Chapter 4: A Tune for Compensation

“Brother, today’s dinner is steak personally cooked by Josuna~”

“Ah~”

From that day onward, Dispel hadn’t fed himself even once.
Every meal was like this—
As if he were a baby bird being force-fed by its mother.

“Is it good? I added a special secret ingredient just for you~”

He had no idea how long he’d been trapped in this underground room.
Three days?
A week?

Dispel always believed he had a sharp sense of time.
But in a place with no daylight, no clock, and only crystal lamps instead of fire…

Ever since that night years ago—
When he watched his home swallowed by sudden flames—
When the explosion lit the sky and destroyed everything—
He had lost his family.
The blaze left him with a deep psychological scar.

It hadn’t healed.
It had become a primal fear of fire.
Even now, Dispel couldn’t face flames without drowning in terror.

According to the church nuns, this was a severe trauma.

What surprised him was that Josuna remembered his fear.
She even used magic crystal lamps instead of firelight.

As a candidate for sainthood, Josuna rarely had free time.
For her to “take care” of Dispel like this… was already unusual.

But in this silent underground space—
No time, no sound, and every day filled with the physical and mental torment of her feeding him—

Even the sanest person…

Would go insane.

After dinner, Josuna carried out the tray.
She pushed open the wooden door easily, then let it slowly close.

He wanted to escape, but—

He couldn’t.

Dispel knew this clearly.
The holy-script barrier carved onto the door was an unscalable mountain to him.

And as expected, Josuna wouldn’t listen to anything he said.
No matter how he pleaded, she stayed unmoved.

Right now, his only hope was that Brenda would notice his disappearance.
She was an old police chief who worked with his father—experienced, sharp.
If news of his disappearance reached her, she could follow the traces from that night and figure out Josuna was responsible.

Josuna might be meticulous—
But she was still just a teenage girl.
There was no way she could erase every trace flawlessly enough to hide from Brenda.

The only problem…
Dispel feared that Brenda wasn’t strong enough to defeat Josuna.
And that others wouldn’t dare help because of Josuna’s status as a saint-candidate.

If so… he really would be trapped here for life.

“Do you want to leave this place?”

A completely unfamiliar voice cut through the silence.
A cold, emotionless female voice echoing across the room.
It was the first time Dispel had heard any voice in this underground prison besides Josuna’s.

“No.”
Dispel answered instantly, not even looking in the direction of the voice.

He didn’t need to think.
This must be another one of Josuna’s tests—
To check whether he still wanted to resist.

And Dispel wasn’t an idiot.

Even if the voice and tone were slightly different from hers, that didn’t mean anything.
Voices could be faked.
Easily, even.

So the smart choice was to say exactly what she wanted to hear.
Make her lower her guard.

But after a long silence—
No reaction.
No sudden licking of his ear.
No burst of the door opening with Josuna rushing in excitedly.

Strange.
This was wrong.

Dispel swallowed hard.
He was certain he hadn’t hallucinated—
Someone had spoken to him just now.

What if she really was here to help him?

Even if his rationality warned him it could still be a test…

Just one glance wouldn’t hurt, right?

Yes.
Just a glance.

Gathering his courage, Dispel turned around.

A white-haired girl in a black cloak stood there, staring at him with a blank expression.

She looked exactly like the girl he saw that night outside the convenience store.

“You… you’re the one I saw at the store that night… right?”

His voice grew uncertain.

Someone who could enter this sealed underground room without a sound—
She must be incredibly powerful.
And someone like that paying attention to him, even coming here…

Was she really human?

Something was wrong.
Definitely wrong.

“That is not important.
Do you want to leave here?”

Why was she so… dull?

She spoke without expression, without tone.
Every word was flat, like a statement of fact.

With no trace of emotion.
Maybe she really wasn’t human…

Forget it.
He was already reduced to this state—
Did he still have the luxury to pick who saved him?

Even a ghost would be fine if they could get him out.

“Yes… can you help me leave?”
Dispel asked cautiously.

“Yes.
But you must pay a price.”

Of course.

He knew it.
There was no way she was simply being kind.
But this was still his best chance.

According to Josuna, it was nighttime now.
At this hour, Josuna would always be at the church until the next morning.

Meaning—
Whatever happened now, he wouldn’t encounter her.

“You tell me first—who are you, and what do you want?”

“I have no purpose.
I was forced to come here.
Address me as… Qingcheng.
Just call me that.”

Qingcheng?

What a strange name.
Dispel was sure he had never heard anything like it in his life.

“What price?”

“Insignificant.
Only… minor psychological disturbance.”

That didn’t sound as bad as he feared.

At least compared to his current situation—
Nothing could be worse.

“Fine… I agree.”

“Then… good night, Witch of Light, Perety.”

“And… try to become someone loved by everyone.”

Dispel felt a sudden jolt of dread.

Witch…

Huh…?

Wait—NO!

A violent wave of discomfort crashed over him.
His skin felt like countless needles pierced through it.
His bones felt like they were being shattered and rearranged.
Twisted and forced together.

As if someone were trying to bake an orange pie out of him.

The pain was unbearable.
Dispel blacked out instantly.

When he woke again, he didn’t know how much time had passed.

His whole body felt sore, drained—
Like he’d run for miles.

But he could tell he hadn’t been unconscious long.
Josuna wasn’t here.
There were no chains suddenly reappearing on him.

But what did that girl even mean?

Use him?
For what?

And now she was gone.
After doing whatever she did, she just disappeared without a word.

Weird.

Forget it.
Whatever she wanted could wait.
Escaping came first.

She said he should be able to leave now.

Dispel walked to the door.
The holy-script drawn by Josuna still glowed and flowed across the wood.

Seriously?
She left the spell?!
So what kind of “help” was that?!

A price without any benefit at all—was that her idea of a joke?

Fuming, Dispel slammed his fist against the door—

And the holy-script shattered into countless tiny points of light.

The lights drifted around him like stars.
From them, he felt a gentle warmth—soft, comforting—
A sensation he had never experienced before.
Even his fatigue melted away.

Dispel reached out and touched the lights.
The light element followed his fingertips, flowing into his body and disappearing like it had never existed.

The door opened.

Absurd, unbelievable—
But real.

Dispel walked out of the underground room.