Chapter 31 The Anxious Heroine
“I see, I see.”
Shuna sat in a corner of the Adventurer’s Guild, oblivious to the people coming and going around her. She was intently reading a book in her hands.
Half of the cover had fallen off, with only the title area still holding scraps of paper. The title could vaguely be made out—
“Research on Witch Behavior.”
“A witch’s magic circuits are different from those of ordinary people. Besides being highly connected to blood, they are also linked to nerves, senses, and emotions. In short, it is precisely because a witch’s magic circuits are more directly connected to their being that they often have greater talent.”
Shuna nodded and wrote “magic circuit” on her notebook. Twirling her pen, she pondered.
In the Adventurer’s Guild at night, many people were gathered here to celebrate conquering a dungeon for the day and holding team-building events. However, the noisy commotion and the rich aroma of champagne did not seem to disturb Shuna’s thoughts.
“Blood Mint actually only intensifies the flow of a witch’s magic circuits. But perhaps because a witch’s magic circuits are so closely tied to their nerves, senses, and emotions, witches develop an inexplicable dependence on Blood Mint from a neurological, sensory, and emotional perspective. This dependence might be transferred to the user.”
“Research on the behavior of witches has found that throughout history, monarchs who used witches as masterminds to achieve their goals seemed to have secretly procured Blood Mint.”
Shuna paused her finger upon reading this.
“Hmm… In other words, Blood Mint was not originally a catalyst for witches to improve themselves, but rather a tool for those who wished to control witches, used to make witches’ minds and bodies completely subservient to them.”
Shuna licked her finger, wiped the old book, and turned a page.
“But… a witch’s race itself has a worrying mental state. It is not advisable to control witches in this way. According to historical research, Blood Mint seems to increase a witch’s possessiveness, and the monarchs who used witches often did not meet a good end. Be careful not to get burned.”
Shuna fell silent.
She was reading this book simply because in the letters from W, he had been hoping she would find more high-quality Blood Mint for the past few years. In his most recent letter, he had jokingly mentioned being burned on his hand by a witch.
“Uh… W, you didn’t… try to trick a witch with this thing and ended up getting killed by them, did you?”
No, no, this deduction was too forced. It didn’t align with the logic of deduction. It was just forcibly combining related things and arriving at a convincing conclusion without any third-party evidence to support it.
“However…”
Shuna’s finger moved the page slightly, revealing another page beneath the note-taking section. It was a beautiful letterhead.
“This important thing, should I tell him? No, perhaps it would be better for him to suffer a bit.”
Slowly, the night deepened, and the noise in the Adventurer’s Guild gradually subsided. People came and went, leaving only the lone lamp on Shuna’s table and Guild Master Isaac, who was organizing the day’s work.
“Shuna? Aren’t you leaving yet?”
“I’m waiting for you to post tomorrow’s commissions. I need to see if there are any commissions for the ‘Snow Abyss’ at a fixed floor today…”
Shuna carefully took out her bookmark, placed it in the book, and closed it.
Then, she walked to the blank commission board that occupied one wall. As Isaac posted a commission, she followed along to read it.
“This is the first time I’ve seen you so focused and eager.”
Isaac untaped a piece of paper from his hand. They weren’t a large guild, still using this old method of posting commissions, writing down the related needs on paper and sticking them on the board. However, perhaps because Shuna was present, their guild attracted many strong freelance adventurers, leading to an increasing number of requests for help, often requiring Isaac to organize them until late into the night.
“I remember you went to the Snow Abyss a long time ago to obtain something like… the Ice Dragon’s stomach fluid.”
“That was then, this is now. Hmm… Does no one need ice-attribute materials anymore? Why are there fewer commissions for the Snow Abyss?”
“Tch, that’s because the Snow Abyss is no longer the same Snow Abyss where you got the Ice Dragon’s stomach fluid.”
Isaac took the cigarette from his mouth, flicked off the ash. Every time he remembered Shuna, covered in Ice Dragon’s stomach fluid, returning and saying she needed to find a high-temperature dungeon to soak in hot springs, his hand holding the cigarette would tremble slightly.
“The current Snow Abyss has increased its floors from 30 to 60. You should know what that means. The more floors a dungeon has, the more resources and monsters its Empress can allocate, making it harder to conquer.”
“…I know. It’s precisely because it reached 60 floors that I need to challenge it.”
Under the night light, Shuna’s eyes were exceptionally determined, her gaze constantly scanning one commission after another, with an intensity that belied being a young girl who had been reading in the guild all night.
Isaac found her behavior somewhat unusual. In the past, when she chose commissions at the Adventurer’s Guild, she was quite casual, and since she was still a student at Entak Second Academy, she would occasionally disappear.
But lately, not only was her goal clear, but she had also been spending more time at the Adventurer’s Guild and paying particular attention to whether the passing adventuring teams were challenging the Snow Abyss.
This could only mean…
“…Are you anxious?”
Isaac expected Shuna to immediately retort when he asked this question, perhaps even to impulsively draw her knife and threaten him.
But…
Nothing happened.
She calmly slid her finger over a commission and then said,
“…A little.”
“As I thought. You’ve been like this since you received that letter the day before yesterday. Is something wrong with W?”
“Boss, you’re quite accurate. Ah, I found it. There’s actually a team going beyond the 60th floor recently.”
Shuna didn’t even look closely at the commission requirements, directly tearing off that paper from the board.
“He must have used some descriptions to package his current situation. But certain wording that wouldn’t normally appear in his letters can confirm its authenticity. His right hand was burned by a witch’s flame.”
“That’s it? And you’re going to the Snow Abyss?”
“If my deduction is correct, developing an ice-attribute dungeon to the 50th floor can spawn an Ice Demon type BOSS with ice attributes. The specific function is not important. According to records, Snow Woman’s blood can heal magic circuit blockages caused by burns from any reason.”
Shuna’s tone was calm, but Isaac, who knew her well, could tell that her speech was accelerating. It was slightly different from the usual Shuna, who would lecture about dungeon knowledge.
Normally, when she explained something to people, her speech was at a steady pace, rarely showing such excitement.
“You’ve said so much. Girl, I think you just want to give this W something to treat his burn, don’t you?”
The more Isaac listened, the more he felt that this so-called W sounded like some kind of gigolo who was constantly freeloading off Shuna.
“Yes. I don’t know why it turned out this way, but I want to see him looking healthy. His handwriting is truly too ugly… Although I’ve never met him, I feel… he’s quite pathetic.”
Shuna smiled with relief as she looked at the commission.
“And… the bookmark is very beautiful. I wonder if the Ice Demon’s blood will be just as beautiful?”
