Chapter 67 : Chapter 67
Volume 1
Chapter 67 : The Love God’s Whisper (7)
“Fine. I’ll go with you.”
As if possessed, Muen said it out loud.
“No—”
Ann froze for an instant in shock, then immediately rebuked him in a stern voice:
“Young Master, you cannot come with me!”
“Why not?”
“This has nothing to do with you, does it? There is no need for you to take such a huge risk for my sake!”
“Who said it has nothing to do with me, and who said I’m going for your sake?” Muen said with a light laugh.
“What?”
“The truth is, I suddenly remembered that I still owe that girl Eluka a meal for the favor she did me.”
Muen turned his head and looked at the enormous grotesque monster.
A trace of sadness rose in his eyes.
Strictly speaking, Eluka was probably the first friend he had made after coming to this world.
Well, he had eaten at her house before, so that counted as friendship.
He just had not expected that while he was busy roasting fish, she would end up like this.
Fate truly made one sigh.
And loathe it.
“Since she was my friend, then I have the duty to see her off on her final journey.” Muen planted his hands on his hips and declared boldly, “No one has the right to stop me. Not even you, Ann.”
“But... you still can’t!”
Ann stood up and stubbornly blocked his path, speaking with utter seriousness.
“That would be far too dangerous. I promised the Master and Madam that I would protect you, Young Master, and never let you come to harm!”
“Protect me?”
Muen tilted his head and said softly:
“But Ann, haven’t you always wanted to hurt me?”
“Hurt you? I haven’t.”
“Drugging me, ambushing me, imprisoning me, even wanting to cut off my limbs. Weren’t those all things you’ve done, or at least thought of doing? Are those not harmful?”
“I...”
Ann stopped short.
It was because of love. Because of love, she had done those things to the Young Master.
If it had been the Ann of the past, she surely would have said exactly that.
As though it were the most natural thing in the world.
But looking at Muen’s calm gaze, looking at the monster raging in the distance, hearing in her ears the hoarse wails of those hundreds of people and Eluka’s frenzied words...
Ann found that she could not say those words no matter what.
It was as if the moment she did, Eluka would be standing in a pool of blood piled high with corpses, grinning savagely as she said to her:
“See, Master? You’re just like me.”
I’m not.
I’m not.
I’m not.
“Please, Young Master.”
And so, in the end, all Ann could do was beg.
“Don’t go.”
“If something happens to you too...”
“I would never forgive myself, even in death.”
Clutching tightly at Muen’s clothes, Ann pleaded through her tears.
“Please, Young Master...”
“Ann.”
Muen lowered his head and looked at the crying girl.
He was silent for a moment.
Carefully studying her in this state.
Then he suddenly raised his voice and shouted:
“Ann! What is the first rule of Campbell family maid conduct? Tell me loudly!”
“Yes!”
It was almost a conditioned reflex.
Muen’s words drew out the instinct that had been engraved into Ann’s bones through long years of repetition.
And so, it was as though she had returned to those mornings when the former Head Maid gave her lectures.
Ann straightened her back, tall and firm as a pine.
She lifted her head, squared her chest, and said in a loud voice:
“The first rule of Campbell family maid conduct: other than bowing to one’s master and guests, one must always stand straight!”
“That’s right. Straighten your back, Ann.”
Muen patted Ann on the shoulder, then smiled as he smoothed out her messy bangs, tucked the damp strands clinging to her cheeks behind her ears, and adjusted her maid uniform, slowly flattening every wrinkle.
Until Ann once more looked the way she did in his memory.
Dignified, elegant, capable, composed.
“Isn’t this more like you?”
“Young Master...”
“All right, stop crying. I know you’re worried about me, but haven’t you been saying it a lot lately? That I’m different from how I used to be.”
Muen lowered his head slightly and met Ann’s eyes. With a gentle expression, he said:
“I’m sorry I can’t become the person you wanted me to be. But haven’t you seen it too? I am no longer that useless Young Master.
Yes, I still only have those same three tricks I can rely on, but I was able to escape from your hands, Ann, and I was able to escape from that monster too.
Running away is my specialty, so even if I can’t win, I can still run.
In some ways, I’m even better than you.
So don’t worry, all right?”
“But...”
Ann stared blankly at Muen.
She still wanted to say something.
But Muen suddenly raised a finger and pressed it to her lips.
“No arguing. That’s an order from your Young Master.”
Ann fell into a daze.
Though it was an order, those words were incomparably gentle.
She looked at Muen, slightly absent-minded.
The sunlight fell over his golden hair, bathing it in a hazy glow.
The breeze brushed past him, making even his brows and eyes seem bright and radiant.
Those clear eyes, pure as a lake, seemed as if they could pull in her very soul.
Yes, the Young Master had changed.
In a single night, he had completely strayed from the path she had prepared for him.
He had become diligent, gentle, cunning... and a little foolish.
To actually face corruption by an evil god of his own accord—such a thing would have been utterly unimaginable for the old him.
It was as though he had become a different person.
But why was it that this version of him, one that had completely strayed from the image she had wanted, drew her gaze so irresistibly?
He was so dazzling, Young Master.
With tears in her eyes, Ann looked at him as though staring directly into a blazing sun.
...
“All right, let’s go.”
Seeing that Ann had finally been persuaded, Muen gave a soft smile.
He swung his arms and loosened up his body.
Then he walked straight toward the hideous monster without looking back.
He said:
“Let’s go bring salvation to your disciple, my friend, our dear Miss Eluka!”
...
...
“Ahhh, I’m doing this againnnnn!?”
High in the air, a hundred meters above the ground, Muen stood on top of an enormously long metal pillar.
Seeing that there was no one around, he clutched his head and thrashed about wildly like a man in the middle of some kind of mental breakdown.
“My damn chronic suicidal impulse syndrome!”
It had been the same with Selicia, and now it was the same again.
There had obviously been better paths to choose, yet he always ended up charging headlong down the road most likely to get himself killed.
He cherished his life so much, so why was it that at the critical moment, he always lost control of himself?
“Heh. I freeze the moment I see a pretty girl crying. I guess that makes me a pervert in a rather unusual way.”
Muen let out a light sigh.
Still, compared to last time, this time was at least a little different.
At the very least, he would not be as powerless as he had been before.
...
“Listen, Ann. I’m going to tell you what we need to do.”
“First, after being corrupted by an evil god, Eluka can’t be killed by ordinary means. I think you’ve already experienced that yourself.”
“So our goal is not to waste energy trying to kill Eluka or wake her up. It’s to find the source of the corruption—the medium through which the evil god cast down its power.”
“A ring, a necklace, a statue—there has to be something like that. An evil god can’t bestow power out of thin air. The laws of this world don’t allow it.”
“The source must be somewhere near Eluka, so I need you to use your ability to carve a path for me.”
“You open the way and help me block the monster’s attacks, while I use my mobility and flexibility to get close to Eluka, find the source of the corruption, and destroy it!”
“That’s the plan!”
...
As he recalled the plan he and Professor Ann had discussed not long ago, Muen let out a slow breath.
At a moment like this, he really was grateful that he had read the original novel.
That was the only reason he knew how to deal with an evil god.
But... this was still impossible to treat lightly.
Because the more he knew the original novel, the more clearly he understood how terrifying that thing was.
“...I guess there’s no choice but to go for it.”
Muen spread his arms, sank his Qi into his dantian, then shouted at the monster in the distance that was still splashing around in the water:
“Hey—Everyone, eyes on me! I’ve got an announcement to make!”
“Huh?”
Hearing the sound, the monster twisted its body around, and hundreds of faces turned to look at him all at once.
Then it suddenly charged over.
Eluka cried out in delight, “Mr. Muen, have you finally come to accept my love?”
“I’m never accepting your love.”
Muen raised his middle finger and laughed loudly.
“Because—I’m a paratrooper! Hahahahaha!”
And with that, Muen leaped down.