Chapter 54
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: An Eye for an Eye, a Drug for a Drug (3)
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"It huuurts so much... It huuuurts... Please... no more..."
Sua was whimpering pitifully, flattened to the floor like she was glued there. And she meant every word.
She'd been mocking me with that snickering attitude no matter how much pain I put her through, so seeing her like this now felt both refreshing and strangely off-putting.
"Save meee... I'm dying... Save me..."
Either way, her vitality stat had been sitting at zero for ages.
Which meant Sua was just shaking from sheer terror right now, not pain. She'd clearly been completely broken by the unexpected agony.
There was something oddly erotic about a woman with massive breasts and thick, sturdy thighs groveling flat on the floor, begging me for her life.
'But she's way too dangerous to savor the view.'
The original creator of Sao. That alone made her an existence too risky to keep around.
I had zero interest in frying her brain to dominate her or fulfilling any twisted urges.
For now, there were things I needed to learn. That was the only reason I was playing along like this.
Time to ask my questions one by one. I took a sip of my still-warm coffee before turning to her.
"By the way, Lady Abera hasn't shown her face once since returning to the annex. Why is that?"
"Hic... ughhh... Locked her in her room..."
"I see. Locked her up, huh. Wait—what?!"
I nearly dropped my coffee cup as I was nodding along and bringing it to my lips. Stunned, I pressed her immediately.
"Weren't you and Lady Abera on the same side? You two tormented Dia together!"
"Never tried to torment her... Wanted to kill her... But couldn't, so we just planned to ruin her socially... Hngh..."
Not a perfect answer, but it raised new questions. I furrowed my brow.
"Right. Come to think of it, you definitely seemed set on killing Dia outright at first. Why change course?"
"That's why I locked up Lady Abera... Hic... Helia’s guarding her..."
Helia? Unknown name for now—shelve it.
"You've been explaining things in this half-assed way from the start. Trying to piss me off?"
"H-Hic! Save me! Please save meee!"
Sua scrambled forward desperately and clamped onto my left leg.
"Hic... huff... I'll do anything... Even clean your shoes..!"
Then she slammed her head to the floor and started frantically licking my shoes.
Not just a half-hearted slobbering, either—she put her all into it, actually polishing away the dirt.
"Urk... kgh! Ptui, blegh... Hngh! Save me... Please save me! Huff..."
My shoes were far from clean. Hardly surprising.
My looks had improved, but my wardrobe sure hadn't. And yet Sua licked them spotless.
I only shoved her off once her saliva had soaked the tops.
"Stop. Enough."
"I-I'll do it better..."
I nudged her cheek away with my foot. Even with the shoe tread mark imprinted on her face, she didn't seem to care.
A thick strand of drool stretched from her plump lips to the tip of my shoe like a spider's thread. Damn it.
"I said explain about Lady Abera in detail."
"Y-Yes... yes..."
Finally detaching from my leg, Sua flattened herself again and began talking.
"Lady Abera's totally out of it..."
"Out of it?"
"Keeps calling for you, Ganeghan-nim... Can't even function in daily life... We couldn't kill Dia because she said to spare you and Dia first... Hngh... She's useless, so I locked her up..."
"I see."
Yeah, that tracked. I nodded without thinking.
That was how dependency worked. If anything, Sua was the abnormal one for holding out at level 10.
"Ahh... urgh... So sleepy... Mmm..."
While I was lost in thought, Sua mumbled that from her prone position.
After enduring wave after wave of agony, her body had snapped back to normal, releasing all the tension and flooding her with drowsiness.
Makes sense—every breath must've felt like torture while her vitality was that low.
But did I have any reason to care?
No. Not when she'd shown Dia zero mercy.
"What, just gonna sleep like that?"
"It's suddenly so peaceful... Ah..."
A few nudges to her head with my toe just rolled her limply. She really planned to pass out right there.
"You're hopeless."
A few glances, and I flipped her vitality into the negatives.
"Haguuuh?! Grraaagh?!"
Instant effect, as expected. Sua's head snapped up, drool flying everywhere.
"N-No wayyy... A drug that triggers effects like direct control... Th-This can't—?!"
"All by design. Knew you'd slack off right around now."
"Higgggh! Hngh! Sorry! I'm sorryyy! So sorryyy!"
Sua grabbed the hem of my pants again, hacking up a storm. I normalized the stat a bit soon after.
Not out of pity—just didn't like her slobbering all over my pants.
Plenty more questions left, anyway.
"With your partner Abera like that, your plans must've hit major snags. Why push ahead anyway?"
"Kgh... khk... hngh... I had my own plan... Was gonna betray Abera anyway... Kgh.."
"Then why not go solo from the start."
"Needed the Menesil Family's wealth..."
"You're truly shameless."
So she'd planned to drag everyone to ruin without leaving a single winner, then hog all the gains herself.
I couldn't help but grind my heel into her head. Pure disgust.
"Uguuuuh... Sorry... ack.."
Her face pinned to the floor, she looked calmer than expected.
Probably because my foot was still better than the drug pain.
"What was your plan, then?"
"Was gonna use you and Lady Dia's bedroom scandal to summon the Heresy Inquisitors..."
"Heresy Inquisitors?"
"Yes... On paper, for pregnancy and virginity checks on the lady. But Inquisitors always do mandatory drug scans wherever they go... That was the real goal..."
Times change, professions change, I guess.
The Heresy Inquisitors in Lady Overdose weren't your typical cleric exterminators from other stories. More like an imperial mage squad for drug enforcement. I'd only skimmed the game manual, and my head was already starting to ache.
"And that way, Dia tests positive for drugs and gets hauled off?"
"Exactly... You as the distributor too, Ganeghan-nim... No, even better—the whole Menesil Family... Hehe..."
"I don't have any drugs. Why distributor?"
"I've got tons... Was gonna frame you convincingly... Hngh.."
"You crazy bitch."
I stomped her head again on reflex.
"Ughk!"
Sua face-planted once more.
I squatted down, yanked her by the hair, glared with all my might, and snarled.
"Don't you ever show your face in front of Dia again. If I hear you've even been spotted in her sights, you're dead. Got it?"
"Y-Yes... Master..."
What? My face went blank in an instant.
"What'd you say?"
"Ganeghan Master..."
"Why the hell am I your master?"
"You know all these drugs I don't... You're my master... Master Ganeghan... I wanna be like you too..."
"You're insane. No way."
"Aing... Don't say that... I'll do anything...! Please!"
"No."
I kicked her away preemptively as she lunged for my leg again.
Creepy as hell. Time to bail—then a thought flashed through my mind.
'For pregnancy and virginity checks on the lady.'
That line lingered.
She'd said it in past tense. Summoned? I demanded urgently.
"Hold on. Those Inquisitors—did you already call them? When do they arrive?"
"Soon..."
Shit! That means prepare now!
"Heresy Inquisitors, right. What happens if drugs are detected?"
"Burned at the stake. Hehehe... Master... Teach me your drugs... Hehe..."
Burning? My head spun already.
No damage to the Menesil Family allowed. Dia needs it intact!
"You! That sleeping pill you sprayed in the air before—does it have drug components?"
"Hehe. Yes... It does... Master... It's super sticky..."
Damn it all.