IARMDH - Chapter 56




Not me? I realized what its muttering meant, and at the same moment, it turned its head to look at me. Its lipless mouth twisted open between its damp hair.

Can't help it, can't help it, can't help it, can't help it, can't help it, can't help it, can't help it, can't help it, can't help it, can't help it, can't help it, can't help it-.

Muttering that he had no choice, the old man put his strangely skinny arm under Judith's armpit and dragged me along.

I wanted to rebel, but my body would not do as I wished.

I was dragged away and placed on top of a pile of firewood with white smoke rising from it.

'Why won't I wake up from this dream?'

As the sticky steam clung to my whole body, I felt a tickle in my lower abdomen and my cheeks flushed for some reason.

The old man jumped up and down with me in the middle, humming a song-like spell.

Let's dance the dance of excitement. The hot dance. The dance of losing your mind. --The dance you can't stop without.

“...Ugh, ugh.”

“Judith Harrington.”

Erne shook Judith groaning shoulder harder. Judith's eyelids fluttered open, and then her eyes opened wide.

Judith's body, which had been tense, sagged when she saw the familiar scenery. Erne, who had been waking her up and staring blankly, asked.

“What did you dream about that made you groan in pain?”

“What a crappy dream.”

Judith didn't have the energy to answer at length. She woke up feeling more tired than when she had been working. She was even sweating.

“I told you dinner is ready, so eat and go to bed. But why are you sweating so much? Do you have a fever?”

Erne placed a hand on Judith's forehead. It was a large hand that covered almost half of Judith's face, and it was rough from holding the sword for so long.

The fingers were thick but long enough to not look rugged, and the blue veins bulged out from the back of the hands, giving off a masculine, wild vibe.

Judith swallowed without realizing it.

Erne, whose intuition for detecting danger was developed even if nothing else, quickly removed his hand from Judith's forehead.

“Why are your eyes open like that?”

“How did I open my eyes?”

“Sinisterly.”

Erne took a step back from the bed. Judith let out a short sigh, feeling a strange sense of regret that she didn't even know she had.

“I guess you had a dirty dream, not a beggarly dream.”

"No."

“Come to your senses and get up.”

It was a dirty dream.

It would be better if it was at least dirty, what is this, it just makes me feel weird and keeps me from sleeping, it’s a loss, it’s a loss. 

Judith muttered, pressing her temples.

“I’ve been having the same dream for days now, but it’s a bit strange. Please call Tan, Erne. I’m really not feeling well, so I can’t move.”

“The lips are moving just fine.”

“You could say that I only have my mouth.”

You really are all talk and no action.

Erne, who was looking at Judith lying on the bed, let out a sigh that sounded like something like, "Hah, really."

Erne looked extremely bewildered, but Judith must have looked distressed, so he went out and called Tan.

“Oh, even godmother is here?”

“I heard you had a strange dream.”

It seemed as if Tan would have been enough, but when his godmother came along, Judith groaned and got up from the bed.

However, the spirit ingrained in her soul did not allow her to lie down alone in front of the godmother.

“I was feeling embarrassed just sitting here eating, but now I have something to do. Tell me, what was your dream?”

Tan helped his godmother sit on the chair. Erne, who followed him, collapsed on Judith's bed.

“That was a very strange dream.”

Judith described her dream in detail.

Tan, who had been listening quietly, nodded occasionally and muttered as if he knew what was going on.

“That’s it, Godmother.”

“That’s it.”

Judging from the calm tone of the two people's speech, it didn't seem like a big deal.

The godmother looked at Judith closely with her milky eyes and said:

“It’s part of the spell.”

“Am I under a spell? Is it dangerous?”

“No, it’s not that dangerous.”

Tan continued the explanation on behalf of his godmother. However, Tan’s face turned slightly red as he explained the spell. Then, he coughed loudly as if he was embarrassed.

What the hell are you talking about that you can't even explain and are embarrassed about?

Although it was clearly not dangerous, Judith felt an ominous feeling for some reason.

“That’s a spell that makes steams appear.”

“Tell me the steam? Is that the steam I’m guessing right now? The steam of lust?”

Tan nodded.

“I guess you had a dirty dream.”

Erne muttered next to her that his guess was correct.

Judith drew in a sharp breath and wiped her forehead. Tan said, and yes, it meant lust.

In other words, it is a dream that makes you think rationally.

“You said that white steam rose in your dream? That was damp steam.”

When a damp energy rises in your body, you become faithful to your desires without even realizing it. Then, you find yourself constantly looking at the opposite sex and falling for even the smallest temptation.

'Somehow, Erne's arms looked really attractive earlier.'

It was all because of the damp atmosphere.

“This spell is usually used for two purposes. One is when you want to seduce someone. The other is when you want to facilitate a divorce.”

The temptation was understandable. If you are under this spell, you will become weak to the opposite sex, so it will be easier to seduce someone you like.

“But how do you use it when you want to get a divorce in your favor?”

“I told you that when you are in a gloomy mood, you are easily tempted by even the smallest temptation. The same goes for married people. It is very easy to cheat.”

The plan was to make one spouse the guilty spouse and get a divorce. Using the other spouse's infidelity as an excuse, they could receive generous alimony.

“But this magic is not used much these days. I learned it from my godmother, but I think there are a lot of mediums who don’t even know how to use it.”

"Why?"

“Because of the way the spell is cast. You have to carve the spell on a wooden doll, soak it in lye, and leave it under the bed. It’s easy to get caught.”

As Tan said, it seemed easy to find out. Picking up something dropped on the floor, or taking out indoor slippers that went under the bed, etc.

“Carving a custom on a wooden doll is also a job. It was naturally eliminated because the amount of work that went into it did not yield great results.”

Tan added that the wooden doll was the real body of the dancing man in Judith's dream.

“So if you burn the wooden doll, that dream will no longer appear.”

Then Tan tried to look under Judith's bed. He said he would burn the wooden doll first, and then look for the person who had cast the spell.

“Tan, you don’t need to look. There’s nothing like that under my bed.”

Judith tried to stop Tan from sinking down. Even without looking, there was nothing underneath.

Judith cleaned her bedroom herself, and most importantly, the old man himself said, "That's not you."

The godmother nodded after hearing Judith's words.

“Hmm, so it seems like the spell cast on someone else has been transferred to Miss Harrington. Do you know what happened?”

In fact, Judith had a point. If the spell had been transferred to me, that was the only thing that could have happened.

“Well, I bought a dream a few days ago.”

“You bought a dream?”

The godmother's blurry eyes seemed to shine for a moment.

“Please explain in more detail.”

“No, I have a customer who buys a lot of things from me, the Marchioness of Ferney. But didn’t she say she couldn’t sleep because of strange dreams recently?”

"So?"

“So I told her to sell her dream for a coin so she could feel a little better.”

The godmother couldn't help but sigh when Judith said she had given her a coin.

“You paid a price for your dream!”

“I never thought I would be able to truly live my dream.”

Judith felt wronged. Were dreams something that could be bought and sold so easily?

“It seems that someone has placed a spell on the Marchioness, godmother.”

Tan whispered in his godmother's ear. His godmother nodded quietly.

“Then what do I do with this?”

When Judith asked, Tan answered nonchalantly.

“We must go to the Marquis of Ferney’s residence and find that doll and burn it.”

The godmother clicked her tongue as if she was displeased with Tan's answer.

“Tsk tsk, did it look like it would be so easy? This was a specific spell that was cast on the Marchioness of Ferney. And now it has been transferred to Miss Harrington.”

“Ah! There must have been a change in the spell.”

Tan slapped his knee. The sorcery was surprisingly sensitive, and even if just one condition was wrong, it would transform. Another way to express the transformation was to say that it was a side effect.

“I doubt that burning the wooden doll will make the damp fumes go away. After all, the Marchioness Ferney must have slept well after selling her dreams, and the witch would have known long ago that her spells were ineffective.”

Tan muttered as if talking to himself.

“They might have replaced the wooden doll, thinking it was a failed spell. They must have discarded the old one long ago.”

A medium leaves no evidence of failure, especially if it is evidence of a cursed spell.

“If the dream continues even after the wooden doll that was the medium of the witchcraft that Ms. Harrington brought in has been disposed of, then it is certain that a witchcraft transformation has occurred.”

“Right. Well, what do we do now?”

But why is this? It feels like she's using me as a textbook to teach Tan. 

Judith had that feeling, but since she was a sinner who bought a dream without thinking, she kept her mouth shut.

“Oh, just let the damp steam out!”

Tan, who was struggling like a diligent student, eventually came up with another solution.

“How can I get rid of the damp steam?”

“Can’t we just drill a hole in the crown and take it out?”


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