Chapter 25
For a moment, it felt like her mind went blank.
She thought she might have misheard, but the voice that followed confirmed it.
“There’s nothing worth salvaging here…”
Muttering to himself as he paced through the shop, it was unmistakably Karha.
Chesha was genuinely shocked.
Why is he here?
The Basilian family wasn’t the sort to flaunt their status by meddling in the underworld.
Besides, hadn’t he left earlier, saying he had urgent business?
The situation made no sense, but this wasn’t the time to stand around, stunned.
Karha’s instincts were positively beastly.
His senses were sharper than even Hata’s, a beastman himself.
He might come all the way in here.
She remembered how he’d once chased her through the underground dungeons of the Serpent’s Castle, claiming he could smell flowers despite her being hidden.
The cabinet and door were securely closed, but she couldn’t afford to feel safe.
She needed to find the potion, drink it, and disappear—fast.
Chesha summoned a butterfly and frantically searched the shelves.
The bottles held all sorts of bizarre potions: one to make you smarter, one to let you fly, one to turn you into a dog, one to make you taller…
After rummaging through the strange concoctions, she finally found one.
Chesha muttered uncertainly, “…Is this it?”
[♥Potion for the Precious Fairy Child♥]
Given her current state, the label seemed fitting enough.
But the lack of clear details about its effects left her uneasy.
“Why did Hata have to label it like this?”
The hearts doodled on either side of the label made it even more suspicious.
She hesitated, holding the glass bottle with its sloshing pink liquid.
But the sound of approaching footsteps forced her hand—she popped the cork and, closing her eyes, poured it into her mouth.
She gulped it down in one go, barely registering the taste.
A pink glow enveloped Chesha’s body.
“Phew.”
Checking her reflection in a mirror as the light faded, Chesha let out a small sigh of relief.
Golden hair cascaded in waves like liquid sunlight.
Crimson eyes gleamed with an allure befitting an enchantress.
Long, slender limbs and graceful curves defined her form.
She had returned to her adult body.
Chesha immediately summoned her power.
To cover her bare legs, exposed beneath the ill-fitting toddler dress, dozens of butterflies and flowers swirled around her, forming a flowing skirt.
Surrounded by vibrant flowers and fluttering wings, the enchantress Lichesia vanished.
Moments later, a clattering sound echoed, followed by a loud crash.
Karha, who had sliced through the cabinet and door with his sword, blinked as he discovered the laboratory.
“…”
His red eyes scanned the room intently, but he sensed no presence.
Still, he sniffed the air for a long while.
His lips, pursed into a sharp triangle, let out a puzzled murmur.
“Why does it smell like a baby?”
Tilting his head, the boy noticed a glass bottle rolling on the floor.
Staring at the label, Karha muttered, “…Precious Fairy Child?”
She couldn’t keep flitting around covered only in butterflies.
Chesha’s first stop was to get proper clothes.
When she entered a familiar underworld boutique, the shopkeeper, dozing off, nearly fell over in shock.
“L-L-Lichesia?”
“Hello, Miya.”
The short, curly-haired woman pushed up her oversized glasses and bombarded Chesha with questions.
“Where’ve you been, nya? What’ve you been doing, nya?”
“I was busy.”
Miya, true to her underworld eccentricities, was a bit unhinged, claiming she had the blood of a cat.
Hence the “nya” at the end of her sentences.
She even wore fake cat ears to stay true to her self-imposed persona.
Why she did this was anyone’s guess.
As a human mimicking a beastman, she was one of Hata’s least favorite people.
“You could’ve stopped by the shop, nya!”
“I said I was busy. And speak normally.”
“…Yes. Sorry.”
Sadly, her elaborate persona crumbled with a single word from Chesha.
“What clothes do you want?”
Pushing past the clingy Miya, who’d reverted to human speech, Chesha picked out a simple black dress.
One that wouldn’t show bloodstains.
The unadorned black dress hugged her silhouette naturally.
Its narrow skirt was slit high on one side, and she tied her hair up with a black ribbon.
She slipped into low-heeled lace-up boots.
Her attire screamed that she was out to ruin someone.
Miya, who’d been chattering noisily, grew quieter as she took in Chesha’s appearance.
Still, ever the professional, she timidly suggested accessories.
“Um, want a necklace? A ribbon choker with pearls would suit you… Hata made it.”
At the mention of Hata, Chesha wordlessly accepted the choker and put it on.
As she slipped on the long black lace gloves Miya offered, she asked, “Have you seen Hata?”
“Haven’t seen him. Something happen? Things are crazy right now.”
Miya shivered dramatically.
Wrapping her skinny arms around herself, she continued, “Holy Knights showed up in the underworld.”
“Holy Knights?”
The underworld was an unspoken neutral zone.
It had grown into a massive underground economy, fueled by the seedy underbellies of every nation on the continent.
More money flowed through the underworld than the annual budget of most countries.
It was a place no one dared touch.
Even the Holy Empire, which hunted heretics with zeal, treated the underworld as if it didn’t exist.
So, Holy Knights showing up?
The underworld was in an uproar over this sudden intrusion.
“But some say it’s just one high-ranking knight acting on his own, dragging his underlings along…”
Miya shrugged, noting the rumors weren’t confirmed.
A name sprang to Chesha’s mind, but she quickly dismissed it.
Not Hailon.
The lofty Inquisitor was far too grand and busy to bother with the underworld.
Probably some overzealous rookie, drunk on ambition and a sense of divine justice, crossing a line.
Regardless, the Holy Empire, having drawn its sword, couldn’t retreat empty-handed.
Opposing forces were about to clash.
And this set a precedent for outside interference in the underworld, which spelled trouble.
“The Master won’t sit idly by,” Miya said, trembling theatrically as she added, “He’s terrifying.”
The Master was the title for the underworld’s ruler.
His identity had never been revealed.
He simply governed the underworld, generation after generation.
Most underworld denizens viewed him favorably.
In a place born of chaos, he imposed a semblance of order.
No one knew his face—those who’d seen it were all dead.
Chesha had never met him either.
Still, she held a certain fondness for the Master.
For some reason, he was lenient with the enchantress Lichesia, despite her causing all sorts of trouble.
Of course, it could be because Lichesia’s power made her untouchable.
“Anyway, you haven’t seen Hata.”
“Nope.”
“Let me know if you hear anything.”
Chesha extended her hand.
A flower materialized in the air, elongating into a shape.
From within the petals, she pulled out an axe and flashed a bright smile.
“Though it’ll probably be over before then.”
Axe in hand, Chesha stepped out of the boutique.
A breeze swept through the bustling, sleepless streets.
Dust swirled, and papers scattered across the ground.
They were all wanted posters for the enchantress Lichesia.
Chesha trampled her own posters as she strode forward.
“Is that the enchantress?”
“It’s her!”
“It’s Lichesia!”
“Wasn’t she dead?”
Whispers followed as people recognized her.
She was deliberately making herself conspicuous.
She wanted those who’d taken Hata to notice her.
To approach her.
After all, I’m their real target.
Chesha swung her axe.
Flowers burst forth along the dry dirt path.
Colorful butterflies took flight, a mesmerizing sight, but those who saw the flowers screamed as if dodging landmines and fled.
Stepping over the blossoms, Chesha called out leisurely, “Bring me Hata!”
As the underworld’s residents abandoned their shops in a frantic scramble, a man cloaked in black from head to toe blocked her path.
In a distorted, eerie voice, he said, “Enchantress, the Master summons you.”
