Ch.1010. Don’t You Feel Like Killing?

“Trash bastard?”

“Yeah, now I need to clean up some village trash.”

“Then I’ll investigate as thoroughly as possible.”

According to the original story, Luna would spend a whole year hunting down and dealing with the corrupt business owners who drove her parents to suicide after her awakening.

Add to that the time she spent eliminating assassins who occasionally ventured outside the village, plus the time until she killed me after my coming-of-age ceremony—a total of two years.

That meant she wouldn’t need to suffer from murderous urges.

However.

The corrupt business owners who were on the run have already been arrested, and the assassins have vanished without a trace thanks to me, the knights, and the awakened Luna.

In other words, there’s no one left to satisfy her murderous desires.

Luna’s only passive ability after awakening was “Murder Deficiency.”

Normally, it seemed like a simple passive that gave her homicidal urges when she saw villains, but if she didn’t kill anyone for a certain period, an additional penalty called “Blood Massacre” would activate.

So what exactly is Blood Massacre?

In the original story, it occasionally activated due to Murder Deficiency.

The most memorable instance was, of course, the first incident.

It happened when the protagonist, Serion Lycus, and Luna hid in a cave to escape approaching monsters.

After hiding in the cave for ten days to heal their injuries…

Just ten days of restraint was enough for Luna’s murderous urges to finally explode.

Blood Massacre—a state where she became several times stronger but with significantly reduced ability to distinguish between allies and enemies.

Readers went wild for it.

At the time, there was a heated debate in the comments about whether the protagonist Serion Lycus was stronger, or Luna Brillhart with her Blood Massacre unleashed.

So naturally, people loved the storyline where the two fought each other.

‘The result was a draw.’

It seemed like Serion Lycus might have held back a bit, but Luna Brillhart’s Blood Massacre was truly extraordinary.

That’s why if she awakens, she’ll need villains to satisfy her murderous urges.

At least until the protagonist arrives here.

“Right, round up all the trash in the village as much as possible.”

“There might be quite a few. Should I prepare a list for your convenience?”

“That would be good.”

“Understood.”

After finishing my conversation with Riden, I entered the mansion.

Having spent all night racking my brain over various matters, my eyelids were naturally growing heavy.

Setting aside my complicated thoughts, I soon found myself sprawled on the bed, ending my busy day early.

*

“Shouldn’t you be going home by now?”

“It’s fine. These days I’ve been chatting with Lord Selden’s servants occasionally, so I’m not bored.”

In the end, I surrendered and called Elina to the reception room.

It had already been over two weeks since she arrived.

Somehow, the shyness she initially showed had long since disappeared.

I pressed my fingertips gently on the teacup and spoke.

“At this rate, rumors might spread that Elina and I have set up house together in this place of exile.”

“My, if that happens, I’d be getting exactly what I want.”

“Haha… but is it really necessary to wear a veil while drinking tea?”

“Ah, I don’t mind showing my face to the person I’m going to marry. I just forgot.”

Elina slowly removed her veil.

Regardless of her brazenness, her appearance was still captivating enough to make me stare.

I hastily shook my head and corrected my posture.

“You’ve become quite smooth-talking.”

“What choice do I have when Lord Selden won’t even look at me otherwise?”

If I had no reservations, even I would want to live with Elina.

Such beauty and proactive attitude.

Plus, born into a noble family with elegant manners.

But.

Marrying Elina would be tantamount to declaring war on the Cardrian family.

My life was already sweet enough without complications, so why would I create problems myself?

That would be nothing short of madness.

“May I ask you one thing?”

“By all means.”

“Why did you reject Tras Cardrian’s proposal?”

The atmosphere in the reception room suddenly grew heavy.

The question was too direct.

“…Your intelligence network is impressive.”

“This may be the eastern edge of the continent, but it’s common knowledge near the Parsece family.”

“I’m a bit disappointed that you investigated me.”

“Haha, didn’t you also investigate me and decide to marry me knowing I’m a good-for-nothing?”

“T-that’s…”

“Since I’m a good-for-nothing with no marriage prospects, and this place is quite remote with information traveling slowly, I’ve found that you’re more cunning than you appear.”

Elina opened and closed her mouth like a mute who’d swallowed honey.

I must have hit the mark.

She probably thought a good-for-nothing would be captivated by her face, but she’d been secretly investigating me, so she couldn’t help but be flustered.

“Tras is no better than a demon. He treats innocent citizens’ lives like toys.”

“Is that why you rejected him?”

“Yes, I couldn’t entrust my life to someone like that.”

“From my perspective, I don’t see much difference between Tras and you.”

At my question, Rigard Pierston, the Parsece family butler who had been silently observing behind Elina, interjected with a reddened face.

“How dare you compare our lady to a good-for-nothing like Tras!?”

“Didn’t Elina just say that Tras treats innocent citizens’ lives like toys?”

“Yes, she did.”

“Do you know what would happen if I had readily agreed to marry Elina based on her appearance?”

I slammed my palm on the table forcefully and continued speaking to Rigard, who, like Elina, was keeping his mouth shut.

“There could be a war with the Cardrian family, and our innocent knights would die on the battlefield because of Elina’s misguided choice. Do you still claim she’s different from Tras?”

Strictly speaking, it’s not their fault.

If you lack power, you get taken from, and to prevent that, you must do whatever it takes.

Even if it means war.

Elina was born and raised in a place where such principles were natural.

“I apologize.”

Tears welled up in Elina’s eyes, and before she could wipe them away, she ran out of the reception room.

The butler Rigard also bowed respectfully to me and followed after her.

“Sigh…”

I don’t particularly feel guilty.

Elina tried to use me.

No matter how much danger her family was in, the fact remains that she tried to drag in someone completely unrelated.

Padericks, who had been outside the reception room door, seemed to sense the atmosphere from the expressions of Elina and Rigard as they left, and slowly approached me.

“Young master.”

“What is it?”

“Luna has awakened. Should I call her here?”

“No, I’ll go myself.”

It seemed like the end was in sight.

I hadn’t wanted Luna to wake up, but what could I do now that it had happened?

I’ll use the information from Riden to hand over villains to satisfy her murderous urges until I can pass her to the protagonist Serion.

Knock knock-!

Creeeeak-! Clunk-!

When I opened the door, there was a small room with just a single bed.

Luna, who had been lying down, hurriedly sat up when she saw me.

“Young master…”

Her breathing was so heavy it echoed through the room, perhaps because her body was still unstable.

Traces of blood that hadn’t been wiped away were visible here and there on her pale face.

“You can lie down.”

“N-no, it’s fine.”

“Do you remember everything that happened before you collapsed?”

Luna flinched and tightly gripped the bedcover with her fingers.

I signaled to Padericks to leave.

Once we were alone in the room, she sobbed with a dark expression.

“I remember a little… but that wasn’t me.”

“Only a little?”

“Yes, really. I only remember certain scenes.”

What’s this?

I felt a strange sense of dissonance.

Looking back at the original story, Luna became a murderous lunatic after awakening due to her “Murder Ghost” ability.

The urge to kill someone every day.

But it wasn’t like having a split personality.

Even normally, she was so difficult that no one could approach her, and she had many violent tendencies.

I showed a confused expression at Luna’s behavior, which differed from my expectations.

“Don’t you feel like killing someone right now?”

“…Why would I? I’m really not that kind of person.”

“No, that’s not what I meant. You’ve just awakened.”

“I’m not sure about that. But my heart is pounding, and I feel a bit dizzy.”

“You’re saying you really don’t feel like destroying something?”

“Y-young master, why are you saying these things…”

The status window system is my unique advantage that even the protagonist Serion Lycus doesn’t have, so she has no way to confirm whether she’s awakened or not.

She can only realize her individual abilities through the overflowing power and training.

However, Luna has definitely awakened.

How else could she have brutally slaughtered the assassins?

‘Could this be another butterfly effect?’

It was entirely possible.

Originally, Luna would have awakened from the shock of witnessing her parents’ suicide.

But this time, she awakened after being kidnapped by assassins, so something had twisted.

‘I hope it’s for the better.’

Suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind.

On the day Luna awakened, I also gained mana from killing assassins, which gave me the “Insight” skill that allows me to peek at others’ awakened abilities.

I stared intently at Luna, who was terrified.

‘Insight!’

Ding! ♪

Name: Luna Brillhart [Lust Ghost]

Passive: Affection Deficiency

┗When lacking, Blood Massacre activates.

Current Status: Confused, Excited

Not Murder Ghost, but Lust Ghost…?

Shit, what the hell is this now!?