Chapter 113 - Ritual
"I got an idea of how to break the curse, do you wanna hear it?"
"Really? Sure, let me hear it. Maybe I could also offer some help?"
Boss Mario took a glimpse at him while he put his hands on his chin as if pondering about something.
"Well, this is just an idea so you don't need to get serious about it. But, have you heard of the story, Sleeping Snow?"
"Sleeping Snow? No, haven't heard of that!"
"Well, in any case, it was a story centered on a girl named Snow. Due to jealousy of her natural beauty that was as beautiful as that of snow, the evil witch, which turned out to be her stepmother, cursed her to die during her 18th birthday. However, thanks to her guardian faires, she only falls into a deep sleep, and it can only be ended with a kiss from the man she loves."
"At this point, aren't their situations somehow similar to each other? Falling into slumber, the curse, and her guardian fairy which we can assume as her sister Marrie, and lastly, she's also eighteen years old, the same age as Snow, the protagonist of the story, Sleeping Snow!"
Ban tilted his head as he pondered about it. He realized that what Boss Mario just said somehow sounded true.
"Yes, their situation is definitely the same. So, even if it was true, do you know the man that she loves?" Ban asked curiously.
"Well, I don't but I have someone in mind." Boss Mario said with a mysterious grin.
Just as Ban was about to ask who it was, they suddenly heard footsteps coming from the stairs.
A while later, they saw Kuys enter the room while carrying a girl. Ban recognized her right away as she was the one who handled his awakening, as well as the one who handled his Adventurers Guild registration.
It was Marrie, Emilia's older sister, as well as the one who shared the curse with her.
Behind Kuys, Ban saw an old lady with a hunchback walking with a walking stick calmly. Her eyes were closed and yet she could still somehow walk normally with the help of the stick.
A two headed snake the size of an arm coiled around her waist all the way to her shoulders and neck. They kept on flickering their tongues but strangely enough, there was no sound coming from their mouth.
The old lady's name was Doctor Wakwak. She is the oldest doctor in the city and the number of people she cured could no longer be counted. Her services are cheap so poor people often go to her to ask for some health advice.
When Ban thought that he was getting crazy before, the first person he wanted to consult was this same old lady that is now in front of him.
Kuys placed Marrie's body just beside her sister on the bed. He then turned towards Doctor Wakwak while saying with a frown "I thought they were already healed or at least getting better?"
"Who knows about that. I also thought the same just a moment ago." Doctor Wakwak answered unhurriedly with her old voice.
"Can you still cure them?"
"Well, to be honest, I'm no longer confident. But, let's just try the same method again. Although it did not work in the end, it still lowered the frequency of their curse acting up from once or twice a month to just one episode after three years." Doctor Wakwak proudly stated as her two headed snakes coiled and bit each other's head playfully.
"Alright, please do it!" Kuys said in a determined tone.
He was still feeling guilty about what happened to the sisters before. If only he did not waste his time during that time, he might have actually arrived just before the ritual started.
"Don't worry! I will, it's my duty after all!" Doctor Wakwak said with a matter of factly voice.
"I'll stop wasting time and start the treatment right away. You all are allowed to stay but do not disturb me by all means." She warned as she three her walking stick to the side.
She cracked her head, straightened her back, and rotated her arms clockwise before moving closer towards the bed.
"Alright!" Kuys answered as he moved towards Ban and Mario who were curiously observing her movements.
Kuys already saw how she treated them before so he was not as curious as the other two. However, he still remained inside so that he can act if anything goes awry. The Summon of the two girls also went along with him as they climbed to each of his shoulders to watch the process with a worried gaze to their owners.
Ban was also curious about how she would cure them. Boss Mario mentioned earlier that she used some unorthodox techniques when she dealt with the sister before.
Doctor Wakwak waved her hands as she allowed her snake to crawl towards the two girls sleeping on the bed. The snake positioned itself at the center of the two. Its two heads stretched sideways and the two heads were now laying at the top of each girl's stomach.
Doctor Wakwak's eyes opened slightly and after seeing that her snake was now in position, she immediately started her unorthodox techniques.
She reached into her pocket and took a glass bottle full of blood. She dipped her hand on it as she started drawing symbols after symbols around the bed.
After a few minutes, Doctor Wakwak kept the glass bottle that was now near-empty in her pocket again.
She then took the walking stick she threw to the side earlier and after pressing a button, leaves somehow started to sprout around the stick. After a full minute, the stick was now full of brown leaves.
Ban's eyes glowed after seeing that scene as he was amazed and confused at how she managed to do that. He was also curious about the mysterious symbol she drew. He guessed that she might also do a ritual of some sort.
However, he just contained his curiosity deep inside him as he knew that he should not disturb her at any cost.
She clasped the stick and closed her eyes more tightly than before as she stood with a straight back at the bottom of the bed.
Before long, she started murmuring and as time passed by, her murmurs keeps on getting louder and louder.
"... Jumu Jumo panky tawnnn… Jumo Jumo pankty tawnnn…"
She chanted with the same unrecognizable words over and over again. Another minute passed by since her murmurs started to get clear, she suddenly started oddly twisting her body.
Twist after twist and it now somehow looks like she was dancing. She started moving around the bed while still doing that chant and body twisting.
At the same time, her two headed snake was also somehow influenced by her behavior as its tail started to wag like crazy. A moment later, its tail was now slamming the bed quite intensely, as if to answer the intense dance and chant that Doctor Wakwak was doing.
The snake's two heads started to shine brightly while atop the two girl's stomachs as the ritual became more intense.
"... Jumu Jumo panky tawnnn… Jumo Jumo pankty tawnnn…"
"Haaa yahhh!" Doctor Wakwak shouted as she reached the climax of her very own ritual.
The two headed snake's heads brightness also reached the peak. The heads started to tremble as the both of them opened their mouths widely at the same time.
Blackish saliva started to get released on the two headed snake's two mouths. The blackish saliva sprayed on the stomach of the two girls until they were almost covered.
After spraying that blackish saliva, the snake crawled away towards its owner, Doctor Wakwak weakly. However, it was not able to arrive in time as it fainted the same moment it left the two girl's stomachs.
The two headed snake's size started to shrink a while later as it layed on the bed limply. Doctor Wakwak approached it before carrying it like a baby.
"There, there! You worked hard, little girl!" She said as she patted the two heads of the two headed snake.
Ban and Kuys eyes never left the two girls sleeping on the bed. On one thing, Kuys wanted to make sure nothing was wrong and on the other, Ban was curious about the effect of the ritual.
While he observed the ritual earlier, he could not help but think of something similar in nature. The scene somehow resembled one of the illustrations he saw earlier in that book.
However, he later shook his head to get rid of his dirty thoughts.
"She's frowning!" Ban exclaimed the moment he saw Emilia's face starting to frown.
"Don't worry, that's normal." Doctor Wakwak said.
"The special venom that my snake sprayed all over them is now starting to show its effects. Let's just wait for a few minutes and if nothing goes wrong, they might be able to wake up tomorrow."
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Thanks for reading.
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I'm currently taking my midterm exams so only 1 chapter a day for now. But the word count increased from 1k-1.2k words to 1..5k+ words per chapter so no worries.