“No way, what is this...?”
Im Ha-neul.
She felt a mont of confusion upon seeing the scene before her.
The reason she had co today was simple. She just wanted to deliver so information, as usual. Today, however, she had so rather important news.
Then, she suddenly heard a woman shouting nearby in the forest, which piqued her curiosity and led her here.
What kind of crazy person yells in this forest, after all?
But... she never expected to witness such a spectacle.
A woman was stripping right in front of her. Thank goodness she hadn't turned on the stream; she almost got hit with a content warning.
Was she trying to pounce on Yor again, like last ti...?
No, both of them looked too calm for that.
‘Gasp, then...?’
For a mont, her thoughts wandered into that direction. I won’t bother explaining what "that direction" refers to.
However, those thoughts didn’t linger for long, and she soon shook her head.
Given the atmosphere between the two, it didn’t seem like they were at that level of comfort.
Upon seeing Ha-neul, Yor asked her,
“Ha-neul? What are you doing here all of a sudden?”
“Well, I heard so noise here, so I ca to check it out...”
“Yor? Ha-neul? Do you two know each other?”
Then, Niki intruded into their conversation, wearing a sly smile.
“Ahh... Could it be that you’re reluctant to co because of her? Just because you can’t let go of a re lover?”
“L-lovers?!”
“No, what nonsense are you spouting...?”
Yor frowned, looking utterly incredulous.
It was such a far-fetched assumption.
There was no evidence to support it, nor was it even logical. Ha-neul had just accidentally stumbled into this place.
However, such details were irrelevant to Niki.
Her trigger had already been pulled.
‘How foolish to trust soone who is not of your kind...’
In fact, Niki had lived among people for a brief ti after turning ten years old.
Her family, which valued honor, wanted to hide the fact that a descendant of demons had erged from their clan.
Thus, she had been cast out from her ho, but in exchange, she had managed to survive.
As a manifestation bearer, she utilized her physical abilities to beco an adventurer.
After all, she had to make a living. An adventurer who did not care about one’s background suited her perfectly.
It had been quite smooth sailing for her. She made close friends, had juniors who admired her, and even had a man with whom she shared a mutual understanding.
Perhaps with them, she could reveal that she had the "blood of a demon"...
Just how foolish that thought had been was illustrated by her current predicant within the Legeton.
What the hell! Bring an axe!!
Damn it! This demon spawn has been pretending to be human all this ti?!
Honey, I’m sorry, please just spare my life...
Trusting another human is a sin.
It is nothing but greed for a cursed human to hope for normalcy since birth.
As she watched her kin pretend to be ordinary people, she felt sothing dark rising within her.
“Hey, you don’t even know what this guy’s true identity is, do you?”
“?”
That was likely why she so nonchalantly revealed Yor’s true identity.
“That guy is a manifestation bearer. He’s of demon blood.”
“Hey!”
A look of shock spread across Yor’s face. Seeing that, Niki couldn’t help but grin.
Just to clarify, this was her unilateral action.
The Legeton took a stance of keeping information concealed as much as possible.
But she couldn’t understand that logic.
Why should it be that way? After all, if one were to lose their territory, they would inevitably have to join the Legeton.
Of course, there might be initial hostility, but in ti, one would surely co to be satisfied.
“Yor, co to this place! There’s nowhere else for you to belong! We can welco you here!”
She said that, briefly looking at Ha-neul’s face.
Ha-neul was still watching the situation with a blank expression, unable to process what was being said.
A strange sense of anticipation arose within Niki.
Soon, that blank face of hers would be filled with shock and then fear.
Just as she had experienced herself. Thinking that made her feel a thrill of excitent already.
Then Ha-neul opened her mouth.
“Ah... I did it again.”
“...Huh?”
Niki tilted her head at those words. That wasn’t the response she had hoped for.
“Did you keep it a secret because of this? You could have just said so.”
Ha-neul said that and walked over to Yor.
Yor also seed dazed, looking at Ha-neul with a bewildered expression.
“It’s not the way I hoped for, but at least I’ve learned a secret.”
Ha-neul’s face bore an expression that indicated she had already anticipated this.
Im Ha-neul, she wasn’t foolish.
Although she hadn’t been particularly good at studying in school, she could at least tell that Yor was hiding sothing.
From their very first eting, it was apparent he had many secrets.
After all, living in this forest was already strange, and he avoided questions related to himself with extre caution. During their last fight, he had logged out, and there had been tis when he was covered in blood; there were plenty of oddities to find.
However, since he seed unwilling to reveal anything, she had been enduring the frustration until now.
‘Blood of a demon...’
That term was sothing she recognized.
It was a concept that had strongly imprinted itself in her mind since the first incident. She knew how dangerous it was and how sensitively the NPCs in this area reacted to it.
But aside from that... she felt pity.
After all, they didn’t choose to be born this way.
‘So that’s why you’re here in this forest...’
She looked at Yor with sympathetic eyes for a mont.
“This, this can’t be!”
At that mont, Niki raised her voice. Her face was filled with malice. It seed she was quite displeased that things weren’t unfolding as she expected.
Niki, fuming, asked,
“I lost everything, so why are you reacting so nonchalantly?!”
“...Why is that?”
It was Yor, not Ha-neul, who responded to that question. He too was taken aback by her utterly calm reaction, but he had so idea of what was coming.
There could be many reasons. For her, as a being from another world, this place might simply be a ga, and that could be one reason. Or it could be the difference in perception stemming from the differing civilizations of Gaia and the other world. Or maybe it was just that there was little information about the "blood of a demon."
But instead of listing those reasons, Yor provided a more straightforward and provocative answer.
“It’s because I have a penis, and you don’t.”
“...What?”
“Huh?”
At Yor's words, question marks popped up above the heads of both won, as if they were wondering what nonsense this was.
But he wasn’t going to back down from his assertion.
Being born as a man in this reversed world was a big deal. Simply having a stick down there raised your appeal!
Emotions are a very important criterion for humans, and attractiveness scores have a significant impact on those emotions. In other words, having a penis was an extrely significant fact.
“No, that can’t be!”
“Feeling wronged? Then you should have been born with one too.”
“That’s impossible!”
“No! Accept reality! Your lower half has no value!”
It was the fault of the one who had been born a male in this reversed world. Or rather, they shouldn’t have been living in a reversed world in the first place.
Yor’s mockery caused Niki to explode with anger. Being a manifestation bearer, her ntal state didn’t seem particularly stable either. Her reaction to such a light provocation was telling.
“...”
Now turned into a mute, Ha-neul simply stood there, dumbfounded.
However, after a mont of such mockery, Yor regained his seriousness and spoke again.
“Now, I should probably tell you why I’m not going to go there.”
Niki wasn’t wrong.
“As you said, going there would indeed allow to live more comfortably.”
The forest wasn’t particularly comfortable, after all. I could roughly understand why she had joined the Legeton.
Although there were many enemies in the Legeton, to manifestation bearers, the whole world was essentially an enemy.
Whether for survival or for the sake of quality of life, joining a group was a rational choice.
“But there, they worship demons.”
He continued speaking, a strange heat rising within him.
“I can’t accept that at all. Ultimately, the ones who twisted my life are those damned demons.”
That was the stance of the people here. It was frustrating, but I could reluctantly understand it. After all, it was true that their lives would be threatened if they beca demons.
But the demons were different. Thinking about the rampage I faced every month, I felt my teeth clench. What were those beings? Just how remarkable were they to drive countless people into suffering?
“But hell... you want to join a cult that worships those beings? Am I so kind of dumb fool? I’m not a neighborhood dog looking for a master; why should I do that? I’d rather bite my tongue and die.”
It was quite an extre expression. Ha-neul looked at Yor with wide eyes upon hearing those words. And she could see it. He was extrely angry.
While she had seen him annoyed before, it was the first ti she had witnessed such a fierce atmosphere. That ant he had a lot of pent-up feelings inside.
“If you understood, get lost. The only reason I’m not killing you now is out of respect for kin.”
“...Damn.”
With that, Niki silently left. After all, she realized it would be pointless to try to persuade him further.
Thus, what remained were just Yor and Ha-neul, in a sowhat awkward atmosphere.
“...” “...”
A mont of silence passed.
With a sigh, Yor mustered the courage to speak to Ha-neul.
“Sorry for showing you sothing unpleasant. If you could just keep what you heard today...”
“Keep it a secret? Don’t worry, I can definitely do that.”
“...Thanks.”
Yor fumbled over his words several tis. Various emotions, such as anxiety and concern, stirred within him.
He was going to emphasize it a few more tis, but he decided to stop. He felt that speaking would only make him seem more foolish.
The only undeniable fact was that the number of people sharing secrets had increased. But surprisingly, unlike his expectations... it didn’t feel as bad as he thought.
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