Ch.63XX Tina (8)

XX Tina (8)

Lug heartlessly pushed away Tina’s embrace and ran toward Millia.

Already, he seemed to be entranced by those large breasts.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

However, Tina, who was spiraling out of control in many ways, wouldn’t let that happen.

Right now, she couldn’t make rational judgments. She was moving solely with the mindset of taking what she wanted.

Therefore, she had no intention of letting anyone interfere, whether it was a friend or Lug himself whom she wanted to possess.

Tina immediately swung the rope wrapped around her waist, ensnaring Lug’s neck and pulling him back.

Normally she would have shown some consideration, but there was no mercy for someone who had so readily betrayed her for mere breasts.

In truth, it could be argued that trying to approach Tina in her abnormal state was the real betrayal, but the current Tina couldn’t recognize that. Her perspective had become extremely self-centered, prioritizing her own greed.

“You should have listened when I asked nicely.”

“Gack! Gack!”

To the current Tina, Lug was nothing more than an object.

A value system detached from humanity.

An explorer of the past stained with greed.

“Should I start by cutting off those useless limbs that keep struggling? Your value isn’t limited to just that anyway, right?”

Crack! Crackle!

Scales sprouted over Tina’s hands as her nails transformed into sharp claws.

Their form resembled dragon hands. Yes, she was gradually moving away from humanity.

Just as Tina grabbed Lug’s shoulder roughly with her dragon-transformed hand,

Millia, who had been trying to seduce Lug earlier, stepped forward.

“You’re wrong, Tina. Lug’s value lies in his entire body. If his limbs are cut off, his value will be damaged.”

Of course, she too was treating Lug as something other than a person.

Watching the two people treating Lug as property and claiming ownership, Eirene Saintess spoke up.

“I’m fine with taking his blood, but could we leave the rest alone? Lady Tina.”

Perhaps she didn’t need the filthy demon blood? Eirene was subtly revealing that her ultimate goal was to completely remove the filthy demon blood from Lug’s body.

The three people each wanted different things. Since many of the parts they wanted overlapped, compromise was impossible.

Lug had to hang there like livestock displayed at a slaughterhouse, waiting for their negotiation to end.

Faced with this horrific scene, Esmeralda questioned whether this was truly a hero’s party while attempting to mediate the chaotic situation.

“Tina, you’re not yourself right now. Let’s put the hostage down and try to resolve this through conversation? We’ll try to solve whatever problem you’re facing.”

She looked like a solid imperial guard trying to persuade a criminal.

“Don’t lie, Esmeralda. You’re after Lug too, right? I’ll never give him up!”

“…I don’t know about the others, but I’m not interested?!”

She had absolutely no intention of participating in this deranged race.

However, the gazes of the three were subtly directed at Esmeralda.

“W-what? Why are you all looking at me like that? I’m really not interested?!”

Esmeralda felt bewildered by the stares directed at her.

While she didn’t understand why they were being wary of her, there were valid reasons from others’ perspectives.

First, Esmeralda protects Lug.

Whether he becomes a demon, a monster, or even remains human.

This was because she had chosen Lug as a tool to coordinate the party, but how would that appear to others?

It could look like she was desperate to impress Lug.

Moreover, her subtle balancing act between Eirene and Millia, preventing either from gaining the upper hand, could be seen as her own form of interference.

Esmeralda had revealed her intentions to Eirene and Millia, but unlike her, the two without the Emerald Tablet couldn’t help but doubt her motives.

“Wait a minute. The atmosphere is getting strange, but we need to stop Tina, right?”

Esmeralda sighed as she realized that she was included in Eirene and Millia’s suspicious gazes.

Aside from Eirene, even Millia was treating everyone here as an enemy. Is this really a friendly hero party? The party was about to disintegrate over a man issue.

And not just any adventurer party, but the hero party.

“Let’s try to resolve this through conversation. If we talk, we might find areas where we can compromise.”

“Conversation? What conversation? I need to have Lug. As long as you don’t touch my Lug, that’s fine with me. I’ll stay in the hero party and gladly help defeat the Demon King.”

“I need Lug. Lug is going to live with me in the Divine Church for the rest of his life.”

“Lug will become my familiar.”

“Shouldn’t my opinion matter more? I may be the party’s burden, but I’m not an object.”

All over the place.

Esmeralda clicked her tongue at the three people who showed no sign of compromise.

Of course, she naturally ignored Lug’s voice, so there was no problem.

“Conversation…”

Esmeralda wanted to resolve this through dialogue. What was all this suddenly?

Just a moment ago, the atmosphere had been warm, but then Tina started acting erratically, and now everyone was revealing their own desires.

‘Can this really be resolved through conversation?’

Although Esmeralda had advocated for dialogue, she knew.

Tina wasn’t in her right mind, so no matter how much they talked, she wouldn’t compromise.

And the other two didn’t care whether Tina was sane or not.

“…”

Esmeralda found herself looking down at the holy sword in her hand.

“Dialogue.”

She had an excellent means of dialogue.

Though she had claimed to be civilized, now she had to admit it.

The most civilized form of dialogue in the world is violence.

And if you add just a little special sauce to it…

“I’m planning to knock Tina out first, and whoever helps me will get the first opportunity to bid on Lug after our journey ends.”

The negotiation becomes perfect.

***

The hero party, which seemed to have had a crack in their friendship, amicably beat up Tina.

Even if she had suddenly awakened dragon blood, this group was filled with people who boasted the greatest talents from their respective organizations.

Tina’s sudden overall estimated strength was not to be underestimated, but Esmeralda hadn’t just been playing around all this time.

If they combined everyone’s strength, it wouldn’t take even three minutes to flatten Tina.

And so, Tina was flattened.

“Ugh… How could you all hit me like that? I thought you were my friends!”

After being beaten up, Tina’s sanity had somewhat returned.

“Haha, Tina. You say that, but you’re still not letting go of Lug? Let go. I don’t want to cut off your wrist.”

“Sob sob!”

The outcome for Tina, who had been consumed by her greed and turned into a monster, was pathetically miserable.

It was good that she had become stronger and gone berserk, but her opponents were too formidable.

Esmeralda was already a hero of reversal who had encountered and survived commanders twice before meeting Tina.

She couldn’t help but feel the difference in power.

“Good. Now things are settled.”

Esmeralda sighed, saying she had just wasted energy unnecessarily.

She deliberately ignored the subtle glances from Eirene and Millia as she examined Tina’s condition.

Tina was thoroughly scorched by Millia’s magic and bound from head to toe by Eirene’s divine magic.

“Hmm, hmm.”

First, she touched the horns that had sprouted.

They were hard and seemed to emit heat slightly higher than body temperature.

“If I break this…”

“Aaaagh!”

Snap!

Esmeralda used a crude method to try to return Tina to her original form.

If horns, wings, tail, and scales had suddenly sprouted, wouldn’t removing them all bring her back?

Tina teared up at this earth-shattering approach. Yet, the fact that she still wouldn’t let go of Lug showed that she was still being swayed by her greed.

“The tail… seems a bit too thick to pull out, so with this…”

“Esmeralda…? E-Esmeralda! Let’s talk! Let’s talk!”

“That’s right. I’ll use this.”

“Can’t you at least start with the wings so I can mentally prepare?!”

Esmeralda liked the holy sword style of conversation. Until now, people who wouldn’t listen to any words would suddenly become reasonable when faced with a holy sword.

Indeed, the holy sword. A symbol of peace.

“Hero. Shouldn’t we first identify the cause?”

Just as Esmeralda was feeling a strange thrill from the overwhelming peace power of the holy sword, Eirene, who couldn’t stand watching anymore, stopped her.

She too was a specialist in torture, but there’s a process to everything.

Brandishing a sword right away like Esmeralda was an amateur’s approach.

Shouldn’t persuasion come first?

“Lady Tina. If you’re aware that your current state is abnormal, please twirl your tail.”

Twirl.

Tina’s tail twirled. Her obedient appearance was quite cute, making Eirene smile.

“It seems you know but can’t control or resist it. At least you know there’s something wrong with you, which is troubling.”

Eirene sighed.

If it was a mental issue, one could simply control the mind itself.

She was capable of such things.

But if it wasn’t a mental but a physical problem, it was unfortunate.

Physical methods would have to be employed, like what Esmeralda did.

As a pacifist, it wasn’t a choice she wanted to make.

“How did this happen?”

In the end, Eirene had to return to the fundamental question.

Why had Tina become like this?

“Actually, the dean did feed me something strange…”

“Isn’t it too convenient for that to take effect now? Even if it was an external influence, the people chasing us earlier didn’t seem to have heard anything specific from this dean person.”

“I haven’t even finished explaining… Why are you being so harsh?”

Their opinions were generally divided, and they had resorted to violent suppression based on majority rule.

In other words, there was no clear command structure for the current situation.

This meant that what was happening to Tina was either coincidental or due to some other issue.

“Do you have any guesses?”

“…When I came into contact with Lug, I suddenly felt the urge to possess him.”

Tina answered with a docile attitude. After all, her tail was in imminent danger of being dismembered by Esmeralda for steak. She had no choice but to be compliant.

“Hmm, I see. Hmm, hmm.”

Eirene circled around Tina before reaching a conclusion.

“I’ve seen something similar before.”

Eirene’s gaze turned to Lug, who had been charred like coal in the process of subduing Tina, as she spoke.

Fortunately, since Lug didn’t seem to understand what Eirene was saying, she could speak without reservation.

“The changes that happened to Lug.”

Esmeralda, who understood Eirene’s words the quickest, asked in shock.

“So Tina has become a garbage pervert like Lug?”

“Me?!”

“Something like that.”

“Really?!”

Shock!

Tina showed the most intense reaction of all the events so far.