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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Seriously, do we have to do this?”
A man grumbled with a cigarette in his mouth, while the bearded man next to him frowned and expressed his irritation.
“It’s obvious, isn’t it? If this hotel gets exposed, it’ll jeopardize the Tudogs too. Mikael is thorough about these matters; that’s why he called us.”
“It’s annoying to be woken up at dawn for this.”
Despite his complaints, he didn’t stop walking, understanding the necessity of their task.
Even though it was dawn, they needed someone skilled and discreet to set fire to a three-story building.
Mikael had asked two men living in Bethel, who were involved with the Tudogs, to burn down the murder hotel.
“There was no easier place to get materials than this hotel.”
“Well, Mikael will probably set up a similar building in no time. There’s nothing we can do now with the inspector causing a fuss.”
“We were told to burn it down completely, leaving no trace behind, right?”
“Especially the basement.”
“Damn, where did that old hag run off to?”
“She must have run away thinking she’d get caught. But we have to admit, the stealth ability of that Devil Spider she had was something.”
“You think she’s watching us from somewhere right now?”
Chuckling, the two men entered the hotel.
The first floor of the hotel was dark except for the light from the man’s cigarette, so they turned on the lanterns they had brought.
There, they saw a black-haired girl sitting on a chair.
“What the—”
“Scared me.”
Even for the two men from the Tudogs, it was surprising to see a girl sitting silently in the hotel lobby, with all the lights off, holding a fire.
Like a scene from a horror story.
However, contrary to the eerie atmosphere, the girl’s beauty was so striking that the bearded man stroked his chin and muttered.
“Should we take her?”
“Are you crazy? She still looks like a student.”
“Hmm, but with a face like that?”
“…”
The man with the cigarette exhaled smoke and scratched the back of his head.
“That’s quite something.”
The two men adeptly treated the black-haired girl as a ‘product’, completely disregarding why she was there or what power she possessed.
To them, it seemed natural.
They were formidable opponents.
“You came to burn down this hotel, right?”
“So, you knew? Where did you come from?”
“Mikael must have leaked it.”
As the two men expressed their annoyance and attempted to subdue the girl, the floor became sticky.
Not just the floor.
Although their lantern illuminated the hotel lobby, it couldn’t perfectly light every corner.
Feeling the darkness ripple in the unlit areas, the two men panicked but soon realized that the girl, Rin, was the cause of this phenomenon and drew their daggers, rushing towards her.
Crunch, crunch.
The darkness devoured their hands.
“Ahh… AAAAAH!”
“Shit! What is this!”
The two men tried to escape in a hurry, but at the door, darkness had already opened its mouth wide, drooling at the sight of them.
Covering the faint grey light emanating from her chest with her hand, Rin quietly whispered as she watched the two men being consumed by the darkness.
“Have a good night.”
***
If the Tudogs had visited the murder hotel, then the opposite was true for Mikael Portren’s mansion.
“Ugh!”
“Choke!”
The moment Mikael and his subordinates stepped outside, white-masked assassins arrived.
They stabbed anyone in the mansion with daggers, regardless of who they were, eventually reaching the room of the final target, the girl.
The door creaked open.
Despite it being late at night, the girl was not asleep yet, trembling and clutching a pillow on her bed, seemingly having heard the screams outside.
“Who are you!”
“…”
The three assassins didn’t bother to answer.
However, the fact that they hesitated to slit her throat the moment they saw her meant they had no intention of killing her.
Their goal was abduction.
Because she was Mikael Portren’s weakness.
The moment the three assassins moved, a white-haired girl with an expressionless face broke through the large window of the room.
The moment they saw her, their eyes widened slightly, but they slowly drew the two daggers from their backs, holding them in reverse grip.
“Did you send them here?”
“Sen…”
“Why are you here?”
“…”
They all knew Sen, an older member of the Chokugen Faction.
Freshly inducted into the official ranks of the faction, they wore the faction’s signature white hoods and carried special daggers.
“You came to kidnap this child, right? Because she’s connected to Mikael’s dealings with the Tudogs.”
“You knew that much?”
“You’ve been investigating the Tudogs on your own, I see.”
“Less talk.”
The three assassins dropped their menacing demeanor and continued the conversation with Sen with bright smiles.
However, Sen rejected their approach.
“Enough, I’m here to protect this child. Are you going to fight me?”
“……”
Silently, the squad members stared at Sen for a moment, their expressions slightly bewildered as they questioned her.
“Kidnapping this girl is a decision made by the Chokugen Faction itself. It’s necessary to harm the Tudogs. Are you going to oppose the decision of the faction now?”
“What nonsense, after I’ve already been abandoned.”
“You weren’t abandoned, Sen.”
“…”
The oldest man in front, spoke up.
“We couldn’t contact you because we were fighting with the Tudogs. Don’t misunderstand and just live as part of the Chokugen Faction.”
As he said this and tried to pass by Sen, pulling out a dagger towards her neck, Sen had already ducked down, supporting herself on the floor and striking the man’s chin with her heel.
“Ugh!”
Feeling a sharp pain, the man fell backward.
The other squad members immediately took a stance and glared at Sen.
“You talk big for someone who was abandoned.”
“We steal if told to steal, kill if told to kill, and die if told to die. Sen, don’t forget your place.”
“Sorry, but I can’t do anything about this.”
Bathed in the moonlight coming through the broken window, Sen turned her head slightly to look at Michelle.
Gently stroking the trembling child’s head, Sen said,
“He said I owe you. So I’m here to repay that.”
“Debt?”
“Yeah, something like that. You don’t know much about it, do you? Neither do I.”
“What does that mean?”
Responding to Michelle’s question, Sen thought of a man who always smiled playfully.
“I don’t know, he say’s this is life.”
She didn’t understand the meaning, nor was it clear why she had to risk her life fighting the Chokugen Faction.
Everything was vague, and her mind couldn’t grasp it.
But now, for the first time in her life, Sen felt truly alive, having made a choice of her own.
“Are you serious, Sen? You’re going to oppose us here? You think the Chokugen Faction will just overlook this?”
Rubbing his struck chin and standing up, the man glared at Sen, who replied as if annoyed,
“I told you, it’s not something I can do anything about.”
“Could it be, you took on an request? From whom? Why?”
The Chokugen Faction operates on requests.
Therefore, the three naturally assumed Sen had taken a personal request from someone, but Sen smiled slightly and raised her dagger.
“It’s not a request but a mission. Not one given to the Chokugen Faction, but to me, Sen, personally.”
Sen charged forward, determined to protect the girl she had killed in her past life this time.
***
“Remarkable.”
Mikael Portren couldn’t help but sincerely applaud.
Already five of his subordinates had been taken down.
All by a mere 18-year-old academy student.
“Daniel McLean, what exactly are you? You can’t just be a normal student anymore.”
“Why ask if you won’t believe the answer?”
I chuckled, shaking the blood off my sword.
Mikael Portren himself stepped forward, thinking it futile to send any more subordinates.
“I respect you. You fight with your own sense of justice, and that’s undoubtedly right.”
“…”
“But I, Mikael Portren, am a father to a child. For my daughter, I can become a monster.”
Becoming a werewolf and saying such things made it feel real.
His voice resonated on my skin, and the ground sunk where he stepped.
“You’re a fine swordsman, but can you really beat me, who has become a monster, with your petty school-taught justice?”
Crack!
Indeed, Mikael’s attacks were twice as heavy as other werewolves’.
Not just due to his physical strength, but the weight he carried for his daughter made it harder to counter.
Twisting my body, I dodged his attack and swung my sword.
Mikael’s side was slashed, but it healed quickly, and he attacked again aggressively.
Relying on the werewolf’s regenerative abilities, he pursued only attack, neglecting defense.
‘I could kill him, but…’
My goal wasn’t to kill Mikael but to enable Heini to arrest him.
Knowing how difficult it is to subdue a werewolf, the future seemed bleak, but I kept dodging and attacking.
“Ha, ha.”
Covered in blood from continuous wounds, Mikael paused to check his body.
Too many injuries for his body to heal.
Even a werewolf’s vitality isn’t infinite.
Biting his teeth hard, he clenched his fist and glared at me.
“Why are you stopping me! Why do you want to kill my daughter! Without me, she cannot survive!”
His cry, filled with bitter resentment and misery, filled Bethel.
His servants behind him also shed tears, empathizing with Mikael’s feelings.
We swung swords and claws at each other, trying to kill or subdue.
Ironically, we all were fighting for a girl named Michelle Portren.
It was amusing, but one thing needed to be clarified.
“Don’t judge too hastily.”
“….What?”
“Your daughter Michelle is stronger than you think.”
Mikael, not expecting such words, looked at me in surprise.
“Yes, she might be. She’s not only my daughter but also hers.”
Mikael’s eyes probably reflected his wife who had passed away first.
I told him gently,
“I’ll bring the antidote. You’ve fought with me now, so you know? I’m much stronger than you thought.”
“Yes, I felt it when you didn’t kill me but tried to subdue me. But…”
He spoke to me with eyes that seemed about to cry,
“The Tudogs won’t leave her alone. Not just them, the Chokugen Faction might also act! Even if she survives here, it’ll only be for a moment!”
“I’ll handle that too, protecting her in the safest place in the Frisia Kingdom.”
“…”
“You’re standing before your last choice now.”
I could only hope he would realize.
“I don’t know what judgment you’ll face. You could be sentenced to death, or maybe, if you’re lucky, you’ll only save your life.”
“…”
“Whatever the future holds, at least say goodbye to your daughter as a father.”
“….That’s cruel.”
Losing all will to fight, Mikael slowly shrank and lost his fur, returning to his human form.
“Can she really live well?”
A father’s pitiful question.
Recalling her strong and confident life, I gave a slight smile.
“She’ll manage, live beautifully. Your daughter, Michelle Portren, is not weak at all.”
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