episode_0037

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After finishing her story, Sarah let out a deep breath as if she had used up all her energy and fell forward.

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As I barely caught her body as it hit the ground, I was able to get a glimpse of how hard Sarah had been through these days.

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The fear of having your soul stolen is honestly hard to understand, but loneliness is understandable.

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Possessed in this shitty world, she was walking the same path I had been walking alone for dozens of years.

I started this to see the scenario of a game I had never seen before, and that feeling still remains the same.

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However, regardless of interest, I sincerely wanted to be her strength.

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‘There are two big problems right now.’

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1. We don’t know what Terezina’s intentions are.

2. Our power cannot reach her.

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In order to decide on a future course of action, you need to know exactly what her goals are.

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Is the goal to change the soul as Sarah guessed?

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Or do you have any other thoughts?

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The simplest way is to defeat Theresina before that day comes, but if she has prepared for this and done something, it will be very difficult.

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It’s an extreme example, but for example, there is a curse that if Theresina dies, Sarah will die too.

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If such a ridiculous accident occurs before the revival magic is obtained, there is no way to make up for it.

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I wanted to find out the information somehow, but there was no way I could do anything about it.

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Infiltrating a mansion infested with demons and digging up information is tantamount to suicide.

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I also don’t think she would accidentally reveal important information.

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In other words, we had no choice but to deal with her without preparing any countermeasures.

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‘… ‘This is the most difficult.’

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An exception is made for Sera, who is not at full strength.

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Even if me, Wu, and an army of spirits and bees attacked at the same time, we couldn’t even defeat Teresa at this level.

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It is different from unintelligent enemies like the Minotaur.

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It was no exaggeration to say that she was my natural enemy, as she never let down her guard and could deal with any attack by using various demons.

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There was also a way to hide in a miniature garden, but this was only a stopgap measure.

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You may be able to somehow escape Terezina for a while, but you will not be able to escape her forever.

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So now there is really only one option.

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“Sera, let’s go to Fiona.”

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“What?”

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If you can’t retreat, the only answer is forward.

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Sarah, who had been leaning on my chest, looked startled and moved away.

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There was confusion in her eyes, as if she were looking at someone who had lost her mind.

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“Even if we leave the royal capital now, we won’t be able to avoid Terezina’s eyes forever.”

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If they go to an empire that is hostile to the kingdom or to the Great Plains, things might work out somehow, but most likely they will be caught before then.

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Even if he miraculously escapes to another country, it would take a very long time to escape from her, who is very cautious.

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If that happens, he will die at the hands of Hanji or the others.

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“The retreat route is blocked, so we will go into the arms of the enemy. If we get into their arms, there is no need to kill them right away for fear of them running away.”

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“But going to Fiona… .”

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“It’s like walking into the enemy’s maw? that’s right. That’s why there is a way to live.”

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For some unknown reason, Teresina has not killed or imprisoned Sarah, and has left her unattended, although she has placed a surveillance demon on her.

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It’s probably because they’re not ready to do anything with Sarah yet, whether it’s a soul exchange or something, or there’s a reason why they have to do so.

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“For my sister, Sarah is a valuable experiment material. I am a potential enemy whose identity I do not know.”

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For fear of running away again, they will try to keep an eye on it rather than kill it.

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To make people think that way, at the tea party that day, he subtly gave off a lot of nuance that he was not an ordinary adventurer.

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The Terezina I know is deeply suspicious, but she is not a coward.

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At least they won’t try to kill me right away until they find out my identity.

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“Don’t worry too much. If something happens, I’ll be the one to die first, not Sarah.”

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“… Are you not afraid of dying?”

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“Of course it’s scary.”

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Even if I could be resurrected once, there is no way I wouldn’t be afraid of death.

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But there are some things more fearful than death.

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One of them is to skip the event and miss the opportunity to fill out the scenario and encyclopedia.

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‘When Sera awakens, a new demon will appear, right?’

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My monster encyclopedia is not fully filled yet.

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There was no option to back down from here, even if it was to completely fill out this encyclopedia 100%.

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“It’s scary to die, but I think I’ll regret it later if I just get over it. Then shall we go?”

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Since there was no way these feelings could be conveyed to her, I left the room first, blaming her.

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Afterwards, Sarah came out of the room hesitantly, unable to make eye contact with me, and followed behind at a slow pace with her head down.

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When I came out of hiding like that.

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“Good night. Felt.”

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Fiona, holding a greatsword that glowed brilliantly blue in the moonlight, pointed the sword at me.

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I didn’t notice it at all.

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Could it be that he had been waiting this long?

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“… I have no intention of running away.”

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He placed his cheek against the blade aimed at her neck and observed her calmly.

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Disheveled hair, a drop of cold sweat running down his left cheek.

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It didn’t look like he had been waiting here for a long time.

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“Do I need to explain why I came here?”

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“It’s because you killed the devil, right? I’ll tell you in advance, I’m the one who killed it.”

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The sword pointed at his neck trembled slightly, as if he hadn’t expected him to admit it so easily.

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As a result, a small wound appeared on my right cheek.

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What a big deal it was to have a wound, Fiona stared blankly at the blood flowing from her cheek, as if the world had collapsed for a moment.

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I feel like I can give it a shot now.

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Although your head will be cut off in the next moment.

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“There’s nothing to worry about. Rather, the fact that I came here means that my sister is also listening to this story?”

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[that’s right.]

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Suddenly, a crow came down from the sky and stood on the back of the knife, staring at me with dark eyes that seemed to suck me in.

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Are you speaking in the form of a crow?

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It’s not a particularly rare magic.

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[Can I easily explain why I did that so my sister can understand?]

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“Because it was necessary to gain Sarah’s cooperation. If you want to blame the devil for dying, blame yourself for not being able to form a good mother-daughter relationship.”

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[It seems like there was a strange misunderstanding. My sister is heartbroken. And I’m curious… . What on earth did you hear that made you do something like this?]

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A crow approaches.

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The crow that came right up next to me on the back of the knife looked like it could eat my eyes out right now if it wanted to.

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With her sharp beak pointed at my eyes, Terezina asked me once again.

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[Would you like to tell your sister what we talked about inside? Please note that this is not a request.]

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“… I heard an old story.”

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[What old story?]

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“A story about a five-year-old child who has been left without anyone to play with.”

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[…] … .]

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I didn’t lie.

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Even if you were to use the devil’s monocle on this answer, you would gain nothing.

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The raven’s eyes turned towards Sarah, as if it had decided that it would not be able to get anything from me.

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As usual, Sarah’s indifferent face showed no emotion, but a slight tremor remained in her hands.

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There was no way Terezina, who had seen Sarah her whole life, would not have noticed that fact.

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[Really? Sera?]

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“… Uh.”

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Sarah also didn’t lie.

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However, whether this is considered a lie or the truth depends on the speaker.

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In response to a slight hesitation, Terezina paused for a moment as if thinking about something, then flew up and landed on Fiona’s shoulder.

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[I think there was a small misunderstanding, but is it okay to think that there were no problems between us?]

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“I’d like to say that, but honestly, it’s not a good feeling to have someone watching you from behind. Can you clean it up a little?”

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[Please understand this is for safety.]

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“If you yield this, I can also yield a step, right?”

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[…] concession?]

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“Actually, I kept hiding it… . If you concede this matter, I will show you something that will surprise your sister. If it’s something trivial, I don’t mind if this story never happened.”

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[…] It’s fun. I’ve thought about felt since I first saw it, but felt is really interesting.]

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In the dark alley, Terezina’s voice was heard laughing loudly.

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When everyone was rigid at the strange sight of a crow shaking its body and laughing.

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Eventually, Terezina stopped laughing and nodded as if to say so.

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[If the surprising thing Felt said surprises me, I will also give in. This is not a promise, but a contract.]

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“Good. And you can’t touch me with this?”

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[Haha, Felt is very careful. What kind of fun thing are they trying to show?]

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“Please answer clearly. I’m very scared.”

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After speaking a little forcefully, Terezina sighed softly and stepped back.

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I guess he was quite interested in something I had hidden away.

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[…] okay. Fiona, you must never touch it either.]

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“… Yes.”

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Fiona also nodded.

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It may be informal, but this concludes a contract that the devil is watching over.

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To the devil’s minister, a contract is more than a simple promise; it is like a law that can never be broken.

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The devil values ​​trust more than anything else.

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Even if it is a light promise like child’s play, as long as the name of contract is used, this is a rule that must be kept even if it means losing one’s head.

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‘I received the message.’

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Now all that remains is execution.

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After taking a deep breath for a moment, without the slightest hesitation, I jumped towards Fiona’s sword aimed at her neck.

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The sharp blade filled with mana as bright as moonlight penetrated the neck without the slightest resistance, and soon ended up cutting the cervical vertebrae along with the carotid artery.

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There were no screams, only shock, and with the blood flowing like a fountain, consciousness gradually began to fade away.

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And after a while.

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With the fresh green light emanating from the body, the wounds were healed and the flame of life that had once been extinguished began to burn again.

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“Phew… . I thought I was going to die. You’re surprised, right?”

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[…] … .]

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Teresina was silent, but even though she was a crow, there was no room for another word to come out from her obviously shocked expression.

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“Then, since I kept my promise, I’ll leave now. Sarah, let’s go!!”