“…Wait… seriously…?”
Shink.
Faced with a sword held before her eyes, Linfa neville exhaled as if she had given up.
“…Hizaki, who are you?”
“Not telling. I’m secretive.”
Perhaps because his subordinate had used those words sarcastically against him earlier, his smile was a bit weak.
To confirm his victory, he flicked Linfa neville’s forehead with his finger.
“A mysterious figure who defeated a Level 8 Explorer… sounds pretty cool, right?”
“…………Just a little bit.”
As Linfa neville turned her head away, the referee confirmed her loss of will to fight.
“The winner: Hizaki!!”
The landmine-type magic.
While it looked like she had stepped on it by accident, it showed a different face when viewed from the keep.
There were no ice spears falling on the path Linfa neville had chosen.
In other words, Linfa neville had been guided. To ensure she stepped exactly there.
By no one else but Hizaki.
Kaguya, her eyes sparkling, realized she was leaning forward and sat back down embarrassedly.
“Call him! Call that man here right now!”
“As you wish.”
Ignoring the attendant who followed her order, Kaguya muttered.
“…Ice magic. —To think I would see that Corpse King with my own eyes… I am truly lucky.”
The demoness, smiling mysteriously, looked up at the moon.
“This is someone I must meet not as the Ruinous Beauty Kaguya—but as the 56th Greater Demon, [Gremory]!”
■
Hresvelg, having spat out her resentment and the long-accumulated anger of many years, along with all the other miscellaneous feelings that had nowhere to go, was now bathed in the magical light of the Sleepless Country while dragging her legs, which were still numb from sitting in seiza.
She had said everything she wanted to say. Since she had vented what was bottled up, her mood had naturally cleared. Seeing the Corpse King look down apologetically had made her feel better. …And at the same time, it made her unshakeably sad.
(Why… won’t you tell me?)
She just wanted to know. She thought that if she said that much, he would surely tell her.
Because she liked his kindness. Because she believed that he loved them, the Eight Precepts, like family.
But in the end, he had kept his mouth shut.
She had known for a long time that he hadn’t left them without a reason.
Just as the Corpse King cared for Hresvelg, no, even more than that, Hresvelg cared for the Corpse King.
That was exactly why she wanted him to share whatever he was carrying. If he trusted her, she should be able to carry that burden with him.
(That’s… what I wanted to say.)
The words that had almost come out of Hresvelg’s throat had been swallowed by fear.
What if, when she said it… he still wouldn’t tell her anything?
What if he just laughed it off like he always did, making some pleasant-sounding excuse to joke around, and that was it?
What if she only meant that much to him?
Losing to her own loud weakness that made her stop and just imagine things, Hresvelg was unable to take that final step.
Walking or floating, drifting aimlessly depending on her mood.
As if reflecting the instability of her heart, Hresvelg wandered through the Sleepless Country and eventually found herself in front of the Fighting Arena.
The main street led to the entrance of the Fighting Arena. Entering a side alley, she looked down with cold eyes at a young man crouching in the darkness.
“Mr. Big Brother. You ended up coming back here after all.”
With swollen cheeks and clothes frayed from rubbing against things, Aleu-Carry was there, his appearance radiating a sense of despair even to a bystander.
Despite everything Hizaki had said to him, Aleu-Carry was still seeking power. The path of starting over from scratch was not an option for him.
Unable to forget the taste of the nectar he had once sucked, like an insect waiting for a new flower to bloom, he looked up at Hresvelg with dead eyes.
“Heh… hahah! I knew you’d come back… Hresvelg.”
He had been waiting. Having fallen to the depths of despair, he was once again waiting for Hresvelg’s instant power.
“You must have dumped that man pretty hard, huh? Hahah! Fools who think power or looks are everything are everywhere… I’m glad you came back, Hresvelg.”
How could Aleu, who neglected effort and waited for power to be given to him, have the right to deny him? Hresvelg found it ridiculous and narrowed her dead eyes.
“I won’t hold back anymore. You were lowering your output because your opponent was a man you knew, right? But there won’t be a next time. ……I’ll crush Hizaki with everything I’ve got… you hear me?”
A mass of complexes. Hresvelg still evaluated him as such.
Nothing had changed since the first time Aleu and Hresvelg met in this alley.
“It won’t change anything anyway.”
Hresvelg’s words were thrown out.
In that instant, Hresvelg’s throat was grabbed and she was slammed against the wall.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
“You… you’re the one who chose me!! Right!? I’m different from those guys who only have their unique abilities! I have the brains and the potential! Right!? Hey!! Damn it… damn it all!!”
As Aleu interrogated her with bloodshot eyes and foam at the corners of his mouth, Hresvelg gave a thin, mocking smile.
“…You’re right. Let’s do our best, Mr. Big Brother.”
Muttering shortly, she transformed her body into a light-blue orb of light and entered Aleu’s chest.
From the start, she had chosen to call out to a human heading toward ruin, so this was within the realm of expectation.
“Ye-Yeah, that’s right… I’ll use your power well… heehee.”
As the supernatural spirit returned to his hand, he bit back a twitching smile.
“Do you seek power, young man?”
A low, gloomy voice that predicted a dark turn of events called out to Aleu as he was about to walk away.
Even for Aleu, who couldn’t possibly sense a presence, the dense aura emitted by the source traveled up his spine to his brain. When he turned around, standing there was a figure completely hidden by a cloak.
“Aleu-Carry. Your magic was magnificent.”
Sudden praise reached his ears. As Aleu let out a dry gulp in the tense air, the man continued.
“I shall give you a place where you can make the most of your power.”
“M-My… power…?”
The light emitted by the street stalls moving along the main road spilled into the alleyway, illuminating the man for just a fleeting second.
From deep within his hood, his eyes reflected the light unnaturally. His left eye was not that of a human; it was a crystal of dense, negative magical energy. An obsidian radiance.
Hresvelgr immediately realized that it was the eye of a Greater Demon.
Despite that, she said nothing. Neither advice nor warnings were necessary for Aleu.
She knew that, regardless, he would take this hand.
“W-Who… what is your name?”
He had acknowledged him. He had given him a “treat.” To the man who had done so, Aleu asked in a voice befitting his appearance as a “fine young man.”
“The Porter… that is what I am called.”
The power this man calling himself [The Porter] sought was not Aleu’s, but Hresvelgr’s.
However, to Aleu, that was equally his own power.
If Aleu had been the kind of person who considered it Hresvelgr’s power and respected her as an individual, perhaps the outcome would have changed.
“If you desire it, follow me. I can erase every single one of your enemies from this Sleepless Country. Within your power lies that hidden potential.”
Flattery at its finest. Hresvelgr was already certain of their impending ruin.
“Anywhere is fine! J-Just take me away quickly…!!”
The laziness of a young man who had refused to face reality since childhood finally bared its fangs at him.
■
As I stepped off the stage with the roaring cheers at my back, I was met with resentful glares and looks smeared with greed from the spectator seats.
There probably weren’t many who bet on me, but even those who did must have smelled the scent of money on me.
Unfortunately for them, my earnings in the Sleepless Country had far exceeded my target amount. I have no reason to continue being a “Fighters” any longer.
I need to hurry up and meet this Kaguya person, ask what I want to know, investigate the curse, and check out the auction.
Kaguya the Ruinous Beauty.
That’s a name I never heard 180 years ago. I know the details from Nifl, but I have no information beyond that.
Still, if she’s a person of power, she should be somewhat flexible. If Kaguya doesn’t know about the “Fake Helheim,” I can probably get her to introduce me to Kouka.
While I was thinking about my meeting with Kaguya, a middle-aged man dressed in a black suit appeared as if on cue.
The man, bowing with a respectful attitude, began.
“Hizaki-sama, thank you for your hard work in the recent match. Kaguya-sama is calling for you.”
He spoke with an air that allowed no room for refusal, as if it were already a settled matter.
I had no intention of refusing, but he led me away without even waiting for an answer, moving with such efficiency as if no one had ever refused before.
She seems to be a very popular lord; I guess no one has actually turned her down until now.
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