Chapter 70
Chapter 70
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: Cafe Bene (2)
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Don't hit people.
Her master had earnestly advised her as much.
Raniel stared straight ahead.
Sitting in front of her was a pink-haired whore. Gazing at that loathsome face, Raniel thought to herself.
'This crazy bitch isn't human, is she?'
So, it was fine to hit her, right?
Wriggle.
Raniel's fingers twitched.
2.
Sara failed to notice the girl's changing expression.
She continued speaking with a smile.
"By any chance, are you a devotee of Delorhim?"
"I'm an atheist."
But the response that came back was icy cold.
"...Pardon? What did you say?"
There was no reply this time.
The girl scowled and brushed past Sara to place her order with the shopkeeper.
'...Huh?'
Sara tilted her head in confusion.
Still seated, she reached out and grabbed the girl's sleeve.
"Excuse me? I was just saying..."
"Ugh."
Whoosh, the girl swung her hand.
She shook it off as if swatting away a clinging bug.
'Ugh? Did she just say ugh just now...?'
At that point, even Sara caught on.
That wasn't a friendly reaction. It was disgust. A look like she was staring at something repulsive.
"Aha?"
Sara smiled.
'What the hell does this bitch think she's doing...?'
The girl ignored Sara completely and kept placing her order. Sara's lips quivered at the sight.
It happened occasionally.
Atheists who didn't worship Delorhim, or outright unbelievers showing their disdain toward her.
And every time that happened, Sara—the Saintess—would drop her mask. She'd reveal her true self.
"Oh my."
So, this time was no different.
"Oops."
Splash!
She swung her coffee cup. She adjusted the angle just so. The coffee splattered onto the girl's clothes with a splash.
A black stain bloomed on the crisp white dress shirt.
"Oh no!"
Sara made a show of panicking belatedly and pulled a handkerchief from her bosom. She pretended to wipe it but never actually touched the stain with it.
"I'm so sorry! My hand slipped and..."
Then, she slowly lifted her head to gauge the girl's reaction. No matter how much of an atheist or unbeliever she was, she wouldn't dare curse out a Saintess to her face.
Sara expected her to swallow her anger silently.
But...
"Ha."
That expectation was quickly betrayed.
"You crazy bitch?"
"...What did you just say?"
Sara's eyes went wide.
The girl replied calmly.
"I said you're a crazy bitch."
Sara realized it then.
The girl in front of her was a crazy bitch who didn't give a damn about any of that. Sara shot to her feet.
"Isn't that a bit much? You just..."
"What else do you call a crazy bitch but a crazy bitch?"
"Ha, I'm just so flabbergasted!"
Sara raised her hand.
She feigned anger, but petty insults like that could never shake Sara's ironclad mentality.
Thanks to a certain mage, she'd built up a tolerance to profanity.
Still, she acted furious on the surface.
That way, the violence to come would seem justified.
Sara swung her hand. A perfectly timed slap headed for the girl's cheek. She could already hear the smack ringing out.
Chin.
But that hand never reached the girl.
The girl reached out and grabbed Sara's wrist.
"You threw the first punch."
One word.
Then, she swung her hand. It was aimed at Sara's head. Sara scoffed and chanted a spell.
Divine Protection.
Light enveloped Sara.
It wasn't a full incantation, but it was more than enough to block a mere slap from this girl.
'She thinks she can slap me? All that'll happen is her hand hurting.'
Sara leisurely watched the incoming hand.
There was no way it would reach her anyway.
Crack!
"Huh?"
Once again, her prediction shattered.
The girl's hand shattered the barrier effortlessly. The mana flashing from her hand made it possible.
Sara stumbled back in panic.
But the girl's hand hadn't been aiming for a slap in the first place.
Crunch.
That hand seized Sara's hair.
"Eek!"
Yanking the hair, the girl reached out with her other hand. It grabbed the freshly served coffee cup.
"Let go! What the hell do you think you're—!"
Grabbing the girl's wrist with her hair still yanked, Sara looked up at her. And that's when she saw it.
The coffee cup in the girl's other hand.
Steam was rising from it.
"W-Wait a second. You wouldn't..."
"Oh my."
The girl muttered expressionlessly.
She yanked the hair hard. Sara was pulled forward. Her nape was fully exposed.
"Oops."
Drip, drip, drip.
She didn't dump it all at once.
The girl kept a steady tilt, letting the steaming coffee trickle down onto Sara's nape.
"Kyaaah! You crazy bitch! You fucking crazy bitch!"
Sara screamed.
She thrashed wildly, but the girl's grip didn't budge an inch.
"Kyaaak! Kyaaaah!"
Of course, she wouldn't get burned.
A Saintess's body couldn't match a Hero's, but it was sturdy enough. Her healing powers went without saying.
Even boiling hot coffee poured over her skin left no scars. It healed instantly.
But no matter how fast it healed...
It still burned like hell.
"Kyaaaah!!!"
Her pale skin flushed red.
It hurt. And worse, her clothes were soaking black. Her brand-new Black Mage Tower priestess robe was stained with coffee.
'My new outfit!'
Sara glared at the girl through teary eyes.
The girl was still pouring the coffee. She could break free with force, but...
'Then my hair would be a mess.'
Clothes or hair.
She had to sacrifice one or the other.
Just as Sara was lost in profound deliberation.
Ding-a-ling.
"Sara, why are you so la—..."
Someone entered.
With her hair still gripped, Sara turned toward the door. There stood her lover, the Hero Kyle.
"Kyle!"
Sara shouted at the sight of him.
"Get this crazy bitch off me!"
3.
Kyle blinked.
'What the hell am I looking at right now?'
Sara's hair was gripped by some girl.
The girl looked familiar. It was the one from the forest recently—the girl who resembled Raniel.
That girl was holding Sara's hair and pouring coffee down her nape.
"Who the fuck are you?"
"Kyaa! Kyle, kyaaaah!"
Unjustly cursed, Kyle blinked again.
Even the Hero Kyle froze momentarily at this unprecedented situation. Still, he had to do something, so he stepped forward.
He grabbed one of Sara's arms.
He couldn't bring himself to touch the girl.
"Let her go."
"Why should I?"
"...Please."
"So why the fuck should I?"
Kyle hesitated.
Seeing that, Sara—with her hair in the girl's grip and one arm held by Kyle—glared daggers.
"Kyle, what the hell are you doing?!"
"...Just wait a second."
"No, that's not what you should be—!"
Sara was utterly dumbfounded.
What in the world was going on? Even as Sara blinked in disbelief, Kyle's response was disappointingly pathetic.
Kyle dawdled before cautiously extending his hand. It looked like he was trying to block the girl's.
"Don't touch me."
Smack!
The girl slapped the back of Kyle's hand. In the process, she let go of Sara's hair.
Satisfied with that, Kyle tried to pull Sara away—only for something else to get grabbed this time.
"...".
The girl had seized the collar of Sara's robe.
The very collar she'd been pouring coffee over moments ago.
"Take her and go."
That's what she said.
Sara bit her lip hard and shot Kyle a pleading look. She mouthed the words.
'Do something about this, quick!'
Kyle closed his eyes briefly.
It was time to make a decision.
Should he lay hands on that girl?
Or pull Sara away even if it tore her clothes? He weighed the options in his mind.
'...I think it had auto-repair, right?'
He recalled that feature when he bought the robe.
The Hero made his choice.
"Sorry, Sara."
"...Pardon?"
"Just bear with it."
Riiip!
The clothes tore. Sara gasped in horror. Kyle, sweating bullets, removed his cape and draped it over her.
Pfft.
And then, the girl burst out laughing.
She brushed off the coffee stain with the back of her hand. The enchantment embedded in the fabric repaired it instantly.
The stain vanished without a trace.
Now pristine, the girl turned to the shopkeeper and continued.
"Allen, sorry about that. Could I get another cup of coffee?"
"Uh... y-yeah..."
"Oh, there it is. I'll just take that."
It was the one Sara had ordered to go.
The girl snatched it up.
Before shopkeeper Allen could protest, she grabbed it along with her own and waved.
"See you next time, Allen."
With that, she sauntered out of the cafe.
Kyle didn't stop her.
Sara stared wide-eyed, looking back and forth between Kyle and the girl.
"Kyle?"
She looked at him with eyes brimming with betrayal.
"Kyle, what are you doing?"
"...If I lay a hand on a professor from Aphria..."
"That's not the point."
Sara glared furiously.
She slapped away Kyle's hand and stormed off.
"I'm sleeping alone tonight. I'm disappointed."
She turned away in a huff.
Watching her back, Kyle thought.
'...Guess I'll bunk with Remia tonight.'
Not a bad outcome at all.
4.
Resti Eleanor.
She'd been side-eyeing Professor Lania, who was grinning from ear to ear and sipping her coffee.
She looked positively blooming with joy.
Watching that bright, beaming smile, Resti wondered.
'...Did something good happen?'
She'd seemed especially happy since stopping by the cafe. Had something happened there?
"...Did something good happen?"
"Hm? Well, I do feel refreshed."
Saying that, Professor Lania swirled her coffee cup.
The angle was oddly precise. Resti just tilted her head.
"Oh, right."
Then, as if eager to share the joy, she flashed a brilliant smile and spoke up.
"Resti, you know about clothes with spell circuits engraved on them?"
"Ah, the ones the Black Mage Tower is working on..."
"Yeah, well, there's a little secret to them."
Professor Lania spread her hand wide. In it was a scrap of fabric that looked like a collar from a robe.
"Those robes usually have all the circuits clustered in the 'collar.' Engraving from there along the fabric wrapping the cervical vertebrae is the most efficient."
"Mm... because that spot's good for drawing out mana?"
"Exactly."
Professor Lania nodded.
Then she shook the scrap in her hand.
"In short, rip this off, and the circuits in the robe stop working."
"...Is that so?"
"Yeah. Try it sometime."
...Where the hell would I use that?
Resti kept the sudden question to herself.
Just one of those things, she supposed.
With that thought, she sipped her coffee.
It felt a bit hotter than usual today.
Author's Note (Afterword)
First consecutive chapters after 106 days of serialization!
It ended up over 10k characters while writing, so I split it into two!
Two parts just feel more satisfying somehow :D