episode_0053

“Second, if your life is in danger, abandon me and run.” “No.” I was flustered by the sudden confession? but spoke firmly. Abandoning Loki and running away? I could never do that.

“Haa…” Hearing my firm answer, Loki sighed. I flinched at the sound of his sigh, but my mind didn’t change.

“Johanna, you risk your life for others without hesitation.” Loki said quietly.

“You’re not an oth—” I spoke to deny what Loki had said, but Loki cut me off in a low voice.

“Listen to me to the end.” “Ugh.”

“If someone other than me, someone you’ve never met before, falls into danger, can you say you wouldn’t risk your life?” “That’s…”

Hearing Loki’s words, I couldn’t say anything. Helping others. That was natural. But I had never once been in a situation where my life was at risk. Since Loki had asked so seriously, I couldn’t answer lightly.

As I remained silent, unable to answer, Loki approached.

“Even if it’s a lie, tell me. Tell me you won’t throw your life away for others. Tell me you’ll live only for yourself.” Loki, speaking like that, seemed certain. Certain that I would die helping others.

“Loki, won’t you risk your life for other people?” All I could do was ask Loki a question.

“…I can risk my life for others too. But not when saving strangers.” “What if I’m in danger?” “I’d risk my life to save you. Even if I were to die saving you, I wouldn’t regret it in the end.”

Hearing the question, Loki spoke without a moment’s hesitation.

“That’s what risking my life for you means to me. That’s why I can’t stand to see you, who I would risk my life to save, sacrifice yourself for others.” “…………” “There are many people in the world who need your help. But I need you more than all those countless people.” “…………” “So if you try to risk your life for others, I’ll stop you with all my might. Even if hundreds of people die as a result, I don’t care.”

I was confused. My face felt hot. I knew this wasn’t the situation for it, but my face spontaneously turned red.

“…………” Not wanting him to notice my flushed face, I said nothing and lowered my head.

I had received many confessions until now. From minor nobles to the kingdom’s princes. When they all confessed, they adorned their confessions with various words. Some said they would pick stars from the sky, others said they would die if I didn’t accept their confession. Some said they would make me the happiest person in the world, and others said they would protect me with their lives.

Perhaps it was because I had good intuition, but I knew immediately. That all of them were lying. They were just people who saw my appearance, swordsmanship, and family, and confessed on a whim.

And. Because I had good intuition, I knew. That everything Loki was saying right now was the truth.

Thump-thump, thump-thump. My heart was beating too fast. This was the first time this had ever happened. I clutched my chest, afraid Loki might hear my heart. But instead, I could feel my heart pounding even more intensely.

“Are you sick somewhere?”

He was so different. The usual Loki and the current Loki. He was always shameless, but now he was shameless in a different way.

“I-I’m fine. Let’s just go in quickly.” I spoke to Loki with a trembling voice. I accidentally stammered. My face grew even redder.

“Just a moment.” Loki conjured two boxes from thin air. Different elixirs were inside. One was a quite good elixir I had seen a few times before. But the other was an elixir I had never seen. Just a glance at the golden glowing elixir told me it was top-grade.

Swish. Loki consumed both elixirs at once. I was startled by the sight.

“Wait!” Taking elixirs without any preparation, and two at once, could turn them into poison.

“Let’s go in.” However, Loki was completely unaffected. No, rather, it seemed he had absorbed all the elixirs in a short time, and he looked full of power.

“Before we go in, let’s put this on.” Loki handed me a black robe. I didn’t ask why he was handing it to me. It was probably to cover my face and academy uniform.

. . .

Squish, squish. With every step, an unpleasant sensation rose up through my shoes. The pungent stench that pricked my nose also grew stronger.

Thud. Johanna and Loki stopped simultaneously. Because footsteps were heard.

Swish. The owners of the footsteps were two people. Their clothes were emblazoned with skull patterns. Even as they approached, they didn’t notice Johanna and Loki. This was because Loki had used his unique magic to conceal their presence.

“Ugh, are we bringing in children again this time?” “And little brats too, can’t even get a taste.” “There’s an academy here, why don’t we just bring academy students?” “If that happens, we could bring noble female students… Heh heh.”

Hearing their conversation, Loki and Johanna exchanged signals. Nod.

Swish, swish. Two swords drew beautiful arcs in the air, and as a result, two heads fell to the ground. Instant death.

The original Loki might not have been able to kill them so cleanly, but after consuming the two elixirs, Loki’s power had become incomparably stronger than before. Normally, consuming elixirs doesn’t instantly make one stronger. However, these elixirs were all enhanced by Loki’s sub-space. Moreover, the jester’s mask Loki was wearing allowed the elixirs to exert more than 100% of their inherent power.

. . .

After that, Johanna and Loki killed quite a few people with skull patterns on their clothes. Neither of them hesitated for a moment to kill such trash.

“Intruders!!!!!!!” A voice echoed through the sewer. It seemed someone had discovered the bodies.

“Let’s run.” Nod. The two ran deeper into the sewer. Since their intrusion had already been discovered, moving quietly was meaningless.

“Intruder… *gasp*!” While running, someone discovered Johanna and Loki, but Johanna’s sword swing was faster than their shout.

The deeper they went, the more people wearing skull-patterned clothes they encountered. Murmuring. Quite a few voices were heard from ahead.

“Close your eyes and cover your ears.” When Loki spoke, Johanna closed her eyes and protected her eyes and ears with mana. She realized what Loki was about to do. The dagger that emitted light and sound, which he had used when fighting Ropri.

Loki threw the dagger, imbued with the power of a flashbang, towards the direction of the sound.

*Screeeeech!* “””Aaaarrrrggghhh!!!””” An enormous noise and light spread through the dark sewer. More than ten people were all clutching their eyes and screaming.

Johanna and Loki wouldn’t miss that opening. Swish. “Aaaarrrgh!!!” Whoosh. “Urrgghh!”

Every time the two swung their swords, someone died. Killing people who were clutching their eyes and unable to do anything was too easy for them. Johanna and Loki didn’t stop, no matter how many were in front of them. They just ran forward, slashing with their swords.

“Argh!” “Ugh!” “Save me… *cough*!” Screams echoed through the sewer. All of them were people who had enjoyed listening to the screams of others.

*Halt.* Loki and Johanna, who had been running without stopping, halted.

“Is anyone there? Please help me.” “It hurts so much, please get me out of here.” “I’m hungry…” This was because there were dozens of children. All of them wore the same clothes. No matter how you looked at them, they seemed like ordinary children.

*Stop.* Johanna tried to run towards the children immediately after seeing them, but Loki stopped her with his hand.

“Loki?” Johanna was surprised when Loki stopped her, and then surprised again when she saw Loki’s hand. Loki’s hand was trembling.

*Clink, whoosh.* Loki leapt and swung his sword, stabbing a child’s heart with the blade.

“Loki! What in the name of—” Johanna was startled and stopped speaking. No life force could be felt from the children at all.

“It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts!” “Aaaahhhhhhh!” “Help me!” The stabbed child’s reaction was strange, and the other children also felt odd.

‘Could it be.’ Necromancers. Those who control corpses. Johanna understood why no life force could be felt from the children. It was because the children had already died a long time ago.

*Trembling.* All those children were merely a trick played by necromancers using child corpses. She had to cut them down to move forward. She knew it in her head, but her body wouldn’t move.

“Help me!” “We didn’t do anything wrong!” Johanna had killed quite a few people. But they had all been villains. Protecting the innocent. That was Johanna’s conviction. Even though she repeatedly tried to brainwash herself that those children were just corpses, her body wouldn’t move.

“Johanna.” Those children were just kidnapped and by the necromancers… “Johanna!” When Loki called out loudly, her mind finally snapped back.

“It’s okay, I’ll kill those children. You can just stand by.” Leaving those words, Loki began to cut down the children.

“Argh!” “Please save me!” Every time a child fell, other children screamed. Despite that, Loki didn’t stop. No, he couldn’t stop. Johanna realized it was because of her.

“Huu…” I took a deep breath. I came here to help, I can’t just be a hindrance.

Whoosh. I drew my sword. Thump. I kicked off the ground. *Thrust.* I stabbed the child’s heart.

“Haa… haa…”

. . After killing all the children, Johanna and Loki arrived before a certain door.

“Loki, inside here…” “Yes, the true necromancer who did that to the children is inside here.” Even from outside the door, the aura of death was clearly felt. Johanna steeled herself. She could never forgive the necromancer who had done that to the children.

“Loki, let’s go in n—” “Johanna, I’ll go in alone.”