“I looooost!” Seeing Lyla’s staff in front of her face, Marilyn yelled with two arms up in the air. Yet, she sounded strangely refreshed. Lyla removed her staff and reached out her hand.
“Good job.”
“Thank you!” Marilyn grabbed Lyla’s hand and lifted herself up. “As expected of a hero—you are so strong!”
“You were strong too, Ms. Frill. Not only were your skills polished, but you were also quick to respond. The way you tried to swing your staff at the end was also good as a surprise attack.”
“But it didn’t work.”
“There’s no need to beat yourself down for that. I am a special mage. A certain someone told me that I had to have basic physical strength regardless of my field and trained me rigorously,” Lyla said and glared at Zich as he slowly approached them. “So, I am good at fist-fighting for a mage. Ms. Frill, if you were versing another mage, your attack would have most likely worked.”
“That makes me feel a bit better.” Marilyn nodded and said, “Ah, and please just call me Marilyn.”
Lyla stared at Marilyn. Until now, she had unconsciously avoided calling Marilyn by her name. There was something that made her feel reluctant to do so, but after they battled each other with magic, all that seemed pointless now. Thus, Lyla made a small smile and said, “Sure, Ms. Marilyn.”
Zich finally reached them with the rest of their companions.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“I’m fine,” Lyla answered and looked toward Marilyn.
“I’m also fine. My lower back hurts a bit, but I’m sure that it will be better in a day or two.”
“Maybe we should visit a priest just in case,” Lyla said. Even if it was a test, Lyla was worried after throwing her down.
Marilyn shrugged. “I am a traveler who has traveled alone for quite some time now. This isn’t even considered an injury in my books.”
“Well, I guess that would be true.”
There would probably be no other traveler besides Zich and his companions drenching themselves with potions like water whenever they were inflicted with injuries. Most travelers let their injuries heal naturally if there weren’t any priests around.
“More importantly, how are my skills? Are they enough for me to pass?” Marilyn asked with great expectations. Zich looked at Lyla, and Lyla nodded.
‘With that level of skills, she at least won’t be a hindrance,’ she thought. The fact that Marilyn was a curse caster would also work as an asset for the team. ‘Besides, our team is too focused on firepower. If other teams of travelers or adventurers overcame their obstacles by utilizing each of their member’s unique skills, Zich and his companions were the types to crush through everything with just sheer strength. The fact that they had not only one but two mages, which were extremely rare in number, displayed how much the team focused on firepower. Moreover, since Marilyn used to be one of Zich Moore’s subordinates, her future potential was almost guaranteed. There was no reason for them to deny her place at the party.
“Lyla agrees too. I also rate Marilyn’s skills highly.”
“Then, can I really be one of you all?”
“Well, I’m for it, but I think we have to hear more of what the rest of our companions have to say.”
“I understand.”
“Then, could you tell us where you are residing currently? We will contact you after we make our decision.”
“No, I will visit you all in person after a couple of days. Will three days be enough for everyone to have reached an agreement?”
“It will be more than enough.”
“Then, let us meet in three days. I hope to hear good news soon!” Marilyn said with a voice full of expectations.
* * *
“Are you going to accept her into the team?” Lyla asked. Although they said they would hear everyone’s opinions, the party members basically moved according to Zich’s opinion with Lyla adding her thoughts on top of that. Of course, it wasn’t that Zich would ignore other people’s opinions, but his disciples tended to follow exactly what he said.
“I am thinking.”
“Are you conflicted because it seems like she has already fallen?” If it wasn’t for that, it didn’t seem like Zich had any other reason to disagree with her joining.
“It really makes me conflicted since there’s no evidence that she has fallen.”
The abilities of the Vampire, Succubus, and Werewolf were all special types from before the regression that the robed figures had probably gifted. In accordance with that, if one of Zich’s past subordinates had the same ability as she did before the regression, it could mean that she had already met the robed figures. However, that didn’t necessarily have to be true in Marilyn’s case. Although curse casters were rare, it wasn’t like they didn’t exist. Their abilities weren’t that rare.
It was the same for her personality. Since the other three went through dramatic personality changes after their corruption, it was easy to tell after a couple of meetings if they had fallen or not. No, Zich didn’t even have to meet them a couple of times to know because of their ‘outstanding’ personalities. Yet, Marilyn didn’t have a trashy or unique personality like the other three in her witch days. In other words, they had no way of knowing if the robed figures had already completed their deed with her or not.
“Even if it’s after the robed figures finished their work, wouldn’t it be fine this time? I thought the Witch always followed your commands. She only became a Demon Person because you became a Demon Lord. If you did kind acts like now, she might have become a good person.”
“Does this mean you are in full agreement with this?”
“To be specific, I have no reason for disagreeing,” Lyla said. However, that was all she thought. From what she witnessed and experienced so far, Marilyn Frill didn’t appear to be a bad person at least. For some reason, however, Lyla wasn’t pleased with the idea of her joining.
“Even if our abilities have progressed, if we go back to the cemetery again, we don’t know what will happen. If you think about that, it’s a good idea to increase our battle power.”
“Yeah, that’s also true.” Zich nodded his head. “Good, let’s first accept her, and if there’s anything suspicious, we can observe her from a closer angle.”
Zich made his final decision. It was expected, but Lyla was unable to hide her complex emotions.
* * *
“Please take care of me!” A woman wore a wide-brimmed sun hat and gave a small bow to Zich and his companions—Marilyn was going to join them starting today.
Marilyn individually greeted each member and stood in front of Lyla. “I’m looking forward to working with you, Ms. Lyla!”
“Me too, Ms. Marilyn.”
They both held each other’s hands. It was a very energetic sight, and it was clear to everyone that Marilyn especially liked Lyla among all the companions just by looking at their handshake. Of course, the person she liked the most was Zich.
Like a puppy greeting her owner, Marilyn ran towards Zich and said, “Thank you for letting me join your group! I-I’ll really do a great job!”
“Ms. Marilyn, you’ll be fine with that amount of passion.”
Like this, Marilyn officially joined Zich’s party.
* * *
First, Zich brought along Marilyn to hunt monsters. Even though he knew that her skills were at a very high level, he needed to know the limit and extent of her abilities. Zich was well aware of the Witch’s skills, but that was all before his regression.
Kuaaaaaaack! A muscular orc let out an awful scream and rolled on the ground. Two orcs were fighting each other next to the fallen orc. Another one screamed and fumbled with its body until it eventually smashed its head on a tree. These were all results of Marilyn’s curses. The first orc fell under a curse that inflicted crushing pain all over its body, and the second group of orcs fell under a curse that made their allies look like enemies. The third orc fell under a curse that blinded its eyes.
“First, these are the simple curses I can do,” Marilyn spoke as if they were barely anything, but Zich’s companions, specifically the three disciples, were shocked by the power of curses.
Since Lyla had overpowered Marilyn the whole time in their recent battle, Marilyn didn’t get to properly showcase her skills. This was even more shocking, as all of Marilyn’s curses were shot down before they could have an effect. However, when Marilyn’s curses reached monsters like the orcs, the results were shocking and horrifying.
“Is there anyone who wants to try experiencing a curse?”
All three of the disciples shook their heads in unison as if they had pre-planned it. Then, they looked back at the cursed orcs again. The orc under a torture spell was inflicting wounds on itself, and the two orcs fighting each other were both covered in deep injuries. Regardless of which orc won, it would be difficult for either of them to survive. The blinded orc frantically moving around in shock was on the ground after hitting its head on a rock.
“They’re not as fancy as magic, but curses use less mana. They’re also much faster and the accuracy is very high. Curses have their own advantage.” Marilyn jokingly boasted about her skills.
“Yes, but Lyla’s attacks shattered all those curses.”
“It’s because Ms. Lyla is way too strong! When she hit my curse with a bolt of lightning, I thought my heart was going to drop! I can’t believe she was able to perfectly hit a flying target when it’s hard to even hit a still target with magic! She was able to do that with lightning magic which is infamously unpredictable! The curse’s light wasn’t even that big!” Marilyn whined to Zich while shaking his sleeve. It was understandable that Marilyn would complain about Lyla’s skills.
Marilyn grumbled to Zich for a long while afterward. Lyla stared at this sight with a strange gaze.
* * *
Zich and his companions looked for several more monsters to practice working with Marilyn. During this time, the companions grew even closer to her. However, even among this group, two people got especially close to her. The first person was obviously Zich, and the second person was Lyla. After they accepted Marilyn as part of their group, she moved into their lodging and traveled with them.
Lyla had gone out to finish a matter and was about to come back when someone tightly hugged her from behind. If it was several days before, Lyla would have been surprised and immediately hit the person’s head with her staff. However, she could predict who the person was, so she sighed, “I told you to not stick close to me like that, Marilyn.”
“But I can’t stop myself if I see your back, Lyla!”
“Are you a pervert?”
“Hmm, I can’t deny it in regards to you.”
“I hope you firmly deny such claims so that I won’t be worried about them in the future.”
Marilyn moved away from Lyla’s back and began walking alongside her. They dropped their honorifics and were now comfortable calling themselves by their names alone—they looked like childhood friends.
“Were you able to find what you were looking for?”
“No. Honestly, I didn’t expect much. Since Violuwin is a tourist city, it doesn’t have many objects or information about magic. I just wandered around for a walk.”
“You must have gone out to cool your head, right? To prepare for going to an important place in several days.”
“Yeah.”
In a few days, Zich and his companions would be going back to the Clowon Emperor’s tomb. They hadn’t given specific information to Marilyn yet, and they just told her that they were going to an important place. The two of them walked the streets together and continued their conversation. It was just small talk, but this also soon reached an end.
“Ah, Sir Zich!” Marilyn ran towards Zich standing in front of the lodging. Lyla watched them from behind.