Ch.109Deviation (4)

Even though I’m a tough guy who fights, I’m not a madman who throws himself into battles with no chance of winning.

There’s a difference between never giving up and doing something futile.

I swung my fist.

“Oh my.”

“Come here, you bitch!”

“How crude.”

The mental image projection was lifted. My strength returned, and my monstrous body performed at its full capacity.

So I thought I could win. With my strength, I could even match giants in a contest of power.

My agility surpasses any elf, and my vitality is beyond even a dragon’s reach.

I believed my strength would be enough. I believed I could twist and tear out that neck.

Yet I couldn’t reach her. Ridiculously so.

Well, Eshatherna would be moving cautiously now that the mental projection was gone.

Then I’ll be cautious too.

THWACK!

Using my lightly placed foot as a pivot, I twisted my waist and thrust my leg forward with hip power.

A clean roundhouse kick. Originally, it would be a heavy kick that requires the tail as an axis and both legs to execute properly, but since my physical abilities surpassed the Dragon King’s, I didn’t need to go that far.

So one leg was enough. The problem was that it didn’t connect.

CRACK!

My swinging leg broke through a heavy stone wall, and Eshatherna landed a short distance away, crossing her arms to deflect the blow from my arm.

“Die!”

Without hesitation, I rushed at her, swinging my arms and legs in succession.

The dragon’s claw, slashing upward from below. With a light twist of her body, she deflected my palm strike, changing its direction, and in that gap, she slipped away.

She dodged my extended front kick by jumping up the moment I rolled across the floor.

[Explosive Leap]

I closed the distance at the moment of her landing and thrust my elbow, which she caught with a dagger, then spun to neutralize its power.

“That hurts. You seem stronger than my lord in terms of raw power. So…”

She blocks my attacks with minimal effort and means. If we fought properly, it might be different, but for now, that’s how it is.

As my face contorted with impatience and irritation…

Eshatherna’s seductive face suddenly appeared right in front of me.

There was a dagger at my throat.

I grabbed it with my hand just in time, but…

“Same eyes as my lord, same hair, same features…”

My other hand couldn’t block the remaining dagger. It was aimed at my eye.

The dagger pointed at my eyes, then moved to my hair and facial features in sequence. Eshatherna laughed softly, then suddenly turned serious.

“What kind of relationship do you have?”

I sensed something chilling. Something close to obsession. I belatedly recalled something about Eshatherna.

A character who can only engage in homosexual relationships.

And my sister is the same gender as Eshatherna.

Which means…

“…You like my sister, don’t you?”

As my lips twisted, Eshatherna’s crimson eyes calmly reflected me.

In those eyes, I was wearing a fierce smile. So this face can make such an expression.

Without mirrors around, how would I know? As I pondered this, the two daggers clattered to the floor.

“Mmph.”

“…That’s right. You’re pretty like my lord.”

Eshatherna’s hand grabbed my face.

Like a stray dog wagging its tail for affection from a human.

No, fuck that. Even if I was formerly livestock…

This is a bit much?

But I couldn’t protest, because from the moment the dagger was at my throat, defeat was all but certain.

Although I’m known to hate accepting defeat and often drag games out to 50 minutes…

With such a clear defeat, there was no need for further words.

Above all, Eshatherna’s killing intent had suddenly vanished, and since she was once a companion in the game, I felt somewhat… well, not exactly soft-hearted.

Still, there was something uncomfortable about it. I slightly furrowed my brow while my face was held.

“Little lord.”

“…Little lord?”

“Since you’re my lord’s sibling. Little lord. Don’t you like it?”

Her grinning face was eerie. She was clearly insane. Though people who call themselves crazy are rarely actually crazy…

She could be because she was a coldly insane person. She knew she was crazy and knew how to use it—a murderer.

You know, like those characters in movies.

The ones who put silencers on shotguns and kill people by flipping coins, or drill holes in people’s heads with livestock slaughtering tools.

She was that type, so I moved my lips.

“…Honestly, I don’t mind.”

I figured I could be honest.

After all, this was my first time meeting Eshatherna, and she didn’t seem like the type to go telling my sister all about her brother.

So confessing felt somewhat liberating.

“Do we really look that alike?”

“Seeing your lips curl up, you must really care for my lord. So…”

But something suddenly occurred to me.

Isn’t she one of Mother’s minions? Eshatherna tilted her head suspiciously as our eyes met.

“What are you trying to do?”

“…Well.”

I could see various thoughts rapidly passing through Eshatherna’s hazy eyes. Her long, brilliant golden eyelashes fluttered several times along her eyelids.

“Ah, right. I was working.”

Thud! My body rolled across the floor. She suddenly let go of my face, but Eshatherna didn’t seem to care much.

“Shall we get up? Let’s walk a bit.”

With the dagger at my throat again, I got up, grinding my teeth.

*

The place I was transported to seemed to be some kind of dungeon.

I’m not sure if “layout” is the right word, but there was a familiar pattern to it.

The distinctive structure of a dungeon, you might say. Despite not being procedurally generated, dungeons mostly had certain specifications due to the developers’ obsessive madness with dungeon design.

This place was like that too. I looked around, analyzing the dungeon’s structure.

“A barracks with residential functions. A fortress perhaps?”

“I don’t know. More importantly, let’s talk about our lord.”

I didn’t sarcastically reply, ‘I’d love to with a dagger at my throat.’

After all, I enjoy talking about my sister too.

“My lord is so kind, isn’t she? Accepting trash like me, a crazy woman, as a companion, and persuading pursuers to turn back…”

“She’s not always like that. She strives for the best outcome.”

“That’s true. Just look at the destruction of the Dueling School.”

She knows about that too?

I thought she might have been imprisoned somewhere (probably by Mother’s minions) after disappearing following Grim Darker 1.

But it seems she was just keeping a low profile.

Collecting information and such.

“Isn’t that part of my lord’s charm?”

I’m not sure if it’s charm. It just seems like her personality to me.

Everyone thinks differently, after all. I followed her while analyzing the situation.

It wasn’t good, to put it mildly.

I had been transported into the heart of enemy territory, and Mother’s max-level minion was Eshatherna, the strongest assassin I knew.

She was even the reason players avoided choosing the assassin class.

The current situation could be described as the worst possible.

How could I escape…

I looked at Eshatherna while thinking.

She walked ahead with the dagger still pointed at my throat. She didn’t look back, but she was probably ready to stab my neck if I tried anything foolish.

Just from that, she seemed to know something about homunculi and me.

She also seemed to still love and care for my sister, to the point of obsession.

Which made me wonder.

Why do this?

I immediately voiced my question.

“Hey.”

“Call me Esha, little lord.”

“Why did you come to serve Mother?”

She stopped walking and slowly turned to look at me.

This dazed-looking elven assassin tilted her head at me.

“Mother, Netel, that person… whatever you call her… why did she bring you in?”

“…Ah, that.”

Her crimson eyes rolled. I recalled Selma’s actions as I watched her.

Selma seemed somewhat controlled.

Of course, I couldn’t say she had no agency, but from the moment she served Mother, she seemed to change, her free will becoming clouded.

That’s why Selma seemed to repeat such illogical actions. Though I don’t know the truth.

If so, perhaps I could persuade her to create an opening or find a way out?

I’m not particularly skilled with words, but I couldn’t do nothing. I glared at Eshatherna.

“Would my sister really want you serving such a being?”

Truthfully, I don’t know. I only know that my sister didn’t believe in religion.

And that was enough. I opened my mouth with guesses derived from experience and analysis.

I can’t say I’m good at this, but at least if I try…

“The sister I know would choose the lesser evil rather than engage in such madness. So why are you doing this?”

She wouldn’t let things reach the worst possible outcome.

As my firm resolve formed words, and Eshatherna’s crimson pupils examined me intently…

She spoke.

“I serve no one, little lord.”

“Huh?”

“She’s my client.”

Eshatherna gave a gentle smile and walked lightly.

There was no anguish or conflict in her steps.

“Client?”

“She asked me to kidnap and bring you. She said it was fine to kill you, so I accepted the job, but I never dreamed I’d meet my lord again.”

Her light steps suddenly stopped. I was late to stop and thought the dagger would dig into my neck, but Eshatherna had already withdrawn it.

“But as you said, my lord wouldn’t like this, would she? Although our last parting wasn’t a beautiful story, I want to be in her good graces.”

The dagger spun in her hand and returned to her shoulder dance. I stared blankly at her actions before coming to my senses under her intense gaze.

“Wait, now…”

“The continent’s premier assassin, prime suspect in the murders of five grand dukes, a wanted fugitive, and one faithful dagger of my lord.”

With a twirl, Eshatherna rotated in place with light, dance-like movements and looked at me.

“Right now, you can hire me cheaply. What do you think?”

This is supposed to work?

Eshatherna extended her hand at my blank expression.

What does she want?

I swallowed hard and said.

“…What do you want?”

“I want to be loved by both my lord and little lord.”

With a smile, Eshatherna added.

“In exchange, I’ll kill every client in this dungeon.”

Not something to say with such a bright expression.