What’s really behind all of this?
Setting aside Brol’s motives for now, the reason the knights came after her was simple.
There were only two possibilities. First, her identity as a Cursed One had been discovered. A Cursed One moving about freely would undoubtedly bring danger to Anvil City—after all, no one could say when her presence might attract the Abyss.
Although Yuli knew well that, with the barrier masking all living beings’ auras in the city, the Abyss would not detect the presence of life within, nor would it attack. Even if there were Cursed Ones inside the city, their existence wouldn’t draw the Abyss here.
This was part of the reason Cursed Ones hadn’t been hunted to extinction.
But ordinary citizens didn’t care about that. They hated Cursed Ones and simply wanted to drive them out—or execute them on the spot.
So even now, with barriers developed to effectively ward off Abyssal attacks, the situation for Cursed Ones hadn’t improved at all.
Second, the knights sensed the aura of the Abyss on her.
After obtaining the Abyssal Crystal from Brol, she had carried it with her ever since, just in case. Sensitive to the Abyssal aura, Yuli was certain that, up until now, there had been no leaks.
So the only reasons the knights would have targeted her were these two. After thinking it through, Yuli dismissed the first.
She had prepared her disguise before entering the city, and it had never been compromised. So the first point could be ruled out.
That left only the second—the knights had noticed the Abyssal aura on her. Normally, they shouldn’t have sensed anything, unless someone specifically knew she was carrying contraband tainted with the Abyssal aura.
It was Brol who leaked the information.
With that, everything became clearer.
First, he offered the crystal as a “free gift.” Then he handed her a commission, sending her away for a while. Next, he reported her to the knights for hiding contraband tainted with the Abyssal aura.
Once the knights arrested her, Brol could exchange her for the reward.
Not only would he get rid of the dangerous “hot potato,” but he’d profit off her as well. If Yuli really had been caught, as both a Cursed One and a contraband carrier, Brol would’ve earned a hefty sum.
“No culprit? Then just make one yourself.”
A shrewd merchant indeed. The moment this possibility occurred to her, cold sweat broke out down Yuli’s back.
If Iris hadn’t warned her, drawing her attention to the noise outside the shop, by the time she realized, the knights might have already surrounded the place.
If that happened, escaping would be anything but easy—she might have paid an even steeper price to break free.
Her eyes drifted unconsciously to the bedside. Iris sat there, her little feet in white stockings swinging idly.
Why had this girl warned her, back then?
Was it just idle curiosity after noticing the commotion—or had she realized something was wrong and warned Yuli on purpose?
After all, Iris’s goal was to take over her body; the worse Yuli’s situation, the better for her.
So why?
“Yuli-chan, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
Seeing that Iris seemed to have noticed her gaze, Yuli denied it at once.
“Oh.”
At her reply, the little Evil Deity turned her head away again, continuing to dangle her white-socked feet without much interest.
Whatever Iris was planning, Yuli didn’t know for now. But after reviewing her reasoning, there were still many doubts.
There were a lot of corpses in the sewer—except for one that had been dead about a month, the others hadn’t been dead for more than two weeks.
Apart from someone like herself who had taken a commission, normal people would avoid entering such a filthy sewer.
Unless all those people had also accepted Brol’s commission and died to Abyssal beasts after entering?
No wonder there were so many bodies in the sewers.
But no… If that were the case, it wouldn’t match Brol’s motive for creating criminals to claim rewards. If Yuli’s theory was right, he only wanted to send people away for a while.
As a merchant, he’d surely ensure his goods stayed safe. After the first accident, he wouldn’t have kept sending people into that dangerous sewer.
Yet Brol still sent her.
Unless this was his first attempt, and it was just coincidence she ran into an Abyssal monster there. As for the others’ deaths, there must be another reason.
Since Brol couldn’t possibly cooperate with the Abyss—and dead people brought him no benefit—Yuli could only believe it was just a coincidence.
As for the real truth, Brol surely knew it well.
But for now, her escape would only make the knights step up patrols, maybe even lay more traps for her, waiting for her to walk into them.
For safety’s sake, she’d better stay far away from the black market for a while.
There were still many doubts, and Yuli had little information.
She had a vague feeling the truth behind all this wasn’t so simple, but with only what she knew now, she couldn’t piece it together.
Her mind was in chaos, a faint throbbing behind her temples. Yuli rubbed her forehead, forcing herself to put aside these unsolvable problems for now.
The moment she stopped thinking, drowsiness crashed over her like a tide.
“Iris, good night.”
“Oh? Good night.”
Turning away, Yuli had already closed her eyes, and soon her steady breathing filled the room.
She really does fall asleep fast. Probably just exhausted after everything that happened today.
Iris stayed sitting by the bed, absentmindedly swinging her little feet. Now wasn’t the time yet. Not until the night grew deep, after confirming Yuli was truly dead asleep, did Iris climb onto the bed and lie atop her.
Silvery-white hair fell, brushing across Yuli’s cheek. Iris leaned down, gently pressing her forehead to Yuli’s.
“All right, now let’s see what you’ve been through in the past, Yuli-chan.”
She murmured quietly, a strange glint flickering in her crimson eyes.
Her consciousness turned into something like countless tendrils, gently probing deep into Yuli’s mind.
She could only glimpse so many fragments of memory at once, so this time, Iris intended to look back at Yuli’s past.
Pressed close to Yuli, time passed quietly.
When Iris finally withdrew from those mottled, shadowy memories, a complicated look flashed in her eyes.
She floated up and sat back by the bed, turning to gaze at Yuli’s sleeping face, which still frowned slightly even in her dreams. She couldn’t help but click her tongue softly and sigh.
“Yuli-chan… It’s a miracle you’ve made it this far.”