Welcome to the Café of the Dark Guild’s Successor - Chapter 44

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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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It’s a cafe run by the heir to the Dark Guild.
Chapter 44
Rather than pain from the wound, I felt a surge of satisfaction that my attack had struck the magical beast properly, and I poured more strength into my grip.
“Is it done?”
The magical beast staggered and collapsed. Only after watching it crumble to nothing did I feel relief wash over me.
“What is this mountain? Magical beasts appearing here? Was what that woman said actually true?”
Thinking I should collect the corpse, I glanced at the ground.
“What? Where did it go?”
The magical beast’s corpse had vanished completely, leaving only a pitch-black crystalline stone in its place.
Though frustrated, I at least pocketed the crystal.
As the tension drained from my body, the sharp pain from where the horn had pierced my shoulder suddenly flooded in. My brow furrowed at the sting.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been hurt.”
“Meow.”
The cat I’d left behind had somehow crept close and was staring intently at me. Feeling its concern, I reached out a hand.
“Scared, weren’t you? Come here.”
It must have been terrified, having faced something far larger and more frightening than itself.
As I stroked it, the cat pulled its paw away, rose up on its hind legs, and began licking the wound on my shoulder.
“Don’t do that.”
Worried that demonic energy might seep into the wound, I tried to push the cat away, yet it persisted in licking until the bleeding stopped.
Thanks to it, the blood clotted.
I leaned against a tree to rest for a moment.
The cliff face I’d seen earlier had already vanished, and the path had returned to its original form.
“They said this area was Holy Ground. And yet magical beasts appear here….”
Suddenly, the black serpent I’d encountered at the Temple before came to mind.
Keiden had called it a hallucination, but the aura I’d felt from that serpent was identical to what I sensed from the magical beast.
As I lost myself in thought, I felt Keiden’s approaching footsteps.
When he appeared, he started in shock upon seeing me leaning against the tree and rushed over.
“What happened? Are you hurt?”
“I ran into a horned magical beast.”
At the mention of a magical beast, Keiden’s grip on my arm tightened considerably as he examined it.
“I sensed its aura and came as fast as I could. How did you escape from it?”
“It seemed already injured. It writhed in pain alone and died.”
“That can’t be right.”
Unconvinced, Keiden examined the ground where the magical beast had vanished, noting the dark scorch marks left behind.
“It really did die, it seems. Did the magical beast drop anything? Something like a stone?”
“You mean this?”
I pulled out the black stone from my pocket and showed him. Keiden picked it up with a dazed expression.
“It’s large. This is the nucleus of a high-tier magical beast. You’d need at least three high priests to capture something like this….”
“You seem to know an awful lot. Magical beasts appearing here didn’t even surprise you.”
From Keiden’s reaction, I realized magical beasts must have appeared here before.
“What’s really going on? Weren’t magical beasts supposed to have disappeared after the Seal War?”
“That’s true. But… this location is special.”
“Special? You said it was Holy Ground. Were you lying?”
“It’s not like that… It is Holy Ground. I’m sorry. I can’t say any more than this.”
With that, Keiden began to scold me, his voice rising and falling with agitation.
“I told you not to venture into the forest for a while. What would have happened if that beast hadn’t died on its own? They kill indiscriminately.”
His voice wavered between loud and soft as he floundered helplessly, then he sighed and raised his hand.
“Let me treat your wound first.”
Keiden directed his Holy Power toward my shoulder. Yet even after waiting a long time, the wound showed no change.
“Does it usually take this long?”
“Something’s wrong.”
After trying several more times, Keiden lowered his hand.
He tilted his head in disbelief before carefully asking a question.
“Rosia, do you happen to be an Immunity Ability user?”
“What’s that?”
“It’s an ability that can nullify any magic or holy attack. Both mages and priests regard it as the most troublesome ability.”
He added that Immunity Ability users were so rare that all of them throughout history had been recorded and their names made known.
Now that he mentioned it, I vaguely recalled reading in a book about someone who had played a significant role in the Seal War and possessed such an ability.
“I couldn’t possibly be an Immunity Ability user.”
“My Holy Power isn’t working on you. I thought about it during the poisonous mushroom incident last time, but I’m certain now.”
“I… don’t know.”
During my time in the guild performing various missions, I’d naturally encountered mages.
Back then, I’d either neutralized their magic with an Artifact or simply fled, so I’d never directly taken a magical attack.
At my words, Keiden’s expression grew even more confused as he hesitated.
“An examination could tell us for certain, but….”
“Can it be done anywhere?”
“No. It requires a precise examination, so it would only be possible at the Magic Tower or the Imperial Research Institute.”
At the mention of the Imperial Research Institute, the face of Kayan—who had once tried to capture me for examination—flashed in my mind.
“If you really are an Immunity Ability user, your life will change considerably from now on. People with rare abilities become research subjects.”
“Then I won’t get tested.”
I couldn’t tell what he was contemplating, but Keiden’s face looked troubled.
He seemed to want to say more but closed his mouth instead, placing his hand around my shoulder.
“Let’s go to the Temple for now. There are Medicinal Herbs there that I can use to treat your wound.”
As Keiden and I walked toward the Temple, the cat wove between us repeatedly, brushing against our legs.
“I’ve been seeing that one a lot lately. Have you decided to keep it?”
“No. I’m not keeping it. It’s a stray.”
At my firm refusal, the cat meowed as if it agreed it didn’t want to be kept either.
“Meow!”
At that, Keiden’s expression—which had been rigid all along—softened a little.
“Demonic energy has seeped into the wound, so you’ll feel very exhausted today.”
I’d thought little of the demonic energy, yet just walking to the Temple left me breathing hard.
“Rest here for a moment.”
Keiden grabbed my waist and lifted me up, setting me on the altar.
“Is this alright?”
“I need to see it clearly to treat it properly. The Divine One shows mercy to all who suffer.”
Normally, he would have avoided me before I was even lifted, but he lacked the strength to do so now.
The cat jumped onto my lap and leaned against me. As I stroked its fur, I quietly waited for Keiden to return.
A short while later,
Keiden emerged from below with a medicinal paste made from various Medicinal Herbs ground together, which he set before me.
“It will lower the fever and purify the demonic energy. This should be effective.”
“You know a lot about Medicinal Herbs too?”
“It’s included in Priesthood Studies. I always received top marks. I need to apply the herb to the wound—would you mind removing your top for a moment?”
Keiden asked awkwardly, his eyes averted as he turned his head away.
Instead of removing my shirt entirely, I tore the sleeve around my shoulder with my left hand.
“Is this enough?”
“…Yes.”
“Sounds like you’re disappointed?”
“How could I be?”
Keiden narrowed his eyes indignantly. Then, examining my horn-pierced shoulder more closely, he clenched his teeth.
“The wound is deeper than I thought. It must have hurt a lot.”
He first cleaned the wound with a cloth dampened in clean water, then applied the medicinal paste to the exposed area.
“It will sting.”
With a low voice that seemed to be suppressing something, Keiden gently ran his hand over my wound.
It was a delicate, tender touch, but the wound made the surrounding area throb with pain.
I steadied myself by stroking the fur of the cat that had somehow made its way onto my lap.
After carefully applying the Medicinal Herbs to the wound, Keiden took the Bandage from beside him and wrapped it around my shoulder.
“Rosia, now you understand—magical beasts will appear occasionally on this mountain from now on. Be careful when you go into the forest. Bring me with you.”
“Understood.”
For now, since Keiden looked so serious, I gave my assent.
“That’s done. This is only temporary, so I’ll go to the Village to get proper medicine. They should have the materials.”
“Thank you.”
“The demonic energy will exhaust you greatly today. Go rest well. I’ll stop by later.”
When I returned to the Cottage, I sat on the sofa and stared at the Bandage Keiden had wrapped around me.
It didn’t hurt, but I felt an unsettling presence lingering—a creeping chill settled over the wound.
“I was lucky.”
If I hadn’t had a weapon to fight back, or if I hadn’t discovered its weak point on its back… even the thought made me dizzy.
“I need to prepare a weapon too.”
Reminding myself to be more careful going forward, I recalled what Keiden had said about me possibly being an Immunity Ability user.
‘If Seniel is an ability user and I’m also an ability user, then our parents….’
To be born with an ability, one’s bloodline must necessarily be mixed with that of a high-ranking noble.
There could be exceptions, but if both Seniel and I are ability users, then our parents must be hiding something.
I lifted my gaze and looked toward my parents’ room in the corner of the Cottage.
Ever since arriving here, that room had remained firmly shut, never opened even once.
Somehow it felt like I shouldn’t open it. It would be exactly as it was the moment before my parents left, and I didn’t want to disturb anything.
“Should I open it?”
For the first time, I made the decision to open that room, and I slowly stood up.
Then I turned the doorknob to my parents’ room, which had been closed for over a decade. My heart pounded so violently I thought it might burst.
“Cough.”
Inside the long-sealed room, dust hung thick in the air. I opened the window first and began airing it out.
As I brushed away the heavy dust that lay everywhere, I sorted through my parents’ belongings.
Not knowing what I was looking for, I searched around the room, and beneath the bed, deep in the shadows, I found an Envelope.
“What is this?”
I pulled it out and opened the thick Envelope, which contained two types of documents.

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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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