I Cured the Mastermind and Failed to Run Away - Chapter 16

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 16

Crunch. Sophia bit into the cookie before her and set it down.
The silence grew so profound she could hear the settling dust.
Sophia brushed the crumbs from her hand with meticulous care, then slipped her feet out from under the chair with a swift motion.
She looked poised to bolt at a moment’s notice.
‘Why does she always look like she wants to run away whenever she sees me?’
Lebelin subtly shifted her chair to the side, cutting off the escape route.
“Miss.”
“I startled you with the sudden revelation, didn’t I? I understand. But—”
“Miss, please don’t take offense at what I’m about to say. Just listen.”
Sophia hesitated, glancing nervously, before spreading her fingers. She waved them carefully in front of Lebelin’s eyes.
“Can you see clearly how many fingers I’m holding up right now?”
“…”
“There are poisonous herbs that distort perception. Someone may have put one in the cookie you ate.”
The words Sophia had just spoken rearranged themselves in her mind.
“If you’ve consumed it, you should receive an antidote quickly. Time is critical in these cases.”
“So you’re politely asking if I’ve gone mad?”
Sophia said nothing. Her silence was answer enough.
Lebelin let out a soft, helpless laugh.
“Sophia.”
Sophia flinched and hastily protested.
“Miss, it may sound offensive, but I’m serious. You’ve likely never encountered poisonous herbs before, so it’s only natural you wouldn’t know.”
“I know. It’s not that I don’t believe you.”
“Then please tell me—can you see how many fingers I’ve raised?”
“That’s not the point. You only ate the cookie.”
Sophia’s words caught. Her eyes wavered as she looked at the table.
“If the cookie really was poisoned, it wasn’t me who ate the poisonous herb—it was you. I didn’t eat even a bite of it.”
“…!”
Indeed, all the cookies sat untouched on Sophia’s side of the table. Her hands trembling, Sophia’s head shot up, and she stared at Lebelin as though at a traitor.
“I ordered it myself, and there’s no poison in it, so stop looking at me like that.”
Sophia surreptitiously waved her fingers in front of her own face to check.
Seeing her lower her hand obediently, it seemed she could see clearly enough.
‘I should have been more tactful with my approach.’
She’d learned firsthand why diving straight into the main point wasn’t always wise.
Even after Lebelin insisted there was no poison, Sophia wouldn’t touch the cookies again. Her entire body screamed vigilance.
Sophia only sipped at the water in front of her.
“What if there’s poison in that too? Are you sure it’s safe to drink?”
She’d meant it as a joke, but Sophia stiffened and quietly set the glass down without touching it again.
“I’m joking. There’s nothing in it. Sorry. I’ll drink some myself. Besides, this water came from the inn—there was no time to poison it.”
Lebelin deliberately drained the glass in one gulp to prove it, but Sophia still refused to touch hers.
Instead, she pushed the cookies aside and pulled something from her luggage. She produced a tool and worked it carefully until a bitter-sweet, invigorating aroma filled the air.
‘Herbal tea?’
Lebelin caught the scent and watched as Sophia brewed the tea.
She’d mentioned an antidote moments ago and was now acting on it immediately.
‘She doesn’t hesitate when it comes to action.’
It seemed she carried herbs in her luggage at all times.
‘Animals drop their young off cliffs to harden them through trial, don’t they? Maybe I should push Sophia into the Contaminated Zone myself?’
In the original work, Sophia was indeed swept into a Contaminated Zone, awakened, survived, and it became known that she was a 2nd-Grade Purifier.
‘Besides, the Contaminated Zones that form near the Capital for now don’t have dense enough Magical Energy to pose a threat to a 2nd-Grade Purifier.’
But then there’s the question of a 10th-Grade Purifier pushing a 2nd-Grade Purifier into a contaminated area.
‘That would be the fastest path to becoming a villainess.’
Just imagining it was thrilling enough that people would surely tear her to shreds from every direction.
Lebelin barely managed to swallow the impulse.
Sophia had no time to process the sudden mention of a Purifier before she was already calculating her window to escape.
Whether to flee now or sweet-talk Lebelin into letting her go first—her face made her calculations transparently clear.
I had a sudden hunch that once this conversation ended, Sophia would bolt from the Capital.
‘That won’t do!’
The rumors had spread far enough—now all that was needed was for Sophia, the true protagonist, to make her grand entrance!
“This is Herbal Tea brewed from medicinal plants.”
Sophia set down two cups of the Herbal Tea she’d been steeping for some time.
“It has detoxifying properties.”
Sophia glanced sidelong at Lebelin and sipped the tea she’d just described as having detoxifying effects.
I nearly laughed.
“All right, I’ll drink it gladly.”
In the original story, before coming to the Capital, Sophia had wandered the mountains and studied Herbalism on her own to earn money.
She could instantly distinguish between Poisonous Herbs and medicinal ones in ways that even professional herbalists found difficult, and she’d never made a mistake; she also knew about uncommon herb and poison combinations with excellent properties that hadn’t yet entered academic literature.
So it wasn’t surprising that medicinal herbs were appearing from her Luggage Bag.
‘After becoming known as a 2nd-Grade Purifier, she said she never touched herbs again.’
I’d privately thought it a waste of talent, but now I was witnessing it firsthand.
“Sophia, if you don’t trust my word, you could verify it yourself.”
Sophia faltered.
“I could even buy you a Grade confirmation Magical Tool. If you’re worried I’ll resort to any underhanded tactics, you can do the check wherever you choose.”
“That’s… that’s not the problem.”
“Hmm?”
Sophia drained the cup in one gulp, then hemmed and hawed before finally opening her mouth.
“…I don’t want to.”
“What?”
“Being a Purifier.”
Sophia lifted her head. Our eyes met.
“I don’t want to do it.”
Lebelin’s jaw dropped in shock. But Sophia paid no mind to her reaction and continued.
“Even if I really am a 2nd-Grade Purifier, I don’t want to do it.”
A Purifier refusing to be a Purifier—this wasn’t part of the plan at all.
Because in the original story, Sophia had been a Purifier from the start, and because of that unchallenged power in her hands, she eventually met the male leads she would come to love.
“It’s not something just anyone can do if they wish, Sophia.”
In the original story too, Sophia hadn’t known much about what Purifiers were. She understood roughly what they did, but she’d never truly grasped what treatment they received.
Perhaps that was why she was like this now?
Lebelin explained carefully.
“Everyone wants to be a Purifier, but not everyone can become one. The higher your Grade, the more foreign nations will try to recruit you, which means you receive excellent treatment. Especially a 2nd-Grade Purifier like you—there are only two in the Empire right now.”
Even as Lebelin spoke, the furrow between Sophia’s brows didn’t ease.
This… this wasn’t it.
“You could have everything you want. Money, power, possessions, food. No one would dare disrespect you.”
“But I don’t want to die.”
Sophia’s words, spoken with a pained expression, fell heavy as a stone.
“Regardless of station, Purifiers of high Grade receive treatment befitting their rank. Yes, I understand that.”
Unlike the helpless original version, this Sophia understood the privileges Purifiers enjoyed.
“But if you’re a Purifier, you have to enter the Contaminated Zone whenever Contamination occurs.”
“….”
“I want to live safely and securely.”
The original Sophia had never had a choice. The moment she arrived at the Capital, Contamination broke out and swept her up in it, and by purifying the Contaminated Zone to survive, she became known as a 2nd-Grade Purifier and rose to fame.
“That’s why I won’t even check whether I’m a Purifier or what Grade I might be.”
Without room for negotiation, Sophia was resolute.
“Because if I really did confirm that I have the aptitude to be a Purifier, I feel like I wouldn’t be able to make my own choice anymore.”
Lebelin looked down at the Herbal Tea Sophia had brewed, then took a sip.
There was no way to press someone who said they didn’t want to die into becoming a Purifier.
The tea tasted bitter. Lebelin drank a few more mouthfuls before finally setting down the cup.
“All right, I understand.”
“Really?”
When Lebelin didn’t push further and simply nodded, Sophia seemed taken aback.
“You said you don’t want to die.”
Sophia blinked.
“I wasn’t telling you to become a Purifier so you’d die. It’s entirely your choice. If you don’t want it, I won’t force you.”
Sophia’s lips parted as if she didn’t know what to say in response.
Her ears flushed red.
Since the cup was already empty, Sophia picked it up and pretended to drink from it anyway.
“But… how could you possibly be certain that I’m a 2nd-Grade Purifier?”

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