Chương 11: Ding Dong - You've Received a Package [3.4]

She whispered in a low voice, "I knew you were still researching magic. Did you really think the clerks at the library wouldn't tell me?"

I didn't respond and only bit my lip to deal with the pain of being healed.

After she finished, she pulled her hand back with a grin. "It's nothing to be ashamed of. I wish you had told me your interest sooner. Maybe I could have helped you."

I really don't like her. I need to get even with her too. However, getting even with her will be much harder than Bea and her lackeys. Since she has the power to take me back to that prison. First, I will get even with that stupid Bea.

And how do you get revenge on a person like Bea?

I clenched my fist after my arm was painfully healed.

…Destroy the things she is so proud of.

When everyone was finally asleep, I used the magic spell to make my steps silent. I crept to the kitchen and looked for oil. I grinned upon seeing it.

Goodbye perfect face.

I used the oil to carefully dip it on her face. Then I hid the oil back and slipped back under the blanket. It only took a few days of applying the oil to her face before she broke out in hideous acne. Bea panicked and went to Miss Dean to be healed. I cast the silence spell on me and followed, making sure to stay hidden.

Miss Dean shook her head, "I'm sorry, Bea. It's not healing."

"Why isn't it healing?!"

"It's not a wound. It's natural."

"It can't be natural!" Bea whined to Miss Dean, "Miss Dean! It had to have been that Reika girl who did this! I think she cursed me! A few days ago, she told me that I would regret pushing her!!!"

I flinched at the sound of my name.

Miss Dean shook her head, "I'm sorry, Bea. However, there are no traces of magic. You weren't cursed. This is just natural. You'll be a woman soon after all. Some women get this as they get older. Just make sure you keep washing your face."

…Good thing I didn't use magic. I didn't know it was traceable… Although, I suppose that makes sense. Things can't be that easy after all.

Of course, I wasn't finished quite yet.

Just doing the oil every night wasn't enough. Her friends still talked to her. Although it was becoming clear that she was no longer the leader, they still didn't kick her out of the group. Instead, they just made fun of her acne. That may have been enough for me if she had only taunted me. However, she broke my arm. Since she tried to disfigure me, it was only natural for me to disfigure her.

While they were outside chatting, I sat in the library concocting a new plan. I glanced up and noticed a small wasp nest above their heads. I gave a small grin. I opened the window quietly and pointed at the wasp nest. I channeled my mana and shot out a small bolt. It hit the nest and rattled it. The wasps grew angry at this attack and flew out. They charged at the closest enemy:

Bea and her friends.

They ran around screaming as the wasps attacked them. I covered my mouth as I laughed at the hectic looks on their face. The wasps vented their anger by stinging madly before returning to the nest.

Turns out Bea was allergic to the venom in wasps. The stings on her face swelled massively causing her to look like a disfigured person. Her lackeys and even the other students started to avoid her. They began to gossip and say that she was cursed. Thus, it was better for them not to be around her. Isolated, she began to sound more paranoid. She honestly believed that she was being cursed and demanded that someone check.

Finally, a doctor was called after Bea begged Miss Dean to investigate it. The doctor shook his head, "This bump is natural. There was no curse involved. If you anger a hive of wasps, it's only natural they would attack you."

She groaned in a panic, "But I didn't antagonize them!! I didn't do a thing, yet they attacked me! I have to be cursed!!"

The doctor turned to Miss Dean, "Has she ever suffered a backlash? I worry about her sanity-"

*SLAM*

Bea hit the table with her fist. The stone floor around her began to crack. She shouted, "I'M NOT CRAZY! IT'S THAT REIKA GIRL!"

Miss Dean sighed, "Bea. Calm down. If you hurt anyone with your stone element, then you will go to jail."

This was all it took for her to stop. She broke down crying.

I was honestly going to go even further, but I didn't think she would break down so quickly. After the other children started abandoning her, they began to cease bullying me and bully her instead. Really, she had it coming.

She finally got a taste of her own medicine.

Other prospective adoptive couples came around to speak with me, but I succeeded in scaring them off like always. I couldn't trust their shifty eyes. It was almost like they walked into a pet store and were trying to get the best one. I am not interested in those kinds of shallow people.

Bea also scared them away. This wasn't because she was trying, but rather she had a face that was swollen and scarred from the wasp attack. To make it worse, she kept raving that her face was like this because she was cursed. This made those adults stay clear of her completely.

Now that the children were leaving me alone completely, I finally felt comfortable. I snuck outside to relax in the sun while I leaned against the tree. I held a book in my hand as I reread over new array formations. Apparently, if you can write a sealing array on another's soul, then you could control them. You could use it on any being or creature with mana: Selkie, demon, fairy, and even a human. They referred to this as making a one-sided contract with a familiar. However, I called it a slave contract.

I heard someone running towards me and jumped. Oh no! They are going to figure out I have only been pretending to do chores while I skipped instead!

I panicked by the tree and looked for anything to write on myself with. However, I had no ink or markers. I panicked and noticed the sand beside me. After spitting a few times, I turned it into the mud and quickly drew the invisibility array on me. I activated it and noticed Bea right next to me. I stifled my surprised yelp as I crawled out of her way.

Bea collapsed to the ground, crying heavily. She wailed, "I just wanted to be adopted!!! I just wanted to be loved!! Why?! Why am I not even worthy of that?! If it wasn't bad enough to be separated from my siblings… Why would you also curse my face to look like this?! WHY!"

I bit my lip with a strange feeling inside. I was so close I could even smell her. Just like always, color began to spread around her. However, this time it was different than before. The dark green color was so strong it blocked out the light around her.

Somehow… My heart feels… Heavy…

Did I… Did I mess up?

She wiped at her sobbing mess of a face., "I-I'm almost 14 now… T-That was my last shot at being adopted before I am thrown out on the streets… With a face like this…" She broke out into more sobs, "I couldn't even work in a factory let alone on the streets…"

Ugh… I forgot that Bea was still a young child. Maybe I did go a little too far. She did push me down the stairs, but I never felt any killing intent from her. She was just a child who felt no control over her life. Perhaps I could have disciplined her differently…

I stood up unable to listen to Bea wail any longer. With a frown and a heavy heart, I returned back to the orphanage. That night, I had a harder time falling asleep. The children may not bother me anymore, but that doesn't mean much now knowing just how bad Bea has it.

The next day after breakfast, I left the room after finishing my chores while thinking deeply to myself. I have to figure out a way to fix things for Bea. She was a brat, but she doesn't deserve that kind of life. Maybe I could find someone who could adopt her? That shouldn't be too hard… Right?

I noticed something out of the corner of my eye and flinched when I nearly ran into someone standing just outside. I blinked in surprise holding my hand over my heart, "Oh! Miss Dean…"

Miss Dean frowned at me, "What are you doing leaving so early? You need to finish your chores."

I gulped. Crap! I got too arrogant! I didn't even think to sneak out like usual!! Even if I had help, there is no way I could have finished all those chores so quickly!! Did she notice?!

Miss Dean looked past me in surprise, "You finished?!"

"I HAVE TO PEE!" I ran off quickly in a panic.

"Hmm.." She watched me run off while tapping her hand, "I wonder…"

…._____….

(Note: This is not in Reika's POV)

Miss Dean stood at a window, pacing back and forth nervously. She heard a knock on the door and rushed to open it. A man stood outside with a black trenchcoat on, hiding the majority of his body. She gulped, "C-Come in."

He followed her inside with a frown, "We heard you have a new shipment."

She nodded quickly while breaking out into a cold sweat, "Y-Yes. I have them right here."

She pulled out files and handed them to the man. He looked through them carefully. He stopped and looked up with a scowl, "This one suffered a backlash. You dare try to sell us tainted material?!"

"No!" She shouted quickly and forced on a smirk, "That one is probably the best out of the bunch."

"Haah? How could this one be the best? Do you want to be killed?"

She took a deep breath, "That girl is special. I've seen it myself. It's true that she's never had a familiar and suffered a backlash. However, I can't sense any mana from her and her attribute cannot be detected. Except, I've caught her using magic. So how can a girl with no mana still be able to use magic?!"

He gave a frightening grin, "The only way would be if her soul is so strong it can even mask the amount of mana she has."

She let out a sigh of relief, "Exactly. Those with strong souls will survive longer during the mana extraction process. She must have a lot of mana too. She used several magic spells without even breaking a sweat."

He slammed the files shut, "Very good. I will speak to the boss first to get his approval. Then we will pick up the packages."