Chapter 79

Although it requires the use of tools, for modern people, flying is not a mysterious or miraculous feat.

Even Da-eun used to frequently travel overseas, practically making foreign countries her second home—though the frequency has decreased recently.

Thanks to that, Da-eun’s airline mileage account was fully stacked.

But even for someone like her, flying through the sky without any tools was something she couldn’t even imagine…

…To be honest, whenever she bought a plane ticket, she did think, “If I could fly, I could save so much money on tickets…” and fantasized about flying through the sky.

But Da-eun knew that it was realistically impossible.

‘I’m not a bird. How could a human fly through the sky with just their body?’

That’s what she thought until she flew through the sky on Kana’s back.

“Kyyaaaaaaah!”

Each time Kana’s small feet pushed off the ground, she, along with Da-eun clinging onto her back, soared into the sky.

Pushing off the ground, they leapt upward.

Normally, this would be called a jump, but Da-eun couldn’t bring herself to call it that.

What sort of jump easily clears the height of several stories of a building?

Kana’s movements were more akin to soaring.

What’s more, she would lightly land on tree branches and leap up again, or even kick off the empty air—doing things that would make any physicist faint if they saw it.

But Da-eun didn’t have time to admire any of this.

Being carried through the sky on the back of a girl much smaller than herself was not a pleasant experience.

Her body swayed here and there, the scenery around her changing rapidly…

Just as she thought they were descending, they would shoot up again, and just as they started ascending, they’d suddenly plunge downward.

The Kana Express, providing a truly unforgettable ride experience, pierced through the dulled sensations granted by the system and gifted Da-eun a solid bout of nausea.

If not for the system, she was sure she’d be clutching onto a tree or the ground, retching like the two others.

After suffering from motion sickness for a while, just as she thought she could finally catch her breath—

“Hurry up. We have to train.”

Now they were supposed to fight mercenaries, which made Da-eun feel like crying.

But the law is distant, and fists are near.

Kana wouldn’t actually strike her, but Da-eun had no choice but to give in and follow Kana’s instructions.

“Fine… If Kana got involved, it’d be over in less than a minute. She’s putting up with this annoyance for my sake, after all. And my skills really have improved.”

—”Would love to see Joanie get smacked, thumbs up!”

—”Since when did she change jobs to gladiator?”

—”When someone dies, there’s a story that Joanie comes to greet them first. I really like that story.”

—”We call this ‘mental victory.’”

Da-eun’s viewers loved seeing her get bossed around by Kana.

After all, viewers of personal streams and broadcasts often have a mischievous streak.

Knowing this, Da-eun would play along with their jokes and even tease them back.

But lately, she felt that the viewers had become even more mischievous than before.

‘I don’t think they used to be this bad…’

She could guess the reason.

It was probably because a large influx of viewers had joined after she first started talking with Kana.

If she had to say whether she liked it or not, she’d definitely say she liked it.

The overall vibe of the broadcast had changed a little, but it hadn’t deviated much from the original atmosphere, and it wasn’t a bad change, so there was no reason to dislike it.

…Though, sometimes, their comments did get on her nerves.

‘At least they don’t seem to dislike Kana, so that’s a relief.’

If they had started criticizing a child for being rude to an adult, this reaction wouldn’t have happened.

Da-eun didn’t want to see a child with a painful past being hated.

“Joanie?”

“Huh? Ah, sorry. I was lost in thought for a bit.”

Da-eun, who had been pouting at the chat window, snapped back to reality at Kana’s voice.

Now wasn’t the time to be worrying about such things.

Gulp.

Facing the intimidating faces before her, she swallowed hard.

According to what Ashié had said, these were people who had committed all sorts of heinous crimes—murder, arson, robbery, rape, theft…

‘Can I really win against them?’

Their levels were similar to hers or even lower.

But she knew that just because an opponent’s level was lower didn’t mean she’d automatically win.

“So, w-who am I supposed to fight? You’re not saying I have to fight all seven of them, right?”

“Of course not.”

Kana may transform into a fearsome instructor whenever training started, but she would never assign Da-eun an impossible task.

And from Kana’s perspective, asking Da-eun to handle seven seasoned mercenaries accustomed to killing was something she couldn’t accomplish even if she died and came back to life.

‘…Even if she died and came back to life?’

In that case…

As Da-eun, who had been staring intently at Kana, spoke.

“Kana.”

“Hmm?”

“I’m just asking to make sure… You’re not thinking anything weird, right?”

“…”

“Um, excuse me? Kana? Why aren’t you answering?”

“I didn’t.”

“Anyone can see that’s the reaction of someone who was thinking something strange.”

“I said I didn’t.”

Da-eun hates getting hurt.

Even though the system dulls her sense of pain significantly, it doesn’t mean she can’t feel it at all.

Kana didn’t want to force her to experience death on purpose.

‘It might speed up the growth of her skills if other people did that, but…’

For Da-eun, it would only have the opposite effect.

That kind of approach is only suited for battle maniacs like the chick with the greatsword.

“I’ll give you a choice. Who do you want to fight?”

“There’s no option for not choosing anyone, is there?”

“So you want to fight all seven of them. What great spirit.”

“I’ll choose now, okay?”

Da-eun carefully examined the faces of the mercenaries.

Their faces alone were enough to break her resolve.

Did they turn ugly because they did such things, or did doing such things make them ugly?

While pondering deeply and examining their levels, Da-eun pointed at one of them.

“That person.”

It was the mercenary with the lowest level among the seven.

Even though level isn’t an absolute measure of strength, without knowing their abilities, choosing the lowest opponent was the best course of action.

“Hmm. Okay.”

Kana made a nasal sound that suggested she wasn’t entirely pleased, but she respected Da-eun’s decision.

“Then, there’s no need for the rest.”

That one sentence was enough to determine the fate of the remaining six who weren’t chosen.

They had friends who went ahead, so they wouldn’t feel too resentful following after them.

“Ah, maybe it would’ve been better to keep the leader alive.”

“…What? Where did that come from all of a sudden?”

“If we capture him alive and hand him over, we might be able to collect a bounty.”

“If there was a bounty, he would’ve been caught long ago.”

“Hmm, maybe.”

The man, now left alone after losing all his companions in an instant, looked as if he had just seen a ghost.

His body might appear ridiculous, bloated with fat, but Molden’s strength should never be underestimated.

How many mercenaries had planned a revolt after underestimating him, only to have their heads lopped off?

Every morning, the men saw the heads hanging on poles and swore never to oppose Molden.

But that same Molden, the Expert Swordsman Molden, had died without even putting up a fight.

Something absolutely impossible for someone at the Expert level.

“M-M-Master…!”

It was only natural that the man reached this conclusion.

“Why is a Master here…?!”

But more than that, the fact that the small girl everyone had underestimated was a Master—

“This has to be a dream…”

He thought it was the worst kind of nightmare and slapped his cheek.

But all it did was leave his cheek red and sore. There was no waking up from this nightmare and returning to reality.

“Hmm, it broke.”

The man lost all will to fight and even dropped his weapon.

Kana’s murmuring left Ashié unable to hide his disbelief.

“If it were you, would you still think of fighting when faced with a Master?”

“If it were me, I’d fight.”

If he’s going to die either way, why wouldn’t he choose to fight?

Ashié found himself speechless at Kana’s nonchalant reply.

There are many who speak confidently, but when death is right before them, they’re unable to act as they claim.

But Kana would have done exactly that—she’s lived her life that way.

That’s how she first met Garid.

“…Yeah. You really would have done that. Anyway, if you didn’t want to break him, you should have killed him later. You could’ve predicted this would happen.” S~eaʀᴄh the NôvelFire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“Yeah… but.”

“But?”

“His eyes annoyed me. I’m not some piece of food.”

“…”

He kept staring at her and licking his lips.

Just enduring it until that point was the best Kana could do.

Ashié, who had been listening silently, placed his hand on the girl’s head.

“?”

“Well done.”

“…??”

What? Praise? Here?

Kana tilted her head in confusion at the sudden compliment, and then quickly shook her head to shrug off his hand.

“I wanted to let her experience real combat for a change.”

The man trembled at the sight of the girl’s indifferent eyes.

“If it’s like this, he’s useless.”

“…Whew.”

Calling a person broken—it was a chilling phrase depending on how one interpreted it, but at least it was fortunate for Da-eun.

‘Fighting monsters is one thing, but fighting humans… that’s a bit too much.’

It’s a relief that I didn’t have to fight.

“Should I say that if he wins, I’ll let him live?”

“Are you really going to spare him?”

“Depending on the situation.”

“Then don’t bother. Even if you let him live, he’ll just do the same thing again.”

“S-s-spare me! I promise I’ll live a good life!”

“Hmm? Did he understand what we’re saying?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

Just as Ashié said, the man didn’t understand their words, but with his instinctive sense, he realized they were discussing his fate and shouted desperately.

It was a miracle born out of his sheer desperation to survive.

“Live a good life, you say?”

“Yes? Yes, absolutely! I swear I will!”

“What does living a good life mean?”

“…Uh, not stealing other people’s money, not killing people…”

“Isn’t that just what any civilized person should do?”

If Kana had understood, she probably would have said, “Huh? But that’s what royals do,” but unfortunately, not understanding their conversation, Kana was busy dodging Da-eun’s hand as she tried to pinch her cheeks.

Ashié shook his head as he watched the man struggle to answer.

To the man, Ashié’s swaying hair looked like the scythe of the Grim Reaper.

“Just as I thought.”

“H-help the unfortunate—”

The man’s words didn’t reach completion.

A sword pierced through his chest.

The hilt of the sword was a shape all too familiar to the man.

The blade that had spilled the blood of so many others now ended with drinking its owner’s blood.

Thud.

Ashié watched coldly as the soulless body collapsed to the ground.

“…Well then.”

But being cold doesn’t necessarily mean indifferent.

His gaze, now filled with a chilling anger, shifted elsewhere.

To the tree surrounded by mercenaries, where Max had collapsed in front.

“It seems we have a lot to discuss.”

Max, don’t you think?

“…!”

Max’s heart dropped to the pit of his stomach.