This made the little spirit fused, but she soon found out why. Unlike her predi, closing off her senses had almost no effe her increasing curiosity. In fact, it only made her even more curious!

  Uwa! It’s not w! Is— Is it because I am even more curious about what she’s doing now that I ’t see her?

  As if to firm her theory, the dang spirit let out another chuckle without interrupting her dance.

  Uhe greater spirit’s mog ughter, Chara finally became angry enough to brush away a bit of her cowardice.

  Hmph! Who is curious about your stupid dance? If thinking about you is what’s making me curious, then the only thing I o do is clear my mind!

  If only it was that easy…

  Lamentably, for someoh as many thoughts as Chara, clearing her mind would be aremely difficult task. Moreover, she was in a dangerous situation where her mind was under siege by another spirit. Under such circumstances, how could her thoughts not be filled with the other spirit?

  Paradoxically, in what could only be sidered a feat of pure stubbornness and desperation, Chara mao clear her mind, dispelling all of her curiosity.

  However, her ued breakthrough only made the curiosity spirit giggle before ging tactics. Without any prior warning, she appeared right o Chara and booped her on the side with a mana tendril, nearly colpsing her tration in an instant.

  Uwaaaaa! That! That! That’s Cheeaaaatiiiiiiing!!! Chara was so ed that she nearly fainted on the spot. pletely indignant, she quintupled her efforts to steel her mind. She was determio ighe dang spirit at any cost.

  Hmph, trying to ignore me? A likely story! Nobody resist curiosity!

  The curiosity spirit adjusted her movements and began to dance much closer to the little spirit. Then, like a mischievous fairy, she began to tease the blind and immobile spirit amidst her dance by itently booping her from different angles in order to stimute her curiosity and disturb her tration.

  Let’s see how long you keep this up, Little Spirit~! cheered Curiosity while giggling pyfully.

  Keeping her mind clear was being more difficult by the sed. Uhe stant and uable bombardment of Curiosity’s teasing, it was not long before Chara’s clear mind began to falter.

  Unfortunately, the greater spirit was much more treacherous than she could have ever imagined. Because she had beeed nicely, Chara had both overestimated Curiosity’s patience while uimating her bottom line.

  Seemingly looking for a way to make her game of teasing more eaining, the curiosity spirit had an idea. Little by little, a devious pn started to form in her mind that could help her vent her frustration while also disturbing the little spirit’s tration.

  After all, just because she wasn’t willing to hurt the little spirit, didn’t mean that she couldn’t make things difficult for her in other ways. With just how angry she had been previously, Curiosity was more than willing to extract as mujoyment from her as possible, even at Chara’s expense.

  Let’s see if you keep ign me after this…

  Amidst her plicated and mysterious dahe greater spirit found an opportunity to sm into the little spirit, and pletely switch pces with her.

  Rocketing through the air, Chara was about to crash into a crystal wall when she reached the apex of her parabo and was sucked right bato the whirlpool of mana. Catg her in the nick of time, the dang spirit used Chara to do a little pirouette, before ung her again, but this time at a different angle.

  Suddenly, it was not a big p orbiting a little moon. It was a little moon, orbiting a big p with an orbit in the shape of an ellipse. Repeatedly ing very close, befoing far into the distance. If viewed from above, the little moon’s path would eventually form into the shape of a flower.

  Before she k, the little spirit was no lohe ter of the gaxy. Instead, she was being bounced around while blindfolded and helpless while the greater spirit pyed a game of ping pong against herself.

  Uwaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

  Chara’s tration instantly colpsed. Uhe curiosity spirit’s releorment, it was not long before her mind began to be suffused with curiosity and i.

  Why is she doing this? Why gh all this effort? If all she wants to do is boss me around, then she already do that!

  Funnily enough, although the gradual increase in curiosity was trary toal, terintuitively, it was also increasing her problem-solving skills by making her ask questions.

  Isn’t this too much? Why is she trying so hard to get my attention? Does she need me to notice her that badly? No, that doesn’t make any sense! Assuming her goal is to make me curious, then her weird dance already makes me curious even when I’m not looking…

  If things tihe way they are going, then I will end up getting ed by curiosity whether I observe her dance or not. Therefore, there shouldn’t be any reason to try this hard to get me to look…

  Whatever, let’s assume there is a crete reason she absolutely needs me to watch her dahen why hasn’t she used her ability to force me? This is only my specution, but I’m pretty sure she only enfore order at a time…

  That said, even if me to watch her dance lifts the prohibition on movement, she has many other ways to keep me from esg, including what she’s doing now. In that case, if she indeed needs me to, then she has almost no reason not to order me to watch her dance…

  Now the question is, despite all of this, why does she need me to look, and why won’t she force me to look?

  After thinking until this point, all the puzzle pieces within her head finally fit together, leadio e up with a devastating theory.

  If I open my eyes now, it will be like admitting that I’ve given in to my curiosity!

  Closing of her perception and vision had backfired.

  inally, she had done so to better resist the greater spirit’s treachery. But iy, all she had aplished was turning herself into a sitting duck. versely, if she hadn’t shut off her senses, she would have been powerless to resist in any meaningful manner.

  Fuck!! No wonder she’s been giggling this eime! She’s had everything in the bag from the start!

  Chara really wao cry so badly right now.

  Unfortunately for the little spirit, the oute had beeermined from the moment the curiosity spirit ordered her not to move. This was an inescapable fate.

  Notig the silly little spirit had finally begun to realize what was obvious from the start, Curiosity hummed in praise before mentally scolding her for ruining her fun. How b. Just when I was finally starting to have fun…

  Seeing no reason t things out any further, she stopped catg the little spirit, letting her naturally funnel her way into the eye of the storm, before quieting down and not b her again.

  W why everything had stopped, Chara waited nervously. Surely, the curiosity spirit wouldn’t have given up after ing this far, right? But after around ten more seds of silence, her curiosity got the better of her. Rather uneasily, she expanded her perception to take a look. However, the moment she heard the other spirit start giggling, she had an instant realization.

  Curiosity had opped dang!

  Without warning, the swirling gaxy of illusory water droplets took a sharp turn, casg upon Chara from every dire at once. Simultaneously, the curiosity spirit disied into a cloud of mist, only to appear right above her. Like a ductor leading an ensemble, she directed the enormous whirlpool of curiosity, and fu right towards Chara!

  “[Curiosity ferment]!”

  Uo resist, the little spirit swirled in terror as a torrent of curiosity essence mana was suffused into her being while glimmering with an aqueous light.

  Without another ounce of resistahe dark element mana cloaking her vision dispersed, and her remaining feelings of weariness and apprehension were washed away, only leaving behind squeaky- curiosity and i. Upaining her wits, she started iing everything around her, full of curiosity and i.

  Seeing this, Curiosity let out a tented sigh at a job well done. Not wanting to waste any more of her mana, she quickly dissolved the remaining whirlpool, ending the magic ritual.

  As a result of closing her eyes, Chara had missed out on a lot of crucial information. However, if she were to ihe other spirit now, she would have immediately noticed that the curiosity spirit had used over 85% of her mana. The difference was so enormous that the allegedly “greater” spirit was even smaller than her inal size. Put another way, if she had resisted opening her eyes for one more mihen Curiosity would have been forced to give up. As an experienced spirit, she knew better than to go below 10%.

  heless, while Curiosity wouldn’t be winning any awards for cleverness or strength, she was very knowledgeable and experienced within the field of curiosity and i. The strategy she had employed against Chara was one she had carefully curated over many iterations and tless failures.

  Frankly speaking, if her winning strategy was sile that it could be defeated by a newly spawned spirit that had never eve before, then Curiosity should really resider whether being a [Curiosity Essence Spirit] was the best for her—and sider being a instead!

  Seeing the little baby looking at everything around her, Curiosity called over to her little friend before the silly spirit got lost ihoughts. Bad habits o be stamped out early. She wouldn’t want Baby to suffer through the same experiences as her.

  “Little friend. e here.”

  As the little spirit g the greater spirit gaze fell upon the greater spirit, and she was instantly mesmerized by the iridest, swirling cloud of mana.

  “Hey.”

  Jolted awake, the little spirit instantly wilted in shame. “Ah um… My… My rude behavior earlier. I… Uuuu… I got scared when you ordered me not to move... and… and I tried to run away… *sobs* Uuuuuu… Uuu… I… I… I’m so sorry.”

  Chara immediately broke down g.

  “Don’t speak.”

  The little spirit immediately quieted down. Having her apology interrupted, she swirled in protest.

  “It’s okay, I five you. Just do not to let it happen again.”

  Ohe little spirit finally calmed down, the curiosity spirit finally ordered “Follow me” and the two reciled spirits floated down the crystal cavern while leading a procession of diamonds.

  maury