Hush Now, Saintess! - Chapter 86
Chapter 86
Translator: Yonnee
—
I smiled awkwardly as I nodded.
The mention of Bastion immediately brought back my chaotic first meeting with Hildeon.
‘This is like walking through a minefield of dark history.’
“Though the market may have died, I plan to revive it to its fullest. You don’t have to worry about its location being unfavorable.”
“Really?”
“It seems you’re concerned about the mention of Bastion. Isn’t that so?”
It seems he misinterpreted my brief pause over my embarrassing history as concern for something else.
Bastion or not, I’m fine with any place if it means making money.
“No, not really. It’s just that…”
Hildeon quietly waited for my response.
His face was impassive and stiff, but strangely, I felt I could read the emotions hidden within.
Tension. Anticipation.
The restlessness of something desired being just out of reach.
‘He’s almost like a dog.’
Not in a derogatory sense.
Like a dog that growls out of shyness but can’t hide its wagging tail.
I chuckled and shrugged.
“It seems a bit difficult to answer right now.”
“Ah…”
Hildeon sighed softly.
Though he didn’t show it, disappointment was palpable.
He hesitated before asking me the reason.
“Is there a reason you can’t answer right now?”
A reason? Of course, there is.
“Well, I don’t actually know where that is.”
I had a rough idea of its location since he said it’s near Bastion.
But still, an on-site inspection seemed necessary before making a decision.
It’s the crown prince’s project, so one would assume it to be fine, but…
“I’d like to see it for myself before deciding. The fountain is very, very important to me.”
“Understandably so. It’s too significant a matter to decide without seeing.”
He quickly agreed with my point.
“In that case, let’s schedule another meeting. I will personally guide you through the site.”
“Sounds good. We can also discuss the contract on that day.”
With the next appointment set, today’s matter was more or less done.
“Then, I’ll see you at our next meeting.”
As I stood up to leave, Hildeon rose as well.
“I’ll escort you out.”
“That’s not necessary.”
I shrugged, but he silently opened the door for me.
We walked together in silence, with no particular conversation to share.
‘Wow, this is so awkward.’
Rolling my eyes at the awkwardness, I suddenly noticed his back.
More precisely, the black dust swirling behind him.
‘Wow! Pretend you didn’t see that!’
I firmly resolved to ignore it and quickly averted my gaze.
Today wasn’t specifically for a mission, so there was no obligation for me to remove it…
‘Wait a minute. Don’t bugs evolve? Should I really leave it be?’
Pretending to be casual, I called up the system for the first time in a while.
‘System, display the bug mission, please.’
Ding—!
〈 Mission: Bug extermination!
– Do you know about the ‘bugs’ that are disrupting the world?
A bug is a ‘parasite’ that feeds off of a human being’s negative emotions.
They can be categorized as such: ‘dust’, ‘misfortune’, ‘catastrophe’ and ‘destruction’.
When dust builds, it becomes misfortune. When misfortune accumulates, it becomes a catastrophe.
And when a catastrophe grows, [Destruction] occurs.
Right now, there are many bugs in the world!
Let’s get rid of these bugs and raise our reputation!
– Reward upon mission success: Bug extermination shall correspond to reputation increase.
– Penalty in case of failure: Bug evolution. Your reputation shall plummet. 〉
When dust builds, it becomes misfortune.
‘Catastrophe… That feels a bit ominous.’
But anything beyond unhappiness was not just ominous but downright dangerous.
Could it be, if bugs evolve, they affect Hildeon’s curse as well?
Or cause the curse to go berserk…
〈 It’s possible! Remove bugs as you find them!
– When no specified method is available, you can physically brush them off! 〉
Oh my god.
I stopped in my tracks at the content that popped up, neither cheerful nor light-hearted.
“Why did you stop?”
Hildeon, who had also halted, asked me.
Instead of answering, I quickly turned to look at him.
And then—
“Aren’t you going to ask to be touched today?”
t/n: I just realized… Roella removing impure energy from Hildeon? The only way to do it is physical touch? And if it builds up and goes unchecked, he’ll go berserk?
Sounds an awful lot like guideverse to me LOL
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