A Terminally Ill Villainess Refuses To Be Adopted - Chapter 26

“What’s going on with you?”

“Just because I don’t want to see someone’s dead body.”

Shrugging her shoulders, Sera went away, while Jack changed the positions of the two signposts at Sera’s plan.

[Warning! Occasionally a sleeping fog appears – Bard, Rekias, Koppelim, etc.]

[A clean area without monsters – Bard, Lupellin, Graham, etc.]

About an hour later, if they let the potion maker or the adults know that a friend had entered the sleeping area, they will take her out.

That’s enough time to get a good taste of the poison air and learn her lesson. This time, I’ll have to see that face turn into tears.

Sera smiled triumphantly, but she did feel a bit restless.

‘She doesn’t usually go to the outskirts.’

Does she plan to go without equipment or any preparations?

“Stupid wench.”

Jack was confused about whether Sera was worried or angry, so he asked openly.

“Are you worried?”

“Sigh, Jack.”

And he got an answer that showed how confused she was, as to whether she was aware of it or not.

Then, on their way back, the two met Raven, who was standing in the shade and staring straight at them.

“So, what did you do this time?”

He released a killing intent that was incomparable to the last time.

“Say it.”

Raven, who always uses stones as a weapon to beat the two of them, stared at and pressured them.

The frightened Jack was the first to speak.

“We taught her the wrong way to go grass digging towards the place where there is a fog that puts people to sleep.”

Raven didn’t even listen to Jack’s gibberish to the end.

“Stop talking nonsense and wait here. If you move, when I’m finished, I will kill you.”

He meant every word.

Leaving behind two stunned kids, Raven ran as it was.

‘Evelyn, you fool!’

No. Evelyn was not stupid.

‘I’m going to have to kill those two bastards.’

It was urgent right now, so he had to go to Evelyn first. What the two knew only as a sleeping fog was actually a monster.

A sleeping monster <Vottis>.

It was not very well known that it was a carnivorous plant. Usually, people would only go over the forest during the day and were rescued from the fog that put them to sleep.

But what if you went at night?

‘There is no news because they were eaten.’

In those cases, when people went to the forest at night others only assumed that they were just missing.

This Vottis was very good at laying a low profile.

They don’t touch crowds and only target those who come alone. They also played cruelly with their sleeping prey for a long time.

It was a monster with a temperament resembling a snake.

‘Even the North family doesn’t like to deal with it.’

Evelyn is a worthy target for Vottis to delight in.

A weak little girl that was alone.

Isn’t that Vottis’s favorite game?

Raven who was from the North family and lived for generations in the Shadow Forest knew.

After the target falls asleep, when dusk comes, it will run towards its prey.

He wants to cast spatial magic, but it was just not possible for him to do it right now because the magical seal was not broken.

He measured the time by running with a look of dismay. 

‘How long has it been since she went in?’

It was already early evening.

Damn it.

It was clear that Evelyn went into the early evening to stay out of people’s eyes, avoiding the active hours.

As long as the monsters don’t come out, there’s no problem.

But.

“Damn!”

Spitting out abusive language that was uncharacteristic of him, Raven roughly cut the palm of his hand, making drops of blood splatter.

* * *

Meanwhile, Evelyn was digging grass.

In the meantime, by spying on the maker’s house, helping him with work, and comparing it with her grandmother’s memories, she was now able to pinpoint a few of the grasses by herself and she was greatly benefiting from it.

Since she was a mixed race, which is rare in the Empire, she can last longer than normal humans.

As she gradually began to harmonize with <Bard>, it will last longer.

‘That’s how I’ll find the map.’

As she was doing her chores, something started creeping behind her.

Evelyn, who was pulling the grass, rubbed her strangely stiff eyes without noticing it yet, and suddenly felt numb. 

“But something is strange.”

Earlier, the sign said that this is a safe zone and that you can gather Bards, Lupellins, and Grahams.

“Isn’t this Rekias?”

A medicinal herb that is toxic but is effective in soothing blisters.

“…..”

Evelyn remembered the sign pointing the other way.

[Warning! Occasionally a sleeping fog appears – Bard, Rekias, Koppelim, etc.]

Is the signpost wrong?

That can’t be.

But before she could think any further, the sleepiness began to wash over her like a wave.

“I should go back. I was just going to check it out a little bit today.”

The fog blurred her vision.

Why is it foggy all of a sudden?

Evelyn stumbled as she got up and at that moment.

“Bell!”

Someone called for her.

It was Raven, who came running with clenched teeth.

* * *

The magic is sealed and he can’t release it right away, but the thought of saving Evelyn compelled Raven.

So he used his blood.

‘It’s a method that shouldn’t be used.’

This was because of the history of the North family.

Magic using blood is powerful, but it’s temporary and only shortens the lifespan.

“Raven, you must never use that magic.”
“Why?”
“You may feel strong, but it is a shortcut to weakness.”
“Why do you get weak?”

When the three-year-old Raven succeeded in the magic of blood that was never taught to him, his father had said.

“Remember our ancestors.”

Our ancestors.

A demon king who was characterized by dark hair, black eyes, and bright ivory skin.

“He wasn’t the Demon King from the beginning.”

It was then that Raven first heard the story about his ancestors. It was a story that was not recorded in any book.

“His name was Sado Jin-Hyeon.”
“Jin-hyeon?”
“They say that in this world, he was called Jenian.”

It was a rare day, where he talked for a long time with a father who couldn’t communicate well.

“He came from another world, he was a man who used a technique called dark arts. And.”
“……”
“That dark arts is what you are learning now.”

There was a trap in that technique, and the head of the North family has a miserable end from generation to generation.

“Humans from another world become a different race when they came here.”

But at the same time, he was a human being, so he could leave a legacy more easily than other races.

Raven’s father was also able to have a successor without problems, but even such a cruel fate was also easily handed down.

“It is said that those who master the family’s dark arts will always be eaten by it at the end.”
“Dark arts?”
“…it means a fighting style that uses the dark parts of the heart as power.”
“Hm.”
“The stronger you get, the more you get eaten by those dark parts.”
“Then why do we have to learn it?”

I remember my father’s bitter smiling face.

To Raven, it looked like he was about to cry.

(Note: Here comes Wuxia again, 마공(魔功), I a type of martial arts that infuses dangerous magic or energy to training the body. The difference in here, is that to obtain this type of technique, you have to train dangerously, that could potentially kill you along the way or has bad consequences on the user, you call it, pact with demons, continuous blood shed to hone skills, demon rituals, black magic. It’s usually called dark arts as a category on the occident. Wuxia readers, correct me if I am wrong.)