episode_0048

‘What should I do?’

To be honest, what that person said was all true. Without the Demon Sword, I was just plain inadequate.

‘It’s a bit awkward to bring out the Demon Sword now…’

Galgandoa is optimized for killing and absorbing blood, so I didn’t quite grasp the concept of sparing opponents. Because of that, I hesitated to bring out the Demon Sword easily.

‘What if I make a mistake and kill someone?’

They were not ordinary swordsmen but gladiator slaves. It means they have an owner. If I recklessly kill them, I might have to compensate with money.

‘Should I just pretend to fight roughly and lose?’

It might feel a little unpleasant, but there was no other viable option. With that thought in mind, I picked up the sword.

“You want to spar?”

“Who are you talking down to with informal speech?”

“You did it too.”

Why does he use informal speech while expecting respect from others? It didn’t sit well with me, especially since he hadn’t brought a gift like Bianca, who’s from the upper class, yet he was rudely demanding things.

“Should I bring out the Demon Sword after all… No, if I get really angry, I’ll bring it out.”

While having such thoughts.

“Die!”

“…!”

The guy holding the sword suddenly rushed at me before assuming a ready stance. It was a sneak attack. It was too cowardly to call it a sparring.

Swish!

Before the guy could assume his stance, he precisely stabbed near my neck with the sword he wielded.

“As expected, you’re an idiot.”

The man sneered and swung the sword to the side. I felt my ribs break and being pierced.

“Cough, cough!”

Blood burst out as my lung was punctured. But the amount was quite substantial.

Splat, thud!

“W-what the…!”

As blood poured out almost like turning on a faucet, the slave who had been wearing a haughty expression staggered back.

“Ugh.”

I spat out all the blood in my mouth and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

“Ugh, my clothes are all splattered with blood.”

“What, what is this?! How can you be standing?”

The man’s gaze quickly scanned my upper body and face. Not only that, but the slaves who had been watching the fight from a considerable distance also recoiled in fear and stepped back.

“…? Well, I can stand because I’m standing.”

***

“What, what…?! Are you really an undead?!”

Cold sweat covered the man’s face. Undead, an immortal being that doesn’t die even when killed, a monster that could lose its sanity at any moment and attack. The man didn’t want to die by such a monster.

“Eek…!”

The man raised his sword high and this time, he slashed at Lian’s shoulder. The sword passed through the shoulder and cut into the left side of the chest.

“Ugh, gasp… This time, I…”

Thud.

“…?!”

“If I cut here, will it be over? Oh, are you going to keep fighting in this state?”

Lian casually grabbed the blade of the knife stuck in her body and lifted it up. The man was confused.

“Huh -.”

As the sword flashed and was pulled out from her shoulder, the man’s expression turned pale. At that moment, one of the slaves who had been far away came running.

“Take this, eat this!”

Paaat!

He held out a brooch the size of his palm. A bright white light poured out towards Lian.

“T-This brooch is enchanted with holy magic!”

“Such a precious thing..!”

“Sigh, it’s worth it for a friend!”

While they were strengthening their friendship, a voice of the undead, which should not have been heard, reached them.

“Oh, your wounds are all healed. Thank you!”

“…?!”

“….?!?!”

Clang!

The slave holding the sword dropped it and began to step back.

“Oh, don’t come near!”

“Eek!”

When humans see something beyond their understanding, they become terrified. To them, Lian was exactly like that. She stood there unharmed, calmly pulling out the knife stuck in her body, and on top of that, she was impervious to holy power!

Lian’s appearance was not in a good state, even if it was just empty words. The sight of her covered in blood and smiling faintly was a terrifying sight that could appear in dreams.

They couldn’t overcome the visual and mental terror, so they hesitated on the ground, looking at the floor, and started to flee.

“Help me!”

“Monster… monster!”

In an instant, the arena was emptied. Alone, Lian scratched her chin and looked down at herself.

“Geez… I don’t even have much clothing.”

She couldn’t return to Iris in this state. Lian reluctantly decided to get some clothes from the slaves who had fled earlier. She thought it would be fine since she had won the match.

However, there was one thing Lian had overlooked – how she would appear. She had only been concerned about how she would look to Iris, not deeply considering how she would appear to the other slaves.

As a result, Lian found herself walking down the corridor in a bloodied state, holding a dripping sword.

“Gasp…”

“Ugh…!”

The people on this floor had seen countless corpses and demon bodies. Nevertheless, they recoiled or were startled because Lian’s appearance seemed like that of a serial killer.

Among them, those who shrank back the most had directly witnessed Lian’s previous match. Having witnessed the dizzying combat and slaughter, they were already terrified of Lian without her doing anything.

“Don’t make eye contact.”

“Who did she kill to have so much blood…?”

“I’m sure when she fought, she didn’t even get a drop of blood on her.”

“Gasp, it seems she didn’t become stronger because of items, carrying around an ordinary sword.”

As unintended misconceptions deepened, Lian finally managed to find the room where the escaped slaves were. She quickly found it after catching another slave and asking.

Knock knock.

She knocked on the door of the room where the slaves were presumed to be. However, there was no answer.

“…? Are they not inside?”

This is awkward. What should I do?

While thinking that, she grabbed the door handle and knocked on the door once more. At that moment, the door handle turned smoothly. It seemed like the door was not locked after all.

“Since they said they are in the room, I can just go in and ask. They might not have heard the knocking.”

As the other party had already been rude, she opened the door and went inside without hesitation.

“You can even have this much furniture?”

She looked around the house, which had far more furniture than the place Iris and she used together. One of the two rooms was closed, and one was open. She peeked inside the slightly open door, but no one was there. There was only one room left.

“It must be in there.”

Lian walked straight to the closed door.

Knock, knock.

As a courtesy, she knocked once. Even if there was no answer, she intended to go in anyway.

Bang, thud! Boom!

Just as she was about to turn the doorknob, a loud noise came from inside. Lian immediately turned the doorknob and went inside.

“Eek, eeeek!”

A figure wearing a flipped blanket was screaming and fleeing to the corner of the bed. It seemed to have hit a shelf while moving, as a few items were rolling on the floor.

“Help, help me!”

“…?”

Covered in blood from head to toe, the figure was holding a sharp sword in one hand. Blood was dripping from the tip of the sword. It looked like a murderer had barged into the room to kill someone.

“Weren’t you the person in the ceremonial robe earlier?”

“N-no! No, I’m not!”

The slave shook in fear, vigorously shaking their head.

“Not…?”

Raising an eyebrow, Lian tilted her head, and the man immediately spoke, driving his head into the bed.

“Yes, yes, it’s me! It’s… it’s me!”

“Oh, then I’d like to ask a favor.”

At that moment, in the man’s mind, the image of Lian shouting, “Take care of your life, you scoundrel!” flashed by.

“I want to use the bathroom -”

“Please, at least spare my life…!”

The two people’s words were entangled in the air. A moment of silence passed.

“Life isn’t necessary, I just need to use the bathroom.”

“Oh, feel free to use it as much as you want!”

Lian thoroughly used the man’s bathroom and even tore off his clothes.

***

“Ah, I’m late. I’m really late.”

After visiting Bianca, Iris didn’t like me leaving even for a moment. Of course, she would quietly wait if I asked her to, but her cheeks were puffed up.

“Still, it’s fortunate that there seems to be more response than before and that I’m getting what I want.”

Arriving at home with a big smile, “Iris, I’m back.”

Normally, Iris would have rushed over and hugged me, but this time, she was sitting on the sofa without a flinch. When I approached, she finally looked at me.

“Iris, what’s wrong?”

“…”

Iris silently looked at my face and timidly reached out, grabbing the hem of my clothes.

“Different… clothes…”

“Oh, I borrowed these from someone I know.”

“…”

Iris seemed inexplicably sullen. Was it because I was late?

“Sorry, Iris. Next time, I’ll come back sooner. You were lonely being alone, right?”

“…”

Iris didn’t respond, just tightly held onto my clothes. She seemed about to say something with a pout, but ultimately bit her lip.

“No way…”

Watching Iris struggle, I thought,

“Is she worried about following Bianca to the top floor?”

Other than that, I couldn’t think of any reason for Iris to suddenly make such a face, so I thought about Bianca.

“Hmm, maybe it’s a bit difficult to send her away because of the shadow of someone who doesn’t take people lightly.”

How should I say it so that Iris won’t leave?

***

While Lian was pondering, Iris remembered something that had happened a little while ago.

Iris, despite Leon’s request to wait in the room until the match was over, had left the house after disobeying his words. It was a rather courageous act for Iris.

How long had she wandered like that? Somewhere, the smell of blood began to permeate. And it was very strong. Iris headed towards the place where the smell of blood was coming from, as if possessed by something.