Chapter 37
Chapter 37
Ch. 37 .｡.:✧ Cologne (7) ✧:.｡.
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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“…Ha. Haaa. Haaak.”
Rough breaths continuously burst out from Undecided’s mouth.
It was clearly different from usual.
With each breath, her body heaved greatly, unable to suppress her excited state.
“Undecided?”
“…Haa.”
The moment I called her name briefly, Undecided’s head turned towards me.
Breathing like a beast and a posture as if she would pounce at any moment. In her eyes that shone particularly red, not a trace of reason could be found.
Eyes that seemed to be captured only by instinct, the most primal instinct of hunger.
I tried to take a combat stance in preparation for any situation, but my body wouldn’t listen.
Due to mana exhaustion, no matter how much I tried to move, the best I could do was squirm while lying on the floor.
“Hey. It’s not that, right?”
“…Yoo-jin.”
“Yeah. It’s me. Try to get a hold of yourself.”
“…Want. To eat.”
“Ah.”
Hwaak.
Undecided leaped toward me in an instant.
Whether I had slowed down or Undecided had sped up.
Without time to react, Undecided pushed down on my chest and pounced, quickly climbing on top of me.
“Hey! It’s your master, master! Calm down!”
“…Kuaaa.”
Undecided who opened her mouth and drooled.
Soon, Undecided tore open the buttons of my shirt, exposing my neck.
Then, holding down my shoulders with both hands to fix me in place, she slowly brought her mouth to my neck.
I’m screwed.
My pet that I got for free is going to eat me to death.
Ah.
Since I got her for free, does that mean I didn’t buy her?
Anyway, enveloped in a sense of powerlessness that I couldn’t do anything in this situation, the moment I closed my eyes tightly.
“…Heup. Hak. Chuurp. Nyangnyang.”
Instead of the intense pain of flesh being torn, only the familiar sensation of nibbling was felt on my neck.
Certainly, it felt like she was biting harder than usual.
However, it was a sensation far from the extreme pain I had imagined.
Unable to control her instincts, she was drooling all over.
She also showed the behavior of trying to tear open the wound by shaking her head from side to side while biting my neck, as beasts usually do.
But the flaw was that those weren’t very threatening without sharp fangs.
“…Heuk, haap! Nyangnyang, om nyom nyom.”
Unable to make a wound by biting, she started going completely crazy.
Biting, sucking, shaking.
Undecided desperately craved my neck as if she had found a broken faucet on the verge of dying from thirst.
At this point, I realized. I had misunderstood.
Undecided wasn’t trying to eat me.
[Strength: 13(x5) *Guardian Knight effect applied]
[Stamina: 15(x5) *Guardian Knight effect applied]
[Mana: 43(x5) *Guardian Knight effect applied]
[Agility: 18(x5) *Guardian Knight effect applied]
[Luck: 14(x5) *Guardian Knight effect applied]
Guardian Knight was still activating without any problems.
It meant that Undecided still recognized me as her ‘protector’.
I thought her instincts as a blood ghoul had revived and she was trying to bite me to death…
“Hey. Get off.”
“…Heuk.”
The moment I gave a low command.
As if a bit of reason had returned, Undecided’s biting ceased.
And then, drooling from her mouth, she lifted her body.
“Sit still. I’ll give you blood.”
“…Okay.”
With eyes that had regained a little reason, Undecided answered.
And then she quickly got off me and waited in a docile posture, kneeling on the floor.
However, she wasn’t very obedient, constantly wriggling her butt, unable to stay still.
Drool was still dripping from her mouth.
Her eyes, half-filled with instinct and reason, were fixed on my arm with bulging veins.
It was like looking at a young puppy who had just learned to ‘wait’.
“Eung…”
Do I have to feed her when I’m exhausted to the point of mana depletion?
Momentary disillusionment passed, and I took out a dagger to make a cut on the vein of my elbow.
Then, dark red blood flowed down my arm, staining the floor.
Undecided, who was about to rush in to catch a drop of falling blood, unable to endure it.
“I told you to stay still!”
“…Euk.”
With a single shout from me, she attached her butt to the floor again.
In the meantime, blood drops fell to the floor again.
As if watching a precious piece of meat fall, Undecided’s eyes chased the falling blood drops, gradually filling with regret.
‘I should properly educate her on this occasion.’
Come to think of it, this kid had been endlessly rude in terms of table manners from the beginning.
Without even saying a word, she would just put my finger in her mouth.
She would bite and nip at my neck.
She would bare her teeth in my face and eventually pounce and try to eat without permission.
It was a bit late, but I had to properly educate her now.
It didn’t become a big problem now because she had no fangs and her instincts weren’t very strong, but there was no guarantee it would be the same later.
It was right to prevent it in advance before bigger problems arose.
“Now eat.”
“…Hap!”
Thud.
Undecided who ran over like lightning bit my elbow and kept sucking.
Her eyes, glancing up as if checking my reaction, had already turned into the eyes of a baby sucking on a milk bottle rather than a beast.
She’s like an angel again at times like this.
A deep sigh escaped.
“…Gulp, haap. Nyam.”
The ‘meal’ continued for a long time.
Usually, she would be satisfied after sucking for about 1-2 minutes and let go.
But this time, she sucked for over 10 minutes.
It seemed she had certainly used a large amount of power this time.
“Are you satisfied?”
“…Yes.”
Undecided, who stepped back wiping her mouth.
As if nothing had happened, she had an emotionless face without any desires, just like always.
When I glared at her in disbelief, Undecided quickly turned her head and looked away.
“You were frolicking around so energetically. I didn’t know you were that strong.”
“…”
Now that feeding was done, I lay down on my back again to finish replenishing my stamina.
However, Undecided didn’t answer my words at all and just turned her back.
The source of Undecided’s strength as she gleefully beat up Belphegor earlier was definitely mana.
The fact that each swing of the club looked weak was only because the opponent was Belphegor.
If an ordinary person was hit, their skull would have been crushed to death.
Except for the part where she couldn’t even recognize her master and tried to go on a rampage to suck blood after using up all her power, it was perfect.
Ah.
That’s the biggest problem.
The reason Undecided suddenly awakened…
‘It must be that mana stone.’
The ring with the red mana stone embedded.
The most convincing theory is that she became able to use mana thanks to that.
It seemed some confirmation was needed.
“Hey. Give me the ring.”
“…Okay.”
Undecided obediently took off the ring and handed it to me.
When I touched and examined the mana stone, I could feel a very faint, unfamiliar mana seeping into the crystal inside.
It must be Undecided’s mana.
This is second-hand now.
Mana stones are consumables too.
“Try swinging the club and hitting the rock like earlier.”
“…Uaaah! Like! This?”
Thud.
Undecided, who even used her facial muscles and struggled to lift the wooden club with effort, brought it down on the rock.
But the moment the wooden club touched the rock, it bounced off, and Undecided fell backwards from the recoil.
“…Huh?”
It was a puzzled expression.
She seemed to wonder why she was weak when she was strong earlier.
I gestured for Undecided to come back to me and put the ring on her finger.
“Now try again.”
“…Okay.”
Kwang.
She easily lifted it with one hand from the start, and the moment the wooden club struck, the rock shattered into pieces.
As expected.
Although Undecided’s body originally had mana, it seemed she couldn’t utilize it at all without a mana stone.
‘But where does the mana come from?’
A question arose here.
Originally, mana was supposed to be generated from a beating heart according to the setting.
Then where does the mana of Undecided, whose heart has stopped, come from?
“Come here. Try sucking my blood one more time.”
“…Okay.”
In fact, there was nothing else entering Undecided from the outside except my blood.
She must be charging mana through my blood.
To prove my hypothesis, the moment I grabbed Undecided’s lips and opened her mouth.
“Check if mana is charging.”
“…Aheua. Mana. Is, charging.”
“What?”
Before I could even feed her blood, she said something strange.
When I let go of her in disbelief,
“…Now. Not, charging.”
Now she says it’s not charging.
Only then did the mystery unravel.
I slowly brought my hand to Undecided’s head and gently stroked it.
Undecided’s head swayed back and forth according to the movement of my hand.
“How about now?”
“…Charging, now.”
“Now?”
“…Charging, faster.”
“Now?”
“…Charging, super fast.”
And then, as I gradually increased the stroking speed, the mana charging speed also increased.
No way.
It wasn’t my blood, but physical contact that was the means of charging mana.
Blood was simply for replenishing stamina, and mana was being charged through body contact during the process of sucking blood.
Which bastard designed this setting?
One thing was certain, that bastard was definitely a pet lover.
“But it’s quite convenient. A slave who gets stronger just by patting her head. By the way, how much has been charged so far?”
“…About, 0.1 percent.”
“What…?”
She said I’d have to stroke her like this about 999 more times to fully charge her. My vision blurred.
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“Just a short walk…”
“Madam. It’s dangerous outside.”
“You should stay inside since you’re also unwell.”
“…”
A lot of time had passed.
It had already been 2 hours since Lawrence and Yoo-jin left the residence.
But there was still no news.
Gradually, an ominous feeling crept over me, but there was nothing I could do.
I could only quietly wait in the room.
Endlessly praying for his victory.
“What? Who died?”
“The master… returned in pieces…?”
“That damn mercenary!”
Around the time the first floor started getting noisy.
Only then did I realize.
Yoo-jin had won.
And Lawrence was dead.
“What’s going on?”
“Madam…”
Now there was no one to restrain me.
Even if I opened the door and came out, no one could stop me.
Holding my skirt, my footsteps gradually quickened as I descended the stairs.
I wasn’t sure if I could hide the joy that filled my face.
But soon I noticed something strange and my footsteps slowed.
‘Then what about Yoo-jin?’
The deal was that Yoo-jin would kill Lawrence for me, and I would help Yoo-jin later.
But not once did I wonder ‘how’ he would kill him.
Just what method was he planning to use to kill the mayor of Cologne City and not get caught?
‘Ah.’
I quickly realized.
Yoo-jin never had any intention of not getting caught from the beginning.
He was going to boldly kill Lawrence and get arrested.
There was no other explanation.
‘For me…?’
Thud.
Thud.
The moment I finished descending the stairs.
Understanding everything, my heart sank.
Yoo-jin had decided to sacrifice himself for me.
To save me.
To liberate me.
“This is the dungeon core. And this is the corpse of your master.”
“Oh my goodness! What is this! Oh master! Oh no!”
“You murderer! Call the police! Police!”
“There’s no need for that. I’ve already called the bishop.”
The courtyard was noisy.
In the middle of the gathered people, Yoo-jin’s calm voice could be heard.
Even after committing all this, he chose not to run away but to get caught himself.
Could this also be for me?
Did he deliberately get caught so that I wouldn’t be suspected if the culprit wasn’t caught?
“Yoo…”
My throat clogged up and my voice wouldn’t come out.
Right.
That name was a secret.
Swallowing the name back down my throat, I moved forward.
What should I say to the man who gave up everything for me?
How should I express my gratitude?
I had never thought about this before, so my head felt dizzy.
“Bishop! You’re here! Please arrest this man quickly!”
“He’s a vicious man! He totally dismembered Mayor Briam!”
“Calm down. There’s something that needs to be confirmed first.”
The crowd instantly became quiet.
The bishop then entered through them and opened the bloodstained sack placed in the center.
What was revealed inside was a dismembered corpse.
Moreover, the severed head was already so badly smashed that it was difficult to recognize the face.
“Bleargh! Ugh!”
“Damn you! How could you do this to someone we even treated to dinner!”
People retched here and there, and grabbed Yoo-jin’s collar, shouting.
Even in the midst of that, Yoo-jin just stood still.
Soon, the bishop who had been touching the corpse here and there opened his mouth.
“It’s certain. There are traces of demonic possession left behind.”
“Pardon? Bishop. What do you mean…?”
“I came after receiving a request for examination from the mercenary. He said that a demon possessed Mayor Lawrence Briam’s body and he had to engage in combat inside the dungeon. He said he struggled and managed to defeat the demon, and it seems to be true.”
“…”
No one could easily open their mouths.
The hands that had grabbed Yoo-jin’s collar fell one by one.
I also finally fully grasped the situation.
It wasn’t that Yoo-jin had no plan.
He had known everything from the beginning.
When I sent a gaze of reverence to him, realizing that, he was also looking straight at me.
“…”
Pondering the meaning for a moment.
I noticed that it wasn’t only him looking at me.
At some point, everyone’s eyes were focused on me.
The bishop slightly bowed his head to me and asked in a low voice.
“Then. Countess Regent. Do you have anything to say?”
“Ah…”
His form of address had changed.
Countess Regent.
Lawrence had really died.
I had officially become the one to replace the count.
When that realization hit, the first emotion that welled up was anger.
The butler.
The coachman.
The head maid.
The maids.
The chef.
The knights…
Every face my eyes met was only a hateful one.
These people.
When I asked for help, not once did they even pretend to listen.
They all just watched.
Claiming to be Lawrence’s loyal dogs, they locked me in my room even when he wasn’t there.
They intercepted and censored my letters.
They pretended not to hear my screams…
They were all in on it together.
They were all the same kind of bastards.
“As the Countess Regent, I order. All employees of the residence. You’re all fired.”
“Pardon? Madam. You’re joking, right?”
“You can’t suddenly do this, Madam! You’re not going to make us all end up on the streets…”
“And I’ll hand you all over to the Inquisition. As close associates of one who colluded with a demon, who knows if there are any more of you? Bishop. You can do as you please with them now.”
“Yes. Countess Regent. Thank you for your cooperation.”
“M-Madam?! What do you mean by that?”
“Please spare us!”
“…”
The holy knights approached and surrounded the employees.
When they belatedly realized their situation and started kneeling and begging, it was already too late.
Revenge had only just begun.
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