Chapter 75 Lucky Relief: A Blurred-Faced Plaster Figurine

Chapter 75: Lucky Relief: A Featureless Plaster Figure

When Everly and Misha found Gina, she was surrounded by several people, all chattering away and firing questions at her.

It seemed that not only Misha, but other students had also heard about Gina's perfect math score and had gathered around her to get the scoop.

Unlike the excited and gossiping classmates, Gina's eyes looked vacant as the crowd pressed in around her, her gaze fixed vaguely on some point in the air, looking somewhat dazed, as if she were spacing out.

"...Gina, Gina! Okay, stop being so coy, just spill it already—what's your secret to getting such a high math score?" The girl standing to her left was probably a close friend, and seeing Gina zoned out, she couldn't help but nudge her.

"Huh... oh, you mean that." Gina blinked as the girl pushed her, and her facial expression finally regained its liveliness. "Sorry, I think I've been burning the midnight oil these past couple of days, so I've had trouble focusing."

"No worries, no worries, we get it."

"Gina must have been hitting the books hard to get this tired."

"Actually, it's not really like that..." As the girls showered her with praise, Gina looked a little embarrassed. She lowered her head and fished a small white plaster figure out of her pocket: "Actually, the reason I got a perfect score is all thanks to this."

"What is that?"

"It's called a 'Lucky Relief'—it's the Bohemian people's guardian and symbol of good luck, and it's also the lucky charm that got me my perfect score." Gina set the figure on the table and turned it around so everyone could see it from all angles.

The moment she laid eyes on the plaster statue, Everly's danger alarm went off. Overwhelmed with fear, cold sweat broke out on her back, and her heart pounded wildly in her chest, as if it might burst out at any second.

Luckily, the warning pendant she wore didn't react, and that single glance didn't give Everly any dizziness, deep fascination, or other signs of mental contamination—meaning that just looking at the plaster statue wasn't dangerous.

To avoid drawing unnecessary attention by overreacting, Everly fought the urge to turn and run, standing as far from the statue as possible and, like everyone else, carefully studied it.

The plaster figure was only half a palm tall, a featureless little person. It stood upright, wearing a metal crown shaped like a halo ringed with thorns.

Since the figure's face was indistinguishable, everyone's eyes were immediately drawn to the crown. It was unclear what metal it was made of, but in the sunlight, the whole crown gave off a faint reddish glow.

Gina reached out, gently running her fingertip over the red thorns of the crown, and that dazed expression crept back onto her face: "Of course, just by the size, you can tell this is a cheap imitation. The original 'Lucky Relief' is a huge bronze statue that still stands on Charles Bridge in Prague, Czech Republic."

"If that's the case, how can this statue still bless you with exam success?" a girl asked curiously.

Gina smiled, held up one finger, and showed everyone her still-scarred fingertip: "Because I used a spell to borrow luck."

"A luck-borrowing spell?"

"Yeah, Ms. Belin taught me this. Prepare three plaster busts—any size works—and on the night of the full moon at midnight, sit in the middle of the three busts facing northwest, light a candle, prick your finger on a thorn from the Lucky Relief's crown, drip the blood onto the crown, and then silently chant a spell. Once the crown turns red, the ritual is complete, and the Lucky Relief in our hands will be linked to the original in the Czech Republic. As long as you carry it with you, the relief will bless you with academic success and endless inspiration."

"Does it really work that well?"

"You're not messing with us, are you?"

"Why would I lie to you? Of course it's for real. Otherwise, with my old math scores, how could I possibly have gotten a perfect score on this SAT?"

Despite Gina's confident claims, some people still looked doubtful. Seeing this, Gina got a bit annoyed, reached into her pocket, and pulled out two more featureless plaster figures.

"I have two more unused Lucky Reliefs here. See, the crowns are still bronze—they haven't gone through the borrowing ritual yet. If anyone doesn't believe me, take one and try it yourself. The full moon's in two days anyway... who wants one?"

The girls exchanged glances, and figuring there was no harm in trying, they all raised their hands.

"Me, me!"

"Gina, let me try! I've never done such an interesting ritual before."

"Give it to me—we're best friends!"

"..."

The whole classroom suddenly got as rowdy as a clearance sale.

Everly had already sensed something was off about the plaster statue, so there was no way she was going to ask for one. Not only that, but she also grabbed Misha, who seemed a bit tempted, and subtly shook her head at her friend.

Seeing Everly's reaction, Misha silently withdrew her hand.

Everly ducked into a hidden corner, pulled out her phone, snapped a photo of the plaster statue, then grabbed Misha and left the empty classroom.

"Everly, what's wrong? Is there something off about that plaster statue?" Misha asked curiously once they were far from the classroom.

Everly nodded: "You should be more cautious too. After seeing something like the monkey's paw, you should know that there's no such thing as getting something for nothing in this world. If you want to gain something, you have to pay a price—especially when the entity you're making wishes to is a supernatural one. The cost will definitely be several times heavier than what you get."

Misha stuck out her tongue and raised both hands in surrender: "I know, I know, I was wrong. It's just that Gina made it sound so amazing that I couldn't help but be tempted... So, Everly, tell me—what exactly is wrong with that thing? Is it some kind of evil witchcraft tool?"

"I don't know either, but that plaster statue gave me a really bad feeling... Don't you dare touch it. I'll help you with your math tutoring—have a little faith in my teaching skills, okay?"

"Mhm mhm, I definitely won't touch it."

Only after receiving Misha's repeated assurances did Everly feel at ease. She opened her phone's photo album, sent the secretly taken photo of the plaster statue to Rebecca, then typed out a message describing everything she had just seen and heard, asking Rebecca if she'd ever heard of anything similar.

[?]

[Lucky Relief? Luck-borrowing ritual? What is that? I've never heard of it at all.]

[Hold on, let me ask in my group.]

Rebecca sent a triple-question reply, then fell into a brief silence.

Everly knew she was reaching out to her contacts, so she moved the chat window aside and opened a search engine to look up information about the original "Lucky Relief" in the Czech Republic.

The "Lucky Relief" is a Czech national treasure. It's a bronze statue wearing a halo-like crown. Ignoring the face, just looking at the design, it does bear some resemblance to the small plaster figures.

The statue depicts a red-clad cardinal named Jan Nepomucký. In the 14th century, because the cardinal refused to reveal the queen's confession to the king, the king ordered him to be thrown into the Vltava River. Miraculously, the moment the cardinal's body was submerged in the river, people saw five brilliant stars appear in the sky. The Church consequently canonized the cardinal as a saint, and his statue became a lucky charm that brings good fortune to those who touch it.

However, calling it a "lucky charm" was more rooted in local culture and faith. As for actual instances of it bringing people luck, Everly searched for a long time and found nothing.

Could a relief whose symbolic meaning outweighed its practical effect really lend people good luck? Or were those plaster figures just products that borrowed the "Lucky Relief" name as a front?

Everly leaned toward the latter.

Just as she was thinking, her phone vibrated—Rebecca's reply had arrived.

[I asked around for you. Everyone in the group says they've never heard of this ritual. I suspect it's either a made-up ritual or a variant of some evil ritual. Because while the moon represents purity, it also symbolizes mystery, madness, and unrest. The chaos and disorder contained in moonlight reach their peak on the night of the full moon.]

[Aristotle and Hippocrates both said that the full moon drives humans to madness. That statement might be too absolute, but there's some truth to it. Therefore, rituals related to purification and blessing generally avoid the full moon, choosing instead to be performed around it when the moon isn't so full. Only a few materials like clear quartz can resist the frenzied nature of full moon nights. Additionally, rituals involving curses, contamination, and negative energy also tend to be concentrated on full moon nights.]

[Since we don't have the incantation, we can't analyze exactly what's going on. In any case, whether or not that ritual actually works, Little Miss had better not try it~]

Everly typed rapidly: [Got it, thanks.]

[By the way, the shop just got a new batch of good stuff recently. Come by when you have time and support my business.]

Everly: [OK, I'll come this weekend.]

After arranging the weekend transaction with Rebecca, Everly handed her phone to Misha so she could read what Rebecca had sent.

Her intention was to let Misha learn more about the mystical side of things, so that if she encountered a similar situation in the future, she wouldn't fall for it as naively as she had today.

Sure enough, just a day later, Misha grabbed a slip of paper and, when no one was paying attention, slyly slipped it into Everly's hand.

[You wanted a spell, right? Here, I got one.] Misha messaged Everly on her phone.

To keep their friendship under wraps at school, they always communicated this way.

Everly: [???]

[Where did you get this spell from?]

Misha: [I asked the two girls who got the plaster statues for it. Hehe, Misha's got tons of friends, y'know.]

[...]

Everly sent back a bunch of dots, unfolded the paper and gave it a quick once-over, seeing a series of complex phonetic symbols—good grief, she'd expected something in English or Latin or something like that, but phonetic symbols? Were they afraid someone would trace the written words and search for the spell's translation online?

Everly's second language was Greek—and, if you had to count it, Xia Country speech too—but beyond that, she wasn't proficient in other languages. She gritted her teeth and tried to sound out a few lines, but it was mostly gibberish, so she couldn't be bothered to dig deeper. She simply pulled out her phone, took a photo, and sent it to Rebecca along with a 100-Mido tip.

Money talks. In just over ten minutes, Rebecca sent back a reply.

[!!!]

[Little Miss, where did you get this spell?!]

["In this moment when the moon's power surges, the locked dark gates open in sequence, and I humbly offer three heads and a lowly servant's body, praying to my generous and merciful lord, the great King of Hell, the Archangel King Paimon, for your might..."]

[—This isn't a luck-borrowing spell at all; it's literally a self-sacrifice to Paimon!!!]