“Lady…” Yumina’s eyes sparkled as she looked at Ileya before her.
“Um… what is a plush ball?” Jenny asked, a little confused, repeating the same question Yumina had asked earlier.
“Hmph~ I know this one! Plush ball means adorable~ It means that I… we are very important in the Lady’s heart!”
The maid planted her hands on her hips, wearing the expression of someone who has memorized every word the Lady says.
Damn it… I want to always be by the Lady’s side too…
But unfortunately, from the very start, my role was to be the Lady’s eyes and mouth outside the castle.
This is what they call the impossibility of having both the fish and the bear’s paw.
“All right, all right~ Let’s end this topic here~” Ileya smiled calmly, a composed look on her face.
But inside, she was sweating cold.
If she wasn’t careful, this could really turn into a battlefield… The struggles between women are entertaining when they’re not directed at you, but once it hits home, they become uncontrollable…
“Yes~ Lady.”
Since Ileya had spoken, the two had no choice but to answer in unison.
“By the way, have you heard about the recent ghost stories in the Crystal Capital?”
Then Jenny leaned forward slowly, speaking in a mysterious tone.
“Ghost stories?” Ileya raised an eyebrow slightly.
Could it be about the Black Lady? Besides them, were there others who knew?
“Yeah! They say if you wander around the city at night, you might get lost in the darkness… and then disappear without a trace.”
The President lowered her voice, and in the dim, enclosed space, it gave off quite the atmosphere.
“Ugh… don’t suddenly say such scary things! This… this should be just a horror legend, right? Are people really disappearing? Where do they go?”
Having been scared just moments ago, Yumina instinctively hugged the blanket, her eyes showing faint fear.
“It’s not a legend… Recently, the City Guard has been overwhelmed by this matter… They’re trying hard to resolve it, but if they can’t…”
Jenny glanced at Ileya. “Maybe it will have to be reported to the Marquis Castle for handling.”
“Hm… what exactly is going on?” Ileya was a bit interested in this kind of thing.
Besides… she was more than happy to help lighten her mother’s workload.
“It’s roughly that some residents walking the streets at night suddenly vanish…”
“At first, it was only in the villages and towns, but gradually… this started spreading to the Crystal Capital. Although the number of disappearances is small and all victims are commoners… even the nobles are getting uneasy…”
That was also why she had requested mercenaries to stand guard at the previous Succession Ball.
…
Suffocating…
Unable to move arms or legs.
So dark, so cold, so scared…
I… I don’t want to… I don’t want to die… No…
Father, mother… no…
【Are you scared?】
The demon dressed in a pipe repairman’s uniform smiled, his eyes gentle as he looked at her.
His smile was so tender… why would he do… such things?
【If my little sister were alive… maybe she’d be attending the same school as you… ah~ not as your classmate though~】
【Her dream was actually to become a teacher. She understood that profession well… When my English grades were bad, she said she’d teach me once she became a teacher… hehehe…】
He spoke as if chatting casually, yet without hesitation… he poured cement into the narrow, sealed space she was trapped in.
Her father was tied up beside her, helplessly watching.
No matter how much she struggled, it was useless.
【Sometimes when she argued with me, she’d say things like ‘Stupid brother who got 13 points on the English test’… and every time I pinched her little face, she’d softheartedly give in…】
【Actually, she has a strong sense of justice~ When she saw classmates being bullied, she’d step in, getting all beaten up and messy, but she’d come home smiling and say she did a good deed… silly, good deeds aren’t done like that.】
【But that kind of personality suits her to be a teacher… just a bit too impulsive.】
【Though now seeing me like this, she’d probably be unhappy, even furious, right?】
The man slowly lifted his calm eyes from under the brim of his hat.
He looked at the girl, half buried in cement, struggling in vain.
【After all… I am no longer the kind, gentle brother she knew, but a social scum… a demon who can kill at will…】
【Well~ doesn’t matter anymore, she’s dead… buried alive… must be very uncomfortable, huh?】
Why… could he say such things so calmly?
Is he… really human?
【Hmm~ You’ve enjoyed the wealth bought with her life for more than ten years, now it’s your turn to experience it…】
He smiled as he poured the last bucket of cement into the container…
“Waa… uh uh uh!!!”
【This feeling…】
No… no…
“Stop!!”
Huff! The black-haired girl screamed and sat up from the bed!
Her eyes flickered from scattered to fearful, then finally… clear and alert.
Knock knock knock…
“Holly? Are you okay…”
The worn wooden door was knocked, and a gentle, worried voice came from outside…
Hearing that voice, the black-haired girl finally snapped out of it completely.
Right…
I… am no longer in that old world…
“Ah… Grandmother~ I’m fine, just had a nightmare…” the girl said toward the door.
“Sigh… good to hear~ If you feel unwell… you must tell Grandma immediately…”
“Okay! Grandma, don’t worry~”
Listening to the elderly voice fade away…
The girl slumped against the somewhat worn wooden bed.
In the blink of an eye… it had been over a month since arriving in this world, or rather, since awakening the memories of her “previous life.”
Yet she still couldn’t escape the nightmares…
Every time she woke up from a dream, that demonic face… lingered painfully in her memory.
That man—the one who casually chatted while killing her and her family.
He was a ruthless demon…
And she was just a helpless lamb in his hands.
But now, things were different. She would no longer let others control her fate!
Huff! The girl stretched out her left hand…
The next moment, amid flashing light, a sword hilt appeared in her hand—a bizarre long sword shaped like an angry human-faced mask…
Saint Sword: Paradise of Desire
In fact… Holly Sears had a great secret.
One that even her grandparents, who had raised her since childhood, didn’t know…
She possessed memories that didn’t belong to her, or rather, belonged only to her past life.
In those memories, she and the family she loved were cruelly murdered by that demon.
But after death, she did not sink into endless darkness.
Instead, she arrived at a space filled only with light.
In that space stood a colossal scales with six white wings spanning the entire area… and an ethereal voice.
She asked where she was, and where her parents were.
The voice’s answer was…
【The impure are guilty; sinners cannot enter heaven. You barely qualify and must be compensated.】
The voice sounded like a cold, emotionless AI playback…
Before she could ask more, the voice threw two choices at her.
One: go to a fantastical and beautiful world, become a genius admired by all, and complete the life she never had.
Two: go to a twisted world, live a fragile life full of suffering—but the demon who killed her family would also be in that world.
“If… I choose the second… can I take revenge on that person?”
【If you want, you can do anything.】
“Then… I choose the second!”
…
The memory cut off here, and the girl’s heart began pounding uncontrollably!
Clenching the sword’s hilt tightly, her eyes shone with the flames of revenge.
Huff—!!
The blade seemed to respond to her anger, emitting a strange red glow that lit up the shabby room brilliantly!
“Huff.”
The girl slowly exhaled… and as she relaxed her grip, the Saint Sword dissolved into countless points of light, vanishing from her hand.
She… didn’t know what that demon had gone through before.
But no matter what… it was an undeniable fact that her parents in her previous life were killed by him.
The ripping pain and fear left a bloody, unhealable wound in her heart.
She would take revenge! She would kill that demon with her own hands…
No matter the cost…
But… though she came to this world with a heart full of vengeance, she was no longer Hao Ai’ai—the daughter of the wealthiest family in X City, whose word was law.
She was now a twelve-year-old girl who grew up in Stream Town, whose parents died in a mining accident years ago, living with her grandparents and elder sister.
Holly Sears.
And now, Holly’s biggest problem was… she had no money.
It was easy to imagine… her family’s conditions were hardly enough to support her becoming a strong warrior capable of revenge.
If she wanted to grow stronger, besides faith… she needed money.
To train her body, the basics were good food! And ideally, a proper teacher to instruct her…
That would cost at least thirty copper coins a week!
Plus paying for a teacher… it could even cost a silver coin!
And although the house wasn’t exactly leaking on all sides, it was basically empty.
Her sister’s wages as an apprentice pharmacist could only cover basic food and clothing…
Thinking of this, Holly helplessly scratched her slightly messy black hair.
As an apprentice, her sister’s weekly salary was only forty copper coins. One hundred copper coins exchanged for a Kingdom Silver Coin, and one hundred Silver Coins for a Kingdom Coin.
In other words, since Holly could remember, she had rarely seen silver coins, let alone gold ones.
Of course, in the month since arriving in this world, Holly hadn’t been idle.
She had scoured Stream Town and found a job suited for her.
That was as a mercenary!
Not only could she earn money, but she could grow stronger, and even find a decent mercenary company…
Maybe even score a good teacher for free, learning combat skills!
But… ideals are rich, reality is cruel.
Would a mercenary company take in a twelve-year-old girl who obviously looked malnourished?
The answer was no!
And her grandparents at home… as well as her sister, were strongly against her becoming a mercenary!
Unfortunately… Holly’s eyes now saw only one thing—strength! Revenge!
To her, family in this world… didn’t seem to mean all that much.