episode_0058

They had killed Geum Taeyang.

“……”

He had been shredded so thoroughly that only his head remained.

Even his head wasn’t intact.

It had completely frozen over, looking as if even the slightest touch would shatter it to pieces.

“Can… this be revived?…”

“I’ll try.”

Lia swung her sword lightly.

Not to leave him on the brink of death,

but with the intent to restore him.

Swish!

The blade smoothly passed through Geum Taeyang’s head,

and with each pass of the sword, his body rapidly regenerated.

Like brushstrokes painting a picture.

His body was restored stroke by stroke, as if completing a painting.

“Whoa…”

“Last time, it felt like reviving a corpse… but now, it’s like actual resurrection…”

“Heh heh.”

Thanks to practicing by killing and reviving demons, her revival skill had evolved even further.

Not just reviving them with 1 HP in a near-death state,

but fully restoring them to 100% HP—a miraculous technique bordering on magic.

Thanks to this, Geum Taeyang was revived in perfect condition.

“……?”

“Hey.”

“???????”

Geum Taeyang wore a perplexed expression as he touched his body, checking every inch for injuries.

“I died? Why am I fine?”

“Because I revived you.”

“Revived?”

“Yep.”

“That’s possible?”

“Yep.”

“How?”

She gave a brief explanation.

By utilizing one of Lia’s traits, , she could revive someone at 1 HP.

Through further practice, she had perfected a sword technique that could fully restore HP to 100%,

even repairing equipment durability to a pristine state.

“……That’s insane.”

“Ahem!”

“Anyway, you admit defeat, right?”

“I admit it.”

“A complete loser, thoroughly beaten in both close and long-range combat.”

“Good.”

“Now, tell me everything you know about Cain.”

“His nickname: [I Wanna Squeeze Marianne’s Nipples].”

“Shortened to Milk-Squeezing Master.”

“I was actually going to ask about that part.”

“Ask what?”

“Who the hell is Marianne?”

If she belonged to a noble family or something, she’d be easy to find,

but just hearing her name alone made it nearly impossible.

‘Marianne isn’t the most common name…’

‘But it’s not so unique that there’d only be one person with it.’

Search the entire world, and you’d probably find around 10 to 20 people named Marianne.

So.

They needed concrete information to pinpoint that Marianne—Cain’s Marianne.

…That’s what he thought as he asked, but.

“Sorry.”

“Aside from her name, I don’t have anything to tell you.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t know much about her either.”

“You don’t?”

“Aside from the name, I know practically nothing.”

“You hiding something?”

Geum Taeyang just laughed.

‘He definitely knows…’

He’d heard that the reincarnators were a tight-knit group who shared a lot of information.

But.

Would it make sense for him to know nothing about the woman Cain was willing to die for?

‘He knows. 100%.’

Yet.

He kept dodging the question, feigning ignorance.

Why would he do that?

‘Obvious.’

If Marianne belonged to an enemy faction—like demons, dark mages, or heretics—

telling the hero’s party would be the worst move.

He was keeping quiet out of fear that revealing her identity would lead to her death.

‘That’s why Cain didn’t say anything either.’

But.

They had no intention of killing Marianne, whether she was a demon, a dark mage, a heretic, or whatever.

‘We all agreed on this.’

Lia, Sophia, and even Lady Serena were on the same page.

If Marianne turned out to be a villain, killing her might be an option,

but if she was a good person, they had no intention of harming her.

‘Sophia proved that not all dark mages are bad, anyway.’

Someone who inherited the blood of dark mages,

yet became a saint—Sophia.

No villain,

but a noble being who sacrificed her own life force for others.

She was living proof that being associated with demons, dark mages, or heretics didn’t automatically make someone evil.

So.

Even if Marianne belonged to one of those factions, there was no reason to hate her.

…But all of this was just speculation.

Marianne might just be an ordinary woman.

Or all of this could be a misunderstanding.

So he decided to test the waters.

“I already know everything.”

“You’re keeping quiet because Marianne is one of the Four Heavenly Kings, right?”

“!!!!!!”

Geum Taeyang’s expression changed.

“H-how did you—?”

He even responded.

Oh.

That was the correct answer.

‘Looked like the most probable guess, and it landed.’

He’d had his suspicions.

While there was plenty of info on three of the Four Heavenly Kings,

the fourth who had escaped? They’d brushed it off with, ‘Not sure.’

Cain’s beloved could very well be that fourth Heavenly King.

Or maybe she was a former demon who had betrayed her kind and sided with humanity.

‘It’s a character trope you see in stories sometimes.’

A high-ranking enemy officer

who switches sides after fighting the protagonist once or twice.

…That was what he thought, so he took a gamble.

And it paid off.

“…How did you know?”

“Cain dodged every question about the fourth Heavenly King while being detailed about the other three.”

“Sigh…”

“So? What now? Gonna kill her since she’s a Heavenly King?”

“No.”

“Since Cain cares about her, we’ll find out what kind of person she is.”

“Find out?”

“If she’s rotten, we’ll tell Cain to wake up.”

“If she’s a good person, we’ll befriend her.”

“Even if she’s a demon?”

“You—the hero’s party—would actually befriend her?!”

Geum Taeyang stared at Lia as he spoke.

“You’d really do that?!”

“Yeah!”

“Seriously?”

“My mom said it’s fine as long as they’re a good person!”

“Your mom?”

“Yeah!”

“Our mom!”

Lia pulled out a stuffed puppy doll as she spoke.

“Mom.”

“Even if she’s one of the Four Heavenly Kings, as long as she’s a good person, it’s fine, right?”

“I’d have to see for myself to judge, but…”

“If she’s a good person… if she swears to side with humanity… then… sigh… I guess we could accept her…”

Even Lady Serena reluctantly agreed.

Demons.

The scum who invaded the world she created, turning 90% of it into hell.

Disgusting vermin she wanted to tear apart and erase from existence entirely.

But Marianne was the sole exception.

On one condition:

She had to fully betray the demons and swear allegiance to humanity.

Still, she was willing to accept her.

“That stuffed puppy is your mom?! That’s Lady Serena?!”

“Yeah!”

“If she’s okay with it… then I guess I can talk… Wow. This is actually happening.”

Geum Taeyang sat down as he spoke.

“Truth is, Cain was most wary of you guys.”

“Marianne was the kind of girl who’d get killed by the hero’s party, struck down by divine punishment, or executed once her identity as a demon was exposed—that sort of thing.”

“But if we accept her, that won’t happen, right?”

“Not a chance.”

“Then tell us.”

“I could… but first, what’s your relationship with Cain?”

“Wife.”

“Wife?”

“Yeah.”

“Not the first wife—Marianne comes before me—but he did say he’d accept me.”

“Lia, you?”

“Me too! Wife!”

“The others?”

“Sophia unni?… Basically already planning to marry him. Lady Serena’s a friend?”

“Friend?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re even friends with Lady Serena?… Wow. That’s…”

Geum Taeyang muttered in disbelief before snapping back to attention with a sigh.

“Well…”

“First, you should know this.”

“?”

“You do have a chance to be the legal wife.”

“……What?”

“Cutting out all other factors, if we’re just talking about Cain’s affection points, Marianne and you guys are pretty much on the same level.”

“Same level?”

“Yeah.”

“If we’re the same, why are we second and Marianne first?”

“……Because she’s the only one he couldn’t save?”

“Bingo.”

“That’s the sole reason he’s hung up on her.”

All other characters cleared their achievements 100%,

but Marianne stalled at 90%—so Cain’s obsession only grew.

But when she does hit 100%?

That’s when the rose-tinted glasses come off.

At least, that was Geum Taeyang’s explanation.

“So…”

“The real battle begins after Marianne’s ending.”

“Ending?”

“Yeah.”

“Ending.”

“What exactly counts as an ending?”

“Well…”

After a brief pause, Geum Taeyang explained.

“It’s when she finds someone who stays by her side, even knowing she’s a succubus.”

“Someone who can truly be her neighbor, her friend, her family.”

“That’s the happy ending?”

“One more thing.”

“?”

“Remove all possible causes of death.”

“Causes of death?”

“Honestly, this is the biggest headache.”

Marianne always dies.

If the hero’s party finds out she’s a demon, they kill her.

If anyone else finds out, the knights execute her.

Even if she runs, she ends up dead.

Captured and killed somewhere.

But the real issue—

She commits suicide when the Demon King dies.

The reason? Unknown.

But whenever the Demon King falls, Marianne’s corpse is inevitably found.

So.

To save her, they must uncover and resolve her suicide trigger before killing the Demon King.

“Reviving a dead Marianne is…”

“If she has a reason to kill herself, she’ll just do it again.”

“Do we… not know why she kills herself?”

“If Cain doesn’t know, how would I?”

“……”

“Still, she won’t kill herself as long as the Demon King is alive.”

“What about getting killed?”

“As long as she doesn’t cross paths with the hero’s party, no one will find out.”

“That’s why he tried to run…”

If Marianne and the hero’s party met, it’d inevitably end in tragedy.

Which was why Cain wanted to keep his distance.

That’s what drove him to flee.

“Then…”

“The way we can help Cain is…”

“Delay killing the Demon King, solve Marianne’s issues first, and avoid meeting her until then.”

“Is that all?”

“Hmm…”

“There is more…”

“What?”

“But this part comes with a fee…”

“How much?”

“A few bottles of cola would cover it…”

Thud!

He immediately handed him a bottle of cola.

“Talk.”

“Ah, thank you! Valued customer!”