Chapter 25: Red Wine and Potion

...

Jeanne asked Viola to lead her out of the bedroom, cleaned herself up a bit, and had some food. She drank some Mariwahija wine from the house, which made her spirits high. The dancing zombies at the banquet had stopped moving—since Viola's father was among them, Jeanne didn't carry out her declaration of 'burning all these zombies'.

Two ladies, one tall and one short, entered—the bedroom where the Dark wizard was still conducting experiments was immediately filled with the fresh scent of someone who had just bathed, a faint dampness, and a subtle aroma of red wine—Jeanne was a bit too casual to drink in front of children.

Viola sat back on the carpet by the fireplace, observing the Dark wizard's experiments seriously.

The little girl's hair was a bit wet, suggesting that she had bathed with the Inquisitor.

Jeanne was now wearing a men's suit, made of pure black velvet and white-edged brocade. The tight-sleeved jacket was adorned with light gray satin ribbons, featuring fashionable slits—from which the snowy-white undergarments peeked out. Jeanne's height was slightly different from the original owner of the clothes, but her figure was good, and the extra length was lifted by her upper body, so the suit was fairly smooth without many wrinkles.

Her hair was wet and loose, her cheeks slightly flushed from drinking—she seemed to enjoy red wine very much.

Jeanne walked over, bent down behind him, and very impolitely rested her elbow on top of Salser's head, putting half her body weight on it. "We've spent enough of time to equip a merchant ship sailing to another continent, and you still haven't finished this damn experiment?"

If it weren't for the sweet red wine smell coming from between her slightly pouted lips and her wildcat-like bright eyes, her words might have seemed more convincing.

"Can you make a scene outside, drunkard? I'm busy, and if you dare to disturb my experiment, I'll set your clothes on fire."

Salser reached one hand into the burning fireplace as if self-harming, while the other hand repeatedly shook the sealed retort.

"Listen, Dark wizard," Jeanne ignored his complaint and continued, "You've had me chop up piles of filthy things after the little girl woke up, and they were all summoned by you. Like ghouls, human-bat hybrids with tentacles all over their faces, bird-like creatures with horse faces and four arms, just like those disgusting things your kind usually summon. I'm very unhappy now, your salary won't increase, and I'm going to deduct your vacation."

"Ah, so you people even get vacations? I always thought you inquisitors were the same type as ghouls, completely without rest."

Responding casually, he activated a spell on the flame in the fireplace, his black pupils narrowing and standing up like a demon's again. Salser opened the retort filled with melted spirits, and inside was a turbid liquid mixed with purple and black—the sourceless flames in the fireplace surged into the retort like smoke being sucked into a wind eye, making the liquid even more turbid.

 

"Dark wizard, listen to me, you'll be working for me in the future... just thinking about it makes me feel so unlucky," Jeanne said with a darken face, "To prevent me from becoming even more unlucky, remember, I'm the one commanding you, not the other way around."

"Come on, I don't feel unlucky at all," Salser complained casually, "You're happily making a scene here drunkard, your elbow is hurting my head—in a dangerous Warren, while I'm busy mutating my body to open another door to the Warren, you still have time to go out and drink, bathe, and change into new clothes. Honestly, even during my days on the run, I wasn't as idle as you are now, you're the one having a picnic."

"A picnic? Just thinking about how I am watching a dark wizard conduct an evil experiment makes me feel like my conscience is tormented."

"Conscience? Look, where did your conscience go when you used my long sword to burn the enemy's soul? Did it go on a picnic to the Light Warren? I'm just making good use of some mentally deficient spirits as materials."

"My conscience is not talking about that, Dark wizard," Jeanne spat, "Your sins need to be washed away with a layer of skin in holy water."

"Did you wash away a layer of skin just now?" Salser mocked her, "You spent so much time bathing that it's enough to equip two merchant ships sailing to another continent, do you feel your sins are cleansed? Like drinking red wine with a child, I think you need to soak in holy water twice to wash away that sin."

"I've never heard of such a sin," she said, frowning.

"Oh, you must be doing everything without sin then, you're so amazing! You are my shining sun! I love you so much—it's all my fault! Do you believe that every time I cast an evil spell, I shed tears and pray to your Lord, just like St. Thomas Aquinas singing hymns during evening prayers. People say I'm a dark wizard, that I've sold my soul to an evil god, but the Lord will see, it's only to meet your needs!"

After dramatically reciting this, Salser added in a flat tone:

"Well, are you satisfied?"

Jeanne silently looked down at him:

"Barely."

"...Your skin is thicker than I imagined." Or maybe she really drank too much?

"It's normal for superiors to accept praise from subordinates, otherwise, what did you think?" Jeanne changed her elbow to rest on his head again—probably because her elbow was also uncomfortable—then, she licked her sweet, wine-flavored lips and continued, "By the way, tell me what you're doing now, and what's the use of this potion?"

"To drink."

Jeanne's face darkened, "What did you just say? Repeat that for me!?"

Salser focused intently on the potion in the retort that had turned red, thinking that his previous nonsense might not be enough to satisfy her, so he muttered again.

"Initial mutation for my body."

"Can it make you walk out of here immediately like ir was nothing? Like the Forkrul in Viola's memory."

"No."

"...You're really useless."

Salser frowned:

"Aren't your demands too high, drunkard girl? Even that Forkrul disappeared mysteriously on the street. If I could recover all my strength just after being reborn with only potions, would I have kept the reincarnation spell until now for the first time?"

"Ah—so you're not sure either," Jeanne mocked him with a sarcastic tone, "It's interesting, was it the reason you fell immediately after opening the Warren before?"

"You still have the nerve to mention that incident!? Normally, shouldn't you have carried me and run away? Instead, you dragged me on the ground like a corpse!"

"Should I carry you affectionately? Is that even a thing?" Jeanne shrugged, "That's the first time I've heard of it."

"Honestly, you should have said that when you climbed onto my back and treated me as a free mount."

"You still have the nerve to mention that incident!?" Jeanne interrupted Salser with a gloomy face, "You actually dragged me into the sea at that place!"

The Dark wizard pursed his lips, he didn't answer—the time had come.

He picked up the completely red retort and drank it down in one gulp.

He began to murmur a hoarse, eerie prayer. Flames emerged from his pale lips, cold threads spread in the air in front of him. Vibrations and whispers came from the flickering flames in the fireplace, these whispers intertwined with the Dark wizard's prayer, grating against the air, as if insects were gnawing at the trees and walls.

Jeanne didn't speak any more, she silently stared at the flames in the fireplace, squinting her eyes. Jeanne didn't quite catch what Salser was chanting, but there was a word that kept recurring that she noticed.

—Vorvadoss.

Author's note:

PS1: Thomas Aquinas, a medieval scholastic philosopher, is revered as a saint by the Christian Church and is considered one of the greatest theologians in history by the Christian Church.

PS2: Outer God "Flaming Brilliance," Vorvadoss 

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