Chapter 60: Not an Illusion
Peiya felt a slight itch on the top of her head. She reached up and touched it, but didn’t feel anything.
“What’s wrong?”
Elise’s gentle voice sounded beside her ear. The two of them were buying food for the next few days.
With Peiya helping, Elise found it much easier than usual to prepare everything.
Peiya stopped walking and shook her head. “I don’t know. Something flashed just now… and I suddenly feel like my magic power is very full.”
Her first thought was the Witch’s Heart, but she quickly rejected that idea. The Witch’s Heart wouldn’t be kind enough to give her extra magic.
If it were the Witch’s Heart, it would probably keep talking in her mind, telling her to become a witch as soon as possible, to use absolute power to crush all doubts.
Instead, she noticed that this new power seemed to suppress the impulses caused by the Witch’s Heart.
She felt much calmer.
It was like she had returned to how she used to be.
More importantly, Peiya felt that the power of her blessings was increasing very quickly.
What on earth is this?!
“Maybe your body is slowly recovering. That should be a good thing. If you’re still worried, I can take you to see a doctor when we get back,” Elise said.
“No need. I feel quite healthy now. I don’t even feel weak anymore. Did you secretly use magic on me?”
“I don’t even know how to use blessing magic. The most likely reason is that it has something to do with that Victoria. She doesn’t seem like a bad person.”
“That’s true. She’s easy to talk to and doesn’t act proud like people from the Holy Academy.”
Peiya had heard some rumors about the Holy Academy, most of them were negative. Victoria clearly didn’t feel like the kind of person people described.
“She really doesn’t seem like someone from the Holy Academy. Nobles and the Church don’t get along well either. I can’t think of why she would help you. Anyway, let’s just take it step by step. If anything happens, tell me right away.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
“Hm? Miss Peiya, just saying ‘thank you’ isn’t enough, you know~”
Elise lightly touched her cheek with a finger. Under the sunlight, her face looked soft and bright, and the corner of her lips curved like a blooming flower.
“Ah… what do you want to do?”
Peiya didn’t expect Elise to say that. If not with words, then how should she show her thanks?
“Give me your hand.”
“Huh?” Peiya hesitated, but still handed her hand over. In the next moment, Elise held it gently. “Let’s walk together. Deal?”
Peiya’s eyes trembled slightly. Elise held her hand firmly, and the soft warmth spread from her fingers up her arm.
The feeling was gentle, like touching a small cat basking in the sunlight.
Peiya’s whole body tensed.
She instinctively wanted to pull away, but after a moment of hesitation, she steadied herself.
If she pulled away now, it would probably hurt Elise’s feelings.
She had been deeply hurt before. She knew how painful that feeling was.
Then… she would just hold on.
And walk forward together, toward an unknown destination.
In Peiya’s mind, she remembered the past when they explored dungeons. Anna would walk at the front, while Lisa and Stella followed behind with light luggage.
And her?
She would struggle to carry the bags at the back, while also checking the map and cooking for everyone.
But now…
That vague version of her in her memories seemed to slowly burn away, like an old photo with a hole burned through it.
She couldn’t clearly remember those broken moments anymore.
But maybe that wasn’t a bad thing.
If painful memories fade away, then maybe it’s better to let them go.
Since life had already changed, she should work hard to create more memories with Elise.
After all, she now had a new companion. There was no need to stay trapped in the broken shadows of the past and suffer endless nightmares.
Peiya let out a breath, took a step forward, and disappeared with Elise at the entrance leading to the Monster Forest.
Not long after, Anna and her group slowly arrived at the place where Peiya had just left.
Originally, Anna planned to leave yesterday. But for some reason, after Lisa went back home, she suddenly became very slow and hesitant.
She didn’t say anything and just stood alone in a corner.
Because of her, they had to wait for a whole day.
“Lisa, are you feeling unwell? Why are you walking so slowly?”
“Huh?” Lisa looked up blankly, her eyes avoiding Anna’s gaze.
Anna stopped walking. She had already noticed that Lisa had been acting strange, and now she really wanted to understand what was wrong with her.
“What do you mean ‘huh’? You’ve been acting weird since yesterday. If something’s wrong, just say it. It’s only the three of us here.”
“I’m fine. Let’s go. We should go challenge the Ice Bear King.”
Lisa’s tone was uncertain. Saying she was fine was clearly not true.
Yesterday, she had gotten a magic scroll from her family. But during the family test that night, she suddenly found that the power of her magic had dropped by more than half.
Her family questioned why she had become so weak.
Lisa couldn’t explain it herself. She remembered that when Peiya was still in the team, she never had such a problem.
Because of that, she chose the hardest trial, just like she always did before.
But what she never expected was that as soon as she made a move, she was instantly defeated by a small monster and thrown out of the arena.
Before leaving, the monster even mocked her, saying she was the weakest challenger it had ever seen.
Her father, who was watching from above, was so angry that he smashed his cup.
He had gathered everyone to watch his beloved daughter show off her strength. But instead, she was instantly defeated and even mocked face-to-face.
It was completely humiliating. As the head of the family, where could he even put his pride?
From now on, Lisa might not even be able to hold her head up in the family.
If her mother hadn’t stepped in in time, Lisa might have been beaten so badly that she would have had to stay in bed for months.
Thinking back to last night, Lisa felt a chill of fear. She could tell that her father really wanted to kill her at that moment.
Now her legs were still shaking. She was afraid that the next time she went home, she might be tied to a stake and burned.
While Lisa was still struggling inside, Anna suddenly spoke.
“Lisa, by the way, have you looked at our new strategy? You’ll be the main attacker, and Stella and I will support you.”
“That…”
Lisa wasn’t even sure about her own strength now. Logically, yesterday’s failure was because she chose the hardest trial without proper preparation.
This time, with Anna and Stella supporting her, it should be fine… right?
“Lisa, if something’s wrong, just say it,” Anna said, getting a bit impatient. Lisa really wasn’t helping at all.
“No, let’s go. If we’re any later, we’ll miss the boss.”
Lisa’s voice echoed in the ears of the other two. Anna looked around strangely.
For a moment, she even wondered if Lisa had been possessed by a ghost.
Lisa used to be the most cheerful one. But today, she was dragging behind the team with a lifeless expression.
This only made Anna feel more uneasy.
Just last night, Anna also noticed that her own magic power didn’t seem as strong as before. Even some basic combos had become unfamiliar.
In the past, her role in the team was to create defensive magic or draw the monsters’ attention.
Simply put, she was more of a support role.
Now that she had to go to the front line herself, she felt a bit scared. More importantly, even after thinking for several days, she still couldn’t come up with a good strategy.
In the end, she had no choice but to copy the method used by other guilds, two people supporting one main attacker.
Since her own strength wasn’t enough, she could only place her hopes on Lisa, the team’s main mage.
But why… even with a plan, did she still feel so uneasy?
Anna adjusted her breathing several times, hoping that what she was feeling was just an illusion.