Outside, in the middle of a very small village whose residency only has 13 houses, three people were standing there.
Afternoon, the sun was very bright and as the sweat trickled down on each of their foreheads, one of the people standing, Marry, the joker, casted her skill.
“The fool: joker’s trick!”
With it, cards started appearing from her then slowly moved to her target, that was Mareine who was standing in the middle of the three of them.
‘Joker’s trick’— A subskill from the skill ‘The fool’ that can make the next skill of the target to be costless. No matter how big the mana cost of the skill, it won't get subtracted from the mana pool.
“Thanks Marry! Now let's begin!”
“Yes Mareine-san! I'll leave the rest to you!”
The two people left, Marry and Alfred jumped back away from Mareine who was preparing something.
Marreine took a deep breath as she closed her eyes. She put her hands all together as if she was praying then, a huge magic circle showed up on the ground.
Many magic circles followed next, but regardless, it's all very big. Big enough to cover the whole small village.
And soon after, Marry began her chant.
The sun of the world will ascend, dazzling, and take his height.
Everyone will surely ascend.
So amazing and broad – up there resplendent, darting and burning.
O vision prophetic, stagger’d with weight of light. With pouring glories¹
“Revitalize everything! Requiem of Peace—!!”
The whole village with the magic circles shined brightly even more than the sun.
And then, after the wide ranged AoE skill, everyone in the village lost the bad effect of ‘Curse Shackle’.
Soon after, a clap can be heard coming near them.
“Impressive. Just now, that magic was amazing.”
“Indeed. I agree with you.”
“Hello hello!! We're here! The back up team has arrived yo!”
A tall man with a noble outfit, a woman with a sexy dress, and a girl who had side ponytails, the same height as with Marry showed themselves elegantly as they introduced each of their selves.
“Because I am impressed, I shall give you the honor of knowing my name. I am Julious Fle’dri Er.”
“My name Nicole. Pleased to meet the three of you.”
“Yo, yo! Don't forget about me!! You can call me Belky!”
The three of the new people bowed their waist gently as they looked at their surroundings, examining something.
“The curse shackle has disappeared because of that impressive skill just now, but I can still feel another curse.”
“Indeed it is. And that curse was made by a witch.”
“Right! Right! That magic surely cost a lot of mana but... Why is the caster still standing?” The girl said, glaring at Mareine with her furrowed eyebrows.
Marry stepped forward hearing her question with a card in the middle of her finger.
“It’s because of my skill that's why Mareine-san is still standing.” She said, showing the card in her hand.
Although Mareine’s mana didn't decrease, she felt exhausted. Using that skill was very hard and overwhelming. If Marry didn't help her, she would literally collapse in the middle of chanting the skill.
And then next, the village people who stayed in their house as per their instructions, came out with a good aura although the skinny boy was still a skinny boy.
Nothing really changes the appearance since the skill casted by Mareine ‘Requiem of Peace’ is only an Areal version of ‘Peace Alleviation’ but with status resistance boost.
“We thank you very much. We do not know how much we owe you.”
All the village people group together bowing their heads with an older woman leading. The skinny boy was behind the elder.
Alfred responded to them saying that the mission still hadn't finished and that thanking was too early to do. And because the ‘curse shackle’ has disappeared, crops start to go green.
“Everyone!! Everyone! I will boost your crops so that you'll have something to eat at least, yo!” The girl from the back up team declared and everyone's eyes were set on her.
Towards the field of crops, she extended her small arms.
“—Nature’s Blessings!!”
Within a minute, crops grow faster and even faster until they're ready to be harvested.
Everyone rejoiced and celebrated because they, at last, can eat fresh bread from their harvest.
“And yo! With my Distinctive Passive Skill: Green, every crop is a piece of cake!”
Alfred, who was spectating the whole scenario, made a conclusion. ‘I already informed Alcred and I also have confirmed the case. I shall go back.’
Thus, Alfred flew back and went away. The plan was then continued with the backup team called by Alcred namely:
Julious Fle’dri Er, a mage. Nicole, an assassin and the last, the cute loli, Belky, an Enhancer.
The plan was to search for the witch who casted a curse on the village people. Though they know it was a curse, they didn't know what kind of curse it is since even Mareine’s Eye of Puppeteer couldn't see it perfectly.
The curse was hidden very well.
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1(¹) -> A strip from the poem “O sun of real peace” by Walt Whitman.
YOU ARE READING
The Marionetteʼs Puppeteer (Volume 1)
FantasyI don't know if I died or not, but the moment I regained my consciousness, I was already standing on a field full of grass and surrounded by trees. "W-what is that...?" A screen was floating in front of me. 「 Welcome, new adventurer! 」...
