Don't move, it's a robbery!

"That's how it is. The situation was urgent, and all I had were those magic pills. But don't worry, the effects of those drugs don't last long. The reason you still have some strange problems from time to time is mainly because you took too many at once."

Eve, well, I guess you could call her an elf, anyway, after listening to my explanation and Little Dot's persuasion, she wasn't as angry as she had been at the beginning.

"When will these symptoms of mine disappear?"

"I'm not sure either, but just wait a bit longer and it should go away. The medicines I gave you are all high-quality; the raw materials alone cost several hundred gold coins! I wouldn't necessarily give them to just anyone who asked."

"Yes, yes, Eve, you looked like you were about to die. He was trying to save you, that's why he gave you those medicines."

"I'm sorry, I know you all mean well, but in this state, I can't even use magic anymore. If I use magic, I become all sorts of strange things, and even my personality changes. I wasn't like this before."

Hearing Eve's words, my expression also turned grim, and I quickly asked, "Then can you lift the curse for me?"

She glanced at me with a strange look in her eyes, as if she wanted to get angry, but in the end she held back and asked me to take off my clothes so she could check what kind of curse I was under.

Without hesitation, I decisively took off my shirt.

Compared to when I was first cursed, I now have many more runes on my body, and many of them have connected together. I estimate that the curse will take effect when all the runes are connected.

Eve frowned, indicating that the curse on me was somewhat troublesome, and asked me how I had contracted it.

I figured Eve and Ronaldo must have had a bad relationship, so telling her about Ronaldo's death shouldn't have been a problem. I just told her everything that happened after I left that day.

"Documents? What documents?"

"I can't read, how would I know what kind of document it is?"

"Can I take a look?"

"I didn't bring them. How about this, you heal the cursed one first, and I'll bring those documents over for you."

"No, let's go get those documents first; that's more important."

"I think my own life is more important. Please lift the curse first. Don't try to bargain with me. Here's what I've brought along: a few cultists with bounties. You can have them as payment for their services. Is that alright?"

Eve looked somewhat displeased, but she still patiently explained why she needed to get the documents.

In the past few days, for some unknown reason, members of the Linde City Council have suddenly been exposed for many secrets, including reselling city hall supplies, embezzling public funds, and colluding with cults and vampires.

Some of these secrets are true, and some are false, but as long as one of them is considered true, the masses will believe that all of them are true.

The council was able to control Linde City because of the support of these people. Now that they have lost the support of the people, they cannot fight against the private army of the Kadir family with only the twenty-odd guards they have.

Therefore, the council had no choice but to spend a lot of money to hire mercenaries in the city to make up for the lack of combat power, and their Pure Wind Bell mercenary group was naturally hired as well.

"Wait, what the hell? You're the Whirlwind Bells? One of the top mercenary groups in the city?"

"Yeah, what's wrong?"

With so few people, and so weak, they think they can be a top-tier mercenary group? Does that lousy council really expect them to be a major fighting force?

This place is doomed.

"No, no, I've just heard so much about you. Please continue, please continue."

The night before last, riots broke out in the city, and their group received a request from the council to help maintain order.

So the members of the Bell of the Pure Wind, along with other mercenary groups, led by Knight Nat, fought against the cultists. Suddenly, Knight Nat said he had discovered an important stronghold of the cult, so he asked the mercenaries to go with him.

At the time, Eve was going berserk from time to time due to the effects of the drug and was unable to participate in the subsequent battles, so Little took her back to the hotel first.

But the others never returned the next day.

"None of them came back?"

"Yes, the situation is very serious now. The council is completely powerless. The atmosphere in the city is strange. It seems that someone is deliberately spreading news that is detrimental to the council. There are even rumors that Knight Nat and all the mercenaries have perished."

See, I already said it. If they can be considered as ace players with this kind of strength, who else is going to be doomed if not them?

"Oh, so you're worried about your teammates, right?"

"Yes, I suspect that the documents Ronaldo hid in the safe may contain clues about the dark forces in the city."

"I understand, so you should treat me quickly so I can take you to get the documents sooner."

Eve's lips twitched, realizing that her words had no effect whatsoever.

Heh heh, you little punk, trying to play tricks on me?

If I'm not mistaken, she wasn't actually very confident about lifting the curse, which is why she kept insisting that I hand over the documents first. That way, even if something went wrong during the process of lifting the curse, she would still be able to get clues.

Can I grant her wish? Of course not!

To get clues, she had to ensure I was alive and not seriously injured; otherwise, she could only pray that her teammates were just lost.

"Alright, I'll do my best to lift the curse for you."

"Okay, once you're cured, I'll get the documents for you as soon as possible."

"Let me make it clear beforehand that you have actually been under this curse for quite some time now, and I cannot guarantee that you will be able to withstand it."

"It's okay, I believe you can definitely help me get through this."

"*****"

Eve suddenly said something strange that I couldn't understand, but it sounded beautiful; it might be Elvish.

"Were you speaking Elvish just now? What does it mean?"

"It means I wish you well."

"Oh, then I wish you ***** as well."

Seeing that Eve had started taking deep breaths, I quickly sat up straight, no longer daring to provoke her.

"Sit still. No matter what happens next, make sure you breathe steadily."

"OK."

Eve closed her eyes, then began to slide her thick fingers across my chest. When her fingertips touched me, I felt a strange sensation.

It felt as if, the instant our bodies touched, our skin had already merged with hers, and our blood vessels had become connected. I could clearly feel a strange energy flowing from her fingertips into my body, traveling through my entire body along my blood vessels.

I heard her voice, not through my ears, but from within my body, as if my own soul were chanting a spell at this very moment.

"Hopeful as a meadow yearning for sunshine, steadfast as a rock resisting wind and frost;"

"Courageous as a solitary tree atop a mountain, humble as an ant crawling beneath a leaf;"

Love is like a spring breeze, melting away the old snow of winter; affection is like a warm current, flowing through every street and alley.

"Transform joy and contentment into admiration, and awaken inspiration with all beautiful visions:"

"Break through the darkness, escape the confusion!"

As the incantation ended, the previous feeling intensified, but this time the strange energy no longer came from Eve, but from within myself.

The appearance of energy made me feel changes in my body. The strange runes that were originally engraved on my body were now emitting wisps of black smoke and constantly trying to invade my body.

Or rather, they have already invaded and occupied more than half of my body.

So this is what they call a curse.

"Pay attention to your breathing! Remember to keep breathing! I've put the magic within you into an awakened state, so even if you don't meditate, you should be able to see the curse by now."

"Next, I will break the magical structure corresponding to the curse, causing it to erupt directly. You will have to use the magic power within your body to fight against it."

I nodded and got ready, but this time Eve didn't chant any spells. Instead, she took out a strange wooden stick and struck me directly in the chest.

A pain far beyond my imagination swept over my entire body, as if my soul had suddenly fallen into an endless, icy abyss. I almost lost consciousness because of it, but at the last moment, the energy circulating in my body acted like armor, providing me with warmth, which allowed me to regain consciousness.

"Hiss~ cough cough, cough cough cough, drink~~"

"Phew~~"

"Keep breathing, keep going, you've already overcome the curse."

"Keep it up, Robin Hood! You're my idol! Don't get killed so easily!"

My mind was a little hazy. When I heard the encouraging voices in my ears, I didn't feel any motivation. Instead, I felt a bit disgusted. An inexplicable sense of irritation almost made me angry.

It's so noisy! If only they could shut up!

"How is it?"

"Hiss~ Phew~, it's okay, I'm much better now, I should be alright. By the way, after hearing your encouragement just now, I suddenly felt very angry, like really suddenly, and I wanted you all to stay far away from me. What's going on? Is it the power of a curse?"

"I'm not sure, maybe. Do you still feel that way now?"

"It's gone. It was probably the effect of the curse. It's alright now."

The strange feeling inside my body had disappeared, and I returned to my previous state. I tried to stand up, but the dizziness prevented me from doing so.

"You should rest for a bit. We'll go get the documents when you feel a little better."

"Oh, no, you misunderstood. I just needed to use the restroom. Oh, and the documents, right? I'll give them to you now."

I took off my right shoe and then took out the documents that were hidden inside.

Eve's eyes widened. She first looked at the document, then at me, her face full of disbelief.

"Why are you looking at me? Look at the documents!"