
Jumping to his feet, Teiti took out several potions from a subspace pocket. He then quickly offered a vial containing a purple liquid to Daphne.
“The others are still incomplete, but this one is finished.”
“What effect does this one have?”
“It is a potion that can nullify your curse, Lady Daphne, and draw out your original power. However, the duration is quite short.”
“Oh-ho?”
Not only could it nullify the curse, but it could also draw out her power from when she was Seluseu. It seemed useful, but the short duration bothered her.
“How long does the effect last for you to call it short?”
“About ten seconds.”
“On the ground.”
“Yep.”
Leaving Teiti to prostrate himself again, Daphne gazed at a distant mountain.
“Somehow, I feel as if my patience is being tested lately. What do you think?”
“Is not your patience the greatest in the world, Lady Daphne? How about enduring just a little longer?”
“Hmm. This will not do. I shall just kill you.”
“Aargh! Wait a moment! Am I not your faithful servant, Lady Daphne!”
“A mere servant, you say?”
“…A slave. I am your slave, Lady Daphne.”
“Excellent.”
Daphne snapped her fingers.
“Slave, transport me. To a nearby mountain. I must train my mana.”
“Yes, yep. I understand.”
Without even time to nurse his head from the long prostration, Teiti awkwardly lifted Daphne onto his back.
“Will a mountain with pure energy suffice?”
“Yes.”
“This faithful slave shall obey his master's command. So please, demonstrate more of your patience.”
“Very well.”
Swaaa—
A light as clear as Teiti's hair and the sky itself enveloped him and Daphne. And in an instant, they vanished.
***
Mana is the energy of nature.
Therefore, training one's mana is most effective on a mountain filled with pure energy.
Daphne took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the clean air. Then she spoke to Teiti, who was prostrated on the ground, supporting her.
“Where is this place?”
“This is a mountain on the border of the Archducal House of Akion's territory. It is connected to the Ansiha Mountains.”
“Oh-ho. So that is why I could feel the dense energy of the elves.”
“Yes. And since you are using me as a chair, Master, it is only natural that you would feel the elven energy more strongly.”
“Are you being sarcastic?”
“Not at all.”
Daphne got off the trembling Teiti, looked around, and then sat down in a formal meditative posture.
“Phew.”
Daphne focused on the Mana Vessel in the center of her chest and continued to breathe deeply.
On the inhale, she drew in the mountain's pure energy; on the exhale, she expelled the traces of the curse.
This breathing technique wouldn't have a major effect on the curse, but it would help accumulate mana. Daphne continued breathing for a long while.
“To think I'd live to see a dragon training its mana…”
Teiti, his head finally off the ground, shook his head and kept watch over their surroundings.
This was because if her concentration were to break during training, a mana overflow could occur.
An elf guarding a dragon while it trained its mana. Teiti thought that even if you searched the entire history of the continent, you would never find another case like this.
Then, he suddenly grew curious about what this crazy dragon was thinking.
Before, he would have been too busy obeying to care what the mad dragon was thinking, but it seemed he had grown accustomed to her. He could even afford to have such stray thoughts now.
‘It doesn't seem like she's just playing around.’
If it were truly just a game, she wouldn't be living in a body as weak as a scarecrow's.
Seeing as she knew nothing of the curse or the family, it seemed she really did just happen to end up in that body… Just what was this lunatic dragon thinking? No, was she even thinking at all… Her brain is probably all muscle… Why did I have to get stuck with such a psycho…
Teiti looked up at the sky and sniffled.
How much time had passed like that?
By the time the sun, once at its zenith, touched the treetops.
Daphne's closed eyes slowly opened.
[Daphne Akion]
Stamina: 70 Charm: 300
Strength: 10 Mana: 8
[Daphne Akion]
Stamina: 70 Charm: 300
Strength: 10 Mana: 8
“Hmm.”
After scanning her body, Daphne raised an eyebrow.
“Not bad. I should come here to train often.”
“Yes, please do.”
Instead of replying, Daphne just stared at Teiti. Teiti laughed awkwardly. Ha, ha, ha… ha, ha, ha, ha… Then he bowed his head deeply.
“I will go and buy a teleportation artifact… To connect your room and this place, Master.”
“A slave who knows to act without his master's command is a rare thing.”
“Yes, yes. I am a rare asset.”
This time, she didn't say anything to the sarcastic Teiti. Perhaps it was because her brief training session had yielded results. Daphne wasn't in a bad mood. At this rate, hope was blooming that she could defeat that Hero bastard.
‘Down with the Hero. Kill the Hero. Defeat the Hero…!’
It was then, as Daphne was muttering these words like a mantra.
“Kyaaak!”
“H-Help me! Aaargh!”
The screams of several people could be heard. Daphne immediately turned her head toward the sound, but Teiti did not.
“Now, shall we be returning? Please get on my back. We will depart immediately.”
Teiti acted as if he hadn't heard the screams just now. Daphne stared at him again.
“I heard the screams of humans.”
“Ah, yes. I heard them too.”
Teiti replied nonchalantly, then tilted his head.
“And?”
“…”
Teiti is an elf.
Elves have no interest in humans.
In other words, just as a human doesn't watch an ant and wonder about its life, Teiti viewed humans in the same way.
Whether they died or suffered injustice.
That was their business, not Teiti's. Therefore, there was no reason for him to give any thought to the screams he heard.
“We should leave quickly before it gets any louder. Please, get on.”
Teiti looked at Daphne with a perfectly clean face, and Daphne let out a long sigh.
“This is why I despise your kind. A selfish race that cares for nothing but themselves.”
“Pardon? What do you mean…”
“I will go and save them.”
Daphne took out the purple vial she had received from Teiti earlier.
“This is my great mission.”
