Chapter 30
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: I'll Kill You
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The muscle pain from the backlash of overusing magic had finally reached its last day.
“Here, it’s complete♥”
I quietly spoke to the middle-aged man—the convenience store manager, the boss of the villain organization, and my landlord—who handed me something with a beaming smile on his face from the morning.
“...You’re serious?”
What he handed me was a bracelet you could find anywhere. Yeah. More precisely, one of those toy bracelets from an elementary school stationery store, covered in engraved characters like penguins or whatever unidentifiable things kids would like.
“Of course! It’s a perception interference bracelet I worked on all night!”
Instead of answering, I glared at him, my killing intent surging.
“Just to ask, is there any special reason you picked this design?”
“Hmm... It was cheap? And I thought it’d suit you well, Ha-yul...”
Finally sensing something off, perhaps, he alternated between looking at my face and the bracelet.
“Aw, it suits you perfectly, so don’t worry too much. It’s a total match.”
He started praising it, saying it looked great on me, as if he’d never heard the phrase “adding fuel to the fire.”
Crack.
My body had already shrunk so much that wandering outside often got me treated like a kid, which pissed me off to no end, and now he had the gall to pour oil on it?
“Uh... um, Ha-yul...? Why are you clenching your fist...?”
Only then did he seem to realize something was seriously wrong, backing away in a hurry. I grabbed his sleeve, yanked him toward me, and...
Thud!
...drove my fist into a flustered Bell’s solar plexus.
“From now on, I pick the design for anything I use. Got it?”
The silver lining was that, even though it hit a vital spot, my frail body’s punch only worked because the guy in front of me was just as weak. I could see Bell collapsing with a silent scream, nodding his head.
Ding-dong—!
The doorbell rang for the first time since I’d been staying here, and the landlord didn’t look like he could move anytime soon.
“Yes. Coming.”
Still, a guest was a guest. With that light thought, the moment I opened the front door...
“Dieee!”
Before the door was even fully open, a fist cut through the air with a whoosh... narrowly grazing right over my head at tremendous speed.
“......”
If I’d been just a bit taller, it would’ve smashed straight into my face. Back in my old body, it probably would’ve nailed my solar plexus dead-on.
“...Ha.”
I was truly wronged. What the hell had I done to deserve this? Staring up at the fist that had just brushed my scalp, I hated the whole damn world. If it had actually hit, I might not feel this indignant.
“Wha, wha, what...? Did I... get the wrong house...?”
Suppressing the urge to burst into tears right then, I looked at the woman in front of me, who finally noticed me and started stammering in panic.
“Th-that’s... um... kid...? A-are you... okay...?”
She had long, straight black hair and looked utterly gentle and demure, but now she was flailing in a panic, apologizing to me.
“...Crown?”
Instead of answering, I asked to confirm if this woman was indeed a member of the Crown Theater Troupe who was supposed to visit.
“......”
Thankfully, her expression sank coldly, as if the prior flustered act had been a lie—the same reaction from the messenger app Bell had shown me yesterday, the one who’d messaged “I’ll kill you.” Arachne, right?
“Come in. Bell’s sprawled out over there.”
For now, seeing that idiot inside get beaten again might vent my frustration... so I guided the guest inside without even introductions.
A moment later.
“Ahaha... Sorry, sorry. I must’ve scared you pretty bad.”
I shook my head instead of answering as I watched the woman laugh lightly, her anger seemingly dissipated.
“Urk, cough... S-someone... call an ambulance...”
I set aside Bell, who was writhing in a bloody mess that would’ve needed mosaics on TV, because the woman sitting in front of me looked so unfamiliar in every way.
“Come to think of it, we haven’t exchanged names yet, have we?”
She wore a navy knit sweater, a neat beige skirt and scarf, and even dainty glasses. She looked perfect for a librarian.
“I had no idea a newbie had joined already. Nice to meet you. I’m Kim Sun-ah. Call me Sun-ah sis, nice and casual.”
Sun-ah... smiled brightly as she spoke.
“Yes, Sun-ah. I’m Ryu Ha-yul.”
Of course, I had zero intention of calling her “sis” myself... so I made sure to clarify upfront in case she got the wrong idea.
“I’m twenty-one this year.”
Judging by how she’d treated me moments ago, she probably thought I was some high schooler living here.
“...Huh?”
Look at that. Shocked that I’m older than expected.
“Not... an elementary schooler...?”
“......”
“Wait... that damn director didn’t tell you to say that, did he? That rotten bastard, now dragging kids into...”
“......”
“No, this won’t do. Even if the troupe disbands today, I gotta hand that jerk over to the cops right now...”
Damn, even I was starting to get pissed.
Tap.
Instead of arguing back, I’d anticipated this and placed my ID on the table while Bell was getting pummeled by Sun-ah.
“......”
She glanced furtively between the ID on the table and my face. I sighed and spoke again.
“...I’m not a student.”
Still doubting? I glared at her as she flapped her mouth without a word, dropping all politeness to drive it home.
“Uh... um... y-yeah... s-sorry... um, sorry.”
Finally convinced, perhaps. She averted her gaze slightly but apologized for the misunderstanding.
“No, it’s just... th-that bracelet... so that’s your taste...”
That’s when I belatedly realized why she’d hesitated so much in her response till the end.
“Ugh.”
To test if the perception interference magic worked properly, I took off the bracelet I was wearing and chucked it at Bell’s head, where he was twitching in the corner. To her eyes, I probably just looked like a little girl wearing a character bracelet.
“Oh... ah, right. You’re an adult.”
Now she could finally see my true appearance. Our eyes met as she stared admiringly at certain parts with a surprised look.
“—Transform.”
Time for a proper reintroduction.
“You’ve seen me on TV. The traitor Robelia. That’s me.”
From the situation so far, it seemed that idiot director hadn’t shared my identity with the other members.
“......?”
She tilted her head blankly, unable to process. For some reason, I could kind of understand why Bell had acted that way.
“Heh.”
No wonder he’d gone all out to keep his own face from ever showing up. I chuckled in amusement and quietly released the transformation.
“Robe... lia...?”
Just as I was poking fun at Sun-ah, who was mumbling Robelia’s name in a daze, still out of it...
Clatter.
The bag she’d been holding so preciously slipped, spilling its contents.
“......”
Inside were piles of Robelia memorabilia... well, my drawings, photos, acrylic stands, keychains, and postcards from who-knows-where. After staring for a moment...
“Um... that’s, you see...”
A bad feeling hit me. I slowly stood and edged away from Sun-ah, who’d been panting and staring at me intently with flushed cheeks.
“Just once... please step on me, I beg you!”
Unfortunately, untransformed, I was honestly so frail I couldn’t even beat a middle school girl... so I couldn’t resist as an adult woman clung to my leg in horror.
“Lady Robelia! Just once! Transform one more time!”
But transforming to shake her off would probably excite her more.
“Eek...”
In the end... until Bell snapped out of it and intervened, I endured the nightmare of an older woman rubbing her cheek on my foot while panting. ...I vowed never to transform in front of her again.
“If you hadn’t attacked me in the first place...”
Of course, after the intervention ended, Bell grumbled that none of this would’ve happened if she hadn’t attacked over the bracelet design.
“...You would’ve gotten beaten by Sun-ah anyway.”
Not like I’d buy that excuse.
“Anyway, what have you been doing, not telling your teammate something this important?”
Sun-ah snapped at him, saying at least if she’d known beforehand that I was Robelia, it wouldn’t have come to this.
“Well... it’s fun, isn’t it?”
That was what came out of Bell’s mouth as he glanced lightly at Sun-ah, who was still dazed and trying to cling to me.
“......”
Ah. So that’s it. He wanted to see this from the start.
“Alright, one more hit then.”
As I stood up, looking at a flustered Bell waving his hands, a sudden thought struck me, and I glanced at Sun-ah... Sure enough, she met my eyes with a knowing smile.
“Yeah. You gotta beat the director first.”
I realized then: this bastard would keep doing the same shit no matter how many times he got hit.