episode_0073

“What in the world is this?”

Hanging in the air, Genie’s voice filled with confusion.

Genie, whose size was indeterminate, was quite a sight, with all those legs dangling in the air and speaking like a human.

“How did this happen?”

A talking Genie…

I searched through the manual in my head, but nothing came to mind.

And to make matters worse, it was a Genie speaking through magic.

It’s hard to believe such a grotesque being exists in this world.

“Is this a sorcerer’s doppelganger?”

The most plausible theory was that it was the doppelganger of some named sorcerer.

That would explain why no weaknesses were revealed when using the weak point.

Since the doppelganger doesn’t have the concept of dying, it wouldn’t have any weaknesses.

Perhaps the sorcerer disguised Genie as a human to conceal their identity.

That possibility seemed quite likely.

“P-please spare me!”

“You think I’ll spare you just because you’re pretty?”

“Even in human form, you’re quite…”

“Look at yourself now. Do you think I’ll see a giant Genie every time I see a human form, or not?”

“…”

So cruel and dangerous, and even grotesque?

If it had been a cunning nine-tailed fox or a cute dragon, there might have been a chance for special treatment as a pet.

But a hideous Genie like this was not worth it.

“This creature was planning to devour hundreds of people. How could any corner of it look pretty?”

“It wasn’t planning to devour anyone!”

“Enough with the excuses. Tell me where your main body is.”

“?!”

Genie’s long body trembled, and the movement of its legs, which had been wriggling, stopped.

Though its expression couldn’t be seen, it seemed visibly startled.

You might wonder how I knew it was a doppelganger.

I’ve been dealing with sorcerers for years.

“There’s nothing I can do!”

At that moment, Genie’s body contorted grotesquely and swelled, as if it was about to burst at any moment.

A common finishing move of venomous monsters.

Venom explosion.

If you can’t anticipate this much, you’re disqualified as a gamer.

“Mijeong.”

“Uh-huh.”

As I called out softly, Mijeong flicked her finger.

Instantly, flames engulfed Genie’s body, and it was consumed by fire.

A 1st-rank spell, Ignition.

“Yaaaaahhh!!!”

Genie’s legs burned to a crisp and fell off, and its mouth tore apart and melted away.

Its whole body began to burn and break into pieces.

There was no chance of recovery now.

As the venom was released, the creature plummeted into the abyss with its body torn into ten pieces.

“That torch spell is deadly.”

“…”

Mijeong raised a V with both hands.

After roughly patting her head, she embraced Mijeong.

The wind was strong, and it felt like they might fall.

“The basic 1st-rank magic, Ignition, is quite effective.”

It may seem similar to the non-elemental magic, Ignition, but it’s fundamentally different.

Ignition can create fire even in an oxygen-free space.

Therefore, with Ignition alone, the firepower is quite strong.

However, it has the disadvantage of being ineffective against objects soaked in water.

If there were no disadvantages to basic magic, it wouldn’t make sense.

“But I can’t learn this kind of elemental magic at all.”

The problem is, I can’t learn basic magic starting from 1st-rank with decent performance.

Although Ignition is good, it lacks a certain flair.

It doesn’t have any special effects.

It just moves objects in the air, and that’s it.

To be honest, it doesn’t seem very helpful in combat.

I wondered if I could block the enemy’s movements with Ignition.

But using Ignition requires a lot of concentration, making it impossible to use while swinging a sword in battle.

And it’s not powerful enough to crush the opponent with Ignition alone.

It’s a somewhat ambiguous magic.

“Well, that’s that. Where can I learn magic anyway?”

Thinking about it only brought a sigh, so I collected my regrets and descended from the train ceiling.

There was a time when I thought I couldn’t use magic at all.

Compared to then, being able to learn non-elemental magic is no small feat.

Even though all the non-elemental magic has a screw loose, I should be satisfied with that.

After all, the healing magic that Jill uses is non-elemental too.

“Let’s use the performance of non-religious magic, as even the saint acknowledged it, so use it with confidence.”

“Come down now.”

“…Praise. I got mad because there wasn’t any. Yujin. I’ll make it difficult for you.”

Even after coming down from the ceiling and returning to the guest room, Mijeong still seemed determined to stay in my arms without letting go.

Even when I let go of her, she wrapped her legs around my waist and supported herself.

I feel like I’ve become a koala mother.

“Sure. Whatever.”

Even the praise of ‘Torch’s performance is killing it’ doesn’t seem to satisfy her.

This little one is getting more and more arrogant as time goes on.

After being touted as a versatile tool, she now thinks she knows the owner very well.

It seems like she’s trying to embarrass me.

But it doesn’t bother me at all.

After all, walking around like this will make me look like I’m carrying around a mischievous little sister.

I am confident.

“Hey, look at that.”

“Stop it. Why are you acting like that?”

“How many years apart are we, really? You trash.”

I, I am confident.

***

“Ah, ahhh!”

Inside the dark cargo hold.

Within it, the painful moans of a girl echoed.

The girl, dressed in a nun’s habit, twisted her body, her face contorted in pain to the point where blood vessels popped, gasping for breath before finally being able to calm down.

“Haah, haaah!”

The pain of her body burning like dry firewood.

She had to fully experience that pain.

Until the moment when her nerves burned completely and the connection with her doppelganger was severed.

Her nerves were tough as a noose.

Even if her body was broken and torn apart, her nerves would survive to the point of writhing.

So she had to fully experience all the pain until her whole body turned to ashes.

“These damn creatures!!!”

The girl muttered, gritting her teeth.

After the death of the Archdruid Kali for unknown reasons.

One month after escaping from her dungeon.

She was a monster, but unlike her kin, she possessed high intelligence.

Thanks to that, she quickly learned the art of disguise.

She met a water elf master and learned magic.

The innate ability of the girl was ‘division’.

A trait that divided the body to create a doppelganger.

“I was about to take some medicine! Why did that nuisance interfere with me!”

Once again, she used her doppelganger to secretly set up a totem and activate the spell to replenish energy from sleeping people.

But things went awry.

If the totem had been destroyed and the spell had been released, she could have accepted it.

Or maybe the spell had failed from the start.

Unlike magic, even skilled spellcasters often fail in their spells.

But this time, it wasn’t like that.

The spell was canceled in the middle of activation.

The totem was intact, and the spellcaster was intact.

The magic that was spreading the curse disappeared in an instant, causing the spell to be released suddenly.

“How did my curse? By what means? Who is this guy?”

Even for a skilled spellcaster, it takes quite a bit of time to counter a spell suddenly encountered.

But that creature broke the curse in just 5 minutes.

There was no way to explain this strange situation.

Although she had only learned magic for a short time, she boasted of her talent, surpassing her master in just ten days.

To have my curse broken so easily.

I was so frustrated and angry that my body trembled.

“He’s so handsome! What does he think he is with his looks!”

Even sending a disdainful look after seeing my true form.

How could an inferior species like her understand a superior species like me.

The girl tried to comfort herself by thinking that way.

“Ahhh!!! When will I recover from this damage!”

But the fever quickly spread again, and she let out a roar.

The more power she gave to her doppelganger, the stronger the doppelganger became, and the weaker the main body became.

And if the doppelganger is destroyed while divided, all the power given will be completely annihilated.

This time, about half of the power was poured into the doppelganger.

And it all disappeared.

Cleanly, it melted away under the strait.

Moreover, losing energy also caused the body age to deteriorate.

Due to losing half of it, she became much smaller, taking on the appearance of a child.

With such a tiny body, there must be more than a few inconveniences.

“Ugh! Annoying, annoying, annoying!”

The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she became.

To rebuild the power she had painstakingly accumulated, how many people’s energy would she have to absorb…

It was pitch black.

Especially now that the Archdruid Kali, who provided fresh humans, had disappeared.

Alone, I had to replenish my mana, so the speed was expected to slow significantly.

Don’t just let the one who harmed me go.

I must exact thorough revenge.

It was the teaching of the Archdruid.

“Are you avoiding it because poop is scary? Avoid it because it’s dirty. Pfft. I got hurt because it’s dirty.”

It was a teaching that turned into dust in just one second.

The girl, still vividly feeling the sensation of burning alive, shivered and turned around.

This isn’t running away.

It’s a tactical retreat.

It’s a strategic counterattack.

Thinking that to herself, the girl opened the cargo door and jumped out.

Now the train had crossed the strait and entered the northern continent.

“They won’t chase us, right? But still, since they’re humans, they won’t go to the dwarven city… I have to go to the Leaf City!”

Surely those humans wouldn’t go to Leaf City.

The girl laughed and jumped off the train.

She successfully evaded the humans.

…At least, that’s what the girl believed.