Chapter 49: The Darkness and Wishes of an Unhappy Elf Girl
Rafilia Grace (POV)
When did I start to think that I was JONAH?(TL Note: ‘Jonah means someone who brings bad luck’)
Perhaps it was around the time when the bakery of the elderly couple who took care of me began to lose business.
Perhaps because of that, the skirts in the store uniforms were getting shorter and shorter.
Perhaps when the customer base gradually began to change and all the customers who used to buy our products started to leave us.
Or perhaps it was when I realized that all the money I had spent working in the bakery to make ends meet was being spent on alcohol for the old couple.
Then I decided to become an adventurer and make a fortune, but when I went to learn magic, the teacher was a bluffer and only taught me low-level magic.
Or perhaps it was the time I decided to leave some money for the old couple to thank them for raising me before I left, only to be caught and sold into slavery.
Or perhaps it was when the mast of the merchant ship I was aboard on broke and it took three times as long to reach Irgafa after drifting ashore?
Or when the party I was part of nearly got wiped out during the attack on Iris Hoffimier ?
Or … or.
There were many signs.
Many unfortunate things have always been happening around me.
It’s not miserable, but definitely unfortunate.
I have always been troubled by it.
Maybe I shouldn’t be with anyone.
But even if I look inside myself, I can’t find any answer.
And it was Elderslime who gave me a clue.
Before he left, he wrote a sentence in front of Rafilia with his body.
It was short.
“You may have the skill to interfere with fate…”
But I don’t know anything about it.
In that case, there is no choice but to make a ‘Master-Slave Contract’ and have the Master authority to check me.
But…
──I wonder if there is actually a person who will form such a ‘Contract’ with me who is a JONAH.
──I wonder if I’ll be told to be a slave for the rest of my life.
Someone that I can trust, someone that I can ask to do these things, someone that will take care of my slave.
Such a person ──
“When I thought about it, you suddenly popped up Souma Nagi.”
Rafilia said so and bowed to me.
We are in the woods near our house.
It’s a dark forest between our house and the house of the lord of Irgafa.
It’s about the size of a small ground with tall trees.
The sound of the branches rubbing against each other and the leaves rubbing against each other can be heard in the night breeze.
I didn’t want my other slaves to know that I was using ‘Master-Slave Contract” to find skills, so I came here.
Certainly we can’t be seen or heard here.
“That’s why. Souma Nagi. Please be my Master.”
“I understand! You don’t have to kneel down!”
Rafilia hurriedly stopped trying to kneel on the damp ground.
In a sense, it’s a mental attack while sitting down. When it is done, it feels like I am being forced.
“I understand your situation Rafilia.”
“You understand?”
Rafilia exhaled a long sigh.
She seemed to be quite nervous. She was desperately holding her chest down. Her face is bright red.Her shoulders are quivering.
“I understand your feelings. It’s only natural to be scared when you’re about to entrust yourself to someone you have hardly met for a day.You want to know if you really have ‘skills that can interfere with fate’.”
“Yes”
“What if you really do?”
“Go so far away that I won’t inconvene anyone.”
Rafilia firmly declared.
She doesn’t seem to have any hesitation.
“I want to be clear about what I am. If I’m someone who makes others unhappy, I’ll go somewhere where no one is. That’s all I can do to ‘Protect someone’.”
Her voice was trembling.
Rafilia, I wonder if she’s at her limit. Working and failing, moving, working and failing,moving── and so on and so forth.
If it’s because of “skill that interferes with fate”, then she is confirmed to have bad luck for the rest of her life.
I want to do something if I can.
But ──
“What if I sign the contract and find out nothing? What if your bad luck is just a coincidence?”
“…That…”
Rafilia dropped her shoulders with some mixed feelings.
“At that time, I will think about it and decide then. Originally, I would have been dead without the help of ‘Dark Hero’. I thought that I would serve that person.Well, that doesn’t matter right now. Now… Souma Nagi let’s start … Take this body … and use it… Hmm, I’m prepared … ”
Rafilia says that and takes a deep breath.
You don’t have to go that far.
“OK, let’s decide the rules.”
“Rules?”
“Yeah. It’s hard to trust someone else with a ‘Master-Slave Contract’.”
I took the paper and pen that I had prepared next to the magic sword Reggie that I put on the ground.
I intended to cooperate from the start anyway.
That’s why I was thinking about measures so that she won’t be my slave permanently.
“For this ‘Contract’, I’d like Rafilia to ask me to check her skills and be a slave until she pays the reward for it.”
“…Huh”
Rafilia’s eyes became a point.
To put it simply, this is what it is.
Rafilia-for example, at 200 Arsha, asks me to “check my skills”.
And Rafilia will be my slave until I finish paying the price.
200 Arsha is the amount one can earn by clearing one or two quests.
I’m going to have Rafilia work for Iris, so I’ll be able to pay it in about a month. Then the Contract will be cancelled. Rafilia can be free.
I’m also worried about “skills that interfere with fate,” and if it really causes bad luck, I can’t just introduce Rafilia to Iris.
So I think this method is the best.
I can learn about ‘skill that interferes with fate’.
Rafilia can learn about her skills and hopefully get rid of bad luck and find new jobs.
I think this is a win-win relationship.
I explained to Rafilia that way ──
“… I will die tomorrow !?”
Rafilia trembled with a deep blue face. ──
“Why!?”
“I don’t think I deserve to be this happy. It’s can’t thank God enough to have someone who listens to me and thinks about me.”
Rafilia held her mouth as if she was seeing someone incredible.
…I see.
Rafilia was faintly aware of her “bad luck”.
That means that even the people around her may have noticed that bad things happen to people who are on Rafilia’s side. Moreover, Rafilia has no memory of the past which is a very strange thing.
Well, you can imagine what kind of treatment she received …
“Please, Souma Nagi”
Rafilia nodded.
“I accept your suggestion. Thank you. I … Souma Nagi … what should I do … please …”
“Then write the terms of the ‘Contract'”
I handed the parchment to Rafilia.
I have already written the text. Only the part about the price is left blank.
So that Rafilia can put in a reasonable amount.
“Okay, uh, uh.”
Rafilia draws letters in the air with her fingers, like practicing a dry run.
She kept on writing and writing and writing…..
200,000,000,000.
“Two hundred is enough!
“Sorry, sorry! What? I was going to write 200…. I don’t know why I wrote …
Rafilia mysteriously bent her head and then wrote “200” on the parchment.
I confirmed that and then put the parchment under the tree.
“Then, ‘Contract’.”
“Ah, yes, ‘Contract’.”
With a Klinck, we klincked our medallions together.
The medallion shines, and a leather collar wraps around Rafilia’s neck.
Alright, the ‘Contract’ is complete.
All I have to do now is check Rafilia’s skills.
“My slave, Rafilia Grace.”
I took Rafilia’s hand.
“I exercise my right as your Master. Disclose your skills to your Master.”
“… Yes”
After hearing my voice Rafilia’s face turned bright red.
The focus of her purple eyes became blurry.
“… My Master. What’s inside me …?”
“… You have a bug”
Rafilia’s skill is ──
Unique skill [Magic aptitude LV1]
[Archery LV3] [Bread Making LV5] [Avoidance LV3] [ Poet LV4]
[——————————–]
[——————————–]
And…
Learned magic
[Flame Magic LV1: ‘Light’ ‘Flame Arrow’]
[Flame Magic LV2: ‘Flame wall’]
There is a skill with a blank name. Moreover, there are two.
I don’t know the ability or effect. What’s this?
“Bu, bug? What is bug, Master !?”
“There’s a mysterious skill … But I don’t know its name, what it does or how it works.”
“Huh!?”
“Don’t you know what it is ?”
“Hm…I don’t know. Besides magic, my skills should be only” [Magic Aptitude], [Archery], [Bread Maker], [ Avoidance] and[Poet]. ”
Is this the skill the Elder Slime mentioned?
Invisible to the person herself.
She can’t use it because she can’t see it. She doesn’t know about it.
The existence of this skill is revealed only after making a ‘Master-Slave Contract’. Still, I don’t understand it’s contents.
Who installed something like this on Rafilia? And why?
I don’t know. But ──
“I can’t just leave it like this…”
The aftertaste is too bad.
Elder Slime described it as a ‘skill that interferes with fate’.
If this is a really ‘bad luck’ skill, it’s the worst case scenario. Rafilia can’t be with anyone for the rest of her life and can’t even get a decent job. She would have to work in the black for the rest of her life.
“… Even Master doesn’t know …”
Rafilia dropped her shoulders.
“But it’s enough to know that there is such a thing … Thank you … I’m sorry …”
So don’t look like you’ve given up on everything.
It feels like I am looking at my old self.
“But I think I can do something about it.”
My skill [Skill Reconstruction LV3] conceptualizes the skills of me and my slaves without asking questions.
If I conceptualize her ‘blank skill’ and write it in sentences, I should be able to understand what kind of effect her skill has.
“But to do that, you would have to put up with something Rafilia.”
“I will do anything”
“Specifically, I will need to touch your chest.”
“… Huh !?”
“The details are secret, but I have skills that interfere with slavery skills. I might be able find out more about your skills if I used it on you.”
“…Understood”
Rafilia bit her fingertips.
“… I trust Master, but … the scary thing is … the darkness in me.”
“Darkness?”
“Yes, I am fascinated by the darkness.”
Rafilia turned her back on me, saying.
She slowly starts to undress and lower her nightwear. Her elf ears are quivering. The tip of her ears were so bright red that I could even see them at night.
“It was the same when I saw ‘Dark Hero’ and when Souma Nagi told me to be his slave. Somewhere deep inside me, I was like ‘Kyun‘. It seems that the darkness inside me is trying to ooze outside … ”
Darkness…huh.
Somehow, it sounds thrilling.
“Even right now, the darkness is seeping out from the depths of my heart … I’m afraid that if I accept that darkness in myself … I won’t be able to return …”
“I don’t really understand what it means.”
I’m not a maiden, and I didn’t read the legends of heroes like Rafilia.
“I think Rafilia can go through the darkness and awaken yourself. You see, I was in a terrible state just like you once, but I’ve managed to endure it.”
“── Huh!”
Rafilia opened her eyes.
“… Yes. I have a Master! What was I scared of? That’s right. I’m ‘Protecting someone’. It’s funny that I’m afraid of darkness! I will accept darkness and go through it. I have to do it! “
She nodded again and again, as if backing back her own words.
Rafilia opens her nightwear ── I can see the upper half of her chest. There is a deep, deep valley, with white bulges swaying to the left and right. Rafilia is holding her sleepwear under her hand, which is about to fall off. Huuh, huuh, while exhaling hot breaths, she squints her eyes, half in tears.
“I will do my best. I will awaken myself beyond the darkness!”
You are so cool, Rafilia.
When I first met Rafilia, her party was on the verge of annihilation, yet she was fighting.
The second time we met was relatively fine.
The third time,she was desperately resisting a pressure interview.
All she’s been doing is failing, but still, she is doing what she can.
It’s funny that a girl like her is condemned to a lifetime of black work because of her mysterious skills.
“Please, Master”
Rafilia didn’t sit down in front of me, but she knelt down.
“Touch my embarrassing place … Please bring out the true me …”
I put my hand on Rafilia’s chest.
Rafilia’s half-bare chest pushes my palm back.
The thin nightwear does nothing to block the sense of touch.
I can clearly feel the beautiful rounded shape even if the vision is blocked.
“… I’m going to activate my skill.”
Rafilia is staring at her chest while leaning against the tree.
Her half-closed purple eyes are out of focus as if looking somewhere far away.
“I’ll do it quickly, so be patient.”
“Yes.”
“… Activate [Skill Reconstruction LV3]”
I call Rafilia’s mystery skills to the window.
[———————————–]
[———————————–]
The contents are not displayed even now. It cannot be conceptualized.
I put my finger on both.
Then, I can only scan the contents by directly connecting the magic thread.
I pour a little bit of my magical power … No reaction. I slowly increase the amount … still no reaction. Is it no good?
“I’ll make it stronger. Hold on a little.”
“Huh, huh … hmm, huh, hot, huh !!”
I poured my magical power from my fingertips at once ── Rafilia started making sounds.
Her skill trembled ── I saw it.
Is this the “skill that interferes with fate” of Rafilia Grace?
[Bad Luck LV3](Locked skill: Unremovable characteristic)
Skill to “pull” “unhappiness” to “surroundings”
[Survivor LV5] (Locked skill: Unremovable characteristic)
Skill to “raise” “vitality” for “living”
There are two “invisible skills” of Rafilia.
One is as expected. Attract bad luck to Rafilia. The other is the opposite. If you are unlucky, you will increase your vitality.
So Rafilia is always unlucky, but she doesn’t die.
Unhappy, she lives endlessly.
The worst.
Isn’t it worse than being a slave?
Let me stay unhappy forever instead of killing me.
Black labor confirmed for life.
Why did she install such a skill? Rather who installed it?
“No, it doesn’t matter”
It doesn’t matter who made this. I should just rewrite it quickly.
I thought that “skill that interferes with fate” would be a reference for “skills that can live without working”. But not. This skill is ‘cursed’.
If it’s always activated and causes bad luck … I don’t know what will happen and when it will happen.
I can’t leave it like this. I have to rewrite and remake it.
“… Huh? What’s wrong?
Rafilia looked at me with hollow eyes.
Perhaps she gave up trying to hold back her voice, but her mouth is still half open.
While rubbing her knees, she desperately grabbed the hem of my sleepwear.
“Masuta, my body, something is wrong, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. Something is a little bad.”
“… Masuta, can you fix it …?”
“I can fix it … but it might put a little more strain on Rafilia.”
“… I’m grateful. The hero is someone who goes through and beyond the darkness. Please do as you wish.”
“All right”
[Bad Luck], what a joke.
I’m going to break this skill and remake it.
I’ve got the materials. I still have some housework skills that Iris gave me remaining.
“Let’s use [Bath Aid].”
[Bath Aid LV1]
Skill to “wash” “body” to “clean”.
This is generally a skill installed on slaves or maids. It seems to be used when aristocrats want to have their bodies washed shiny before going to a party. This time I will use this as a material.
I’m going to install it on myself.
“Here we go, Rafilia”
When she heard me, Rafilia silently shook her head.
“Please do.”
Nodding back, I put my finger on [Bad Luck]. However
“… It doesn’t work !?”
The characters don’t move.
I can see the characters, but don’t budge even a bit.
If I look closely, there is something like a black chain wrapped around the letters …?
This is the connection between letters.
I pour my magical power and try to shake the characters. It still doesn’t work.
It’s like a curse.
Is this [Bad Luck] a cursed skill?
“… Hmm, oh, ku … the darkness is coming … I’m scared …”
The chain quivered with Rafilia’s voice.
“I will ‘Protect everyone’ … I won’t be drunk in the darkness …”
The black chain becomes stronger and tightens the letters.
Is this linked to Rafilia’s reaction?
“Rafilia …”
“… Yes”
“Rafilia, are you reluctant to let me mess with your skills?”
“…No”
Rafilia shakes her head as if she hates it.
“… But, if you do it … I’m going to get drowned in darkness. I’m about to be drunk … When I heard the Dark Hero’s voice … It felt nice…I’m afraid I can’t get out of it … ”
Is that the “darkness” that Rafilia is afraid of?
“What else? Was there any other moment when you felt the darkness?”
“Today, I felt darkness when I ate dinner with everyone at the house.”
“…Eh!?”
“I felt darkness when I got applause for reciting the ‘Dark Hero’ poem. It’s darkness that I enjoyed. That’s scary … I’m scared. I … I’m scared …”
Rafilia said.
While scared.
That’s when I knew what this ‘curse’ really was.
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