Chapter 158: What Are You Doing?

“Whoa, so that’s what it looks like!”

“Can I touch it?”

“Just a little touch!”

“Okay, I’m touching it… Do you feel anything?”

A few minutes later, Bai Ya stood behind Lu Wei, gently poking the pale silver Mark on his right shoulder, her eyes filled with curiosity.

According to Mirana, the Blessed Marks from different Divine Spirits appeared on different parts of the body.

For example, the War Goddess’s Mark was on the chest, while the God of the Sea’s was on the back of the hand.

And the Magic Goddess’s was, without a doubt, on the right shoulder.

‘I wonder what would happen if someone didn’t have a right arm.’

“What am I supposed to feel from you touching my arm?”

Lu Wei muttered, craning his neck to examine the Mark on his shoulder.

It wasn’t large, only about the size of his palm. It was shaped like the silhouette of a woman’s face, surrounded by stars.

It was very delicate, with a certain beauty and mystique.

But it looked a little… effeminate.

‘If I showed this off, I’d probably get hit on walking down the streets of Chengdu.’

“Alright, stop staring.”

Lu Wei pursed his lips and pushed Bai Ya’s head away in slight annoyance.

“Oh… So, what does this blessing do?”

Bai Ya asked expectantly, “Does it turn you into a Magical Girl?”

???

“Wait, this world has Magical Girls too??”

Lu Wei’s eyes widened in utter astonishment. He was so shocked that he blurted out something that could have given him away.

Luckily, Bai Ya was slow on the uptake and didn’t notice the problem with his question. She just answered blankly:

“Of course. Any female Mage who isn’t an adult can be called a Magical Girl.”

“…”

‘Oh, so she just means a Magical Girl in the literal sense.’

‘I thought she meant the cute kind—sweet-looking, under one-point-five meters tall, with clothes that explode off during a transformation sequence.’

‘What a disappointment.’

Glancing sideways at Bai Ya, Lu Wei muttered, “I’m a damn guy. How could I turn into a girl?”

“It’s possible.”

Bai Ya said with a serious face, “There’s a High Tier Magic Potion that can change your sex. And with Transformation Magic, forget about changing sex—you can even turn a person into a goblin or a mushroom…”

“Stop, stop, stop! Why are we even talking about this?!”

Lu Wei waved his hand impatiently. “I’m not going to become a Magical Girl! And I don’t want to know how!”

“Oh, okay…”

Bai Ya mumbled, “So what does the blessing actually do?”

“It’s just a Skill.”

“What kind of Skill?”

“Magic Pool. It lets me store more Magic Power in my body.”

“Eh? That doesn’t sound very impressive.”

“Heh, that’s what they mean by ‘long hair, short on sense’…”

Lu Wei couldn’t be bothered to explain. He put his shirt back on, looking down as he buttoned it up one by one.

Meanwhile, hearing the word “hair,” Bai Ya subconsciously touched the top of her head.

Her hair had gotten a lot of blood on it during the previous battle, and it was uncomfortably sticky, so she had just given it a quick wash.

‘Hm, it’s almost dry.’

‘I can tie it up now.’

Holding a hair tie in her mouth, Bai Ya tilted her head and gathered all her long hair to one side of her shoulder. After tidying it up a bit, she secured it with the tie and expertly began to knot it.

The room fell quiet for a moment. With one person getting dressed and the other tying their hair, the scene was quite harmonious.

But in the very next moment…

“What’s going on? It’s been a while and they’re still not out.”

Accompanied by a confused mutter, Furen’s head popped out from the top of the stairs less than five seconds later.

Then, he froze completely, staring dumbfounded as he exclaimed in shock:

“W-Wait, what are you two doing???”

…

…

“So this is the Blessed Mark! It’s amazing!”

“Can I touch it?”

Three minutes later, Lu Wei’s freshly buttoned shirt was forcibly taken off again.

He felt like a Magical Girl from some H-manga.

Furen, meanwhile, was poking at it with a look of wonder, his expression identical to Bai Ya’s from three minutes ago.

As for Bai Ya…

‘How dirty-minded!’

‘How could he possibly think of something like that!’

Blushing and biting her lip, her image of Furen as an “upright and innocent” person had completely shattered.

After all, in her view, a normal man would never have let his mind go into the gutter after seeing that scene.

Therefore, Furen was not a normal man.

He was a huge pervert!

‘Please don’t tarnish the pure relationship between me and the Captain!’

‘Even though it’s bound to happen sooner or later, we’re not at that stage yet!’

Staring daggers at Furen, Bai Ya screamed this silently in her heart.

Furen, of course, was completely oblivious to this and was still excitedly discussing the [Magic Pool] with Lu Wei.

“A Divine Gifted Skill, no less! It’s so powerful!”

“This is equivalent to having four times the Mana capacity!”

“Brother Lu Wei, I strongly suggest you specialize as a Mage! Or even a Magic Master!”

“This is practically a Divine Skill for those two Professions!”

Furen shouted, his face flushed, looking incredibly excited.

You could tell he was genuinely happy for Lu Wei.

Perhaps the saying “You fear your brother will suffer, but you also fear he’ll drive a Land Rover” doesn’t apply to people of high moral character.

“Yeah, I’ll seriously consider your suggestion.”

Lu Wei smiled and nodded, thinking to himself that it was, quite literally, a “divine” skill, as he put his clothes back on again.

“Alright, let’s go check out the loot from this time.”

“Okay, we’ve already sorted it all.”

Furen scratched his head. “But you might be a little disappointed. There isn’t as much as you’d think.”

Lu Wei paused. “No way. There were over two hundred monsters, after all.”

“But it seems like our luck wasn’t very good this time.”

Furen said helplessly, “We only found six coin purses in total, and there wasn’t much money inside.”

“Is that so…”

‘For real?’

‘Don’t tell me you skimmed some off the top, you punk!’

Lu Wei eyed Furen suspiciously, his Crafty Merchant’s wariness on full alert.

But he quickly dismissed the suspicion.

After all, they’d known each other for a while now. Say what you will, but he could at least trust Furen’s character.

So…

‘Did our luck really get worse?’

…

…

SHHH— SHHH—

「West of Heitai Town, at the Short Mountain Cemetery.」

Night fog filled the air. Scattered, crooked tombstones stood amidst the darkness. A single kerosene lamp hung from the branch of a withered tree, its faint halo barely illuminating Mirana’s figure.

After glancing at the meter-deep pit before her, she stuck the shovel into the pile of dirt and walked back to the man who was still sleeping soundly.

That’s right. She hadn’t finished off the drunkard on the side of the road. Instead, she had gone to great lengths to carry him here.

The reason for this was perhaps for better concealment.

Or perhaps to give the man a proper burial place.

Ironically, the man hadn’t woken up through the entire process. Not only was he completely unaware of his impending death, he even muttered a few words in his sleep from time to time.

Mirana, however, couldn’t make out what he was saying.

In any case, now was undoubtedly the best time to act.

After all, since the man was still asleep, he couldn’t beg for mercy, which would save her the trouble of any moral struggle.

“…”

Amidst the sound of steady breathing, Mirana slowly drew the Judge’s Longsword from her back with a reverse grip.

Because of its [Light Devourer] property, the blade blended almost perfectly with the night, resting against the man’s chest like the Grim Reaper’s scythe.

Through the filthy linen shirt, Mirana could even feel the faint thrum of life.

But she didn’t hesitate in the slightest. Like a cold and ruthless assassin, she instantly plunged the sword downward.

PFFT…

The blade tore through fabric, skin, and the space between his ribs, finally sinking precisely into his heart.

The entire process was smooth and quiet. In less than three seconds, the man’s snoring stopped abruptly.

His body jolted once, then went completely limp. He didn’t even open his eyes.

Mirana stood there silently, the flame of the kerosene lamp flickering in her pupils, which reflected not a single ripple of emotion.