Chapter 9
Chapter 9
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Fleeting Joy
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The joy of victory was short-lived.
My vision blurred, and the world spun around me.
Every muscle in my body screamed, and the sensation in my left shoulder had long since vanished.
A throbbing headache, anemia, and stomach cramps.
All of them were penalties that hit after the awakening effect wore off.
This was already the second time, but I still couldn't get used to it.
……Once I have some leeway, I should start exercising first thing.
Training my muscles and body would solve it, but right now, there was no way.
I just had to endure.
Still, it didn't feel entirely bad.
This kind of pain was something you could only feel if you were alive.
Yes, I—
No, we……
"Survived."
The one who spoke was Kayla.
"We really survived……! We took down that monster!"
She seemed to feel the same joy and relief.
Even though she must have been exhausted, her voice was full of strength.
"Yeah, thanks to you."
It wasn't empty words.
When I returned to the underground prison, the guy's stamina was already nearly depleted.
Kayla had landed the explosion variant spell right on target, just as planned.
Thanks to that, I could easily pour in the holy water and shift into phase two.
If I'd had to handle everything alone, it never would've been that easy.
She deserved to savor this joy fully.
But she downplayed her own role.
"You did everything, so what bullshit is that? I just stalled for time."
……A bit crudely.
"……Hmm."
A brief silence.
We locked eyes, then burst out laughing at the same time.
Well, what did it matter?
We survived. That's what counts.
"Let's get out of here first. I'm starving enough to keel over."
Same for me.
After starving for a week, my stomach felt like it was glued to my back.
"Yeah."
I nodded slightly and headed toward where the corpse had been.
The Redhead's body had evaporated like it was never there to begin with.
Only a few items lay scattered on the floor.
Nothing strange about it.
The demon lord reclaimed the bodies of its kin as per the contract.
It must've gone straight to Valefor.
Thud.
I picked up the item from the floor without much thought.
A silver key, slightly rusted.
The key to the underground prison.
"Let's go."
Finally, time to escape this godforsaken place.
***
The former third-rate mercenary and vice leader of the District 7 plunder group, Drwat, gasped raggedly as he opened his eyes.
"Huff! W-What……!"
Drwat hurriedly looked down at his own body.
He was tightly bound with ropes to a massive stone pillar rising from the ground.
Looking around, all the family members were in the same predicament.
"Damn it!"
Drwat strained, veins bulging as he thrashed with all his might.
But it was tied so securely that it didn't budge an inch.
After struggling for a while, a hazy memory surfaced.
"How did this……."
It had been a week since they started searching for the bastard who killed the family leader.
Just as they were about to give up with no trace in sight, they ran into a suspicious guy at the hideout.
In that instant, Drwat's instinct kicked in.
'This fucker's that rat.'
The moment he made that judgment, the man casually touched the ground, and a torrent of water poured from somewhere.
Riding that water came a jolt of electricity that shocked him and the rest of the family into unconsciousness.
And when he came to…… this.
"Right, that rat bastard……!"
"Ugh……."
One of the family members stirred at Drwat's furious shout and opened his eyes.
"V-Vice leader? What the hell is this……?"
"What do you think! That rat we ran into earlier did this to us!"
"W-Wait, he did? By himself?"
"Yeah! Sneaking up on us while we were worn out from searching…… That spineless fuck! If I get these ropes off, I'll twist his limbs off!"
"……."
Drwat scowled at the weird look from the guy.
"What're you staring at?"
"N-Nothing."
"Spit it out, you punk! Don't beat around the bush!"
"Well…… Aren't there more than twenty of us……?"
"So what!"
"For him to take us all down in an instant like this…… Doesn't that mean he's a seriously powerful mage……? How could we……."
"……Tch."
It wasn't wrong, so he couldn't help frowning.
But Drwat was the current vice leader of the family.
And with the leader dead, he'd soon be the official one.
He needed to establish his dominance early.
Drwat bellowed.
"So what, you punk! You saying I can't do it?"
"No…… That's not it."
"Just watch. You'll see me snap that guy's neck soon enough! Raaah!"
Drwat let out a beastly roar and twisted his body.
Even harder than before.
His face turned beet red.
As expected of a top third-rate mercenary—his strength was near superhuman.
Snap, snap!
The ropes started fraying bit by bit.
The family member watching widened his eyes in awe.
"Ooh! As expected of the vice leader!"
"Hahaha, see? Even as I age, this strength of mine is second to none……."
Then.
Rumble rumble rumble!
A eerie noise shook the ground.
The still-unconscious members stirred from the vibration, coming to one by one and turning their heads to the same spot.
"Wh-What's that……?"
For some reason, the stone wall blocking the underground prison entrance was slowly sinking into the ground.
Drwat murmured lowly.
"……It's him."
Gulp.
They swallowed dryly.
The mysterious intruder at the hideout.
At this moment, everyone had no choice but to tense up.
Step, step.
Two figures emerged from behind the stone wall and walked forward slowly.
Seeing them, Drwat flinched and shuddered.
Not out of fear.
Their appearance was more pathetic than expected.
'The guy who did this to us……?'
Their first encounter had been too sudden to get a good look.
All he remembered was a black-haired guy with dark eyes.
But now……
'Just some beggar fuck?'
From the lifeless, fish-like eyes to the pale face, stained clothes, and scrawny frame peeking through.
His hair was sticking up like he'd done god-knows-what to it.
He looked no different from any other District 7 bum.
And moreover.
The guy was in decent shape compared to his companion.
'Isn't that the daughter that Valen sold off?'
The woman they'd thrown in the underground prison and forgotten about in the chaos.
It was definitely her, but……
'Why the hell does she look like that?'
She'd always been a ragamuffin, so nothing new there, but this was on another level.
Filthy body caked in grime, charred black hair, dark circles down to her cheekbones.
She looked like she'd been rummaging through a dump for a week.
No idea what it'd take to end up like that, but Drwat inwardly cheered.
'One poke and she'll drop dead?'
Dealing with weaklings like that would be a breeze.
Oblivious to his dark thoughts, the two beggars chatted casually.
"Why'd you even seal the entrance?"
"I tied 'em up good, but you never know. They might jump in mid-fight and backstab us."
"How'd you make a stone wall? Last I checked, your earth magic wasn't that advanced."
"Eh, just…… kinda happened while I was at it?"
"……You're a real mad bastard."
Yeah, overflowing with leisure.
Drwat narrowed his eyes sharply.
'The ropes are almost off.'
Thanks to his brute strength, they were on the verge of snapping.
A little more force, and they'd give way easily.
"……V-Vice leader."
"Shh, wait quietly."
Drwat planned to ambush them then.
They were completely off guard, so it'd work.
'That'll boost my standing even more.'
The woman aside, everyone knew the man was strong.
If Drwat took him down, his position would skyrocket.
He could claim the leader spot fair and square.
As his lips curled in hopeful anticipation, Drwat locked eyes with the woman.
"Hey, these guys? You did this all by yourself?"
"Yeah, they were in the way of finding the holy water."
"……Good job."
The woman sighed like she had nothing left to say and spoke up.
"So, what're we doing with them?"
"Kill 'em, I guess."
Flinch.
Everyone shuddered at the words.
How could she decide something so cruel without a second thought?
"What do you wanna do?"
"Me?"
All eyes turned to the woman.
Eyes full of hope.
But she met their gazes coolly.
"Why ask? Obviously kill 'em. Why risk keeping scum like this alive?"
"……!!"
No need to deliberate.
What reason did plunderers who scammed beggars have to live?
"As expected, you think the same. Then……."
Thud.
The woman blocked the man as he stepped forward.
"Hold up, I'll handle it. It'll be less unfair for these fuckers to die by my hand. After what they did."
"……Okay."
Step, step.
The woman approached.
Ragged as she was, to the family, she looked like the grim reaper closing in.
"Ah…… So this is how we die?"
The family members trembled in fear.
But the woman just smirked dismissively.
"You thought scum like you would get a happy ending?"
"……."
They had no words.
They knew.
The path they'd walked was never the right one.
But…… they still didn't want to die.
They wanted to keep living, even with their vile hearts.
As if reading their minds.
The moment the woman got close.
Snap snap!
"Hraaah!"
Drwat roared and leaped up.
The ropes were already severed.
A sharply honed dagger gleamed in his right hand.
It thrust straight for the woman's throat.
But.
Her face showed no panic.
"……Figures you'd pull something like this."
It was just coldly composed.
Boom!
What happened?
Purple light flared in her eyes, and a massive explosion erupted around her.
At the same time, their hope—Drwat—flew backward.
Crash!
He slammed into the stone wall.
"……Ughhh."
Thud.
Drwat groaned and dropped to his knees.
His eyes were unfocused.
The dagger slipped from his hand and clattered to the floor.
Clang roll—.
Hearing it, everyone knew.
No more miracles.
This was the day the family ended.
"Drop dead, you thug fuckers."
***
Evening after dealing with the plunderers.
Under the soft yellow glow of the lamp, Kayla—freshly bathed and dressed in new clothes—held out her wine glass.
"See that? Me blasting that vice leader guy earlier."
I chuckled at her triumphant tone.
Clink.
I toasted her glass.
"Yeah, I saw. You've improved a ton."
It was no surprise the vice leader was no match for Kayla.
With mana control and flame variant magic mastered, she was a proper mage now.
But beyond that, her growth was impressively fast.
To the point where if I wasn't focused, I'd miss her casting a variant spell.
Meaning she'd gotten that comfortable with variant magic.
Slice, slice.
Kayla cut into her perfectly grilled steak and stuffed her mouth full.
I stared at her intently.
'I want to take her along.'
My decision was firm after the past week.
She'd make a good companion.
Not full trust yet, but she wouldn't stab me in the back lightly.
'And she's got a solid trait.'
Desperate Wish wouldn't hold us back on the road ahead.
But one thing still bugged me.
"What're your plans now?"
"Hm? For what?"
"Where you headed next."
"Oh……."
Kayla swallowed her steak whole and continued.
"I'll escape……."
A small flame sparked in her palm.
Whoosh!
It illuminated her somber face.
"Now it's time for me to do my thing."
"……I see."
Kayla's "thing" could only be one.
Getting revenge on the parents who abandoned her.
I'd hoped to recruit her, so it was a shame, but I couldn't stop her.
Everyone has that one thing they must do.
For Kayla, it was revenge.
"And you? Where to?"
"Me……."
My goal was always singular.
Catch Baal.
And return to my original world.
My path was set for that.
"To District 6."
My growth was fast, but not enough.
I'd barely scraped by against the Redhead, a mere kin, staking my life.
I needed faster growth, more magic.
Entering District 6 would be the stepping stone.
"Hmm, yeah?"
Kayla gave me a knowing look and held out her wine glass.
"Then let's meet there. I'll head that way once I'm done."
I chuckled.
Did she read my mind?
Or did my disappointment show on my face?
Either way, the point was Kayla intended to join me.
Clink.
"Yeah, see you in District 6."
The red liquid sloshed in the clear glass.
Gazing at it, I steeled myself.
'Tomorrow starts a busy day.'
Rest like this was nice, but I couldn't slack.
This brutal world wouldn't idly watch my leisure.
But.
No crisis they threw at me could ever stop me.