She Professed Herself The Pupil Of The Wiseman (LN) - Volume 7 - Chapter Ep

EX

ONE FINE LUNCHTIME, a man sat in the corner of a dining hall quietly eating his lunch. The food on the table was all simple fare; all that mattered was that it filled his stomach.

He was a tall, lean man who wore a long robe that bore striking symbols. Behind his silver-rimmed glasses blinked gray eyes, and his deep-blue hair was messily pulled back.

The man’s name was Glad. He was the Skyfolk who had ended the lives of four Chimera Clausen members at the Citadel of Scales. Currently, he was on his way to his next destination. He had stopped in a town on the road between Roslein and Sentopoli to take a break.

As he quietly ate his meal, he heard the voices of two people sitting nearby.

“Hey, have you heard? A Deadeye Scorpion appeared!”

“Yeah, I heard. If it’s true, they’ll recruit a hunting party sooner or later.”

Based on their manner of dress, they looked to be adventurers. As they chattered on, the eavesdropper learned that the Deadeye Scorpion was near the valley roads in southern Roslein.

It was quite rare for Deadeye Scorpions to exist, and even rarer to encounter one. Still, their strength and aggression were legendary in this region. After all, they were among the top class of monsters appearing on the western side of the continent. To hunt such a beast, one would need a group of five A-Rank adventurers—ten if one wanted to be certain of success. 

And the dangerous monster had been seen just south of here, according to the strangers.

There were many small settlements in the area where it had been sighted. As such, once the reports were confirmed, the Adventurers’ Guild Union would begin recruiting for a hunt with all speed.

South…

Glad finished his meal in peace despite the din around him, quickly paid, and left. He mounted the horse he’d left out front and sped westward toward Sentopoli. Naturally he took the northern road in order to avoid danger.

Despite his caution, after a few days of riding along the northern road, he ran straight into the Deadeye Scorpion as the behemoth emerged from a mountain valley.

“Why here…?!”

It wasn’t especially far, sure, but there were steep mountains between the northern and southern roads. They couldn’t exactly be scaled with ease.

“Why me…?”

No matter how he felt about it, there was a Deadeye Scorpion before him. Glad sighed, left his horse at a safe distance, and prepared for battle. 

When the scorpion spotted him, it raised a giant pincer to attack.

It’s wounded. Maybe I can make this work.

If there was any silver lining, it was the fact that this scorpion was missing its tail. It had lost its most dangerous, venom-tipped weapon.

But its two pincers were still quite healthy. The scorpion brought its claw down sharp and fierce, gouging a furrow in the earth.

Glad managed to survive the Deadeye Scorpion’s first blow. As he darted by and tried to put some distance between him and his foe, he surveyed the enemy. 

“Now that I’m getting a closer look…”

The scorpion hadn’t just lost its tail; on closer inspection, it was heavily wounded.

He wondered if the scorpion had happened to run into a skilled adventurer, gotten hurt, and fled in this direction. Glad became even more cautious as he faced the enemy. Wounded monsters were the most dangerous.

At the same time, its injury also revealed a route to victory. Glad skillfully deployed magical barriers to fend off the Deadeye Scorpion’s assault, keeping a careful eye on its motions.

Its right leg…and its back. After repeating this process ten times, Glad saw that one of its three right legs wasn’t moving. There was a large wound on its dorsal side, as well.

Two weak points, no venom. With that knowledge, the priest immediately took the offensive.

The scorpion’s giant pincer easily tore through his barrier. Glad ran out and lobbed a vial of holy water at the Deadeye Scorpion’s flank. He had set his sights on its injured right leg.

Whether it was because it was a top-tier monster, or whether it was simply wounded and panicking, the Deadeye Scorpion reacted at lightning speed. It held its pincer up to block its right leg and caught the vial. There was a shattering sound, and holy water seeped out onto its pincer. The holy water lit with blue flames as Glad cast the spell [Banished Commandment: Flames of Atonement].

Azure fire coiled around the scorpion’s pincer and traveled down its body, sending it up in a glorious blaze. Lesser monsters would be turned to ash in an instant by this magical fire.

Even wounded, the Deadeye Scorpion showed that it was made of stronger stuff. It slammed its burning pincer into the ground, the resulting shockwave so powerful that it blew away both fire and holy water.

Glad beheld its unwounded leg and muttered, “Not a scratch…”

Its thick carapace served as both weapon and armor alike. There was no choice but to continue to aim for its weak points. Yet his magic and crossbow bolts all failed to get past its pincer shield.

Such quick reactions… How did they manage to wound that thing’s back?

The Deadeye Scorpion moved at a speed one would never expect from its size and wounds. Glad was once again reminded of how annoying wounded monsters could be as he fended off the creature’s ferocious attacks.

The battle went on for an hour before Glad finally completed his more detailed observation and attacked once again. He threw holy water that erupted into flames, but the scorpion extinguished it. The giant foe then counterattacked, as if mocking him.

Glad stood his ground and defended himself from the Deadeye Scorpion with a multilayered barrier. Each strike of its giant pincers tore into the barrier, but Glad smiled viciously and looked up.

There was the sound of glass breaking—another vial of holy water. He had thrown it straight into the air right after the first one burst into flames. The vial rolled down a barrier he’d strategically placed above the creature before falling spectacularly onto the Deadeye Scorpion’s back.

Instantly, water turned to fire that spread and devoured the beast’s back—concentrated directly on its biggest wound. The Deadeye Scorpion released an ear-piercing cry. It lunged with its pincers to attack; if it was going down, it was planning to take Glad with it. 

“Now, that’s a bad idea.”

There was a difference between a last-ditch effort and self-destruction. Glad aimed his crossbow at the Deadeye Scorpion’s right leg and fired. This time, his bolt struck true, at exactly the spot he’d been aiming for all this time.

Flames billowed over its right leg—the crossbow bolt had been dipped in holy water. Soon, the Deadeye Scorpion was burned inside and out. Eventually, it collapsed, no more than a lifeless husk.

***

“Looks like I survived that one…” After ensuring that the thing was well and truly dead, Glad slumped down on the spot.

Wounded or not, that was a top-class monster. Maneuvering himself into an advantage against such a creature had taken a real mental toll and put his abilities to the test. He was spent.

He looked into his bag. “What do I have left? Not…much at all.”

The consumables he’d prepared, like magical tools and chemicals, were few in number now. He’d exhausted most of them in the battle. Glad clicked his tongue angrily, unhappy that he’d wasted so many supplies right before searching for Chimera Clausen’s headquarters.

“I’ll have to restock.”

At this rate, he wouldn’t be able to crush them. He stood up and began butchering the Deadeye Scorpion at his feet. At least he could sell the loot to replenish his supplies. This Deadeye Scorpion lacked the venom that would’ve earned him the most money, but he still had healthy pincers, fangs, and the head of the carapace left—all valuable items.

Glad expertly butchered his kill.

“Aww! Beaten to the punch…”

Just then, a girl appeared from nowhere, apparently distraught that the beast was dead.

“Who are you?”

He hadn’t sensed anyone until the moment she spoke. Though there were mountains all around, they were far enough that visibility was not a concern. He should have noticed someone approaching; it was like she appeared right before his eyes.

She appeared to be a young girl in a cheongsam. However, it was clear that she was more than met the eye. Glad cautiously stopped his work.

The girl stared at him for a moment before finally saying, “You’re a strong ’un!” Her frown from before had turned into a bright and expectant smile. “I’m looking for strong people to fight. The other day, I heard about that monster. I fought it, but it got away just when I was getting to the good part…”

She launched into an impromptu story that he could have done without. The main thing was, Glad now understood that she was the one who had wounded the Deadeye Scorpion.

Apparently, during her fight with the creature, the Deadeye Scorpion had lost its tail and sustained heavy injuries on its leg and back. It had scurried into a hole in the ground to escape. The girl waited there for a long time, assuming it would try to ambush her.

“Now I catch up, and it’s already dead…” When she finally realized it was gone for good and gave chase, she’d found this.

“So…? Do you want to say you earned half the kill? Take the rest, then,” Glad urged, having stopped his work halfway. He gathered his things and moved to leave. He’d rather lose half the loot than deal with this person.

“Naaah! Like I said, I just wanna fight strong enemies.” Rather than the scorpion’s corpse, the girl seemed more interested in him. After all, it was hard to fight a Deadeye Scorpion that was already dead.

“Then go look somewhere else. There’s nothing stronger than that thing around here.” Glad brushed her off and resumed butchering the monster. If she didn’t want it, he’d take it—more money meant more power to bury Chimera Clausen.

To Glad, this little girl was just a pest.

“What about you? Fighting people is more fun than fighting monsters. C’mon, let’s spar!”

She wasn’t taking his hints. Glad must have been strong if he had felled the Deadeye Scorpion, wounded or no. But Glad refused, cleaned up his spoils, and walked away.

“Just a little, pleeease!” she begged as they walked along, obviously starved for real action. “Ten… No, five minutes! That’s all I want. I’ve been fighting so many monsters that I’m losing my skills when it comes to fighting people.”

“A major battle awaits me. I can’t afford to expend the effort,” Glad said, refusing to entertain her nonsense. The final battle between Chimera Clausen and the man who had pursued them for many long years was on the horizon. That was all that mattered to him. Anything else was a waste of time.

A spark of hope lit in the girl’s eyes.

“Could we spar after the big battle?!” She gazed up at the priest expectantly.

Glad looked down at her. What an odd girl. Why is she so adamant? 

He finally relented; once his battle was done, he would spar with her. “But there’s no telling how long that might be,” he warned.

“As long as it means a good fight, I don’t care. I’ll be waiting! Thank you! You’re the best!” The girl hopped around excitedly. She looked more like a child than a fighting addict.

***

But the promise to spar didn’t seem to get her to go away.

The girl continued to tag along behind him on his way to Sentopoli. When Glad took a break, the girl took a break. When he walked, she walked.

After a few cycles of this, he finally asked, “How long do you plan to keep following me?”

The girl matter-of-factly answered, “Until we spar!”

“This isn’t child’s play.”

“I’m not playing! And I’m not a child.”

Glad began to regret the promise he’d made to this weirdo.

I’ll find a way to shake her off in the city. He hurried on his way, telling himself to be patient.

***

A night passed. They were on a well-traveled highway between major cities, but still, danger was not unheard of. And while Glad continued on his way to Sentopoli, some reared its head.

“Salaags… What a pain.”

Salaags were carnivorous beasts like leopards but a little smaller. By themselves, they weren’t especially threatening foes. The problem was their numbers; salaags hunted in packs.

Now, which direction will they come from?

Only one blocked his path up ahead. But seasoned adventurers and travelers knew that this was the salaags’ favorite hunting technique; while their victim focused on the salaag they could see, the others would come from the sides and attack. The other salaags had to be lurking all around him.

Depending on how strong a traveler was, their fate might be sealed the moment they saw the single salaag up ahead. But Glad would not go down so easily.

With a sudden whoosh, Glad’s crossbow bolt pierced through the skull of the salaag on the road. It died instantly. The ones in hiding all leaped out at once.

Five, ten… Thirteen or more, I’d say.

Glad quickly grasped their number, unsheathed his slender sword, and cut down an attacking salaag. When another tried to bite at his foot, he kicked it into the air before firing a bolt into its heart.

Two salaags fell lifeless to the ground—both of them struck directly in the heart. But Glad did not admire his handiwork; he turned to his next victims.

“What…?”

It was already over. It hadn’t been five seconds since Glad had loosed his first bolt, yet all of the remaining salaags lay dead around the girl.

He’d had a feeling this girl was strong, given that she’d both wounded and pursued the Deadeye Scorpion. But this was ridiculous.

She hadn’t made a single sound. In five seconds, she had finished off eleven salaags without even revealing her presence. Glad hadn’t even realized she moved.

Despite her near-inhuman exploits, the girl simply said, “They picked the wrong fight today!”

What kind of monster was this little girl?

This is how it felt when I met that other girl…

Glad thought of the person he’d met the other day, back at the Citadel of Scales. After he’d finished off the Chimera members who had infiltrated the place, Isuzu Alliance operatives had wandered onto the scene. One in particular stuck out to him: the girl with the long, silver hair.

She looked weak and helpless, yet her presence far outstripped the others’. Glad felt the same sensation when he looked at this stranger.

Maybe I was too hasty. He was beginning to regret his rushed promise more and more. But it was too late to take it back, and there was no telling what might happen if he did.

“All done!”

Employing some odd technique, the girl had already dug a hole, hauled off all the salaags, and buried them. 

Glad shut his eyes to the unbelievable sight and began walking again. He then chuckled to himself. Were strong little girls a common thing now?

“Sooo…what’s this big battle you were talking about, huh?” A few hours after the salaag attack, perhaps in order to break the silence that had ruled most of the journey, the girl tried to strike up a conversation. She then added, “Ya need backup?!”

To a girl who journeyed in search of strong foes, a major battle sounded like a good time. She practically oozed excitement.

“After all, sooner it ends, sooner we spar!” She grinned. She seemed to be a keen problem-solver, as long as the problem was a lack of sparring.

Backup, hm?

Normally, Glad would have refused without a second thought. But now…

He had witnessed this girl’s power more than once, and it was clearly overwhelming. If she sided with him, she was sure to pose an incredible threat to Chimera Clausen.

Glad stared at the girl, weighing the pros and cons. He saw the blessings of many spirits within her.

“Are you aware of a group known as Chimera Clausen?” he asked.

Glad knew that Chimera’s defenses would be stronger than ever in the coming battle, so he told her the truth. He spoke at length about the many atrocities perpetrated by Chimera.

***

“That’s awful! Yeah, I’ll help. We’re gonna beat up those dumb Chimeras!” After hearing the whole story, the girl was furious and formally offered her assistance.

“I see. Well, it’s much appreciated. You may call me Glad.”

Glad would accept her help, as long as she could control herself and stay with him. 

“And I’m Meili—uh, I mean, Meimei! Nice to meetcha!” the girl replied with a firm, confident smile.

That was suspicious.

But Glad knew that he was just as suspicious. So he replied, “Right. Good to be acquainted,” and walked on.

Along the way, they began to converse a bit more. All of their conversations were only a few words long—but for Glad, it was the most he’d talked on a trip in a very long time.

Finally, Glad and Meimei arrived at the city of Sentopoli. Meimei was excited; it had been a long time since she’d gone near any large human settlement. But even as she dragged him around every which way gawking at the sights, they eventually made it to the Adventurers’ Guild Union.

There, they sold the materials they’d gathered. Since Glad was selling parts of the rumored Deadeye Scorpion, there was a bit of a stir. He lied and said that he’d gotten them a long time ago, and thereby managed to get through it without answering too many questions. He didn’t want any trouble; he just needed money for resupplying.

After obtaining a large sum, Glad set out for the shops to buy necessary goods for the coming battle.

Each time they stopped, Meimei over all around the merchandise with sparkling eyes. Much was new to her, since she hadn’t been to a big city in so long.

“There’s so much stuff I’ve never seen!” 

“Those are pretty common…”

The things Meimei claimed to have never seen before were popular items. Exactly how long had she been away from human society? Glad wondered for a moment, then decided he didn’t care. He proceeded to the next store.

“This looks neat! I bet it could kick some serious butt!” Meimei ran over excitedly, carrying a powerful item that could manifest destruction rivaling that of advanced magic when fed only middling magic.

It was strong, but also expensive. It also required a license to purchase. Several shopkeepers were staring at the duo.

“Yes,” Glad confirmed. “Put it back.”

“Aww…” Meimei trudged over and returned the item to its shelf. Before she could bring any more items over, Glad dragged her out of the store.

***

They visited shops until Glad had finished replenishing his supplies. Next on the agenda was to take a break at a restaurant. As before, Meimei looked all around the place excitedly.

Inspecting the menu, Glad saw the restaurant served everything from savory feasts to fancy sweets.

“We do have work to do. Might as well eat first.” Glad handed Meimei a menu and ordered food for himself, choosing whatever would most efficiently fill his stomach. He noticed that Meimei’s face had suddenly clouded over with sadness, so he asked, “What’s the matter?”

“I’m broke…”

The menu came with pictures of the delicious-looking food, which only amplified Meimei’s disappointment. 

Glad asked how she’d survived to this point, to which Meimei replied that she’d been living off the land.

“The materials sold for more than I expected,” he said. “I’ll have plenty left for the rest of the supplies. Don’t worry; it’s on me.”

As soon as the words were out of Glad’s mouth, Meimei’s frown turned upside-down. She looked over the menu gleefully and ordered enough to fill three people.

Indeed, she had not worried at all.

After the meal, Glad walked around the city to gather information. Meimei went with him, much less fidgety now. Perhaps having a full stomach had calmed her down.

And to his surprise, Meimei’s presence was rather helpful. Glad might have looked suspicious asking questions alone, but having an innocent-looking little girl with him fixed that. Nobody feared him, and his efforts were a success.

***

It was nighttime when Glad and Meimei arrived at the outskirts of Sentopoli and hid behind a row of warehouses. They had fixed their sights on the biggest research facility in town.

That should be the last one. Glad smirked in anticipation as he watched someone leave the facility.

He hadn’t only come to Sentopoli because Chimera’s headquarters were nearby. Glad had obtained another piece of information from the people he’d dealt with at the Citadel of Scales—and it was of vital importance to him.

A particular man worked for Chimera Clausen, and his laboratory was in the very facility in front of Glad.

During their investigation, Glad had learned that this place was known throughout town as a laboratory that researched restoratives. It also employed people unrelated to Chimera. That part of the business was only a front; Glad had gleaned from his victims that the facility’s true purpose lay underground.

At first, he’d considered subduing everyone, Chimera or not. But Meimei had complained that such conduct was not befitting of a warrior, and he worried that she might try to stop him. Thus he suppressed his rage and waited until late at night for all of the common folk to leave.

Glad spotted figures who seemed to be security guards on patrol. He chuckled; it was exactly as he’d been told.

Good… Only Chimera goons should be inside now.

He’d learned that below the lab was a facility where they manufactured fighting dolls that used the power of spirits. Confirmation of this lay right before Glad’s eyes in the form of the patrols.

Glad’s eyes were imbued with the special senses of a Skyfolk priest, allowing him to see the ripples of spiritual power spreading from the security guards. Their wavelengths were clearly abnormal—each and every one was a fighting doll powered by spirits.

“O spirits, I swear that I will free you.” Glad offered a prayer and turned to Meimei, who had been behind him, patiently standing by. “There’s no doubt about it. That place is under Chimera Clausen’s management.”

Meimei grinned manically, ready to thoroughly trounce the dolls.

Glad managed to calm her down before she could leap out to attack. He needed to at least inform her of the strategy.

“Now, the plan is…”

It was late at night, so there were no regular employees around…and accordingly no need to hold back. Better yet, his one concern—the security guards—were dolls instead of regular people. This battlefield had no risk of collateral casualties beyond Chimera Clausen.

There might be some members of Chimera left inside, but Glad and Meimei were in full agreement that nobody would mind if those jerks got wrecked.

It only took a few minutes to agree on their strategy: Meimei would dash in and break through their front lines. While she rampaged, Glad would follow her lead and decide how to proceed on the spot. Depending on how things went, he might search the place while she wreaked havoc and drew their attention.

In short, the strategy was to use Meimei as bait.

“A fighting doll… I’ve never fought one of those before!” She was clearly thrilled.

The attack on the facility began quietly and swiftly. Meimei wouldn’t truly let loose until they were inside the lab.

The duo began with the security guards out front. They could have opted to simply sneak in, but Glad requested that they take this detour.

Glad leapt out from hiding and ambushed the first fighting doll, successfully neutralizing it.

“Return to the shrine from whence you came.” When he put a hand on the doll’s surface, pale light began to flow from it and rise into the sky. As a priest, he had the power to return wandering spirits to the heavens.

Glad looked up to find his next target, but…there was none.

Meimei had neutralized every single one of the dolls without making a sound. Glad thought he knew what to expect from her by now, but she had outdone herself.

She can even do this against foes that harbor the power of spirits?

Yet Meimei herself sighed in disappointment. “Too easy…”

“What really matters is inside,” Glad reminded her as he returned each spirit’s power to the heavens. “No doubt the strong ones are all in there.”

“Ooh! Can’t wait!” Meimei’s motivation skyrocketed once more.

***

The duo dragged the remains of the dolls out of sight and finally set foot inside the facility.

When they entered, the laboratory seemed empty. But as they penetrated deeper, more patrolling guards appeared up ahead. Unsurprisingly, these guards were fighting dolls as well. Seeing them, Glad growled, “How they waste the spirits’ powers…”

What truly enraged him, however, was the spiritual power inhabiting them; it was far greater than the ones outside.

Meimei took down the first of these dolls and noticed right away that something was different. An expectant smile spread across her face.

“Now this is more like it!”

Meimei neutralized doll after doll, all in perfect silence.

When Glad had suggested that they would have stronger ones inside, he’d only been trying to cheer her up. But in truth, the dolls inside the facility were head and shoulders above the mooks outside.

He was satisfied to just follow after her and release the spirits’ power from the dolls as planned.

***

Finally, and with very little difficulty, the two arrived in the depths of the facility. The room looked brand-new, bare of people or furnishings—but Glad felt the power of spirits leaking from beyond it.

The hidden door in this room would not open without either using a key or deciphering the spiritual power within. It was a very Chimera Clausen way to do things. 

“They waste such power on these trifles…”

Regardless, a contrivance like this was meaningless before Glad. His eyes could decipher it in an instant.

“Seems this is where the main event begins.”

“What are we fighting next?!”

The door opened without difficulty, and Glad and Meimei strode in. This was Chimera Clausen’s true secret lab, quite unlike the façade up above. Here was where they manufactured the fighting dolls.

A hallway stretched before them. Beyond it, the air was different—heavier, gloomier.

“What is this…?” Glad’s face warped in agony. The oppressive sensation was a remnant of suffering spirits. Faced with this horror, his rage intensified. “Leave no doll uncrushed.”

Glad resolved himself to free every last bit of spiritual power trapped in this prison. He snuck up close to a fighting doll and pinned it down. Although it struggled, he held it in place as he sent the tormented spirit within back to the heavens.

But just as that doll stopped moving, a whole crowd of them appeared around Glad and Meimei. Worse, these all held lethal weapons.

“Heck yeah! This is gettin’ good!” Confronted with the murderous dolls, Meimei only grinned more ferociously.

Glad prepared to back her up, knowing that this would be a difficult fight. “How many are there—?” 

There was one Meimei. And there were many dolls.

 But when Meimei kicked the air in front of her, the fighting dolls up ahead were blown away, to a one, like so many dry leaves.

“You…did that in one blow?” he asked, stupefied.

Meimei’s momentum was unstoppable as she took out the trash. She seemed to grab the empty air before her, and the dolls ahead of her exploded at once. Some attacked from behind, but a single turning back kick mowed them down.

Meimei’s strength was out of this world—no, it was out of this plane of existence.

I guess I should just be happy that she’s on my side…

Feeling a small measure of terror as he realized that this was the true nature of the little pest he’d been traveling with, Glad set about freeing the spiritual power from the ever-growing pile of disabled dolls.

Soon, hundreds of fighting dolls’ remains had piled up, and the hallway was silent once more. It wasn’t especially tiring, but it had taken longer than he expected. Job done, Glad hurried down the hallway and put a hand on the door at the end of it.

“Kh…!” When he peeked through the crack in the door into the large room beyond, he instantly threw up a barrier. 

There was a dull noise. Then, the barrier shattered.

“They’d go this far?”

An inorganic, metallic arm broke through. At the other end of the arm was a huge fighting doll—but this one was not humanoid. Unlike its compatriots before it, it was a beast made in pursuit of raw power with four arms and four legs.

The giant doll was infused with spiritual power incomparable to that of the previous dolls. How many spirits had been sacrificed to this abomination?

Glad quivered with rage, but the foe was a real threat. He hesitated. They might’ve had an easier time than expected up to this point, but the final boss would not be so easy.

Glad braced himself for the battle ahead. 

Meili…er, Meimei did not.

“Maybe this one will be strong!” Meimei slipped by him and immediately engaged the gigantic fighting doll solo. 

He thought he even heard her say something about fighting with one hand behind her back for the sake of “training.”

How can she stand against a foe with this much spiritual power? 

Meimei fended off the giant’s attack with one hand and retaliated. By Glad’s estimation, she was fine.

After watching another m oment, Glad asked, “Is it okay if I leave this to you?”

“Yeah, I got this!” She turned to him, and her eyes seemed to say, Go do what needs to be done.

Glad nodded and ran ahead. Along the way, he realized with some surprise that he was smiling.

Before now, he had seen Meimei as a useful pawn. All he wanted was for her to act as bait when convenient. But before he knew it, he found that he trusted her enough to turn his back on a dangerous enemy.

He’d never relied on someone before, never turned his back on a battlefield. Trust was a strange new feeling that confused and frightened him a little.

Glad decided that maybe it wasn’t so bad after all.

***

Glad passed through the door and reached a hallway connected to several more rooms. He searched the rooms one by one, hoping to find either the man he sought or some information on him.

He finally found what he was looking for in a room at the end of the hall. This one was enclosed by walls more secure than those of the others. 

What was inside? Not his mark.

But what he had discovered was something that he as a priest could not overlook.

“How could you… How could you do this?!” Glad screamed. Within the room was a large, black, metallic podium, upon which sat a crystal-like ball. Most who saw it would not know its function, but Glad’s eyes showed him the truth.

The large ball was full of so many spirits that his heart broke. The spirits inside had lost their forms and existed only as raw power. It might be too late to save them.

“I’ll release you now.”

If nothing else, he could let the spirits’ power, their original form, fill nature and flow back into the current from which it had come. Glad approached, hand extended, as he had with the dolls.

Just then, a figure hiding silently in the corner attacked from the shadows, taking him completely by surprise.

A dull noise, bright-red blood spraying onto the floor. Then a man clad in black collapsed in a puddle of crimson. He’d thought he had the perfect opportunity to liquidate Glad—but the priest had reacted in the nick of time.

This room was full of spirits’ power. To Glad, it was like having a sensor network, making it easy to notice the assailant’s charge. That slender sword of his almost reflexively found its way into his assailant.

Glad clicked his tongue at the man who lay in a pool of his own blood. He was not a fighting doll, but a human. The keen edge of Glad’s sword had snuffed out the man’s life in an instant.

The fact that he was here surely meant that he was with Chimera Clausen. Glad had finally found a real human, and he’d killed him before he could ask a single question.

“What a waste.” Glad glared coldly at him before using his exorcism to burn the body away. After that, he approached the orb full of sealed power and offered a prayer, releasing the spirits within.

The enormous spiritual power erupted out of the heinous object, dispersing into the greater world. Glad watched until it was done before searching around the room, hoping to find some information that the useless assailant could no longer offer. The room had shelves, desks, and the like—it seemed rather important.

Glad searched carefully. Ten or so minutes passed while he pillaged the shelves and pulled out desk drawers. Eventually, he happened upon a useful-looking document placed casually atop a desk. It seemed to be a report of some kind.

It listed detailed business correspondences involved in the delivery of certain goods. When he read further, it became clear that these “goods” were spirits. Glad’s indignation only grew.

His hatred-filled eyes landed on a list of names: the facility’s three managers. There was another, as well. It seemed the man he was searching for left management to the other three. All signs indicated that he rarely, if ever, visited this facility in person.

But this gave Glad a useful lead. The three managers listed here would no doubt have some relationship with the man Glad sought. Even if he had just disposed of one of the three, he would have two more interrogation opportunities.

Glad kept the document as evidence and snatched up a few other eye-catching ones along the way. He burned the rest and left the room.

***

When he returned to the large room, he found Meimei yelling unhappily at the giant fighting doll lying motionless on the floor. “C’mon! Get back up already!” 

“What’s the matter?” Glad asked.

Meimei angrily replied that the thing had suddenly stopped moving mid-battle, just as she was practicing a new technique. This fight, to put it bluntly, sucked.

I guess that’s my fault…

The giant fighting doll had no spirit power left anymore. The thing was trashed after its fight with Meimei. Despite all the power it had once contained, she’d really given it a thorough trouncing.

But that wasn’t why its power was gone—no matter how beat-up the vessel, the spiritual power would stay inside until it was freed, and Glad was the only one present who could free it. It must’ve already been released…and the only thing that came to mind was the orb in the room from before. No doubt that was the core of this giant doll.

“It was probably incomplete,” he muttered.

Though unintentionally, he’d deprived Meimei of her fun. Now she was antsy again and desperate for an outlet. He’d be in real trouble if she directed her pent-up energy at him, so Glad told a little white lie, pretended to release spiritual power from the doll, and turned to leave.

“I’ve gotten some useful info. Let’s go get some food,” he said to Meimei, who still seemed regretful. As expected, those words made her eyes regain their sparkle. “I’ll pay for everything. Eat as much as you want.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Meimei rejoiced, and Glad breathed a sigh of relief. 

How am I going to deal with this troublesome girl?