Chapter: 318
“Hello! Long time no see, Eva.”
The girl with dark violet hair suddenly appears and greets me.
The Witch of Sloth, Beatrice.
Seeing her smile in front of me sent chills down my spine.
…Witches can sense each other’s power, so how did she manage to sneak up on me without me noticing?
I couldn’t tell if she had used some ability or what, but whatever the case, it was incredibly creepy.
It meant that I could have been attacked while I was completely defenseless just a moment ago.
But…
I gulped and stared at her.
The fact that she hadn’t attacked me despite being able to was a good sign. It meant Beatrice had no intention of attacking right now.
Thinking back, even though we’d crossed paths several times, she had never attacked me directly.
So I decided to keep my cool and asked Beatrice.
“…What brings you here, Beatrice?”
“Hehe, you remembered my name, I’m so happy! But it’s a bit disappointing you won’t call me Bea.”
She answered my question without actually addressing it and smiled widely.
What the heck, are you saying I need to call you Bea to get an actual response?
I was slightly annoyed by this ridiculous demand, but I inhaled and tried to calm down.
I’ve never understood why she’s so obsessed with that nickname, but there was no point in getting on the nerves of someone like her.
Especially since we were close to the city.
So I thought it’d be best to swallow my pride and adjust a bit, and asked Beatrice again.
“What I meant was, what are you doing here… Bea.”
“Hehe, I like that you catch on quickly.”
As soon as I said Bea, she smiled happily as if it was a great reward before answering.
“So, what brings me here… Hehe. It’s nothing much, I just thought you looked troubled.”
“…Troubled? What do you mean?”
She spoke as if she knew all about my situation.
I shot her a glare, feeling slightly offended, and Beatrice smiled slyly as if she were teasing me.
“The Witch of Gluttony, right? She’ll be waking up soon, so that’s a big deal, isn’t it?”
“Uh…! How do you know that…”
Hearing the name of the Witch of Gluttony from Beatrice’s mouth hit me right in the guts, and I couldn’t help but flinch.
How does she know about that?
I guess it makes sense—witches can sense the power of the Witch of Gluttony, who’s getting stronger in her seal even now.
But anyway, that’s a problem on our side, so it has nothing to do with her.
Thinking that, I glared at Beatrice and shot back.
“…That’s true, but what does it have to do with you? Are you saying you came here because of the Witch of Gluttony?”
“Hehe, not you, but Bea!”
Beatrice giggled and muttered that before nodding and answering me.
“Anyway, you got it. That’s the reason I’m here!”
So she came because of the Witch of Gluttony.
I couldn’t grasp what she meant at all, so I just continued to stare at her silently. She continued as if explaining.
With an incredibly calm expression.
In a voice that said it was no big deal.
“When she wakes up, everyone, including you, Eva, will die. You’ll be wiped out without being able to fight back against the overwhelming absurdity, just like the way the world has always been. It’s natural for something like that to happen again.”
Beatrice said.
“So, I came to see. If it’s going to end so pathetically, I thought maybe I could end it myself.”
“…Huh?”
After hearing Beatrice’s words, I managed to let out such a strange sound.
What she had just said felt far too horrifying compared to the calm demeanor she presented.
Wait, did I just hear her right?
This girl just said she came to end us herself…
While I was still baffled by that sudden and shocking declaration, Beatrice spoke before I could gather my thoughts.
“But you know, it wouldn’t be fun to end it like this, right? So I’m going to give you a special chance. Let’s play hide and seek one last time.”
“Hide and seek…?”
“Yep! I’ll hide, and you try to find me. If you find and kill me, you win. Hehe, it’s totally unfair for you to just find me and then kill me. Don’t you think?”
Her absurd suggestion of playing hide and seek was so unexpected that I couldn’t even react before Beatrice kept going.
“If it’s completely unfair, you won’t want to do it, so I prepared a reward! I hear you’re looking for those sacred remnants? If you beat me, I’ll tell you where they are!”
“W-Wait… Sacred remnants?! Is that for real?!”
In the midst of her nonsensical rambling, I was taken aback when I heard her mention revealing the location of the sacred remnants.
After all, being in a situation without any way to find them makes such information incredibly valuable.
Seeing my interest spark, Beatrice smirked and replied.
“Looks like you’re interested! It’s true! The sacred remnants are buried near the dwarves’ cherished building for hundreds of years.”
“So where is that? Tell me quickly!”
I shouted in desperation since I was already stressed out by the situation concerning the sacred remnants, but Beatrice just shook her head with a smile.
“Hehe, no way! I said, didn’t I? If you win in hide and seek, I’ll tell you where they are. So, are we going to play hide and seek?”
When she asked if we’d play, I was about to nod without thinking, but then I hesitated.
Sure, the information about the sacred remnants was tempting, but I couldn’t simply trust what she was saying right in front of me.
How could I trust her?
She suddenly shows up saying she’s going to kill us and then flips to wanting to play hide and seek.
For all I know, she could be trying to lure me out to attack the city while I’m away.
I was deep in thought when Beatrice suddenly added.
“Of course, you won’t have the option to refuse.”
Suddenly, my hands began trembling all on their own.
Feeling odd, I looked down at my shaking hands.
But strangely, it wasn’t just my hands; my arms and legs were shaking too.
Before I knew it, my entire body was shaking like a reed in the wind.
And that’s when I realized.
“…Huh.”
I had been holding my breath this whole time.
The cause was the fierce aura that Beatrice suddenly emitted.
It was unbelievable.
Just moments ago, I hadn’t felt anything, but now…
I was swamped with the thought of dying, dying, dying, dying, dying, dying…!
My body instinctively shrank back in fear as if I were prey in front of a predator.
Having crossed paths with her a few times, I guessed she was powerful from the aura I felt back then.
But only today did I understand.
What I felt back then was only a fragment of her true self.
I realized how foolish my earlier thoughts had been.
What? I thought she’d lure me out to attack the city?
Am I an idiot?
Did I really think of that against a monster like her?
With fear making my legs back up instinctively, the monster took a step forward, grinning as she said.
“Eva, do you know what happens if you refuse?”
I felt the cold sweat pouring down my body like a waterfall at her words.
I couldn’t breathe.
I superimposed the monstrous figure before me with the Witch of Gluttony I had seen yesterday.
Overwhelming despair, an unavoidable disaster.
When such a being spoke, I deeply felt the truth in her earlier “special opportunity” remark.
-■■■■!!!
-■■■!!
Just then, sensing a massive energy threatening me, I noticed the Fury Beasts rushing over.
Seeing them approach, I strained my voice, which felt like it wouldn’t come out.
“D-Don’t come…!”
However, the monster merely laughed, looking at them as they neared.
“Refusing means this will happen to you today.”
And in that instant, the Army of Flames, which had rushed to save me…
-■■────
-■─────
Was obliterated by something descending from the sky.
“NOOOO───!!!”
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