༺ Record ༻
– Rumble! Rumble!!
In the crumbling structure, the Hero Party faced difficulties advancing.
“We must find a way out. If things continue like this, we’ll all be trapped here.”
With closed eyes, the Paladin prayed, and a brief silence enveloped them.
“We can’t abandon the Hero!”
Vener exclaimed, breaking the quietude.
“We’re the Hero Party! Ready to sacrifice ourselves for the Hero at any moment!”
Vener shouted passionately.
“Even if we end up buried, we must stay by the Hero’s side until the end.”
“…The Hero will be safe even if the building collapses. The Paladin and I have taken precautions.”
Arianne interjected, halting Vener’s fervor.
“Our priority should be to ensure the safety of the remaining survivors.”
Arianne shifted her attention, addressing the frightened maids who stood apprehensively in the background.
“Nobles have evacuated, but many maids remain scattered. We must aid them.’’
“Who oversaw the Inauguration Ceremony today.”
“They are from the Starlight Mansion, chosen for their experience,” came the response.
“Hmm, if it’s them, it won’t be a hassle.”
Most of the maids rescued from the building by the Hero Party were indeed servants from the Starlight Mansion.
“But… it’s still too much to drag them around in a situation like this.”
However, no matter how competent they were, they were still quite far from the battle.
“We’re left with no alternative. Our priority should be escaping rather than pursuing Frey.”
Recognizing the difficulty of continuing the pursuit of Frey, Vener clenched her teeth and addressed the group.
– Rumble!!
Another powerful tremor rattled the building, interrupting her speech and causing her to collapse.
“We can’t die like this.”
In the escalating tension, Alice coldly tapped the wall distorted by the spatial distortion spell and muttered.
“I must… confront Frey.”
Her chilling words briefly captivated everyone’s attention.
“I must…”
Yet, no one contested her statement. After all, only a few people actually liked Frey.
“…Your name is Alice, right?”
“Yes?”
However, the building housed a sizable crowd.
“So, why do you harbor such resentment against Frey?”
Isolet, clad in heavy armor and steadfastly moving with the Hero Party amid the collapsing building, posed the question to Alice in a gentle voice.
“Uhm…”
Alice was looking for an exit with the group, but when she heard Isolet’s somewhat probing inquiry, she fell into deep thought.
“He oppressed the commoners, stripped away my freedom, and raped me every night.’’
She spoke in a chilling tone.
“Each night, he comes into my room with those creepy eyes… I can’t bear the revulsion.”
“…Hmm.”
“When I avert my gaze, unable to meet his eyes… eventually, I lose consciousness. And when I wake up, it’s morning.”
Overwhelmed with shame, Alice bit her lip so intensely that it bled.
“I can’t shake the thought of Frey snapping his fingers at me with a relieved expression as he watched the sunrise. I don’t know what happened in the gap between those memories, but… I’m clueless about anything else.”
She concluded.
“………”
An air of solemnity enveloped the surroundings.
“The rumor about Frey coercing the servants has been circulating.”
“………”
“It’s a common topic among the mansion servants who recently joined the Imperial Family. I expected as much.”
In that silence, Vener muttered with a smile.
“It’s almost like a ghost story.”
Isolet contested her statement.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
Wearing a displeased expression, she quietly handed something to Alice.
“Why? What are you… Hm?”
Unintentionally accepting what Isolet offered, Alice began to look puzzled.
“What is… this?”
She held a white ring in her hand.
“Hmm.”
It was the ‘Ring of Purity’ that Isolet discovered from Frey’s clothes when he was miniaturized.
Few knew, but Isolet, who had been tested with the purity stone as a candidate for leading the Paladins, understood how the ring worked.
“… Unbelievable.”
If Frey had violated her in any way, the ring would have instantly turned black.
However, the ring on her hand still shone white.
“… Excuse me.”
Isolet failed to find words in this unbelievable situation. She quickly took the ring back from Alice and gave it to the maids trailing behind them.
“This is making me lose my mind.”
The ring still stayed white.
“… One day, he’ll feel discomfort too.”
Alice and her group hit the blocked exit and walls. As she spoke, Isolet, quiet until then, turned to Arianne.
“You… Do you have a reason to hate Frey?”
“…He took my friend away.”
“But Irina seems to like him.”
“…It’s a spell.”
“I know the last random inspection found no manipulation.”
“……..”
Arianne fell silent.
“Something is strange…”
Isolet began muttering with a frown.
“What are you doing…”
“Vener, why do you hate Frey?”
She asked as Vener approached her.
“I remember seeing you at Frey’s house when you were younger…”
“That was a long time ago.”
“Do you recall eating rye bread with him?”
“……..”
Vener firmly cut her off.
“We’re done with that kind of childish behavior.”
“Hmm.”
“I’ve cut ties with the Starlight family. Now, I am Ruby’s escort knight.”
She spoke with a cold look.
“As for Frey, Ruby’s enemy, I will kill him without mercy.”
“………”
Isolet was silent for a moment upon hearing that.
“That’s right, Frey is bad! We must kill Frey!”
Swish…
Ferloche exclaimed with a serious expression, and Isolet quietly drew her sword.
‘…Frey.’
“What… what is it?”
As she spoke, she began to exude a strong aura.
‘Everyone seems to hate you…’
“Ca… calm down. Not here…”
Taken aback by her reaction, Vener tried to stop her.
‘But don’t worry.’
– Zzzzzip!!
‘I will cut down all that threatens you.’
Suddenly!
‘…I’ll handle them all.’
Isolet’s sword sliced through the air.
– BOOM!!!
“What, what…!”
The abrupt noise and dust cloud startled everyone.
– Whoooosh…
Their mouths gaped open in disbelief as the dust cleared, revealing a shattered wall.
Even the Hero Party, with all their efforts, couldn’t damage the distorted space.
But Isolet shattered it with just her sword.
“Then… let’s go…”
While everyone looked at Isolet as if staring at a monster, she acted like it was no big deal and started walking forward.
“…Eek.”
Soon after, as if her legs had given out, she knelt and slumped over.
“Pro… professor!”
“…Are you alright?”
The flustered Hero Party rushed to her side.
“No, no… I’m… I’m fine.”
For some reason, Isolet, her face noticeably flushed, waved them off and stood up.
“We, well… then… guide the way.”
She began to walk forward, visibly wobbling.
‘Why did…’
Feeling a chilly sensation spreading throughout her body, she broke out in a cold sweat and glanced inside her armor.
‘…Frey, wake up?’
– Rustle, rustle…
As Frey’s Miniaturization Spell wore off, she had to conceal him until the spell’s cooldown was over.
The most suitable place to hide him was inside her large decorative armor.
Initially, she had intended to keep Frey there temporarily.
However, when the Hero Party wanted to inspect the armor, she had mistakenly claimed she was wearing it and missed her timing.
“Hmm…”
Inside the armor, still bound to Isolet, Frey clung to her waist, their bellies pressed together.
“…….”
Awakened by the continuous movement, he looked at Isolet from within the armor with a languid expression.
“Even if it’s stifling, bear with it a bit longer, Frey…”
Isolet gazed down at him with trembling eyes and whispered, mindful of the Hero Party following her.
“I found a way out. If we continue like this, we can escape this building…”
“…Meow.”
“…..!?”
Frey, looking up at her, let out a cat’s meow with a bright smile, leaving her bewildered.
“What, what is this…”
Isolet, not particularly skilled in magic, was unaware of one crucial fact.
After the miniaturization spell’s duration was over, reusing it without any break affected the target as a side effect.
“Grrr…”
During the cooldown period, he would act like the animal he transformed into.
“…Huff.”
However, unaware of this, Isolet displayed extraordinary patience and walked forward.
“Slurp.”
“……..Ugh.”
Inside the armor, Frey, clinging to her, closed his eyes tightly and gently licked her, making her stagger once more.
“”………””
Watching her, Vener and Alice, having received the tracking map from Arianne, exchanged glances.
.
.
.
.
.
“Haa… Haa…”
Her face pale, Roswyn pushed through the collapsing building, breathing heavily.
“What is this…”
Although the spaces were still distorted, many had been destroyed due to the collapsing building, allowing Roswyn to move more quickly.
“What on earth is going on…”
Yet, her heart remained in a state of chaos.
“……..”
The system window suddenly popped up, something Roswyn had been waiting for. Ruby was still speaking to her with a chilling expression, but her mind was elsewhere.
‘The ineffective potion’
‘Those photos in my dream and that wall.’
Helper System
[F ]
“Ugh…”
The window with a portion of a name that had terrified her since earlier; though short, it carried radical power.
‘Could it… refer to… Ferloche…? Haha.’
She forced a smile and mumbled to herself, but she already had a hunch.
“B, But… that doesn’t make sense…”
However, she couldn’t accept it.
“Just today… he attacked the Hero, didn’t he?”
Therefore, she leaned against the window and muttered once more.
[Automatically Recording Evidence……1%]
“Hm?”
She tilted her head upon seeing the message that appeared before her.
[Recording the truths of the world observed by the Helper.
The recorded scenes will help drive away the darkness in the distant future.]
“W, What…?”
And then, as she blankly stared at that message.
– Stop… Stop it…
– Stay still…!
Upon seeing the scene that appeared before her eyes, she looked shocked.
“This is…..”
In the video from the waiting room, Ruby was on top of Frey, pinning him down and licking her lips.
– I don’t want this!
“……..”
Roswyn was left speechless as she heard Frey’s pitiful screams in the video.
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