Chapter 50: Is it because he is a male?

[Lunari Evergrace’s Malice Gauge has reached 0%!]
[Lunari Evergrace’s Redemption Part has been unlocked!]

A strong female.

It’s a vague definition.

Lunari said she would become a strong female…

But there was no specific meaning to it.

Only she knows.

Since she’s convinced herself that she needs to become a strong female…

She’s been making an effort.

I never said she needed to be physically strong…

Nor intellectually strong…

Nor morally strong…

But…

Lunari is striving to be strong in every aspect.

Truly misunderstanding…

She’s making an effort to be the best in everything.

Even without my intervention, her Malice Gauge has already reached 0% through her own will.

She no longer commits evil acts.

She no longer talks about devouring anyone.

She only seeks good.

Seeing her like this…

It’s like…

She’s almost reached the level of a saint…?

Controlling herself…

Stopping her atrocities…

She has reached the point where Lunari Evergrace can be redeemed.

Then…

I have to show her what true strength is.

In other words, it’s time for the redemption ending.

And to do that…

We need to come here.

“Heh, where are we, Isabel?”

“…Hmm, this mountain is called Spiral Mountain.”

“Spiral…?”

Yes, Spiral Mountain.

I made sure the Mysticgrove patrolmen were sent here.

The reason I sent them here is simple.

To fulfill the conditions for Lunari’s redemption.

Here, Lunari Evergrace will truly become a “divine being,” a saint.

However, there’s one more condition to fulfill this event.

Whether she accepts it or not is up to Lunari.

“Sniff…I smell something nice. And some…foul odors mixed in.”

“Is that so? Something you’ll have to make a choice about will happen soon.”

“Hmm? A choice…?”

Lunari tilted her head and looked at me.

Then she suddenly smiled bashfully.

“Hmm…I see.”

“Oh, you figured it out?”
“…To think she’d figure it out already.”

As expected of a beastkin…?

I quietly stared at Lunari, waiting for her to speak.

“…Just say it already. You want to mate here?”

“Yes?”

W-What is she talking about?

M-Mate…?

I shook my head and gave an awkward smile.

“L-Lunari? That’s not…”

“Hmm…Isabel…you’re quite the pervert. Is it because you’re a male…?”

Lunari crossed her arms and looked at me slyly.

“Haha, Lunari? It’s a misunderstanding. It’s not like that…”

“What’s the misunderstanding…? You see me as a strong female now, right?”

No, absolutely not.

That’s not why I brought you here.

“Haha, Lunari…you’re wrong.”

“Eh…then what?”

I wondered how to answer this question.

Just then…

I started to smell something burning.

“Lunari…? Don’t you smell something burning?”

“Heh? Are you changing the subject?”

Lunari approached me playfully.

I looked around seriously and said,

“N-No, really…!”

“What smell…? Sniff…Huh…?”

Lunari seemed to be thinking.

After a brief silence, the chirping of birds filled the forest…

Then a scream echoed from somewhere.

“Kyaaaaa!”

“…What’s that sound?”

Lunari looked at me, twitching her ears, and scanned the surroundings.

“It sounds like a scream.”
“Isabel, it seems to be coming from this way…?”

Lunari quietly walked towards the source of the scream.

As we approached…

We saw several people tied up with ropes outside the bushes.

They all had animal ears, like headbands…

I instinctively knew they were beastkin.

The beastkin hiding in Spiral Mountain.

These beastkin were all hiding deep in the forest.

“You bastards! Stay still if you don’t want to die!”

The Mysticgrove patrolmen were threatening them.

I saw the patrol captain, the gorilla who attacked me before.

Sishilia, was it?

He was tormenting them with a cruel smile.

“You guys are worthless trash! How dare you beastkin crawl into our human village!?”

“Ugh…”

How did they catch them?

I did send them here on purpose…

But strangely, they’ve captured all the beastkin living here.

Raccoons, the bears who hunted Lunari…

Even dogs and cats.

They captured them all.

“L-Let us go! We didn’t do anything wrong!”

“T-That’s right! We didn’t invade the human village…!”

Just as an elderly beastkin was about to agree…

Sishilia hit him on the head.

“Cough!”

“Sir, what should we do?”

Sishilia grinned at the patrolmen’s question.

“Of course, we have to hunt down all these worthless beastkin. And…”

Sishilia suddenly sniffed the air and smiled slyly at the patrolmen.

“You know what to do with the female beastkin, right?”

“Kihihi! We’ll take good care of them, Captain.”

A truly vulgar situation.

Most of the male patrolmen drew their swords.

And some of them started to remove their lower armor.

“Heheh, me first, right? You know?”

“Yeah, yeah. …Since I won the card game by luck, you guys get to enjoy yourselves first. I’ll give you special permission as your generous captain!”

The patrolmen laughed heartily at the gorilla’s words.

“Haha! As expected of the Captain!”
“Thank you!”

“But be careful. They’re beastkin.”

The patrolmen nodded at Sishilia’s serious words.

“Yes, sir!”

“Of course! Their teeth are sharp. Though I doubt their…lower parts are. Kikikiki.”

“Hey, hey, be gentle. They’re females, you know?”

The soldiers leered at the female beastkin.

“Who should we start with?”

“Hmm, she looks good.”

“I like the raccoon ears.”

They seem to have specific preferences.

The soldiers were staring at a young raccoon beastkin and a sexy-looking bear beastkin.

Even though I’m just watching…

It’s disgusting.

“Eek!”

“Don’t be scared. Your human masters will take good care of you. Kikiki.”

A patrolman caressed the cheek of the young raccoon beastkin.

The other female beastkin were terrified, tears streaming down their faces.

“S-Save me! Sob…sob…”

“P-Please…spare my life…”

Meanwhile, the male beastkin struggled and thrashed.

“Everyone, run!!”

“Where do you think you’re going, you bastard!”

Sishilia punched the large bear beastkin in the face.

A dull thud echoed, like meat being pounded…

The beastkin’s face was instantly mangled.

“Cough…cough…You’ll be punished…”

“Kikiki! That’s right! This is your punishment for invading our human world!”

…It seems they’re about to start…

Lunari remained expressionless as she watched.

Silently observing.

But I knew what she was thinking.

Should she help them, or not…?

Even if she doesn’t remember her childhood…these are the beastkin who tried to hunt her down.

Should she save them? She must be thinking about it.

“Isabel…”

—Kyaaaaa!

“Yes?”

—Kyahahaha!

“…What’s happening? Those humans…why are they…doing that to the beastkin…?”

—S-Stop!

Lunari looked up at me with a serious expression.

I smiled faintly at her.

“Well…

…Don’t you think they enjoy doing that?”

“Why…?”

“…I don’t know. But I’m sure it’s the same feeling Lunari had when she wanted to devour humans.”

“The same feeling…? That…?”

Lunari looked at the abused beastkin with a complicated expression.

I looked in the same direction and said to Lunari,

“You said you wanted to become strong, right, Lunari?”

“…?”

“Do you want to become like that when you become strong?”

She seemed to struggle to answer.

Whether human or beastkin, the situation is terrible for the weaker party.

“The strong trampling on the weak is the same in both the human and beastkin worlds…But it’s different if Lunari becomes strong.”

“Different…?”

“You said it yourself. That you’re the beastkin of misfortune.”

I gently caressed the mask Lunari was wearing.

“But you’re not unfortunate anymore. You wanted to become a calamity by devouring humans. But now, you understand the value of human life…Do you know what this means?”

I continued with a gentle smile,

“You’re not misfortune. You’re the Yoho of good fortune. And you’ve become a strong Yoho. Show that to the other beastkin. Show them that you’re a wonderful and strong Yoho…”

“Yoho…?”

“Lunari, you said you wanted to become strong, right? I was happy when you said that.”

I continued, gesturing dramatically,

“Evergrace. The name I gave you…

…It means ‘divine being.’ You’re the one who brings warmth and good fortune to the world.”

To be precise, it doesn’t mean anything.

…It’s just persuasive rhetoric.

I prayed that Lunari would be convinced by my words.

“…Me?”

“Yes. It’s your choice now, but…”

I concluded and gently placed my hands on her shoulders.

“Now, it’s your decision, Lunari. You wanted to become a strong female…Isn’t that someone who can protect others?”

Lunari chuckled at my words.

“…So, if I become strong, Isabel will be mine?”

That again?

I chuckled and said vaguely,

“I’ll tell you again. You’ll find out then.”

Lunari smiled brightly, as usual.

“Heh…So that’s what it means. Good. I don’t like saving those guys, but…I’ll show you, Isabel, how strong I’ve become.”

Lunari smiled confidently, seemingly regaining her composure.

It seems my persuasion worked.

“…Then, I’ll show you my power.”

“Lunari?”

A bright light enveloped her as she transformed…

Her appearance was different from what I had seen before.

…A perfect divine being?

“Yoho Lunari Evergrace with the Orb” Ver.

She transformed into a form only seen in the ending.

Kouhei, her staff, is Lunari’s symbol, but…

It’s said to transform into an orb upon awakening…

And it had indeed transformed into a small orb.

Dressed in a white dress, she looked like a celestial maiden.

“I’ll be back. Heheh.”

As her laughter echoed through the forest, a beautiful melody filled the air.

And with every note…

I felt a sense of warmth.

“This is Lunari’s true form…”

To see what I’ve only seen in “Lilith Tycoon” in reality…

It’s truly magnificent.

“I’ll be back, Isabel.”

With a flash of white light, she vanished, leaving an afterimage.

She reappeared near Sishilia and his men.

They all looked startled.

“W-What…?”

“Is…is there another beastkin?”

As the patrolmen panicked…

Sishilia nonchalantly smacked his fist into his palm and said,

“One or two, it doesn’t matter…I’ll take that one as my personal stress reliever. Capture her!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Heheh, do you think it’ll be that easy?”

Lunari leaped into the air and created multiple clones.

The afterimages of Lunari clashed with the patrolmen.

With a single punch, she dented their armor…

Snapped their weapons with her claws…

And even knocked out a patrolman with a single blow to the face.

She displayed an unbelievable level of combat power.

The patrolmen were quickly subdued…

And only Sishilia remained.

“W-What is this…? Who…who are you!?”

“The Yoho of Good Fortune.”

“Y-Yoho of Good Fortune…?”

“Heheh. Lunari Evergrace.”

Sishilia looked around incredulously.

Then his eyes met mine.

“You…you…!”

“…”

I smiled with my eyes and tipped my hat.

A greeting?

No…a farewell.

As if to mark the finale, Lunari continued after my action.

“Just sleep for a bit. You won’t remember anything when you wake up. Okay?”

“W-Wait, you…!”

Lunari gave a seductive look and struck Sishilia with her tail.

“Cough!”

With a loud crash, Sishilia collapsed, unconscious.

“Oh, oh…!? W-What…how did you!? A-Are you a beastkin!?”

“Sigh…I didn’t want to do this…but…”

Lunari smiled leisurely.

“But you owe me. Remember that.”

Despite her grumbling, her actions were different.

She used her afterimages to untie the beastkin.

“Th-Thank you!”

“Th-Thank you so much!”
“Thank you…miss.”

Everyone bowed their heads and thanked her.

But Lunari simply waved her hand dismissively.

“You’re welcome.”

Lunari then wagged her tail and looked at me.

Staring confidently as if asking, “Did I do well?”

I smiled and nodded slightly.

Whew…

Now, all that’s left…is Lunari’s hidden ending?