"Ah, where are we, and what happened?"
"Hmm?"
Angelica, who had just woken up, was disoriented, trying to remember what had happened before she fell asleep. She found herself on a double bed in the inn room where they were staying, with Eva peacefully snoring beside her.
'What happened? The last thing I remember is that we returned to the village and had breakfast, but I can't recall anything else.'
While attempting to grasp the situation, a scream from the next room pierced the air.
'That's Natasha's voice!'
Acting swiftly, Angelica grabbed Eva's arm, still in a deep sleep, and hurriedly dragged her towards the source of the scream.
Leaving their room, they made their way to the front door. Angelica, without hesitation, kicked it open. On the contrary, Eva, still half-asleep with drool escaping her mouth, yawned.
"Please, calm down for a second, and let me explain!"
Angelica, hearing another scream from Natasha, rushed into the room, ready to intervene. However, the sight that met her was unexpected.
In front of her, Jessica stood over Natasha, left hand gripping the top of her coat, right hand poised for a punch. Judging from Natasha's red cheek, it was evident that Jessica had already struck her at least once.
"STOP, JESSICA!!!"
Angelica yelled, witnessing the odd scene of Jessica assaulting the person who was supposed to be caring for her. Startled by Angelica's cry, Jessica halted her punch and turned towards them.
"Angelica, Eva! It's good that both of you are fine-! Ahg -!!!"
Jessica couldn't finish her sentence as Natasha headbutted her hard in the face, blood trickling from Jessica's nose. Natasha, seizing the opportunity, grabbed Jessica by the hair and tossed her aside, allowing herself to stand up.
Originally, Natasha would have had no chance against someone like Jessica, who had undergone rigorous military training. Despite Jessica not specializing in combat, her constant mana user training kept her formidable.
However, a headbutt to a vulnerable area like the nose proved effective, and the hair, an area not strengthened through regular training, provided Natasha an advantage.
"Ahg-! Damn bitch!!!"
Jessica suffered damage from Natasha, but before the fight could escalate further, Angelica intervened.
"NATASHA, JESSICA, STOP FIGHTING NOW!!!!!"
With a firm and threatening tone, Angelica, placed between them, used her telekinesis on their clothes to immobilize them. The strong impression helped quell the fight.
"Angelica! This girl was next to me when I woke up suddenly in this room. Since none of you were here, I thought something bad had happened while I was asleep, so..."
Jessica, somewhat nervous, attempted to explain herself. Angelica, however, was shocked to see Jessica act so recklessly.
'She attacked Natasha just because of a misunderstanding? I didn't know Jessica could act so irrationally. It's even a bit cute if we put aside that she hit Natasha...'
"Jessica, I understand that you acted out of fear. However, Natasha is a villager who decided to help us in our mission by taking care of you while you were sick, even if she was exposed to danger. So, I think she deserves a proper apology."
"Ahg... She was taking care of me?"
Jessica was clearly shocked, her surprise turning to shame for what she had done. Kneeling on the floor, Jessica begged for Natasha's forgiveness.
Natasha, after a moment, responded with clear hostility, "Ahgg! Well, I accept your apology!"
Natasha was still upset with Jessica, but her unique ability allowed her to instantly discern the sincerity of Jessica's apology. Despite her hostile tone, Natasha accepted the apology.
"Well, thank goodness the misunderstanding was cleared up. But changing the subject… Do any of you know how we ended up in this situation?" Angelica asked.
The four women looked at each other. "For my part, I've been asleep the whole time, so I have no idea what happened..." Jessica said, embarrassed.
"It's not your fault, Jessica! You were feeling very sick because your ability reacted to the Chimera's presence!" Eva tried to console Jessica.
"Chimera?"
"Ah, it's a long story, but in short, a criminal organization was conducting experiments on the male villagers of this village, and they created a chimera. Your power reacted negatively to the chimera's presence and caused you to get sick..."
Eva's explanation had a more significant impact on Natasha. "Experiments on the male villagers?!" Natasha was horrified by the revelation.
"B-But, in that case, my father!"
Natasha had contemplated the possibility that her father was dead but held onto the hope that he might have been sold into slavery or had a painless death. The realization that he might have been used as a test subject shook her.
"The good part is that we've already taken care of all the bad guys! I'm sure your father can rest easy knowing that the culprits behind everything are already dead," Eva tried to uplift Natasha's spirits.
Returning to the main concern, Angelica said, "It's certainly very tragic what happened in this village, but what should concern us most at this point is how we ended up here!"
Natasha, now back to herself, added, "A-Actually, Jessica and I were previously attacked!"
"What?!" The other girls exclaimed in surprise. Initially, Angelica and Eva feared remnants of the criminal group had attacked them.
"No! The people who attacked us were not those criminals..."
Natasha hesitated before continuing, "...They were villagers."
Upon Natasha's revelation, Angelica pieced together the events in her mind. The villagers had turned hostile towards them, and the last thing she remembered was eating at the village chief's residence. The reason for the villagers' hostility became apparent.
- Brmmm-!
A noisy sound, resembling a waterfall, interrupted their conversation. "Follow me!!!" Angelica yelled to the group, and they rushed out of the building.
Outside, they encountered a bewildering sight. "W-What is this?" Natasha couldn't comprehend what lay before her— the main street littered with the corpses of villagers.
However, the most astonishing aspect was that, from one moment to the next, the corpses lost their forms and disappeared without a trace. It was as if they transformed into a liquid state and evaporated into the air. Shortly after evaporating, a red vapor lingered before dissipating.
"A-Angelica, this is..." Eva began.
The other girls, having witnessed this phenomenon during the Great Demon War, recognized it. "Yes, Jessica... This is Gluttony, Geronimo's ability."
[ Gluttony ]
One of Franz's Anti-Human sword skills, it allowed the sword to devour the corpses of enemies killed within a certain range, granting mana and stamina proportional to the number of people killed.
As the girls stared in shock, Franz walked toward them nonchalantly with a satisfied expression. "Oh, you guys already woke up!"