Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Spreading the Gospel to the Snobby Bitch (7)
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I remembered the day I first met that pointy-eared elf bitch named Alicia, back when I was posing as a lowly porter.
"So you're that slave of ours?"
"……."
"You look so damn lowly."
The moment I laid eyes on that elf spewing her rotten personality, a single thought crossed my mind.
...I have to live with that bitch from now on?
"...Fuck..."
"What did you just say?"
"...I said fuck."
"What does that mean?"
"It's an exclamation. Came out because you're so beautiful, Miss Elf."
"Hmph, I see. But don't use that word again. It's vulgar. Though I suppose a lowly mutt like you using trashy language isn't all that surprising."
"……."
Is this bitch's brain just a bowl of udon noodles?
That's when it hit me.
She didn't have a personality problem—she was just brain-dead, plain and simple.
No other explanation for how she could say something so stab-worthy with a straight face.
A natural-born enemy-maker, that rotten udon-brained bitch.
That assessment hadn't changed then, and it sure as hell hadn't changed now.
"Fuck, you udon-brained bitch."
"...Aram. For the first time ever, I wanna say this to you."
"You're the only one for me."
"Yeah, sorry it took me so long."
A well-raised AI was worth more than a hundred heroes.
Alicia's sudden disappearance—no, more like she just up and vanished without a word—had Jang Chun frantically contacting Yuseong.
- Sh-she vanished all of a sudden. Nowhere to be seen. Can't reach her either...! A-any idea where she might've gone?
Hearing that, a chill ran through everyone, including Yuseong.
Whenever that bitch Alicia vanished like this, it was the start of some disaster.
Like lighting a fuse. Or a time bomb rolling down the street, ready to blow at any moment!
Yuseong's face turned ice-cold as he replied.
- Drag that bitch back here!
No one dared defy that order.
They were all worried she'd cause trouble too.
So the first thing they checked? Whether Alicia had "kidnapped" any humans.
She was from a race that hunted humans for sport when bored, after all. Maybe she'd pulled something like that again.
But Yuseong shot it down.
- Remember the geas.
The contract explicitly forbade harming civilians.
With restrictions like that, Alicia couldn't pull any weird stunts.
- Still, can't let our guard down.
She's got udon for brains, but she's sly as a snake, Yuseong warned, telling them not to relax.
And now! Aram relayed the info, and the first to track her down was none other than Mirni.
Thief-level scouting skills, maybe?
Trailing the spirit residue the elf had left behind, she had Sylvia and Leon with her too.
"Why do you two keep following me?"
"Because going with you is the fastest way, Mirni."
"Same here."
"...Quiet your breathing. It's annoying my ears."
This wasn't her dissing the pair—Mirni was genuinely irked by their breathing sounds.
Her near-miraculous tracking used sound, scent, touch, reading traces on the ground and even floating in the air.
They say cats see things humans can't?
Spot on.
Mirni saw things beyond human vision.
Traces left by individuals, or pheromones lingering behind.
Her ability to detect pheromones—even ones insects like bees couldn't sense—was one of her specialties.
"...Found her."
Mirni's eyes gleamed like a beast spotting prey as she followed Alicia's pheromone trail.
………
………
"Eif? That's an unusual name. Foreigner, huh?"
"Looking forward to your next exhibit."
"Artist! You're too beautiful!"
"How can I buy this painting?"
……It made her want to puke.
'Am I doomed to do this crap my whole life?'
Praise the paintings or not, pay up or not!
Revulsion surged through Alicia.
There was nothing about dealing with this many humans! No, before that...!
'Why the hell do I have to suck up to humans?!'
Alicia had never struggled with her expressions like this. She was utterly confused.
After just a few days, her body was hitting its limit. She desperately wanted some fresh air, even a little.
But no matter how much she craved clean air, she couldn't find the kind she wanted.
And for good reason.
The air she longed for was...!
'Great Mother...! I miss your leaves.'
The World Tree, her mother.
She yearned for the pure air that mighty tree had exhaled.
A scent from memories she could no longer see or touch—it was enough to trigger homesickness.
Still, Alicia tried to muster some patience.
...Until she heard that.
"Man, if that angel in the painting was real, it'd be awesome, right?"
"Yeah, heh. Fucking gorgeous."
"You crazy bastards—? Keep your gross fetishes for jerking off at home, you lunatics! You doing this shit here now?!"
"Just an appreciation, appreciation."
"Goddamn..."
Alicia had painted ten pieces in total.
One depicted her friend, and seeing humans ogling it with lust made something snap in her head!
……Slave hunters!
Their eyes, their desires—they were reminder enough!
"...Those filthy scum, how dare they...!!"
She hated and despised humans.
Why?
Humans were the only race that treated even their own kind as merchandise, regardless of tribe...!
That's why Alicia loathed them.
Loathed was an understatement!
"Freytt! Burn them to ash!"
The greater fire spirit.
Calling her friend's true name to incinerate the whole area, Alicia demanded personal judgment.
To burn them all away and erase this contempt, this sick feeling, even a little!
...If only that heart-wrenching agony hadn't struck.
"Urk!!?"
Alicia collapsed, her mind shattering from pain that pierced her heart—no, her entire body and soul.
The friend she'd tried to summon vanished without a spark, and Alicia trembled, crumbling to the spot.
"Oh dear, Miss Alicia, are you alri—."
"—Don't touch me."
"...Miss Alicia?"
"Kuhk!!"
The old human's concern sounded like pure hypocrisy.
At the same time, her pathetic state filled her with endless shame!
"...This... this can't be happening!"
Alicia realized anew: the geas had stolen even her freedom of judgment.
Unfreedom!
What could be more horrific for an elf?!
And so...!
"......Here you are."
"……."
"Unexpected. You coming to me first of all people."
"...I've been watching, so it's only natural."
"Watching me, you say?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"Wanted to know the cause of your change."
"......Still out of your mind, I see."
"Same to you."
Luxy smirked atop her expressionless face, telling the other not to talk.
"Alicia Moon Night. Watching you, I wondered. Why the change?"
The place of their first reunion with Luke.
Atop the dim mountaintop, Luxy continued flatly.
"Your behavior was off. Nothing like your usual self."
Asking humans' opinions, painting to earn money, etc.
It was bizarre.
Sylvia and Leon thought Alicia was finally trying to understand humans and coexist.
Mirni and Valian figured the elf had lost it, while Luke was just thrilled she'd vanished, no questions asked.
But Luxy was different.
She pondered the root of it all through observation.
A mage's habit: observe, suspect, question endlessly.
Question.
Was Alicia trying to blend with humans?
Negative.
She wasn't.
If she wanted harmony, she wouldn't be here.
She should've talked it out with humans instead.
Question.
Had Alicia gone mad?
Negative.
She hadn't.
If insane, she wouldn't have just targeted humans—she'd have torched the whole city.
Like before... .
Based on this, she reached one hypothesis.
"Alicia, you wanna die."
"……."
"...Am I wrong?"
"……."
Alicia met Luxy's probing for the truth with silence.
As if it wasn't worth answering.
However.
"Knew it! Right on the money!"
The mage's eyes caught the tremor beneath the silence. She simply "rejoiced" that her hypothesis held true.