Chapter 339
Chapter 339
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: EP.71 – Cowardice Isn't Reserved for Villains (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
- Knight, I have a proposal. Don't you need a good great noble who listens well to you?
...
It was a sudden proposal, a unique opinion that no one could dare judge.
The kind that makes the listener ponder ethics and the sanctity of life for a moment.
However.
- Knight, this isn't a bad thing. Of course, I know it's not something the world would approve of. But Knight, sometimes you need a bit of cowardice and wickedness rather than fussing over laws or ethics. Evil is best subdued with evil. Wouldn't that be more beneficial to the world?
Her words were undeniable, and Lee Han felt it anew.
'No wonder she's called a wicked woman.'
She spoke of that "plan" without a shred of guilt.
Yet...
'In the end, I'm the one who approved it, so am I just as bad?'
Lee Han was too conscientious to play the hypocrite pretending to be pure, and this Roseth character had crossed the line far too many times.
So.
'Might as well be a bad bastard.'
It was for the greater good of cleansing the world a bit. What did it matter if they were bad or good?
For now.
"The results better be good."
Lee Han shrugged.
As if saying he'd rather watch the show than grovel.
[Hwaaaaaak-!]
...
It was a mystical sight at first glance.
Sarrr.
A dreamy, beautiful mist of pink and purple enveloped the person in an instant.
Looking at it stripped away any sense of reality, making one want to touch it at least once...
"Wh-what are you doing?!"
But for the one being enveloped—no, devoured—by the mist, it was clearly anything but pleasant.
[It's nothing much, so don't struggle. I'm just taking control of your body.]
"...What?"
[I'm not devouring your soul or anything. Dream demons don't eat souls; we feed on dreams and human energy. We're not such sinister beings. ...But if I wanted, I could do something a bit dangerous, hehe.]
For example...
[I could seal your mind temporarily. Or rather, suppress your personality—that might be more accurate. It's complicated, and I'm not the sharpest, so I can't explain it well, but the key point is you'll 'fall asleep.' A deep sleep where you don't know when—or if—you'll ever wake up.]
Woooong!
[Normally, this wouldn't be so easy. It's impossible even for infants. But since you're on the brink of death, not knowing when you'll die, it's possible. If I could do this to someone healthy, that knight probably wouldn't have let me live. It's a very dangerous power.]
"St-stop...!"
For a moment, Roseth commanded her to dispel the mist immediately.
But...
[Don't you know the laws of nature? Hehe, what predator listens to its prey?]
The dream demon smiled sweetly.
It was a breathtakingly beautiful smile, but in this moment, it was utterly chilling and terrifying.
Eyes and a smile devoid of any sympathy.
[Haaa... This is addictive.]
She felt a surging desire to push him further into despair, to plunge him into the abyss.
Like discovering a new taste she hadn't even realized she had.
It was a moment of pure ecstasy, but...
Thwack!
[......]
"Tell me if you're about to fall. I'll end you painlessly."
[N-no! I-I'm not falling at all, no sir!]
Witnessing the axe that had grazed past her embed itself in the wall, she snapped back to reality.
She knew that knight was the type to follow through, and she didn't even consider defying him.
'I got beaten for over five hours the other day, and it hurt so much. If it happens again, I'll die mid-beating...'
Judia wanted to live.
Healthily and vigorously, for as long as possible.
In that sense.
[Don't worry, Knight. I keep my promises. I'm a good person like that.]
"You're a dream demon."
[Y-you're still so prejudiced. Ahem, well, from now on...]
...I probably won't face that discrimination anymore.
The terrified dream demon couldn't voice that retort, but it didn't hinder her from doing her job.
In fact, from here on, it was easy.
[Pierre, you can do this, right?]
[I know what I have to do without advice from the likes of you.]
[You know there's no turning back now, so...]
[I know, so let me out already. I want to leave as soon as possible.]
[...Really, no affection until the very end.]
Drip.
Judia Pierre.
The woman with two names thus.
"Kwaaaaaagh!!"
Pushed Pierre aside, signaled by the arrogant family head's pathetic scream.
Hwaaak!
The butler paced the hallway anxiously.
"What on earth is going on in there...?"
It had already been two hours.
The time he'd been waiting outside, and also since the count and the mysterious knight had started talking.
As a butler, he couldn't help but be anxious, worrying if something had gone wrong.
Perhaps.
'Has something happened to His Excellency...?'
He knew His Excellency's strength.
But knowing didn't stop the worry.
If something happened to His Excellency.
'I could get dragged down too!'
Not out of loyalty, but fear of losing the backer who covered his own crimes.
"...This won't do."
The butler steeled himself for a once-in-a-lifetime resolve.
Even if it meant facing wrath.
...He was going in!
The moment he decided, his hand was already knocking swiftly.
"Your Excellency, it's me. M-may I enter?"
[......]
"Your Excellency? Count, Your Excellency?"
Knock knock.
After knocking a few more times with no response, the butler's face stiffened, his heart pounding.
Normally, His Excellency would have exploded in anger by now.
Thus, the butler.
Bam!
"Kuhk!?"
...Was sent tumbling by the suddenly opened door.
"...What are you doing, you?"
"Y-Your Excellency?"
To his relief, His Excellency emerged unscathed.
With his signature sharp eyes, twisted smirk, and arrogant aura.
Everything matched the Roseth Tura de Roengrin the butler knew.
"I asked what you're doing."
"N-nothing. Y-you were so quiet, I just..."
"Don't act like an idiot, butler. Don't we have a guest?"
"Pardon?"
"I said guest."
"...?"
Guest?
The butler's gaze furtively scanned the office, where the knight—who had seemed ready to bite his master two hours ago—now lounged on the sofa, leg crossed.
What in the...?
"Y-Your Excellency, what on earth happened in..."
"Do I have to explain it to you?"
"......"
"Since when could you question my judgment?"
"Th-that is..."
"Shut up and bring tea and refreshments now. I said we have a guest!"
"......"
"If you can't get it, maybe I'll cut off those useless ears and gift them to the knight."
"N-no! Understood! I'll bring tea and refreshments right away! Please wait...!!"
The butler vanished at a speed unbelievable for his plump frame.
Because he knew his lord was the type to follow through.
'Yes, that's our Excellency!'
If he wasn't ruthless, he wouldn't be His Excellency.
"What a pathetic fool."
Confirming the butler's presence gone, Roseth flopped onto the sofa, muttering to herself oddly.
Her speech and eyes had changed from moments ago, and anyone observant would notice her aura was 180 degrees different from the Roseth the butler knew.
The voice and face were undoubtedly Roseth's, yet not Roseth.
Watching this.
"Don't let your guard down. You have to live in that body for the rest of your life, right? Keep up the spoiled brat concept. Even if you change it, don't do it overnight. Put in at least three years of effort."
"Harsh."
"Harsh? Want me to revert you now?"
"...No, that's not what I meant. Strange as it sounds, I'm feeling true 'freedom' and 'joy'—a thrill for the first time in my life."
"...You do look it."
Lee Han nodded.
He thought he was staying cool, but his constantly rising lip corners betrayed his delight.
However.
"Still, don't get complacent, Pierre. Even if over half that body is remade with dream demon cells, the other half is still Roengrin's. If the original owner wakes, you'll fight—and if you're careless, you'll lose it."
"...Spare me the needless worry. It won't be taken."
"Really? You sure you don't need Daddy's care? Huh? Dad·dy?"
"...Grind!"
"Kyahahaha!"
The woman—no, the girl who looked barely a teenager—laughed, enjoying the teasing.
Roseth, or rather the former heretic inquisitor in the spoiled brat's skin, glared murderously at the girl but clenched his teeth, trembling, aware his life hung in her hands.
Watching, Lee Han clicked his tongue.
'Whether one body or two, they're still on bad terms.'
They'd been like siblings... no, parent-child, and now father-daughter...
"Hm?"
Something felt off.
'...This is ridiculously complicated.'
Lee Han decided to ignore the fractured vagrants.
No point in caring; it'd just complicate his head.
To sum it up simply: currently inhabiting Roseth's body was "Pierre."
Precisely, Pierre's personality, transferred via the dream demon's power.
Conversely, this now-younger girl was Judia.
Though "younger" meant about ten years, it was still younger.
A mature woman had become a girl, and anyone hearing would think it bizarre...
'I saw it, so I can't deny it.'
Mysterious dream demon race.
That was all he could say about their peculiarities.
"Don't overthink it, Knight. I used over half my dream demon power to restore Pierre's consciousness and that body. This is just the price. The body got younger, sure, but I've lost the power to freely enter dreams or seduce like before. I could if I tried, but not as easily. In short..."
"Half-breed?"
"...We just say half-blood. Sounds cooler."
Dream demon half-blood. A fitting phrase for Judia's current state.
She hadn't lost all power, but the near-omnipotent "mystery" was mostly gone.
A sharp drop in stature, yet Judia showed no regret, seeming content.
It made sense.
"...You got everything you wanted."
"Oh? Can't we say we both benefited?"
"Nonsense. Feels like you played me."
"Ho ho, who knows..."
I have no idea!
The dream demon—no, the one who succeeded in her "identity wash," entering the family as the count's hidden daughter per the [setting]...
From today, the true Judia [de Roengrin] just smiled brightly.
With sinister gleaming eyes.
Really...
'No wonder bad apples thrive.'
Lee Han suddenly wanted to smack the back of her head, fingers twitching, but the quick-witted wicked girl fled.
...Since getting hit by that would prevent even regeneration.