I Gave Up on Conquering the Heroines – Chapter 138

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Hey, you. Are you Kali?”

“Hmm?”

“Don’t play dumb! You think I’ll fall for that cutesy act with that face?!”

“Waaaa…”

“M-Mr. Michael Jackson! Please calm down!”

I was so angry, I pinched the girl’s cheeks and pulled, only to be stopped by the Holy Knights.

I had been unsure at first, but now I was certain. This girl was Kali.

“Where exactly did you find her?”

“Among the dismembered remains of a woman, on the path leading to the rainwater tunnel.”

As expected. This girl had to be Kali.

The Kali resurrected by the 10th circle magic, Resurrection, was in a ‘perfect state.’

I wasn’t sure how being consumed by her dying emotions and desires could be considered ‘perfect,’ but I would use Luna’s words for now.

In this ‘perfect state,’ Kali was immortal, her body regenerating endlessly, no matter how badly injured.

When I had severed her upper body from her spider form, she had regenerated into two separate beings.

I had thought I had obliterated the female Kali with Iron Blood Storm Slash, but it seemed a small fragment had survived, regenerating into this little girl.

“Do you know this child?”

“Yes, I know her very well. She’s putting on an act. She’s not usually this slow-witted. I’ll take her.”

“Hmm… very well… but please fill out some paperwork. It’s just for record-keeping, so please don’t be offended.”

The Holy Knights exchanged glances with me and Undecided, their expressions dubious.

They seemed to be misunderstanding something, but after I finished the paperwork, they finally handed Kali over to me.

“Hmm?”

She was still acting clueless. She kept looking up at me with wide, innocent eyes as I led her away, making me feel like I was kidnapping a child.

“Here, put this on.”

I gave her some of Undecided’s clothes. They were about the same size and fit her well.

But the problem was…

“Hmm?”

“Hey… how long are you going to keep this up…?”

She continued the act even after we reached our hotel room. She only made “hmm” sounds, pretending not to understand me, tilting her head and playing with the clothes I gave her.

Had her intelligence decreased?

“Hmm…”

I placed my hand on her head. There was no demonic energy.

Well, there was a trace amount, but it was negligible, the amount any ordinary person would have.

The overwhelming demonic energy Kali had possessed was gone. I couldn’t sense any special abilities or aura either.

Just in case, I decided to examine her more closely.

“Hey, open your mouth.”

“Aah…”

“Spit some web.”

“Hmm…?”

“Try making this hand gesture. Bend your middle and ring fingers. Doesn’t it feel like you’re about to shoot webs from your wrists?”

“Hmm…”

“I guess not.”

I examined her thoroughly, but there was no doubt.

She had a completely human body, with no trace of her spider monster traits.

This was confusing.

Was she still Kali? Or was she a different being altogether?

“A side effect of the Resurrection…?”

One thing was certain, she had a human body, and she had lost all of Kali’s memories, abilities, and traits.

She was no different from an ordinary girl.

“…Yoo-jin. What… are you… going to… do?”

“I don’t know. This is driving me crazy.”

“…You’re… not going to… use her… are you?”

“What? Use her for what?”

“…Nothing.”

Undecided turned away.

She seemed just as clueless as I was.

This girl was definitely a byproduct of Kali, but without Kali’s memories and abilities, she couldn’t be considered the same person.

I couldn’t hold her accountable for Kali’s crimes, and I couldn’t think of any use for her.

She was practically an infant, unable to speak or reason… If she were a little more intelligent, I could at least put her to work.

“Should I leave her with Cornelia? No, that’s too dangerous.”

I briefly considered passing her off to Cornelia, but decided against it.

It wasn’t fair to Cornelia to suddenly burden her with a child. And I couldn’t be sure this girl was completely harmless.

There was a small chance that Kali’s personality was still lurking within her, undetected by me.

It was too risky.

“I’ll have to take her with me.”

“…Yoo-jin.”

“What?”

“…Nothing.”

“What’s with you today?”

So, I had to take care of her.

I couldn’t just abandon her, and killing her was out of the question.

“Yooo… jin…”

The girl’s lips trembled as she spoke my name.

She was looking directly at me.

She wasn’t just repeating random words, she knew that “Yoo-jin” was my name.

“She’s learning quickly. Perhaps she’s quite intelligent?”

“In… tel… li… gent…? Smart.”

“Hmm. She might be useful. Perhaps she has a talent for magic or curses.”

It was possible.

She might be a prodigy, having been born from the body of a former Heavenly King.

“The problem is she’ll be a burden…”

But how was I supposed to travel with her? Undecided and I were already stateless, constantly questioned wherever we went. And this girl couldn’t even speak properly.

We would be suspected of kidnapping.

“There’s no other way. I’ll have to reveal her identity to the Papal Office and let them handle her.”

That was the only solution.

If I told them she was a byproduct of Heavenly King Kali, they would take care of her, whether by raising her or something else.

They would be wary of her, so even if she suddenly revealed her true nature, it wouldn’t endanger anyone.

“Let’s go.”

“Hmm…”

“I said, let’s go.”

“Hmm…”

I took her hand, but she resisted, shaking her head.

She had been following me obediently until now… She seemed to know where I was taking her.

“Hmm!”

She sat down and clung to my leg. This was troublesome.

She would definitely be a burden during dungeon raids and battles.

I sighed and lifted her up.

“Throwing a tantrum won’t work. Let’s go.”

“Uh… uh… achoo!”

She sneezed and disappeared.

Only her empty clothes remained in my hands.

I was stunned, and then…

“Woo?”

Something small and black squirmed on the back of my hand.

A tiny spider, the size of my finger joint, was looking up at me.

This girl… I thought she was human, but she could transform into a spider.

Well, it was to be expected, considering she was a byproduct of Kali.

“Perfect. You can stay like this.”

“Woo!”

I could easily carry her around in this form.

She danced joyfully.

Undecided, for some reason, puffed out her cheeks, looking displeased.

“What about… a name?”

“A name? I haven’t thought of one.”

I should give her a name if she was going to travel with us.

“…Can… I… choose… one?”

“Whatever.”

“…Undecided Jr.”

“Hey! I’ll choose.”

I had forgotten about Undecided’s terrible naming sense.

I had lost count of how many good names she had ruined.

Longinus’s Spear, Iron Blood Storm Slash, Demonic Sword… Wait, Longinus’s Spear was my idea, wasn’t it? It was actually quite a cool name.

“Nameless. Let’s call her Nameless.”

“…Wow. That’s lame.”

“You’re not one to talk.”

Nameless. No name.

I decided not to give a proper name to this being that had split off from Great Druid Kali.

“It’s time to leave Cologne. We’ve caused enough commotion…”

It was time to wrap things up.

“Gasp!”

Jill woke up with a jolt, clutching her chest.

It had been 24 hours since she collapsed from magical exhaustion.

“Saintess! I’m glad you’re alright. We should run some basic tests-”

“Forget that. Where’s… haa… where’s that man who caused all this trouble?”

“You mean Mr. Michael Jackson? He’s already left Cologne.”

Jill’s heart sank.

They had finally reunited, and now he was gone. She couldn’t believe it. She rushed out of the hospital, frantic.

She visited the cathedral, spoke to the bishop and the commander of the Holy Knights, but the answer was always the same.

Yoo-jin had left Cologne more than six hours ago.

“Ah…”

He had left, just like he said he would.

She had hoped he might change his mind… but he hadn’t.

“I thought I could hold onto him…”

She thought she had been resolute. She had decided to hold onto him, even if it meant being hated by him. But she had been wrong.

She had several opportunities.

When he collapsed from magical exhaustion, she could have restrained him instead of supplying him with magic power.

She could have used that magic power to bind him instead of saving Xenon. But she couldn’t.

She was terrified of being hated by him, more than she realized.

Having been abandoned once, she was even more afraid of it happening again.

So, she let him go.

This time, she gave up and let him leave.

“He… won’t come back… will he…?”

He seemed very busy. But she wasn’t sure he would return, even after he was done with his “business.”

He probably wouldn’t want to come back to such a clingy woman.

Jill returned to the Briam Mansion, tears streaming down her face.

Cornelia was out.

Jill went to her room and began to pack. She had caused too much trouble for Cornelia.

It was time to return to Hameln.

As she opened a drawer, her eyes widened.

“My… my dagger!”

Her dagger was gone. Her ceremonial dagger. The one she had given Yoo-jin in her previous life.

She frantically searched for it, then stopped.

A note lay on the desk.

She picked it up with trembling hands.

Borrowing.

That meant he would return it someday.

It was a promise.

He wasn’t gone forever. He would come back… to answer her confession.

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