Chapter 147: The Knight Hates Balls (2)

Mystical race.

They were said to be descendants of the heroes who were granted special powers when the ancient gods walked the earth. There were also many theories that they were born from the blessings of fairies.

Gods, fairies, dragons.

Because they originated from such holy and mystical beings, the mystical race was known to be strong and exceptional.

For example, Dwarves who were excellent craftsmen who possessed mystical dexterity, or Mermaids, a mystical race who could live in the sea.

As its name suggested, the mystical race was mystical and difficult to meet. Although, the most popular speculation on why this was the case was because on top of them being minorities, they also were reluctant to enter civilized society.

After all, they were well aware of the risk of being sold into slavery if they came to civilized society.

Because of that, the mystical race tended to keep their distance from civilized society, and would only occasionally appear in the Southern Continent, where people were more familiar with [Mystics]. On the other continents though, their existence was treated as something out of a fairy tale, and most people don’t even know that they actually existed.

However, just because they occasionally appeared in the Southern Continent, that did not mean that they were easy to see. Even if someone did encounter a member of one of the mystical races, they probably wouldn’t recognize them.

Take Barbarians for example; they looked exactly like ordinary humans, just a little bigger and stronger. Many of the other mystical races were the same. Unless one were to use special means, they wouldn’t be able to recognize them.

However…

“…I-It’s real! A-A mystical race has appeared…!”

Damien Paulet was left astonished.

Seeing her floating through the air, with wings that resembled that of bats on her back, it was an understandable reaction. There was also her red eyes and hair that moved as if it had a will on its own.

Furthermore…

The atmosphere around her is something else…!

Just looking at her already made him feel dizzy. The scent that lingered around her made him want to submit to her will without any question.

Such was her ‘demonic nature’, something that no man could resist. It was only natural that anyone would lose their senses because of it.

“Wow, you’re still not dead even after all that? Amazing.”

“S-Spare me… P-Please, s-stop beating me…”

“Let’s see if you’d die if I cut your neck. Or if I burn you. If you’re still alive then, I’ll…”

“Hieeeekkk!”

“…Don’t be scared, I won’t kill you, you rascal. I was just saying.”

“…”

“But, you’d still die if I were to burn you, right?”

“S-Spare me…”

“I see, you’d die if you were burned. Good to know.”

“Hiiiiing!”

She—the Dream Demon—cried, but unfortunately, tears wouldn’t work on this man.

The knight’s anger still lingered even after he had done this for 7 hours; he still looked annoyed.

“Stop it. Before I really bring a torch and oil.”

“…”

As he threatened her ‘sincerely’, the Dream Demon finally stopped crying, but her body was still shaking.

…I guess she still wants to live.

Damien Paulet involuntarily turned his eyes away from the strange yet cruel scene.

He knew that if he got himself involved in that…

My lifespan will be shortened.

He was curious about where the Dream Demon came from and why she was fighting with the knight, but he buried all of his curiosity in his heart.

Living as that monster’s assistant for a year, even if he wasn’t a sharp person originally, he was pretty much forced to become sharp.

After that, the assistant took a pickaxe to go and pull out the weeds in the instructor’s field.

It was such a turbulent Sunday morning.

So she’s a mystical race, huh?

Not only was she a mystical race, she was also a Dream Demon, a race that manipulated dreams and lived off of men’s energy.

It was a race that people often lumped together with a succubus, and among all the mystical races, they were one of the races that was often ostracized, just like Vampires or Witches.

Is this why Old Man Raphael said she was such a poor kid?

Now Lee Han understood why the old priest called the other priests ‘brother’ but called Judia Pierre ‘kid’. After all, the temple still had a rather negative view about the mystical race.

Still, among all the mystical races… A Dream Demon…?

It’s wild that they even took her in. Especially considering that the moment her identity is discovered…

They’re definitely gonna interrogate her.

She’s a perfect subject for the Inquisition, after all.

Moreover…

“…So, who are you?”

“…Yes?”

“You are not the Redhead I know, no?”

“…”

“I knew it.”

The problem is that even if she was interrogated, she wouldn’t feel that she’s wrong at all.

Super Sense Trait.

According to the status window guy, that was a trait that gave him senses close to that of a Mystic. This trait conveyed a lot of information to Lee Han in real time.

Just as he had learned the duke’s feelings towards his adopted daughter the other day, Lee Han’s senses had also netted him a lot of information about Judia Pierre.

“Your appearance, the way you speak, and your personality. The slightest habits, tremors, the tone of your voice, and the way you use your hands. Almost all of them are different from that Redhead. It’s like you are a completely different person from her.”

“Y-You can tell all that?”

“I can tell just by looking at them.”

“…Did you maybe…fall for me at some point?”

“That’s a fucking awful thing to say. Guess you want me to beat you up even more, huh?”

“N-No, no! P-Please not again…!”

She denied it with a scream.

“I-I was just surprised! I-I never thought there would be someone who could distinguish between ‘Pierre’ and ‘me’.”

“…Huh.”

“I’ll introduce myself again. M-My name is ‘Judia’. I’m another ‘personality’ who shares Pierre’s soul and body.”

“…You’re making this sound too complicated.”

For the time being, Lee Han decided to not think too much about this obvious case of dual personality.

Judia Pierre…

No, the ‘personality’ called ‘Judia’ opened her mouth.

“The Dream Demon race is one of the mystical races that are lumped together with the Devil. Even though it’s unfair for us, the Dream Demon race is a race that has no choice but to live by extracting the vital energy of others. So it’s inevitable that we got ostracized…”

“Yeah, of course.”

“I-Isn’t consoling me and saying that you’re sorry for me a normal reaction in times like this?”

“Do you think that someone who almost had their vital energy sucked would comfort you willingly?”

“…But, it won’t cause you any harm. At most, you’ll just feel a little tired…”

“What you’re saying is the equivalent of a thief telling a rich person that they won’t lose much because the thief’s only stole a couple of gold.”

“A-Anyway!”

“…What a shameless girl.”

Judia shamelessly continued her explanation.

“Dream Demon is a species that is born by chance, just like Witches, we came from a human’s stomach. The difference between us and Witches is that we aren’t born with the knowledge of the previous Dream Demons. We were born as a normal human, and just kinda realized that we’re a Dream Demon one day. So, originally, I…”

“So when you came to, you went to the human society and somehow caused an accident?”

“No, I was kidnapped.”

“…”

“There’s a group that only specifically kidnaps members of the mystic races. They were the ones who kidnapped me, brainwashed me, and had my blood drawn. The whole experience was so horrible that I even denied my own personality. That was how ‘Pierre’ was born.”

—It probably happened because I’m a Dream Demon…

“…”

Lee Han’s eyes sank deeply at her nearly inaudible words.

He wasn’t sympathizing with her story, though.

But rather…

So what that Galahad old man said wasn’t completely false, huh?

The ‘group that kidnapped mystical races’ that the girl told him about really tickled his curiosity.

His intuition told me that the group was related to that cheap imitation of the Blood Cult.

“So, to summarize, you created a new personality because you want someone else to be hurt on your behalf.”

“…If you phrase it like that, doesn’t that make me sound like trash?”

“…I mean, is it wrong?”

“…”

…She wanted to deny his words, but she couldn’t.

If it was someone else, they’d definitely fall for her allure and mystical atmosphere, and would try to comfort her, but it wasn’t the case with Lee Han.

On the contrary, what piqued his interest was…

Pierre, huh? So that’s why.

His mind wandered to the crazy girl who was pointing a gun at her own forehead during their fight when she thought that she was about to lose.

As if her life had no meaning.

A created personality…

In her eyes, she probably thought of how futile her life was. He found her pitiful, but he didn’t criticize Judia’s cowardice.

After all…

…I’d do the same if I could.

-It hurts, it hurts so much… .

-Mom…

-S-Spare me! Please spare me!

Lee Han thought back to his past.

When he was only three years old, his parents sold him into slavery before he was sold to a magic freak. Beside him, there were many children his age who were writhing in pain, whining, and dying.

He could still remember the feelings that enveloped his heart when the child next to him who he had been talking to suddenly became a cold corpse.

At one point, he became angry, wondering how much longer he had to struggle in this kind of pain.

-Why do I have to suffer like this…?

He repeated those words several times a day.

-If I have to live my life like this, I’d rather not be born at all…!

He resented and hated everything in the world.

Back then, I imagined how much better it would be if there was a clone who would suffer in my place.

Although Lee Han called her trash, he could relate with her. He had to hide his bitter smile. After all, this was a feeling that he didn’t want others to know.

“…I didn’t know it would happen either. I never expected that a new personality would suddenly appear and take over my body…”

“Is creating a personality also the power of a Dream Demon?”

“I-I don’t think so?”

“…Why do you sound so unsure?”

“…Because I’ve never seen another Dream Demon.”

“…”

“D-Don’t look at me like that!”

Judia Pierre… No, Judia had a frivolous personality. Towards those weaker than her, her arrogance had no bound, but towards those stronger than her, it was her submissiveness that had no bound.

As his thoughts reached that point, Lee Han was sure.

The [villain] that guy was talking about was Judia.

The third villainess, Judia Pierre. She was the character that appeared in the original work and the game, and Lee Han was sure that she was the one who made the Blackie so angry.

How could he be sure?

“Hey, it’s a bit late to ask this now, but why did you try to attack me?”

“Huh? T-That…”

“I won’t get mad, so tell me.”

“…I just need energy, and…you know… Isn’t it better if I take the energy of a man who has plenty of it…?”

“…What a bitch.”

“A-Aren’t you going too far…?”

Because she was a woman with no conscience.

Lee Han was confident that this dark redhead wouldn’t even try to make excuses if she were to get interrogated by the inquisitors.