Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Former Hero Party's Otherworld Mishaps (5)
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That day's class ended on a rather anticlimactic note.
Sylvia seemed pretty shaken up, and the others had plenty to mull over too.
'...It's weird, isn't it?'
Han Yuseong was the type who believed that a three-year-old's habits lasted until eighty.
In other words, he figured once trash, always trash.
Yet Mirni and the rest—they'd changed so drastically, like completely different people from ten years ago.
Not for the worse, but for the better.
'The kind of bitch who'd swing a mace first thing is keeping her mouth shut for once. The snobby type who'd snap back at every little criticism is acting all meek... Yeah, it's hard to get used to.'
For the first time, it finally felt like he was dealing with actual 'people'.
"Dumbasses with lower IQs than beasts."
"Now they've gone from worse than dogs to actual humans? Well, they're still idiots, same as always."
"This is high praise coming from me."
Far from harsh—he thought he'd given them an amazingly good rating for who he was.
To rate them this way when he'd have been fine beating them to death...!
'I've mellowed out a lot too...'
Yuseong clicked his tongue at his own sentimentality, figuring he'd gotten on in years.
Io timidly pointed it out as she recalled the kids' behavior from the first day when they'd gotten beaten.
The woman had made herself at home in Yuseong's study, buried in books as always.
Her ash-brown hair was a total mess, unkempt to an extreme degree, but unlike the disheveled locks, her beauty was stunning.
Her snow-white skin and those emotionless green eyes, impossible to read, carried an air of mystery.
If there was a flaw in her jade-like perfection, it was how utterly impassive she seemed—like a living doll.
She exuded an aura that made her intimidating to approach, this beauty bordering on girl-next-door cute. Yet one man grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and dangled her like a kitten without a second thought.
"Get out of my room already. How long you gonna mooch off me?"
"Just till I finish this one."
"Wanna get hit on your way out, or just leave?"
"......Barbarian."
"Yeah, let's see how you like a proper beating today."
"I'm going."
Luxy bolted with a flurry of footsteps.
She didn't know much, but she'd already tasted how vicious her old comrade's fists were—and had zero desire to experience it again.
With that wise decision, Luxy returned to her room and quietly lay down on her bedding.
"S-Sorry, Goddess... I-I'm a sinner unworthy of forgiveness..."
"H-How could you do this to me! How dare you all...!"
"Hehe, this outfit's so pretty~."
"......Shut up."
The sleep-talking from her roommates kept tormenting Luxy.
But she had no inclination to scold them for it.
She'd already listened to their nonstop muttering nonstop during those days on the run.
Just not hearing Valian's snoring was a blessing in itself.
If anything, she ought to be endlessly grateful for the cozy, fluffy bedding and the lodgings free of stench.
But humans are creatures doomed to grow greedier once their lacks are filled.
Luxy, forever parched for knowledge, was especially so.
'...I wanna read more.'
Luke—his study held nearly a hundred books.
All packed solely with wisdom for living in the world, leaving Luxy deeply moved.
'The Prince and Origin of Species were great, but the psychology and law books were gems too.'
Books compiling only top-tier info like that didn't exist in Midgard.
Not even scouring the Mage Tower or royal libraries would turn up many.
'We don't keep records.'
Midgard's knowledge doesn't spread.
It's passed down one-to-one, through direct bloodlines or apprentices, and that's taken as normal.
So someone thirsting for knowledge like Luxy has no choice but to seek it out personally, crashing into walls and enlightening herself.
That's why she joined the Hero Party. And conducted countless experiments.
Honestly, quite a few crossed ethical lines. She knew her old comrades despised her for it.
But she couldn't give up.
If only someday her thirst for knowledge could be fully quenched...!
'Then, I could achieve the wish I desire.'
Luxy could only wish tomorrow would come soon.
Life in this other world made her so utterly happy.
But.
[NO ENTRY]
"......"
The moment morning broke, she felt a despair even the Demon King's army hadn't inflicted.
"Try waltzing in here on your own again, and I'll...!"
"That's not fair..."
"What do you want me to do about it?"
"......"
The life drained from Luxy's eyes.
'One idiot causes trouble, then another picks up the slack. What a pain in the ass.'
Yuseong knew exactly what Luxy had done to sate her thirst for knowledge.
It was straight-up inhuman. Stuff the Hero Party had no business doing!
Yet Luxy showed no remorse.
No—if anything, she'd glare and demand why he was getting in her way!
'That inhuman bitch-!'
People have basic lines they shouldn't cross.
Luxy had none.
Maybe she did, but if her lines didn't match normal people's, that was the problem.
That's why Yuseong despised her.
She wasn't pulling troll stunts like the others, but her actions were undeniably wrong.
'She's content with my study now. But later...'
He knew she wouldn't stay satisfied with the home library forever.
Eventually, she'd cause a massive incident.
One he couldn't possibly handle—!
'I ain't seeing that.'
Or to correct himself.
"I'm just saying don't pull that crap where I can see it."
"......"
Yuseong confronted Luxy bluntly, one-on-one.
The second private interview after Mirni.
"Luxy, I know you're a crazy bitch."
"...I'm not crazy."
"Nah, you are. That's why you do that 'shit' without batting an eye."
"......"
"You've got priors. Not once, but ten damn times. How am I supposed to trust you?"
"...I have no intention of doing that stuff in this world. I just want knowledge—"
"Sure, right now you only want 'knowledge'."
Yuseong cut her off mercilessly.
Because her excuses were nutrient-free nonsense anyway.
"You get hooked once you gain knowledge. You dig deep into the principles, the causes, chasing it to the root—like a damn mental case."
"I'm not a patient."
"No, you are. A textbook mental patient."
Back in the Hero Party days, a plague from the Calamity Demons nearly wiped out a city.
Sylvia stepped up to heal it with holy power, but it barely worked, leaving everyone in despair. Luckily, Luxy brewed a cure, saving them.
But there was a dark side to that cure no one talked about.
"Under the guise of making a cure, you dissected over a hundred humans. All to feed your knowledge addiction."
"......That was really to cure the disease. The others agreed too..."
"Threats aren't agreement."
"......"
Luxy had gone to a house full of dying plague victims and strong-armed their families.
If they didn't cooperate, their loved ones were done for.
A fact only a few in the Hero Party knew. Yuseong had only learned it later, on a revisit to the city.
"...Sacrifices were unavoidable to cure the disease."
"Sure, the goal was noble. But you know what?"
"What?"
"People usually feel guilt over sacrifices. But back then, you said this."
"......"
"I still remember it. Hell, I could repeat your exact words."
After brewing the cure and watching it work, Luxy had said:
-Good thing it worked pretty well.
That wasn't respect for the sacrificed.
──It was just the satisfaction of a mad bitch scratching her itch!
"And you haven't changed. You'd feel nothing if satisfying your curiosity killed a thousand or ten thousand."
"That's a misunderstanding. That was hard for me too. Not for curiosity, but to save the city, I had no choice—"
"—Once."
"......"
"Once can be a mistake. But 'twice'? That's just 'intentional'."
"......"
"Your excuses don't inspire even a shred of trust anymore. Got it?"
"......"
The bomb-maker isn't at fault.
It's the one who orders the drop.
But if the maker drops it himself to 'test performance', that's sin and karma.
And as long as Yuseong remembered her sins...
"I don't trust you. You're the type who'd slaughter thousands for an experiment without blinking."
"......"
"Don't like it? Then get out. And go far away—far enough your crazy shit doesn't reach me."
The Hero Party, personalities shattered beyond repair.
Ask who he despised most, who to shun above all? Yuseong could point without hesitation.
And to drive her out, he'd sling even harsher words.
"......I."
Luxy hesitated before finally answering.