BXBX NOVEL Chapter 80 First Encounter
"I will leave her to you, Auria. Remember, you have to exercise carrot and stick on her."
"Yes, ma\'am. I will make sure to do it."
"You have spoiled her too much—other people have started seeing her as a rascal now. We need to stop her from being a complete rascal while we still can."
"But, ma\'am, you are the one—understand, ma\'am..."
"Good."
Looking at the interaction between Eliseus and her daughter\'s caretaker brings me an amusement and pain. The caretaker, after all, reminds me too much of my old self, who has a lot to say but doesn\'t have the courage to.
The way she fails her attempt to utter her defense in each of the blame Eliseus puts on her is really amusing, but uncannily nostalgic. For that reason, I want to laugh as much as I want to cringe.
"I heard from Layland you have been stealing shiny things from people." Eliseus looks seriously at Paulina. "I am really disappointed in you." She shakes her head. "Is it too hard for you to ask for some more money?"
"I can do that—really?!"
"Ma\'am—"
"I believe it is not the correct way to educate her, Eliseus." I sigh helplessly. "Stop giving the money directly to her—let Auria manage it for her. She\'ll be more responsible with her money that way."
Eliseus widens her eyes in realization, then nods at me in appreciation. The blue-haired, busty Cyclops, Auria also looks at me in gratitude as I have said the words she wanted to say but she definitely couldn\'t.
Shrugging lightly at them, I smirk as I look at Paulina\'s forlorn face. I kind of feel bad for the midget, but my sadistic side is too elated to sympathize.
A few more seconds are used by Eliseus to remind Auria not to let Paulina steal anymore. After that, we walk to the city hall, which is not that far away from where Auria stays.
"She is a kind Monster—that Cyclops," I remark.
"Auria? Of course, she is; I am the one who has educated her." Eliseus nods her head lightly. "You wouldn\'t believe it, but she was not like that 20 years ago. I have spent quite a lot of effort on her to make her as well mannered as she is now."
"Did you, by any chance, save her somewhere?"
"Yeah. As you have already seen, she has a \'desirable\' figure. Because of that, 20 years ago, so many slave merchants put their hands on her ... I saved her from those trash, and as you can guess, she wasn\'t very right in the mind that time."
"... Is there a story of this world I can hear that is not depressing?" I mutter funnily. Shaking my head faintly, I continue, "So... is it your hobby—rescuing kids here and there?"
"I have more than once coincidentally encountered kids in the 200 years I have spent my time in the army, but only two of them have managed to live more than a year."
That is a rather weird detail to the answer I didn\'t expect, but I can\'t hold my curiosity back. "What happened to the other kids?"
Eliseus hums to herself briefly before answering. "I mistook them as the enemy\'s children ... Realization only dawned on me after I munched on them."
"... Are you stupid or you are just sick-minded?"
"It was an accident."
"Yeah, for sure," I agree half-heartedly.
My conversation with Eliseus ends afterwards, and since Vibiane also doesn\'t strike a conversation with me, the walk to the city hall is silent ever since.
We spend another minute to reach the city hall—upon arriving there, we can see the Warriors lining up tidily in front of Velucan, who is overseeing the entire troop. The 23 feet Minotaurs duo make the rank look a little bit imbalance, but it is awesome regardless.
Vibiane and I immediately take the last line the moment Velucan quirks his eyebrow at us. Unlike Vibiane, although I am not afraid to be scolded for my tardiness, I still prefer not being shouted at by Velucan after all.
"Eliseus?"
Surprising us, Eliseus lines herself between me and Vibiane. I have thought someone like her would position herself in the front, so I wonder what her motive is.
"I look small when I stand between those Minotaurs." Eliseus lightly frowns. "If I stand here, I don\'t look so small, since only you are taller than me."
"Just for that reason?"
"Looking intimidating is important."
I would like to say that her absolute blank face already makes her look intimidating, but I hold myself back. She must have suffered from the same condition as Vibiane (loner-ass-ness), so she is just excited that she has found a friend.
I wonder, though, why she has never made an attempt to make a friend with Vibiane despite having spent years in the army. Upon looking at the faint blush on her cheek however, I soon get the reason: she was too shy to do it.
\'Why is she looking at me like that though? What kind of flag have I unconsciously evoked?!\'
... I guess?
"My brave Warriors, I have retrieved the Array that we need to seal the territory we are going to conquer. We may now resume our journey, but I still have to remind you..."
I genuinely intended to focus my attention on listening to Velucan\'s speech, but the moment I sense he is about to deliver his corny speech again, like the other Warriors, I click my tongue faintly in annoyance.
I don\'t know if the other Warriors do this too next, but I shut my ears with Mana so I won\'t hear any of Velucan\'s speech. 5 minutes passed like that, and we give Velucan a round of applause for his heartfelt speech when he is done.
"On your left, Warriors!" Immediately, he gives us an instruction.
"Hooh!"
"March!"
After facing the direction where the exit gate of the city is located at, we march with Velucan in lead. Every citizens steps aside, giving us an easy time to pass through the street.
Just like how we were greeted when we arrived here, the citizens send us off with cheers. They wish us luck on our mission, and many of the Warriors in the troop smile at that.
I am one of the very few who don\'t smile, but I don\'t smile because I don\'t like being cheered at; I don\'t feel I have the right to be cheered at. I haven\'t done anything for them, and being thanked for something I didn\'t do doesn\'t sit right with me.
\'Do I want—will I do something for them though?\' I wonder inwardly. \'I don\'t know if I will for the time being—my desire to have my revenge is what drives me after all ... But, who knows what will happen in the future?\'
With the thought about what I will do when I become a Demon King—something that I am not very sure will ever happen—I leave Scentillion City behind.
I have learned many things from the city about what Monster society—Cursed Creations society actually is, so I am excited at the things I might learn at the next place we are going to visit.
...
Half an hour has passed ever since we left Scentillion City, but nothing worthy of note has happened. All of us are silently speeding through the green plain like a bunch of introverts packed in the same room.
I don\'t mind the silence in slightest since I can figure many things I can do with Rexorem, but the faint tenseness on the others\' face slightly worries me. Even the chatterbox Vibiane is also having a serious face—that\'s alarming.
I wonder if something is going to happen. I really want to ask, but everytime I turn my eyes to the side, even before I manage to open my mouth, Eliseus always warns me not to say a word with her eyes.
\'Can I shout out loud just to fuck with them?\'
Being a Demon doesn\'t seem equal to bringing my inner Demon out. I really have the urge to make a noise just to force them to tell me what is happening.
I still hold myself back in the end though, since being beaten up to death by my entire troop is not the idealistic death I have envisioned ... Of course, my curiosity doesn\'t just disappear like that.
Deciding to scan the surrounding to figure out what is actually here, I spread my Mana to cover as much area as I can.
"Holy shit...."
The moment I do so, I immediately experience something I have not experienced for a quite some time. All of the hair on the back of my neck stand on end at the same time the others turn their bewildered gaze at me.
All of them are asking me what the fuck I have just done with their eyes, and that makes me realize that I shouldn\'t have done what I have done.
I realized it late, but the reason why none of them is talking is because all of them are concentrating to prevent their huge amount of Mana from leaking outside of their body. I can do that easily, so I didn\'t consider the possibility.
"Everyone, prepare for battle!"
The ground rumbles loudly as soon as Velucan gives his instruction, and an abomination emerges out of the ground afterwards.