Thiendavis – For The Perfect Salvation

Chapter 27: Yubia

"Hello, sponsor."

The boy's voice was monotonous, devoid of any sarcasm.

Thus, Evie felt purely impressed rather than offended by the term 'sponsor'.

The child who demanded a huge sum in return for help was indeed someone who could call her a sponsor right on their first encounter.

"Nice to meet you, my name is Evie Ariate."

"I'm Yubia. I don't like formalities, neither doing it nor hearing it."

Replied the boy, Yubia, to Evie's greeting in a nonchalant manner.

Yubia's demeanor was neither overly polite nor rude, which prompted Evie to think of a small white rabbit when she looked at him.

Yubia had a round, snow-white face with a triangular mouth.

Moreover, his long white hair was tied in twin braids beneath a colorful woolen poncho, giving him an overall endearing appearance.

Clutching a teacup with both hands made him incredibly cute, but his face remained expressionless, and the tone of his voice was flat.

Evie thought Yubia's demeanor was exactly like that of a rabbit unaware of its own cuteness.

To affirm Evie's first impression, Yubia sipped his tea like an old lady and spoke.

"I heard from Diez."

"Ah, about the curse?"

"No, about how cunning you are."

At Yubia's words, Evie smiled brightly and glared at the butler next to her.

Diez actively averted his gaze to the distant mountains.

As Evie schemed on how to retaliate against this man, she recalled how she had told the tower owner about Diez's love for teacups every day.

Evie and Diez were equally chipping away at each other's honor in places where neither was present, which seems fitting for them.

In the end, Evie forgave the butler in light of the universal truth that the world goes around, and in the meantime, Yubia, still with a rabbit-like face, continued speaking.

"Finally, we meet."

"I'm sorry for making you wait. Ah, no, sorry."

"It's okay. I'm good at waiting."

Yubia replied, shaking his head to Evie's apology.

His twin braids adorably swayed along.

As Evie had judged, Yubia was neither particularly warm nor cold but merely possessed a gentle temperament.

And this factor rather confused Evie.

Considering Diez's introduction, he must have been a safe person, yet Evie still harbored prejudice against the Clan of the Night, known as the demons of Vis.

Thus, Yubia's meek demeanor felt considerably foreign.

A meek member of the Clan of the Night—it was as contrary to common sense for Evie as 'solid water' or 'soft stone'.

Perhaps noticing Evie's discomfort, Yubia blinked his dark eyes and asked.

"Is it your first time seeing the Clan of the Night?"

"Yes, it is."

"Is it fascinating?"

"Yes, it's fascinating."

Evie answered honestly in succession, momentarily resenting the curse.

Then she hurriedly added.

"I'm sorry if it seemed like I was fascinated. I didn't mean anything bad. It's just a little different from what I expected..."

"You don't need to make excuses. I know it's because of the curse."

Yubia calmly sipped his tea, his natural reply disturbing Evie's conscience.

Yubia was a fluffy boy who appeared like a rabbit nestled in a burrow, both in physical appearance and demeanor.

Ultimately, feeling ashamed of her deeply rooted prejudice, Evie humbly reflected.

"I thought everyone from the Clan of the Night was dangerous, but that's not true, I guess."

"Yes, that's true. Except for me, most of them are crazy. So don't let your guard down."

However, Yubia ruthlessly shattered Evie's introspection, leaving Evie even more perplexed about the Clan of the Night and Yubia himself.

During this time, Yubia moved on to the main topic.

"As I wrote in the letter, I found out where the snake that cursed you is. But I couldn't ascertain who it was, so I called you."

Hearing this, Evie collected her thoughts and nodded.

"Because there are other Clan of the Night members nearby, it's confusing...."

"Yes. The snake might have expected to be tracked, so it hid near other clan members."

In response to Yubia's speculation, Evie quietly bit her lip.

It was easier if the snake were foolish.

Unfortunately, the snake Evie needed to catch seemed incredibly cunning.

"Currently, there are two other Clan of the Night members beside the snake. So you need to find out which of the three is the snake."

"What should I do?"

"You just need to allow me to examine your curse."

Yubia said, still cute and in a monotonous voice.

However, Evie hesitated unknowingly.

The expression 'let me examine' felt like some kind of invasion.

"... If you find that snake, you can lift the curse, right?"

Thus, Evie delayed her answer, questioning for confirmation.

This time, it was Yubia who hesitated.

"Is it urgent to lift the curse?"

"Yes, it's urgent."

"Why?"

"I can't become a saintess if this continues."

At Evie's involuntary response, Yubia tilted his head in wonder and spoke in a genuinely innocent tone.

"You could just become an honest saintess."

"Well...."

At Yubia's pure-hearted statement, Evie pressed her lips together and smiled.

Feeling Evie's soulful pain, Yubia, sipping his tea again, responded.

"Finding the snake doesn't immediately lift the curse. Didn't Diez mention it? To lift a curse, either the medium needs to be destroyed, or the person who cursed you must die."

"He did...."

"Yes, he did."

When Evie reluctantly nodded, Diez chimed in.

Evie glared at the annoying butler, who pretended not to notice and filled Yubia's empty teacup with the tea kettle.

"Hence, catching the snake is a step in the process of identifying who cursed you or finding the medium."

"A step in the process...."

Isn't it too lengthy? It's been three weeks since I got cursed already, and there's only a month and a half left until the selection of the saintess!

Evie barely restrained herself from lamenting aloud.

Observing her distressed expression, Yubia remarked, as if reading her thoughts.

"If it's truly urgent, you could find out yourself. The person who cursed you. Have you searched yet?"

"No, not yet...."

"You said it's urgent."

"Ugh...."

Yubia calmly pinpointed Evie's weak spot.

It seemed this boy might likely be Evie's natural adversary.

Evie certainly wanted to find out who bestowed this kind of curse on her.

However, thanks to the dear Count, she had no composure, thus the curse matter was still on the back burner.

As Evie swallowed her feeble excuse, Yubia appeared to be rolling his dark eyes in thought. Then he spoke again, looking at Evie.

"You don't have anyone particularly suspicious, do you?"

Once again, Yubia hit the nail on the head, prompting Evie to admit that Yubia had an uncanny ability to see through her.

As of now, Evie didn't have anyone specifically in her suspicions.

Of course, this wasn't because Evie was inherently kind and not quick to doubt others.

On the contrary, Evie had thoroughly scrutinized the noble listings in Thienda with the mindset that everyone was a suspect.

However, the results were inconclusive.

Everyone was seemingly suspicious enough, but there was no one she could be sure of.

Attempting such a risky encounter with the Clan of the Night, the person capable of cursing Evie Ariate...

The feasible candidate was Lohika Sedro, but there was no need for the tower lord to do so, and though Rio Tuha might want to, she didn't have the cunning for it.

Additionally, since Evie had been cursed, nobody had exhibited particularly suspicious behavior, so Evie felt as if she were walking in a fog.

When Evie confirmed with silence, Yubia shook his head with his eyes closed. Then he spoke with a rather serious tone.

"You can't just curse anyone. If cursing formed based on a request alone, two or three out of every ten people you see passing by would already be cursed. To curse, connection is necessary."

Connection?

Evie was quite intelligent, yet even she found Yubia's words occasionally perplexing.

In truth, this was also normal.

Like a bat sees differently in the dark than humans, the Clan of the Night possesses specific senses differing from ordinary people.

Therefore, it was only natural for Evie not to quickly grasp expressions rooted in these unique senses.

So when Evie bore an unclear expression, Yubia also adopted a significantly serious rabbit demeanor and spoke up.

"Do you know what kind of entity Noche is?"

"A rebellious dragon. The root of curses."

"... Not that part. I mean Noche's original form."

At Yubia's question, Evie shook her head.

Due to the widespread harm it spreads, there is little known about Noche's original form in either Thienda or Vis.

One could only guess that, since it was one of the four dragons blessed by God, it might have initially had a benevolent role.

Yet Yubia's following words truly took Evie by surprise.

"Noche was a dragon that managed life."

"Life?"

Evie unknowingly asked back.

Noche managing life—another expression contrary to common sense had appeared.

Evie's mind vividly recalled the events that had unfolded last new moon in this village.

A curse that arrived like formidable digits, a dragon corpse rising from feeding on livestock, and the chilling fog that engulfed the village.

Noche's curse each new moon seeks humans only to extinguish life.

Yet to think that Noche once managed life, if indeed true, what a profound betrayal it was.

Evie couldn't easily bring herself to believe Yubia's words.

Nonetheless, Yubia continued speaking unfazed.

"Life is about connection. Nothing alive exists alone. It's a constant sequence of receiving, continuing, and passing on. Thus, for a curse to form, it must first be connected. Because connecting everything is Noche's essence."

"That connection, does it refer to familiarity or relationships?"

"No, connections require permission. The token of permission is the curse's medium. And the only things that can serve as a medium are the personal items you've directly handed over."

As she calmly digested Yubia's explanation, Evie widened her eyes in surprise at his final statement.

"Then, can gifts be used to cast curses?"

"No, that's different. A gift becomes the recipient's, not the giver's, right?"

Evie, recalling the various small gifts she had exchanged, felt a sense of relief at Yubia's answer.

Indeed, if such things allowed for the formation of curses, giving and receiving gifts would have been forbidden long ago.

Then, if not gifts, in what circumstances would one hand over their belongings?

It was genuinely a rare situation, so Evie understood why Yubia suddenly mentioned connections.

Desiring to find someone or a situation fitting this condition, Evie quickly searched through her mind but found nothing immediately clear.

"It won't come to mind right away. They probably took it without making it obvious."

Yubia confidently reassured Evie's anxiety with a steady voice.

"A curse is interconnected. So by examining your curse, I can sense the snake. As well as the person who cursed you."

Returning to the beginning of their conversation, Yubia asked Evie.

"Will you allow me to see?"

"I'll allow it."

Evie hesitated no longer.

Yubia's calm explanation evoked trust, and Evie now somewhat understood what he intended to examine.

Upon Evie's permission, Yubia set down his teacup and stretched both hands across the table.

Even his hands were cute.

"Grab them. I'll show you as well."

Thus, Evie did not hesitate and placed her hands atop his.