Chapter 77

Rea​d on KatReadin​gCafe

The men gagged Sophie to prevent her from screaming and began dragging her back to where they had come from.

Sophie struggled with all her might, but she couldn’t break free from the men.

Just then, Sophie’s eyes met someone’s gaze.

A young woman who had been watching the sky from afar.

And next to her, a girl with white hair.

‘Help me!’

Sophie looked at them with desperate eyes.

Whether they noticed Sophie’s pleading gaze or not, the young woman immediately started running toward her.

“Damn it, let’s hurry.”

The men noticed the woman chasing them and quickly dragged Sophie back to their hideout.

After descending the stairs into the underground, one of the men spoke.

“That woman from earlier seems to be following us. We should deal with her.”

“Right.”

The men roughly set Sophie down on the floor and prepared their clubs and swords.

Soon, the sound of footsteps descending the stairs echoed, and the iron door opened.

Instantly, the area was flooded with light.

A glowing orb floated in the air, illuminating the space.

At that moment,

Thud!

The woman was struck by a club swung by one of the men and collapsed.

The men looked at the fallen woman and sneered.

“Heh heh, what’s this? A girl?”

“She’s using holy magic, so she must be a priestess.”

“Perfect. A priestess will fetch a high price.”

The men approached the fallen woman.

They began lifting her skirt.

“Hmm, I heard priestesses value their purity. Let’s check, shall we?”

The woman’s eyes widened.

“Hng, hng…”

“Oh, already? I haven’t even started yet.”

The woman’s skirt was completely lifted.

Tears streamed down her face as she pleaded.

“P-please… please…”

“Alright, alright. Don’t rush me.”

“Heh heh. Hurry up. I want a turn too.”

“Looking forward to it.”

Sophie bit her lip.

She wanted to help the woman, but there was nothing she could do.

In the end, she decided to escape, holding back her tears.

‘I-I’m sorry…’

Apologizing silently to the woman, Sophie crept toward the wall.

There was a small hole in the wall, just big enough for Sophie to fit through.

She squeezed herself into the space.

The space extended further inside, but it was blocked at the end.

Sophie pushed herself as far in as she could and stayed still.

Hiding here was better than trying to run away.

The men would think she had escaped and search elsewhere, giving her a chance to flee later.

Noisy sounds came from outside the hole.

Sophie didn’t want to know what was happening.

She just closed her eyes and waited.

◈

“…”

How much time had passed?

Sophie felt something entering the hole.

Tap. Tap.

The sound of small footsteps.

The inside of the hole brightened, and warmth spread through the space.

“…?”

Sophie looked up and saw what had entered.

It was a lizard.

A fist-sized lizard made of crimson flames.

Strangely, it had no tail.

“What is this…?”

The lizard made a “kiiii” sound.

It didn’t seem threatening.

It gestured as if telling her to come out.

Sophie slowly began crawling out of the hole, following the lizard.

When she finally emerged,

“Ah, here you are!”

A bright voice called out.

It was the woman.

The woman who had come to save Sophie.

“Are you okay?”

The woman asked gently, checking on Sophie.

Sophie looked at her with tear-filled eyes.

If anything, Sophie wanted to ask if the woman was okay.

After all, the woman had been struck on the head and collapsed earlier.

But somehow, the woman looked perfectly fine.

“You seem really shaken. Let’s get out of here first.”

Just then, Sophie felt a hand tugging at her ear.

Startled, she turned around.

“Ah.”

It was the white-haired girl.

The girl looked embarrassed and apologized.

“Sorry. Your ears are just so fascinating.”

“I-it’s okay.”

Sophie quietly lowered her head.

For some reason, she didn’t mind if this girl touched her.

The girl muttered in an awed voice,

“You… you even have a tail…!”

The rescued women were handed over to the guards.

Most of them were from rural villages, ranging from young girls to married women.

“This is quite the problem. Slave hunters are so organized and secretive that it’s hard to catch them. But it’s a relief. We’ve saved so many women and taken down those scoundrels…”

The guard captain spoke, and Anna smiled faintly.

“The gods must have helped.”

As soon as she said it, a pang of guilt struck her.

The gods’ help?

No.

It was the help of a demon.

“Anyway, you’ve done really well. I’ll make sure these women are safely returned to their homes.”

“Thank you.”

Anna bowed her head and left the guard headquarters.

Outside, Marco was waiting.

“Did everything go well?”

Anna nodded.

“It’s all settled. The women will return safely to their homes. The guard captain said he’d take responsibility, so we can rest easy.”

“That’s a relief. You did great, Anna. I was really impressed by how you rushed in without hesitation to save the beastkin girl.”

“You followed me right away too, Marco. Though you got distracted by my underwear and ended up getting hit.”

Marco’s face turned red.

“That was a mistake. I never thought I’d see a priestess’s underwear in my life. It was… a strange feeling, but anyway, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. Everything worked out in the end, didn’t it? It’s all thanks to Lucy.”

“Yeah, thanks to Lucy. I guess not all witches are bad.”

“Exactly. I’ve really learned something this time. That there are good witches in the world…”

If she said something like this in the cathedral, she’d probably get in big trouble.

Just defending a witch could get her labeled as a heretic.

And if it came out that she had received help from a demon, Anna might even have to give up her priestess robes.

According to the rules, she should immediately report the appearance of a witch to the cathedral…

‘But I can’t do that.’

Thanks to Lucy, many lives were saved.

The people who went on the monster subjugation request.

The women kidnapped by the slave hunters—all of them were safe because of Lucy.

Capturing Lucy after all that would be unjust.

‘Besides, we probably couldn’t capture her even if we tried.’

Anna smiled bitterly.

Lucy’s power was far greater than she had imagined.

To capture Lucy, they’d need someone like Sir Arthur, known as the Inquisitor and Witch Slayer.

Or perhaps the Crusader Knights, the elite knights of the papal court.

Even then, it wouldn’t be easy.

“By the way, Lucy said she’d take care of the rabbit girl.”

At Marco’s words, Anna nodded.

“Right. It turns out Lucy’s destination is where that beastkin girl lives.”

“That’s strange. What a coincidence.”

“It’s a good thing. Lucy will make sure the beastkin girl gets home safely. She’s much more reliable than the guards.”

“True.”

Marco grinned.

“Anyway, shall we go? After all this, I’m starving. Let’s go get something to eat.”

“Want to eat together? My treat.”

“Really?”

“You came after me to save me, didn’t you? Even if you got distracted by my underwear and ended up getting hit.”

“Can we stop bringing that up…?”

“I’ll keep bringing it up.”

Anna smiled brightly.

Marco burst out laughing.

“I’m going to order something expensive.”

“Go ahead.”

The two walked side by side.

The sun was rising in the sky, driving away the darkness.

The night had passed, and a new day was dawning.

After returning to the inn, Lucy took a bath with Sophie.

She had originally planned to bathe alone, but Sophie had followed her in.

Now, Sophie was too embarrassed to even look at Lucy, her gaze fixed on the ground.

Lucy sat in the tub filled with warm water and, like last time, made a whirlpool with her hand.

It seemed like her skill had improved a bit since last time.

Swish— swish—

“Hey…”

Sophie spoke up.

“You said your mother is in Harmonia… no, the Black Forest, right?”

“Yeah.”

“But your mother isn’t human, is she?”

“Probably not.”

“That’s strange.”

Sophie tilted her head.

“There are no humans in Harmonia… only beastkin. Humans can’t even enter that place because of the black mist and the undead.”

Lucy shrugged.

She’d figure it out when she got there.

“Besides…”

Sophie continued with a worried expression.

“The beastkin in Harmonia really hate humans. They all went there to hide from humans.”

“…”

Lucy made a thoughtful face.

She wasn’t sure if her mother was really there.

But she still planned to go.

After all, her mother had told her to meet her there.

But what about Brian and Thomas?

Would it be okay to bring them?

According to Sophie, the beastkin lived in hiding there and were extremely hostile to humans.

If Brian and Thomas came along, there would definitely be trouble.

Lucy wasn’t interested in causing unnecessary problems.

“…”

Lucy quietly hugged her knees.

It seemed like it would be better to part ways with Brian and Thomas here.

Author Note

A/N (Author’s note):
Thank you for reading.

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
Now that I think about it, what about the father?