Chapter 113
Chapter 113
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 113
Chapter Title: S2.5. Magical Girl Won't Submit! -1
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Beyond the mirror stood an unfamiliar girl with a look of utter bewilderment on her face. She was so dumbfounded that her mouth hung wide open, as if her jaw might drop right off.
Where had that scarlet slicked-back hair gone? Now a long mane, neatly styled in a hime cut, draped all the way down to her waist. Beneath those long lashes, red eyes blinked rapidly, and her chest swelled modestly into soft, gentle curves.
Her fingers were slender. Her wrists were slender. She didn't look emaciated, but she certainly appeared delicate, and all the dense, battle-hardened muscle she'd built up over years of training had vanished into thin air.
The calluses embedded in her palms had vanished clean away, leaving them soft and fluffy. She brushed her skin lightly, and the delicate, velvety sensation sent a thrilling tingle through her. She flinched involuntarily.
Her skin was hypersensitive. Even the faint rustle of her loose-fitting clothes brushing against it raised goosebumps all over. A slightly firmer touch might have hurt.
"......"
In this state, even torture would make her scream without fail, she thought. And this wasn't even torture—just a gentle knead might draw out sounds from her.
Unless some wicked wizard had tampered with the mirror as a prank, this was reality.
"What the fuck!"
Her voice came out annoyingly clear and bright. Cool yet laced with a hint of cuteness, the kind that lodged right in your ear. Hearing that perfect voice emerge from her own throat made anger bubble up and then subside.
What the hell had happened? What had befallen her?
Just yesterday, Roderus had been a perfectly fine man. He desperately racked his brain, trying to recall. It had all started with the commotion in the wild hills last night. And then...
Beep-boop-beep~ ♬
Right there on the table, as if on display, sat the 『Transformation Device (Dreaming Mirror)』. And smack in the center of it was a massive crack.
I definitely returned this thing. So why the hell is it here?
Crash!
Roderus snatched up the transformation device with both hands and glared at it, grinding his teeth. Last night, he'd used this damned artifact to transform into a girl. It had been unavoidable.
But he'd clearly been told the transformation would wear off after some time!
"You goddamn furball, get out here right now! Why the hell am I still stuck looking like a girl—?!"
The desperate cry of one who had abruptly lost all traces of masculinity echoed through the room.
The scene rewinds a few days.
Punishment awaits the defeated. It was only natural.
Roderus Redburn had been thrown into an underground dungeon as penalty for failing his mission. The cell was poorly maintained, with walls soaked in dampness and sprouting mold everywhere.
No windows, no lights, not even a single torch—it was pitch black. With nothing to mark the passage of time, he had no idea how many days he'd been imprisoned.
No meals were provided. If he needed water, he had to lick the moldy walls. Catching a passing cockroach would be a stroke of luck.
Before being tossed in, he'd endured a barrage of lashes that left his whole body aching. Some wounds hadn't healed properly and still oozed blood.
'You're useless.'
Duke Redburn's voice kept echoing in his head. His temples throbbed, guilt welled up. He should have completed the mission somehow. He had no value if he couldn't even do that.
For someone raised from childhood as the family head's blade, there was no place for his heart to rest. No memories, no friends, no love or friendship—his world held only one blind devotion: being the "duke's right hand."
Once, there might have been a small star of comfort twinkling in his empty heart... but now it was forgotten. He couldn't even remember what it had been.
So he'd endured on sheer, hollow pride alone.
"Damn it... to lose to some lowly peasant...!"
Noble blood.
The noble blood that was superior by default.
Next time would be different. Next time, he'd go all out. If he hadn't let his guard down, he would have won. It had come down to a hair's breadth—his blade just hadn't quite reached.
Put another way, if he'd done that one thing right, victory would have been his. So he... hadn't done anything wrong.
Roderus curled up in a corner of the underground dungeon. And he sought sleep.
In the instant of slumber, he could escape the pain and be free. No one tormented him in dreams. So he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to ignore the throbbing agony.
But.
"Gaaah—!!"
Even dreams no longer belonged to him.
Roderus jolted awake screaming, roughly wiping at his eyes that streamed tears like a broken faucet. In the dream, he'd lost his family once again.
"Abraham, no... I don't know him. I've never even seen that old bastard...!"
Illusions. All of it, illusions.
Ever since being struck by that pitch-black arrow called 『Heart-Shattering Profound Arrow』, he'd suffered nightmares every night. In his dreams, Roderus was sometimes a man, sometimes a woman, but always woke having lost something precious.
Nightmares.
Black and dark. Darkness so profound he couldn't tell if his eyes were open or closed. Reality and dream blurred together. Both were horrific.
"I am... I am Roderus... Roderus Redburn. I am..."
In dreams and reality alike, he could only cling desperately to his crumbling shell.
The anomaly struck him on the seventh day of imprisonment. That's when he began having truly bizarre dreams...
Meteor.
Roderus was a meteor.
A glittering night sky stretched before him. And the ground rushed up fast. But it was all so different.
The world he glimpsed while plummeting was utterly alien. The landmass bore no resemblance to the continent he'd studied, and the buildings were strange shapes.
Towers taller than the imperial palace or even the Golden Magic Tower sprouted everywhere, countless as the stars. So many that it looked like a forest built of bricks.
The ground drew closer.
People wore wildly varied fashions and held odd rectangular devices to their ears. The roads were paved smooth with some black substance, and horseless carriages sped by.
Roderus knew this was another world entirely. Too many things he'd never seen or experienced.
And then, Roderus crashed into a secluded wild hill.
Falling from high enough to see the entire continent's shape should have killed him outright, yet somehow Roderus's limbs were all intact.
"...What is this."
His voice worked fine. Stepping onto the earth barefoot, he felt the coarse dirt texture clearly. His fingers moved.
A dream, then?
No. The wind tousling his hair felt real. Breathing deeply filled his lungs with crisp air.
No pain. The whip lashes had healed completely.
So how had he ended up like this?
Had Duke Redburn decided to dispose of him? Tossed him into some unstable spatial rift while he slept?
If so... what was he supposed to do now?
For a moment, Roderus's mind went blank. No orders, no goals—what then?
"......"
Crunch. Rustle.
As he hesitated without answers, his ears caught rustling sounds and a mana reaction. He reflexively reached for his rapier, but his waist was empty.
All he had was his shabby prison rags.
Hop.
A furry ball bounced out from the bushes. Followed by a girl in an overall yellow outfit.
"This waymong! Massive pure energy from this direction... A guy?!"
"A meteor fell, so a new mascot must've appeared... A guy?!"
The girl and furball froze at the sight of Roderus. He quickly scanned the unknown beings.
Four-legged furball. Some kind of spirit.
Girl in a frilly dress adorned with ribbons and lace. Holding a wand encrusted with gems in her right hand. Middling mana.
He could win a fight.
Unarmed, but his mana reserves outclassed them.
His deification was mana materialization. Summon mana, solidify it—even unarmed, he could form a mana rapier.
Like this, channel the mana...
Channel it...
"......?"
No mana.
The mana that should course through his body was nowhere to be found, even after a frantic search. As Roderus broke into a cold sweat, the girl glanced around and spoke.
"Um, bro. Seen any weird animals around here like this guy? Kinda like squishy mochi buns."
"I don't look weirdmong!"
Polite speech? "Bro"?
And judging by her casual vocabulary, no highborn noble. Roderus's peasant-despising switch flipped on with a snap.
"...What a farce. Keep your pointless skit to yourselves, you peasants."
"......!!"
The girl looked like she'd been struck by lightning.
"Whoa, total douchebag side character straight out of the 00s."
"......"
He didn't grasp the exact meaning of that string of words, but the nuance held zero respect for nobility. Roderus bristled and barked at the lowborn scum.
"I am Roderus Redburn. Show respect to a noble!"
"...Think this guy's the 'meteor'?"
"...Looks that waymong."
The girl cleared her throat with a hem-hem and said,
"Earth isn't a class society, y'know? Nobles and kings all got wrecked ages ago, so don't expect any special treatment... I'm Oh Hye-in."
"Oh... what?"
"From another world, right? Lots of stuff here that magic can't do, so just come along quietly. We'll hook you up with food, bed, clothes."
Another world. 『Meteor』. Magic.
They knew he'd fallen from the sky, knew he was from another world. Maybe they knew why he'd ended up here... or how to get back.
But how far could he trust strangers? Roderus eyed the girl suspiciously and said,
"...What makes you think I'd follow you, peasant?"
"Fine, don't then."
"......"
"Stop playing hard to get and come on. Koreans only invite three times."
The girl wagged her finger and started down the hill. The mumbling furball glanced at Roderus, then bounded after her through the brush.
...Fine.
Rude peasants or not, Roderus knew nothing of this place. Better than being left alone in the hills.
And she was offering clothes, shelter, food, info—what reason to refuse?
Roderus strode after the girl, Oh Hye-in.
Roderus and Hye-in chatted as they trekked down the secluded hills. Mostly Roderus asking, Hye-in answering.
"What nation's capital is this?"
"Republic of Korea. Not the capital, though. Gotta take the KTX way up north for that. Seoul."
"Don't lie, peasant. Look at all those tall buildings visible even from the hills..."
"Believe it or not. But seriously, you gonna keep talking like a total prick? Aren't I the one in charge here?"
Hye-in crossed her arms and cocked her head sassily. Roderus mirrored her, chin high.
"Dunno what 'in charge' means exactly, but it implies superiority, right? Bloodline doesn't change with circumstance. No matter how rich, peasant blood stays peasant."
"This guy's for real... Ugh, such a handsome face wasted on an old geezer vibe. Hey, bro, it's been over a century since nobility tanked."
"Don't shove foreign laws on me, you scum."
"When in Rome, do as the Romans do—ever heard of it?! One more 'scum' and we're done... Hold up."
Oh Hye-in raised her wand and halted.
Roderus stopped too, gazing toward the western sky. Mana wouldn't flow, but detection still worked. He sensed it.
A massive... sinister mana hurtling from afar.
"It's comingmong! This impure energy... probably one of the 『Four Heavenly Kings』...!! Hye-in, runmong!"
"But we can't just ditch this bro!"
"Quiet down. Too late anyway. Peasant... no, commoner. Prepare to fight."
"You upgrade me to commoner just 'cause I said no more 'scum' after threatening bye-bye...?!"
Shwooo—Boom!!
As Hye-in gawked at Roderus's unshakable ego, something slammed vertically into the ground, carving out a crater.
"Ngh...!!"
Dust billowed. From the crater's center, a girl in pure white rose. Her skin and hair were eerily pale. Adorning that innocent white was a gothic dress blending black and white halves.
The snow-white girl was wreathed in terrifying mana. It stung the skin. Both Roderus and Hye-in swallowed dryly, tense.
The apex predator before them muttered softly to herself.
"...For real? No, I'll cooperate, got it...! But my dignity, argh, fine, fine, you crazy bastard...! No bedwetter backstory..."
She grumbled like a madwoman, venting fury at someone, then struck an exaggerated pose and shouted.
"I am one of the 『Four Heavenly Kings』, the 『Guide of the Abyss and Darkness』, 『Espoir de l'Éternal Dark』—bow before me!"
"......"
"......"
Silence. Then Roderus spoke.
"...A mental attack?"
"...If the secondhand embarrassment is killing me, feels like an attack, right?"
"I'll kill you, magical girl—!!"
The goth-loli outer god—7% "humans are just too lovable"—launched a frantic assault.