Time Healer Ceres

At this rate, I might actually start enjoying this.

This was the second time she’d been kidnapped. Aria’s kidnapping had gone exactly the same way.

When Ceres woke up, she could barely suppress a laugh at the sight of herself tied to a chair.

The only difference is...

Maybe it was because Yuness knew she was strong enough to wield a sword and hunt monsters. Instead of ordinary rope, she had bound her tightly with metal restraints laced with magic.

“Oh my, you’re awake?”

...That triumphant smile looked just like Aria’s too.

Speaking of which, could you please stop smiling like that? Even I’m getting chills.

She could finally understand why her disciple and Kainel always shuddered whenever they talked about her.

“Where’s the Black Egg?”

So the Black Egg really was why she’d been kidnapped.

“Why are you looking for it?”

“Someone told me to find it.”

Unlike before, Yuness gave Ceres an answer that was surprisingly close to the truth.

Just like Aria.

Why did people like this always start spilling all the secrets the moment she got captured? Did they think she was going to die?

No wonder I keep letting myself get kidnapped.

Ceres had known the moment Yuness handed her the tea earlier. She could smell Argoa flowers in it. Just the scent was enough to numb the nerves for a while and send a person into a deep sleep.

Fortunately, it wasn’t harmful to the body, but it was incredibly useful for kidnapping someone.

As soon as Ceres noticed the scent, she deliberately breathed it in deeply. She wasn’t worried in the slightest that Yuness would kill her while she slept.

Because there’s something she needs to find out.

She was certain Yuness wouldn’t kill her until she found the Black Egg. After all, someone who had changed her appearance just to get close to Kainel in search of the Black Egg wouldn’t give up that easily.

And sure enough, when Ceres woke up, she found herself bound and facing Yuness.

She took my Tamer Relic as well.

The bracelet she’d been wearing was gone. Her Tamer Relic was known to have no offensive power, but Yuness apparently took it just to be safe.

“I have something I’m curious about.”

“Hmm, do you really think I’ll answer you? You’re going to kill me anyway.”

“......”

“Why not answer a few questions before I die? Otherwise, I might die with a grudge and come back to haunt you.”

“...Ha, hahahaha.”

Yuness stared at her in disbelief, then suddenly burst out laughing.

“Oh, you’re hilarious.”

After laughing for a while, Yuness wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and stepped closer to Ceres.

“Sure. Ask me anything you want. But did you know something?”

She leaned closer to Ceres and smiled.

“I’ve killed hundreds of people by now, but no one has ever come back to haunt me. Does that mean they don’t hold much of a grudge?”

She giggled softly and stepped back.

She’s a lunatic.

As if killing people were something to brag about. Ceres clicked her tongue inwardly and moved on to her question.

“Your healing power... It comes from that bracelet, not divine power, does it?”

“...So you noticed after all.”

She’d suspected something was off when Ceres asked about the bracelet at the temple. That was why she’d kidnapped her in the first place.

“That’s right. This bracelet is quite something.”

Yuness no longer seemed interested in hiding the truth and began explaining what the bracelet could do. She even admitted that she’d deliberately spread the epidemic to collect people’s life force.

“Is that why you gave them the blessing?”

“Yes. Thanks to someone, I can’t use the epidemic anymore. And if people kept dying inside the temple, it would’ve raised too many suspicions. So I found a pretty good alternative.”

Their lifespans might be shortened a little, but it’s not like they’d die right away.

“You saw how happy they were after receiving the prayer, didn’t you? I get their life force, and they get to feel happy. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me.”

“......”

...Some deal that is.

Ceres thought of the children who had received her prayers and sighed.

“Why are you looking for the Black Egg?”

“I don’t know that either. I was never told why. I was only ordered to go to Grand Duke Persia’s residence and bring back the egg. Oh, and don’t ask who gave me the order. I can’t tell you.”

Yuness snorted with laughter.

“You can resent me all you want. I can’t do anything about it. If I mention that person, I’ll die.”

“...You’ll die?”

“Yes.”

It seemed she’d been placed under some kind of restriction that prevented her from revealing the mastermind.

A restriction, huh?

Ceres suddenly remembered something Duke Schweiss had told her not long ago.

He had gone to ‘Mirror’ in search of the person responsible for his younger brother’s death. But when the organization’s leader was captured and tried to reveal the mastermind, his entire body melted away, and he died.

Forbidden magic...

Magic that placed a restriction on someone’s life was hardly ever used. Wasn’t it already common knowledge who was behind the ‘Mirror’?

“Was the person who gave you the order Marquis Merial?”

“—!”

Yuness’s expression flickered at Ceres’s blunt question. She was aware that Veilks, the man who had gotten her out of prison, was Marquis Merial’s grandson.

Although Ceres hadn’t mentioned Veilks by name, she still managed to pinpoint the person behind her with accuracy. Yuness couldn’t help but look flustered.

“...I don’t know who you’re talking about.”

She quickly composed herself. She laughed and gently shook her head as though it were the first she’d ever heard of it.

“.......”

Ceres didn’t press her any further. That reaction was answer enough.

So it really was Marquis Merial.

Why was he after the Black Egg? Why did he create a fake Saintess? And why was he collecting people’s life force?

There were still too many questions left unanswered. She would have to find out more about Marquis Merial later.

“Have you gotten all your questions answered? Then, about the Black Egg—”

“Just one more thing.”

Ceres cut her off and asked one last question.

“Were you the one who kidnapped my sister, Julia?”

The fact that a child had been taken to the Forest of Ice Trees had never made sense to her.

Who had taken the child, and why? It always bothered her. She couldn’t help but wonder if Yuness was behind that too.

“That’s right.”

“...Why?”

When Yuness giggled and nodded, Ceres’s expression hardened.

“Because you were getting on my nerves.”

“.....”

“I heard the Master of the Forest was an S-rank monster. I figured that if the child died there, you’d go after the monster and die too.”

She never imagined the monster would actually protect the child.

“Ah... I’ve wasted too much time. I need to go give the blessing now. We’ll talk about the Black Egg when I get back.”

Yuness checked the time, clicked her tongue, and patted Ceres’s shoulder. Then she casually walked away, saying she’d be back soon.

“...So it was you.”

You were the one who went after my sister.

The corners of Ceres’s lips curled upward.

***

“......”

“......”

Gulp.

Shudder.

“...Master is really pissed.”

“...Yeah.”

Ersi and Kainel were hiding nearby, watching Ceres from a distance.

Just in case, they had been secretly following her ever since she’d gone to the temple to meet Yuness.

Of course, Ceres had gone there precisely because she wanted something to happen. So even when they saw her being taken away, neither of them stepped in.

“By the way, who was that guy?”

“Who knows.”

Just as Ben had mentioned the other day, someone had been secretly following Yuness again today.

When they saw Yuness hand the Tamer Relic bracelet she’d taken from Ceres to that man, they knew the two were working together. As soon as Yuness and the man parted ways, they subdued him.

But then...

Whoosh!

The moment they caught him, the man slit his own throat. His body melted away on the spot, disappearing without leaving a single drop of blood behind.

“Shouldn’t we go free her now?”

“Yeah.”

“......?”

Ersi looked at Kainel in confusion. He agreed they should, yet he made no move to go.

“...Even I get scared when she’s like this.”

“...Yeah.”

Ersi shuddered as he looked at Ceres’s eyes, which had taken on a crazed look.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!