Chapter 60
She could endure the suffering inflicted on her.
But she could not bear the fact that her parents had died.
That was why she wanted revenge.
But against whom, exactly?
Even if she wanted revenge, everyone who should have been its target had long since died.
Her thirst for revenge, having lost its destination, went round and round, doing nothing but swell her own body.
In the end.
She made a choice she never should have made.
And at the end of it, she hoped to meet death.
Because she lacked the courage to take her own life.
If, by the slightest chance, an afterlife truly existed.
If only she could be embraced by her beloved parents once more.
Nothing else mattered, no matter what happened to it.
Because that was the only thing she wanted.
But then.
“My name is Kevin. To fulfill my duty as a hero, I will eliminate you now.”
But why.
“Why, why….”
Why did it have to be the hero?
-The hero always saves people who are suffering and in pain.
Mother had definitely said heroes saved those who were suffering and in pain.
I was still suffering and in pain like this.
Just looking at this place.
Her heart was being torn to shreds at the thought of her parents, whom she could no longer see.
Yet when she was suffering and in pain, he hadn't shown even the tip of his nose.
“If you have something to say, I'll hear you out.”
Clutching her shoulders as though in anguish.
“…Hypocrite.”
Frederica unleashed a barrage of magic at the hero's party before her.
-KABOOM!!
“Guh… Are you all right, Kevin!?”
“Damn it, this isn't what we were told!”
“If you two have enough breath to talk, then use it to dodge properly!”
Dodging the sharp threads rushing at them along with red orbs of light that embroidered the sky.
Kevin closed the distance to right before Frederica in an instant.
-Stab!
And, without hesitation, the holy sword pierced Frederica's heart in one swift thrust.
…I would have liked to hear your circumstances, if possible. What a shame.
Just like that.
After pulling out the sword he had driven into her heart.
It was just as Kevin knelt and approached the fallen Frederica to close her eyes.
-Crack!
Frederica rose to her feet again, gripping the hand Kevin had reached out to close her eyes.
“What…!”
Kevin, flustered, tried to pull his hand free with force, but.
A thread traveled over Frederica's hand faster than that.
It wrapped around Kevin's entire right arm, and.
-Crunch!
“Aaaagh!”
Before Kevin's companions even had time to react.
His right arm fell away as though it had been squeezed off.
“Kevin!”
“Marika! I'll buy us some time, so hurry and heal—Guh!”
Perhaps because they had let their guard down, thinking it was over.
Toward the two people who had been thoroughly thrown into disarray.
“Just die―!!”
Along with Frederica's voice, which rang out like a scream.
Threads began pouring in from all directions in a quantity that could not even be compared with what had come before.
A short while later.
-KRAKAKAKAK!!
After dealing with all the magical beasts outside the castle.
The man who arrived alongside blades of fierce wind, Osmund, was met with.
“Kevin! Marika! Gunter!”
His companions, collapsed and covered in blood.
And.
“Huff, huff….”
Frederica, panting as though exhausted.
“How dare you…!”
Osmund hurriedly assessed the situation.
To rescue his critically injured companions as quickly as possible.
“Storm! Come!”
He unleashed the strongest technique he could use, but.
-Crack.
“Huh…?”
Before the gathering wind could even take shape.
With an eerie sound, Osmund's field of vision was dyed red.
“…Aaaagh!!”
Soon, Osmund screamed as pain surged into his eyes.
-Crack!
Immediately afterward, Osmund felt his connection with the spirit he had manifested sever.
“Ah, haha….”
He gradually lost consciousness.
And the last thing Osmund heard as he lost consciousness was.
“Ahahahahaha―!”
Clutching her own face with both hands stained in blood.
It was the voice of the witch, laughing madly as she collapsed to the floor, fat tears dropping from her eyes.
* *
Not long after news spread that the hero's party had been annihilated.
“…Mister. Is this really the right way?”
“Shut up, brat. How can a guy like you not even know how to read a map?”
Two men arrived at what had once been the capital of a kingdom, now reduced to ruins.
“Don't act so proud just because you can read a map.”
“Kyaaak!”
“Shut up, old man.”
One of the two men, a short man with an irritable face.
He ran a hand over the two swords sheathed at his waist and brushed back his reddish-brown hair, then.
“How can there be so little work when it's already been three years?”
He glared at the man who had been snapping at him.
“Wow, why are you looking at me, you insolent little brat?”
And at the gaze of the short man, Ren.
Viole, the tall man, bounced the spear resting on his shoulder once and asked incredulously.
“I was wondering if old Wilhelm's eyes had gone bad. You're hardly doing a good job.”
“Hey, let's be honest. The reason no one gives us work is that you keep threatening the clients.”
“Isn't it their fault for ordering me around when they're nothing special?”
At Ren's reply, which came as though it were obvious.
Viole grabbed the back of his neck as though his blood pressure were rising and shook his head.
“Ugh, I should just stop talking. How did I end up getting stuck with such a foul-tempered brat?”
“If you're so upset, fight me like you did three years ago.”
“Forget it. I'd rather just die than fight you again.”
And so, bickering with each other as they walked.
The two men stopped for a moment when the sight of the ruins came into view.
“Well, anyway. Isn't that why we came here?”
“They said no one would complain even if I killed clients from now on, as long as I took down that thing.”
“Yeah, yeah. If we succeed at this job and make a fortune, I'll take responsibility for anything you do from now on. Happy?”
“Excellent.”
At the ominous aura billowing from ahead.
Ren and Viole placed their hands on their respective weapons and started moving again.
Thus, the two men arrived at the center of the ruins.
“There it is.”
“…Oh.”
They came face-to-face with Frederica, a woman curled up on a large throne.
“Wasn't it one, two, three… four?”
“So it seems. Well, I guess one of them escaped alive. Let's at least collect the bodies that are here.”
They looked at the three corpses, presumed to be the hero's party, lying cold around the white-glowing holy sword strewn across the floor.
“…I'll buy time, so you, brat, start by collecting the bodies.”
“Huh? What's with you all of a sudden? I'm the one who should fight… Geez. What do you even like about that lump of meat?”
Viole, speaking with a grave expression without taking his eyes off something.
He paid no attention to Ren's contemptuous gaze.
“That's why you're a brat.”
He opened his mouth with a crooked grin.
“Tch.”
“And you. Once you start fighting, you're obviously going to blow away those corpses too, aren't you?”
He said they could receive a fairly substantial reward just for recovering the hero party's bodies.
Ren quietly nodded at the unexpectedly reasonable persuasion.
After watching Viole charge toward Frederica for a moment.
-Boom, KABOOM!
On the shaking ground, Ren recovered the holy sword and the three corpses of the hero's party, then tossed the sword far away.
“Gweik!”
“Pathetic.”
Not long afterward, he clicked his tongue at Viole flying toward him with a pathetic cry.
“Kehk!”
“You're in the way, so get lost.”
-Wham!
“Gaaah! You damn brat―!”
After kicking aside Viole, battered and rolling to his feet.
-Shing.
Unlike before, with a face that had settled into calm.
Ren drew the two swords sheathed at his waist.
“How is that supposed to be a puppeteer?”
Looking at Frederica, who was binding and controlling herself with threads, her face seeming to have lost all reason.
She looked more like a berserker than a puppeteer.
“Good. Come at me.”
The moment Ren opened his mouth.
A chilling killing intent began to emanate from the two swords in his hands.
And the moment Frederica blinked once at the sight.
Ren narrowed the distance as though vanishing and swung both swords.
-Slice.
By the time Frederica recognized what had happened.
Her arms and legs had already been severed from her body.
But.
-Whoosh!
“Oh!?”
Frederica's severed arms came rushing toward Ren as though trying to grab him.
And.
-KABOOM!
A cluster of red orbs of light rained down over Ren's head.
“Guh.”
Ren hurriedly pulled his body back at the sight.
But apparently struck head-on by an orb of light he failed to evade.
He licked the blood running from his head with his tongue.
“It's my first time seeing someone move even after losing their limbs. Interesting.”
Ren gave a feral grin at the sight of Frederica's arms and legs reattaching in an instant.
Just like that, Ren charged at Frederica once more.
This time, he swung his swords, aiming simultaneously for her neck and heart.
-Clang!
However, the swords were blocked by the threads wound thickly around Frederica's arms.
“What strength…!”
He had intended to cut through the arms along with the sword they had blocked.
Yet instead of cutting through, he saw his sword being pushed back and broke into a cold sweat.
‘So this is what they meant when they said a first-rate puppeteer is most frightening at close range.’
Herculean strength that was impossible to believe came from something in human form.
As though she considered herself a puppet and was controlling herself.
A body that moved as if it felt no pain, along with regenerative power that restored it instantly even when cut.
‘…Looks like she regenerates even when her heart is pierced.’
Seeing the familiar mark on Frederica's chest.
Ren realized how Viole had been defeated a short while ago.
“If I keep killing her until she dies, she'll die.”
Ren infused the sword that had been pushed back by Frederica with mana.
-Slice.
Then, as red haze slowly rose from the sword.
Frederica's two arms, wrapped tightly in threads with the strength of steel, dropped away with a thud.
-KABOOM!!
The droplets of blood that sprang from her arms exploded with a deafening boom.
“Guh!”
Straightening himself as the explosion erupted right before his eyes and sent him flying.
“Ptooey!”
After spitting out the clot of blood rising from inside him.
Ren once again assumed his stance.
‘It's still unfinished, but should I try it?’
-Kiiiiing….
Ren watched the haze rising from his sword writhe for a moment, then thrust out his foot.
-Swoooosh―!
Sharp threads poured down with a sound splitting the air, as though to carve Ren to pieces.
And.
Ren, calmly taking in the entire scene, swung both swords at once.
The unfinished technique's name was.
Gale, Storm.
-Whoom.
From directly in front of Ren, a red wind began to surge in all directions.
-KRAKAKAKAK!!
Along with a harsh sound scraping the walls, ceiling, and floor on every side, the red sword aura spread outward.
Not only the threads pouring toward Ren.
-Fwoosh!
Frederica, too, fell with her torso severed in half.
Everything happened in an instant.
“Tch. As expected, this technique still isn't ready for use.”
Yet despite that result, Ren clicked his tongue as though dissatisfied.
“Does she regenerate even after her body is split in half? She's seriously creepy.”
Then, as he watched the separated upper and lower halves slowly twitch and repair themselves.
Ren frowned, slowly approached Frederica, and swung his sword once more.
-Slice.
With the sword in his left hand, he cut through Frederica's neck and sent her head tumbling.
He gripped the sword in his right hand in reverse and drove it downward, piercing her heart.
But.
Despite having her neck severed and heart split open, the body continued moving without dying.
-Thrust.
Ignoring that.
Ren raised his sword once more and stabbed Frederica's heart.
-Stab.
How many times had he repeated it?
By the time the sun that had hung high in the sky was setting and darkness had begun to swallow the surroundings.
“Tch.”
At the sight of Frederica, who seemed to have given up even resisting and was letting her body go slack as she offered him her heart.
Ren clicked his tongue and stopped his sword.
“What the hell, why'd you stop all of a sudden? At this rate, you'll run out of mana too if you keep going a little longer.”
Viole, sitting on a nearby pile of stones and treating his wounds as he watched, asked in confusion, but.
“…I've changed my mind.”
After looking for a moment at Frederica, who was staring at the similarly halted sword with emotionless eyes.
Ren wiped the blood from his sword and sheathed it again.
“Let's take her with us.”
“You've finally gone crazy. No, were you crazy to begin with?”
At the sight of Ren even removing the outer garment he was wearing and throwing it toward Frederica.
Viole muttered incredulously, at which moment.
“…Why?”
As though unable to understand.
Frederica spoke in a voice filled with resentment.
“I'm a bad person, you know… Why, why aren't you killing me…?”
She could have died if only a little more time had passed.
In just a little while, she could have returned to her parents' embrace.
The end of life she had so desperately longed for had finally drawn near, right before her eyes.
Why was the man before her not killing her?
Weeping fat tears at this incomprehensible situation, Frederica asked Ren.
Then, after looking at Frederica for a moment.
“I don't have a hobby of indulging suicides.”
Ren spoke with his face scrunched up.
“You're afraid to kill yourself, so you're borrowing someone else's hand to die? What a joke. Seriously.”
Looking at Ren like that.
“…Well, if that's what you want, I suppose that's what you should do.”
Viole wore a bitter expression along with a hollow laugh.
“Miss. What a shame.”
Then he spoke to Frederica with a gentle smile.
“That guy seems to have developed a condition where he can't help picking up loners when he sees them.”
To get free, the only way was to become stronger and defeat Ren.
Viole looked at Ren with a dry chuckle.
And.
“It just so happens we don't have enough hands, and there wasn't a single person in sight who met my standards.”
“That's because your standards are too high, you damn brat. You don't do your job properly, but you're pickier than hell. Seriously.”
Ren held out his hand toward the opponent whose heart he had been mercilessly stabbing until just a moment earlier.
And Viole grumbled at Ren.
“Come with us.”
And so.
“…Really, is it okay…?”
“Yeah.”
“But I… I've only done terrible things….”
Frederica hesitated as she looked at the outstretched hand.
“It doesn't matter. That old man over there has nothing to be proud of either.”
Ren told her she didn't need to worry about it.
“Why does that sound like you're saying you're the respectable one?”
“What did I do?”
“…Let's not talk about it.”
While Viole shook his head in disbelief at the sight.
“……”
Clutching Ren's outer garment tightly with one hand where it covered her body.
Frederica held out her hand only halfway and continued to hesitate.
“Ah… Seriously, how frustrating!”
“Huh, waa!?”
“If I tell you to come, then just come!”
Then, seemingly unable to stand Frederica's hesitation any longer, he shouted roughly.
Ren snatched Frederica's hand and pulled her to her feet.
“If you have a problem, say so anytime! Then I'll really kill you!”
After forcing the bewildered Frederica upright, he brought his face close to hers.
“Answer!”
“Y-yes!”
“Good!”
He shouted loudly, then turned around and began striding away.
“Hey, brat. What are you going to do about the consequences?”
“I don't know! Anyone who picks a fight gets smashed!”
“Sigh, I knew it. What are we supposed to do now, seriously?”
Grumbling at Ren like that, Viole followed behind him.
-Squeeze.
And, gripping Ren's outer garment tightly with both hands.
Frederica stared blankly at Ren's back.
“What are you doing? Hurry up!”
Only after hearing Ren shout once more.
Did she finally begin moving in quick little steps.
-Someday, our Rika will meet someone like that. Someone fated for her.
With tears filling her sparkling pink eyes.
She wore a bright smile around her lips.
“…Yes!”
It was the first smile she had made in eighty years.