When the silver coins scattered across the floor, the inn receptionist—who had just been about to accept payment—paused in surprise.
Then she noticed the expression on Lanafit’s face.
“Miss Lanafit?”
“……”
The soft call received no response.
The receptionist raised her voice slightly, but Lanafit remained frozen like a puppet, unresponsive and motionless.
Just as the receptionist was starting to feel concerned, Lanafit’s hand twitched slightly.
Her eyes regained a trace of life, though she now looked somewhat dazed.
“What just happened to me…?”
Lanafit lowered her head, her body slumping weakly as she leaned against the counter, unable to stand upright due to a strong wave of dizziness.
“Miss Lanafit, are you alright?”
The receptionist’s eyes showed a flicker of suspicion as she looked at Lanafit’s condition—perhaps thinking she was an avid user of certain magical potions.
These potions, while not extremely powerful, were popular among some mages for enhancing magical ability, though they often caused side effects like listlessness and weakness after use.
“…I’m fine.”
Lanafit’s voice was faint and lacking strength, but she still waved her hand dismissively.
She was deeply confused.
What had just happened to her?
For a moment, it had felt as if her consciousness was being torn from her body.
A powerful force had tried to drag her away—and then nothing.
When that pulling sensation finally disappeared and her awareness returned to her body, she found herself in this weakened state.
Lowering her head, she saw the silver coins scattered on the floor.
Recalling that she had been in the middle of paying, she realized she must have dropped them during that sudden episode.
She quickly knelt to gather the fallen coins but could only find four—two had likely rolled into the cracks between furniture.
Still suffering from dizziness, Lanafit didn’t have the energy to search further.
She simply pulled two more coins from her pouch and handed them to the receptionist.
After hurriedly signing her name, Lanafit was assisted to her room by an attendant.
By now, she had completely forgotten about bathing and only wanted to lie down and sleep on the soft bed.
The room was even cooler than the lobby.
Perhaps due to her current weakness, Lanafit actually felt a bit chilly.
Thankfully, the attendant noticed and thoughtfully brought her a thicker blanket.
As Lanafit removed her clothing and slipped into bed, the intense dizziness had already begun to fade.
Was it due to poor rest lately?
Or maybe a heatstroke or cold?
Considering her condition, Lanafit guessed it was the latter.
After all, she’d been out in the heat all day and night, was exhausted, and had suddenly entered a cool inn room—her body must have reacted to the abrupt temperature shift.
Still… a witch’s body shouldn’t be this fragile…
But right now, she was in no state to think it through.
Pulling the blanket tighter around herself, Lanafit let her mind drift into a deep sleep.
…
…
…
“Witch of Curses and Calamity, I now convey the will of the Demon God.”
In her dreams, that emotionless voice once again shattered her rest, waking Lanafit from her slumber on the soft bed.
“The nation blessed by divine grace is no longer devout.
The teachings of the gods have been forgotten by the ignorant masses.
The foolish seek to trample our authority.
It is time for their folly to be punished.
Bring divine wrath upon the Haid Empire.
Cast down destruction and despair.
Begin by engulfing Stat Village in flames.
Leave not a single soul.”
The declaration was the same as always—no different from what she’d heard back in Stat Village.
But this time, Lanafit no longer felt afraid.
Her pale green eyes were now filled only with numb indifference.
Over the past few months since leaving Stat Village, she had heard this so-called Demon God’s voice in her mind every five or six days, always commanding her to destroy Stat Village.
Honestly, at first, Lanafit had been pretty terrified.
The Demon God clearly had it out for the little village.
But over time, she had gotten used to it.
After all, besides waking her up in the middle of the night with a few dramatic lines, the voice couldn’t actually do anything.
If it really had the power, why didn’t it go destroy Stat Village itself instead of nagging her?
So Lanafit had gradually stopped taking the voice seriously.
“You can only whine at me in here? You’re really just trying to ruin my sleep, aren’t you?”
With a couple of sarcastic complaints, Lanafit stopped paying attention to the now-fading voice in her mind.
When she opened her eyes, she found that it was already dark outside.
She turned on the light and noticed that the clock pointed to 8 PM.
The intense dizziness from earlier had completely vanished—as if the weakness she felt before entering the room had just been a dream, leaving no trace behind.
She checked her physical condition.
Everything seemed completely back to normal.
Could it be that just a nap cured her heatstroke or whatever it was?
Though puzzled, Lanafit could only chalk it all up to her witch’s body.
Maybe her body just had a strong self-healing ability.
“Better take a shower and then come back to sleep again.”
She had been bothered by the smell of sweat over the past few hot days, and now that she felt recovered, of course she wanted to clean herself up.
With that, Lanafit lifted the blanket—but the moment her body, clad only in underwear, met the cool air of the room, she shivered from the chill.
Looking down, she noticed the bedsheet where she had been lying was damp, apparently soaked with sweat during her sleep.
As for how she could tell it was sweat—Lanafit leaned in and sniffed.
No odd odor.
Relieved, she let out a long sigh.
After all, at her age, if she were to get labeled as someone who wets the bed, it would be social death in this inn overnight.
But on another note—
Lanafit looked at the small lamp next to the chandelier on the ceiling, emitting a faint blue glow.
“This Ice Magic Core is way too cold. If only it worked like an air conditioner and let you adjust the temperature…”
But that was just wishful thinking.
These Ice Magic Cores came from magical beasts native to the far north of the continent.
While the beasts themselves weren’t particularly strong or rare, the extreme northern regions were incredibly distant from the Haid Empire, requiring ocean travel to reach.
That made the cores expensive.
Ordinary households couldn’t afford them—only wealthy merchants or nobles had the means.
A single Ice Core could emit cold air for about half a year, making it useful not only for cooling rooms in summer but also for food preservation.
Lanafit had once seriously considered buying one, but seeing how overly effective it was now, she gave up on the idea.
After all, this large room already felt like autumn—if she had used one in her small tent, she’d probably have frozen to the bed, unable to peel herself off.
Now that she couldn’t get the ingredients for heat resistance potions and couldn’t use Ice Cores either, Lanafit felt that the coming peak of summer was going to be tough.
For now, she’d have to rely on ice magic just to get by—at least until the next town.
After dressing, Lanafit left her room and went downstairs.
First, she asked the receptionist to send a staff member to change the bed linens and blanket, since they were all soaked.
She definitely didn’t want to sleep in that mess again.
High-end inns had great service—but also charged for everything.
Lanafit paid a 20-copper fee before they agreed to replace the bedding.
She didn’t stick around and headed straight to the public bath.
And she had to admit—the bath was impressive.
The receptionist had proudly mentioned it earlier.
Apparently, the hotel owner was a noble who had once visited the royal palace and designed the bath to imitate the palace’s luxurious style.
Of course, it was still a notch or two lower in quality, and the decor couldn’t be exactly the same—otherwise, if someone found out, it could become a serious issue.
Even better—no one else was using the bath.
That spared Lanafit the awkwardness of being fully exposed with other women.
After all, in her mind, she still firmly believed herself to be a man.
Having spent over twenty years as a DT (virgin), she really couldn’t handle that kind of stimulation.
And honestly, seeing some middle-aged aunties might’ve been even more “stimulating”—just in the opposite (traumatizing) way.
…
…
…
After a quick rinse, Lanafit eagerly stepped into the spacious bath.
As someone from the north, she had fond memories of soaking in large public baths in winter—submerging everything but the head in warm water was a true joy.
The only downside back then was how dirty the water usually was, so you had to be careful not to accidentally drink any.
But this inn’s bath had no such issues.
The water was crystal clear, likely freshly changed.
And compared to the public baths of her childhood, this one was easily twice the size.
Lanafit even felt like swimming.
As soon as she entered the bath and the warm water wrapped around her body, her limbs relaxed completely.
Aside from her head, her entire body just melted into the water.
“Phew—It’s not winter yet, and it’s still hot outside, but this bath really feels amazing.”
As she savored the moment, the exhaustion from her journey seemed to melt away.
At this point, if she could just have some chilled yogurt—especially the kind from her childhood, shaped like a little cylinder with a peel-off tab at the top—that would be perfect.
Just thinking about that sweet, tangy taste made the corners of her lips curl into a smile.
But just then—
In the silent bathhouse, where only the occasional splash of water echoed, Lanafit suddenly heard footsteps behind her.
At the same time—
A voice so deeply embedded in her memory that it made her hair stand on end and her whole body tense up rang out from behind.
“Lanafit dear~!”
The moment she heard that voice, Lanafit had an extreme reaction.
She lunged forward, fully submerging herself in the water, hoping to turn and fight back.
Unfortunately—
Before she could do anything, a pair of soft, slender, and delicate hands reached out to grab her.
At the same time, a familiar scent drifted to her nose.
It was already too late.