Chapter 219: The Apostle is Cursed

* * *

The old man who had been groaning in pain became quiet.

The sparkle of life could no longer be felt from his body.

The tiny amount of magic power that would constantly leak out if he were alive, if he didn't try to hide it, was gone.

The old man had died.

He had died.

"..."

I close his eyes.

The room is quiet.

No one even stirs.

Amidst that, the first to move was me.

I stand up deliberately.

The old man is dead.

In other words.

It means I don't have to hold back anymore.

Creak!!

The space creaked with such a sound.

Because I had started releasing the magic power... the killing intent that I had been suppressing until now.

Pitch-black magic power leaks out from my body and swirls around me.

The [Intimidation] begins.

"Hiih!?"

Hit by my killing intent, some of the evacuees around me lose consciousness and collapse.

I feel sorry about that.

But I can't hold it back anymore.

I can't hold back the killing intent!!

"..."

I silently stare at the restrained boy and woman.

My [Intimidation], which had been released uncontrollably, converges on the two of them.

"Hih, ah, aaaahhh...!!?"

The boy immediately rolls his eyes, foams at the mouth, and faints.

As for the woman, although she still has that disgusting grin plastered on her face, she's sweating profusely.

One step.

I step forward towards them.

Somehow, I don't know my own strength anymore.

Spiderweb-like cracks run through the floor I stepped on.

Creak, creak, creak.

The creaking sound of space doesn't stop.

I take another step.

And one more step.

Slowly, slowly.

So that the anger filling me doesn't overflow and spill out.

So that it doesn't run out of control.

I proceed slowly, slowly.

"..."

There was someone who obstructed my steps like that.

A small woman with a plain face.

Taiche, a woman who said she came from the Adventurer's Guild headquarters.

Taiche, with a pale face and trembling body, still stood in my way with her arms spread.

"Please calm down."

"...Move."

"What do you intend to do with these two?"

"...Isn't it obvious? I'll kill them."

"You can't."

"..."

"What these guys were thinking when they did this. What's behind it. We have to unravel that. And we have to punish them through proper procedures. Vigilante justice is not allowed."

What's with this woman?

She's in the way.

Should I kill her?

"Jo... no, Giovanno-san must have said it too. 'Stop.' You must not kill."

"..."

But.

But if you say that.

I.

I can't move.

The old man said.

'I must accept it.'

The old man had accepted his own death.

And certainly, he told me to 'stop.'

The old man didn't want to kill them.

Then.

If that's the case.

I can't kill them.

I can't disregard the old man's will.

Tears spill out, plop plop.

"Punishment will be given... it's not a lie, right?"

"Yes. I swear on the honor of the Adventurer's Guild, without fail."

"..."

...I lowered my right hand, which had been poised in a chopping position, limply.

* * *

Watching such an exchange, Viola thought "Yes!" inwardly.

The ability of the eerie black-eyed, black-haired cursed child in front of her was probably not ordinary.

Even Mereucce, whom Viola ostensibly serves, probably couldn't win against her without the god seriously supporting her.

Viola hadn't confirmed this cursed child fighting during her preliminary investigation, so she hadn't realized that she was such a being.

If this cursed child had gone on a rampage, Viola's life would have undoubtedly been lost.

This adventurer from the Adventurer's Guild named Taiche really did a good job.

Convinced that the crisis to her life had passed, Viola smiled again.

("On the honor of the Adventurer's Guild," huh? Aha, do your best!)

Viola wasn't wearing anything that could lead to her true identity.

It wouldn't be seen through immediately who she was.

Definitely not.

And she considered herself a first-class assassin.

She was confident that no matter what kind of interrogation she underwent, she would never talk.

And she had the abnormal ability [Hidden Box] given to her by the god.

If she took advantage of an opening and escaped, that would be the end of it.

There was nothing more that could be done for Narakan.

She should kill him before he blabbed anything unnecessary.

He was a fairly excellent apprentice.

If she gave a signal, he was trained to immediately kill himself.

Sealing his mouth was easy.

However.

However.

Such schemes of Viola's were soon shattered.

"In the first place, regarding who this woman is, we already have a clue. Therefore, future measures will be settled quickly."

The woman from the Adventurer's Guild, Taiche, casually said such a thing!

"...Huh?"

Viola was unintentionally dumbfounded and let out such a stupid voice.

"Your name is Viola. No surname. Currently 33 years old. Is that correct?"

Taiche turned around and pierced Viola, who was lying on the floor, with a cold gaze, asking with conviction.

Goosebumps rose all over Viola's body.

(W-Why!? Why does this woman know about me!!?)

"Why do I know? You're wondering, right?"

Taiche looked down at Viola and snorted as if mocking her.

"That's because you were once an adventurer. I have memorized the profiles of all adventurers of all ranks in the entire world. That's why I'm in charge of headquarters, that's why I'm a special affairs official. Of course, I know about you too."

Taiche began to speak to the dumbfounded Viola.

"You were an excellent scout-type adventurer with a rank of 6. However, five years ago, you suddenly stopped your activities as an adventurer. The guild pays attention to the trends of excellent personnel, so at that point, we lightly conducted a background check, you know? If your situation hasn't changed from back then, aren't you currently still serving in the Runtart Count's household in the Pokkeroce Kingdom?"

Everything is correct.

Viola is an assassin.

No matter how cornered she is, she won't change her expression.

However, her clothes were completely soaked with cold sweat.

Taiche, the special affairs official belonging to the Adventurer's Guild headquarters.

Although she lacked combat ability, this woman was also sufficiently superhuman.

But Viola envisioned a cube in her mind and forcibly calmed her spirit with willpower.

Calm down.

Indeed, unexpectedly, her identity was completely seen through.

But.

But, but, but!

Taiche doesn't know the important thing!

She doesn't know that Viola is an apostle of the Cube God Kakushii!

A god is backing her!

Her actions are the result of the god's will.

She did it because the god told her to do it.

If that's the case.

The Adventurer's Guild will likely proceed with the investigation, assuming that the Runtart household is involved in this incident.

However, that investigation will undoubtedly be discontinued midway.

Because the Runtart household is the house where the protagonist lives, protected by the Cube God Kakushii.

Protected by the power of the god, interference from the mundane world that is not in the scenario will not be allowed.

Viola, as a performer, will also be protected.

If she takes advantage of an opening and escapes, everything will be glossed over afterward and treated as if it never happened.

She can continue working as an excellent dark side maid of the Runtart household.

She'll get an earful from that cube, but that's all.

Viola's current situation is not a threat at all, now that the risk to her life from vigilante justice has been eliminated.

Viola, who had completely regained her composure, puts on a straight face.

From here on, she won't say anything.

She won't move her expression either.

She won't leak a single piece of additional information.

Taiche clicked her tongue and furrowed her brow upon seeing Viola's appearance, which had suddenly regained calmness for some reason.

Viola stuck out her tongue in her mind while looking down on that appearance.

But it was the next moment.

"Guh!!?"

Suddenly, Viola's bangs were grabbed, and her body lying on the floor was forcibly lifted up!

The one who easily did that was the eerie cursed child in question.

The cursed child stares intently at Viola's face with black eyes that can't read any emotion.

"E-Emi-san! Vigilante justice is...!"

"I won't kill. I won't kill. The old man said so. He said, 'Stop.'"

The cursed child's expression doesn't change.

An expressionless face that doesn't know what she's thinking.

She also calmly responds to the flustered woman from the Adventurer's Guild.

There are no signs of going on a rampage.

(...What is this monster trying to do...!?)

Viola also remains expressionless so as not to let her agitation be known.

She doesn't know what the intention is, but as long as she's not killed, she can manage somehow.

"I won't kill them. But if I don't, I still won't be satisfied."

The cursed child said plainly.

"So, they'll have to accept this."

"A-Accept...?"

"Yeah."

The cursed child brings her face close to Viola's face.

Their foreheads bump into each other with a thud.

"My feelings."

The next moment!

The cursed child's magic power that had been suppressed until then!

The killing intent!

As if exploding, it was unleashed, and all of it was poured into Viola!!

"Ah!!? Aaaaaaaahhhh!!?"

Emi's [Intimidation], which can make an ordinary person lose consciousness just by lightly bumping into them.

What would happen if you were exposed to it directly, at close range, and with full force?

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!?"

Viola was now experiencing it firsthand!

Pride, faith, confidence!

All of those that protected her spirit were swept away like twigs caught in a torrent, and her spirit... her soul!

Was swallowed up by the pitch-black, eerie torrent of magic power!!

Kill!!!

Kill!!!

Kill!!!

What resounded in her head was such intense murderous intent from the cursed child!

And furthermore, even the cursed child's thoughts were conveyed!

The communication of intentions through magic power is known to exist as [Telepathy], but what was happening here and now was a primitive and one-sided kind of [Telepathy]!

Forcibly tear her apart and kill her!!!

Chop her to pieces with a hand chop and kill her!!!

Slowly crush her from the tips of her limbs and kill her!!!

In Emi's mind, Viola was killed over and over, over and over, over and over again, in gruesome and brutal ways!

Those images, the sensation of being killed, the pain, even if she refused, even if she refused, were slammed into Viola's soul!!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

Viola screamed!!

Pain as if she were really killed over and over again assaults her entire body!

Terror that never allows resistance grips her soul!!

"Ah..."

And Viola fainted, foaming at the mouth.

"W-Wait a minute, Emi-san."

"It's fine. I didn't kill her."

Emi said that while tossing Viola's body aside.

Yes, she didn't kill her.

She didn't kill her.

But Viola's soul has now suffered a wound that will never heal.

From now on, she probably won't be able to come out onto the battlefield anymore.

Not only that, but with terror engraved in her soul, she may have difficulty even leading a normal daily life, constantly fearful of the shadow of death.

Viola was certainly not killed.

However, she was broken.

But even so, she must live on.

What will continue to torment her relentlessly from now on is the fear of death, and because of that, she is not allowed to escape through death.

Thus, the evil murderer lost her life as a murderer.

In this work, [Telepathy] will be a magic power manipulation technique of the same system as [Intimidation].

I mean, Emi suddenly started unleashing a mental attack without any preparation.

She probably thought, "Ah, I can do this," after making people faint several times.

It's faster to attack directly, so it's unlikely to be used much in the future.