Chapter 114
Chapter 114
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 114
Chapter Title: London's Tragedy
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I figured out how the monsters became abnormally strong.
The next thing to do is to grasp the monsters' abilities and locations.
To that end, Louise sought out the heroes who had been injured during the subjugation.
"Hello, heroes. First, I pay my respects to your great spirit of sacrifice."
"Welcome. Cadet Louise. We've been waiting for you."
The daughter of Count Calael and a reserve hero who carries on the name of the Bullet Witch.
Even though they were her seniors, she didn't treat the heroes lightly.
That was the respect shown to the Capels family, who had handled the Bullet Witch for generations.
Louise in particular had already been involved in various activities since preparing to become a cadet.
She couldn't participate in direct combat, but she carried supplies and guided others.
Just like the queen whom Britain once loved most. She fulfilled her duties.
That's why the heroes loved the Capels family. And Louise.
Louise also respected these heroes who devoted themselves to Britain.
"I heard you were at the front lines during the battle with these monsters. I've heard that the monsters were abnormally strong compared to their ranks. I'd like to hear more details."
"I'll speak as the representative."
The hero who had sustained the least injuries among them raised his hand.
"The monsters our group encountered numbered three in total. We directly engaged two of them."
"What about the other one?"
"It just stood there blankly in the back, showing no particular movement."
"Even as the monsters and humans fought up front, it stayed silent."
Suspicious already. Monsters are inherently hostile to humans.
Unless it's an exceptionally intelligent individual, it doesn't hide its hostility.
That's why subjugation operations have a high success rate.
If they knew how to flee and couldn't be lured, it would practically be impossible.
"The power those two monsters emitted was at least twice as strong as we'd imagined."
"Twice as strong?"
"The fortunate thing is that their intelligence didn't double as well. Their power was immense, but their attack patterns were simple, and they fell for any trick without fail. So for a while, we managed to hold our own despite being outnumbered. But..."
But. At some point, their bodies started feeling strange.
"How exactly did they feel strange?"
"Our limbs wouldn't obey us, our eyes kept looking in other directions, and our ears strained to hear other things. It's a bit hard to put into words, but... it felt like we'd lost control of our own bodies."
"Wait a minute. You lost control of your bodies? Is that even possible?"
It was hard to understand, but one thing was clear.
Why these skilled heroes had been pushed to this point.
The monsters had grown stronger, but there was also some problem with their bodies.
Unable to cope with it, they had ended up in crisis.
"Will you inform the other heroes? You must be careful. Especially the one standing blankly in the back that doesn't seem threatening. Once it moved, our bodies stopped obeying us."
She couldn't spend too much time with the patients.
As Louise left the ward, she met someone from the Hero Department in the lobby.
"Did you meet with the injured?"
"Yes. But there were some testimonies that were hard to understand. They said it felt like they'd lost control of their bodies. What exactly does that mean?"
"We can't say for sure yet since we haven't captured the monsters. But the Hero Department has a few predictions. One is that it's a monster with hallucination abilities. Or it might have the power to induce rapid fatigue. And the last..."
"Would be a case where it actually seizes control of the body."
That's true, but it's actually the least likely.
The person from the Hero Department showed a negative opinion.
An ability to manipulate the body at will? He'd never heard of such a thing.
No hero had an ability that ridiculous either.
It would make more sense if it was a mistake caused by powerful hallucinations.
"What does the Hero Department think?"
"Since nothing's certain, we're going with the hallucination ability monster for now."
"But if it's not certain, that means it could be something else, right?"
"I know what you mean. But Cadet Louise, the Hero Department exists to maintain social stability. Sometimes, excessive information can lead to greater chaos."
Unofficially, they'd consider the body control ability as well.
But officially, they'd stick to calling it a hallucination monster.
That was the way to quell unnecessary anxiety and stabilize society.
"I ask for your understanding. There's also an unsettling atmosphere in Northern Ireland right now..."
"Ah..."
Even heroes couldn't do much about social issues.
The Irish problem wasn't something to discuss lightly, nor should it be.
In the end, Louise had to leave without gaining much.
'Father told me not to come back after visiting the Hero Department and to go straight home...'
He said her mother and the rest of the family were anxiously waiting for her.
They met via video often, but it wasn't the same as seeing her in person.
Louise also wanted to hurry back and embrace her mother.
"Miss? Have you come back?"
But the place Louise headed to was the hospital where the Count was admitted.
The guards on the VIP ward floor looked slightly surprised.
The young lady who had said she was going home had returned.
"I thought I should inform Father before going in."
"Ah, I see. Please go ahead. The Count will be pleased."
"Thank you all for your hard work."
After a light greeting, she knocked and entered the room.
"I'm here, Father."
....
"I was going to head home, but I thought it best to tell you directly about what I saw and heard."
....
"Father?"
Was he asleep? As Louise was about to step forward.
"Oh. Well, this is unexpected."
He had even sent the caregiver away, so no one should be in the room except the Count.
Yet there was a strange man standing by the bed.
"This is surprising. Weren't you heading home?"
The familiar language spoken in England was clearly Korean.
Moreover, it was a voice she'd heard many times before. In some video.
A man who had essentially declared war on the Union.
She thought he was a villain, but it turned out he was armed with his own sense of justice.
"Smiling Man?"
"Hello. You're Louise Capels, right? Or should I call you Miss?"
Hahaha! The Smiling Man laughed cheerfully and even waved hello.
But Louise couldn't process any of his words or actions.
"Ah, Father!?"
Count Calael, bound tightly by Mana Threads and unable to move.
Some of the Mana Threads had even penetrated into his muscles, taking control of his body.
All the Count could do was move his eyes.
That alone was shocking enough, but what came next was even more horrifying.
"Shh. Stay still. One wrong twitch and it'll be bad!"
"Stop! What the hell are you doing?!"
"What am I doing? I'm rummaging through this Count's brain right now!"
Two strands of Mana Threads slowly entering the Count's nostrils.
Louise was horrified. They looked ready to pierce his skull at any moment.
And the Smiling Man said it himself. That he was rummaging through his brain.
That was no different from saying he was going to kill the man!
"You...!"
"Oh, Miss. I understand your love for your father. That's why you mustn't move even more. If you disturb me even a little here, his brain will really be ruined!"
The Smiling Man said that while pushing more Mana Threads into his nose.
He's insane. A madman. Doing something so horrific.
This was torture. Killing her father right in front of his daughter.
"No need to worry. Father won't feel any pain at all."
To Louise, those words sounded like 'I'll kill him painlessly.'
As Louise tried to move, the Smiling Man wagged his index finger.
"Shh. If you keep yelling, people will come in. Then I'll get startled, slip up, and... haha, who knows what'll happen to the Count here. If you're curious, we can experiment!"
She'd been fooled. This man was indeed a villain. An evil bastard.
Kang Yuna. Seo Ha-eun. And even Jin Seo-ah. He'd deceived them all.
She despised herself for ever harboring positive thoughts toward this monster!
"Well then, shall we get back to it?"
What was so amusing? The Smiling Man just kept smiling.
After several hellish minutes passed, the Smiling Man stepped back.
The Mana Threads that had entered the Count's nose withdrew and burned away into nothing.
"Let's see... Hm. All done. Good. This should do it."
"What the hell did you...?"
"Ah, this? As you can see, I've planted a bomb in the Count's head. One snap of my fingers like this and boom!"
As Louise gritted her teeth and was about to scream.
"Just kidding! Hahaha!"
As if it could be true, the Smiling Man laughed and chattered to himself.
Then suddenly, he pointed at Louise and continued.
"We managed to deal with the Count, but the rest will be tough."
"What...?"
"To put it bluntly, there's no hope. So don't get your hopes up. Ever seen a zombie movie? Could they turn a zombie back into a human? Nope. Same thing here, Miss Louise."
It was full of incomprehensible nonsense.
As Louise tried to ask the Smiling Man again.
Kwaaaang!!-
With a massive explosion, smoke began rising beyond the building.
That direction was the hospital where the heroes Louise had just met were.
And.
"Father!"
"I-I'm fine. More importantly..."
The Smiling Man vanished from in front of father and daughter in the blink of an eye.
All that remained in the spot he'd left was Mana Threads fluttering as they slowly faded away.