Chapter 88
Before he knew it, Konkil was being strangled.
“Long time no see.”
“Ghk… gk…?”
Long time no see?
Even while being choked, Konkil’s eyes widened in shock.
A youthful yet low voice echoed pleasantly through the air.
“You don’t have to remember me. I remember you. Even after all this time, I still can’t forget how you stabbed me in the back.”
“Gk…?”
“I saved you, thinking you were a hostage—risked my life for you—only to find out you were the leader of a band of thieves. That was quite a shock for my younger self.”
“Gk…?”
“And I didn’t even have time to process that mental shock. You dragged me into a dungeon… and because of that, I experienced my first-ever attempt at suicide.”
Konkil wanted to ask what kind of nonsense this was, but only choking sounds came out.
Watching from the sidelines, even the gods grew slightly confused.
[‘The Word That Builds Worlds’ wonders if he always talked this much.]
[‘Inspector of Heavenly Secrets’ notes that since this is the 17th regression, it’s likely very different from the original.]
At that moment, Tessilid covered half his face with one hand and spoke.
“Ah, I don’t usually talk this much. I just got a bit emotional after not seeing him in so long.”
“Ghk…”
Konkil was nearly unconscious by now.
Still, he could clearly hear the man’s beautiful voice.
“Do you know? It’s considered an act of virtue for a knight to punish those who harm a lady’s honor.”
“…!”
“Who’s comforting whom now?”
Drool and foam spilled from Konkil’s mouth, nearly reaching Tessilid’s wrist.
“However, I’ve decided to live this life properly.”
The hand around Konkil’s neck suddenly loosened.
Air rushed violently back into his lungs.
“Cough! Hack! Cough!”
Tessilid turned away without hesitation as Konkil coughed desperately.
His beautiful, cold figure faded into the darkness.
✠
“Thank you…! Truly, thank you!”
“We will never forget this kindness… sob…”
After receiving heartfelt gratitude from the rescued male hostages, it seemed the cleanup of the hideout was complete.
I brushed my hands off as Tessilid approached.
“Ailette, we should head out.”
“Okay.”
Outside the cave prison, thieves were tied up in groups using the Spirit King’s harp strings.
They struggled desperately at the edge of death.
“I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die!”
“It’s burning! Help!”
Red marks on their foreheads burned their skin.
<What’s going on?>
“It’s time,” I answered.
Tessilid explained further.
“The original hideout of the Fusu Tribe was inside an ownerless dungeon. But recently, an S-rank boss was born and claimed it. They were branded as slaves.”
<Serves them right. So what exactly did the boss make them do?>
“They must offer ten men every week in real time, or they burn from the head down and die.”
<Only men?>
“Yes. The boss is a Harpy Queen.”
<Ah, I see… harpies reproduce using human males…>
The conversation continued, though Tessilid couldn’t actually perceive Agnes’s voice.
How courteous of him—truly a textbook knight.
I approached the dying thieves. Holy light gathered in my hand.
Tessilid and Agnes both realized what I was about to do.
“Ailette, don’t tell me…”
<You’re going to save them?>
“Of course not.”
And yet healing light poured from my hands.
Burned skin regenerated. The red marks disappeared.
The rescued men cried.
“I… I’m alive…”
“T-thank you…”
“You don’t need to thank me.”
Only ten had been saved.
The number ten had meaning.
“Agh!”
The Spirit King’s harp strings tightened and dragged the remaining thieves together like dried fish.
“Let’s go meet the Harpy Queen.”
“Eek!”
“Noooo!”
They screamed in terror.
“I’m sorry! We’ll never do it again!”
“Please, anything but the Harpy Queen!”
“Just kill us instead!”
Only when faced with their own fate did they understand despair.
I smiled kindly.
“Don’t give up. If you survive until I defeat the boss, you might live.”
“Hyiiik!”
“Oh right, I forgot to suppress my killing intent.”
I tightened the harp strings and turned to Tessilid.
He was staring at me.
“Let’s go, Teri!”
“….”
“Teri?”
“…Ah.”
He seemed to snap out of it.
“The dungeon is this way.”
He led the way with a faint smile, almost as if he was enjoying himself.
Deep inside the cave, a gate opened wide.
“Gyaaah!”
“Help—ugh!”
We shoved the thieves in first, then stepped inside.
I offered Tessilid my hand.
“Here.”
A gentleman’s escort—taught by my mother.
“…That’s just treating me like I’m weak.”
“You are weak. Come on, sir knight.”
He took my hand without further complaint.
The world distorted and reformed.
[System: You have entered S-rank Dungeon ‘Nest of Hatching.’]
A mountainous terrain stretched out before us.
Harpies flew around like flocks of migratory birds.
“Kieek! Kiiieek!”
The sheer number of them terrified the thieves.
“W-what are those?!”
“They weren’t like this before!”
“You’re asking me?”
“It must be that the Harpy Queen’s eggs hatched.”
Monsters bred and slaughtered instinctively. Harpies were especially so.
The outcome was obvious.
The harpies swooped down.
“Help! Nooo!”
And began snatching the thieves one by one.
In an instant, the “tribute” was gone.
“Welp.”
<Welp.>
We both observed calmly.
Among the mountains, one peak looked like a broken crater.
“That must be the nest.”
“Agnes agrees.”
“Ter, Agnes says that’s it.”
Tessilid nodded seriously.
“We must hurry. There may still be hostages inside.”
“How do we get there quickly?”
<Why not ride the harpies?>
Just then Tessilid spoke.
“That won’t be a problem. We still have something that can attract them.”
“Hm?”
“Like that one coming now.”
A large silhouette flew toward us at high speed.
As it approached, its form became clear.
Far larger than the others, with peacock-colored wings and a crown on its head.
[System: Dungeon ruler, Demon Rank 780—Harpy Queen Fignellis has appeared.]
