As I dodged the ladle from Emir and Miya, swinging a stone clumsily, Rex attacked my back, and the force almost made me faint.
"Ugh!"
I gritted my teeth and blocked the second hammer blow with my sword. "Snap out of it! Rex!" But my scream was promptly ignored, as if he didn't hear it. He kept muttering things like, "It's all your fault..." and "Why? Why...?" The situation seemed dire, and my party's enchantment wouldn't be broken easily.
Amidst my struggle, a sweet voice sounded out. "Do you need help? Fugly?" There, on a rock, was Ophelia, combing her pink hair as if this chaos didn't involve her. My blood pressure rose as I screamed for help, "Of course!!! Why are you combing your hair!?"
"Help me..." I blocked the heavy hammer with all my might. Rex had great strength, so I couldn't keep holding him back. "Please help me!" I screamed with all my might.
Ophelia smirked playfully before answering, "Oh? Should I?"
My vision grew cloudy, and I lost more blood as the fight went on. Just as Rex's hammer was about to smash my head while I was distracted, it stopped, and Rex fell to the ground, unconscious.
Not just him; Miya and Emir also fell down. Ophelia's voice sounded out, "There you have it. You owe me one, Fugly." She disinterestedly polished her nails.
It was over. But the caster was still around; I couldn't let my guard down. I walked limply near Ophelia and stated, "The caster is still around!"
Ophelia gazed at me and pointed somewhere with her chin. I followed the direction and saw a small imp demon knocked unconscious, just like my party members. "Did you do this?" I asked.
She said nothing. She is strong; how did she get captured anyway? "Is it magic?" I asked as I bandaged my wound.
"Yes. Don't ask anything else, Fugly!" she said in annoyance.
I flinched and stayed quiet through the night, still wary. When morning arrived, Emir woke up. "Ugh. Huh? Why am I on the ground?"
I said nothing. Ophelia told me not to speak of her magical ability; she must have her reasons for hiding it. And my party won't remember what happened when under the enchantment. I also swiftly disposed of the imp demon corpse in the nearby river, so my party wouldn't remember what happened last night. At most, they would be curious why they were suddenly on the ground holding a stone and such.
And precisely, I was pestered by Miya asking about last night; she seemed to unlock some sort of sixth sense. But perhaps, not finding anything after countless questions, she simply gave up.
Soon our party arrived at the town. Rex paid the coachman, and we all entered the guild hall and completed the quest. "It was decent; I had a good fight," Rex started to grin. This bastard, I almost died because of him. "Yeah, the reward is good... I can buy those now..." Emir giggled.
"I'm fine as long as I'm with Emir and dumb!" Miya cheered with a grin.
"Me too." I smiled while chewing on some jerky to reduce my stress. Oh, I remembered now; I am going to search for that suspicious potion. Hehe... Wait for me, handsome me!
We all departed from each other, and I returned to a room I booked in an inn. It was cheap and had good service. I took off my leather armor, went naked, and entered the steaming water.
Soaking myself in the warm water, I felt my fatigue go away, and I accidentally fell asleep inside the bath.
I woke up the next day and wore my leather armor again. Well, I like the design, especially the black color. "Alright, I'm set for the day!" Then I realized today was Sunday, the only day we don't take a quest. 'Guess I search for that potion today.'
I walked through the town; the scenery was nice and cozy, akin to a medieval fantasy vibe. I wondered what happened to me before I got here. Whenever I tried to remember something related to me, I felt that my memory was kinda missing. Even my name, Dumb, is something I took for fun.
Soon, as I walked dazedly, I arrived at a suspicious, almost poor-looking shop. My face brightened as I remembered this was the shop that sells the potion.
I entered the shop, but there was no one to welcome me, so I called out, "Hello?"
"Hello?" I called again.
I grew tired of calling for the shop owner, so I started checking out the items here. It sold a variety of items such as a mask that changes voice or a bead... just a bead with no purpose; heck, it's even ugly. Is this really a shop? I smiled awkwardly.
"Who are you?" An old voice called out to me.
I turned my head and saw a granny wearing a black robe and hood. Suspicious, I say, but I ignored my skepticism. "Do you sell items that make one more... you know... ATTRACTIVE... hehe."
The granny laughed without answering. "Kehekehkehkeh." I waited, and she started speaking again. She is clearly a criminal! No! No! Don't judge a granny by her suspiciousness.
"An item to make one more attractive? We have that."
She walked to a shelf and pulled out a potion filled with black liquid. She showed her five fingers, then added another finger and uttered a price, "60 gold!"
What the fudge? Even my sword doesn't cost 1/5 of that. Is this a new kind of scam? "Are you serious!? Granny?"
"Are you happy? Yes, this is very chea—"
"Cheap, my ass!!!"
The granny was startled and started haggling the price down. After back-and-forth haggling, I managed to lower the price to one gold... What the heck? Is this granny a pushover? I can't stop grinning at my skill in haggling.
"No take-backs, okay? Deal!" I grabbed the suspicious potion and shoved a gold coin into her wrinkly hand.
The granny awkwardly smiled and sighed, 'sigh, I made a loss...'
I left the shop and returned to the inn. I excitedly sat on the soft bed, uncorked the potion filled with black liquid, and dunked it all in my mouth. It tasted like literal shit, I mean it. But if this is the price to be handsome, I'll go through with it!
"Blergh!" I almost puked it out.
'Let's check the mirror!' I ran to the bathroom and looked in the mirror.
"Woah!!!"
In front of me was a handsome face better than an idol; its sharp eyes would draw anyone in. With eyebrows as elegant as swaying grass, and hair as beautiful as a sculpture. What is this face, man? Am I still me??
But wait? Won't everyone recognize me? No, no, they must recognize me; after all, the face doesn't fall far from the original. I smirked as I posed like an idol in front of the mirror.
The first thing I did was search for my party members. I walked to the same shop Emir usually buys magic tools from and found her silver-white hair in the shop, admiring the various magic tools.
I took a breath and approached her. "Emir! How are you?" I asked a random question, waiting for her surprised expression; maybe she would fall in love with me?
Emir turned her head at me, and though startled by my beautiful face, she simply asked, "Um, do I know you, sir?"
"Haha. What are you talking about? It's me, Dumb!"
"Dumb? No way! Ahahahahahaha!!!" She started to laugh out loud and continued skimming the magic tools, ignoring this handsome stranger.
But that laugh stung my heart more than anything. It told me what Emir had been thinking about my face all along, so I simply left the shop with less enthusiasm.
But this was not the end of it, I should check Rex's reaction; his is especially important. I really wanna say, 'sorry bro, I'm more handsome...'
I gleefully walked to Rex's usual place. A gym. I arrived at the small gym, and entering it smelled of sweat, really overwhelming. "Sigh... Rex! Are you here?"
Soon Rex appeared from one of the rooms still lifting a large dumbbell. Seriously, what is this guy's body made of? Look at that bulging muscle.
"What can I do for you, sir?" Rex asked politely.
Why did everyone call me sir? Is it this potion's secondary effect? The granny didn't tell me about it, though.
I pushed away my thoughts and introduced myself, "It's me, Dumb!"
"So what do you think?"
"Aren't,"
"I!"
"MORE HANDSOME THAN YOU!" I pointed my finger at him.
"Dumb? No, Dumb doesn't have that kind of face."
"Please leave, sir, or I will call the guard." Rex walked away. And I think he thought of me as some kind of psycho.
Soon the guard dragged me out amidst my scream, which was ignored by Rex.
"Geez! I can't believe them!" I sat on one of the benches in the park while eating a piece of beef jerky.
"Sigh. I guess you all left beef jerky!" I muttered like some mental asylum.
I guess I give up on being handsome; let's go back to ordinary me!
Let's head back to the suspicious shop. But before I could get up, a child's voice sounded out.
"Dumb! Wah! Beef jerky! Give me some!"
There in front of me was Miya with her usual yellow short hair. I smiled and decided to give her one of my precious beef jerky. At least one of them recognized me.
I returned to the suspicious shop. I still had to call out a few times before the same granny appeared. After I told her I was gonna change back to my original self, she smiled at me.
Apparently, if you don't take the antidote for the potion, you would die agonizingly after 24 hours. Is this granny serious? I told you she must be absolutely a criminal! And really nasty one!
To be continued...