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༺ Repaying His Kindness ༻
"Ma… Master…"
Lulu, looking lost, weakly knelt on the ground.
''Master…''
She gazed at the tragically collapsed building.
"A-ah…"
Witnessing the devastating scene, she couldn't believe it but couldn't deny it either. Clutching at the dirt, a hollow sound escaped her.
"Ahhhhhhh….."
Her beloved master, the one who saved her, was now buried beneath the ground. Lulu struggled to accept this harsh reality.
"The Saintess…!"
"Princess Clana hasn't come out yet…!"
"And Lady Serena…!"
Newly awakened survivors murmured as they were carried out, but such talk didn't matter to Lulu.
Her master was more important than anything else.
– Sob… Sob…
She shed tears with her head lowered and realized she was scratching her shoulder with her nails.
"…Ah."
Traces of the Stigma of Misfortune still lingered.
– Grip…!
Holding onto that hateful mark, possibly the cause of this disaster, Lulu forcefully scratched her shoulder and looked down at the ground.
"....."
A sharp piece of glass lay on the ground.
"No, not yet…"
Lulu instinctively reached for it but shook her head, standing up.
"I need to… find Master…"
There was a slight chance her master was still alive, making time crucial.
Despite dreading the possibility of her master's death, she had to find the body for a funeral and burial.
That was her duty as a pet.
"All… all of you… follow me…"
Staggering toward the collapsed building, Lulu directed the puppets and used her Magic Eyes to scan the ground.
– Sizzle, sizzle…
Due to the overuse of her Magic Eyes, they were overheating, and sparks flew out.
"Ugh…!"
Instead of being bothered by the pain from overheating, Lulu felt frustrated at the decreasing efficiency of her Magic Eyes.
– Zap… Zap…
Nonetheless, she persisted, focusing on visible signs of life and digging with her puppets.
"Here, here…? Is it here…?"
Watching the scene, Roswyn joined Lulu with eyes wide open.
"Ma, Master…!"
A human leg protruded from the debris. Through her blurred Magic Eyes, the figure seemed to match her master, unmistakably a living person.
"I'll, I'll get you out now!!"
"Uh, ugh… F, Frey… It's, it's my fault…"
While Roswyn was panicking, Lulu felt hopeful as they both dug into the ground.
"Cough, cough…"
""...….""
They eventually got the person out, and both froze simultaneously.
"Hmm…"
Emerging from the rubble was none other than Ruby.
– Crumble…!
"Cough."
Glaring down, Lulu struck her master's foe with a stone, angered by the audacity of wasting her time. She buried her back in the rubble before standing up.
"Master….."
With that, she left to locate another vital signal elsewhere.
"F, Frey… I… made a mistake…"
Watching blankly, Roswyn soaked the ground with her tears.
.
.
.
.
.
"Eh, ehuh… hng…"
After quietly shedding tears with her head bowed, Roswyn eventually staggered to her feet.
– Step, step…
Slowly, Roswyn surveyed the ruins of the collapsed building.
"Uh…"
The surroundings were eerily silent. There were no faint screams, no signs of stirring in the pile of debris.
Only absolute quiet prevailed.
– Thud…!
Roswyn's legs gave out, and she collapsed to the ground.
Helper System
> Identity of the Hero
– The identity of the Hero, as you know, is… [Data Deleted]
[Reason: Authority of the God in Charge]
Unlike before, she stared blankly at the Hero's identity, now marked [Deleted].
"....."
Even though it appeared this way now, what she had clearly seen before was the letter 'F.'
Roswyn used to believe that the Hero's name was Ruby, only to find out that name didn't have the character that had been troubling her for some time.
When it had just been the letter 'F,' she had somehow kept her composure.
She realized Ruby wasn't the true Hero, and someone with the letter 'F' was the real protagonist she should serve.
Of course, many people in the world had names with the letter 'F,' making it a challenging task.
Furthermore, upon seeing the message that she had reached the Hero who had emerged from the basement where a girl rescued her, she saw Ferloche deploying a protective barrier throughout the basement.
She believed she had found the right person to serve again.
However, she witnessed something unexpected.
Behind Ferloche stood a man emitting an unknown power, and the letter 'F' appeared in the system window.
Although the man remained unrecognizable due to a magical cover, the presence of 'F' was enough to terrify her.
Among those she knew, the only one with the initial 'F' was Frey.
Of course, around the world, many had names with 'F,' so assuming Frey was the Hero solely based on that seemed foolish.
Frey's actions and the contradiction with typical Hero behavior left her uncertain.
"That, that video…"
Recalling the system video, Roswyn had to reconsider.
Contrary to widespread rumors, Ruby was the one who attempted assault.
Frey was pinned beneath her, appearing vulnerable with tears and feeling helpless.
Ruby held Frey down, kissing him briefly, while he resisted and struggled.
Frey was the victim, and Ruby was the aggressor.
Strangely, even after Ruby's failed attempt, Frey remained silent and endured the situation.
He let Vener hit him in the stomach hard enough for him to vomit saliva, and he even endured being slapped and strangled.
He appeared to have a backstory, his face showing only a grim expression as he endured assaults and mockery from others.
And in those people, Roswyn saw herself.
She wouldn't have believed it if she hadn't witnessed the footage. It was hard to accept even now, but it was undeniably true.
"I, I need to apologize…"
With a sickly pale expression, she stood up from her seat.
"I should… I should at least tell this story…"
Memories of her cruelty toward him flooded her mind.
She deliberately made unreasonable requests to him, laughing when he complied.
His constant clinging irritated her, yet it oddly boosted her ego, using him as a means to feel better about herself.
Simultaneously, she discarded it all when she felt threatened by his gifts.
But what if he was the Hero?
"It can't be…"
In unimaginable fear, Roswyn lowered her head.
"It can't be…"
Roswyn recalled why she admired, idolized, and respected the Hero.
"The Hero will save you."
"Huh?"
A family elder, when she was diagnosed with a terminal illness at the age of 9, had told her, leading her to a life consumed by severe lethargy and depression.
"Remember, it's the Hero who prolongs your life."
"...!!!"
"Even now, the Hero might be secretly helping you."
The Hero was supposed to save her from a terminal illness predicted to end her life before she turned 20.
Despite her weakness, dreaming of being the Hero's closest aide became an obsession.
Roswyn waited for the Hero, intending to dedicate her life to the benefactor who had saved her.
But what if the one prolonging her life was Frey?
Frey was the annoying guy who had been present even before her terminal diagnosis and who stoked her ego.
What if he was the Hero she was meant to serve?
"Could it be… No, it can't be…"
Regret consumed her as she reflected on the occasions when she had treated Frey as a mere ego boost.
The times she smiled while receiving flowers from him, only to secretly discard them out the window and laugh at his sad reaction.
The moments when she indiscriminately unloaded stress from challenging tasks and feelings of weakness onto him, the weight of her actions weighed heavily on her conscience.
Roswyn realized she had never truly treated him warmly. A sudden pang of guilt struck her heart.
She wished she had treated him more kindly and complimented him occasionally. There was no real reason to be so harsh. Why had she been so cruel just because she didn't like him?
Thinking this way, for the first time, Roswyn deeply regretted her twisted personality.
– You should've treated him well when you had the chance.
But regret wouldn't bring Frey back from the ground. As she realized that, Lulu's voice echoed in her mind.
"I, I need to find him…"
Because of that, she plunged into panic again, struggling to stand, and murmured.
"Ah, it's not too late yet… I should meet him, explain everything from the start, and apologize… Huh?"
That was when she saw her.
– Step, step…
Lulu came back with her head lowered, along with numerous puppets.
"Over, over there…!!!"
Forgetting the recent scornful taunt she received, Roswyn hurriedly approached Lulu.
"Did you, did you find Frey?"
She asked her abruptly.
"..."
"Just let me see him for a moment. There's a serious misunderstanding… No, it's not that serious, but… anyway, I have something to tell him, so…"
Trying to maintain a calm voice, Roswyn looked at Lulu, who wore a cold expression.
"I don't have him."
"Huh?"
Confused by Lulu's response, Roswyn tilted her head.
"You, you mean you couldn't find him?"
She asked.
"T-There's no way he isn't there, right? Is this another one of his schemes? I don't know his intentions, but… anyway…"
"I can't see any more vital signs."
"…Vital signs?"
Lulu replied coldly.
"Among the vital signs I detected, I couldn't find Master's."
Roswyn froze in her place.
"Perhaps, under imperial law, he will be declared missing. My master said to do so… No, a noble told me."
"That means…"
"…It's only a matter of time before the missing status changes, though."
Lulu walked past Roswyn, shattering her hope of meeting Frey and clarifying everything.
"..."
As Lulu disappeared, Roswyn remained still for a long time.
– Whish, whish…
As the system window's repair rate increased, she sensed the imminent fear of an unavoidable truth becoming apparent.
Simultaneously, she realized it might be too late to fix everything.
She gazed at the surrounding ruins, then carefully scooped up some dust from the ground.
– Whoosh…!
The icy winter wind blew away the dust in Roswyn's hand, leaving her to stare at her empty palm before dropping her head in despair.
– Clunk, clunk…!
Shortly after, a carriage swiftly left the ruins behind her.
.
.
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.
.
Meanwhile, in the Western Continent.
In a pitch-black space, Kania was lying in the center of a complicated magic circle.
"Ugh, ughhh…"
Twisting in severe pain, she soon began to bleed from her eyes, murmuring.
"Young Master… don't… worry now…"
The magic circle surrounding her glowed in black.
"I'll try harder… Next time, I'll bear all the pain for you…"
After hours of research, Kania managed to unravel the curse imposed by the Demon God. She successfully shifted the intense pain that Frey experienced onto herself.
"The original sin committed against you and your mother, the sin of inflicting great pain on your soul, and for all the kindness you've shown me…"
To stay conscious, she uttered her commitment with great difficulty, cold sweat trickling down.
"…I'm happy to repay, even if it's just a bit, in this way."
Whispering this, she eventually succumbed to unconsciousness.
"I love you… Young Master."
Despite the lingering pain in her unconscious state, a soft smile graced her face.
You can read 505 episodes for $10. p.*atreon.com/Astrid02