The letter contained only a single short line, but far more information had been obtained through a direct conversation with the Guildmaster.
The mission this time was to retrieve the Codex of Endymion’s Law.
According to the Guildmaster, some “unscrupulous individuals” were allegedly attempting to infiltrate the crumbling city of Endymion in order to bring the long-deceased Holy Archmage King back to life!
“Why stop the Archmage King’s resurrection? Did she even do anything bad?”
It was a fair question—there was no detailed historical record explaining the destruction of the Archmage King or her city. Serena’s confusion was only natural.
The Guildmaster let out a long sigh before finally sharing a secret with Serena:
“The Holy Archmage King was actually a demon!”
That one sentence was all it took to make everything fall into place. Humans and demons were sworn enemies. If the Archmage King had really been a demon, then everything made sense!
A person who had once stood at the pinnacle of human society—if it turned out she was a demon all along, that would be a massive scandal!
Rainbow Bonds had once visited the ruined Endymion City.
For the guild to entrust this task to Serena’s party wasn’t out of the ordinary—after all, that place was filled with danger, and most average teams would simply be walking to their deaths.
But—
Serena thought back to their battle with the S-rank Heavy Armor Obsidian Dragon and decided she needed to rework her equipment and enchantments.
Previously, she had completely ignored the importance of critical hit rate and had only focused on critical damage stats. That needed to change.
Eileen… what should I do?
Standing outside that small town, she had allowed baseless rumors to spread unchecked, had let people ridicule and mock Eileen.
By now, Eileen must hate her completely. What could she do to win her back?
“Just apologize. Given all your years of sisterly affection, Eileen will definitely forgive you. Is your pride really more important than losing her?”
“No… but if I apologize, what happens to the reputation of an S-rank team? Wouldn’t that betray the effort of your teammates? Do you want them to be mocked by the world too, just like you?”
The turmoil was driving Serena mad.
She even felt a tinge of envy toward Helga—for being able to abandon everything and simply do what she wanted. Serena, on the other hand, carried too many burdens.
She had begun to realize just how vital Eileen was to Rainbow Bonds. But how could she resolve this perfectly? She was stuck in a mental deadlock.
Was there a way to bring Eileen back without lowering her own head in apology?
“There is~”
Her new teammate, the thief girl, suddenly leaned in close and whispered into Serena’s ear.
The action startled Serena so much that she instinctively stepped back and looked at her warily.
“…Paruma, what… what did you just say?”
The tan-skinned thief flashed a sly grin, parting her crimson lips as she spoke softly:
“Captain, you’re thinking about how to bring back the withdrawn ‘Miss Eileen,’ aren’t you? Don’t judge me by appearances—I’m actually quite perceptive. I could tell what you were thinking with just a glance.”
That’s… that’s ridiculous. How could she possibly know that?
Just as Serena had that thought, Paruma smiled and shook her head gently, covering her mouth as she laughed.
“Before joining the team, I made sure to thoroughly research Rainbow Bonds, you know. And if you want to win her back, well, I actually do have a method.”
“Speak,” Serena said, her voice urgent.
Paruma narrowed her eyes slightly and giggled.
“Captain, do you know about the Codex of Endymion’s Law?”
“That’s the item we’re supposed to retrieve on this mission. What about it?”
“But do you know what that magic tome really does?”
Her question made Serena pause. She thought for a moment, then shook her head.
“The Guildmaster didn’t tell me.”
Paruma gave a mischievous smirk.
“Well, of course it’s not something they’d want outsiders to know. That tome is actually a long-lost vessel of powerful psychic magic. It holds spells like hypnosis and mental domination. Captain… if you get your hands on that book and use it on Miss Eileen—”
Her voice was like a devil’s whisper.
“She’ll become your obedient little dog. She’ll never betray you again.”
Eileen, forever mine?
The thought made Serena waver.
This is all your fault, Eileen. If you had just listened to me obediently from the beginning, none of this would’ve happened.
*****
Meanwhile, back at the large villa that Rainbow Bonds had recently purchased—
Regelieve was leaning over the windowsill in pain, her face twisted in agony.
Sweat soaked her body, and her short white jacket clung tightly to her skin, completely drenched and outlining the full, mature curves of a twenty-year-old woman.
She gasped for breath again and again.
The backlash from all that damage is hitting me now. It’s been so long since I’ve felt pain this intense—it’s like dying over and over again.
Her innate ability was called Delayed Resolution. All damage she received was stored in a pool and only gradually processed over the next few days.
For example, when she was hit by the Obsidian Dragon’s breath during the fight, she had taken 100 points of fire damage—but the effects weren’t applied right away. Instead, they were saved up, and only after the battle ended would the damage start trickling in.
And even then, it didn’t hit her all at once. It was processed in intervals—like losing 1 HP per minute over time.
In previous fights, she had proven many times that damage didn’t always get fully processed—sometimes, she got lucky and didn’t feel the full effects. But this time… something was wrong.
Why wasn’t there any reduction?
Why was every last bit of that damage being tallied up—down to the last point?
Her deep-blue hair fell loosely over her shoulders, and confusion flickered in her eyes.
I’m a saint’s descendant with half-angel blood—my healing speed is far beyond that of any normal human. In theory, even if my innate talent failed to reduce damage properly, it shouldn’t be this severe. So why is it like this?
Fifteen percent of all damage is supposed to be ignored during settlement… so why hasn’t it triggered even once? For the past two and a half years, it was basically guaranteed every time!
Could it really be because of Eileen’s blessing? That’s… that’s absurd!
Though she felt terribly guilty, Regelieve had only joined the party to build a reputation.
Once her credentials were polished enough, she’d finally be deemed worthy of inheriting the family business. Without that, the old fossils in the clan would never acknowledge her.
I’m sorry, Eileen-chan. I promise… one day, I’ll atone for all of this…
As she was thinking this, a knock sounded at the door.
At this hour, the only ones who would come were fellow party members. Regelieve wiped the sweat from her brow and said, “Come in.”
The door opened, and in walked Rossweisse—wearing a sheer black nightgown. If she remembered correctly, that was lingerie Eileen had bought. She hadn’t expected Rossweisse to actually wear it.
The moment she entered, Rossweisse was shocked by the sight of her friend.
Regelieve turned her head and gave a pale smile.
“You came at the perfect time. Cast a healing spell on me, will you? I’m in so much pain, I can barely take it anymore.”
Rossweisse nodded quickly and summoned holy light in her hands, letting it gently fall upon Regelieve. Only then did the pain on Regelieve’s face seem to ease a little.
“W-What’s going on…?” Rossweisse asked timidly.
“Your innate backlash hasn’t acted up in ages…”
“Who knows. It’s probabilistic, after all. It’s not strange for the backlash to suddenly trigger again,” Regelieve replied with a shrug. Then she narrowed her dark-blue eyes at her friend.
“But you… what brings you here so late at night?”
Rossweisse took out a letter. “T-This came from the Holy Capital.”
Regelieve unfolded the letter and skimmed through it, her eyes sharpening.
“Destroy the Codex of Endymion’s Law inside the ‘Crumbing City of Endymion’? This book… it’s a forbidden scripture?”
Rossweisse’s face turned pale.
“Yes. His Eminence the Archbishop said the book is a blasphemous artifact. It’s said that if you write someone’s name in it, they’ll be cursed and meet an unnatural death.”
“It’s rumored,” she added nervously, “that the Holy Sorcerer-King was punished by the gods after trying to use that book to ascend as the god of a new world…”
Regelieve crushed the letter in her hand and gave a firm nod.
“If this really is a forbidden tome of that magnitude, then we absolutely cannot allow it to exist in this world.”
Thief
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