Chapter 75: Krima Runs
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 75: Krima Runs
This was shortly before Alto entered the Dakuren Dungeon.
The heat of the sun was brutal.
Krima, bound and captive, was parched from her lips to her eyes. It was hard to breathe. Perhaps it was because the blood leaking from her nose—injured when she was captured—had hardened inside. Since she was breathing only through her mouth, her tongue and throat felt like sandpaper.
“Halt! Let’s take a break!”
At Banan’s shout, the group of adventurers settled into the shade. Krima managed to stagger to a large tree before collapsing onto her stomach. Even as she lay there, the rise and fall of her large chest stirred the lecherous desires of the male adventurers. Despite being able to grope the women in their own parties whenever they pleased, they felt a twisted curiosity for a woman who didn’t belong to them.
“Hey, Banan. This bitch is dying.”
“We haven’t even gone that far, and she’s already like this?”
She had sweated profusely, but her fluids weren’t being replenished. As Krima’s eyes rolled back, showing only the whites, Banan uncapped a waterskin and poured it over her.
“Pfft! Gasp!”
At the sudden drenching, Krima instinctively opened her mouth to gulp it down. She didn’t get much, but it felt like a lifeline. As her eyes regained focus, a man from Banan’s party chuckled.
“Isn’t that water from the border pond? Who knows what Yobeste might have done to it?”
“It’s not like we can give her our own water. She’s a priestess; I’m sure she can purify it herself as she drinks.”
“I swear, you’re all moans in bed but a total viper to other women.”
“Hehe, want to go at it later then?”
“Let’s do that. We’re safe for now since we caught her, right? Who knows what that crazy bitch Yarismal might do, so we’d better get our fill while we can.”
With that, the man unbuckled his belt.
The metallic clink was horrifying. Krima snapped her eyes open and looked up. The man was standing right over her stomach.
“Honey, what are you doing?” Banan asked.
“Well, they say she’s the one who dumped the great Alto Bertrand, so I’m curious about her skin. I wonder where she’s gilded that she’d cheat on a great hero? And with that piece of shit Gerend, no less?”
“If you have the energy for that, why not do it with me?”
“Hey, I can hold you whenever I want. But this bitch is dead the moment we hand her over to Shiba. She’s a disposable toy.”
Even if Banan was the leader, she was weak for her lover. He was one of the few men in Lukart who treated his partner relatively well, so even though she was displeased by his comment treating Krima like a mere sex tool, she decided to let it slide.
“No… please don’t…”
“Look at this bitch. Acting all cute now?”
Krima squirmed, twisting her entire body. The man grinned as he watched her wriggle like a caterpillar, inching upward ever so slightly. He didn’t notice that the rope binding Krima’s thumbs was slowly being charred by divine power.
The man, his bulging crotch on full display, reached down to tear open Krima’s clothes.
Krima screamed desperately.
“If you do this, everyone dies! We’ll all die!”
“What? You’re the only one definitely dying. Because you’re the stupid bitch who cheated.”
“E-even if I’m a wretched woman, I… I was still Lord Alto’s woman!”
“Is this bitch insane? Are you really in a position to say that?”
Not just the man, but Banan and the other women nearby were dumbfounded. Who was the reason Lukart was in this mess right now? They were only on their way back because they had caught Krima; ninety percent of the adventurers and residents were still marching north to catch the rest of Mirei’s party. They felt only resentment, completely lacking any self-awareness regarding the consequences of their town’s collective actions.
“You must have seen it too. Lord Alto charging like a demon at Yobeste, the war veteran. Man, I was truly shocked. With talent like that, his face didn’t even matter. He didn’t care if traps went off or not; he just jumped and—bam!—sliced him apart. Right, Banan?”
“It was terrifying to me. It means he was hiding all that power this whole time.”
“He probably did it to raise these idiots. No wonder we always talked about how these girls reached Hero rank when their skills seemed so mediocre. When the No. 1 National Merit Recipient is literally paving the road for you, how could you not succeed?”
Banan knew why her man was talking so much. He needed a justification. He felt a bit uneasy about taking Krima for no reason, so he was running his mouth.
“Gerend said you’re a pretty good sucker, didn’t he?”
The man mocked Krima as he lowered his hips, almost sitting on her.
“Speaking of which, word’s all over Lukart that your party members are nothing but sluts. Didn’t you know? Every time Claude and Gerend met, they’d argue over whose woman was better.”
Ah.
Krima was finally forced to admit it. They were nothing more than disposable pawns to Claude and Gerend, to be played with and discarded. She had offered Gerend all sorts of gifts and acted coy just to avoid that fate, but it had all been useless.
Of course it was useless, you stupid bitch.
The man by her side had been the best man in the world, recognized by everyone, yet she had failed to see it. She cursed herself. Could she really say she hadn’t known that this would be the price for abandoning the man who had cared for them and waited for them with such devotion?
Why had she followed Gerend along with Diane? There was no grand reason. He was handsome, and her heart had fluttered at the fact that such a good-looking man showed interest in her. Curiosity and excitement. The thrill of being favored by a handsome man.
The more she immersed herself in that fire, the worse her treatment of Alto became.
Alto had endured it. He had endured it for over a year. Even though it must have been agonizing enough to turn his stomach, he had tried to leave as quietly as possible. On the day he left, Krima had thought Alto was arrogant for daring to reject her help.
Stupid bitch.
In reality, even if he had wiped out both them and Lukart single-handedly—and he was a man truly capable of doing so—Alto had held back until the very end before leaving.
Look at the moment he slaughtered Yobeste. Recall him charging, a warrior’s roar devoid of mercy or leniency, his peerless, muscular body rippling as he tore through the very lines of death.
A man that formidable.
A man who had every right to be more arrogant than anyone.
And yet, he was a man who had been kind and smiled only for them, for Mirei’s party…
Without even realizing she was being treated as someone special, she had thrown him away with her own hands, as if slamming him into the dirt.
“Claude said that bitch Resin makes noises like a beast. Is that true? Ah, I guess you wouldn’t know since you weren’t there. Whatever, just start sucking.”
Just as the man was about to expose himself with a lewd laugh—
“Stop. If you do this, there is no turning back.”
Krima stopped him with a cold voice. At her attitude, not only the man but even Banan turned serious.
“What? I guess you don’t know your place…”
“Regardless of everything, I am Lord Alto’s woman.”
He froze.
She was trying to threaten them with a pathetic excuse after coming all this way. At that thought, the man’s rage boiled over, and he clenched his fist.
“Banan, I think I need to beat this bitch some more. She hasn’t learned her lesson.”
“I agree, honey.”
Banan added her own word as she brought over a pair of studded boots for the man.
“You bitch. Yarismal Bichante isn’t the only problem. They say word of this has reached even higher up. We’re all on the verge of death. Unless we round up every last one of you, including that bitch Mirei, and get Lord Alto’s forgiveness, we’re all dead meat.”
Despite the chilling threat, Krima remained calm.
“And then what? Is this how you want it recorded in the history books? ‘The foolish Mirei party cheated on a national hero. And the equally foolish Lukart adventurers, while transporting a captured priestess, were caught raping her and had their skulls crushed by an enraged Yarismal Bichante, dying alongside her.’”
Both Banan and the man stopped moving. Everyone’s eyes were fixed on Krima.
“Whether I’m a slut or not… I am Lord Alto’s woman. Because I threw my body away and you all turned a blind eye to it, the Kingdom and the Adventurer Guild headquarters are furious and trying to crush us. And in the middle of that, you’re going to touch me?”
She was acting bold, but Krima was desperately racking her brain. Inside, her heart was racing so fast she felt like she might die right then and there. She was using her mouth and mind with such desperation that her cleavage and the small of her back were soaked with sweat.
“Then you would be touching Lord Alto’s woman again. Your actions would be no different from mine. Since the entire village would have collectively insulted Lord Alto’s honor, it would obviously mean summary execution.”
As she spoke, the realization of how desperate her situation was and the magnitude of her mistake hit her, and tears began to flow.
I’m fucked.
There was no other way to describe it. And yet, she wanted to live.
“Go ahead! I’ll spread my legs for you! But after you’re done, I’ll tell Yarismal myself that you touched me. Then I won’t die alone. I’ll take as many of you with me as I can. Tell every bastard with a cock to come and ram it into me!”
She threw away all the status and refinement of a priestess, screaming with nothing but spite. The other adventurers, who were beginning to get heated in a different sense, stood up one by one.
“Honey. That bitch has a point. Why don’t you just do it with me instead?”
“I should. But…”
Every single one of them was loosening up their muscles with hostile glares.
“Even if we can’t fuck her, we can still beat her until she’s half-dead because she’s a piece of shit, right?”
“That’s my man.”
Banan smiled thinly and personally helped the man put on the studded boots.
“Let’s wreck that mouth of hers one more time. It’s hard to hold back when a bitch who did wrong is shouting at us, honey.”
“Get the priests ready. If we accidentally kick her too hard and it’s fatal, we’ll need to heal her. Hey! I’m taking the first swing, so the rest of you line up!”
The adventurers crowded around Krima. She quickly scanned her surroundings. The adventurers were only gathered in front of her. There was no one behind the large tree providing the shade. Her heart hammered against her ribs.
“Brace yourself. One wrong move and you’re going to the afterlife.”
Just as the man took a running start—
Sizzle!
The knot binding her thumbs was burned through by divine power and snapped.
“Light…!”
Dodging the man’s kick, Krima gathered her divine power and detonated a flash of light above her head. The principle was different from Resin’s magic, but the power was far greater.
“Agh! My eyes!”
Since everyone’s attention had been focused on her, the effect was outstanding. Krima bolted. She stupidly slammed into the tree as soon as she started running, but she scrambled away, weeping as she sprinted.
“Shoot! Shoot! She’s getting away!”
“Honey, no! You guys, just track her! If we accidentally kill her, we’re dead too!”
Krima kept running, maintaining the flash of light. The fear of death was performing a miracle.
“Aaaaaaaah!”
The priestess, who had once been the most refined member of Mirei’s party, was now screaming like a beast, running and running in a desperate bid for survival.
Where should she go? She didn’t know. Just north. Toward the Duchy in the north. They wouldn’t be able to chase her openly once she crossed the border. And after she reached the Duchy? She didn’t know. But she would find Alto. She would find him and beg for his forgiveness.
‘You know, Krima. Let’s apologize to Alto, okay?’
Krima felt a wave of self-loathing, realizing that the stubborn, foolish suggestion from Diane—whom she believed to be dead—had been the right one all along.
“Aaaaaaaaagh!”
As she fled in that wretched, pitiful state, someone was watching from far across the border.
“Go and tell the Archduke. Tell him she’s doing just fine on her own.”
It was the war veteran, the God of War on Horseback, Levantello.