Rusty Golden Pegasus (2)
After seeing through those two things, the shinigami girl regained her composure.
'They definitely think I'm human.'
'The moment I speak, they'll recognize me as an enemy.'
It was certainly an appearance that could be mistaken for human.
She had no demonic traits visible on the surface.
But that didn't mean she could be on their side just because they looked similar.
"P-p-arty m-m-members?"
To the shinigami girl's ears, their voices weren't just some incomprehensible language...
They felt like sounds rejected at the soul level.
As if they were destined to live in different worlds, born solely to fight each other.
In other words,
Her own voice would probably sound just as horrific to them.
Judging that, the shinigami girl sealed her lips.
She couldn't let them feel the same instinct she had.
And there was a stroke of luck.
The girl had a habit of placing weapons she wasn't using far away.
If she hadn't, and had left her scythe within reach during her meal, she might have swung it in panic when the mage teleported in.
That would have sparked combat immediately, forcing her into a disadvantageous 3-on-1 fight.
Thanks to her habit, even after letting three intruders into her unguarded space, she held the advantageous high ground.
She'd secured the precious benefit of a first strike.
These three adventurers had no idea she was the master of the 60th floor and kept talking to her.
"Did you take down all the monsters up to the 60th floor?"
"No way, Leon. A cute girl like this?"
"Then she must already have a party with her."
"Yeah. Where are the others?"
When the girl didn't respond, they stopped and began whispering among themselves.
"She doesn't know the common tongue at all."
"I'll give it a shot."
Then one woman started trying all sorts of bizarre languages in front of the girl.
And soon gave up.
"Grrruk! Sha sha sap...! Hmm, she doesn't understand Lizardman either...."
"Fuena, you idiot? You think a girl like this speaks reptile?!"
"Fuena knowing Lizardman puts her ahead of idiots, though..."
As they bickered among themselves,
"This girl... maybe she's a slave?"
At the man's remark, their gazes toward the girl shifted.
"That makes sense... A slave born in some foreign land wouldn't know the common tongue."
"Probably dragged here by some shady adventurer...."
"Her clothes are kinda weird... Maybe he dressed her like a doll."
"Set up base camp here, made the slave cook, then headed up."
They jumped to that conclusion on their own.
The woman rummaged through her bag with pitying eyes.
"Looking closer, she's way too skinny. You haven't been eating properly, have you? Here, take this."
She placed a piece of bread in the girl's hand.
"......"
The girl took the bread almost reflexively.
Crunch—
She took a cautious bite, set it on the table, then offered her chair to the mage who'd given her the bread.
"Oh? Sit here? Thanks."
The girl approached the tent, tore open three packets of instant coffee, dumped them into paper cups, and poured in hot water.
Slosh— She handed them the three cups of coffee.
"Oh? For us? Thanks."
"Even ours? What a sweet kid..."
They examined the paper cups curiously rather than the coffee, then took a careful sip.
And immediately had a massive reaction.
"......!"
The woman's eyes widened.
"Whoa, insane! This is delicious! What is this?!!"
"Really?"
The other woman made a fuss after sipping too, but the man just set his cup down on the table untouched.
The shinigami girl's eyes narrowed at the sight.
'Gotta watch this guy.'
"Leon's always so suspicious. She was drinking tea herself just now~"
"Yeah, Leon...! Try it...! This stuff's amazing! Super sweet and tasty."
"I'm good. More importantly... we gotta head up. No time to waste..."
The two female mages scolded the man.
"You made us save mana so we couldn't even use Levitation...! Climbed 60 floors up these stairs on foot!"
"Yeah. Let's rest a bit, Leon..."
Hearing their complaints, the man grinned awkwardly.
"Fine. But we leave right after finishing those."
The man turned to leave.
"Where to?"
"Gonna scout the stairs up ahead."
With that, the man stepped out.
The two women left behind started chatting about the girl.
"But check her out. She's a slave, but no smell at all!"
"Really? Guess she's well cared for. Smells like some perfume?"
"Nah, not perfume... Just totally scentless. Wild."
Realizing they couldn't detect her body odor, they flanked her and started sniffing.
Overwhelmed, the girl backed away while gauging them.
'Now...?'
They were close, fully off-guard.
And the strongest-looking man was gone.
No better timing.
The shinigami girl stealthily shifted her hips toward the scythe leaning against the tent wall.
Then...
Clink!
Her elbow bumped the man's coffee cup on the table.
Splatter. The coffee spilled, soaking the hem of the nearby woman's clothes.
That was when it happened.
Following her weapon habit, her second modern-person instinct kicked in.
"Oops. Sorry...."
The words slipped out.
She covered her mouth too late—the women's faces twisted in horror.
"Aaaahhhhhh!!!!"
"Kyaaah!!!!!"
They screamed, clutching their ears.
Just as she'd predicted.
To them, her words must have sounded like grotesque noise.
"Ugh... Fuena...! Wh-what language was that?!"
"That... couldn't be a language...? I... I don't know..."
Right then, the man who'd gone to check the stairs rushed back down, face pale.
He'd confirmed the door to the next floor was sealed shut, piecing together the puzzle.
"......!"
There was only one reason the next floor's door wouldn't open.
He tried to hide his realization and ambush her, but...
Seeing the girl move to attack, he bellowed.
"Get away from her NOW!!!!! She's not human!!!! She's the 60th floor monster!!!!!!"
His scream echoed through the chamber.
But it was too late.
The girl seized her scythe and swung.
Slash—!
She lopped off half the chest and arm of the woman right beside her.
"Uwaaah... Guys. My arm..."
Unable to grasp the situation, she let out a feeble cry.
Blood sprayed everywhere.
"Fuena!!!!!!!!"
She passed out from shock right after.
One mage named Fuena was out of the fight.
Whumm—!
Ellen instantly cast teleport magic, grabbing Fuena and putting distance between them and the girl.
"Huff... Quick, stop the bleeding...!"
Her trembling hands tried to cover the gaping wound, but she didn't know where to start.
Her face drained of color.
The inexperienced young mage lost her grip on sanity in the chaos.
The male swordsman shouted.
"Spit out that drink NOW!!!! You drank something from a demon!!!"
Right.
They had put that in their mouths too.
"Urp... Bleeegh!!!"
"Euuuugh!!!!!"
No need to force fingers down their throats.
Terror induced vomiting on its own—they heaved up every drop of coffee. Their eyes bulged bloodshot.
"...You demon..."
Vrrr—!
Done retching, the woman shook as she gathered mana at her staff's tip.
Watching, the shinigami girl murmured.
"Why... did I hesitate."
A moment of reflection.
Spilling the coffee by accident, apologizing—they all stemmed from hesitation to kill these people outright.
Even not slitting throats immediately was part of it.
Offering them coffee first was closer to returning the bread than luring them into complacency.
After all,
They were the first faces she'd seen in four days, trapped in this sealed room fighting monsters.
But now the girl's eyes were calm.
"Black Shift."
Whoosh—!
In her mind's flower field, the last bloom in that once-vibrant garden snapped and vanished.
The fog cleared.
Using Black Shift, the girl reappeared behind the mage channeling her spell.
The mage, proud of her teleportation prowess, got flanked by teleportation.
Well, technically the gear's active effect—but they had no way of knowing.
All three had lost track of her movements.
In an instant.
Almost simultaneous with the shift.
The girl angled her scythe blade downward.
Slaaash—.
And sliced across the woman's abdomen.
Squelch—plop—
Her guts spilled onto the cold marble. A scream erupted.
"Aaaah...!!!!"
"Ellen!!!"
A second feeble cry burst out.
But the shinigami girl's follow-up was no blunder.
Her blue earring glimmered.
A confirmed stack on the corpse.
She hadn't missed it—to keep tracking the man in front.
The man stood dumbfounded before the gruesome sight.
"Can't forgive this..."
Soon he charged too. Incredibly fast. Far beyond any tower monster she'd faced.
If her SEN stat had been even 5 lower, she'd have been helpless.
But his eyes held no reason.
Just as she'd calculated.
That was why she'd gutted the woman instead of beheading her.
The girl didn't raise her scythe forward.
Letting the straight-line charge come.
She pressed the blade to her own nape.
And moved her hand.
"Death Boundary."