Chapter 35: Alice’s Depression

“Whew!”

Green snapped his eyes open, gasping for air like a drowning man being pulled from the depths.

“Is this… is this the pain a witch endures every day?”

He looked at the yellowed Adventurer’s Log in his hand with lingering fear, the vivid and perilous scenes from the simulation still flashing through his mind. Once, Green believed his will was unshakable, that he could smile in the face of any agony. Until just now.

“I overestimated myself. Thank goodness it was only a simulation, otherwise… otherwise…”

To untangle the witch’s heart, earn her loyalty, and complete the mission, Green had used a specific spell he had seen in the Adventurer’s Guild archives during the simulation.

《Life’s Blessing》.

A spell that shares all calamities by taking the caster’s soul and vitality as payment. It was said to have been created by the Elves to sign covenants with Ancient Dragons, yet Green had applied it to a witch.

He looked at his arm with uncertainty. It was clean and fair, without a single mark or brand.

“Right, I’m overthinking it. It was just a simulation, after all.”

Splash.

Green forced himself to stand. “But, even if it was a fiction, I will save you, Sophie.”

He looked at the mountain of materials piled beside him, a plan already forming. “So, every one of your research projects was a gamble with your soul as the stake.”

Yes. That was the truth behind Sophie’s “genius.” Witches mastered magic without learning, including forbidden knowledge, all thanks to the “blessing” of their primal ancestor. But that near-omniscience, while called a blessing, was also a curse. Every time a witch broke a mystery and produced new research, their power advanced, inevitably drawing them closer to the Primordial Ancestor at the end of their bloodline.

“And that means…” Green’s gaze grew heavy. “They get closer to losing control.”

Recalling the “fickle” Sophie in his mind, Green felt a pang of heartache.

“Wait for me, Sophie. I will save you,” he declared boldly to the empty room. “I promise.”

His personal strength was small. But what if he stood backed by the Adventurer’s Guild, an organization nearly a thousand years old with branches across the continent? The crystallized efforts of countless predecessors gave Green confidence.

“It’s not just the innate shackles of the witch, but also this mysterious Long Winter and the various natural disasters…” Looking at the heavy books behind him, Green felt a surge of passion.

In reality, he was a man burdened by a soul curse who struggled even to advance his class. In the simulation, however, he could be the hero who saved the world.

“I suppose it fulfills my adventurer’s dream,” Green yawned. “Saving world peace, letting people live happy lives…”

Knock, knock.

A sudden rapping at the door interrupted his daydreaming. “It’s me, Betty.”

The Branch Manager? Green wouldn’t forget the mentor who had recognized his worth.

Click. He opened the door.

Miss Betty’s graceful figure entered, bringing a faint fragrance with her.

“Is it the examiner from the capital?” Green asked, sitting up straight.

“Yes, that lady has arrived.” A flicker of worry crossed Betty’s eyes. “I never expected the old fogies at headquarters to send such a big figure for an assessment.”

A big figure? Green was puzzled. Given Betty’s strength, there weren’t many people she would call a “big figure”—at the very least, they had to be a Legendary powerhouse above Level 90.

“Sophie.” Seeing Green’s confusion, Betty didn’t beat around the bush. “The Sophie who won the highest honor from the Mage Council at age fourteen for inventing the Soul Healing Potion. The Sophie who achieved the Ninth-Ring rank by seventeen.”

Green’s mind went blank for a moment. Not because of the examiner’s illustrious resume, but because…

“Sophie?” He dazed for a second, then laughed at himself. “Good grief, what am I thinking? The name Sophie is just like ‘Green’—you can find them on every street corner.”

However, a thought struck him. Invented the Soul Healing Potion?

Wasn’t that Sophie the very idol Lucy—the mage from his former team, the Star-Moon Adventure Team—worshipped most? Come to think of it, Lucy had left the Mage Council to join an adventure team specifically to emulate Sophie’s early years. Even joining the Hero’s party selection was to get closer to her idol.

The world was truly a small place.

Green sighed. “It seems my assessment won’t be easy.”

“Don’t worry!” Betty took Green’s silent reflection as a sign of hesitation and nodded enthusiastically. “Mr. Green, Miss Sophie said she wanted to look around town and would come by later. we can use this final bit of time to prepare.”

“Oh? Looking around?” Green raised an eyebrow. Had he just been stood up by his examiner?

“Miss Sophie seems interested in the Hero Selection. I remember her recent research field involves ancient ruins. Perhaps she’s interested in that site?”

As expected of a Branch Manager, Betty made a logically sound deduction in just a few words.

The ruins, huh? Green wondered if the young ladies of the Star-Moon Team—who knew absolutely nothing about the common sense of dungeon crawling—could successfully conquer it now that he had quit.

Forget it, I was the one fired. I shouldn’t be so sentimental as to worry about top-tier adventurers from a mere ‘mortal’s’ perspective.

Raven Town · Sunset Tavern

A stunning figure dressed in a heavy mage robe—which still failed to hide her graceful silhouette—walked gracefully into the bustling tavern.

“Phew…” She found a seat and collapsed into it.

“Honestly, that was close.” Panting as she leaned on the table, her behavior wasn’t exactly elegant, yet combined with her alluring looks, she possessed an indescribable aura.

“I almost ran right into Green.” The figure pouted, her beautiful face showing a hint of grievance.

“Wait, why did I run away? I finally found the soul of that idiot Lord’s reincarnation… why did I suddenly bolt?”

She extended a slender hand, gazing longingly at a tattered rag doll in her palm as if it were the most precious treasure in the world.

“Whatever, that idiot is here now, he can’t escape. It’s just…” The woman’s voice hesitated. “He probably doesn’t remember me now, does he?”

She stretched lazily, a heavy atmosphere momentarily clouding her playful expression.

“But it doesn’t matter. This time…” she whispered, her eyes misty, “I won’t allow you to leave me behind alone in the name of your ‘dream’ again, Green.”

“Speaking of which, this place is quite nostalgic.” Looking out at the peaceful, busy town, a trace of reminiscence flashed in Sophie’s eyes. “The Branch Manager said the Hero Selection involves exploring the ruins next door?”

“Yes… so much time has passed that it’s become a ‘ruin’ in their words, Green.”

Her voice echoed in the tavern. Strangely, despite the world-class beauty being right there, not a single adventurer in the crowded tavern approached her, as if this mage didn’t exist at all.

Except for one person in the corner.

“She is… Sophie? The member of the High Mage Council?” A girl in plate armor, who had been staring at a communication crystal to observe the dungeon progress, looked up and sized her up solemnly.

“Shielding the senses of over a hundred people instantly? Her level of sorcery is terrifying.” Alice’s eyes flashed with wariness. That aura… it triggered some unpleasant memories.

“Perhaps I’m overthinking it,” Alice shook her head. “It’s not possible for the Demon King herself to infiltrate the human world, masquerade as a genius, and rise to such a high status unopposed, right?”

However, Alice recalled Sophie’s murmur just now.

Green.

A name so common that Raven Town probably had several. Yet, hearing Miss Sophie call that name with such intimacy made Alice feel a surge of irritability for no reason.

“Never mind, let’s see the progress of the trial-takers first… Hm?”

Turning her gaze back to the communication crystal, Alice’s pupils shrank. “The Star-Moon Adventure Team? How?”

Alice shook her head in disbelief. “With their strength, this shouldn’t be happening. They barely made it through the fourth floor?”

The crystal showed several figures locked in a desperate struggle.

“Where are the support potions? Lucy!” the leader, Freya, questioned furiously. “And why did no one notice we veered off the main route?”

“No!” Lucy, the genius mage, dodged a sudden trap in a disheveled state and shouted back, “Sophia! Your… your Healing Blessing?!”

The girl in the priestess robe looked blank. It took her several seconds to stammer, “Shouldn’t… shouldn’t these things have been prepared before the raid?”

“That’s—that’s true,” Freya shook her head in panic. “But… but that ungrateful wolf Green ran off on his own. Isn’t it normal that I didn’t prepare properly in my rush?”

Faced with the Duke’s daughter’s “righteous” response, Lucy and the Saintess Sophia fell silent at the same time.