After a brief silence, Iris could no longer sit still, though she was never one to sit still in the first place.
“You—Who are you? How do you know my name?”
Those crimson eyes stared intently at the blonde woman across from her, as if trying to see through the mask on her face to pierce her very essence.
What a surprise. After all these years buried away, there was still someone in this world who recognized her.
“Lady Iris, you should know who I am.”
The woman didn’t reveal her identity directly, instead tossing the question back to Iris, “Assuming, of course, that your memory hasn’t failed you, and you still remember all that.”
“Tch…”
A flash of irritation crossed Iris’s delicate face. The woman’s reply annoyed her greatly. Wouldn’t it be simpler to just answer her question? Why all this roundabout nonsense, and even dragging her into it?
Whether her memory was faulty, or if she could recall the past, none of that had anything to do with some ordinary person.
“If you know who I am, then you must also know what I am capable of.
I have no patience for riddles. Stop beating around the bush before I—”
Before she could finish, the blonde woman once again gave a slight bow.
“Forgive me, Lady Iris, but with your current state as a weak, remnant soul, there is little you can do to me for now.”
Hearing this, a vein throbbed visibly on Iris’s forehead.
Yuri popped a chunk of meat dripping with sauce into her mouth, watching Iris get flustered for the first time. Then again, very few people ever got to see Iris at all.
When the blonde woman spoke Iris’s name, Yuri was rather surprised.
She hadn’t expected that, besides herself, there was someone else who could see Iris’s presence—and that this person seemed to know Iris as well? The way she spoke to her felt awfully familiar, but Iris seemed clueless as to her identity.
Could it be, just as the woman said, that Iris had slept too long and forgotten many things?
Either way, she might just get to see Iris suffer a setback today. Thinking this, Yuri quickly forked another piece of meat and stuffed it into her mouth.
Mm, delicious.
“Tch… So, what, you came all the way here just to mock a fallen deity like me?”
Iris glared furiously at the woman before her, anger lacing every word.
If she weren’t just a remnant soul now, forced to depend on Yuri’s body to leave that stone coffin, things would be different. In the past, if anyone dared speak to her like this, she’d have ripped that mask right off their face.
Speaking of the mask, that silver mask on the woman’s face did seem a little familiar. She was sure she’d seen it somewhere before, just couldn’t recall where for the moment.
Was it really because she’d slept too long and forgotten so many things?
“I wouldn’t dare, wouldn’t dare.”
The woman bowed once more, expressing her apology.
“If you wouldn’t dare, then hurry up and take off that mask. I’m really angry right now, and when I’m angry, the consequences are serious. Do you understand?”
“I’m sorry, Lady Iris. You should know that the moment I chose my current identity, this mask could never be removed again.”
“Tch…”
That only made Iris even angrier. Wasn’t she always the one speaking in maddening riddles? When did the tables turn, letting someone else torment her with cryptic words?
“I hate riddles. I’m really angry now, you know.”
“My apologies…”
The blonde woman sighed so quietly it was almost inaudible. “It seems your memory really has some problems. Perhaps because you were sealed for so long, you’ve forgotten a great many things.”
“Stop talking nonsense,” Iris snapped, puffing up like a cat with its tail stepped on. She glared at the woman with blazing fury. “If you have something to say, say it now. And don’t think for a second that I’m so weak I’d let some ordinary human talk circles around me. Don’t push me, or I really will get physical.”
“My apologies, Lady Iris, but I’m not here specifically to see you today.”
“Hah? Then what the hell are you here for?”
All these words only made Iris grind her teeth in frustration.
If it weren’t for the crowd, she’d have shown everyone what she looked like when she was truly angry—and maybe even given Yuri a good scare while she was at it, so that girl would treat her with more respect from now on, and listen to her advice more often.
Right now, Iris’s sullen expression was only making Yuri’s appetite grow. She’d never seen this side of Iris before. Absentmindedly, she stuffed even more food into her mouth. No, she really needed to swallow first, she couldn’t keep cramming so much in.
Just as she reached for her drink to help swallow, the blonde woman suddenly turned her gaze toward Yuri.
“This time, I’ve come specifically to find Miss Yuri.”
Huh?
What did this have to do with her?
She was just here, sitting on the sidelines, watching the show. With the topic suddenly shifting to her, Yuri immediately choked on the meat in her mouth and had to gulp down her drink to force it down.
Phew… finally swallowed it. She almost choked to death. Next time, she couldn’t stuff so much meat in at once.
“Yuri-chan, are you an idiot?”
Iris couldn’t help but roll her eyes at Yuri, then pointed at the blonde woman.
“You, looking for her?”
“That’s right.”
“Huh?”
That didn’t make sense. Yuri was just an ordinary adventurer. She’d never even met this blonde woman before, so why was she being sought out?
“Miss Yuri, you’ve suffered for a long time, haven’t you?”
The moment those words fell, Yuri felt as if an invisible hand had clutched her heart. Her fingertips trembled violently, and the fork slipped from her grasp, clattering onto the table.
Was she… was she referring to the curse?
How could she tell? And why mention it—did she have a way to break the curse?
But in the very next second, the woman’s words doused Yuri’s budding hope like a bucket of cold water.
“Go and seek,” the woman’s voice remained calm, yet it carried an unfathomable, profound tone. “Beneath the calm surface of Anvil City, turbulent currents are hidden. Once they come to light, the way forward will reveal itself.”
This…
For the first time, Yuri found herself wholeheartedly agreeing with one of Iris’s complaints.
She, too, hated riddlers.
Why couldn’t people just speak plainly? But, even so, Yuri understood the woman’s meaning.
She was being told to handle whatever was about to happen in Anvil City? But Yuri had no desire to get involved in such troublesome matters. All she wanted was to find a way to leave Anvil City, move on to the next place, find a solution to her curse, and deal with Iris’s possession of her body.
“Sorry, but I don’t want to meddle in Anvil City’s troubles. There’s nothing in it for me.”
“No, you will. All of this is destiny, predetermined in secret. When you uncover the truth, the next step will present itself.”
What did that mean?
That if she solved the problems in Anvil City, she’d get an important clue to break her curse?
Before Yuri could ask, the blonde woman bowed slightly in her direction. “Forgive me, but that’s all for today, Miss Yuri. You should leave as soon as you can.”
Huh?
She wanted Yuri to solve Anvil City’s problems, but also to leave as soon as possible—what was that supposed to mean?
Before she could make sense of it, the woman’s body began to grow transparent, as if it would vanish at any moment.
At that moment, with a bang, the tavern door was flung open with force.
A squad of fully armored knights marched into the tavern. Though the blonde woman vanished quickly, they caught a glimpse of her fading silhouette. The lead knight’s gaze then landed squarely on Yuri.
“Seize her for me!”
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