89 – I Need Another Woman to Clear My Mind
“Debbie… What did she say? There were reports that a city-wide catastrophe occurred in the area occupied by those guys.”
“A catastrophe of that scale?”
“They said it’s a curse that can only be activated by someone as powerful as the Demon King.”
“…! That’s absurd! Are you saying there’s someone that strong hiding in a place like this?!”
“Well, we don’t know if they’re here yet. It happened three years ago.”
At the mention of three years ago, Hamul fell silent.
“No way…”
Hamul recalled the past when he attacked Lian’s mind three years ago, only to receive a fatal blow and flee.
“No, no. According to my observations, that guy only borrowed the power of the Demon Sword. He had no power in his true form.”
Although a little uneasy, I carefully unraveled the connection between Lian and the catastrophe.
“They said the organization that took over that area had the most hostility towards the western region. So the probability is highest that this organization called ‘Nest’ is involved in this incident.”
It meant that Hamul and Potensian had the same goal. Hamul put aside his unease because his desire for revenge was stronger.
“Alright, then let’s go kill that guy right now!”
“No. It’s not time for hunting yet.”
Potensian said, his eyes flashing.
“Leave everything to me. I will definitely kill that so-called saint.”
In the eyes filled with madness, Hamuel could only silently agree.
***
Compared to the other Four Kings, Potensien was younger and had a reckless image of charging forward without hesitation.
However, that wasn’t how he obtained the position of one of the Four Kings through gambling. When hunting, he always showed a rational side.
“He’s the one responsible for everything, everything that Nest’s brat has done!”
Not rushing into Nest immediately after hearing Hamuel’s story, and finding and extracting information from Atan, the former boss of the Deviatan organization, was all part of thorough preparation for the hunt.
“That brat has been toying with us from the beginning, putting us on the palm of his hand and playing with us!”
With bloodshot eyes and spitting out blood, Atan’s appearance was very different from before. He was dressed in ragged clothes, completely drunk.
Even in such a state, he couldn’t hide his “hatred.” It was natural for him to be so angry, considering that their organization had been disintegrated because of Lian.
“Who is that brat?”
Potensien asked the question like throwing a piece of firewood, as he found Atan’s anger quite interesting. And then, Atan quickly spewed out the information.
“The real boss of the Nest organization! The black-robed one who puts Cardisian on the palm of his hand and plays with everything! The Massacre Lian!”
Seeing Potensien’s deepening interest, his laughter became darker.
“What did he do to be called ‘Massacre’?”
“That-…”
People often blamed others to cope with excessive stress. Atan, who had received tremendous stress from the destruction of his organization, must have been no exception.
Naturally, he experienced immense stress and blamed all his problems on others. And since there was a clear target for him to resent, he attributed all the hardships and issues he faced to Lian.
“The collapse of the eastern mine was also the work of the Massacre Lian, right?”
“Yes! He knew from the beginning that I had gone there! After that incident, those idiots would spout nonsense about delusions and say things that make no sense… They won’t even be able to utter such words when they think about the benefits that the Nest organization gained from that incident!”
A Nest filled with “power” centered around Noah, and an empty land to the east.
It was natural for the Nest, which had swallowed up the western land in an instant, to aim for the eastern land. As the Nest expanded its influence, it naturally affected various places.
It was inevitable that Atan, who was hiding his true identity and operating in the east, would be entangled in the Nest’s activities.
Thinking that all his misfortunes were caused by Lian, Atan revealed to Potencyen how wicked of a figure Lian was.
“He’s more dangerous than I thought.”
Potencyen pondered, his appetite returning.
“There’s nothing more enjoyable than luring down a fool who thinks he’s the smartest.”
After organizing the information he received from Atan in his mind, Potencyen left the tavern, leaving Atan, who had started crying while drunk, behind.
“Do I not have to kill that guy?”
“If what he says is true, then Lian must know that the boss of Deviatan is still alive. It would draw too much attention if we killed him rashly.”
Despite his appearance, Hamul inwardly admired his extremely rational attitude.
“If it’s him, I can really bring that guy down!”
Remembering the humiliating sight Lian had caused him, Hamul laughed confidently.
“Huuh!”
He spat out a rainbow-colored vomit on the floor.
***
Three years is a longer time than one would think. Although there were minor incidents, it felt even longer as a time that couldn’t be denied as “peaceful.”
When the time of peace lengthens, it is only natural for love to bloom.
“Sister, how long are you going to keep hiding?”
“Well, but…”
Nest’s boss, Noah, was avoiding Lily’s gaze with a face flushed red.
“What do you do if you feel uncomfortable…?”
“You’ve known about that for years, haven’t you?”
“But still…”
As Noah rolled his eyes, Julia, who was lying on the couch (floating rather than lying, but it looked like lying), read her romance novel and said.
[If Lian brings another woman, just leave him alone. Tsk, tsk..]
“…!”
At Julia’s words, Noah’s eyes widened and he began to shake anxiously. Since Lily couldn’t hear Julia’s voice, she thought Noah’s expression was shaking because of her words.
“Now the organization is established. Even if the boss of Nest is a woman, no one will say anything, right?”
“I know that but…”
“And it’s really uncomfortable there!”
“Hmm…”
Noah had grown in the past three years, just like Lily. As secondary s*xual characteristics developed, his flat chest became curved and prominent.
The problem was that the size was larger than that of an average woman. He had been meaning to confess to Lian that he was a woman, but three years had passed without him doing so.
Would he feel a sense of disgust when he found out that his friend, whom he had thought was a man, was actually a woman? Noah had been suppressing his chest strenuously, afraid of that possibility.
Thanks to using a binder to bind his chest, he hadn’t been exposed as a woman to Lian, but it was inevitable that he felt uncomfortable to the point of suffocation.
Lily was pointing out that fact. …Of course, that wasn’t the only thing she was pointing out.
“Why are you hiding that wonderful weapon? Haven’t you read romance novels, sister? The ones where the male protagonist’s heart starts pounding when he unexpectedly sees the feminine side of someone he thought was just a friend! Have you never seen that?”
“Lily, novels and reality are different.”
“They’re not different! Noah, you’re not lacking in anything! You have a wonderful weapon! You’re pretty! You have abilities!”
“Li…Lily…”
As Noah buried his face deeply in the desk in his study, his face turned bright red, Lily spoke, gently biting her tongue.
“Sister, what if another woman snatches Lian oppa away in an instant? If he’s that innocent, he would even sacrifice his own heart.”
From Noble mtl dot com
“….!”
“Although oppa spends most of his time in the annex and the main building… he occasionally goes back and forth to the external main building as well. There are rumors that those who encountered him while giving him lunch are eyeing him with malicious intent.”
“…!!”
With each word from Lily, it felt like a huge rock was dropping onto Noah’s head. Lily looked at Noah and spoke in a firm voice.
“So, sister, even now…”
Before she could finish her sentence.
Ku-gung!
The building shook as if there was an earthquake, and a loud noise reverberated. Noah, who had been slumped in his seat like melting marshmallow, suddenly stood up. Lily also looked towards the direction where the sound came from with a tense expression.
“An attack?”
“How do you know…?”
Currently, they were in the real main building, where the officials’ quarters were located, not the external main building. That meant that someone knew the location of the real main building and launched an attack.
Without a word, the two of them simultaneously left the study.
In the meantime, in the annex.
“aaah!”
“Eek!”
The perception-blocking magic did not prevent the loud noise. As a result, the children huddled, covering their heads, trembling uncontrollably.
“It seems like we need to evacuate immediately.”
“Ah, ah… Yes!”
The teacher, who had been completely absent-minded, quickly regained his senses at Lian’s words and began to take charge of the children.
“Alright! Everyone, come this way!”
Although they had become accustomed to a peaceful life, the children, who had experienced a terrible ordeal, followed the teacher’s instructions calmly, more composed than ordinary children.
“Teacher! Please lead the children from the front! I’ll follow from behind!”
“Yes!”
Although the teacher was older, if it came down to physical strength, Lian was much stronger. Without complaint, the teacher led the children and left the annex.
“Iris, I hope you go with the teacher in case someone attacks from the front.”
“Okay.”
“Jess, please make sure there are no children who have wandered off to strange places under the influence of magic.”
“Got it!”
After making these requests to the two, I watched the children leaving the annex from behind. In preparation for a day like this, I had set up a portal outside the annex.
The children began to move towards the place where the portal was, following the teacher and Iris in a line. I stood at the back door of the annex, watching the children leave.
“Wait… One person is missing.”
Counting the number of children one by one, Lian looked around the inside of the annex with a stern face. There was still a child left inside the annex!
Without hesitation, Lian immediately rushed into the annex.