episode_0236

“Haa…”

As dawn was just breaking, a heavy sigh lingered on the balcony.

Skadia stared blankly at her teacup.

A scene was reflected from the transparent, shimmering surface.

Ruan’s figure, roughly ravaging Pernia behind the rocks. The violent clash of flesh and the squelching sounds of penetration were all vivid.

Ruan’s face, lying naked with the maid he’d seen in his childhood, came to mind.

Was it like that even then?

With that immature body, would he have crudely thrust his hips, spanking the maid’s buttocks?

Just imagining it was disgusting.

She tried to resolutely shake it off, but for some reason, her mind repeatedly replayed that scene.

This had been tormenting her all night.

“…Garbage human.”

Although it had always been the case, Skadia harbored an even stronger hatred for Ruan.

It wasn’t simply because it brought back past memories. That wasn’t important. It had meant nothing anyway since she decided to break off the engagement.

She just felt sorry for Deborah and Alisa.

They must have thought they were sharing true love with Ruan, but he, the very person involved, was secretly having relations with another woman, hidden from his lovers.

How would they react if they found out?

Would they lose affection and cast him aside? Or would they foolishly deny reality and cling to him?

She hoped it would be the former.

Skadia, who sympathized with and supported both of them, suddenly focused on Isis.

“I never thought it would turn out to be my misunderstanding.”

Honestly, she had thought Isis was the culprit behind everything.

To seize power, she intentionally provoked Ruan’s inferiority complex, drove a wedge between them, isolated him to make him dependent, and finally used a vassal to addict him to debauchery.

A very elaborate and precisely crafted trap.

She even understood the Coliseum incident as a means to put a leash on Ruan, who was trying to break free from her.

But, in fact, it wasn’t.

Isis truly loved Ruan, and Ruan disregarded her feelings and became lovers with other women.

He even deceived those lovers and secretly had relations with Pernia.

Would the victims truly end here?

She couldn’t be sure, but Skadia anticipated that there were more women being deceived by Ruan besides these.

Because he was a man with quite attractive qualities on the surface, even if his insides were rotten.

He was probably making good use of those things himself.

Skadia, who had been burning with hatred for Ruan for a moment, let out a deep sigh.

‘Right, he was that kind of man from the start.’

A philanderer who couldn’t be satisfied with one woman and constantly sought new pleasures.

“Someday, he’ll pay the price.”

She could hasten that time if she wanted, but she didn’t feel the need to.

Whether it was a desire not to be involved anymore, or because she still couldn’t let go of lingering feelings, she couldn’t tell.

Clink—

Cutting off her feelings for Ruan, Skadia picked up her teacup and drank it in one gulp.

As she swallowed all the tea, the illusions that had been lingering in her mind vanished, replaced by cold rationality.

She subtly reached into her top and pulled out the Founding Patriarch’s necklace.

“A secret…”

She had originally planned to uncover it after achieving incantation-less casting, but it seemed that wouldn’t be possible.

Unnecessary thoughts could only be entertained when one had the leisure. If she started researching the necklace, she probably wouldn’t think of Ruan for a while.

“Right. For now, I’ll focus on this.”

Incantation-less casting wasn’t a big obstacle anyway.

Her casting speed had already reached its peak, activating simultaneously with thought, so there wouldn’t be any particular difficulty.

Having made up her mind, Skadia put the necklace back inside her clothing and stood up.

“I need to go back right away.”

Her vacation ended today.

*

“Let’s go out!”

“We’ll show you around!”

From early morning, Deborah and Alisa pulled my hand, leading me out of the pension.

Considering that we had effectively wasted five out of eight days of our trip and would have to return around noon tomorrow, today was truly the last day to enjoy this island.

‘I feel unnecessarily sorry.’

While it was understandable if I was stuck in a cave, Deborah and Alisa could have fully enjoyed the trip, yet they gave up everything and spent their time solely to rescue me.

To repay their efforts, I intended to willingly go along with whatever they wanted to do today.

“Where are we going? Do you have a place in mind?”

“Of course! I planned everything out yesterday, so all you have to do is follow!”

“Really? When? You shouldn’t have had time.”

I subtly patted Alisa’s backside.

All Alisa did yesterday was rejoice at my return, cling to me all day, and then roll around in bed as soon as the sun set.

There’s no way she could have planned anything while being penetrated by me, right?

As I gave a signal with my actions and gaze, Alisa’s face, understanding my meaning, flushed red.

She pulled her hand away and shouted.

“Y-you know, having sex with you is nothing special! I got so bored while doing it that I planned it all in my head!”

“Really? You seemed to enjoy it a lot for someone so bored.”

“I was acting! So you wouldn’t be disappointed!”

“Oh? Quite the expert then. A sex expert.”

I showered the tsundere Alisa with compliments.

Setting aside whether “sex expert” was truly a compliment, as soon as I expressed my admiration, Alisa seemed pleased and puffed up with pride.

“Hmph! You better know it! Th-then I’ll make you feel good tonight too.”

“Oh, really? Is that a promise? You can’t break it, especially with witnesses present, can you?”

“Huh? W-witnesses?”

“Yes. Witnesses.”

I gestured with my chin towards our surroundings.

The place we were currently in wasn’t as busy as a downtown area, but it was a street with a considerable flow of people.

Pedestrians, whose steps had slowed due to the beauty of the two young women, had completely stopped and were now watching us, thanks to Alisa’s mention of sex.

Alisa belatedly noticed their gazes and her face flushed even deeper red.

“Ugh, ah… Ugh…”

She didn’t know what to do, just babbling and desperately looking up at me.

Chuckling at her cute appearance, I put my arm around Alisa’s shoulder, pulled her into my embrace, and confidently shouted to the surroundings.

“Could you please clear the way! Is this the first time you’ve heard the word ‘sex’?”

As I met each person’s gaze and gave them a look, the pedestrians started muttering and dispersing.

Young men repeatedly glanced at Alisa with regretful eyes as they turned away.

‘Audacious fools. How dare they eye her?’

They must have thought they had a chance just because a pretty girl mentioned sex. Yet, all of it was only heard because of me.

As I laughed, basking in my superiority, Alisa cried out with a tearful expression.

“W-what are you doing! Why would you say that! You idiot!”

“Why? Everyone’s gone now, aren’t they?”

“That’s not the point! You pervert! You dummy!”

Alisa, seemingly embarrassed, flushed like a bomb about to explode in 3 seconds and patted my chest.

To say she was “patting” would be an understatement; an ordinary person would have their chest bone caved in from one hit, but that’s how it was.

“It’s fine. They’re just people we’ll see once anyway. Don’t worry about it.”

“How can you be sure of that! We might meet them again! Ugh…”

“Ah, I’m telling you it won’t happen, alright? More importantly, let’s move quickly. You said you made a plan.”

“Ugh… Fine! This way!”

Alisa seemed to have a lot more she wanted to say, but perhaps thinking the date was more important, she abruptly turned her back and quickened her pace.

Even so, she didn’t let go of the hand she was holding tightly.

‘A good start, I suppose.’

Since I teased Alisa, I could be sure that today’s date would be very happy.

I exchanged a faint smile with Deborah and then followed behind Alisa.

*

Meanwhile, at that same time, Kenneth was in the midst of a dungeon raid, following the map Ruan had drawn for him.

“Kya-ha-ha-ha-hak! Die, all of you!”

Slish!

A blood-soaked longsword slaughtered giant ants rushing towards him in a single strike.

The more blood the sword soaked up, the more sinisterly it glowed, exuding an even stronger sharpness.

Perhaps thanks to having learned swordsmanship from a knight of the Freiul family for half a year, Kenneth’s practical but shallow movements now possessed precision.

The monsters couldn’t even properly counter his flawless swordsmanship.

A short while later, the battle ended.

“Heh heh heh, this is the taste I like.”

Squish! Squish!

Kenneth walked across the blood-soaked floor, trembling with the pleasure of slaughter.

This world was heaven.

On Earth, he couldn’t suppress this urge and eventually had to kill humans, but here, creatures similar to humans yet with no consequences for killing them were everywhere.

Unlike then, when he was always starving for blood, every single day here was blissful.

“By the way, why is it so complicated?”

Kenneth’s eyes scanned his surroundings.

In the dark cave, dozens of paths branched out in all directions, regardless of up, down, left, or right, making it difficult even to get his bearings.

Without the map, he might have gotten lost and wandered for the rest of his life.

Kenneth left a mark at the junction and then continued towards the center.

And after a full two hours, he found himself facing the boss monster.

A queen ant, five meters long, glared at him, accompanied by dozens of other ants.

─Shriek!

As the creature let out a roar, ultra-high frequency waves shook the entire cave.

It was powerful enough to instantly turn an ordinary person’s brain into mush, but Kenneth didn’t even flinch.

“I prepared for this, knowing it would happen!”

Kenneth glanced at his bracelet.

This was a magic tool that only blocked things related to vibrations.

He had obtained it before coming here.

There was a reason Ruan had specifically told him to clear other dungeons first.

Whoosh—

Next, Kenneth pulled a flashbang from his pocket.

“Eat this!”

With a shout, Kenneth threw the flashbang and quickly turned his back. Not stopping there, he covered his face with both hands and closed his eyes.

After a brief moment of silence.

Peeeeeeeeeep—!

With an ear-splitting noise, the dark cave was engulfed in light.

The light was so powerful that even with his eyes closed, his vision flashed white for a moment.

─Skreeeeeee!

It was natural that the ants couldn’t withstand it.

Kenneth cautiously opened his eyes, turned around, and seeing the ants writhing on the floor, drew his sword.

“You bastards. Die!”

Then, without hesitation, he rushed forward and began unleashing a torrent of attacks.

What followed was a one-sided massacre.

Kenneth, who had taken out the guards by circling the perimeter, then severed the limbs of the remaining queen and violently tore open her belly.

It wasn’t merely an act of venting frustration.

Even after the queen ant’s breath ceased, Kenneth continued to dig through its belly and discovered a red gem inside.

“So it was here!”

He immediately pulled out the gem.

This was precisely why he had come to conquer this complex cave.

It was just as he was about to retrieve the gem.

“Burn to ashes!”

With a familiar voice, a fireball struck Kenneth.

Boom!

“Kuaaaaargh!”

With immense searing pain, Kenneth screamed and was slammed into the queen ant’s corpse.

Kenneth, his entire body charred black, convulsed and pointed at the intervening figure.

“You… bastard.”

A frail-looking man with a deeply pulled-down robe.

It was the exact image of the transmigator Kenneth had been searching for.

Seeing Kenneth alive, the fellow extended his hand.

“Die.”

Blaze!

Fierce flames devoured Kenneth’s entire body along with the corpse.