Welcome to the Café of the Dark Guild’s Successor - Chapter 138

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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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A café run by the heir to the Dark Guild.
Chapter 138
I lifted Obelia’s upper body and braced it against my knee, displaying her to my grandfather.
My grandfather, who had been sitting beside me examining Obelia with Magical Power, watched his expression harden like stone.
“She’s intoxicated by miasma. She needs immediate treatment. Look—her breathing is already shallow.”
At his added warning that delay could mean death, I hurried to hoist Obelia onto my back.
Holy Power hadn’t worked on me, so I’d been healed by my grandfather through other means, but now Obelia needed the kind of treatment only Holy Power could provide.
“Let me do it, child.”
“There are too many eyes in the café.”
Even with Seniel drawing attention, I couldn’t be sure no one was watching.
Staying here any longer felt too dangerous, so I ran toward the Temple with Obelia still on my back. Since I knew the way well, I arrived quickly.
The moment I burst through the front entrance, Cayden—who had been watering a potted plant—jumped in alarm and rushed over.
“Rosia? What’s wrong? Your face looks—”
“I need you.”
At my words, Cayden’s eyes widened as I showed him Obelia.
“She’s badly hurt.”
“…Let me lay her down first. I’ll examine her.”
Cayden brought a thin blanket and spread it on the floor.
When I laid Obelia on it, her entire body felt cold—like a corpse’s chill.
Her condition was critical, so Cayden began treating her immediately.
As he extended his hands toward Obelia, a transparent white light scattered outward in a broad wave.
But the deeper the white light covered Obelia, the more serious Cayden’s expression became.
Cayden looked up at me, his face twisted in confusion.
“Where did she get wounds like this? How does she have injuries from a demonic beast?”
“I don’t know either.”
I gave a brief explanation of my visit to Headquarters that morning and the fact that Obelia had suddenly opened a portal and found me.
“Demonic beasts can’t appear anywhere except Alein Mountain… and multiple of them attacked a building in a pack…?”
Cayden looked deeply confused.
“Obelia must know something. Can you save her?”
“I’ll try. I need to stop the wound in her abdomen first.”
He placed both palms flat over Obelia’s belly and closed his eyes in concentration.
“Watch the surroundings while I focus. Oh, there should be spring water in the kitchen—could you bring it?”
While Cayden worked on treating Obelia, I fetched the water bottle he’d requested.
The wound was severe—sweat dripped from Cayden’s forehead as he channeled his Holy Power.
I wanted to help somehow, but I held my breath and waited quietly, not wanting to disturb his concentration.
“Whew.”
Nearly an hour passed before the light faded from Cayden’s hands.
He opened his eyes, wiped his forehead with a quick motion, and gulped down the water he’d left beside him.
Then he let the remaining water trickle into Obelia’s mouth as she groaned softly.
“How is she?”
“Fortunately, she’s past the critical point. I’ve purified all the miasma, so she should be fine with rest.”
“Thank you.”
When I placed my fingertips against Obelia’s neck, I felt warmth—her color had returned noticeably, and I could feel her breathing steady and sure.
“Pardon me.”
Cayden pulled up Obelia’s torn, blood-soaked upper garment. The bleeding had stopped, but a deep puncture wound was visible.
“A wound this severe means it was a high-ranking demonic beast. I had no idea such things were roaming around…”
He looked shaken as a Guardian. I wanted to say something reassuring, but I had nothing to offer either.
Then Obelia’s eyelids fluttered. I waited, and slowly, her eyes opened.
“Obelia!”
“Ugh.”
Startled by the unfamiliar surroundings, Obelia tried to sit up suddenly, but her face contorted and she groaned, staying prone.
“Don’t move. It’ll hurt. Your abdomen took a puncture wound.”
“…Rosia.”
This was the first time I’d heard her call me by my name with so little strength.
Her mouth seemed parched, so I brought more water and fed it to her slowly.
Gradually regaining her strength, her eyes grew clearer. I helped her sit up against the wall, relieved.
“I saw Headquarters was under attack. What happened? Are Reyley and Sophia all right?”
“Everyone is safe.”
Obelia’s eyes turned cold as she answered in a voice tinged with reluctance.
“Why do you look like that?”
“The attack on Headquarters was last night. How do you know about it? I haven’t reported anything to you.”
“I went there this morning. I had something to convey.”
The truth didn’t seem to dispel her suspicion.
She pressed her lips together and glared at me, so I met her gaze coldly and pressed the wound in her abdomen.
“If I’d wanted you dead, I would’ve killed you long ago. If you don’t trust me, then trust Reyley.”
“…I apologize. The fact that Headquarters’ location was exposed made it seem like an inside job.”
I understood how critical the situation must have been for her to suspect even me, so I nodded.
“Did you doubt me and come to find me? To verify the facts?”
“…No. I came under orders to deliver this.”
Obelia struggled to remove an Artifact Pouch from her side. A long box emerged from within.
At first glance, it looked like a simple wooden box, but the energy emanating from it was distinctive. As I stared at it, my grandfather snatched it away.
“What’s inside this?”
“Why?”
“It’s a box that blocks any magic. It’s a rare thing. Usually it holds something very dangerous.”
Wondering if they meant to assassinate me, I drew back from Obelia, but she quickly shook her head.
“No. It contains a map.”
That only confused me further.
“A map? In a situation like this? In a box like this?”
“The attackers’ target was the map. We didn’t know at first, but they only targeted whoever held the map.”
Obelia’s pupils trembled with anxiety as she watched my grandfather hold the box.
“Don’t open it. When we removed the map, demonic beasts appeared at that location. They’ll find this place too.”
Headquarters was attacked because of a map? The revelation was so unexpected that my mind went blank.
“Tell me everything that happened at Headquarters. Don’t leave anything out.”
Obelia glanced at Cayden standing behind me and shook her head.
“He’s the one who saved your life. You can trust him.”
I spoke firmly, and Obelia hesitated for a long moment before swallowing and finding her voice again.
“We were attacked suddenly late at night. Since the Barrier was disabled so naturally, they already knew how to get inside Headquarters.”
“No warning signs at all?”
“None. If it had been people, we wouldn’t have suffered so badly… but everything was strange. Demonic beasts poured out, and at first I thought it was an Illusion.”
“There were no people?”
“A few scattered among them. They wore unfamiliar uniforms and bore emblems I’d never seen before…”
Recalling that moment, she ground her teeth as if chilled again.
As I listened to Obelia, I felt the scattered pieces of the puzzle clicking into place.
“The map was the last Sacred Artifact we had. If they explicitly targeted the map… they might be the ones who stole the other Sacred Artifacts.”
“Rosia, you said ‘last’ just now?”
Cayden, who had been listening quietly, interjected with alarm.
I’d meant to tell him about the Sacred Artifacts as soon as we returned from the party, but I’d forgotten. So I hesitated before asking him a question.
“Haven’t you noticed anything strange while purifying lately?”
“Like what?”
“The energy in the Middle Zone growing stronger, or more demonic beasts appearing… that sort of thing.”
“No. It’s been about the same.”
Relieved by that, I told him what I’d heard at the party.
“You know how I mentioned that a Sacred Artifact related to Barriers disappeared? The last one that remained was also stolen on New Year Ceremony day. Now only the map is left.”
Shocked, Cayden wrapped his forehead with his hand and began pacing anxiously.
“If that’s true, this could become a very serious incident. We need to report it.”
Agreeing with Cayden, I handed him the Demon Core I’d found at Headquarters and the one from the demonic beast that had attacked Obelia.
“Take this.”
After examining the Demon Cores, Cayden ran a rough hand through his hair.
“A group using demonic beasts targeting Sacred Artifacts—that’s very suspicious.”
“…With Meyson here, at least I can rest easier, but I need to report this quickly. Rosia, I’m going to the Village.”
Gripping the Demon Core tightly, Cayden hurried out of the Temple.
After Cayden’s figure disappeared, I looked at my grandfather’s face. His expression was deep with thought.
“How did they locate the map? Did they use Tracking Magic or something?”
“If such a thing existed, I would have detected it. There was no magic on the map.”
I was mulling over what else it could be when my grandfather’s eyes widened suddenly.
“Wait.”
“Do you have a hunch?”
“Remember when we first unsealed the Sacred Artifact—how we needed blood? If it’s that… it might be possible.”
I tilted my head and stroked the surface of the long box.
“If they could track through blood, wouldn’t they have found it before us?”
“Maybe they left it on purpose.”
“But that blood had to be from a direct bloodline of the Strophane Clan. If so, then the Strophane Clan is connected to this… surely the Empress wouldn’t do something like that.”
Even as I spoke, the Empress’s face faded from my mind, replaced by that of Juliano, the Empress’s brother.
I wondered if he could be involved, and then—troublingly—I remembered the strange statues he’d been collecting.
“Well, let’s open the box first, shall we?”
“Isn’t opening it here dangerous?”
My grandfather and I set the box on the floor and stared at it with expressions of reluctance.

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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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