Chapter 37
Were they certain Kaizen wouldn’t come to the village?
No way…
Could it be… they knew about the curse and the endless loop?
If that were the case, we had to find out something from the thieves—anything.
Maybe… this is the clue to break the curse.
Kaizen and I met each other’s gaze. He slowly nodded, as if he had thought the same thing.
“Since that day, we’ve been waiting for you, Hero. We believed there must be a reason they feared you.”
“Then first, we need to capture all the thieves.”
“And after capturing them… what do we do next?”
Hamma asked, and Ariel answered with a gentle smile.
“You don’t need to worry about that. Once all the thieves are gathered in one place, Ria will handle the rest herself.”
“Ria?”
Ria shyly sniffled and looked down, embarrassed under the gaze of everyone.
“as the thieves did… we just need to use Mystic Powder to take back our bodies…”
When I gave her a questioning look, Ariel stepped slowly off the water plant.
“You wanted to know why we ended up like this, right? Mystic Powder doesn’t just take a body. To be precise, it extracts the soul from the body.”
She looked around, picked up a stick about the size of her own body, and began drawing on the ground.
“…?”
The stick wasn’t heavy, and with swift, fluid strokes, she sketched two people facing each other.
“When someone consumes Mystic Powder, the body immediately enters a dormant state. During that process, the soul exits the body—just like what you see with me now.”
“…!”
Ariel drew a small circle next to each figure, then added a tiny human form inside each circle.
“The method to steal a body is simple. When an extracted soul enters a dormant body, it awakens and takes over that body.”
She drew arrows from each small circle, pointing across to the other person’s body. Kaizen furrowed his brow.
“You mean… the thieves also consumed Mystic Powder?”
“Exactly. They, too, extracted our souls using Mystic Powder, and in that soul state, they occupy our bodies as if they were their own. And they repeat this every week—before their bodies revert to normal.”
“…”
“We have no bodies to return to, so even without consuming Mystic Powder, we remain in a soul state.”
“So somewhere, there must be the thieves’ dormant bodies.”
Ariel nodded, a faint smile forming on her lips.
“That’s why we must subdue the thieves just before they take the Mystic Powder—precisely 114 of them. One missed chance, and we’d have to wait another week. We must be careful.”
“Do we know when they’ll take the powder again?”
“Tonight.”
What? That soon?
Kaizen swallowed hard. I groaned and massaged my temples.
We don’t have much time left.
There were about ten days remaining, but the skull gauge was rising fast. We had to resolve this quickly—no time to wait a whole week. Tonight was the only chance.
“One shot, then.”
“So it has to be tonight?”
“Tonight.”
Hamma clapped his hands, drawing attention to the urgency.
“So, to summarise: we have to incapacitate all the thieves in the village today. Of course, their bodies belong to villagers, so not a single hair must be harmed.”
“Precise summary. Thanks.”
Hamma muttered worriedly.
“But how can we subdue so many people at once?”
“Fortunately, all the thieves gather in one place on the night they take Mystic Powder. That’s when we strike.”
“Alright. Then let’s head to the village. Ria, do you know the path that leads there?”
“Yes. I’ll guide you… But wait a moment first.”
Ria hurried off and returned with the hem of her top stuffed with something. She stopped in front of us and handed out its contents.
These are Flamefruit?
Bright red, mango-shaped fruits.
“When you enter the village… it’ll get hot. Split this open and apply it to stay cool.”
Ria split the Flamefruit in half, squeezing the sticky juice onto her forearm. Watching intently, Hamma copied her, marvelling.
“Wow… I felt like I’d melt just a moment ago, but now I feel so refreshed!”
While they applied the fruit, I went to the Mystic Spring. I filled several bottles with the spring water—enough for Kaizen, Hamma, Ria, and me. Only then did I stand.
“Take five bottles each. To avoid being noticed tonight, we should transform first.”
“This…?”
“This is Mystic Spring water. Drop a single drop of the target’s blood into it, drink it, and you can transform into them for one hour.”
“Similar to Mystic Powder, then.”
“Exactly. So when we face the thieves, we strike first, knock them out, and then… You know the rest.”
“Now we even have to transform into thieves…”
Hamma muttered with a pale face. I nodded—understanding. I didn’t like it either, but it was the easiest way.
“Ria, lead us to the exit.”
At the mine’s exit, four guards stood watch.
“Perfect, not too many,” I muttered, whistling. The thieves flinched and turned around.
“W-who’s there?”
“I’m Rominde.”
“…?”
Their expressions shifted oddly. As they glanced at one another and reached for their swords, I raised my fist and struck.
The result?
“Wow… is this… really working?”
Hamma gasped in admiration. All the thieves were unconscious. Sniffling embarrassedly, he muttered,
“Not only good with trees… good with people too…”
Kaizen dragged the unconscious thieves into the mine.
“Next time, just stay put.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Why dirty your hands? I can handle it.”
We added a drop of blood from each thief’s nose into the transformation potion to complete it.
“Stay here with Ria for now. If all four of us move, they’ll get suspicious.”
“You’ll give the signal, right?”
“Of course. And if any other thieves come, act naturally and don’t get caught.”
“Got it! Trust me!”
Leaving Hamma, who pounded his chest proudly, and shy Ria, Kaizen, and I hurried into the village. Fortunately, no one stopped us along the way.
“If we meet anyone, you don’t say a word. Understand?”
Kaizen raised an eyebrow.
“If I don’t say anything, who answers?”
“I… can’t. Ah, what now?”
I was in a male disguise. But no matter how gruffly I tried, my voice still sounded female. And I couldn’t force Kaizen to act.
I thought for a moment, then suddenly looked up.
No. Why not?
He said earlier: Don’t try to do everything yourself—make him work for it!
“Kaizen. Can you act petty and underhanded?”
I looked up at him, eyes shining.
Even as a thief, I could tell he was hesitant. But the face was Kaizen’s.
“…Do I have to be petty and underhanded? Not all thieves are like that.”
“Have you ever seen a polite thief? No. Always petty. Always underhanded. Do it. Got it?”
“Haa… making me do this…”
Just then—
“Hey! Who’s there?!”
A voice shouted from the village entrance.
Kaizen and I exchanged glances. When we didn’t respond, footsteps hurried toward us.
I nudged Kaizen’s side and mouthed the words:
Petty and underhanded.
