I Cured the Mastermind and Failed to Run Away - Chapter 9

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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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Chapter 9

Chedwin was a man with sharp instincts.
As the youngest Sword Master in recorded history, he was sensitive to magical energy, but years of enduring jealousy from those around him had sharpened both his suspicion and his perceptiveness.
While he remained in the Capital handling the backlog of paperwork that had accumulated, a report arrived: Contaminated Areas had appeared simultaneously in two locations.
After reading that most of the knight orders and mercenaries had headed to the High Noble Territory, he decided to investigate the Contaminated Area within the Capital itself.
Since his body had grown lighter after the Victory Banquet, purged of the magical energy that had infected it, dealing with a Magical Beast alone posed no burden.
Moreover, the Purifiers who had attended the banquet happened to be resting in the Capital, so deploying them to cleanse the Contaminated Area presented no difficulty.
The report he read stated that the Contaminated Area had originated in a Workshop that was frequented chiefly by commoners.
Fortunately, the owner had apparently evacuated elsewhere, and he had assumed no one was caught in it.
But there was someone inside. A fairy, of all things.
Had she not spoken, he would have taken her for a Magical Beast that bewitches men and struck her down.
An uncanny sense of déjà vu washed over him.
Yet he knew he had never seen her before.
Perhaps she was indeed a Magical Beast that enchants people—that might explain the feeling.
“I saved your life. Is it really so difficult to speak one word?”
Chedwin pressed Rebellin, apparently resolved not to put her down or move until she did.
‘I have no choice.’
Rebellin bit the inside of her lip, then opened her mouth.
“……Thannk youuu verryy muuchh…….”
Rebellin deliberately drawled her words and deepened her voice, doing everything she could to make herself sound nothing like she had that day.
“Properly.”
Chedwin’s eyebrows rose in a sharp line.
“Don’t play games.”
“Play games? I was startled by that Magical Beast earlier, so the words don’t come out right.”
“You’re speaking perfectly fine now.”
“My tongue must have recovered. It’s strange—normally this muscle doesn’t snap back so quickly, but for once—”
“I’ll drop you.”
Clearly, that excuse wouldn’t fly.
This damnable blackmailer.
‘What do I do?’
What if she really spoke, and Chedwin suddenly remembered that day?
‘I can’t let that happen!’
The grand plan to save her brother might fall apart.
Rebellin was just formulating an absurd scheme—to strike Chedwin on the head and knock him unconscious so she could escape—when it happened.
“Hm?”
The pitch-black sky began to fade. The Magical Energy that had surrounded them grew thin, the world regaining its true colors, and the Contaminated Area vanished.
‘So that’s Purification.’
The moment of Purification she had learned about in lessons—the Purifier waiting outside had cleansed the Contaminated Area.
Now this place was safe.
Wait. That meant—?
“Put me down, please put me down!”
“Why.”
“Everyone’s going to see me!”
Now people would be arriving, and someone might witness her cradled in Chedwin’s arms!
Rumors, of course, spread faster than wind, and everyone would eagerly gnaw on the gossip.
Just as the Magical Beast had gnawed on her.
‘I hate this!’
Rebellin thrashed about.
With Purification complete and his excuse to hold her gone, Chedwin clicked his tongue softly and set her down with care.
Done!
“Thank you, hgh—”
For all her brave thrashing to be put down, the moment her feet touched the ground her legs gave out and she nearly stumbled.
Chedwin quickly caught Rebellin by the waist.
“Then why did you ask to be put down?”
She had nothing to say to that.
That was when it happened.
“Your Highness!”
A voice called out to Chedwin.
But it was a voice he found deeply unpleasant. He knew who it was without even turning around.
‘Don’t tell me it’s the Purifier who cleansed this Contaminated Area?’
Rebellin’s face twisted, and she turned her head away.
‘Of course—it’s Mila Faire!’
Mila Faire came rushing toward them, her expression full of concern.
She sprinted at full speed with only Chedwin in her sights, never once glancing at Rebellin.
In fact, she seemed entirely unaware that anyone stood beside him at all.
“Are you well? I grew worried when you didn’t emerge… oh?”
Mila’s eyes, which had been bouncing with anticipation, froze at the sight of Chedwin’s hand—his arm wrapped around someone’s waist.
Her gaze traced upward along his arm.
And collided with Rebellin’s eyes.
“Ugh.”
Mila’s face scrunched up with displeasure.
‘Yes. You hate this too, don’t you? Well, I hate it as much as you do.’
So please, just don’t call my name. Don’t. Take the hint.
Rebellin deliberately turned her gaze away, fixing it on empty space as if she were a stranger to them both.
But Mila, who’d caught on the moment she took that sip, opened her mouth and addressed her anyway.
“Lady Rebellin?”
She couldn’t fathom why Mila insisted on announcing her name every single time they crossed paths, as if they were old acquaintances.
“What on earth are you doing here?!”
“Rebellin?”
At the sound of the name Mila spoke, Chedwin’s head snapped around.
“Not Ruby?”
Betrayal filled his darkened eyes. His gaze burned with unspoken accusation: ‘You said you were Ruby, didn’t you?’
“You lied to me?”
“Not lied, precisely. Ruby is my pet name, you see. A cherished name my father calls me—a source of great pride.”
Chedwin let out a hollow laugh, shaking his head at the absurdity.
Well, there was no help for it now.
“Allow me to reintroduce myself. Thank you for your aid, Your Highness. I am Rebellin Ethelion, second daughter of the Ethelion Family.”
If this was how things were to end, she should have simply introduced herself the first time he’d asked instead of dragging it out. All she’d done was leave a worse impression.
“Rebellin… Ethelion.”
Chedwin murmured the name, his eyes suddenly sharp and gleaming.
“The Ethelion Family was listed among those who attended the Victory Banquet held some time ago.”
So he’d gone through the guest list methodically—no doubt searching for whoever had been with him on that balcony.
“Then the young lady must have been present at the banquet herself.”
With Mila standing right there, Rebellin couldn’t very well deny it.
‘This is truly doing nothing for my life whatsoever.’
Just as Rebellin was about to speak—
Mila, growing impatient at having lost Chedwin’s attention for so long, rushed to interject.
“Did Lady Rebellin also come as a Purifier?”
Oh, for the love of— I wish I could throw her into a Contaminated Area!
Why would she say that?!
“A Purifier?”
Chedwin’s gaze shifted to Mila. Finally having reclaimed his attention, she beamed with delight and answered.
“Yes. Didn’t you know, Your Highness?”
“I never encountered her when we were cleansing the Contaminated Area.”
At his response, Mila laughed as if he’d just told her something amusing.
The expression on Mila’s face brightened, having drawn out the answer she wanted.
“Of course you wouldn’t have met her there!”
“But I thought you said she was a Purifier?”
“Because Lady Rebellin is only a 10th Rank Purifier, so she can’t actually cleanse Contaminated Areas at all.”
Actually, perhaps this was better.
Her status as a Purifier would have come to light eventually anyway. So now that things had come to this, it was best that Mila nailed down the fact that Rebellin was a 10th Rank Purifier.
‘Yes! Do it! Tell him I’m a 10th Ranker, just like you always do! Make it crystal clear!’
Rebellin deliberately refrained from objecting and kept her mouth shut.
“So a 10th Rank Purifier like Lady Rebellin can purify, oh, ants perhaps?”
Even at Mila’s overt mockery, Chedwin showed no reaction.
She wasn’t surprised, and she didn’t look at Rebellin with pity or concern.
“A 10th Rank Purifier.”
She said it flatly, as if it were merely one piece of information among many.
‘What?’
It was a reaction Rebellin had never encountered in all her life.
Mila Faire frowned, clearly unsatisfied with the response, and pressed on.
“Well, we call them Purifiers, but a 10th Rank Purifier can’t actually purify anything.”
Good. Keep going.
“Didn’t Lady Rebellin take the rank examination several times because she couldn’t accept the results?”
Mila Faire’s voice dripped with mockery.
“She bought hundreds of Magical Tools and kept testing herself. How ashamed and desperate must a 10th Rank Purifier feel to do that? Truly pathetic.”
Mila Faire laughed at the incompetence of the 10th Rank Purifier with her usual enthusiasm.
It was a familiar occurrence among Purifiers.
As Purifiers had grown important to the Empire and their status rose, those with lower ranks found themselves disrespected, no matter how prestigious their bloodline. It had become commonplace.
Some people even hid their awakening, reasoning that it was better never to become a Purifier at all.
Moreover, no one dared interfere in disputes between Purifiers.
If an offended Purifier simply decided not to cleanse a Contaminated Area out of spite, it could spell disaster.
That was why Rebellin, a 10th Rank Purifier, was constantly attacked from all sides.
Of course, Rebellin didn’t take it lying down—she bit back just as hard.
‘I should stay quiet today.’
Rebellin didn’t deny Mila Faire’s words as she hammered the point home in front of Chedwin: “This woman is a 10th Rank Purifier!”
‘Yes, keep saying it—that I’m a useless Purifier who can’t do anything!’
Mila Faire faltered, confused. Normally, Rebellin would have already fired back with twice the cutting remarks.
Mila Faire raked her gaze over Rebellin, her expression asking: why is she acting strange today?

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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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