123 – Easy come, Easy go – 3
Cordelia worked hard to keep her hardened lips from being noticed. Her cheeks twitched. She didn’t hold back a laugh. She was more about hiding embarrassment or disappointment than that.
“Well, Jesse. Don’t misunderstand me, listen carefully.”
“Huh?”
“Really, this is that, um… That’s the secret, right?”
Cordelia asked as she looked at the little pill in the palm of her hand. They looked more like toy marbles for children to play with than pills. Even more so in that it looked like something that, at a glance, was never to be put in her mouth or swallowed.
Her presentation was the secret to her improvement, and Cordelia’s heart was swollen with various expectations and hopes until she dragged her to her dormitory. What secrets will come out? The Secret Book of the Hermit? Artifacts made with ancient technology? Maybe it was something like the ghost of an unknown sword master.
And what was placed in front of Cordelia, who was so swollen with anticipation, was a black and ominous pill, as if the evil intentions of the world were firmly united. It was slightly smaller than a coin, but the energy that radiated from it was nothing compared to a coin. Should it be called energy? Negative mana, or negative energy. I can’t express it precisely, but I never wanted to get close to it anyway.
Jesse’s eyes shone as if he was handling something precious. He even asked Cordelia for her impressions.
“Of course not. How does it look to you?”
“Um…. Wow, it looks amazing.”
Cordelia couldn’t bear to say that she was offended honestly, and she passed it off with appropriate words.
Of course, it wasn’t that there wasn’t a special potion among the secrets that she imagined to improve her skills. However, it was mysterious, magical, and auspicious, so it was the kind of thing that looked very healthy at a glance, not this black lump of mud.
“You mean, eat this?”
“Are you suspicious now?”
“No, no. It’s just, a little, a little different from what I thought.”
Jesse’s strangely sharp attitude from a while ago ignited that thought. Her friend, who was no different from usual until just 10 minutes ago, has become a completely different person after taking out that strange orb. He was overly sensitive, and his emotional changes were intense.
It was like someone addicted to alcohol or drugs. The one difference is that alcoholics and drug addicts always show that shrewd side, but Jesse is usually the same as before, and then suddenly changed.
And on the contrary, it was even more suspicious.
No, I mean, aren’t those pills too bizarre? Although Cordelia did not have deep knowledge of alchemy, herbalism, or magic. But even Cordelia could be sure. Perhaps those pills would have given a three-year-old snort a hand.
I can tolerate the jet-black color that doesn’t look like something edible, or the texture that crumbles like mud. Originally, medicine that is good for the body is written in the mouth. However, there was no way to explain the negative energy rising from the pill itself.
“What’s different, come on.”
As if to show off, Jessie swiped the ominous orb from her palm and put it into her mouth. Cordelia closed her eyes tightly. The pill, which had been spitting out unpleasant energy from the palm of her hand, was sucked into Jessie’s mouth until she was completely invisible to her. She put on an ecstatic expression. As if on real drugs, she rolled her eyes for a moment and shuddered.
Cordelia shuddered at the sight. After a brief moment of ecstasy, Cordelia asked cautiously.
“Where the hell did you get these drugs?”
“Why? Are you going to buy it too?”
Jesse’s eyes flashed sharply. It’s like watching a competitor.
Cordelia hurriedly waved her hand. Are you paying for that? No matter how much she is the daughter of a noble family and her sense of money is a bit poor, she has no hobby of buying junk with money. It was only after she had explained to her several times that she had no intention of purchasing the drug herself and that she was simply curious about where it came from, that Jesse’s doubts were allayed.
“Actually, I don’t know exactly who that person is.”
“You say you don’t know?”
“Somebody keeps calling me in the back alley. I went and looked, and a man wearing a hood gave me this as a medicine to make me stronger.”
Cordelia’s head went blank. Didn’t she say that now she took the medicine she was given that way? It was a story she couldn’t believe. If Jessie’s head is related to her medicine, it’s to the point where I wonder if it’s either that she’s already gone too far to use her hands, or that she’s hiding something, or she’s either.
Thinking of common sense, it makes sense for an unknown person wearing a hood to take the medicine he gave you in a back alley, supposedly to make you stronger, without any doubt. How many suspicious things are there already that are immediately visible? The fact that he covered his face with a hood, the fact that he hid his identity, the fact that he dared to stay in the back alley, and finally the very existence of the medicine that made him stronger. I don’t think I would want to eat it even if they gave me billions of dollars.
However, Cordelia kept her thoughts completely hidden, and she nodded her head as nonchalantly as possible. She never wanted Jesse to find out that she was astonished. It’s not like she’s scared or anything like that. However, she felt she needed a bit more information. If she looked here with disgust, Jessie would probably shut her up.
For Cordelia, she did not have a precise plan of how to act. But she instinctively felt that way. It would be absurd to leave that dubious drug alone like this. I couldn’t do that even for a friend.
“Did the other kids eat too?”
“Susan and Carly have already eaten.”
Cordelia shook her head. She wasn’t directly sword-to-sword, so we couldn’t tell for sure, but Susan and Callie also had different prayers than we normally see. Certainly, the effect looks awesome.
What keeps popping up in Cordelia’s mind is the drug that her student who attacked her during her last exam took. Taking the drug increases her strength and magical powers like a monster, but she loses her sanity in return.
Although they didn’t show any special side effects, isn’t the ‘medicine that makes you stronger when you take it’ not so common? Besides, looking at Jessie’s maddened face, I can’t be sure there aren’t side effects.
The drug was no longer found after that day’s attack, but the memory of it remained as vivid to her as if it were yesterday. The distorted face that came right before her eyes, the tongue that had lost words, and the momentary explosive power that did not allow even a reaction. And what he got in exchange for them was devastating.
She never actually told anyone, but she did go to the prison where her assailant was by herself. There was also a desire to see what kind of person she was. For she thought that to some extent, her fear would subside a little when she saw a human who had been running so terribly at her, imprisoned.
And what she saw was the face of a terribly haggard man. No, can I call it haggard? A pale face close to that of a corpse and empty, empty eyes. I will probably never forget that look for the rest of my life. The fear towards the opponent subsided, but the terrible appearance kept me awake for several days.
“Okay, eat now.”
While Cordelia was preoccupied with her thoughts, Jesse placed the medicine in her hand once more. Should I call this a favor? Cordelia was in a complicated mood. She couldn’t possibly put it in her mouth.
“Should I eat now?”
“Eat now.”
“Well, after a while, go to your room and take some water….”
“Eat.”
She tried to put it off somehow, but to no avail. Jesse’s eyes once again glistened with madness. Cordelia shook her head eagerly.
‘Should I run away? That’s impossible What if I refuse here? That’s even worse!’
Considering what he showed today, running away was close to impossible. This was on the fifth floor, and her visit was more to Jessie than to Cordelia. If she tries to run away and fails…. She shook her head.
Then what about rejection? Rejection was even worse. Considering Jesse’s expression and attitude, I had no idea what kind of Satan would happen. In the end, there was only one answer left.
Cordelia finally made up her mind. Put her pill in her mouth, gulp.
“Ah, try it.”
“Ah-“
“I really ate it. Good.”
Jesse even examined the inside of Cordelia’s mouth to see if she was just pretending to swallow. She studied Cordelia’s mouth for a moment, then returned to her usual benign appearance, as if she had opened her eyes. She was so excited that she even clapped for joy.
“Can I go now?”
“Yes. Because business is over.”
Cordelia ran out of her room as Jesse’s words ran out. She and she went to a secluded place at the back of the dormitory where no one else would see it. After looking around her for a moment, she opened her mouth.
“Oooh.”
Cordelia opened her mouth and lifted her tongue. A moment later, in her hand was a black pill glistening with saliva.
She rolled her pill well, put it under her tongue, collected her saliva, and swallowed it as if she were swallowing her pill. She was a little nervous, to be honest, but she was lucky that Jessie didn’t lift her under the tongue to check. As a child, she never thought that using her wits about not wanting to take medicine would be so helpful.
Fortunately, the amount of the drug that I put under her tongue for a short time didn’t melt and enter her throat, the medicine was almost the same size as the first one.
“Whew. How did I not get caught?”
Cordelia stroked her heart, but she couldn’t help the feeling of embarrassment that remained in her mouth. After a while, as her tension eased, she vomited up.
“Wow, wow! Wow!”
Cordelia frowned and spat out what was left of her energy in her mouth. She couldn’t taste or smell her, but the fact that she had this unpleasant pill in her mouth made her feel bad enough. She thought that when she got back to her room, she would start brushing her teeth right away.
‘Rather than that, what should I do with this medicine?’
I can’t throw it away anywhere. Cordelia immediately recalled the faces of Mikhail or Hestia, then shook her head. If you show it to the two, you might get a hint of something. Because the two of them know much more about mana than they do. Lily? Lily is more ignorant than herself, but what?
But Cordelia didn’t want to. They were her own friends, Cordelia, and did not want to take anyone else’s hand in solving their problems. I’ve thought about whether it would be okay to ask, but I probably won’t sit still with the personalities of the two.
Easily gained power is easily lost. It’s rather fortunate that it ends up losing the power you’ve gained, and you lose even more. And Cordelia did not want to see her friend lose everything to her in an instant.
First of all, I’m thinking of putting this pill somewhere deep in my desk in case of an unexpected situation. It would be much more helpful than nothing.
… Dry your saliva before that.