To be honest… I didn’t want to kill Lirisia.
I know she tried to kill me and Yeonhwa.
But no matter how corrupted I am… Even if I was a darkened version of myself from the previous world, Shia didn’t want to kill Lirisia.
Even if, as Lirisia said, I had stats and specs just like hers, from start to finish, I couldn’t really harbor a true intention to kill her.
A Seongnyeo is a being that saves, not one that judges and kills.
A Seongnyeo is one that sings of hope, that strives to bring out the light, not one that assumes the worst or embodies the darkness clutched by humanity.
I wasn’t a born Seongnyeo, but rather a self-made one, and I swore to live as a Seongnyeo. I tried hard to do just that.
Even if it was merely copying, I did my best. That’s how I lived.
Wanting to save even a corrupted version of myself…
There was no helping it.
It was only natural.
I just wanted to.
I wanted to.
Thud thud
‘Her face was quite my type.’
It felt a bit off to say I had a type looking at a face exactly like mine, but I don’t always stare at my own reflection, after all.
Even if our faces were the same, the atmosphere felt different, and if I examined closely, there were subtle differences here and there.
However, if Lirisia really had eaten the children here, that would be truly irreversible.
‘But why did she bother coming all the way here? She could’ve just blown up somewhere crowded… ?’
If someone attacked or killed someone right in the middle of the city, whether it was me or Menelapie, we would immediately notice, and instantly the Hunter Association and various guilds would dispatch Awakened Ones, leading to combat. I knew from experience that the horrific abilities of the Mangja Seongnyeo didn’t bring about individual destruction, but instead had a widespread destructive power on a grand scale.
Because I had faced the Dark Lord’s massive forces alone in the previous world.
Nevertheless, the reason why Lirisia came all the way here… If I had to guess, it could be that her powers weren’t fully recovered, or perhaps as a reaction from breaking the seal I placed, her body wasn’t quite normal.
That was also the reason why Menelapie and I had come to this sparsely populated area.
This area had an Erosion Gate that was always open, making security unstable, and low-tier monsters like Goblins, Corn Flies, and Sewage Wolves roamed around, resulting in a low population of people.
I couldn’t imagine any reason for Lirisia to come here; thus, I followed the traces left behind and ended up here at last.
‘If her strength was incomplete… she might be trying to recover quietly without causing any commotion.’
Well, there were no ties here. If an unexpected ambush occurred and all the children in the orphanage met death, it would be much slower to realize than if it had exploded in the city.
This orphanage couldn’t do anything to stop Lirisia except for the electric fence set up to keep out low-tier monsters.
From Lirisia’s perspective, it might have felt like a free meat buffet.
‘Stop, stop. Stop… There’s still no proof that Lirisia has eaten anyone. There’s no smell of blood…’
If there had been a smell of blood, I would have noticed immediately.
Ah… No, could it be that she cleaned up every drop of blood so carefully that there was no smell left?
Please, please.
Let nothing happen.
That’s what I prayed for.
Surely not…
Thud thud
“Oh? Shia?”
“What….”
As soon as I entered the orphanage, I heard the voice that made Shia stumble and stop, like a Weeble righting itself.
The one calling Shia was a woman in neat attire dressed like a nun, so it seemed to be a Catholic orphanage.
And naturally, Shia had never seen this nun before.
The fact that her name came from a nun she had never met meant one of two things.
She was either a Net Runner who had been watching her broadcasts for a long time… or…
‘Lirisia definitely came here…’
Given how the nun didn’t seem afraid of her, it appeared nothing had happened here.
That meant Lirisia hadn’t harmed any children or caused chaos here.
Thank goodness. The worst case did not come to pass.
“I saw you earlier, so why are you here again? Did you forget something?”
Living a free-spirited life as a Mangja Seongnyeo, seeing the neat modern nun’s attire made Shia feel a little ticklish in one corner of her heart, but now was not the time.
“Oh, but did you dye your hair again in the meantime? Or do you have some ability to change your appearance?”
“…I must have a twin.”
“Ah, you have a twin?!”
This was the only way to explain things without causing any suspicion.
“But having a twin is amazing! You’re a Returnee, right? So does that mean your twin is also a Returnee?”
“…Huh?”
How did she know I was Shia? That I was a Returnee?
“Hehe, actually, I watch your broadcasts too. Being busy managing the orphanage doesn’t leave much money for donations, but I’m part of the Mangji Clan, you know.”
…What? Excuse me?
Why is the Mangji Clan popping up here?
“This place always has the Erosion Gate open nearby, making it rather dangerous to go out. The kids have to play inside the electric fence to be safe, so ultimately, the only thing to do here is either labor or watch Hunter broadcasts. So, I randomly switched channels and ended up watching your broadcast from a long time back. Oh, about the nun outfit, don’t mind that. I go to church, but I’m not that devout a nun. I act like a nun in front of my dad and other sisters, but you’re the real Seongnyeo, right? What kind of fake nun can show off in front of a real one?”
Shia went a bit dizzy hearing the nun boast about her own life achievements.
“Anyway, I thought the Shia that came earlier had black hair, so something felt different compared to the Shia I saw on broadcasts. When I asked about broadcasts, you just smiled slightly and didn’t give an answer, so I thought, ‘Ah, maybe it’s confidential,’” but you know, considering Shia’s physique, I mean… the Seongnyeok pouch isn’t very common, is it? That’s why it immediately clicked when I saw your face.”
…I hadn’t exactly measured, but I had never seen anyone over 180 cm tall with a bust of 120-130 after coming to Earth.
Sure, I might find something like that while browsing the internet…
“…Y-Yeah, anyway, that um… my older sister. No, my younger sister…”
“That person is your younger sister? The one with black hair looked more like an older sister, though?”
…
I couldn’t bring myself to call that girl my sister.
Ah, so… Lirisia must have lived longer than me. She had seen much more of the world’s ugliness than me, too.
The fallen Seongnyeo status wasn’t something light to bear.
However, separating the title of sister from such a corrupted being…
This was the first time I was feeling such a terrible discomfort since turning from a man to a Mangja Seongnyeo.
Absolutely not.
Even if it’s Lirisia, she’s still my younger sister.
How dare that fallen woman claim to be a Seongnyeo’s older sister!
“Yes, she is my younger sister.”
So I declared firmly.
“I see….”
The nun didn’t seem particularly convinced, but that didn’t matter.
Menelapie would understand! As long as she knew!
“So, what did my younger sister do when she came here?”
At my question, the Mangji nun shrugged her shoulders.
“Not much. At first, someone startled me by suddenly jumping over the electric fence — I was surprised to see it was you, Shia. I thought it was one of those donations that that streamer often does for orphanages, but then she said she was hungry all of a sudden.”
“………Excuse me?”
No way, that insane girl went to an orphanage to get a meal?!
“It just so happened to be lunchtime, so we ate together with the kids. The menu was stir-fried sausage with vegetables, seaweed soup, tofu kimchi, milk, radish soup, seasoned seaweed, and barley rice. It was something the kids love, so I had a good amount ordered ahead, which was a blessing. Being part of the Mangji Clan, I know Shia’s tastes a bit! So I was a little worried, but surprisingly, she didn’t eat much?”
“….How much did she… eat?”
“Huh? Oh, it’s fine. It was about 18 servings worth on her tray, so there were no food scraps left over, it was a perfect match.”
“……”
As I quietly listened to that, I raised my wrist and turned on Hunter Pay on my smartwatch.
“…I’ll make a donation….”
“Oh my, oh my! I didn’t say that just to get you to donate…”
“It’s an orphanage… I’m sure it must have been hard for you to manage, and my younger sister caused some trouble…”
“I’ll graciously accept the donation since you offered.”
SDVIMVFoanVzY1YwSVhjamMzUkt1ZDFOMXdIclFMRW1PbHovbzljQVJlMktLR0U1THNEWXpGdndGTUNsNDRlZg
Yeah, shouldn’t turn down things like this…
Recently, I had resolved an Erosion Dungeon and had raised a huge sum from the broadcasts, so there wouldn’t be any economic issues. I transferred quite a large amount to the nun’s smartwatch.
For a nun running an orphanage, this would surely be a tremendous help for the kids.
“Actually, the Gallery Master… No, Shia’s younger sister also helped out here and there.”
“Huh? That crazy girl helped with what… no, what did she do?”
“Some unnamed group sent rice, flour, and some bags of milk powder. But they were really heavy, so I left them untouched, but Shia’s black-haired younger sister moved them all. She even played with the little kids for over four hours, you know? She seemed pretty good at handling kids! Seeing that, I thought, a Seongnyeo is truly a Seongnyeo…”
…She played with the kids?
Of course, I liked kids.
I had always liked the innocent purity and cuteness of children even before becoming a Seongnyeo.
But that Dark Star of a mad witch with the children…?
I’d be lucky if she didn’t eat them, and now she had taken care of them for hours?
Even if it’s a parallel world, I couldn’t imagine that scene where she’d provocatively threaten to eat humans while leaving behind a large-scale destruction miracle.
“Was that all…?”
“Oh, near the electric fence, she also killed a few sewage bugs and goblins, as well as some concrete wolves. As you know, this is an outer district, right? Sometimes, we gather donations to request hunts from Hunters, but there are always one or two that manage to survive and wander around. I don’t know if it’s because we have little money, but it seems that some monsters are doing it deliberately.”
“Is it okay….?”
“Huh? Surprisingly fine. The electric fence is working well. The kids go to school via online classes. Whenever they want to go to the bustling downtown, they call a large hovercraft, so they won’t get hurt by monsters, but still, they get anxious since the monsters keep hanging around the fence, so she pulled out a huge tentacle and took care of them. Even without a donation, I was really grateful for that!”
In fact, until that moment, I had been uncertain because of her black hair, but seeing her pull out a tentacle made me know for sure it was Shia!
As the nun said that, Shia let out a breath of relief.
I still had no idea what Lirisia’s feelings or reasons for coming here were.
But… at least the worst scenario I had imagined wasn’t happening.
“Then where did Lirisia… no, my younger sister go?”
“Huh? Didn’t you run into her? Right before you came, she went out in the same direction.”
In the same direction…?
Wait a minute, that direction leads to Menelapie…
“Thank you! I’ll be going now!”
“Yes~ Come again~”
○○○○○
“Hah… Hehe… Oh wow, as expected, it’s the hero. How merciless they are to those in their grasp….”
Menelapie looked down with cold eyes at Lirisia, bleeding black.
Of course, she wasn’t feeling at ease either.
It wasn’t that she enjoyed the slaughter. She didn’t relish the sight of blood.
However, this Dark Star Witch had turned down the chance to live as a human, even with that opportunity handed to her.
The smell of blood emanating from her body was proof. She didn’t even seem to feel shame in her actions, let alone offer any excuses.
She could have chosen to forget the sins of her previous life and start anew, but having committed sins in an orphanage where children gathered… Menelapie thought she was responsible for the lives lost in the process too.
“What’s the last thing you want to say?”
“Would there be such a thing? Uhehe… Hahaha…”
Yet, Lirisia bore no fear of death on her face.
Rather, she looked relieved, as if she was glad she could finally die.
“What are you doing? Hurry up and kill me?”
“……….”
Lirisia’s arm had long ago been severed by Menelapie’s sword.
The evil within Lirisia that would no longer regenerate was seeping from the severed limb, and Lirisia willingly leaned her neck onto Menelapie’s blade, as if presenting it.
“Hurry. Do it.”
“……….”
I can’t. I can’t. I can’t.
If it were Shia, she would have.
But Menelapie was a Hero.
Unlike Shia, she had the role of vanquishing evil.
Menelapie’s Golden Eye closed.
Even with closed eyes, it would be no challenge to cut off the defenseless Lirisia’s neck.
“Why did you do it?”
“What do you mean?”
“I granted you a chance. Why… did you make such a choice again?”
“…Huh, do I need a reason?”
“…..!”
That was how Menelapie heard it.
I’ve already missed the boat.
I’ve fallen.
I’ve been covered in sins.
Yet, to find a reason?
There is no reason.
I am evil now.
So hurry and cut.
Hurry and kill me, Hero.
Menelapie bit her lip and raised her sword.
Bang!!
“Stttttttttttttop!!! Sister, no!!!!”
“Huh?”
“…..Shia?!”
In that moment, Shia grabbed Menelapie’s waist with both hands faster than sound.
Shia’s strength was much stronger than Menelapie’s, so just the velocity she charged in at exceeded Menelapie’s senses.
“Nothing happened! It’s okay! It’s okay!!”
“What the…….”
At those words, Menelapie looked down in bewilderment at Shia desperately clinging to her waist.
“Ugh, what a dirty timing~”
When just a moment ago her voice had been low, now hearing Lirisia’s voice filled with mischief made Menelapie’s brows furrow.
No way this girl…
“Oh, the beginning of a genre always needs a base of despair, regret, and obsession, doesn’t it~?”
It was all intentional…!
Menelapie realized this, seeing Shia who was halting her and Lirisia who had gotten up without a care and her face turned beet red from the embarrassment of being fooled like this.
How could she fall for such a childish prank…!
“Hehehe, if you had killed me and if Menelapie were to regret it with a tear flowing down her face, that would’ve truly been a grand success, don’t you think?”
“Huh, what the hell….!”
Seeing Lirisia’s severed arm reattach itself to her, Menelapie glared at Lirisia with disbelief.
“What on earth were you thinking…?”
“You mean what you’re thinking? I’m not Shia. I’m not Isia anymore; I’m Lirisia now. It’s a prank I’m allowed to do, right? I haven’t crossed the line yet, have I?”
“Of course, you’ve crossed the line! No matter how playful it is, you’ve undergone immense pain with a severed arm! How could you treat that as a mere joke!”
“Wow, you really are a Hero. Even if I don’t die, just this much alone would already be a great success, wouldn’t it? That regret-soaked face of yours is quite something to witness.”
Lirisia, no longer a Seongnyeo or a Mangja, couldn’t use great healing magic, but the evil accumulated on her body was one and the same.
As she caressed the reattached arm resembling a muddy puddle, Lirisia giggled.
That smile carried the same mischievousness as Shia’s.
Though their faces were identical, Lirisia’s was a bit more cruel, and darker.
“Ah, if Menelapie had killed me, it wouldn’t have been an obsession, right? Now, that’s disappointing.”
