Free Web Novel“It’s just me venting. Don’t mind it.”
Menesis shook her head lightly and started walking away, adding as she moved, “It seems the captain and the others aren’t here. Vieya, can you tell me what happened when your group entered Mount Aisa?”
“Nothing much happened. We ran into a humanoid monster — about the seventh rank... hmm, around Level 750. It could use a domain to some extent.”
Vieya recalled slowly. “But we got rid of that threat. After that, we came here together, I went down the well... and the rest, you already know.”
“I see... anything else?”
“That’s it. Nothing more.”
Vieya shook her head indifferently, but as she looked at the desolate courtyard before her, ripples still stirred in her heart.
It seemed Flaviel had truly been burning with fury back then. Even knowing that casting a space-time barrier over all of Mount Aisa would shorten her remaining existence, she still did it.
Was that rage... aimed at me?
Why does it feel like she’s angrier than I am, even though I was the most innocent victim here?
I’m the one who should be angry, damn it...
Vieya pursed her lips; her cute face showed no expression.
Just like back when Flaviel had confessed the truth — that she’d joined the Hero Squad only to find a chance to kill her — there had been no anger, no shouting, only emptiness.
Vieya yawned and rubbed her sleepy eyes.
“Well, I should be thinking about what gift to buy for my daughter once this commission is over and I get paid... milk? A small cake? A plush toy... or a lollipop?”
She brushed away a strand of hair stuck to her cheek — and then suddenly froze mid-motion.
She’d just realized something very, very important—
she didn’t even know what her daughter liked!
Not at all!
Oh °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° my god, have I always been this dull and careless a person?
“Vieya!”
From afar, Menesis waved energetically. “Come here for a second!”
“What is it? What is it?” Vieya groaned listlessly. “I just want to clock out and go home to my daughter...”
“Clock out?” Menesis blinked in surprise. “Wait— you actually have a daughter?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” Vieya shot back.
“It’s just... you don’t seem like the type who can even take care of herself. And now you’re telling me you’re a mom who has to take care of a child...”
Menesis’s face was full of innocent disbelief. Then she pointed toward Rakaide, who was crouched on the other side puffing on a cigarette, and raised an eyebrow.
“See that uncle over there? He’s got a family too, but look at him — always scowling, always grumbling about bonuses, commissions, and overtime pay... Doesn’t he just scream unreliability?”
“Bonuses, commissions, and overtime pay are rightful compensation. But yeah, he doesn’t exactly look reliable.” Vieya nodded seriously.
Rakaide: And now you know why I keep my mouth shut.
“See?”
Menesis smiled faintly and looked back at Vieya. “Honestly, you’re even less reliable than he is. You don’t look like someone who can take care of a kid at all.”
Vieya frowned. “Did you come over here just to pick a fight?”
“Then tell me this—do you even know how to cook?”
“No.”
“Can you feed a baby?”
“No, but my daughter finds food when she’s hungry and takes shelter when it rains.” Vieya placed one hand on her hip, proudly boasting, “She’s the independent type who doesn’t make anyone worry.”
“Ah... okay, never mind then.”
Menesis straightened her hat. Maybe she should have praised the woman to build some team rapport, but her conscience wouldn’t let her.
Once this commission’s done, I’ll gift her a copy of A Complete Guide to Postnatal Human Care.
Night deepened. freewёbnoνel.com
The courtyard was deathly silent — no insects chirping, no wind. The stillness was enough to make one’s heart uneasy.
“Searching just around the courtyard won’t get us what we need. Judging by the shrine’s layout, the important things should be enshrined in the inner hall. I’m going in to take a look,” Menesis said. “Will you stand guard out here, or come with me?”
“Let’s move together. Splitting up now wouldn’t be wise.”
Rakaide flicked away his cigarette, pushed himself to his feet, and said, “Besides, we don’t know where the Hero might appear. If the space-time here really has been corroded to shreds by the Demon King, then it wouldn’t be strange if the Hero showed up anywhere.”
He paused, then added, “When facing a strong enemy, having one more ally increases our survival odds.”
“What about you, Vieya?” Menesis asked.
“You’re both right.” Vieya raised her hand. “I’ve got no objections.”
Ever since that last conversation with Flaviel, her only lingering concern here was the reward money for completing the commission.
As for the Holy Sword—yes, it had indeed been left here... but it was also a hot potato.
Even though it’s mine...
Vieya lowered her gaze to her slime-like body and sighed softly.
If anyone found out that the former Chief Hero’s Holy Sword was now being wielded by a monster girl, the malice that would follow her would far outweigh any goodwill.
Damn it.
“A backward mining town like this—why did they even build such a huge shrine underground? Too much money to burn?”
Rakaide grumbled as he walked, scratching at his stubbled chin. “Come to think of it, just how rich was this mine to make those bloodsuckers invest so much? If monsters broke into the town, tons of miners must’ve died.”
“It wasn’t just miners who died back then.”
Menesis murmured as she reached out and pushed open the heavy doors of the inner shrine.
At that very moment, the magic crystal lamps hanging along the walls flickered to life one by one.
“Holy crap—top-grade magic crystal lamps! I can’t even afford to use one at home! Why do they get all the good stuff?!” Rakaide glared at the glowing fixtures with pure jealousy, looking like he wanted to rip them all down and take them home.
“You’re stingy.”
Menesis shot back dryly and stepped inside. A stone table set with five offerings stood before them.
Behind it were rows of statues with indistinct faces. Half-burned candles of varying lengths were scattered everywhere, as if someone had deliberately snuffed them out midway.
“Mount Aisa had a tradition of worshipping deities?”
Menesis walked forward cautiously to stand before one of the statues. Ever since leaving the army, she’d secretly been gathering information on Heroes and Demon Kings alike, along with records about Mount Aisa.
But nowhere in the archives of this town had she ever found a single word about any kind of deity worship.
And in a world where true gods and church authority existed, any act of faith or worship had to be officially reported and approved.
Otherwise, it was heresy — worship of an evil god.
“Could it be that some of them were worshipping an evil god?” Menesis frowned tightly.
Getting involved with a cult was enough to doom three generations of one’s family — and that wasn’t even counting the double threat of curses from an evil god and purges from the Church.
“These aren’t statues of gods. They’re statues of a Demon King.”
Vieya suddenly spoke, taking a few quick steps forward until she reached the statues. She picked up one of the smaller figures and examined it closely — and sure enough, it was a likeness of Flaviel.
Then she looked up again — at the dozens of differently sized statues surrounding them — and murmured like she’d seen a ghost,
“And all of these statues... are of the same Demon King.”
