Chapter 212

Chapter 212

Villain of the Newspaper Company

Chapter 212 – Villain of the Newspaper Company #4

Crush, crush…

Geerrr…

Gerrrr…

Bone goblins began crawling out from the bone jars scattered around the laboratory. Simultaneously, a whooshing wind blew, closing the windows and extinguishing all the lamps inside.

Under the moonlight that seeped in.

The undead with surreal blue eyes crawled towards the floor.

Kradadak…

The sound of their sharp claws scratching against the wooden floor was so loud and eerie that even I felt an unpleasant chill.

“What is this? What is this? What is this? I don’t understand, I don’t understand, I don’t understand-! What is this? What is this! What is this!!”

Judging by the confusion, it seemed that Bynas was even more baffled. She kept repeating the word ‘what’ and ‘I don’t understand’ like a radio with a wrong switch pressed.

She seemed to be in a panic for a while before suddenly bursting into a wide grin.

“I get it! I understand! You’re the necromancer, the necromancer with the blue eyes! The rookie adventurer who’s rising to fame turned out to be a cultist necromancer! This is, this is scoop. This is a real scoop!”

“Yeah, it’s a scoop alright. Of course, that’s assuming you survive this situation.”

“What, what do you mean…?”

“Do you not get it even after seeing it? This is one of my biggest secrets. There’s no way I’d let someone who’s seen this live.”

“…!”

As if a thought finally struck her panicked state, Bynas’s short azure hair stood on end.

I’ve never seen someone’s hair stand up in real life. It seems that when you sense the danger of life-threatening situations, your hair can stand up as well.

“You all, seize her-.”

At my brief command, the five bone goblins crawling on all fours darted swiftly towards Bynas.

Geeaaaaaaak-!!

“Ahhaaak!”

The undead running towards her instills instinctive fear in the living. Especially a n*ked woman with her clothes off would have nothing better to do than scream.

Is this the end?

I thought that just as Bynas picked up the beaker nearby and hurled it at the bone goblins.

Dang.

Zeeeeek-.

The beaker with a yellow fluorescent glow shattered, releasing a pungent chemical smell, causing the goblins’ bodies to start dissolving.

“Hey, how pathetic! Come if you dare!”

It turns out Bynas isn’t someone to be underestimated. There are plenty of strange potion components she knows well around here.

Though my advantage is immediate, it’s unclear what variable she may bring about given the spatial advantage if we keep dragging this out. Moreover, neighbors drawn by the commotion could arrive at any moment.

So I simultaneously revived the fallen bone goblins and raised all the bones lying around.

About ten bone goblins nearly filled the laboratory.

“You, that’s too, too many…”.

At the sight, Bynas, who had just been confidently smashing potions, froze in shock.

Geeaaak!

“Aaayykk!”

Taking advantage of her moment of vulnerability, one of the bone goblins leaped and tackled her, knocking her over. Simultaneously, the ten of them swarmed and restrained her limbs, completing the capture.

“Please, let go of this, let go- uh!”

While Bynas resisted, every time her smooth body moved, the sharp claws of the bone goblins would scratch red wounds across her skin.

Excited by the scent of bl**d, the bone goblins pressed even harder onto the back of her neck.

Dang.

“My, my glasses-, glasses!”

“You can’t see without glasses, can you?”

“Ughhh, ugh, please, don’t k*ll me, spare me, spare me…”.

Humans, for the most part, rely heavily on their vision. Therefore, when their eyes are covered or can’t see, they often enter a deep state of panic.

It was the same for Bynas.

She was completely subdued by the undead I summoned, with her field of vision sealed off as well. All traces of her previous confidence were gone, and she was trembling like someone on the brink of d*ath.

She even wet herself out of fear.

“Please let me live…! Sa, please let me live…! Please, please, I’m sorry. Let me look one more time…!”

The truth is, when placed in a life-threatening situation, anyone ends up like this. Therefore, she didn’t seem particularly ridiculous or grotesque to me.

Only a lazy sort of reflection: “So, it finally came to this.”

“Alchemist Bynas, your sins are great. You will now be cast into Hell, Tartarus.”

“Khiiiiik-!”

Bynas writhed around desperately like a butterfly caught in a spider’s web. The more she struggled, the more tightly the bone goblins gripped her neck, causing her even greater pain.

“H, Hell! I hate Hell! Please forgive me-! Please forgive me-!”

The name Tartarus, the Hell of this world, holds immense power over its people. When one imagines being subjected to an eternal punishment without end, it is certainly a frightening thought.

Of course, I have no right to send her to Tartarus. But since Nox, the goddess ruling over that place, is Luna’s mother, I believe she might take personal action against this woman who harmed Luna. In that case, what I said wouldn’t entirely be a lie.

“You will be cast into Tartarus, you imposter.”

“Huuu, hkk, hhuuk….”

“But, if you were to d*e this way, Luna wouldn’t be able to apologize. I’ll give you a reprieve. The reprieve shall last one day. In this time, correct the articles you’ve written and apologize to Luna. Then leave the city, go somewhere where no one will find you, and carry this secret for the rest of your life, alone. Forever.”

“Ph, Forever….”

“Forever. When you end your life like this, your journey to Hell will be on hold.”

“….”

Bynas didn’t respond.

After pondering for a while, her face twisted in distress, she finally asked slowly.

“S, who are you…?”

Sllllik…

At last, her sight blurred without her glasses, she looked up at me. What did I reflect in her eyes?

So I asked her in return.

“What do you see?-”

“….”

Once again, Bynas didn’t respond. She simply slowly moved her body, pressed by the undead, inching towards me.

Geeuuu-!!

Perhaps thinking she might attempt some dangerous harm, the bone goblins pressed even harder on Bynas’ body.

However, at my snap of the fingers, the bone goblins restraining her loosened their grip and let her go.

“Swear by the River Styx.”

“Huuu….”

Thus, having regained the ability to move freely, Bynas crawled towards me on all fours like a small animal and kissed the foot of mine resting on the couch.

This was undoubtedly a clear answer anyone would recognize.

*

Early morning.

Kengs and Mitcheurs chirped excitedly outside my window.

“Chirp, chirp, chirp.”

Whirrr, Wiiing-.

They were so noisy that it felt less like the birds were singing and more like they were chatting or even barking.

Under normal circumstances, I would’ve frowned deeply and woken up, but I’d counted my sheep to sleep last night. To me, these bird sounds at the break of dawn felt like they added a touch of sentiment.

“Luna, it’s morning.”

Usually, Luna would wake me up by shaking her hair, but this morning, I woke her up instead.

“Luna, it’s morning.”

“Uuuh, uh, it’s not a fake potion-. I worked hard on it…”

But Luna wouldn’t wake up no matter how much I tried. From the sounds of her sleep-talking, it seemed like she must have been troubled by potion problems in her dreams.

“Luna, it’s just a dream. Wake up quickly.”

“Uuuh-.”

“I’ve made fried eggs. There’s also fried sausages with vegetables.”

“Fried sausages with vegetables?”

The mention of food seemed to wake Luna, her emerald eyes still heavy with sleep looking up at me.

I placed a small table filled with breakfast in front of such Luna.

On the small plate were sausages and fried eggs I fetched early in the morning, along with lemonade filled with ice that was steaming in the chill.

“sh*t, there’s ice floating! Drinking this in the morning, Hassan, what’s going on? What day is today? Why did you wake up so early?”

“It’s not a special day or anything. Just, well…”

I thought of a grand line to deliver if Luna asked me this while waking up, but as the moment came, I just stammered and said something random.

I was being awkward, so Luna greedily ate the food off the plate I handed her, like a starved person.

Usually, when one goes through harsh times or is stressed, their appetite diminishes. Thankfully, Luna seemed unaffected.

When feeling down, it’s good to eat heartily regardless to replenish one’s stamina.

“It’s so delicious. But Hassan didn’t make this, did he! You got it from the inn!”

“That’s true-. I wanted to cook but it was a bit busy.”

“Busy? But it’s morning? Hassan, didn’t you stay up all night?”

“Rather than that, Luna, look. Another newspaper came.”

I handed the leather-bound clump to Luna, sitting semi-covered with blankets as she scrutinized my face.

“N, newspaper….”

However, Luna’s expression wrinkled slightly, as if she’d tasted something bitter from the cold lemonade.

“Is, is there another article about me?”

“Yeah, a lot. A lot.”

“Huuuh….”

Luna, trembling as if scared.

Having seen several newspapers where she’d been unfairly critiqued, it seemed like the image of newspapers as “scary” and “disgusting” had strongly stuck in Luna’s mind.

“Ugh, I, I don’t want to read it, but I can’t stir up trouble like last time, right-.”

Suee.

Eventually, Luna took the leather-bound newspaper from me.

Ruffle.

Luna’s eyes, gripping the thin leather pages, gradually widened, until they became impossibly large.

“What, what is this?”

“It’s the newspaper.”

“The news article talks about me? ‘Luna Noxdotty buys Sodomora in Holomable for 50 gold. Land speculation scandal,’ it says! What’s this?”

“Read more.”

“Hm, let me see. ‘The Watchman Keng Keng’s romance rumors… The partner is a small, young spider.’ Huh? What, what is this? What?”

Luna flipped through the pages, seemingly unable to understand the contents. Of course, the content of the newspaper was nothing but wordplay that wouldn’t become much news –

Luna Noxdotti cultivating her yard. Declares war to raccoons.

Luna undefeated against Hippolyte, now a Gold Tier?

Etc.

Swish, swish…

Finally, as Luna flipped through the pages, it seemed she noticed the reporter’s name written at the end.

“The reporter’s name is Hassan! Are you the one who made this newspaper?”

“Does it suit you?”

Last night, while Luna was asleep, I worked hard erasing the content of the leather-bound newspaper and re-writing different stories on top.

However, since I’m not skilled in writing, and this was an unfamiliar job for me, even writing such simple articles took me the whole night.

Though it was an idea that came to me suddenly, I worked hard with a lot of effort.

Would it suit Luna?

Observing her reaction, Luna’s eyes welled up with tears from early this morning, revealing a giant tear in each of her big eyes.

“I’ve, I’ve never received anything like this. It feels like the coolest gift I’ve ever received since I was born! A newspaper that only tells my stories!”

It seemed Luna was deeply moved.

I, too, started getting a little emotional. My imagination of what it’d be like to have a girlfriend seemed to have helped in some ways.

I casually said.

“In the future, not only in newspapers but in the mouths of all people, our stories will be told. This is a rehearsal sort of thing.”

“Yep, yep-.”

Wiping her tears with both hands, Luna smiled brightly. The faint resentment that I felt lingered between Luna and me since the past seemed to melt away.

What I learned from this situation was this:

Arguing isn’t easy, but neither is making up.

I should be more careful from now on.

Thinking about this, Luna said decisively.

“Still, I should openly share my recipes with others…!”

“Really? For real? Is that okay?”

“Yeah. Anyway, even if someone tries to follow the recipes, they probably won’t succeed anyway. And if I keep hiding it like this, the conspiracy will only grow. So, just lightly revealing everything might be the way to go.”

“Yeah, if that’s the case, then…”

“And Hassan-.”

“Hm?”

Luna hesitated, trembling her lips as if something was trying to come out but couldn’t quite yet.

“Why?”

“…Uh, there, thank you. And I’m sorry for getting mad earlier…”

“Nah, it was my fault.”

Swish.

“…”

At that moment, Luna tightly closed her eyes and spread her arms left and right. I realized she was asking me to hug her.

Luna also seems to feel shy in her own way.

I too, feeling quite awkward somewhere, gave Luna a light hug.

The lumpiness against my chest felt very pleasant. And perhaps because she’d sweated during the night while sleeping, a sweet, peach-scented aroma emanated from her body.

“Uh, that, Hassan…”

“This can’t be helped. It’s a physiological reaction.”

“That’s not it, I smell something familiar from Hassan. It’s Bynas Sister-.”

“Probably just your imagination. We went to the research lab together, so her smell might have stuck to me.”

“Is that so-?”

Romance isn’t exactly simple, huh.

Therefore.

Later in the afternoon.

Hassan, Luna, and Elpride stood in front of the grand main gates of the Alchemist Guild.

Its grandeur surpasses even many shrines, truly showing how much wealth the Alchemist Guild accumulates from potions.

Probably because of the legal constraints on healing acts, many people buy and drink recovery potions.

“Hassan, it’s strange to come here. What’s this pink-haired guy doing here? Why are you here at the Alchemist Guild!? ”

The moment she saw us, a woman stood in obvious shock, as if she’d just seen something she shouldn’t.

A silver-tier necklace around her neck confirmed she was the leader of the Kolkata adventurer team—Delphina. We rarely saw her lately, so it was surprising to meet her here.

[Author’s Afterword]

Now I must quickly finish the parts I’ve been putting off… The Cat Fight machine and Can Fryde haven’t been used for too long, so they might have rusted, so let’s use them frequently from now on…!!

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