Chapter 39 - Unholy War - Part 4 - Troubled Mind And War View

Naphe collected the scrolls Athena picked from the shelves while complaining about Athena's mana level.

"How does someone so young have such a high level of mana?"

"Hm... I don't know, how old would a normal person be at that level? Ah! I'll want the meteor one."

"Usually? That would be around seventy... How about this one?"

"Stopping time? I don't need that. This must take a lot of mana to keep time down."

Athena was sitting on the counter as she watched Naphe pick up the scrolls. She tried to see through the magic that covered Naphe without having to rely on [Erase].

"You know that all of this is going to make almost 20 million gold coins, don't you?" Naphe asked as she walked down the stairs.

"I'll give you forty if you undo the magic that's covering you." Athena provoked.

Naphe froze for milliseconds at the sound of Athena's proposal and then let a breath escape her lips.

"So you noticed..."

"Well, it must be hard to maintain a spell like that..." Athena jumped down from the balcony, making her armor jingle loudly.

"Not so much." Naphe placed the scrolls where Athena was, and then when she turned to Athena, the girl disappeared.

In the place where the little girl was, an exuberant and sensual magician appeared.

The red dress that fit young Naphe perfectly, was just a babydoll dress on this new Naphe, stretching to hide her big breasts.

Her long silver hair fell to the floor, her eyelashes were long and made her eyes even more attractive.

"Satisfied?" Naphe asked, her voice soft and husky, leaving the whole set like a bomb of sensuality.

Athena looked at Naphe with a bewitched smile.

Naphe was a woman in her forties, so beautiful and sensual it would make any man or woman go wild.

"Why do you turn into a brat when you're so cute?" Athena asked as she approached like a lioness surrounding her prey.

"Because people always look at me the same way you're looking at me now." Naphe said in a low voice.

Athena licked her lips and then nibbled at them. Her heavy breathing and racing heart increased her body temperature and she felt something wet trickle down her thighs.

"After all, what are you?" Athena asked, trying to hold on.

"I'm an undine. An elf variation with a strong natural charm that bewitches people." Naphe showed her ears which were the size of human ears but pointed.

Seeing Naphe's white neck, Athena advanced on the woman, backing her against the counter.

Naphe looked like she wanted to say something, but all that came out of her mouth were moans caused by the hickeys Athena gave her neck, making her roll her eyes with the excitement that made the heat of the place rise.

"Th-this is your fault…" Athena whispered in Naphe's ear as she licked next to his knuckles.

"Ah... H-how is that... Hgrnph... my c-f-blame..." Naphe moaned loudly as Athena stroked between her legs.

"I didn't know you…" Athena growled at the thought of Anemus. "[Erase]!" Athena screamed as she threw herself away from Naphe.

A wave of energy shot from Athena and hit Naphe, but it didn't erase her charm, it only weakened it.

Athena was panting as if she'd just come back to the surface after diving for too long, and Naphe fanned herself with a papyrus and massaged her scarred neck.

"S-shifts back. The charm d-hasn't been erased, it's still getting to me." Athena said through her teeth.

"W-what was that?" Naphe asked as she tried to concentrate.

"It's a skill. I won't say more than that." Athena said as she took the gauntlet from her left hand.

The charm of an undine was something powerful against people of either sex and that charm still permeated Athena's mind even after it was slightly erased.

The appearance of Anemus in Athena's mind at that moment was something that saved and hurt Athena. She was starting to feel just as dirty and horrible as Luana, even though she had nothing to do with Anemus.

Athena had fled Anemus' confession, hurt the nymph, and then fled again.

Maybe she was worse than Luana, she was a coward and indecisive with an identity problem?

No, Athena didn't accept that thought and dug her nails into her thigh to help resist Naphe's charm that hadn't yet returned to her childlike form.

"Naphe, not yet?"

"Ten seconds." Naphe said while drawing runes on her palms. "And now... Done! {Jarqwetar}"

As soon as Naphe returned to her child form, Athena managed to breathe again.

However, even being free of the charm, Athena was not calm anymore. Her mind was still working against her and her thoughts lingered between Anemus and Luana.

The pain of being betrayed, the pain of being alone, the pain of betraying someone's trust. Athena was experiencing all of this and felt a bitter taste on her tongue.

"Hey, are you alright?" Naphe stared at Athena's bloodied thigh.

"Not." Athena said with her head down. "But I'll stay if you'll give me a few minutes."

***

"It was a pleasure doing business with you. Check back often." Naphe said as she watched Athena walk down the street in silence.

In one of the many avenues of Tarna, Athena walked while using one scroll after another, drawing the attention of some magic users who felt a certain envy of what Athena did.

Athena still felt a little depressed, but felt that this was something necessary for her to find out what she wanted and what she should do.

Anyway, that was also starting to be put aside for the time being when her stomach started to complain.

(I think I'll eat something first...)

It was long past lunchtime and Athena hadn't eaten since morning, and the smell of food that came from every tavern she passed whet her appetite.

Athena walked into some tavern and sat at a table beside a group of armored women in silver armor celebrating something Athena didn't care about.

Athena helped herself from the pitcher left under the table, perhaps by the tavernkeeper himself or perhaps by the previous customer, it made no difference, she was thirsty and also with a bitter mouth and wanted to get rid of it.

She was drinking the red liquid when she heard a deep, loud voice.

"Your request?"

Athena looked to the side and saw a crotch covered in dark leather pants and then looked up.

The man was big on all sides. He had calm black eyes, long straight hair tied back in a ponytail, and his long, thick black beard covered the entire lower part of his face like a mask.

"Your recommendation?" Athena said, feeling small.

"The duck is great today." The man said, smiling with his eyes, making Athena relax.

"Alright, I'll have the duck." Athena smiled back.

Seeing the man walk away, miraculously not bumping into anything, Athena took a deep breath and let a tired look out of her mouth and her shoulders loosen their tension.

At the other table, the women continued to cheer loudly. They talked about the war somewhere in the south and another war somewhere in the northeast and made plans to go to them.

"Who knew there would be two wars involving religion in two totally different places..."

The woman with strong defined muscles said excitedly lifting the mug into the air in a sort of celebration.

"Which one will we go to first?"

The woman who looked like the youngest of the group asked with a smile that never seemed to go away.

"We can go to Basilica first since it's closer and then head northeast."

The prettiest one said with a serious and decisive face.

"I hear the king has sent very interesting contracts to many legions and mercenary guilds everywhere."

The woman with an orange mane for hair said.

"Did we get one?"

A woman with very short black hair asked.

"Yes. We did."

The woman with a tribal tattoo all over her arm said as she placed a sealed scroll on the table.

"Ooooh!" All them said.

"Then it's decided. We'll kill the religious rebels in Basilica first and then we'll go to Ethers and kill some heretics."

The prettiest woman in the group said with a laugh and Athena who had just received her food turned to the women.

"Are you going to Ethers?"