“Hilvia… you… have unleashed the Hero’s Power… haven’t you?”
“You figured it out…”
Hilvia turned her head away, refusing to answer Sairi’s question, but that reply was clear enough.
Sairi took a deep breath, staring at the silent Hilvia, then turned her gaze to Karimsaide, her eyes filled with anger that once again overwhelmed her reason.
“Was all of this your plan?”
“No! No, it’s not like that! It was… many of us scheming together… they dragged me into it… I’m innocent, forced into this!”
Karimsaide was already mad, babbling incoherently.
“Sister Hilvia, do you know any kind of magic that prevents instant death, keeps the mind clear?”
“Uh… in my current state, I can manage that.”
“Good. Cast that on him, keep him alive as much as possible.”
Karimsaide thought Sairi had finally believed him and planned to spare his life.
“Thank you, Miss Caili, I’m grateful!”
“Who said that?”
The moment those words left Sairi’s mouth, the atmosphere turned ominous. Hilvia was already casting magic on Karimsaide to suppress the shock from blood loss and pain.
“Who ordered you to do this? Those worms in the Royal Capital?”
“Yes.”
“What did they give you?”
“Money, fame…”
“Are there many others like you in the Royal Capital?”
“No… it’s hard to say…”
As Hilvia’s magic took effect, Karimsaide became clearer and more rational, but little did he know this was the beginning of his true suffering.
Sairi punched Karimsaide in the chest, then ripped off a shard of his armor and slashed open his chest, blood immediately gushing out.
“Sairi, what are you doing?”
“This is his punishment.”
“You scoundrel! You truly deserve a horrible death.” Sairi said as she tore at the flesh on Karimsaide’s chest.
Splatter.
Watching Sairi’s slow and deliberate movements, Hilvia couldn’t imagine that the innocent and cute Sairi from yesterday could become so cruel and twisted now.
Sigh “I’m speechless. I was too naive to fall for this so easily. Now I can’t even think of a cruel way to torture you and make you suffer.”
Karimsaide was beyond words now, only able to watch it all unfold as he faced his death.
The slaughter went on for several minutes.
Toward the end, Sairi used brute strength to pull out Karimsaide’s spine bone by bone, then ripped out his heart and tore it apart… finally… she crushed his skull beneath her feet…
Yet she kept the Honor Badge, storing it safely on herself.
When the slaughter ended, Hilvia finally ceased her magic and approached Sairi.
“It’s over. Can we go back now?”
“Sister Hilvia, do you know Fire Magic? Can you burn them to ashes?”
“I know a little…”
“That’s enough.”
“Burn them all.”
“Mm.”
Hilvia raised her right hand, flames spewed from her palm, engulfing the four bodies. She intensified the fire slightly and maintained it for two minutes before stopping the magic.
Now all the corpses were reduced to ashes. The blood-soaked earth was scorched dry, stained red. A gust of wind blew, scattering the ashes into nothingness.
“Let’s go back to those Monsters and tidy up.”
“Mm.”
Sairi’s response was resolute, lacking her usual playfulness.
Back at the Monster corpses, Sairi indeed saw not only the Monsters’ bodies but also over a hundred warriors clad in silver armor lying on the ground.
Among them was one with gold accents on his armor, just like Karimsaide.
“We have to burn them all, or leaving them here will surely cause trouble.”
“Wait, Sister Hilvia.”
Sairi walked over to the corpse with the gold accents and a cloak, clearly an official or officer like Karimsaide.
She started searching him and found an Honor Badge similar to Karimsaide’s, with his name engraved on it.
“All right, Sister Hilvia, let’s make sure they vanish completely.” Sairi said as she took the badge and put it with hers.
After burning everything, all human corpses turned to ash, which the wind carried off into the surrounding forest.
Sairi lowered her head, deep in thought. Hilvia came to her side.
“Let’s gather the Monsters’ spoils and then go eat something good.”
“Uh… okay…”
Sairi nodded but lacked the morning’s energy and joy.
She dispelled her transformation and began placing the Monsters’ spoils into the Five-pointed Star Hairclip while pondering silently.
Are there many people like this in the world?
Is this what the journey truly is? The life Hilvia tried to hide from with her concealed identity? What am I then? Just now, my actions were truly horrifying, no different from the man-eating Monsters.
Hilvia noticed every change in Sairi—from yesterday’s meeting, that night’s comfort, to the morning’s liveliness, and now her coldness. The shift was too rapid, too drastic.
Hilvia preferred the innocent, cheerful Sairi with a smile.
After Sairi finished gathering the spoils, she turned around and said, “Let’s go, Sister Hilvia. We should report back.”
“Wait!”
Hilvia’s shout made Sairi stop abruptly. Turning around, she was suddenly pulled into Hilvia’s arms.
“Sorry, Sairi, even though I know you don’t like this, please let me be selfish this once.”
“What do you mean? Sister Hilvia, what are you doing?” Sairi was confused by Hilvia’s actions.
“I’m sorry…” Hilvia’s voice trembled, even her chest shook.
“It was my carelessness—I failed to protect you. You walked into an ambush… faced such cruelty and darkness…”
Hearing Hilvia choke on her words, Sairi’s eyes reddened, tears soaking Hilvia’s clothes as she began to sob.
Of course, Sairi did not blame Hilvia but thought of her own cruelty and felt a shiver of fear.
“Sister Hilvia… I… I was so cruel just now… like a Monster…”
“No, you’re not a Monster. You’re Sairi—the little angel-like Sairi.”
Sairi finally couldn’t hold back and wrapped her arms around Hilvia’s back, crying her heart out in Hilvia’s embrace.
“But I was really so cruel just now… if I had transformed sooner and dealt with them… none of this would have happened…”
“No, it’s my fault. I was careless and fell for such a simple trap. I shouldn’t have been greedy for that little reward and gone after those Monsters…”
“But… but they called me a crazy Monster. I think what I did really looked like a berserker’s madness…”
“No, that’s their own evil creating all of this. And now I’ve been exposed too.”
Hilvia looked down at Sairi in her arms. The two exchanged glances.
“Will people bother us like this again?”
“They will. They won’t stop. And there are many even stronger people in the Royal Capital.”
Hearing this, Sairi felt even more despondent—not because she feared being disturbed again, but because there were likely many more like Karimsaide, and Hilvia would be dragged into it.
After the embrace, Hilvia let go of Sairi. The two held hands and faced each other.
“We’ll report back tonight and exchange the reward, then leave here tomorrow?” Hilvia gathered courage to propose the plan.
“But where will we go?”
“To the west—the Bloodspirit Empire. I haven’t been there before. Let’s treat it as a new journey.”
Hilvia’s tone was unusually inspiring—the first time she spoke about their next destination with such passion.
Hilvia’s sincerity finally touched Sairi’s heart. Looking into Hilvia’s clear, shining eyes, Sairi took a deep breath and answered with a trembling voice.
***
One short word, yet its trembling carried many different tones.
“Let’s head back to the Travelers’ Inn first.”
“Mm.”
This time, Sairi took the initiative to hold Hilvia’s hand as they walked back toward the town.
Under the sunset, the two walked side by side toward the town, and what had happened today in the forest remained unknown to anyone else.
Entering the town through the gate, they followed the usual discreet route, sticking to the roadside to avoid drawing attention. They arrived at the Adventurers’ Guild Reception.
Facing the Counter Miss, Hilvia reported, “We’ve completed the mission. The high-level Monsters have been eradicated.”
“Please present proof.”
This time, Hilvia and Sairi didn’t hide anything. They took out the Monster horns, still lingering with magical energy, directly from Sairi’s Five-pointed Star Hairclip.
The Counter Miss showed no particular reaction, suggesting that such items with magical properties were quite common here.
After some sorting, Sairi handed over all the Monster horns and other collected materials to the Appraisal Staff.
Once the inventory was complete, the Counter Miss finally spoke.
“Congratulations to both of you on a significant achievement. After appraisal, your results have been confirmed. Here is your reward.”
She took out a bag of coins from beneath the counter and handed it to Hilvia.
“Here are 100 silver coins. Please accept.”
Hilvia took the coins with a smile and pulled Sairi away from the Adventurers’ Guild.
“Sairi, do you want to eat something else?”
“Eat?”
“Yes, it’s already dinner time. Last night you only had some rice porridge; tonight we can eat well.”
“All right!”
When it comes to food, Sairi had little resistance.
Honestly, this world was quite convenient. Thanks to various magics, the bloodstains and dirt were easily cleaned. Today, they had been tricked by illusion magic.
Now standing again on the bustling food street, it was crowded and late; the sun had already set.
Most workers had finished for the day, and many parents brought their children out for dinner, along with many adventurer teams.
Also, because of the time difference, those shops that sold breakfast in the morning no longer did so, now offering all sorts of dinner dishes.
Sairi and Hilvia scanned the shops on both sides, deciding what to eat tonight.
Finally, Hilvia stopped in front of a small restaurant and pointed to it, then turned to ask Sairi.
“Shall we eat here? Their Braised Beef Noodle is very tasty.”
“Mm, okay!” Sairi finally brightened up a bit—after all, food is the most important thing.