Chapter 25

Three days after falling off the horse, Fiona was told by Reila to come to her room after breakfast.

As she left the dining hall, she glanced at Matthias, who was walking beside her. He was supposed to have a mission to go to in the morning, yet he insisted on accompanying her.

"I can go by myself, it's fine. Matthias, don't you have preparations to make for your departure?"

"No problem. There's still time."

"Is that so..."

Matthias smiled as usual, but he looked a bit melancholy.

He probably knew about Reila's summons. Fiona also had a feeling about what Reila was going to tell her, and she walked with a heavy heart.

They arrived at Reila's office without much conversation.

"Excuse me."

After knocking and entering, she saw Luke there as well.

He waved with a grin, holding a box with delicate silver decorations. It was a blue box that looked expensive.

"Fiona, from today onwards, you will wear the golden bracelet on your missions."

"...Yes, I understand."

Since she had expected this, she accepted Reila's instructions without any hesitation.

"Please store it in this box when not in use. Here, channel your magic into this stone."

At Luke's urging, Fiona channeled her magic into the stone embedded in the top of the box. It was a transparent stone that shimmered with gold and rainbow colors.

The magic flowed through the box, and for a moment, the black curse mark appeared on it before quickly disappearing.

"Now, only Fiona can hold and open this box. Of course, I, who cast the curse, can also hold and open it."

"Only me?"

"Yep. Want to try? Have Matthias touch it and see what happens."

Fiona held the box in both hands and, as instructed, extended it to Matthias. He frowned.

Honestly, Matthias didn't want to touch the box, but for Fiona's sake, he gently touched it with his right hand.

-- Crack!

A loud noise rang out, and Matthias' hand was repelled.

He was thrown backward and hit the bookshelf on the wall.

Rustle, rustle, rustle...

A pile of documents and materials fell on top of Matthias, who was sitting on the floor. A vein popped on his forehead.

"Hey, Luke, if it had that much power, you should have warned me. At least let me touch it in a place where there's nothing behind me."

He had braced himself to take a fall, but the power of the curse mark was several times stronger than he had anticipated.

"Heh, sorry. I didn't mean to."

"What do you mean 'didn't mean to'? Was it on purpose? Was it on purpose?"

"No, no way. Not at all."

Luke, who looked smug, was grabbed by the collar by Matthias.

Reila glared at the two bickering and smiled, asking in a low voice:

"Hey, can you two clean this up properly?"

"…Yes."

They immediately fell silent and started picking up the fallen papers.

Fiona, who had been standing there in shock, placed the box on a nearby table and joined in the cleanup.

After putting the bookshelf back in place, the three of them left Reila's room.

"Hey, Luke. This box looks really expensive..."

As they walked down the corridor, Fiona asked hesitantly, lowering her eyebrows in embarrassment.

Luke grinned.

"Matthias prepared it, so if you have any complaints, take them up with him."

"Really? I didn't know that."

She had thought Luke had prepared it since he had given it to her. Fiona glanced at Matthias.

"It's something you'll use every day. I thought something you could enjoy looking at would be better. I tried to choose something that would suit your taste, but if you don't like it, let me know."

He was as cool as usual.

Fiona felt a warm sensation in her chest, knowing he had understood her preferences without her ever saying anything.

"...You know, it's really beautiful and I'm so happy. Especially this stone that glows in rainbow colors and looks golden. I really like it. Thank you, Matthias."

"That's good to hear. I have a mission to go to. Can you close the window for me later?"

"Sure, I understand. Good luck."

He gently patted her head and jumped out the open window.

Since cleaning up Reila's room was unexpected, he didn't even have time to use the stairs. He was already running late for his mission.

Fiona watched his back with a warm gaze until he disappeared from sight. Luke felt a bit frustrated seeing her like that.

"I think it's about time Fiona tells that guy how she feels. He's a bit of a wimp, so you should just tell him straight."

Fiona responded with her usual wry smile.

"I'm still working on getting him to like me. I plan to tell him after I've put in a lot of effort. And Matthias isn't a wimp."

"No, really, he's already liked you for a long time."

"Thank you. Your support means a lot. I'll head back to my room now."

With that, Fiona returned to her room.

"Ha... sigh..."

Luke placed his hands on the window frame and hung his head. No matter what he said, it didn't seem to get through to her, and he couldn't stop sighing.

He was starting to feel like he couldn't just watch anymore.

He didn't care if he was seen as meddling. He decided to push Matthias directly.

---

Fiona finished preparing for her mission and spent some time looking at the box.

Although she didn't know the exact price, the box was definitely expensive and beautiful to look at.

Knowing that Matthias had chosen it made her heart warm with gratitude.

She felt more joy than embarrassment, and her face broke into a smile.

As the time to leave approached, she channeled her magic into the box, opened it, and took out the golden bracelet.

"Wow... it's so cute."

The glossy white cloth beneath the bracelet was embroidered with many cat faces in colorful threads.

Typical of Matthias, she could feel his thoughtful attention to detail.

She put the bracelet on her right wrist and carefully stored the box in the dresser drawer.

She walked out of the home and headed to the stables. When she arrived, the three members she was going with today were already gathered.

"Hey, you've got the bracelet on, I see."

Graham smiled his usual mischievous grin.

"Yeah. Now I won't cause any more trouble."

"Hey, the trouble you caused wasn't trouble, it was worry. You're too dense, you know."

"Ugh..."

Graham pinched Fiona's nose hard.

"That's right. Think about how we feel, always on edge!"

"Ha ha, that's true. I thought you were reliable, but then you'd be on the verge of death. It was hard to keep up with the worry."

Muriel and Jonas also voiced their concerns, surprising Fiona.

"You were worried about me? You weren't angry about the trouble I caused?"

"Of course! You're always so reliable, you know!"

"That's right. Thanks to you, we've had it easy. That kind of thing isn't even considered trouble."

Their kind words made her heart warm, and tears welled up in her eyes.

Fiona was comforted by Muriel and calmed down before they set off.

After riding for a few minutes, they arrived at a rocky area.

From here, they would walk.

Graham was the leader today. Despite his foul mouth and poor behavior, he was a highly capable person during missions, second only to the captain.

He was quick-witted, made accurate judgments, had precise magic, and was agile and nimble.

The four of them observed the group of monsters from behind a rock.

There were over twenty snake-like monsters, each about ten meters long, covered in scales the same color as the rocks. Their skin was inelastic and weak to heat, making it worthless as a material.

Usually, they would attack without hesitation and burn everything, including the toxic organs. However, Graham was carefully observing and thinking.

"...Alright. Fiona, gather all of them in one place without injuring them. Can you keep them suspended in the air without moving?"

"Sure, I can do that."

Fiona no longer believed Graham's usual nonsense but trusted his words during missions.

She trusted his instructions completely and followed them.

She drew several medium-sized magic circles above the monsters' heads and lifted them all with wind.

She gathered them in one place and kept them still, consuming a large amount of magic, but the golden bracelet made it manageable.

The immobilized monsters were skinned by the four of them, who divided the work.

"Jonas, the first and fifth from the left are females. There should be magic stones in their abdomens, so be careful not to damage them."

"Understood."

Jonas and Graham each cut open the abdomens of one monster and carefully extracted the large magic stones that had grown inside.

"Alright. Fiona, Muriel, burn the rest."

"Got it."

"Leave it to us."

The two drew medium-sized magic circles above the monsters' heads and burned them with fire. The mission was complete.

These monsters, which fed on rare magic stones, had mutated over time, resulting in valuable materials that combined flexibility and strength.

The females synthesized the magic stones they ate, yielding two high-quality, large magic stones. The value of what they had collected today was in the tens of millions.

"This is rare. Thanks to you, we were able to collect them in perfect condition. Well done."

Fiona was patted on the head by Graham.

Her hair was messy, but she didn't mind. She smiled happily.

"Still, it's impressive that you could identify the magic stone eaters. I couldn't tell from a distance, and even up close, it was hard to see."

"What? You should be able to tell from the sheen of the skin, the swelling of the abdomen, and the movement."

"No, no, that's not something most people can tell."

Fiona was relieved to see Muriel and Jonas looking puzzled. She wasn't the only one who couldn't tell.

Graham was indeed a reliable and wonderful big brother, and she looked at him with admiration.

"Alright, let's head back."

Fiona carried all the collected materials in both hands. They were light because she was using wind to lift them.

"Man, it's so convenient to have someone who can carry stuff like this."

Graham, who was walking at the front with his hands clasped behind his head, made Muriel's face twitch.

"Fiona, can you carry a bit more..."

For Fiona, who had an endless supply of magic, it was no problem, but the situation of one woman carrying a large amount of cargo made her uncomfortable.

"It's fine. I'm happy to be of help to everyone."

Fiona smiled with a slight blush, her face clear and sunny.