Memoirs of a Wicked Magician - Chapter 37

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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 37
In the moment Liriope’s focus wavered, a boy with hair as crimson as autumn leaves materialized before her eyes.
He plucked the water bucket sitting beside one of the children, then vanished soundlessly between the blue-green leaves.
Liriope doubted her own eyes.
‘What—what was that? Did I just imagine it?’
For just a moment, it seemed as if a boy she knew had flickered across her field of vision—but was that possible?
Yet Liriope’s suspicion wasn’t a trick of the mind.
This time, a chestnut-haired boy slipped brazenly between the children, tucked two small food pouches into his cloak, and dissolved back into silence as if he’d never been there.
“…….”
Liriope couldn’t close her gaping mouth.
‘No, those two……. How are they doing that so smoothly? Did you see that? In the blink of an eye, they made off with food!’
Ode didn’t scold Liriope for losing focus during practice; instead, he looked equally stunned.
What was truly impressive was that both of them had infiltrated the group so audaciously without drawing a single eye. They’d moved through precisely calculated blind spots.
And what was more—the place where they were hiding…….
‘It was in the trees.’
Could they have been traveling through the canopy the whole time?
Seized by an uneasy feeling, Liriope blinked uncertainly.
Rustle.
Then, as if sensing her gaze, a hand suddenly jutted out from between the blue leaves above her, beckoning.
Had she not just witnessed those two scaling the branches, she would have sworn it was a ghost and bolted in panic.
‘……Come closer?’
‘What? How dare those flying squirrels gesture at my disciple with their hands like they own her?’
Ode’s indignation was misdirected, but Liriope scanned her surroundings first, then rose cautiously from her seat.
But before she’d taken more than a few steps, someone grabbed her shoulder firmly.
“Liriope!”
“Ah!”
“Wait—why did you jump like that?”
The one who’d startled Liriope was none other than Milena, equally shocked.
Liriope felt both relief and annoyance wash over her at once.
“Oh, it’s you. You scared me, approaching without a sound and grabbing me like that.”
“Oh, I—I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you at all…….”
“It’s fine, forget it. But what’s wrong? Did you need something from me?”
When she glanced back, the hand between the leaves had already vanished without a trace.
Liriope hurried Milena along, eager to send her away.
“Well, it’s nothing much—I wanted to share my water and bread with you when Kam wasn’t looking!”
So that’s what she’d come for: offering Liriope food again.
But Liriope remained wary of Zed’s Group, and that wariness extended to Milena as well.
“No, keep your share. You eat it.”
“P-please don’t say that!”
She refused again, but Milena didn’t back down.
Her rare firmness felt oddly desperate, almost frantic.
It was only natural that Liriope found this suspicious.
She studied Milena through narrowed eyes.
“Now that I think about it, something’s been off lately. Why do you keep trying to share your food with me?”
“W-well, it’s just that you’ve been going without rations for so long, I thought you might be hungry…….”
“No, that’s not the only reason. You’re hiding something from me, aren’t you?”
“I—I—that is……!”
If Milena had only acted naturally, Liriope might have let it drop, but the girl was a terrible liar.
She flinched visibly as if caught red-handed, unable to meet Liriope’s eyes, and began fidgeting nervously.
‘What is this? Did she poison the food?’
Ode’s tone turned glacial.
Liriope’s expression hardened as well, and she stepped closer to Milena.
“What is it? You really do have some ulterior motive, don’t you?”
‘Drag her to a corner and torture it out of her!’
“What exactly are you hiding? If you don’t want trouble, tell me the truth right now.”
‘Don’t bother with words—make her show you through action!’
Ode’s violent outcries only sharpened the tension of the moment.
“Milena! You’re caught, you hear me!”
But Liriope found herself forced to postpone Milena’s answer.
Kam came flying from afar and seized Milena’s hair in a harsh grip.
“Ow, ow!”
“Hey, you think I’m a joke? I told you not to act on your own without my permission! And now you’re running around with food? Where do you get off being so meddlesome?!”
“Let go of her.”
“What, what! Twenty-eight, butt out! This is between me and Milena!”
By all appearances, Kam was tormenting Milena because of Liriope, yet he insisted it was none of her affair.
He hurled curses at the true source of his resentment—Liriope herself—but didn’t dare lay hands on her directly; instead, he vented his rage on the defenseless Milena. It was pathetically cowardly.
“K-Kam! Don’t be so angry!”
Milena scrambled to appease him.
“Zed said the same thing yesterday……. He said we won’t let anyone fall behind—we’ll bring everyone to the Destination. So if someone’s struggling, we should all help together…….”
“Ha! You stupid girl. You’ve never understood where you stand!”
But Kam, the very embodiment of a coward who bows to the strong and bullies the weak, wouldn’t be swayed by her words.
Instead, he sneered openly.
“You think you’re comrades? Zed’s ‘comrades’ worth bringing to the Destination aren’t bait like you and these other girls—they’re equals like the others here and me!”
‘This fool doesn’t understand his own position either, apparently.’
Liriope agreed.
And history had always shown that those who miscalculated their place met swift endings.
“Hell, what are you all doing? Why aren’t you getting ready to leave? Why are you standing around here running your mouths?”
“Oh, Zed! Good timing! These idiots won’t listen, so I’m giving them a little education.”
Kam’s eyes glinted viciously at Liriope as if emboldened by a powerful ally’s arrival. Then, seeing Zed return with a supply box, he immediately fawned.
“We’ve got a long road ahead, and we can’t have these worthless ones dragging us down! So I’m thinking, wouldn’t it be better to get rid of the ones who are just dead weight in the next segment…….”
Crack!
“How many times do I have to tell you?”
Crack! Slap!
“Agh!”
“Everyone we have now—I’m bringing them all to the Destination. I’ve said this until my throat is raw.”
Crack……!
“Ugh!”
“Are my words shit to you? Huh?”
Thick hands struck Kam’s cheeks in rapid succession, the sharp impacts mixing with ragged breathing.
Whoosh!
Unable to control his emotions, a Flame Orb materialized beside Zed, radiating oppressive heat.
‘This is…….’
In that instant, Liriope’s expression froze.
‘I’ve been suspicious about this for a while, and I was right. It’s definitely stronger than before.’

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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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