Chapter 105…..
‘That was where the history book ended. But there was an additional note attached at the end.’
Ollie had magically memorized the history book from Pascal’s laboratory and reproduced it word for word. That part wasn’t from the printed history, but rather Pascal’s own notes written into the margins.
Ethan: Albinism. Commoner orphan. Remained in the Albanas Kingdom’s assassin organization Fang’s training camp until age 22. Location of the camp is…
At age 23, exterminated the very assassin group he belonged to and began wandering. At 29, while carrying out an assassination request, he was captured by the Demon Beast Defense Force and came face-to-face with Emperor Gideon.
Thereafter, under the Emperor’s command, he worked tirelessly to maintain public order…
In the 18th year of the Calamity, he disobeyed the Emperor’s order never to kill, no matter how wicked the target, and assassinated the Lord of Colm Fortress. He then joined the Colm garrison and died during its defense.
At that time, Colm Fortress was annihilated, its defense line collapsing in a chain reaction that led to the Battle of Deweyreborg, in which Emperor Gideon fell.
It seemed Pascal had separately researched information on ghosts in order to summon Ethan as a resurrected being.
‘That must be why Ethan said I shouldn’t rely on my own judgment.’
But attached to that section were notes from Ollie and Gideon.
‘Do not be swayed by the narration. History is but the edited record of someone’s perspective…’
That note echoed in her mind, but she couldn’t follow the thought further, because Ethan suddenly stopped in the middle of the forest, muttering irritably:
“Here the tracks split.”
“What? You mean Hannah and the servant’s tracks split apart?”
“Yeah. Looks like…”
Ethan examined the dirt floor and the surrounding area carefully before clicking his tongue.
“They were standing here talking, but it looks like Hannah got angry. Her footprints got deeper and paced in circles… then she left. No—damn, more like ran away.”
“Hannah ran away?”
Rita’s face darkened.
“And that servant—he didn’t chase after her, did he?”
“No. The bastard just strolled off calmly in the other direction.”
“Then Ethan, you follow the servant’s trail and find out who he really is. I’ll head the way Hannah went.”
“You’re saying we split up?”
“Investigating suspicious people in secret is your specialty. As for Hannah, I’ll find her and bring her back.”
“…Fine.”
Though his expression was sour, Ethan obeyed her words.
“Rita, don’t go doing anything reckless with that scrap-of-paper body of yours. You’re not in your old body anymore, got it?”
After his string of nagging, he vanished along the servant’s trail. Left alone, Lilieta drew Silver Grace and headed in Hannah’s direction.
Despite being told she’d fled, the snapped branches and trampled brush made the trail easy enough to follow.
‘She’s heading deeper and deeper into the forest. Must have panicked and lost her sense of direction.’
As the forest grew denser, the trees became taller and more tangled, the atmosphere more sinister. Then came low, guttural growls.
‘Demon beasts? No… in this place, it’s more likely monsters.’
Just as she was about to proceed more cautiously, a trembling human voice reached her ears.
“P-please… someone… help me…”
‘Hannah!’
Rita immediately dashed toward the sound. Quick-thinking Grace cast an acceleration spell, letting her run at near-flight speed.
Soon she saw them—monsters like horned boars swarming, and up in a tree, Hannah clinging to a branch, trembling.
“Hannah!”
“M-Milady…!”
The moment Hannah spotted her, tears burst from her eyes.
‘Thank goodness, she’s alive.’
Relieved, Rita aimed her gun. At her shout, the horned boars turned their glowing eyes toward her.
Grrraahh!
They charged.
Wary of drawing in more monsters with noise, she used silent rounds. A series of air-leaking pops rang out, and the horned boars collapsed one after another. It took less than three seconds to wipe out over a dozen.
Leaping over their fallen bodies, Rita approached Hannah’s tree.
“Hannah, are you alright?”
“Sob… M-Milady… sob…”
“You’re not hurt anywhere, right?”
“Sob… y-yes, I-I’m fine, sniff, thank you… thank you…”
Tears and snot streaming, Hannah nodded frantically. Rita smiled with relief.
“That’s good. Let’s head back to camp. Can you climb down?”
“Y-yes, I’ll… I’ll try, sniff.”
Hannah grabbed the branch with trembling hands but slipped. She nearly fell, barely clinging to the branch with her whole body.
“M-Milady! I-I’m sorry… m-my arms and legs… they’ve gone weak, j-just a moment…”
“It’s alright, you were just too frightened.”
Rita stayed calm, examining her condition.
‘She was terrified and then relaxed when she saw me… no good. If she tries to climb down like this, she’ll fall.’
With no training, a maid couldn’t safely descend from such a height.
Rita hesitated, then holstered her revolver and spread her arms.
“Hannah, just jump. I’ll catch you.”
“Wh-what?!”
‘Grace, strengthen me for when Hannah falls.’
[Warning: The user’s body has improved somewhat through training, but muscle mass is still insufficient. Even with reinforcement, catching a falling person may be difficult.]
‘You think this is my first time catching someone? Even if I lack strength, I’ve got technique. Just cast it.’
[Sigh: Understood, user.]
Why did that sound like a sigh instead of a confirmation?
As Rita worried Grace might be getting too emotional, she urged Hannah:
“It’s fine. Just trust me and jump.”
“B-but I’m bigger than you, Milady…”
“You’ve seen me use all sorts of crazy skills, right? I can handle it. Don’t worry. Hurry.”
“Sob…”
“Just let go and fall into my arms. You trust me, don’t you, Hannah?”
Hannah, trembling and sniffling, met Rita’s composed gaze. At last, she screwed her eyes shut and released her grip.
The instant she let go, a new horned boar appeared within Rita’s detection range—already charging.
‘Damn.’
Rita calculated in a flash.
She could dodge easily. But if she did, Hannah would crash to the ground.
Decision made, she stood her ground, wrapping her legs in Od to mimic a Strengthened Form.
“Kyaaah!”
Grrraahh!
“Hh—!”
Hannah’s scream as she fell, the boar’s roar as it charged, and Rita’s muffled groan all rang out together.
Hannah landed in soft arms. Relieved, she then smelled blood.
“M-Milady?”
She opened her eyes wide. Rita’s brow twitched faintly as she set Hannah down, then drew her gun at lightning speed and fired into the monster’s skull.
With a hiss, the silent round buried itself deep.
Hannah turned and froze. The boar’s horn was sticking straight through Rita’s thigh, crimson blood soaking her gray-blue dress.
“Kyaaah! Milady! Your leg!”
“…I’m fine.”
With a pale face, Rita didn’t even cry out in pain. She calmly aimed again at the corpse’s horn.
‘Pulling it out as is would be more dangerous.’
She fired, blasting the horn off. The body of the horned boar collapsed with a heavy thud.
Then she inspected the wound.
‘Hurts like hell.’
Thanks to mimicking Strengthened Form, she hadn’t been knocked flying. But because it wasn’t the real thing, she couldn’t prevent the horn from piercing her flesh.
