Chapter 57: I Hate That You’re Like a Block of Wood!
Because of Guild Master Maya’s actions, Victoria’s original plan was disrupted.
As a result, Peiya unknowingly avoided trouble and was able to stay in the library for several days, calmly studying.
During this time, she also spent some effort understanding the witch power inside her body. Even though the night of the full moon was getting closer, her body didn’t show any strange reactions.
The bleeding tree no longer appeared in her dreams, and the hunger deep in her soul had lessened a lot.
Maybe it was also because Peiya had recently started preparing some magic cores in advance.
To get those cores, she often went back to the old district to hunt birds, and sometimes roasted a few wild pigeons to eat.
She didn’t really have other choices anyway.
Like the dog-skin monster she met last time, that was a third-tier monster and quite rare. Most monsters in the old district were only first- or second-tier.
Magic cores didn’t fill her up much, but at least there were plenty of them.
From a practical point of view, rat-type monsters were actually easier to find. But they were just too disgusting.
Even if she only ate the magic cores and not the meat…
Just thinking about their wet fur and sharp whiskers made her feel uncomfortable.
After thinking it over, pigeons were still the best.
Set up a fire, brush on some oil, and take a bite late at night.
The taste was really amazing.
Since she was about to enter a dungeon, Peiya prepared several small bags of magic cores in advance, just in case she got hungry.
What would happen if a witch went mad from hunger?
Peiya didn’t know and she didn’t dare to find out.
So she prepared as much as possible, just like before, making sure nothing went wrong.
Besides, there would be plenty of monsters in the dungeon. If she really got too hungry, she could eat the magic cores dropped by monsters as an emergency.
As long as nothing went wrong with her Witch’s Heart, everything should be fine!
Closing the book, Peiya checked her list one last time. All the equipment for clearing the dungeon was ready.
Everything was prepared, just waiting for the right moment!
Time to go!
Stretching her body, Peiya walked out of the library and met Elise, who had just returned from buying materials.
“Elise, I’m basically ready here. If nothing unexpected happens, we can start planning when to leave.”
“Okay. These are the materials you asked for, check them.”
Peiya took the materials from Elise, found a stone bench, and quickly checked the items in the bag.
“No problem. Everything’s here.”
“Good. This bag has some snacks. Eat first, then we’ll go.”
“Huh?”
Peiya was a bit surprised. She took the still-warm bread and paused for a moment.
“Breakfast. Look at you, every time you go into the library, it’s like you lose your soul. You don’t eat, you don’t even think about tea. Next time, are you going to forget to go home too?”
These past few days, Peiya had basically been living in the library. From a distance, she looked like a wooden statue.
“Well… sorry about that. I tend to get too focused when I work.”
Elise shook her head. “You don’t need to apologize to me. I’m worried about your health. Last time when you repaired the sword, it was the same. You worked all day, and only stopped at midnight when I told you to sleep. No one should push themselves like that. Even fighting a boss doesn’t require this much effort. Your body is your most important asset.”
“Mm, thanks for caring. Do you want some too?”
Before Elise could reply, Peiya broke off half the bread and handed it to her.
Elise had planned to refuse, but since Peiya offered it herself, she gave up resisting.
She took a bite of the bread, her teeth very close to Peiya’s fingers.
Peiya noticed something was wrong and tried to pull her fingers back, but it was too late.
“So in the end… you just want me to feed you, right?”
Elise didn’t answer. She gently brushed aside the strands of golden hair covering her ear, leaned down, and took another bite of the bread with her soft lips.
Now there was almost no bread left in Peiya’s hand. One more bite, and Elise would touch her fingers.
“I’m full.”
Elise stopped at the right moment, leaving a small piece of bread at Peiya’s fingertips.
“You only ate half. Why did you stop?”
“If I take another bite, I’ll touch your hand, right?”
“There’s still some left. Aren’t you going to eat it?”
This time, Peiya was smarter. She directly held the bread up to Elise’s mouth, so she wouldn’t get teased again.
She had already “seen through everything.”
It was the same last time at the manor. Elise seemed to enjoy this kind of teasing game.
But the same trick wouldn’t work on her twice.
Trying to trick her again? No way.
“How did your research on the Ice Bear King go?”
Elise suddenly changed the topic. Even though they planned to clear the dungeon, the Ice Bear King somehow became the least important topic between them.
“Almost done. Combining it with the information Guild Master Maya gave me, I’ve already thought of a way to find it. If something has happened, it will leave traces. Since its roar affected the feeding of the ore worms, wouldn’t nearby monsters also be affected? The Ice Bear King is a beast-type leader. It’s very good at attracting small monsters around it. And the previous exploration team was all infected with ore disease…”
“...So I think the broken crystal ores caused by its roar may also infect nearby monsters. I plan to locate the source of infection to find its position. The reason I asked you to test your area attacks earlier was for this moment. Once we enter the dungeon, our first step will be to break through the monster swarm.”
While explaining, Peiya saw Elise listening carefully, then asked,
“How are your injuries? Last time I only helped repair your magic circuits a little. For deeper problems, I still don’t have a good solution.”
“It still hurts sometimes, but it’s much better now. It shouldn’t affect our exploration. Do you have anything else to prepare? We might stay there for quite a long time. I already prepared some extra clothes for you. I couldn’t think of anything else, so I wanted to ask you.”
Peiya nodded and thought for a moment. There was indeed one thing she hadn’t done yet.
“How about we go meet Guild Master Maya first?”
She felt it was necessary to get more information before leaving. After so many days, other adventurers should have found something.
She wasn’t too worried about the Ice Bear King itself. What she couldn’t figure out were the bear guards outside.
There was information in the books, but real situations couldn’t rely only on books.
If you weren’t flexible, your own pride could get you killed.
Right now, the Adventurers’ Guild was still struggling against those smaller enemies. It sounded a bit ridiculous, but it also showed the enemy had some strength.
As for the guild, since even the exploration team got infected by the Ice Bear King, they probably didn’t want to release too much information.
So Peiya planned to ask Maya directly.
Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will never lose.
However, this normal suggestion made Elise suddenly cough lightly and ask,
“She’s usually very busy. Why do you want to see her?”
Peiya turned around and saw Elise smiling at her.
It was the first time she had seen Elise like this. Peiya felt a bit uneasy.
For some reason, even though the sun was bright today, her body felt cold and heavy.
It was as if gravity itself was pressing down on her.
A strange sense of danger slowly climbed up her back, like an invisible snake, cold and sticky, wrapping around her nerves.
Her pupils shrank slightly, and her lips tightened.
Was she getting a fever?
Peiya touched her forehead.
It didn’t feel hot at all.