episode_0030

“Hehe… Those girls are really innocent, considering their upbringing, hehehe…”

Today, it seemed like another boring guard duty day with nothing special happening, but Guard Helton had something special happen today.

Two pretty village girls were about to enter the outpost.

He had planned to detain them and keep them in a room, but one of them didn’t have an ID, so he used that as an excuse to leave them at the checkpoint and quickly went to call the chief.

“If I hand these two over to the chief… I might get promoted faster… and if I do well, I might even get a chance to taste those two… hehehe…”

Helton imagined all sorts of happy scenarios in his head as he rushed to the chief’s office.

When he arrived at the chief’s office, he knocked on the door.

“Chief, it’s Helton. May I come in?”

“Come in.”

As soon as he got permission to enter, Helton quickly opened the door and reported his actions to the chief.

“Chief, I’ve detained two people today.”

“Hmm… What’s their status?”

“They are the highest grade I’ve seen so far.”

“…Is that so?”

Upon hearing this, the chief put his hand under the desk.

“That’s enough now.”

“Jyupaha… Yes sir…”

What crawled out from under the chief’s desk was a woman in her mid-thirties.

But Helton showed no sign of surprise.

As if everything was familiar to him.

The village woman, without even thinking of removing the scruffy hair beside her lips, fled in a panic.

After the door closed, the chief instructed Helton.

“Escort them. Take them where they are.”

“Yes.”

= = = = = =

“Hmm… Something seems off about this…”

“Yes…?”

I thought deeply, but something felt strange.

“The elderly person who passed by earlier just went in without any checks, why do we have to wait here and go through ID verification?”

“Fr…ee…pass…?”

Grace still seemed unfamiliar with human words.

Ah, maybe people in this world just don’t know.

Anyway, along with the guard who had passed by earlier, three more people seemed to be coming.

I casually whispered to Grace.

“Whatever happens, I’ll handle it, so just stay quiet.”

“What? What do you mea…”

Before Grace could finish speaking, the tent covering the entrance was lifted, revealing the stout chief and three guards.

At a glance, they looked like wicked villains.

As they entered, Grace glared sharply at them.

The chubby man in the middle was momentarily taken aback by our appearance, but soon smiled and asked us, “Young ladies, I heard you don’t have identification?”

“Oh, I have it, but my friend forgot hers and left it in the village…”

I tried to somehow escape the situation normally.

Of course, that wouldn’t work.

“Oh, don’t you know? If even one person doesn’t have ID… it’s a rule that no one can go inside.”

Blatantly lying right in front of me.

Even without checking the status window, this is obvious.

Just looking at the guards snickering afterwards gives it away.

“Ah, this is quite a predicament.”

“Oh, there is one way to get in.”

“Oh, really? What way?”

The head guard replied with a wicked smile on his face.

“Heheh… it’s to… let us taste your bodies… huh?”

“Yes.”

With those words, the guards behind immediately approached us.

Foolish kids.

To match their rhythm a bit, I deliberately acted a little.

“Wait a minute! What are you talking about? I’ve never heard such a thing…!”

“Just accept it quietly. Otherwise, we might just tear you apart!”

One of the guards who had been silently watching from behind pulled out a knife and threatened me, pointing it at my waist.

– Sreung

“So… it’s better not to act stubbornly on purpose.”

Judging by the state of the sword, it seems like it won’t even be able to touch my skin.

Even if I give myself another nerve, will it make a difference?

I glanced at Grace to see what she was thinking.

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{Current Thoughts}

Those scumbags… trying to lay a hand on mom… but I have to endure… endure, Grace…

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I was furious at the fact that the guards were trying to touch me, but I held back my anger.

If you look closely, the tightly clenched fist on my knee was trembling.

Jang Hane, our daughter. She knows how to worry her mother.

But such ruffians mean nothing to me.

I combined weakness and overwhelming force to stiffen the guards’ bodies.

The two guards suddenly weakened and froze.

“Ugh…! What’s happening!”

“Kuhuh… I can’t move my body…!”

Then I immediately cast the Gravity skill.

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{Skills Possessed}

Legendary – Gravity Lv10: The caster crushes the target with a force equal to n times the gravity within the chosen range. The range of n is proportional to the caster’s magical power and can be adjusted. (Current Range: 1~10^9)

“Hmm… How many times the gravity is needed to kneel down?”

I didn’t know, so I slowly counted from one.

Then, at the moment when it reached 2.5…

-Thud

“Ouch…! The force pressing on my body… It’s too strong!”

“I can’t get up…!”

The chief of the security guards, who had been watching everything from behind, shouted in confusion.

“Ma… Magic?! How… How do we deal with these weak-looking mages who are struggling like that against one person?! This… This is outrageous!”

He seemed to have lost his composure and took the sword from a guard standing loosely behind him, approaching me step by step.

Then he pointed the sword at my neck and started threatening me.

“Kneel… Now! Kneel!!”

Should I do it? I grabbed the tip of the sword with my hand and broke it.

Of course, there was no injury on my hand.

“What… What is this…?!”

Not only the chief but also the other security guards were surprised by the sight.

“It’s just… foolish, isn’t it? Humans.”

I crossed my legs and flicked my finger with my left hand while sitting.

-Snap

At that moment, I simultaneously performed a physical modification on my body.

Instead of transforming into Lemia for a dramatic change, I simply revealed my true form as Annya, without any major changes from my human form.

My body transformed into a voluptuous figure, with purple hair and eyes, and vertical slits in the center of my forehead.

Seeing that, all the security guards were too shocked to say anything.

When I glanced beside me, Grace was blushing and looking at me.

{Current thoughts}

Ah… Beautiful…

My daughter saying that I’m beautiful… I don’t know how to react.

That’s when it happened.

“The eyes vertically split on her forehead… Could it be?!”

Now they finally recognize me.

But to think that they could recognize me just by seeing the third eye vertically split…

Did I really have that much fame?

Rayna did a good job with the groundwork before possessing me.

I crossed my arms and approached them.

“Yes, that’s right. You got it. I’m Rayna. And from what I heard, when I appear in dreams, something happens to you humans… What was it again?”

I pretended to ponder for a moment and then spoke as if something came to mind.

“Ah! Within a week, either death or disappearance. Something like that, right?”

The expressions of the security guards darkened upon hearing my words.

“But today, I’m a little bored. So…”

I pointed my finger at them and gave an order.

“You guys, let’s fight each other from now on. Spare the one who survives.”

I dispelled all the magic on their bodies and watched quietly.

For tens of seconds, as they stood still watching each other, I urged them on.

“What are you doing? If you want to die in my hands, you can stay still… but you won’t die so comfortably.”

I emitted a bit of magic from my body.

The closest guard was overwhelmed by my magic and foamed at the mouth, then collapsed.

“Tsk, seems useless.”

Using fire magic, I incinerated him without leaving a trace.

The others who witnessed this scene trembled and looked at each other.

At that moment, another guard in front of me threw a dagger from his bosom, piercing the chest of the guard behind, who then vomited blood and collapsed.

Seeing this, the guard captain screamed.

“Hey, Helten!! What are you doing!!!”

“Captain… there’s no choice, is there? I have to survive, even if it’s just me.”

With these words, the guard named Helten drew his sword and aimed it at the unarmed guard captain.

The captain, terrified, tried to flee, but…

– Thud

“Why is there a wall here…”

He fell to the ground, having been hit by the barrier skill I had cast in advance.

Facing the fallen captain, Helten aimed his sword.

“Hel… Helten…? P-Please calm down… Surely there’s a way for both of us to get out of here together… Ugh!!!”

“There isn’t.”

Before the captain could finish speaking, Helten swiftly slashed his chest with the sword.

As he wore no armor, a diagonal scar appeared on the captain’s chest, and blood began to flow profusely.

I read Helten’s thoughts.

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{Current Thoughts}

I have to live… I have to survive… I can’t die here, no matter what…

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Hmm, his attachment to life is really strong.

Just as I thought that, Helten’s sword had already sliced the captain’s throat.

And so, the captain’s head rolled and landed at my feet.

I used fire and cleansing magic to tidy up the surroundings.

In an instant, the interior of the tent was as clean as when I first entered.

There stood Helten, holding the sword in the middle, motionless.

I spoke to him.

“Helten.”

The moment his name was called, he quickly turned his head and immediately knelt in front of me.

– Thud

“As promised… will you spare my life…?”

I pondered inwardly.

“Well… if I just let him go, rumors might spread.”

I told Helten.

“Lift your head, Helton. I’ll give you two choices.”

“Two, two choices?”

I raised my finger and continued speaking.

“First, fight Grace here as you are. If you survive, I will let you go. Or you die here at Grace’s hands.”

“What… Fight…?”

“Second, come under me and work. Of course, you have to give up working as a human.”

“…”

Was he a little shocked? Helton stayed quiet for a while.

I turned my head and locked eyes with Grace.

Grace looked at me with round, innocent eyes and said,

“S-So, I can tear that human apart…?”

She was saying something really eerie with such a cute face, but it wasn’t cute to me at all.

I gave a gentle smile and stroked Grace’s head with my left hand.

If Grace had a tail right now, it would probably be wagging vigorously from side to side.

Ah, I guess I can release the transformation for a moment now, right? After all, Helton already knows that our group isn’t made up of ordinary humans.

“Grace, you can release your disguise too.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah, she probably already knows, right?”

“Yeah! Got it!”

So Grace transformed back into her original form.

Furry ears and a tail grew, fur sprouted around her neck, hands, and feet, and her fingernails also became sharp.

“Huh…?”

Helton suddenly let out a gasp.

Of course, since the concept of beastfolk doesn’t exist in this world, Grace’s appearance must be quite shocking.

“Ears, fur, tail…?”

Helton looked quite flustered.

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{Current Thoughts}

Wha… What is this…? A human mixed with the appearance of a beast… I was trying to survive and move forward after winning the battle… This is going to be a big problem…

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Is he dense? Would a normal village girl be walking around with me?

So I urged Helton to make a decision quickly.

“Helton. Do I have to wait for you like this for your sake? You don’t want to die by my hands, do you?”

“N-No!”

“Then make a decision quickly.”

After my words, Helton swallowed hard and replied.

“I…”