Chapter 5 Part 11
The men surrounding the woman laughed boisterously.
“Come on, give us a handout. Or maybe just play with us for a bit!”
“What brings someone as rich as you to a place like this?”
There were three men and only one woman.
The man at the front grabbed the woman’s arm roughly.
“Come here!”
“Let go!”
Their voices echoed out of the alley, but everyone pretended not to hear. Only Elia didn’t look away. An old man who noticed this approached her.
“Oh, miss. Turn away. Those guys are infamous around here. You might get involved if you’re not careful!”
His thin hand tugged at her robe, but Elia gently removed it.
“Thank you for your concern, but I’ll be fine.”
She walked into the alley.
At that moment, the woman slapped the man who had grabbed her.
“You little…!”
The man’s face turned bright red with anger. He was about to hit the woman when Elia stepped in and shielded her.
“How pathetic to hit a woman.”
“What? Who the hell are you?”
The man spat on the ground in annoyance. Then their eyes met. Seeing Elia’s face under the robe, he changed his demeanor and grinned.
“Wow, that’s a nice face. Lucky day for me.”
Forgetting the slap, the man smirked. His companions joined in.
Elia replied with a blank expression.
“Move. I need to pass through.”
“Look at her talking.”
Two of the men blocked her way, grinning.
“Miss, you might not know this, but there’s a toll to pass through here. If you don’t pay….”
His words were interrupted by the clinking sound of coins. Elia threw three gold coins on the ground.
“This should be more than enough.”
“Gold coins!”
The coins gleamed even in the dark alley. The men, their mouths agape, scrambled to pick them up.
At that moment, a violet butterfly fluttered before Elia’s eyes.
“Huh…?”
Only Elia could see it. The butterfly shimmered like a mirage and then vanished.
The men picking up the coins suddenly screamed.
“Aaagh!”
One man clutched the coins in pain. He tried to drop them, but his hand wouldn’t open.
‘It would have been better not to pick them up.’
Elia watched the men writhing on the ground with disinterest.
There’s a type of curse that activates under certain conditions. This was one of those cases.
“Damn it, what did you do to me… Ah, it hurts!”
It was a curse that inflicted pain on the target when a specific action or word was triggered.
‘The condition was to pick up the coins. What happens next is up to them.’
If they wanted to use the coins comfortably, they’d need to change their behavior first. If that was even possible.
The men continued to writhe in agony. The woman behind Elia looked dazed.
“They must have been drunk and causing trouble. You should go home.”
Of course, there was no smell of alcohol, but the woman, still in shock, grabbed Elia.
“Um, thank you…!”
“Be careful from now on. Avoid alleys like this.”
Elia freed herself from the woman’s grasp and walked deeper into the alley.
“Wait!”
The faint murmur of the woman saying, “Don’t go,” faded away.
After walking for a while, Elia stopped in front of an old shop. The shop had two levels, and she descended to the basement level.
A rusty bell tinkled as she entered, waking the shopkeeper.
“A customer?”
The bespectacled man pointed at Elia. His gray curly hair and pale skin made him look ready to collapse.
Popetcherian. An outcast mage from a tower with a peculiar name.
“Are you a customer?”
Popetcherian adjusted his glasses, his pale blue eyes scrutinizing her.
“Yes, I am.”
“A real customer, in my shop!”
Elia silently clicked her tongue at his excitement.
“You must be interested in crafting!”
Popetcherian began laying out his wares on the counter, humming.
He was an orphaned mage from the outskirts of the empire. Found by a mage during a rural visit, Popetcherian had been brought to the tower as a child with magical talent.
But problems arose when his mana didn’t increase, no matter what he did.
Failing to progress, he was expelled from the tower. He became ashamed of being a mage.
“Look at this….”
“Popetcherian, I have a request.”
His excitement turned to surprise.
Elia pulled out a small pouch.
Sapphians glittered inside of it.
“This is….”
Even Popetcherian recognized the sapphians immediately.
It was a fascinating mineral used for experiments at the tower.
Magical stones existed, but they weren’t as pretty as gemstones.
‘They just look like a rock.’
But sapphians were different. A gemstone by nature, it enhanced magical artifacts with additional effects.
However, processing sapphians was challenging, and only a few mages could handle it, making it a highly valuable research material.
Popetcherian, realizing what she wanted, hesitated.
“I can’t handle this.”
“Yes, you can.”
Elia pushed the pouch towards him.
“I don’t know how you knew I was a mage, but if I try to handle this, it will shatter.”
Sapphians were more valuable than diamonds. It was understandable that a low-ranking mage had never touched it.
“Don’t be afraid of something you haven’t tried yet.”
Popetcherian blinked, his eyes fixed on the sapphian.
“I’ll come back in two weeks. Feel free to experiment with it. If you need more, contact me. I’ll provide as much as you need.”
Popetcherian’s mouth dropped open.
Sapphian was more valuable than mana stones. She was essentially offering him a gold mine.
“But….”
He stammered.
Elia handed him a note with the address of the Second House.
“Even if you can’t handle it, keep it. Sell it, give it away, or throw it out. It doesn’t matter.”
He saw she was serious.
“I came to you because I know you have great potential.”
“Potential….”
No one had ever said that to him before.
“See you later.”
Elia left the shop.
Now, it was up to Popetcherian.
‘I should head back.’
As she moved towards the carriage, someone blocked her path.
“Violet…!”
The princess, with dry cheeks and brittle hair, pushed Elia against the wall.
Elia winced as her shoulder hit the wall.
Violet was panting angrily.
‘Why is Violet here?’
This wasn’t a place for a princess raised in luxury.
Violet must have followed her.
“What are you doing?”
“Why are you avoiding me?”
Violet’s eyes, filled with frustration, glared at Elia. Elia stayed silent, and Violet continued.
“Why didn’t you respond to my letters? Why did you ignore the Empress’s request?”
