Countess Youngae’s Money-Sweeping Makeup Shop - Chapter 70

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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70

 

I’m sure I had a period of 10 days.

 

If I hadn’t marked each passing day, I wouldn’t have known whether 10 days had passed by now.

 

During those 10 days, Roo’s Spartan training continued relentlessly.

 

Thanks to that, my abilities had definitely improved tremendously in a short period.

 

Before, I would cough up blood just from sending a little bit of spirit power, but now it was different.

 

Perhaps because Phil kept healing and trying to break through, I could now gather a little bit of spirit power in my hands at will – not much, but still.

 

And I could also attack, though weakly.

 

Thinking of the past when I could only create fingernail-sized abilities, this was tremendous progress.

 

On the night of the 11th day.

 

I completed all preparations, steeled my resolve, and stood in front of the door.

 

The scenery outside the window showed the sunset fading away.

 

Not a single spirit remained outside.

 

As soon as the sun sets, I’ll open the door and run to the lake.

 

I must make my body able to breathe underwater and dive in.

 

I’ve practiced many times, and I’ve never failed at this, so I just need to concentrate.

 

As the orange light disappeared, my heart pounded thump thump thump.

 

I gripped the strap of my cross bag tightly.

 

Please let nothing go wrong.

 

Though I don’t believe in God, I prayed earnestly to God.

 

Taking a deep breath, the tension in my body momentarily released.

 

With one hand on the door handle, I stared out the window.

 

Then, like on other days, when the world changed from its colorful hues to a gray world, I immediately opened the door.

 

And I ran toward the lake at full speed.

 

Around me, I heard growling sounds and thick footsteps chasing after me.

 

My heart beat rapidly.

 

Just from running a little, I seemed to be getting out of breath and my legs were trembling.

 

When I exercised and experimented like this before, my legs didn’t shake this much!

 

Still, I tried to look only straight ahead as I ran.

 

Soon I arrived at the lake and quickly cupped water in my hands, infusing it with the ability to breathe.

 

The water glowed blue as the ability was infused into it.

 

Now if I bring it to my nose and mouth-

 

That’s when it happened.

 

I made eye contact with blood-red eyes in the black water.

 

“Gasp!”

 

I was so startled that I spilled the water in my hands onto the ground.

 

Behind me was a monster 1.5 times my height, and in front, a mysterious being with red eyes was swimming toward me.

 

‘Sometimes there are monsters in the water. If you encounter one before entering the lake, it’s better to run away first and try again when it’s gone.’

 

Roo’s words came to mind.

 

I can’t dive in now.

 

I quickly ran to the side.

 

Perhaps because of the light earlier, the number of monsters chasing me had clearly increased.

 

They say people awaken due to survival instincts when they feel like they’re going to die.

 

Though I wanted to walk because I was so out of breath, I ran into the dark forest.

 

Monsters have poor eyesight, so they said it’s hard to spot you if there’s no light.

 

That seemed to be true, as I entered the forest, crouched down, and covered my mouth with both hands to suppress my breathing sounds.

 

Then the monsters that had been chasing me wandered around briefly before returning to where the moonlight was pouring down.

 

‘I-I’m alive.’

 

But since I didn’t know where else they might be hiding, I couldn’t breathe easily with relief.

 

With both hands covering my mouth, I slowly exhaled my trembling breaths.

 

When my breathing somewhat calmed down, I looked toward the lake.

 

From the lake that had been quiet for a while, rough water trails rose following some presence, like a ship emerging.

 

A monster shaped like a fish the size of a cabin but with four legs like a beast came out making squishy sounds.

 

Fortunately, that monster was very slow.

 

It was about the speed of a snail.

 

I watched to see if any more would come out and waited for the monster to move away from the lake.

 

After it was quiet for a while, I carefully moved toward the lake along the dark areas where moonlight didn’t shine.

 

I was moving slowly, unable even to swallow my saliva.

 

Kiiiiiek-!

 

A loud, unpleasant sound like nails on a chalkboard rang out from under my feet.

 

Though I couldn’t properly see what it was due to the darkness, I seemed to have stepped on a bird-shaped monster.

 

Simultaneously, all the monsters’ gazes turned toward me.

 

“Uh…?”

 

When I met those red eyes, my heart pounded rapidly.

 

Time seemed to stop.

 

Soon the monsters flinched and then began running toward me at full speed.

 

I couldn’t even scream and just ran straight ahead.

 

I couldn’t even confirm where the lake was.

 

I just kept running, and running…

 

No. I don’t want to die.

 

I’ve come this far, I can’t die like this!

 

Tears welled up in my eyes.

 

My mind went completely blank.

 

My head was filled with thoughts of “what do I do,” when one thought flashed by.

 

“It’ll probably break anyway, but if you take it intact, push as much spirit power as possible into it when you’re in danger.”

 

The necklace!

 

I quickly opened my cross bag, pulled out only the necklace wrapped in cloth, and stopped in place.

 

Then I concentrated as much as possible, gathered spirit power in my hands, and pushed it into the necklace.

 

The necklace glowed with a blue-green light and gave off an atmosphere like it was about to explode.

 

Like a grenade, I threw the necklace toward the monsters chasing me.

 

BOOM! BANG-!

 

As soon as I threw it, the necklace exploded loudly with blue flames.

 

I expected a spirit to appear immediately, but perhaps there was a delay in sending the spirit, as nothing happened even after the explosion ended.

 

Then the monsters writhed, made growling sounds, and tried to move again.

 

If I run away or hide like this, I’ll definitely end up in this situation again!

 

Jumping into the lake is too much of a gamble since the monster might have gone back inside.

 

To return safely, I need to hold out until Lucian sends his spirit acquaintance.

 

Looking around, I found flowers and stones, picked and gathered several, and held them in my hands.

 

After trying to calm my wildly beating heart, I concentrated my mind and gathered my power once more to imagine an ability.

 

‘Sharp pollen that makes it hard to breathe when inhaled.’

 

Originally, other spirits seemed to create about a soup bowl’s worth with this amount, but I only made less than a handful.

 

But the ability is the same.

 

With the skill I used to sprinkle salt at the front door, I scattered the blue powder with a swoosh and ran away.

 

The monsters coughed and couldn’t chase after me as I fled.

 

Still, there were some monsters that somehow kept chasing.

 

Compared to before, their numbers had definitely decreased.

 

At this rate, I should be able to somehow shake them off-

 

“Huh?”

 

Thud! As I was running away, I collided with something and fell down.

 

When my gaze turned forward, the monster that had emerged from the lake earlier was looking down at me.

 

Craaack, the demon’s massive mouth opened wide.

 

I needed to get up and run away.

 

Fumbling, I pressed my hands against the ground.

 

But my legs had no strength in them.

 

My body trembled violently.

 

I thought I was going to die like this.

 

I squeezed my eyes shut tight.

 

“Keep your eyes closed, miss.”

 

A familiar voice reached my ears.

 

Crackle-!

 

Even with my eyes closed, I could see a strong blue light behind my eyelids.

 

With a thud, I cautiously opened my eyes to see the massive demon collapse sideways.

 

Who on earth?

 

I turned my head to check where the voice had come from.

 

Then I saw a small-framed girl taking down the demons one by one.

 

Isn’t that the child who was selling ointment?

 

Was she the spirit that knew Lucian?

 

During training, Roo and Phil had mentioned that a spirit staying in the human world had the form of a child, but I never thought it would be that child.

 

The child was easily defeating demons while her black hair swayed.

 

After staring at that scene in a daze, I immediately ran toward the lake.

 

She was fighting so hard for me that I couldn’t just stand there admiring her.

 

I need to hurry back!

 

I approached the lake and looked inside.

 

I could see demons approaching from the surroundings, but after confirming the lake was safe, I cupped the black water in my hands again and concentrated.

 

Breathing underwater, breathing underwater.

 

A blue light flashed from my hands.

 

At the same time, I coughed up blue blood that spattered outside my mouth.

 

But I didn’t mind and brought the water to cover my nose and mouth.

 

The water touched my nose and mouth, but after confirming I could breathe comfortably, I immediately jumped into the lake.

 

Thank you, spirit!

 

I couldn’t protect my eyes.

 

Because of that, I endured the stinging pain while searching for the glowing space in the darkness like I had seen before.

 

The deeper I went, the darker it became around me, let alone any light.

 

As the pain in my eyes became excruciating, as if I would go blind, I saw a light in the distance.

 

I used all my strength to reach out and struggle toward that light.

 

Before losing consciousness, my vision flashed like Lucian’s teleportation magic.

 

I instinctively realized.

 

Ah, I’m back.

 

Now I just needed to rise to the surface, but my body had no strength.

 

The spirit’s power seemed to be fading as well, and I felt like I was suffocating.

 

With my clouded mind, I struggled to move my legs.

 

Of course, my legs had no strength, so all I could do was flail around like doing a dog paddle.

 

Like a last hope, I muttered a few words that might be heard underwater.

 

“Ricardo, Jesuert-”

 

Something like broken glass shards could be seen rising to the water’s surface.

 

And just before my consciousness completely cut out, I heard the sound of something diving into the water.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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