Ella was stunned for a moment, completely lost.
“You mean work?”
“Yeah, work.”
Zero confirmed it again, telling the girl she hadn’t misheard.
That was strange.
There was nothing to do in this little inn room, except for herself, soft and fragrant.
So Ella asked, “What kind of work?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“Yeah, I don’t know, but you told me to work,” the girl said seriously, “so I came to ask you.”
What the heck?
Ella gave a polite smile, “Don’t joke around, Zero. When did I ever ask you to work?”
“Last night.”
Last night?
A lot had happened these past couple of days, but she could still recall last night.
After finishing the meeting with the girls in the hall, everyone went back to their own rooms.
Then Zero did come over for a bit, hugged her, and said a bunch of strange things.
Something about killing a lot of people in the past, about being cruel, and something about drawing her sword for her—she’d scared herself at the time.
“No, after we chatted for a while last night, you just went to sleep.”
“Yes, I mean after that.”
After that?
Ella’s little head kept recalling.
After sending Zero away last night, she’d gone out to find elite monsters, summoned the Undead Army to slaughter everything, and watched comfortably from the side—she even supervised them working… working?
“Last night, that, that, that little one…”
“That was me.”
It really was you?!
Hearing the girl’s reply, Ella nearly closed her eyes.
It felt like she’d thought she was secretly making a mistake, only to realize her phone camera was connected to family sharing—the urge to jump straight into the River of the Yellow Springs washed over her.
No, calm down, calm down, this silly girl is easy to fool!
“Zero, let me explain, I had my reasons.”
She hadn’t figured out what those reasons were yet, but she had to set the tone first.
Ella waited for Zero to ask what her reasons were, but after waiting a long time, she still didn’t hear the person behind her speak.
“Zero?”
“I’m here,” the girl’s voice had a barely noticeable tremble, “you said you had your reasons, what are they?”
Why did she sound a little excited?
No, it must be my imagination.
Silly Zero might be silly, but she still has simple values—she must just be angry, Ella thought.
She sighed, her soft voice carrying a hint of broken sadness, “Back in the Demon King’s Castle, to make me useful as soon as possible, the Demon King put me through hellish training. To survive, I had to learn his most evil Necromancy. But deep down, I hate it, so I don’t want to use this evil power in front of you all, it wasn’t intentional hiding.”
So heartfelt, so emotional—even she felt convincing.
“Really?”
The girl behind her said quietly, “But last night, you didn’t look like you hated it at all. You even seemed happy.”
How could she not be happy?
At the time, she’d thought Zero was an SSR she’d pulled from the Yellow Springs pool—a new powerhouse, like money falling from the sky.
If money fell from the sky into your hands, would you not be happy?
“I wasn’t truly happy.”
The pink-haired, big-lightning girl blinked her pretty eyes, as if tears welled at the corners, “Happiness is just my protective color.”
She’d said it to this extent; surely even silly Zero would believe her now.
“Ella.”
“Mm?”
“Do you think I’m dumb?”
“…..”
This time, her eyes really closed.
Late at night, in the small room on the inn’s second floor, the atmosphere grew tense in the silence.
Ella had no idea how much time had passed.
Every second felt like a year.
“Ella,” the person behind her called, “your heart is beating so fast.”
“…”
Yeah, and whose fault is that?
“Ella, why aren’t you saying anything?”
“…”
What could she even say?
At this point, every extra word was just humiliating herself.
The Demon King has her pride!
“Ella, say something.” I-I-I-I’ll say it, fine!
Ella finally couldn’t hold it anymore. She took a deep breath, gathered her courage from her lungs to her throat, and blurted out sincerely, “Please! Don’t tell the others.”
If Celes and the others found out, with her excuse, she couldn’t even fool silly Zero—how could she fool anyone else?
She’d have better luck fooling a ghost!
The breathing behind her grew rapid, then forcibly suppressed.
“Actually, I came to you tonight for something else.”
Zero’s tone changed, as if she’d become that pure-hearted little assassin again, “About Governor Kelu’s last words before he died.”
Ella thought, does that mean she agreed? Must be, or why change the subject?
“Go on, go on, tell me.”
Anything, just don’t talk about last night. Even if you dug up Governor Kelu’s grave, that’d be fine.
“He said, ‘We’re already beyond saving. The God of the Sea Demon Clan is about to descend. There’s no turning back.’ It sounds crazy, but…”
Zero was speaking, and Ella was listening, but after a while, something felt off.
A not-so-good sensation on her pert little butt.
“Zero, could you not move your hand around.”
The hand stopped moving, but the girl’s voice changed again, and she whispered right by Ella’s ear, “Ella, I think, hiding something so important isn’t right—it’s unfair to the others.”
Ella closed her eyes again.
That’s a threat, right? That’s definitely a threat!
Just a few seconds, but it felt like years. In the end, she said with humiliation, “Just keep going.”
At this moment, the Demon King remembered that battle in the forest—the burning struggle of youth.
Zero had been behind her then, too, in just this position.
At this moment, she’d rather Zero stab her with a knife.
“Thank you, Ella. Where were we? Oh, right, Governor Kelu’s last words. Even though they sound crazy, from another perspective, he had no reason to lie. What do you think, Ella?”
“I, mm, I don’t know.”
“How could you not know? You’re the smartest person I’ve ever met—you’ll figure it out.”
Tears streamed from Ella’s eyes, but not from the springs above.
No matter how smart you are, you can only think clearly when you’re calm.
Look at my situation—how could I possibly be calm?
Don’t talk to me about water cooling—even computers get their coolant from outside, not pumped out from the CPU itself!
“I think… mm… it’s a very comp…complicated issue. Let’s discuss it together with everyone tomorrow morning.”
Ella forced herself to say it.
It made sense.
With such a big topic, discussing it between just the two of them would go against team spirit.
Better to wait until morning.
“Mm, then I’ll trouble you to call everyone to discuss in the morning,” Zero said softly, “You’re so smart, they’ll definitely listen to you.”