CHAPTER 509: A RISKY CHOICE

Blast… why do I have to pretend to be a girl in front of Nicole? Is this what they mean when they say, to cover up a lie, you end up telling a hundred more?

“Was there any special reason for that?” Nicole asked, slightly intrigued by the story.

“A special reason, huh…” If I were to say there wasn’t one now, she wouldn’t believe me at all. In that case, I’ll just try to fudge my way through.

With that in mind, I looked skyward without any explanation, head tilted up a perfect 45 degrees, and eyes pensive like a depressed emo kid. “Because of origins… Sorry. But I do not wish to talk about it…”

(TL: I did not choose that comparison btw. I’m innocent if anyone is offended.)

Nicole stared at me in shock, her eyes slightly glazed over.

“Nicole? What’s the matter?”

“Nothing.” Nicole shook her head as if she was trying to get something out of her head. “So are you a Human or an Elf?”

“I… am a Human.”

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Honestly, I wanted to say that I was a Devil with a Human heart… but there was no way I was going to say that. Perhaps. Perhaps if I had just a little more time to get her trust… I would come clean with her then.

“A Human…” Nicole lowered her head in thought, then, as if having come to a realisation, she suddenly glared at me judgingly. “You know. I’m fairly certain we haven’t met before, but you seem unusually concerned with me… Rather, extremely concerned. The circumstances behind our first meeting was strange as well. You clearly aren’t weak, but those bandits were chasing you -I’m sure any one of those Dark Elven Assassins hiding in the shadows could have wiped them all out. What are your motives for approaching me?”

“I just…” I paused to sigh at that point. And not by choice as well. The way she suddenly cornered me like that made me realise that things were about to spiral out of control. I knew I had to do something quick to salvage this situation, but that thought alone gave me a headache.

“I heard rumors that Lyon was facing difficulties. My intention was to check it out and perhaps rid them of the problem. However, the moment I arrived, I bumped into those bandits. They started harassing us more than usual because the majority of our entourage was female. That was when I lost my temper and killed most of them -the scumbags. They… I don’t care what reason motivated them to banditry, but it’s a fact that they harmed innocents, and should be punished!”

(TL: When? Why? Fishcakes, I can’t believe I wasted time looking again.)

“I see. He’s absolutely correct.” Naturally, I wasn’t going to let go of this chance to explain away the bandit problem. “After killing those bandits, my companions informed me that there were people approaching. Based on the path you were taking, I was sure we would eventually bump into each other. And soon too. Even though we had the ability to hide all the corpses before your arrival, there was no way I could erase the traces of battle in time. That was why I had Leeder change your course… I was just afraid that you and Neneth would mistake me for a murderer… after all, I’m a–”

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I didn’t have to continue as she unceremoniously cut me off.

“Well. Regardless. There’s nothing wrong with defending yourself when you are under threat. However…” A glint of coldness flashed past her eyes then.

“I could tell right from the start that those bandits were extremely afraid of you. Yet they still had to pretend to rob you. I was suspicious of that, and thought you were with the creatures of darkness as well. That was why I agreed to you accompanying us: in order to watch you better. It wouldn’t be late to kill you after we found out what you were up to. Leeder also revealed himself when he immediately surrendered after seeing your Fire Elementals. He was the weak point in your little act.”

Demon Hunters often had to take on missions where they had to expose the hidden spy amongst the masses. Because of that, they were trained not to take things at face value. Being one of their brightest recruits, Nicole easily spotted the strangeness right away.

“I had no way of knowing that those bandits were actually the villagers of Lyon. If I had known, I wouldn’t have killed them…”

“I believe you on that point. But do you deny the fact that you tried to control Leeder with your evil arts?”

“Because I was afraid he would suddenly turn on me; that’s the only reason why I planted that spider in him. But I definitely removed the spider the night before the Undead attacked. As for that leech… it has to be that spy hiding in the village…” While we might not have found the spy yet, the events leading up till now had given me much insight. Insight, which I was eager to share in hopes of proving my innocence.

“Leeder and the rest must have met that spy after I removed the spider from them…” I proceeded to tell her my conjecture about how the leeches were probably implanted after my spiders. I then told her about my deduction that the Dracolich had to have been left there early on by a Witch.

“… Also. Remember how Leeder got us to stay for that feast? That feast that lasted a whole three days. Was that really just to thank us? Clearly, he was in cahoots with that Witch. He just didn’t realise how disposable he actually was.”

(TL: Altered the text a little here. Original text was “Clearly, he was already controlled by that Witch”. I don’t think that would make sense since he just said the leech was put in after the removal of the spiders. The removal was after the celebrations so that timeline would be off.)

“You feel it’s an evil Witch hiding in the village?”

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“That’s right. Evil witches are proficient in body modifications and rearing cursed parasites.”

“I see. I’ll be sure to report what you just told me.”

(TL: original text was “marvelous/wonderful/brilliant” in the context of a performance. I just thought “I see” fits her character more. Also, marvelous wouldn’t make sense given what she said next and what she said before.)

“Better to be careful than sorry. Those creatures of darkness are plotting something. I’m afraid turbulent times are ahead.”

An urge to tell her about the Apocalypse came over me at that point. However, I resisted it. Until I told her about my identity, talking about the Apocalypse wasn’t an option. She wouldn’t believe me if I had said so.

After all, there were doomsayers in every world, fantasy or not. Yet the world was still standing, wasn’t it? That was what most people would think.

“You have some news regarding that?”

“Nothing concrete. They have just been more active recently; quite worrying.”

“I agree. It seems like they are planning something big. But that’s all in the future. Right now, I’m more interested in you…”

“You give me a very nostalgic feel. We’ve only just met, but for some reason, I feel like I know you well enough to predict your behavior… just like… just like…”

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Your younger brother? I guess it’s time to show my hands then… I never expected her to be as familiar with me as I was with her… a miscalculation on my part… but it’s only to be expected, seeing as she was the big sister who helped raise me…

“Ke… Ke, is that you?”

Nicole reached out to touch my cheeks all of a sudden. I did not know how to react to that, so I merely closed my eyes while I leaned slightly back against the tree behind me.

My heart was in turmoil right now. Since meeting her, I realised how bad her mental state was currently. There was an unhealthy level of aggressiveness in her. Her hate for Devils was so apparent, I wouldn’t be surprised if it could slice up a rock. Other than me running away from home, I really could not think of another reason why she would end up like this…

It’s all my fault… If I hadn’t done that… But I wouldn’t have rescued Yi Yi otherwise… I wouldn’t be the person I was now… I would just be that worthless piece of trash living under the protection of Roscar and Nicole…

An urge to come clean came over me all of a sudden. She had basically guessed who I was by now. If I didn’t tell her now, another opportunity might never appear again. With that in mind, I opened my eyes and smiled in the way I often did. “That’s right. It’s me. Ke. I’ve come back.”

“…”

I just told her about my identity. But she did not come running into my arms, as I had expected. Neither did she try to hit me or scold me. She merely stayed quiet. Expressionless as always. Suddenly, I felt a surge of killing intent directed at me from her ruby-red eyes, one that almost made me choke.

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Hold on… what’s going on here? Director, I would like to report an error in the script…

She looked me right in the eyes before asking as such, every word painstakingly emphasized. “What. Happened.”

“I was jealous of Sares so I decided to run away from home. After that, I ran into a girl called Yi Yi, a Fallen Angel in trouble. I rescued her, but I died doing so. In order to repay me, she sent my soul to hell… I clawed my way up from there… just to see you…”

I briefly explained what happened after I ran away. Because of how absurd the whole story was, I did not wish to go into all the details. Yet as I was recounting my tale, tears began to roll down her cheeks.

“So are you a Human now?”

“I’m… I’m a Fallen Angel… probably. I have the Original Sin of Lust in me as well. My current appearance is due to the transformation magic I used…”

“Please believe me. I might be a Devil now, but my heart remains the same as before!”