The Extra's Regressor Wives

Lathel did not continue questioning how the mysterious voice knew he had been looking for work.

Compared to the fact that she had guessed a few things about him, he was far more concerned about the maid and two knights who had vanished right before his eyes.

He pointed behind himself, raised three fingers, then gestured toward the door.

The woman remained silent for a moment before asking,

"Three people?"

Lathel immediately nodded.

"You want me to deal with the three people outside for you?"

Lathel’s hands froze.

He shook his head hard.

"No?" The woman dragged out the word as though she were genuinely thinking it over. "Then you want me to capture them and interrogate them?"

Lathel: "..."

He shook his head again.

"Kill them all?"

Lathel’s eyes widened.

A quiet giggle immediately echoed from deeper inside the shop.

"All right, all right. Don’t look at me like that. I told you, I don’t understand those strange hand movements of yours."

Lathel stared toward the source of the voice, then once again raised three fingers and pointed outside.

Only then did the woman finally relent.

"You want to know where they are?"

Lathel nodded vigorously.

"Then you should’ve said so earlier."

He silently stared into the darkness.

The woman apparently saw nothing wrong with that statement and continued in a casual tone.

"They’re still outside. They can’t see you, and they can’t enter this space."

Lathel was not completely reassured.

He raised three fingers again, made a gesture as though checking someone’s body, then crossed both arms before his chest, trying to ask whether anything had happened to them.

The woman went silent.

"You’re dancing again."

Lathel stopped moving and stared straight ahead.

"...Fine." She clicked her tongue. "No broken arms, no broken legs, no blood loss, and none of them have been turned into frogs. All three are alive and perfectly healthy. Satisfied?"

Lathel exhaled in relief and nodded.

"You actually nodded?"

Her voice immediately became displeased.

"I just patiently explained all of that to you. The least you could do is show a little gratitude."

Lathel had no idea why he was supposed to feel grateful toward someone who had trapped him inside an antique shop in the first place.

Still, learning that the three people outside were safe was enough to ease most of the tension inside him.

At that moment, the warmth in his chest appeared again.

This time, it was no longer coming from some vague location within the shop.

It was directly ahead.

Lathel looked toward the candles gradually lighting up in the darkness. After hesitating for a few seconds, he began walking forward.

Each time he passed a section of the aisle, the candles behind him went out while those ahead lit one after another, as though someone were deliberately guiding him with light toward a place that had already been prepared.

The woman’s voice also fell silent.

Lathel passed three rows of shelves.

Then another two.

By now, the distance he had walked had clearly exceeded the length of the shop he had seen from outside, yet the aisle still continued.

Eventually, a low wooden counter appeared beneath the candlelight.

There was no shopkeeper behind it.

Only a box rested on the counter.

Lathel stopped half a step away.

The box was only slightly longer than two hands placed side by side. It appeared to be made from some dark material resembling wood, yet whenever the candlelight moved across its surface, it reflected a faint metallic sheen.

Red-violet patterns ran along all four edges, twisting together into symbols Lathel had never seen before.

At the center of the front panel was a small lock.

There was no key.

Nor was there a price tag or any description sitting beside it.

Lathel stared at the box.

The warmth that had drawn him from the crowded street into this alley was now so clear that there was no possibility of mistaking its source.

Even the newly opened mana pathway inside his body was trembling in faint pulses, as though actively responding to whatever lay before him.

’It’s this.’

Lathel observed the box for several more seconds before slowly reaching toward it.

"Stop."

His hand immediately froze in midair.

The woman’s voice was no longer coming from somewhere beyond the rows of shelves.

It was directly in front of him.

More precisely—

from inside the box.

"I know I’m rather attractive, but we’ve barely met and you’re already trying to touch me all over?"

Lathel: "..."

He stared at the box.

Then at his hand, hovering less than a handspan away from it.

Finally, he slowly pulled it back.

A quiet giggle immediately came from inside.

"Good boy. You listen well."

Lathel stared at the box for another few seconds before raising both hands. He pointed at it with one hand while using the other to make a questioning gesture.

’Who are you?’

The box went silent.

After a moment, the woman asked seriously,

"You want to take me home?"

Lathel immediately shook his head.

"No? Then you want to buy me?"

Another shake.

"Marry me?"

Lathel’s hands froze in midair.

Laughter immediately burst from the box.

By now, Lathel was beginning to suspect that she did understand him.

She was doing this on purpose.

He slowly lowered his hands and stared at the box without expression.

"Don’t look at me like that." The woman sounded completely innocent. "I already told you. I don’t understand those strange hand movements. I’m simply doing my best to guess."

Lathel did not believe her.

Unfortunately, there was no paper or pen on the counter, and he had no way to prove that she was lying.

After glancing around and finding nothing he could write with, he could only give up.

"Oh."

The voice inside the box suddenly stretched out the word.

"You can’t speak?"

Lathel paused slightly, then nodded.

"How inconvenient."

There was not the slightest trace of pity in her voice.

She said it the same way someone might comment that a chair was missing one of its legs.

"You’re poor, your mana is pitifully weak, and now you can’t even speak. Your life really does know how to pile every inconvenience onto the same person."

Lathel remained silent.

He was beginning to suspect that, besides being able to speak, the box possessed another special ability.

Making people want to turn around and leave.

Still, one part of what she had just said caught his attention.

’Poor?’

Lathel narrowed his eyes.

The woman immediately spoke.

"Don’t look at me like that. Your clothes are worn, your hands are calloused, and there isn’t so much as the sound of a coin in your pocket. A moment ago, you stood in front of a sign offering stable work and lodging for so long that you were one step away from walking in and asking whether you could start tomorrow. If I somehow concluded you were rich after seeing all that, then there really would be something wrong with my head."

Lathel looked down at his clothes, then at his hands.

The explanation sounded reasonable.

So reasonable that he could not find anything to argue with.

The box gave a slight tremble on top of the counter.

"Why are you still standing there? Aren’t you going to ask why you were dragged here?"

Lathel looked up.

That was indeed what he wanted to know.

He pointed at his chest, then at the box, before making a pulling gesture toward himself.

The woman silently watched for several seconds.

"You want to hug me?"

Lathel closed his eyes.

"No?"

He shook his head without opening them.

The woman seemed to be struggling to suppress her laughter.

"Then you want me to crawl inside your chest?"

Lathel opened his eyes and stared at the box.

If the thing had possessed a face, he was certain it would be grinning right now.

"All right, stop making that face." She finally relented. "You want to know whether I was the one who pulled you here?"

Lathel immediately nodded.

"Just a guess."

He stared suspiciously at the box.

"Your expressions are easy to read."

Lathel kept staring.

Two seconds passed.

"...I’m intelligent."

Still staring.

"You’re really annoying."

The box trembled slightly, clearly refusing to explain any further.

Lathel decided not to pursue the matter.

Instead, he pointed at his chest, then at the box, trying to ask why he had been able to sense her from the street.

This time, the woman took longer to answer.

"You want to know why your heart started racing the moment you saw me?"

Lathel: "..."

He slowly turned toward the aisle he had come from.

"Wait. That one was a joke."

Lathel had already lifted one foot, but stopped.

The woman’s voice came from behind him, still carrying a trace of laughter.

"Something inside you has only recently awakened. It sensed me, and I sensed it. The reaction between the two is what drew you here."

Lathel lowered his gaze to his hand.

The first mana pathway.

Leviana had helped him open it not long ago.

Aside from being able to sense a thin current of energy flowing through his body, Lathel barely knew what he was supposed to do with it.

If the box was telling the truth, then at least it explained why he had suddenly felt something tugging him toward an alley while walking through the city.

Lathel raised his hands again. He pointed at his chest, then made another questioning gesture, asking what exactly had awakened inside him.

The woman immediately replied,

"You want to know whether the power inside you is enough to make you a Grand Mage?"

Lathel shook his head.

"Strong enough to defeat a hundred people?"

Another shake.

"A thousand?"

Lathel stared at the box.

After a moment, she clicked her tongue.

"Fine. I don’t know."

The blunt answer caught Lathel slightly off guard.

"I really don’t." The woman sounded mildly irritated. "Don’t assume that everything capable of speaking has to know everything in existence. I’m just a poor little box trapped in an antique shop that doesn’t even have customers. I’m not a god."

Lathel looked at the candles that had lit themselves along the walls.

Then at the aisle that had somehow stretched far beyond the actual size of the shop.

Finally, his gaze returned to the talking box in front of him.

Silence.

"Don’t look at me like that."

Lathel kept looking.

"...Fine. I’m a little special."

He nodded.

"What are you nodding for?"

Lathel had no idea how he was supposed to answer that.

A sharp click of the tongue immediately came from inside the box.

"Forget it."

The box trembled.

Then—

Click.

The small lock on its front suddenly opened by itself.

Lathel immediately lowered his gaze.

A thin line of violet light appeared between the lid and the body of the box.

Only a faint glow escaped through the gap, yet the mana pathway inside Lathel immediately heated up.

The sudden sensation forced him half a step backward.

"Stay still."

The woman spoke at once.

"You barely have any mana, yet you’re reacting this strongly. Your body is even weaker than I expected."

Lathel frowned.

He could not tell whether that counted as concern or another insult.

Probably the latter.

He pointed toward the open lock, then made a gesture of lifting the lid.

The box went silent for several seconds.

"You want to free me so the two of us can conquer the world together?"

Lathel almost wondered whether he had somehow made the wrong gesture.

He immediately shook his head.

"No?"

Lathel pointed directly at the lock.

"Oh."

The woman’s voice became so casual that it was as though her previous statement had never happened.

"You’re asking whether I want you to open it?"

He nodded.

"No."

Lathel stared at the open lock.

"It opened by itself."

He kept staring.

The woman continued in an extremely serious tone,

"A lock has the right to freedom too."

Lathel: "..."

"You have a problem with that?"

He shook his head.

Lathel had no intention of arguing with a box about the civil liberties of locks.

"Smart."

Hearing the satisfaction in her voice only convinced him that refusing to argue had been the correct decision.

Lathel watched the violet light for several seconds but still did not touch the lid.

Instead, he raised his hands again, pointed toward the box, and made a gesture asking for a name.

Silence.

"You want to know whether I have a lover?"

Lathel dropped his hands.

"Wait!"

The woman burst out laughing.

"You really don’t know how to play along."

Lathel simply stood there and stared at her.

After a while, the laughter gradually faded.

The surrounding space fell quiet with it.

The candle flames flickered gently, their light reflecting across the red-violet patterns running along the box’s dark surface.

This time, the woman did not continue teasing him.

"Pandora."

Lathel paused.

"You can call me that."

’Pandora.’

He repeated the name silently in his mind.

At that exact moment, the mana pathway inside his chest trembled faintly again.

The patterns on the box brightened for an instant before quickly returning to normal.

Lathel did not notice the change.

Pandora did not mention it either.

Her voice quickly returned to its usual lazy tone.

"All right. You know my name, the three people outside are still in one piece, and you’re still poor. I suppose that concludes our introductions."

Lathel: "..."

He still could not understand what his poverty had to do with introductions.

But after spending only this short amount of time with Pandora, Lathel had already learned one thing.

Some of her statements were better left unquestioned.

Because the explanation would probably give him an even bigger headache.

A brief silence followed.

Then Pandora’s voice slowly lowered.

It still belonged to the same young woman, carrying that familiar lazy tone, but some of the amusement inside it had faded.

"Now we can finally discuss something serious."

Lathel looked at the box.

Pandora gave a faint tremble on the counter.

"Boy."

She paused.

"Would you like to make a deal with me?"

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