Chapter 155: A Monster with a Human Form
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 155: A Monster with a Human Form
Mint. To be honest, I didn't even know her name.
She was just an extra destined to die in this quest.
While I did intend to connect Akito with the Shrine Maiden Clan, I had asked Teresa to invite her specifically to see this event through.
In the game, Akito is the only one invited, and Mint, who acts as his guide, is fated to be devoured by that Fierce Beast Girl today.
Things had already veered off course, so I wondered if the event would even trigger, but the moment I saw her light green hair, tiny frame, and that energetic personality that hadn't quite mastered etiquette yet, I knew it was her.
When a bright, innocent child who seems to have no worries is found as a corpse the very next day, Akito flies into a rage, scours the forest, and captures the Fierce Beast Girl.
The problem comes after that...
"What did you say? What did you call me this morning?"
"..."
I leaned my elbow on Shiori’s shoulder and spoke with a menacing expression.
"Ow, ow, ow—my shoulder’s throbbing from wherever I got thrashed. How are you going to compensate me for this? Huh?"
"Contacting headquarters and pursuing the unidentified biological entity."
"Hey, don't ignore me. What? Pervert? Who's a pervert? Say it to my face. Who's a pedophile? Well?"
"Brother, let's save Mint first."
This brat, Shiori. Is she going to ignore me until the very end?
Even when I shoved my grimace in her face and pressed down on her shoulder with my elbow, Shiori acted as if I didn't even exist.
I whipped my head around, but except for Chika and Shunya, no one would even meet my eyes.
Chika and Shunya weren't looking either, but they felt more like they were avoiding me out of embarrassment; the rest were just like Shiori, keeping a straight face and pretending they didn't know me.
"Providing support."
Shiori said that as she stepped back and began forming a spell.
I just lay sideways on the roof, watching to see how well Akito’s team fought.
Akito and Chika, the fastest, dashed forward first, followed by the Samurai, with the Elf girl’s magic trailing behind them.
Kaira and Shunya split to the sides, running to cut off the escape route, while Ailee kept watch on the surroundings, perhaps to protect Shiori while she provided support.
The transfer students couldn't have been working together for long, but their role distribution was solid.
As expected of Akito. Their skill level was nothing to worry about.
In the midst of all that, Emma... she wasn't doing anything?
She seemed to be training hard while hanging out with Akito, but it looked like she was sitting out the fight due to the gap in skill.
Well, she is a character who, along with Chika and Shizuka, can take down a final boss one-on-one, but since she doesn't overwhelm with raw stats but rather through specific conditions, she's notoriously difficult to raise.
Her performance isn't even that great, so unless you're a player who enjoys "pervert play"—thriving on suffering—it’s a fool’s errand to dump resources into her.
"Why aren't you helping?"
"Huh? I already saved someone. I've done my part. Besides, someone beat me up so bad my body is still aching, so I can't move."
"...Tch."
As if she didn't even want to bother replying, Shiori clicked her tongue and focused on supporting Akito.
See, I told you to believe me, but you ignored me until the end.
The only reason they had been waiting at the shrine was because Akito and Chika suggested they should wait and see, since it was my word after all.
By the way, they've improved a lot.
Akito was always strong, but Chika’s growth was particularly noticeable.
She’s a rich man’s daughter, so she probably gets her hands on Elixirs easily.
Still, she’s almost as strong as Yukina. How did she manage that? Chika’s movements were so dazzling they made the Samurai next to her look weak.
Actually, she mainly uses lightning magic, so she literally is dazzling. Ugh, so flashy.
The Fierce Beast Girl, battered by Akito and Chika, retreated, and the Samurai caught Mint and tossed her toward us.
"Whoops. Scared, weren't you?"
"Uuu... No. I knew Lord Yeon-woo would protect me."
"This man was just sprawled out here. The one who saved you was my brother."
Ah, don't butt in.
And since my Soul Chain was the thing protecting her, Mint isn't wrong.
I hugged Mint, who was speaking bravely despite being on the verge of tears from fright, and stroked her head. She buried her face in my chest.
Man, she’s cute. I bet that bastard Akito lives a sweet life like this with Lilia at home, right?
"If you have no intention of helping, why don't you take that child to a safer place?"
"As long as my Soul Chain is active, she’d survive a direct hit from a missile. Besides, my back hurts so much from being hit by someone that I can't mov—"
"Ah, forget it."
Shiori fired a spell at the Fierce Beast Girl in annoyance.
No matter how strong the Fierce Beast Girl was, how could she hold out when Akito and his followers were ganging up on her?
In an instant, her body was slashed in multiple places, and Chika’s fist punched a hole through her.
However, that slime-like body regenerated on its own even without recovery magic.
Even so, the skill gap was too wide; she was nothing more than a punching bag that could last a long time.
"Graaaaaah!"
"Stop resisting and surrender."
"Why... why are you bullying me?"
Wow—there it is.
Why are we bullying you? You bitch, then why did you eat people?
It was an absurd question, but it seemed to resonate with our resident extreme-empathy maniac, as he attempted to talk to her.
"...Do you feel nothing when you attack humans?"
"Why are you talking to it? It's just a monster wearing a human skin."
When I chimed in from behind, Shiori kicked me as I lay there, telling me not to interfere.
I'm taking Akito's side here, and honestly, you guys agree with me too.
"I did it because I was hungry... Is it wrong to eat?"
"Aaaaah, yes! Very wrong! Would you stay still if your own kind were being eaten?! You hunted, so now it's our turn!"
"Oh, just shut up!"
While Shiori covered my mouth, Akito continued his conversation with the Fierce Beast Girl.
"Are you not human?"
"Me? I... I don't know. When I opened my eyes, I was here."
Just as she said that, the Fierce Beast Girl sensed the presence of the shrine maidens approaching and began to flee.
Kaira and Shunya quickly blocked the escape route, but even while taking their hits, her body stretched out and she slipped right past them.
I can understand Shunya missing because she’s a bit airheaded, but it’s disappointing to see Kaira let her go.
Akito’s group immediately gave chase, and I followed after handing Mint over to the arrived shrine maidens.
It would have been best to catch her while the shrine maidens were there.
This is where the problem starts.
Akito, with his hyper-empathy, is given a choice on what to do with the Fierce Beast Girl.
Players, of course, would think: Slime? Girl? Then there’s gonna be an H-scene, right? Monster girls are the best! and choose to spare her without a second thought.
I was the same.
When you're playing a game, you don't really care about one extra dying.
But from the perspective of a resident living in this world, letting a man-eating monster go is insane.
Does she become an ally if you spare her?
No. Later on, a few erotic scenes pop up and she helps out a bit, but she remains a villain.
In the story, she hardly interacts with Akito again; she just goes to another town, goes on a rampage, and people get hurt or killed.
When Akito smiled at the end and said, "She really is a good person at heart," just because she helped a little, I seriously wanted to vomit.
How many people died because you let that thing live? And you're smiling like a psycho just because she helped you a bit and sucked your dick?
Well—it’s a common trope. A villain being nice only to the protagonist, building love or friendship.
What was it? There’s that famous movie, too.
Isn't there a movie where a cold-blooded, heartless killer is only kind to a young girl?
Many people died at the killer's hands in the movie, but the audience empathizes with the sweet story between the girl and the killer and feels sorry for him.
But that’s for the audience who only sees the edited footage; you, Akito, who actually lives in this world, shouldn't be like that.
"Fleeing toward Sector D2 at an azimuth of 110 degrees. Get ready."
The reason my team isn't here right now is to solve this problem.
I told you. I came here to minimize the damage.
I didn't come here to save the victims who get hit here.
I came here to kill the Fierce Beast Girl the moment Akito chooses to spare her.
Suppressing my murderous intent as Frey taught me, I quietly followed Akito’s group.
Damn, they're fast.
Because my stats rely on my Mana Barrier, I'm too slow and quickly fall behind.
Fortunately, the Fierce Beast Girl was fleeing in such a panic that she left plenty of traces, making it easy to track her.
I couldn't even see through the forest, but I kept using the Eye of Yullat to follow.
The magic flare rising high into the sky would tell my teammates my location, and they’d be preparing to pounce.
When I finally caught up, it seemed the situation was already over.
"Killing people is a bad thing. Can you promise not to kill anymore?"
"...Yes."
The Fierce Beast Girl answered after glancing at the followers surrounding her.
You believe that? No matter how you look at it, she’s just saying whatever to get out of this situation.
As I stepped forward, the Samurai blocked me, holding his katana horizontally.
"Do not try to steal Lord Akito’s achievement."
"I've piled up so many achievements that I don't need a tiny one like this. Want me to share some if you're jealous?"
"You vulgar brat..."
"You're the one who needs to read the room. Who do you think you are? Why are you blocking my path? Hey, Akito! You're not going to let her live, are you?! Didn't you see that thing trying to eat Mint?!"
Akito letting her go and us dealing with it is actually the worst-case scenario.
the moment we deal with it, we have no choice but to report it, and then the fact that Akito let her go will also be reported to the higher-ups.
We can't even report that she escaped because there isn't enough time to dispose of the corpse.
Every mage participating in this request is rushing this way; if we lie and say she got away, they’ll investigate this entire area.
Please, don't make a brain-dead choice. You need to keep succeeding and save the world.
"But she did it without knowing any better. And she promised not to kill anymore."
Goddammit, you're not even a player, so why are you making that choice?
Looking at Akito defending the Fierce Beast Girl, curses were the first thing that came to mind.
I held it in and tried my best to persuade him.
"You felt it too when you talked to her. She’s just a monster pretending to be human."
"No, this child possesses intelligence and reason. By your logic, you should have killed the intelligent monster you discovered before, too."
Calling her "this child" meant he had already made up his mind.
"Plan B. Hey, let me ask you one thing. What would you do if I killed your sister by mistake?"
When I brought up Shiori, the look in Akito’s eyes changed.
This guy always acts like a philanthropist until you touch someone close to him; only then does he show his true colors.
Meeting those terrifying eyes filled with murderous intent, I let out a smirk.
"Yeah, that look right now. I bet the families of the people eaten yesterday have that same look. And if I hadn't stopped her today, the shrine maidens who cherished Mint would have had that look too."
"..."
"Sorry for keep asking, but just one more. Let me ask just one last thing."
I swatted away the Samurai’s arm, which was still blocking me, and approached as I asked.
"Do you talk to every monster before you kill it?"
"...What are you talking about?"
"Would you have asked why it kills people if it were a hideous-looking monster? You only asked because it has a human form, because it looks like a fragile young girl, didn't you?"
"..."
"The only reason you're trying to let her go right now is because she looks like a human, and you're empathizing with that. Am I wrong?"
Akito couldn't answer.
The other followers also hesitated at my words and glanced at Akito.
Please, just throw away that garbage empathy.
After a moment of daze, Akito let out a small sigh and looked up to meet my eyes.
Those upright eyes that looked as if they would never yield to any adversity.
"I'm sorry. You're right, I probably wouldn't have talked to it. That was my mistake."
"Then—"
"But I already had the conversation, and I made a promise to her."
"..."
Wow—look at that protagonist charisma radiating off him.
No matter what injustice occurs, I keep my promises! I will protect you!
So damn cool!
But is that something you should be saying while striking a pose right now? Are you insane?
I seriously can't understand this.
Is that something you say while releasing a tiger that doesn't bite into the streets?
Fine, that’s so like you. You're great. You're a madman.
Acknowledging his decision, I nodded.
"Then I guess I have to do my job."
As I slammed my fist into my palm, tentacles erupted from all directions.
At the same time, my teammates, who had been secretly approaching while I carried out Plan B under the guise of talking to Akito, sprang out and attacked.
We're taking down that Fierce Beast Girl right here.
That way, the act of letting her go never happened, and Akito won't have to face disciplinary action from the higher-ups.