Chapter 28: Something Shattered

“小 one.”

“Hm?”

“Any plans for this afternoon?”

After leaving the Adventurer Association, Krexia strolled leisurely down the street, her expression noticeably more relaxed than before.

It was understandable—so much had happened in just two or three days.

A perfectly good Capital… hmm, that didn’t quite fit. More accurately, a little magical prodigy who vented academic stress through niche hobbies.

She had just bought her beloved girly toy, enjoying hotpot and singing at home, pulling the curtains and laughing happily, when suddenly—snap—she ascended right on the spot.

Thanks to the help of a rare妖人, she was able to resurrect and reincarnate.

She had hoped for a Dragon Soaring the Heavens scenario—rapidly growing stronger with a Golden Finger and then taking revenge on her enemies, roaming the martial world with pleasure.

But before she could even get to revenge, her little brother got slaughtered first.

And shortly after opening her eyes, she was told she had to go work hard at a miserable job to earn an astronomical meal fee—or else face a second ascension.

What kind of nonsense was this?

Could Coutia really be called a Golden Finger?

Whose Golden Finger plants bombs on its master!?

After two days of hard work, she finally managed to temporarily solve her living expenses for a while, and with the burden suddenly lifted, her mood naturally relaxed.

“Why do you ask? Are you inviting me out?”

“Yes, so do you have time?”

“You’re a good person, so you should ask someone else.”

Rejected outright by Krexia, Coutia earned her first-ever Good Person Card in her existence as a god spanning tens of thousands of years.

“……”

Coutia didn’t understand the first half of the Good Person Card phrase, but she got the plain meaning of the second half.

Instead of responding with words, she showed her displeasure through actions.

A barely noticeable purple glow flickered over Krexia’s body. Soon after, she felt a strange sensation she had never experienced before.

It seemed like something was missing from her body?

As her movements caused friction with her clothes, a certain spot at the base of her torso and two key points above became extremely sensitive all at once.

She stopped, a flush rising to her cheeks.

With such a blatant effect acting on her, there was no way she didn’t realize what had happened.

“This afternoon I plan to go to the Mage Guild to buy another batch of magic materials to craft some magical items for self-defense.”

She glanced at the rather obvious bulge on her clothes, quickly raising her arm to cover it. At the same time, she pressed her magic hat down, trying to conceal her increasingly fiery-red cheeks.

Her legs bent inward awkwardly.

A truly ruthless move, Coutia. Well played.

“I’ve told you my schedule. Can you give them back now?”

Krexia warily scanned her surroundings. It was afternoon and the sun was quite strong.

Though the street wasn’t very crowded, her odd behavior was already drawing attention.

Some passersby had begun to glance at the uncomfortable-looking mage.

Clenching her teeth, the draft swirling around her made her very uneasy.

Mainly because her sense of security was gone.

Although she had to admit that while she’d previously dabbled in some perverse elements, she had never played this kind of game before.

“I’m not happy, so no.”

Coutia’s voice was filled with barely concealed delight. No matter how you heard it, it didn’t sound like she was unhappy.

“Great God, respected Primordial Witch, I was wrong. Really wrong. I shouldn’t have been so disrespectful to you. Please return them to your faithful disciple, alright?”

“Only now you remember to call me Great God? What were you doing earlier?”

“Please…”

Krexia stood frozen, her face red as if about to bleed.

Her legs, bent inward, trembled slightly.

This obvious abnormality attracted even more gazes.

Everyone’s eyes pricked at her like silver needles, making her extremely uncomfortable.

“Say ‘Mom.’ Just say ‘Mom’ and I’ll let you go.”

“I warn you, don’t get any ideas!”

“Warn me? What can you possibly warn me with?”

A sudden tugging sensation appeared on a rather prominent patch of her skin.

“Yikes!”

“You… you…”

“You’re supposed to be incorporeal, how did you do that?”

In their private channel, Krexia’s voice cracked with frustration.

“I’m the one shaping your body, so naturally, I can shape it however I want.”

“By the way, I’ve never paid much attention to humans before, nor understood their habits. But through analyzing your memories this past while, I’ve learned quite a bit.”

“I tried it on a whim, and surprisingly it works well.”

Krexia adjusted her stance, channeling a bit of magic into her legs to forcibly suppress the trembling instinct. Pretending nothing was wrong, she continued toward her destination.

Her flushed cheeks, slight panting, clutching her chest, and the occasional unstable magical aura flickering off her body—all these actions successfully led the crowd to think “injured.”

As a result, the gazes directed at her decreased somewhat, though many still gave her a kind of “attention salute.”

“Oh, can a vacuum walk too? Truly impressive.”

“Don’t be like that, I really was wrong. Please, can you just give them back?”

This time, Krexia’s voice carried a note of pleading.

“Say ‘Mom’ just once.”

“……”

This request was far too difficult.

She didn’t play tile games, and had never cared for such strange habits as strangers calling her ‘Mom.’

Not to mention this woman had conned away her little brother through a contract trap.

“Why do you have such a weird fetish?!”

“It’s nothing, just because it’s novel… will you say it or not?”

“Ugh… can we change the terms?”

“Sigh…”

Coutia cut off the link.

Krexia waited half a minute but received no response from Coutia, starting to feel panicked.

She couldn’t really run to the Mage Guild in this state!

Ordinary people might not sense her condition, but mages specialized in souls—all of them with freakish perception—would definitely detect her abnormality immediately.

Then her face would truly be ground into the dirt!

“Hey, Kou-san, are you still there?”

The Soul Communication remained silent.

“Really, I’ll agree to anything as long as it’s not this!”

“Just don’t ask for anything too excessive…”

Still no reply.

“Alright, alright, I promise to give them back, okay!”

Coutia reconnected.

“That’s more like it. Now you’re a good kid.”

“M… m…”

Words on the tip of her tongue, yet still so hard to say.

“Mom (super quiet)…”

The moment these two words slipped out, Krexia felt as if something inside her shattered.

Was it her dignity?

Or her pride?

She didn’t know—maybe both.