Chapter 9: A tragedy for some.

“Let go! Please let go! No! No! Save me!”

“Stay still! I’m not trying to do anything bad!”

“This is bad! Aaaah! You guys were bad people too! I was fooled for a second because you were praising me! Uwaaah! F*ck!”

“Oh my! Watch your language! Lady Thermis wouldn’t say such things!”

“Yes, she would!”

“Don’t slander my Lady Thermis like that! Even if it’s you…!”

“My Lady Thermis, my a**, ugh, no, no, no! Uwaaah! Mom!”

“Your mom is dead!”

“Um… Manya… I think that was a bit too much…”

“Oh my, look at my spirit.”

“Someone save me! Kuaaaaak! Aisha! Minon! Yukomis!”

…Even though he’s tied up, how can a kid be this strong! Al, press down hard on this kid’s back!”

“Yes, ma’am. Kid. I need to see your back for a second.”

“That’s not what you say in this situat— Keueueueuk! Eueueueueuk! Ugh! Let go! Let go!”

“No, ma’am, this boy is really strong.”

“My love. Calm down. It won’t hurt at all. The theory is perfect, and I’ve practiced it several times based on my body. It’s a very elegant magic, you know? You can just count bricks on the floor and it’ll be over soon.”

“Don’t f*cking lie! You’re a crazy b*tch!!

“You’ve got him tight? Okay, here we go. …The origin is inherently the same. There was only addition and division from the root, we all had the same mother god…”

“Stop! Al! Your master is not normal! Please stop that spell! Katie! Are you just going to watch this?”

“Sorry, kid. But becoming a woman, isn’t that a good thing? You’re directly experiencing something that all noblemen only dream of.”

“Why don’t you experience it instead, you b*tch!”

“Kid. It would be good for you to use pretty words, like Manya said.”

“Why you again?”

“I don’t really want to see you spewing profanity with the face of the noble Lady Thermis either.”

“You must all be crazy! You’re all crazy! You bitches, you bastard, you’re all crazy!”

“Haha. According to Lady Manya, gender reversal is only possible when you’re a boy. In the first place, the story of a female-superior society only applies to nobles, so I don’t really want it anyway.”

“Grant me the power to reverse and turn this around……”

“No, I can’t go back to that body! I can’t become a woman again……!”

“…Go back…?”

“Lady Katie, the kid seems a little out of his mind, so let’s just skip it.”

“Let all life know that it is in the spiral and sphere of circulation……”

“No way, it can’t really happen, right? There’s no way it’ll really happen, right? It won’t really happen, right? It’ll fail right away, right? Something will explode and explode, right? You know what I mean?”

“Oh my gosh, kid. Please calm down a little. Something might go wrong if you’re shaking so much.”

“Calm? You’re telling me to calm down!!!! How can I calm down right now!!!!”

“This kind of world…”

“I’ll give you all my fortune if you stop now! Al! Betray this crazy b*tch right now! I actually have about ten gold coins left in my pocket! How about it, that’s almost Aisha’s salary for two weeks, you know? Aren’t you tempted? If you just stop this…… Uueueup!”

“…Who the hell is Aisha? Lady Katie, can’t we cast a stronger anesthetic magic? It’s really harder than I thought. He’s flopping around like a fish at the auction house.”

“…You’re saying harsh things without even thinking, just like Manya. But no. Manya says it’s a delicate magic. I don’t know what will happen if my magic interferes any more than this.”

“My hair is going to be all frizzy! Like in old cartoons! If you don’t want to end up like that, you better stop right now, right? Isn’t that hair all carefully styled?”

“Bestow your knowledge and work a miracle. The caster Bildur Manya declares before the providence of magic.”

“How long did it take me to get this male body back? How many years did it take! No, I even had to die once……!”

“Turn Signo Irendel’s circulation half a turn!”

“No!!!!!!!”

“Ah-choo!”

‘…Master, do you have a cold?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

Yukomis, who was walking at a fast pace, wiped the tip of her nose.

“It’s a little strange. Why am I suddenly getting chills?”

“It was a long day. You haven’t been able to rest since you crossed the mountains and arrived in Kiffol, and you’re still searching.”

“This was child’s play during the Great War. I don’t get tired from things like this.”

“But…”

“I’m fine. Even if I catch a cold, I can cure it quickly.”

“I’m not doubting you, Master, but still…”

“Karat, can’t you understand?”

Yukomis snapped irritably as if she was impatient.

“I’ve already made two mistakes today. The first was getting backstabbed at Manya’s Tower. The second was leaving that brat alone.”

“…Yes.”

“And I really don’t like my mistakes? I want to make up for them and make them disappear as soon as possible. In other words, I’m going to beat up that old woman Manya, and I’m going to beat up that idiot Signo too.”

“Why Signo…?”

“Because he got kidnapped on his own accord!”

Yukomis yelled.

“Eueum…?”
Even Karat, who was full of loyalty, was at a loss for words at this level of unreasonable behavior.

“It’s unbelievable. As if it wasn’t enough that he was kidnapped by that bandit-like bastard? Only a few days have passed and he’s been kidnapped again? Is this a rite of passage that you have to go through once you become his guardian? Is it my turn after Minon?”

“…Ye…es.”

“Is that idiot addicted to being kidnapped?”

Yukomis, who had fully returned to her original personality that she had been restraining, was spewing profanity from her mouth.

Soldiers and citizens patrolling the night streets could have heard it, but Yukomis didn’t care.

It was fortunate that it wasn’t daytime, but late at night.

If everyone knew that the hero of the empire, the unparalleled genius, was uttering such bastard-like words without hesitation, they would have been so surprised that their eyebrows would have stuck to their foreheads.

“But wasn’t it you, Master, who guessed that Signo would be in danger, and who said that leaving him alone was a mistake…?”

“Karat!”

Yukomis brought her face right in front of Karat’s nose.

“Whose side are you on!”

“…I am your eternal servant.”

“Then what should we do here?”

“I think Master’s words are perfectly correct.”

“Good.”

Yukomis, who had been panting, turned her head again.

‘…Lady Thermis must have suffered a lot during her life…’
Karat secretly shook his head.

“Anyway. You heard the soldiers’ answers, right? What did they say?”

“After compiling the inquiries of the guards and patrol officers, there was one suspicious hideout.”

“Tell me.”
Yukomis said without stopping her pace through the back alleys.

“There is an unused passage near the entrance to the southeastern outer wall of the city, heading towards the Wyvern Runway.”

“Continue.”

“It seems to be a passage leading under the wall, but none of the soldiers have ever been inside. It’s like an underground passage, but as you know, abandoned underground passages are often home to monsters.”

“That’s true.”

“So, Bildur Manya only sealed it off for a while after she built a wall on top of the passage and ran Kiffol. However, if a magician wanted to use this place as an underground base, it could definitely be a good candidate.”

“Hmm.”

“But Master, aren’t you heading west of the city right now?”

“Yes. That’s right.”
Yukomis said casually.

“You showed them all the imperial seals and documents, right? You also made it clear that you were a subordinate of the ‘Archmage’ Yukomis?”

“I said it a little exaggeratedly, as you ordered.”

“You also said that imperial troops were coming to Kiffol to investigate?”

“Of course. But why did you emphasize that so much? It’s a lie that the imperial troops are coming, right? Maybe…”

“Yes, it’s because of that ‘maybe’.”
Yukomis glanced at Karat, not hiding her annoyance.

“Do you think that the wall guards didn’t know that a city ruler like Manya was colluding with merchants to commit financial fraud and kidnappings on a regular basis? Suspicious items, untaxed items, and sometimes even ‘people who have become merchandise’ would have been loaded onto the dawn carriages, right?”

“…They couldn’t have not known.”

“In other words, we have to assume that the guards are Manya’s faithful servants, right? And someone must have been taking a cut for not reporting these illegal activities to imperial officials, right?”

“That’s… plausible too.”

“I don’t know what Manya promised them specifically, but the officers won’t be happy about the city ruler changing from a free-spending woman who gave them a lot of money to someone else. Even if they can’t stop it, there’s still something left to extort, right?”

Needless to say, the strongest bond that binds villains together was money.

“That’s why. Those bastards probably sent you to the wrong place, possibly in the opposite direction. They pointed out a place where monsters were likely to be, so that it would be obvious. And someone will be running to Manya’s hideout to report that a pursuer from the imperial family is coming.”

“Ah.”
Karat nodded and admired.

“Then wouldn’t it have been better to follow those soldiers?”

“I already did.”
Yukomis made a scoffing sound with a condescending expression.

“From the moment you left the barracks, I was detouring and tracking his path. He’ll be passing by this road soon.”

Only then did Karat realize why Yukomis was walking so busily even while she was angry.

Sure enough, a messenger with a torch in his hand came into view in the direction Yukomis was pointing.

He was walking at a fast pace so as not to attract attention, but it was easy to see that he was in a hurry.

Yukomis, who was hiding in the darkness of the back alley, narrowed her eyes.

“He’s heading northwest. In the direction of the gate we passed by. It was right that they were trying to send you in the opposite direction. From here, you’ll take the lead and track him.”

“You are sharp as ever.”

“This doesn’t even count as reasoning. Karat, to stand up against vile people, you have to be able to think vilely too.”

“…I will keep that in mind.”

The messenger quickly crossed the main street.

Yukomis and Karat continued to move, hiding in the darkness of the alley from which the main street could be seen.

In order to catch up with the messenger while moving through the winding alleyways rather than the straight main road, it goes without saying that they had to move quite agilely and quickly.

Karat’s main job was to use his body.

However, for most magicians, who were so-called ‘brains,’ it was almost impossible to keep pace with a knight on a nighttime stealth mission.

But she was from the Wyvern Knights commanded by that Thermis,

And there wasn’t a single idiot or clutz among the magicians who belonged to that knight order who couldn’t run and roll properly.

After some time, Karat and Yukomis managed to overtake the messenger slightly, and the main road section finally ended, and the messenger entered an uninhabited area.

Yukomis’s eyes glowed very faintly with a magical light in the darkness.

Karat, who was standing in a corner without a light source, carefully watched his master’s glowing eyes.

It was a signal to maintain silence and communicate during night operations.

Left eye. Blink twice.

‘Prepare.’

Karat waited.

Right eye. Blink once.

…It was a suppression signal.

A surprise attack without a shout. Karat sprang out from a blind spot like lightning and grabbed the messenger by the scruff of his neck.

“Wh— Keuheup!”

And immediately covered his mouth.

Of course, the messenger would resist.

Since only his mouth was covered, he would start hitting Karat with his free arms and legs.

But of course, that didn’t happen.

Yukomis, who had rushed out slightly slower than Karat, put her hand on the back of the messenger’s head.

Karat, glancing at Yukomis, confirmed that her eyes were much brighter than when she was sending signals with her glowing eyes.

That meant that his master was using magic.

“Uueup… uup… eueuk…”

Rapid exhaustion. It was one of Yukomis’s specialty magics.

The messenger, who had lost the strength to stand, collapsed, and only a faint moan escaped from the mouth that Karat had forcibly covered.

It was a nighttime ambush tactic in which a knight and a magician worked together.

And needless to say, they were very exemplary and accurate movements.

That’s because for Yukomis, it was also a tactic created by her sister, and one of the tactics she used most often with her sister.

Yukomis leaned over the collapsed and writhing messenger and began to speak in a cold voice.

“Okay. It’s too bad, but you’ve been completely subdued. You see this blade?”

A dimly shining dagger flickered over the messenger’s head.

It was a dagger that Yukomis had taken out of her pocket.

“Uuup! Uup! Uuup!”

The messenger nodded madly.

“You’re quick to understand. Listen carefully. When I instruct, this person will take his hands off your mouth, but if you scream then, I’ll have no choice but to silence you in a different way. Understand?”

Wiggle wiggle. The tip of the dagger was dancing, reflecting Yukomis’s purple glow.

The messenger’s frightened eyes were also shaking up and down.

“Move.”

Yukomis’s simple instructions.

Karat dragged the limp messenger into the alley.

And Karat and Yukomis stopped in front of what looked like an almost collapsing abandoned store.

Any building was fine. They just chose it because it was a close and suitable building.

When Yukomis grabbed the lock, the rusty lump of iron began to rot with a crackling sound,

And the door opened ridiculously easily.

And Karat threw the messenger into the open abandoned store.

“Cough!”

Clatter. The door closed again.

Now, two people, a man and a woman, like grim reapers, stood tall over the messenger.

“Wh, who… who…”

His voice was almost a whisper, filled with fear.

“It’s none of your business.”

Yukomis said sharply.

“Okay, I still have a dagger, okay? You see it?”

“N…n…..”

“CHE.”

“Y, yes, yes…”

“Since we don’t have much time, let’s keep it short. Where is Bildur Manya’s secret mansion?”

“J…..I…”

“That’s strange? Can’t you see this dagger?”
Wiggle wiggle.

“I, I really don’t kno…”

“Cover his mouth.”

“Yes.”

Karat followed that instruction immediately like a machine,

And Yukomis didn’t say it twice.

“Wh, wha, ugh…ugh, ugh? Keueueueuek! Eueueueueueup!!!!”

She didn’t hesitate and plunged the dagger deep into the messenger’s right thigh.

It was a clean movement with precision and strength.

“Eheuheueueueueueueup! Eueuk! Eup!”

“Okay, let all the pain fly away.”

The messenger, who had been screaming with a blocked voice, felt the pain rapidly subside along with the absurd spell.

And he heard something disgusting and terrible wriggling from his lower body…

But with his limbs tied, he couldn’t turn his gaze to see what it was.

“Okay, okay, pull yourself together. You don’t hurt anymore, right?”

“Uh? Uh…? Euh, how…’
The terrified messenger tried to babble wildly, but Yukomis cut off his question again.

“I’ll ask the question again. Where is Bildur Manya’s mansion?”

“…I, I really don’t kno…?”

“Cover his mouth again.”

“Yes.”

“Wait, wai, wai…… Ooueup…”
Of course, there was no ‘wait.’
Thwack.
Left thigh.
“Keueueueueup!!!!!!”

This time, she twisted the tip of the blade greatly.

“Okay, let’s get all the pain to fly away again.”

Again, a frivolous spell that didn’t fit the atmosphere at all.

And wriggle. Gurgle. Rustle. A suspicious sound…

“Okay, congratulations on surviving stage 2. You can brag about it later. But since I don’t have time right now, it’s hard to slowly show you the taste of it.”

“A, ahe, sniff, heueu, euheuk… who… who in the world…”

Tears were now welling up in the messenger’s eyes.

He couldn’t even speak properly because he was trembling like a person about to freeze to death.

“Let’s skip straight to stage 5.”

“F, fiv…”
Karat firmly pressed down on the messenger’s wriggling limbs at those words.

“According to what I’ve heard, men are in so much pain when their testicles are injured. I was kind of curious if that was true?”

“Th, th…”

“Uh, uh…uh?”
The messenger’s eyes expanded greatly as if they were about to burst.

“Question. Where is Bildur Manya’s secret mansion?”

In the midst of cold sweats, pounding heartbeats, trembling, and a fear that made him feel like he was about to faint, the messenger’s eyes met the eyes of the 괴한 for the first time.

Who is she? Who is she? A woman? A magician? What kind of person…

I don’t know. His head was completely blank due to confusion and fear, and he couldn’t think at all.

Besides, that didn’t matter.

Only those eyes that shone purple from within the hood.

Those fearful eyes.

From those eyes… no humanity could be felt at all.

Just an endlessly inorganic and insensitive eye that a carpenter might have when he was absorbed in his work.

Unlike the frivolous jokes and sarcastic tone, there was no emotion at all on the female Gohan’s face.

“…I…I…”

“CHE?”

“U, uu Uuu…”

“You’re going to come out like that. Okay, here we go again. Cover his mouth.”

“Yes.”

“Aaaaaaaa!!! A! A! Aak!”

The poor messenger couldn’t hold out this time.

“S, speak! I’ll speak! I’ll tell you everything!!”

“Lower your voice.”

The messenger’s voice changed to a small scream.

“Everything, tell you, I’ll tell you! Eheheheuk! Pleathe! Only not thoth! Pleathe not my, testhiclal, testicles…!”

“Fortunately, we’re getting through.”

Hic. Ukeueuk. Ukeueueuk.

Leaving the messenger whimpering in a stifled voice,

Yukomis slowly stood up and wiped the dagger.

It was a businesslike movement without any satisfaction. And then… Yin Prayer,

“…Disgusting.”

Thud.
Throwing the bloody rag she had used to wipe the dagger next to the messenger, Yukomis said coldly for the last time.