Chapter 235
Chapter 235
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 235
Chapter Title: Bomb Girl
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The next thought that crossed my mind was doubt: what if this woman was actually extremely rational?
Of course, even I felt repulsed at the idea of calling a woman who gouged out her own eyeball with her bare hands and casually smashed someone's skull rational...
But if I had to put it into words, wasn't Verita rationally insane?
I had no idea what that nonsense even meant, but for now, let's recall the situation when this lunatic shattered the knight's head.
Fortunately, there were only the three of us around.
There had been six heroes who'd fought me, but Verita knocked them out in one go, so no witnesses.
That meant I was the only one who'd seen her kill the knight.
Which raised a question.
Would Verita have smashed the knight's head even if there were other witnesses around?
'...She probably would've.'
That was my first thought about this woman who wasn't all there.
On the flip side, it was a good thing there were no witnesses...
If ten people had seen it, she would've killed ten.
If a hundred had seen it, she would've killed a hundred.
In short, Verita was a walking bomb. I decided to think of her that way first.
The silver lining—if you could call it that—was that this ticking time bomb wasn't likely to explode targeting me...
But honestly, that wasn't much comfort.
Why are bombs dangerous?
Obviously because of their blast radius.
A bomb is a weapon so hazardous that even the thrower can get caught in the explosion if they're careless.
So even if this bomb girl didn't have me as her target...
If she kept hanging around me, the odds of me getting caught in the blast someday were sky-high.
'I like the metaphor.'
Perfect. From today on, she was Bomb Girl.
Of course, I lacked the guts to say it out loud, so I'd just call her that in my head.
Bomb Girl Verita stared at me blankly.
"...Hm."
I racked my brain for words, but finding the right opener was tough.
After her last words, she'd been looking at me with sparkling eyes for some reason.
I wasn't sure if the expression fit, but her face reminded me of a dog begging for a frisbee.
Naturally, I had no intention of praising a woman who'd just smashed a man's head open, so I changed the subject.
"Your wounds? Shouldn't you at least stop the bleeding?"
The more I spoke, the more absurd it felt.
Verita held no resentment or hatred toward the knight who'd slashed her own body.
Even though she'd bled enough to die without issue.
There was no bravado or sarcasm in her act of handing over her gouged-out eyeball either—probably because she genuinely saw it as reasonable.
Yet she flipped out over my scraped wound.
Overprotective didn't even begin to cover it.
Anyway, Bomb Girl beamed at my question.
"Thank you for your concern! But a wound like this will be healed by the Lord in no time, so no need to worry."
"What?"
Verita brushed back her hair, matted with blood.
As she did, she gently opened the eye still stained with blood.
"...Holy shit."
A perfectly fine eyeball had formed inside.
Whether it'd grown back, regenerated, or was never damaged to begin with—I had no clue.
Either way, up close, I could see her eyes were different colors: her left iris gleamed amber.
It wasn't like the special state when I borrowed a divine beast's power...
Maybe she'd always had heterochromia.
Meaning her usual dark eyes had been the disguise.
"...Are you actually human?"
"Of course I am."
"Human eyeballs don't regenerate like that. Not even lizards, and trolls take months to regrow one."
"Your politeness feels like a wall, High Priest. Please, speak freely."
It was a wall, alright.
"And if I may humbly counter, miracles do not come to ignorant beasts who know no faith."
With that, Verita reverted to the image of a devout nun, clasping her hands demurely in prayer.
"The Lord said: without faith, there are no miracles."
"I see."
Talking it out helped me sort my thoughts a bit.
Along with the realization that I couldn't get more tangled up with this bomb girl, I spoke up.
"Hey. You said you'd follow my orders, right?"
"Yes. Do you have a command for me?"
"Yeah. This is your first memorable order: from now on, don't freak out every time I get a scratch."
"I'm sorry, but I can't obey that one."
"...?!"
Rejected on the first order?
I gave her a baffled look.
"You said you'd even give up your life if I ordered it."
"That's right."
"Then why not this?"
"Because sometimes people have duties more important than life itself. I call it my calling."
"..."
"High Priest, as your guardian, I must fulfill my role. Please forgive me."
Forgive my ass.
This bomb girl just used polite speech—she'd never intended to bend to my will from the start.
At this point, I was starting to doubt if she even saw me as someone worth serving.
"...So, you're saying you'll keep smashing the heads of anyone who hurts me from now on?"
"That's my duty."
"Yeah? Then what if I order you to just die right here?"
"..."
Verita stared at me intently.
Her mismatched irises felt unpleasant—like snake eyes, but far stickier and more obsessive than Liseradigos's gaze.
Finally, Verita gave a slight smile.
"I am of course prepared to obey."
"..."
Something felt off.
Like I was about to press a button I really shouldn't.
In the end, I awkwardly shifted topics with a sour face.
"You remember the second exam's rules, right?"
"Of course. Participants must not kill each other."
"And you smashed your teammate's head."
Verita's gaze drifted to the knight's corpse.
"No need to worry about cleanup."
"What're you gonna do?"
"I'll make it look like a demon beast killed him."
"This body?"
Any kid could tell with a glance it'd been bludgeoned to death. Of course, an actual kid would probably faint foaming at the mouth from the gruesome sight.
"Yes."
"I'm a little worried now."
"Ah."
Verita smiled happily at my words.
"You're concerned."
"Yeah."
For me, not you.
One slip-up, and I'd be an accomplice.
"Aah... How can you have such a warm heart? ...But High Priest, you needn't worry at all. I assure you, not even Heros's mongrel appraisers will sense a thing. I have plenty of experience."
"..."
Meaning she was experienced at faking causes of death and disposing of bodies.
I mentally bumped up Bomb Girl's danger level another notch.
"However, as you said, the body's badly mangled, so it'll take some time. Even if the 'Behemoth's Feather' seal breaks, we won't be able to join the fight right away..."
Rumble...
Right on cue, a cavern-shaking roar echoed, and stalactites rained down like hail from the ceiling.
Verita's form vanished in an instant.
Boom!
Thunder cracked, and the falling stalactites shattered to pieces.
She landed lightly and continued toward me.
"...Looks like the seal's broken. Hm."
Verita looked slightly troubled.
Corpse disposal or demon subjugation—which to prioritize?
'Guess Dark Cult followers aren't that devout to demons after all.'
I'd heard the factions didn't get along.
Still, I figured they'd all worship any demon, but apparently not.
Were all cultists like this?
Or was it just Verita?
"You stay here. While you're cleaning up, watch over the six I fought too."
"Is that alright?"
"Yeah. I'll handle the jar side somehow."
Verita spoke in a grave tone.
"Please be careful. The demon that was sealed is mighty. It's only natural—a fragment from Behemoth."
"Yeah? Stronger than a demon legion commander maybe?"
Verita looked genuinely flustered for the first time.
"No, not that much. A 'fragment' is just a byproduct, like a hair or nail clipping."
"Then I'm good."
"Pardon?"
I didn't bother mentioning my win over a legion commander.
Kazita back then couldn't even use half her full power.
"Hm. Understood for now. I'll finish cleanup, wipe out the rampaging demon beasts around to secure a safe zone, then join you immediately. Please hold out without pushing yourself, High Priest."
Her tone assumed I couldn't handle that demon...
It'd been a while since my rebellious streak got fired up.
Stressed from her antics whether I liked it or not, I made up my mind.
'Time to vent.'
I'd beat the crap out of that freed demon.
* * *
"Gyaaaaaaaah—!"
Screaming like a monster, he threw himself into a roll.
Scraaaape!
It felt like a massive tree caught in a storm had grazed his back.
Lokan of the chain scythe tumbled wildly across the ground, thinking.
How the hell did things turn into this mess?
"...Fuck!"
He'd avoided swearing since becoming a hero...
But in this dire pinch, the profanity spilled out reflexively.
His lowly origins?
'No. It's the situation.'
Picture this:
A seal breaks, an octopus demon emerges, and it lashes out everywhere with dozens of tree-trunk legs...
Even a saintly gentleman would curse up a storm.
Booom!
He barely dodged the next attack.
Literally barely.
The tentacles moved with speed belying their bulk, and the cave wasn't spacious enough for free movement.
Of course, he'd never thought the cave small until facing this demon bastard.
Meaning the freak was its sheer size.
"Any way to beat it?!"
The chain scythe wielder yelled back.
He spotted the mage a short distance away.
Mage.
As a mercenary, awe for the word was natural.
Southern warmages were strategic weapons, capable of turning the tide of battle alone.
That was why, since the demon appeared, his eyes had kept flicking to the mage.
What was that woman—no, girl, whatever—thinking?
Her wide-brimmed hat hid her expression...
But she didn't seem tense at all.
Unmotivated? Holding back?
No hard evidence—just a hunch.
A hunch, but Lokan trusted his instincts on this stuff.
Like how he'd realized that annoying brat was no ordinary kid.
'Come to think of it, I never got his name.'
The platinum blond boy from his team flashed in his mind.
What the hell was that guy?
First unreadable type he'd met. Looked like a noble young master, but sometimes acted like a crafty merc, and he knew his stuff about the cult too...
Weirdly experienced for his age, overall.
And above all, strong.
Strong enough to be reassuring fighting beside him right now.
'Shit.'
Having stray thoughts meant he wasn't right in the head either.
Lokan summed up the situation.
They'd been carrying the jar when it shattered on its own.
Octopus tentacles burst out like an explosion.
The tentacles immediately attacked indiscriminately.
Verita's teammate—the mage and the noble—let them hold their own somewhat...
But honestly, it was hopeless.
'Starting to get it. This exam required participant cooperation from the start.'
Yet the examiner praised teams that took the jar. Probably told all teams the same...
Sowing conflict. If one team got greedy and fled with the jar, the seal auto-broke, leading to this disaster.
'And if teams fought over the jar and injured heroes...'
They'd lose the power to subdue the demon, and the exam would fail for everyone.
"...So, what now?"
Just run?
Seemed right if he wanted to live.
As Lokan gritted his teeth—
"...?"
A massive presence surged from behind.
Like a flame-wreathed chariot charging. He glanced back: the platinum blond punk barreled toward them with ferocious momentum.
"You!"
"That the demon?"
"Y-Yeah?"
"Good. Still looks lively."
Shing. He drew the sword from his waist—out of his two blades, the katana—and swung at the tentacle looming right in front of him...
Lokan yelled desperately.
"Don't cut it!"
"Huh?"
He aborted the slash and dodged.
Throwing a baffled glance, Lokan hurriedly explained.
"Cut it, and it splits!"
"Whoops."
Better not to cut then. As the boy muttered low, another tentacle swung down.
He sheathed the katana, posing to punch it.
Lokan had no choice but to yell again.
"Don't touch it either!"
"Eh?"
Too late this time.
As the boy hesitated, the tentacle smacked him dead-on.
Booom!
A bone-chilling boom, and the boy's form got swept up, slamming into the wall.
"Dear god."
Touching it meant game over.
Not for any other reason—the suckers on those tentacles.
Their adhesion mocked any glue. That's how Lokan lost his weapon when he cluelessly threw his chain scythe.
"...It's over."
Lokan sighed.
Even the reinforcements croaked in seconds.
No way all the remaining heroes combined could take that demon.
That's when it happened.
"...Can't cut it, can't hit it."
A voice came from beyond the tentacles.
Lokan jerked his head up in shock.
"Then burn it. That's my conclusion."
Fwoosh!
Right after.
A blaze roared out from beyond the tentacles.