Chapter 201: Pre and Post-processing – Part 2 (5)

For a moment, all the blood in my body went cold.

Sien Lenos. Or Sion Astaroth.

That was her real name, but in this era, there were very few beings who could call her by it. Mana and Exia — and, being generous, maybe Raizein — were about the only ones.

But now Marianne was calling her by that name? Why?

…N-no way… surely not…!

“What’s wrong, Lord Sien? Are you feeling unwell—”

“Mind Crash!!!”

Crash!

With a sound like shattering glass, Marianne collapsed on the spot.

Behind her, Exia shrieked in horror.

“W-what are you doing?! Are you insane!? You can’t just open with a mind-shattering spell like that!!”

“I-I just panicked and acted reflexively…!”

Sion finally cried out, a tone of regret in her voice. She, too, was completely panicked by the sudden turn of events.

She looked back and forth between the fallen Marianne and Exia, speaking with mounting anxiety.

“Damn it, what should I do? I can’t just kill her… should I pretend that she lost her memory because of the binding’s effects? No, but she must have spoken to others before she came here…”

-“What do you mean, ‘what should I do’!? Just fix her memory already! She’s innocent!”

“N-no, but she figured out my identity! And rolling back a Mind Crash takes a lot of effort—”

-“You’re thinking about your own convenience right now!? At least with Beryl last time, you had some excuse! This time you hurt a completely innocent person! If you have even an ounce of conscience, fix what you broke right now!”

“C-come on, you can’t say she’s totally innocent! I mean, she’s caused plenty of trouble up till now—!”

As Sion and Exia bickered, something happened.

Marianne, who had been collapsed on the floor, suddenly stretched out her hand and grabbed Sion’s leg tightly.

Then, in a voice that sounded like it crawled out from the depths of hell, she spoke.

“S-Sien… my lord…?”

“KYAAAAGH?!?”

Sion screamed like a girl and fell backward with a thud. Meanwhile, Marianne slowly began to rise, creaking like a moving corpse.

From all seven openings of her face — eyes, nose, mouth, and ears — bright red blood trickled out, giving her a ghastly appearance.

She looked like a vengeful ghost filled with hatred.

“Huhu… so soft… I’m so soft…”

“Did you really think my feelings for you would shatter from something like this…? If you thought that, you were gravely mistaken… Ufufufu…”

“Eek!! Eeeeek!! Aaaaahhh!!!”

Sion, utterly terrified, frantically scrambled backward with her hands. She had no doubt — this was the scariest thing she’d seen in either her past or present life.

Raising her trembling fingers, she shouted in disbelief:

“H-h-how the hell?! How did she withstand a Mind Crash!?”

By now, the idea of keeping up appearances was completely abandoned. Her mind was fully consumed by the need to unravel this terrifying mystery.

The art of manipulating a person’s mind becomes harder the stronger the target’s will is, or the greater their hostility toward the caster.

Because of that, unless one specializes in such magic, it’s generally not very useful in real combat.

However, that only applied when facing opponents of similar ability. Against someone vastly weaker, spells like Mind Crash usually worked effortlessly.

At the very least, a mere student should have had no chance to resist her magic.

And yet, Marianne had done it. Judging by her appearance, it hadn’t come without cost — but regardless, she had endured it.

…How…?

“Huhuhu… huhuhu… huhuhu…”

She laughed, baring her teeth in a crazed grin that stretched almost to her ears, her bloodshot eyes wide open. It wasn’t an exaggeration — she truly looked terrifying.

“It’s useless, Lord Sien. No matter how powerful your magic is, you can’t erase my burning love for you…!”

“This feeling is everything my soul possesses…! It’s an eternal flame that won’t die out, even amidst storms and raging tempests…!”

Marianne’s eyes gleamed and burned red.

There was no trick, no secret.

It was simply that her heart was that strong and unshakable. At least when it came to her love for Sien, Marianne’s spirit was as indestructible as diamond.

No method could ever break it.

“Ahaha, aha, ahahahaha!!!! Ahahahahahahaha!!!!!”

She laughed madly for a long time, staring up at the ceiling—like a truly deranged lunatic.

Then, all of a sudden, she abruptly stopped laughing, pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the blood from her face, and smiled sweetly as if nothing had happened.

“Lord Sien, aren’t you curious how I found out your true identity? Hmm?”

“………..”

Of course she was curious. Naturally. How could she not be?

Sion silently shot Marianne a look that clearly conveyed that thought.

Marianne responded with a bright, almost mischievous smile.

“Actually, when you two were fighting so fiercely, I was awake. My body was controlled and couldn’t move, but my mind stayed completely conscious.

And so I heard it—how the Hero is actually the reincarnation of the Demon King who invaded the continent 500 years ago.”

Saying that, Marianne slowly took a step toward Sion.

Click, clack.

“At first, I felt betrayed. I thought, ‘Could it be that the Hero was colluding with the demons?’

But the more I thought about it, the more something felt off.

If the Hero truly were a traitor, Lady Exia, the guardian of justice, would never have allowed it, right?

No matter what, she would have refused to fight alongside her.

Even if forced, she would have found a way to secretly let us know.

But Lady Exia didn’t do that.

She actively helped the new Hero defeat Lady Raizein.

That struck me as odd.

So I went to Lady Raizein and asked.

I asked her about the identity of the ‘Father’ she spoke of—and why Lady Exia would anoint someone who was once the Demon King as the Hero.

And then…”

Grinning chillingly, Marianne suddenly grabbed Sion’s hands and lifted them up.

Sion, startled, barely managed to suppress a scream.

“Can you believe it? The ‘Demon King’ she spoke of… was none other than the person I admire and revere the most—Lady Sion Lenos herself!

Oh, the shock I felt when I learned the truth!

And the joy!

I trembled with happiness!!”

‘Raizein, you damn brat!!!’

Sion screamed internally, cursing her absent daughter.

The next time they met, she would throw her into the scorching desert and leave her to roast under the blazing sun for 24 hours.

Without a doubt.

Coming after her was one thing—spoiling her secret was another entirely!

Unforgivable!

“Fufu, no need to be so tense, Lord Sien.”

Seeing Sion’s face, Marianne chuckled softly.

Then she gently (or, from Sion’s perspective, creepily) caressed the hands she was holding and said:

“I have no intention of spreading this secret. Not even to my own sister.

I don’t know why you’re hiding your true identity, but I’m sure you have a good reason, right?”

“Y-yeah…”

Sion nodded reluctantly.

Even though Marianne said not to worry, Sion kept her guard up.

Because according to every cliché, what followed would surely be a demand.

“In exchange for keeping your secret… there’s just one thing I want.”

See? She knew it.

Sion furrowed her brows and asked:

“What is it that you want?”

“W-well…”

Marianne bashfully averted her gaze and fiddled with her fingers, looking too embarrassed to say it.

Then, as if she had gathered her courage, she squeezed her eyes shut and blurted it out:

“Please… call me ‘pig’ just once! Look down on me with utter contempt while doing it! And—if possible—step on my head while you do it!! Please!!”

“…?”

In that instant, all the tension that had built up in Sion evaporated completely.

In its place was sheer bewilderment.

She frowned and asked, clearly not understanding:

“…Call you ‘pig’? Why?”

“Haah?!!”

At those words, Marianne clutched her chest and collapsed onto the floor.

She writhed happily in a self-created (nose)bleed puddle, smiling blissfully.

“S-so happy… I’m so happy… I could die right now without any regrets… One of my lifelong dreams has finally come true…”

“???????”

Sion’s face was full of question marks.

It was madness far beyond anything her rational mind could comprehend.