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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: An Act of Revenge?
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While Daphne was struggling in the collapsed building, Heros was out with his aide, Pollin. An unidentified monster had apparently appeared in the Perry River, which ran through the center of the capital.
Normally, this would have been a job for the Guardians, the capital's defense force, but with monsters appearing simultaneously across the city, Heros had been dragged into it as well.
"What a pain."
Heros muttered, the pile of monster corpses behind him. He yawned, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Wow. How many is that? One, two, three... six of them. They look bizarre, too. What are these? They're so mangled I can't even tell what they're supposed to be."
Heros answered Pollin, who was scribbling in his notebook, with a deadpan expression.
"Chimeras, probably."
"Chimeras? The ones made by combining several monsters?"
"Yes."
At that, Pollin pushed up his glasses and took a closer look at the mangled corpses.
Sure enough, he could see suture marks on their arms and tails.
Good heavens! Pollin clapped a hand over his mouth and staggered back.
"Looks like they escaped from some laboratory. The imperial family hasn't said anything, so they must be unauthorized experiments."
"Wouldn't they be executed if they were caught?"
"The kind of people who create abominations like these don't value their own lives much."
"Hmm."
Pollin scratched his head with his pen.
"I'm not an expert in this field, but even I can tell these monsters are very well-made. And there's no uniformity. Since none of them look the same, it must mean there are a great many of these chimeras."
"I'm not doing it. It's a pain. We'll leave it to the Guardians and be done with it."
"No, what I'm curious about is who did this!"
Heros, who had been dreading that the trouble might land on him, frowned slightly. He, too, had his suspicions while fighting the monsters.
"If we're talking about who would do something like this,"
Heros said, resting his sword casually on his shoulder.
"it would be those black mages."
"Good heavens. Of course! Those lunatics are still at it! Why haven't they all just died off already!"
Pollin shouted, his shoulders trembling as he recalled Heros's past battles with the black mages.
"Th-there won't be anything worse than this, right? This is the end of it, right?"
"This is probably just the beginning. But I'm staying out of it. I'm sick of dealing with those black mages."
Heros replied nonchalantly, but Pollin could guess what he was truly feeling.
He had lost his wife and even his child had been harmed by a black mage's curse... Of course he wouldn't want to deal with them anymore. Pollin tore up the report he was writing and burned it.
"Shall we head back, then? There don't seem to be any more monsters."
"Yes."
Sheathing his sword, Heros turned to leave. The Guardians would take care of the corpses, so there was no need for him to worry about them. He had carried out his orders; now all he had to do was go back.
As he was thinking this and stepping into the carriage,
*BOOOOM!*
A tremendous explosion struck his ears. The ground shook as if an earthquake had hit.
"Your Excellency!"
Pollin, who had hastily cast a defensive spell on Heros, surveyed their surroundings.
He saw pitch-black smoke rising from not too far away.
And a tremendous vibration of mana. This was definitely...!
"Aargh! It's them again! Aaaaargh!"
The aura of death. In other words, black magic.
Pollin grabbed the back of his neck in despair.
"How about we just go back and pretend we didn't see anything?"
It wasn't a bad idea. Heros's orders were to exterminate the monsters, not to stop a sudden black magic terrorist attack.
But there was a problem.
"That place where the smoke is rising."
"Yes?"
"Isn't that near Marquess Finch's estate?"
Pollin unfolded a magical map that recorded the flow of mana throughout the capital in real time.
Just as Heros had said, a black dot marking the trace of black magic was located at the Finch estate.
"Yes, that's right. But I'm sure it's nothing serious, right? They have a considerable number of knights over there."
"Daphne went there today."
"Ah. The young lady went there... What?! How did you know that?"
Ignoring Pollin's shriek, Heros turned on his heel.
"Your Excellency! Wait! Where are you going! Your Excellencccy!"
The black smoke billowed, as if to swallow the sky. Heros's pace quickened.
***
"Damn it."
Daphne let out a sigh as she looked at the room, which was now filled with smoke.
Her escape route had been blocked the moment she ran in, so she had to rescue the child first and then find a way out.
Daphne activated her senses to get a feel for her surroundings.
Normally, she would have been able to perceive everything without even trying, but the current Daphne was a mere human with weak mana.
She had to control her senses with even greater care and sensitivity.
*Where are you...*
The acrid smoke was making her dizzy, but she didn't back down. Daphne bit the inside of her cheek, forcing herself to focus.
*Here!*
And soon, she found a child huddled under a table. Daphne ran toward her.
"You! Why haven't you gotten out? What are you doing here!"
The child, who had been huddled and sobbing, slowly raised her head.
To her surprise, the child was Brysa Finch.
"L-Lady Daphne?"
Brysa reached out a hand to the savior who had appeared before her.
"*Hic!* M-my... my leg is trapped...! Waaaaah!"
Brysa, too, had prioritized evacuating the other children as soon as she heard the explosion, but her leg had been pinned by debris in the process.
Grasping the situation, Daphne panted as she examined Brysa's leg.
"I believe I can lift this. Now, pull your leg free the moment I do."
"*Sob*, yes, yes!"
"One, two... three!"
Daphne lifted the debris with all her might. The moment she exerted herself, she could feel this damn body nearing exhaustion, but she endured. Only she, who could still move, could save this child.
"Aah! Lady Daphne! I-I'm out! You can let go now!"
*Thud!*
After confirming Brysa was free, Daphne finally let go.
From lifting the debris with her bare hands, her palms were scraped raw and bleeding profusely. Her arms felt limp and useless, completely drained of strength.
"Oh, oh no. A-are you alright? That looks incredibly painful...!"
"Worry about your own leg, not me."
"But...!"
Daphne shook her head and placed a hand on the crown of Brysa's head.
"You evacuated the others first, just as my subordinate should. Very well done."
"...Yes!"
Brysa barely managed to swallow the tears of gratitude and relief that welled up.
Who had called Daphne Akion a hooligan? Seeing her now, no one would ever use such a derogatory term.
Daphne was a true hero!
She would never let go of this hand. Sniffling, Brysa clung tightly to Daphne.
"Now we must find a way out... Hmm?"
Just then, something entered Daphne's senses.
An aura that was chilling and unsettling.
This could only be one thing.
Daphne pulled Brysa along toward the source of the aura.
"Lady Daphne? What are you... Huh?"
Brysa, puzzled at first, soon saw what Daphne had found and her eyes widened.
A square device the size of a medium box.
At first glance, it looked like nothing, but the aura emanating from the device was ominous.
Brysa was also one of the children learning magic. Therefore, there was no way she wouldn't recognize this aura.
"I-is that... a bomb?!"
"Damn it all."
Daphne touched her forehead, feeling the aura of death flowing from the device.
A bomb made with black magic was not only explosive but also a terrifying weapon of terror that spread an aura of death, withering all life around it.
One of this size had enough power to consume the entire marquess's estate.
"Wh-what do we... Ah, we have to dismantle it..."
"Dismantling it is impossible in this situation."
The light faded from Brysa's eyes.
"Then are we... going to die? Are we? Really?"
Is it true that when you're too sad, you can't even cry? Brysa felt that sense of listlessness. Her legs gave out, and she staggered before collapsing to the floor.
"..."
But Daphne assessed the situation coolly. A way to dismantle a black magic bomb... Hmm?
*Why would I dismantle this?*
The principle of black magic is to use the negative energy that comes from 'death'.
And what is similar to negative energy? Seluseu's causality, 'calamity'.
Simply put, to Seluseu, a black magic bomb is no different from a special treat... Oh?
*If I absorb this, my mana will increase, won't it?*
The corners of Daphne's mouth curled into a smirk.
A good idea came to mind. Daphne pushed the back of the crying Brysa.
"Go over there and wait."
"What?"
"I'm going to set it off."
"What?!"
"When it explodes, the blast will clear away the wreckage. We can use that opening to escape."
"W-wait. Then what about you, Lady Daphne?"
"I have to stop it."
"What?!"
Brysa stared at Daphne with a look of disbelief, but Daphne just looked back as if wondering what the fuss was about. Of course, she had other plans.
"No more talk. You'll need to move properly, so be prepared."
"No, Lady Daphne! It's dangerous!"
How could she choose to sacrifice herself so readily?
Completely unaware of Daphne's real plan, Brysa shouted to stop her, but Daphne just pushed her away and began to inject power into the bomb.
"Lady Daphne!"
*BOOOOM!*
A deafening explosion engulfed them.
