Ch.77Chapter 3. Where There Is National Pride, There Is Dueoksini (4)

Beep-beep-beep—

With the sound signaling an emergency, Ymir was transported in an ambulance while receiving first aid.

Ah.

I want to see.

I want to see how the Goblin is acting right now.

And I want to know why he helped me.

That day.

The day the Goblin first discovered my identity.

The day I received his kindness.

Since then, I’ve been indebted to the Goblin, so I thought I should help him at least once.

But far from helping him, I received his help again.

He protected me from Dueoksini, and saved me from her fire abilities.

If Dueoksini had used that “ultra-high-speed movement” ability to attack me, the attack would likely have reached me.

The attack was so fast that there was no way to avoid it, and if the mana composing my clothing had broken, I would have been truly injured.

The fact that she moved at a speed difficult for me to counter meant she had at least one opportunity to successfully attack me by any means.

But Dueoksini faced the Goblin instead.

More precisely, the Goblin drew Dueoksini’s aggro, and thanks to that, I was able to protect Ermina from demonization without much trouble.

I wonder if she’ll be okay.

She’s probably still breathing, but she likely won’t be able to return to her state from before finding the treasure chest.

Moreover, Ermina attacked me, an E-rank ability user, with the intention to kill, so her social reputation will suffer considerably.

“Ughh…”

Ymir frowned and twisted her body slightly.

“Student Ymir! Are you conscious?!”

The people beside her shook Ymir to wake her, and Ymir stared blankly at the ceiling as if she had just regained consciousness.

“Where am I—eek?!”

Crash!

Ymir immediately curled up, protecting her face with both arms.

Her forearms were tightly wrapped in bandages, and the expressions of the emergency personnel visible beyond her arms instantly became serious.

“Don’t worry, Student Ymir! We’re on our way to the hospital!”

“…Huh?”

“We’ve rescued you, Student Ymir. Rest assured. No one is attacking you anymore.”

“R-really…?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

Despite the safety officer’s words, Ymir didn’t let down her guard, but inwardly she couldn’t help but smile.

These wounds.

She had created them herself.

For someone who could use her ability to make even the traces of wounds disappear as if they never existed, such injuries were truly “nothing.”

No pain, no nerve damage, just traces of blood that had flowed and congealed from cuts made by sharp magical power.

The Goblin had said:

If you pass out in the cave, I’ll take care of everything.

Understanding roughly what he meant, Ymir had injured herself to help the Goblin and to make it look like Ermina had attacked her.

The Goblin probably thought she had been knocked out after being hit in the solar plexus, but Ymir’s self-harm and acting had been more effective than expected.

“Ermina Sternfeld… how could she do such a terrible thing.”

“Student Ymir. Ermina is not here. She’s far away, and our faculty will protect you. So please trust us and answer just one question.”

The faculty members’ expressions hardened.

Ymir scanned the nursing staff and faculty sitting beside her with trembling eyes, and soon became certain.

“Why did Ermina Sternfeld attack you, Student Ymir?”

None of these people were on Ermina’s side.

“W-well.”

Ymir opened her mouth carefully with a quivering voice.

“I c-can’t say… Sternfeld, she…!”

“Don’t worry. Student Ymir, you can trust Sejong Academy and tell us exactly what you saw.”

“Everything depends on your testimony, Student Ymir. Can’t you remember anything?”

“Is it… really okay…?”

“Of course.”

Ymir inwardly smirked, but put on a face that looked frightened yet determined.

“…Ermina said she was going to the bathroom and disappeared into the cave and didn’t come out, and I felt uneasy being alone so I went into the cave to look for her and…”

“And?”

“…Ermina was putting her nose to some white powder and sniffing something.”

“White… powder!”

The staff’s expressions hardened, and Ymir inwardly rejoiced.

“What it was… I don’t know. Ermina was… ah!”

Ymir tapped her Taegeuk Watch.

Soon, mana flowed from the watch and projected an image onto the ambulance ceiling, showing Ermina just turning her head with a smirk toward some white shadow-like figure she had been burying her face toward.

[So you saw?]

And then Ymir was attacked.

The “recorded footage” on the Taegeuk Watch ended there.

“…What on earth was that, that made Ermina attack me?”

Ymir shed tears with an expression of incomprehension.

“Student Ymir. We’ll explain the details later. For now… let’s focus on treating your wounds.”

“Remember this. Sejong Academy is on your side.”

Ymir covered her face with her hands.

Now.

Ermina Sternfeld is finished.

She’s still alive, but in a state that can hardly be called living.

“…….”

Originally, it wouldn’t have been strange to kill her.

She’s the daughter of the Sternfeld family, and killing her would have been troublesome, which is why she didn’t, but if Ermina had annoyed her just a little more, she would have killed her.

But.

“…….”

She didn’t want to show him the sight of killing someone.

He seemed to want her to be a hero.

Does the Goblin want Ymir to be a hero?

If so.

For the sake of the next “appointment,” Ymir decided to wait.

To ask all the questions and doubts in her heart on that day.

Until the full moon, which wasn’t far off now.

* * *

‘It’s about time.’

By now, Ymir should have been transported to safety in the rear.

As the standoff continued with Snow White and the faculty members pointing their weapons at me, I stretched my hand to the side.

“Be careful! The Goblin is trying to do something!”

One of the faculty members—people who had rushed in to subdue the villain—gave a command.

He doesn’t look particularly strong enough to give commands, and I can’t sense any magical power from him at all, but at his direction, the ability users all aimed their powers at me, pressuring me.

“Goblin! Surrender quietly!”

[I have no reason to surrender.]

“We have Snow White on our side!”

[I know she’s here, but that has nothing to do with my surrender.]

“Snow White! Are you going to turn a blind eye to the Goblin ‘again’?!”

One faculty member crossed the line with his remark.

I was slightly offended, but how much worse must Snow White feel, having heard it directly?

[So you fail to capture me yourselves and then shift blame to Snow White? Are you deflecting your own incompetence onto others?]

“W-what did you say?!”

[What an extremely unpleasant remark.]

I raised my goblin club toward the one who had made the disgusting comment, but an ice wall immediately formed at the end of the club.

[You’re protecting someone like that?]

“Goblin. Why did you appear here?”

[I was just passing by and saw it.]

More precisely, I ended up seeing everything while following someone, but it was actually Dueoksini I saw while passing by. I decided to mix up the situation appropriately.

[Indeed, a true strong person should know how to protect the weak. If someone uses their strength to take drugs, and then tries to kill the weak when caught, that’s not a hero. That’s just social trash trying to use their abilities for personal gain.]

“Y-you! Are you talking about Student Ermina?!”

[Not just Ermina.]

I aimed my club again at the faculty member beyond the ice wall.

[Ability, force, wealth, political power. Those who possess all of these forms of ‘power.’ I don’t expect them to sacrifice themselves for social justice, and I can tolerate them using their power for personal gain, but I won’t forgive those who use that power to harm or kill others. That’s my ‘rule’ as the Goblin.]

“Shut up! You villain!”

[A villain, you say? Do you really have the right to say that? It’s just not exposed yet, but haven’t you also done things that would make others call you a villain?]

“I have not!!”

The truth doesn’t matter anyway.

While I’m saying this, I’ve gathered my remaining mana and calculated all positions.

[Well… it doesn’t matter either way. I’m just following my beliefs.]

“Whatever a villain like you says about beliefs…!!”

[I execute the wicked. Even if they’re known to the world as heroes.]

I pointed the end of my club at Snow White, Baek Seol-hee.

[Snow White. Listen well. Someday, if you commit evil acts, if you become a villain, I will come for you.]

“…Are you saying that to meet you, I need to commit evil acts?”

[It’s troublesome if you interpret it that way. Well, it would be interesting though.]

I swept the club over my head.

[I’ll be looking forward to it. When that day comes, I’ll stain the pure white snow crimson with this club.]

Spirit form.

Goblin’s hat.

[The execution is over.]

I left the scene, having become a spirit.