Chapter 106
Chapter 106
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: The Voyeur's Terror
-----------------------------------------------------------------
‘Come find me once you’ve sorted out your thoughts.’
Paiyan grumbled to herself as she recalled that impertinent, smirking face.
‘Me, go find him? Am I insane?’
No chance in hell.
Paiyan clasped her trembling hands together.
Adelian. He might think she still had no idea about his true nature.
‘He’s dangerous.’
Why had she fled the labyrinth city of Ravi in such a panic? Fear of being put on a wanted list? Worry that she couldn’t handle the fallout from the bomb potion she’d detonated?
Not even close.
It was all because of that man.
The one who flashed that slick smile with his handsome face while looking down on everyone with his eyes.
It was Adelian’s fault.
‘He knew. That’s why he came looking.’
Paiyan bit down again on her lips, swollen red from all the gnashing.
That day—the day she’d used her doll Jovi to blow Kal and Hals to pieces.
Her survival had been little short of a miracle. Awakening had come just before the bomb potion detonated, as she willingly embraced death.
She’d turned to mist, shrugged off the explosion’s physical damage, and fled the dungeon. Afterward, Paiyan had been seething with rage.
The kind of fury where she wanted to lash out at anyone, anything.
That was when she learned Adelian’s party—who’d entered the dungeon alongside her—had survived.
Back then, Paiyan had been closer to a villain than an adventurer, so simple stress relief had seemed like a good idea: make them suffer.
Her obvious first target? Adelian, wounded and left behind alone at the temple.
The rabbit-eared girl and the black-haired man had reentered the labyrinth after Adelian reattached his leg.
A temple normally teeming with priests should’ve been impossible to approach easily, even as mist.
But most of the priests at Ravi’s temple had left for some support mission elsewhere, letting her slip in effortlessly as mist.
Her plan had been to kill him in his sleep and leave Ravi feeling refreshed.
‘But I saw it.’
Adelian pulling out something like a massive snake egg.
The egg had a milky-white leathery shell, about the size of a child’s head.
The shell had dented softly every time Adelian touched it carefully.
No way that was a hard-shelled bird egg. It had to be from a snake or reptile.
An egg that size? Maybe from a basilisk—a monster at least baron-rank.
Pulling an egg like that out of thin air and stowing it back? No normal adventurer could pull that off.
Suspicious, Paiyan had lingered around him in mist form, keeping watch.
Then, shortly after withdrawing from the temple, he’d plunged back into the labyrinth and stayed gone for ages. She’d started wondering if she’d imagined it—until she saw it again.
After returning from the labyrinth, in his inn room with neither the man called Kane nor the rabbit girl around, Adelian had pulled a severed head out of thin air.
Muttering to himself, he’d lined them up one by one in the empty room: first a brown-haired, ordinary-looking man’s head, then a dwarf’s, then a woman’s.
After that, some weird grayish-white bead-like orb, which he toyed with before stowing away.
Watching that, Paiyan realized no one could hear screams in mist form.
Shocked, she’d fled—but only for a moment.
Unwilling to just run away, she’d snuck back to their lodging as mist.
And there they were: people with nothing but severed necks, alive and moving, eating something, laughing, meekly obeying Adelian.
Even crouched as tight as possible high up in a distant tree, breath held, that black-haired man had turned his golden eyes right toward her...
‘Scary.’
Paiyan shuddered.
In hindsight after fleeing, she’d been lucky.
She’d escaped those golden demons without a scratch.
‘Black mage? Necromancer?’
No reason to tangle with someone like that.
Even if she was parched for stable relationships.
“Lily! We’ve been waiting for you.”
“Thought you might’ve gotten lost and nearly went to fetch you.”
See? Men captivated by her, scrambling to impress.
‘I’m not so bad.’
Even if it stemmed from her trait. Even if their concern wasn’t truly heartfelt.
Just basking in this human warmth was enough to satisfy her.
“Sorry I’m late... You didn’t wait too long, did you?”
Paiyan cast her eyes down slightly and smiled softly.
* * *
“What’s her deal? Didn’t seem that strong to me. Aren’t you supposed to be collecting based on abilities, Rachel?”
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
“Ah, probably not. I was pretty useless at first, Rachel junior.”
No, what the hell?
I’d just chatted with Paiyan and come back, and now Rachel—leaning on Zero like a pillar—was spouting this, leaving me utterly baffled.
When did I ever collect people based purely on abilities?
“I never did that.”
My party—Zero aside—only has people I genuinely want to see happy.
If possible, save this world while teaching them how to connect with others, and let them find happiness. That’s it. Don’t slander me.
Rachel stared into my eyes at my sharp retort, then covered her mouth with a ‘No way?’ look.
“Seriously?”
“I told you.”
Irritated by Zero and Rachel for some reason, I grabbed their heads and bonked them hard.
It wouldn’t hurt them anyway, but it improved my mood.
“Enough bullshit. Let’s head back to the inn.”
“Ow! Ow!”
“Shouldn’t we restart strength training? Cain senior said we could rest a bit.”
Rachel hammed up the pain playfully while Zero fretted seriously over my fitness.
I clicked my tongue and strode ahead.
“Pure combat-wise, she’s... yeah, not that strong, like you said, Rachel.”
But that Charm trait of hers? Solid. She’s decent at acting too, and seems sharp.
A little backing, and she could build serious influence.
I couldn’t keep relying on the Kruger family forever for action. By original or Innocent Saga timelines, Kaiman would be tied up in covert ops for ages—but me buying and keeping Cain had already derailed things.
Time to build my own forces, bit by bit.
Family-side: center on Alkido. Merchants: back Hula. Military: Reinhardt.
Underworld or intel networks would be ideal too.
Better than absorbing shaky existing groups: if Paiyan joins me, support her growth instead.
Those ready-mades aren’t top-tier units anyway, and none outshine her.
Assuming she takes my offer, of course.
Otherwise, scout someone else.
“That skewer from earlier was good.”
“Grab some to go?”
I tossed a gold coin to Zero at Rachel’s mutter.
The three of us returned to the inn, arms loaded with skewers.
“Why the long faces?”
Leaf and Luna looked downright glum.
They’d said they were hitting the library but came back quick. No big wins, judging by the vibes.
“Here, try this. Tasty.”
“Rabbit senior, Leaf junior. Got all kinds of flavors.”
Rachel and Zero latched on to cheer them up.
—Administrator. Got a favor to ask.
“Young master. Listen.”
I poured water into a glass as they took turns speaking.
“Sea-light pearl still far from full function?”
—Unfortunately.
I knew about the airship logs.
Strictly speaking, my top priority was averting this world’s doom. Purely by my knowledge, the airship ranked lower for that.
Original or game both climaxed with Kane’s ascent.
Difference? Half the heroines died in the original; just Kane in Innocent Saga.
‘Pisses me off thinking about it again.’
I shot white-eyed glares at future moss-rolling-stone Leaf and future GM Rachel, then spoke up.
“Rushing back to the spirit forest to pore over airship logs right now would be overkill.”
Leaf’s blank face stayed unchanged, but her shoulders sagged subtly. Fidgety Luna piped up.
“But...”
“Even so, once the sea-light pearl’s fully mana-charged and the airship’s flight-ready, we’ll ride it everywhere. Plenty of time then to dig into the docs, right?”
Luna’s ears perked as I sipped water; Leaf’s shoulders lifted too.
Cute.
I ruffled Luna’s and Leaf’s hair. Rachel poked her head in.
“You bonked us?”
“Hand on heart, think about it.”
Rachel cackled, conceding with a “Fair.”
“Huh?”
“Mm?”
“Eh?”
—Oh.
The four others whipped their heads toward the door.
Ghost? I followed suit, but saw noth—
Kreeeeak—
Door hinge wailed like ghost-house BGM.
“Mi-mi... mi-crazy.”
Rachel stammered.
Luna turned away with a fake cough; Leaf blinked rapidly; Zero mumbled about snacks—despite the skewer pile—and slipped off.
“Satisfied?”
Low, gravelly voice.
Dazzling, like dusted with gem powder. Hundreds of fluorescents on? Optical illusion?
Hair rustled silkily without a breeze; skin gleamed polished marble. Still manly somehow—beauty salon aced it.
Hard to tell with the floaty haze, but Cain must’ve stormed in radiating kill-aura at me.
Explains the kids’ head-snaps.
Lips twitching, I lost it as his glare intensified—clutching my gut, laughing till I pounded the floor.
“Wherever they worked their magic, they polished your soul.”
Every strand artisan-level.
Early-morning salon drop-off, and they’d remade him like this.
Protagonist perks: handsome baseline. But streets this quiet outside? Weird.
Eyeing Cain’s amped-up lethality, I suspiciously cracked the inn window and peered out.
“Whoa, great minds.”
Rachel peeked beside me and grinned.
“Dang. No faintings. Badge got him here safe.”
Rachel shut the window, disappointed. Luna eyed Cain pityingly.
“S-Su... suits you...”
“Uh... no moodier now, yeah?”
Zero grinned awkwardly, offering a skewer.
Ah, this scene cracks me up. Floatiness means Cain’s death-stare deals zero chip damage.
“Daily salon trips from now on.”
That glow-up? Debut dragons drop dead from shock, auto-win.
Me aside—why no freakout from Luna, Leaf, Rachel?
They reacted, just not how I pictured.
Rachel’s “crazy” was pure aesthetic awe, not swooning.
Anyway. Cain’s obvious salt? Comedy gold.
“Hey, dragons’d nope out at this.”
“Guh. Thumbs up, your beauty slays.”
“Wanna meet a dragon I know? Face-only intro. Loaded, owns three rares.”
“Out. Let’s duel looks.”
“We flex here? I’m the one getting nabbed, Adelian.”
Rachel and I howled, roasting our sheen-blasting salon Cain—till a knock sounded at the door.