༺ An Unexpected Encounter (2) ༻
For a short moment, the mana that had been channeled by Annalise surged.
Vera hid Renee behind his back while placing a hand on the Holy Sword.
It was a situation that needed no long explanations.
As they each prepared to draw their optimal means of attack in the confined space, Jenny intervened.
“Stop!”
When Jenny’s hand struck the head of the doll that was Annalise, all of the rising mana dissipated instantly.
[What…!]
A bewildered exclamation came from Annalise, while Vera, on the other side, wore a stunned expression at the unexplainable situation.
“Vera?”
It was Renee’s voice as she evoked her pure white divinity. Vera turned a beat too late to check on Renee’s condition.
[What is this bitch…!]
The doll’s head, which shouldn’t be able to turn, turned in a direction it shouldn’t have, towards Jenny. Jenny snorted out her nose in annoyance and answered, arms crossed.
“Bad kids need to be punished…!”
She would teach this bad soul a lesson for harassing her family. Jenny, filled with determination, moved her divinity.
[What kind of…!]
Annalise observed the phenomenon that was happening to her in horror.
The slime that composed her physical form slowly solidified. Her movements were being controlled.
Not only that, her control over mana also slowly slipped away. It was as if mana had never existed for her. A presence she had felt all her life, even in death, ceased to exist.
A distant fear.
It was a moment she didn’t want to think about even in her dreams. She felt a feeling of despair, as though the meaning of her presence was slipping away, and Annalise let out a desperate scream.
[THIS FUCKKK!!!]
Jenny’s body recoiled in shock at the scream and jolted backwards.
‘I-It didn’t work…?’
Worried that her attempt may have failed, Jenny cautiously moved towards Renee. However, that turned out to be an unnecessary concern.
Annalise was already in a state where she could no longer do anything but blurt out curses, so no other mishaps would occur.
Vera, who had a dumbfounded expression until then, looked back and forth between Annalise and Jenny, and then asked Jenny a question.
“How did you…”
From what he knew, even with the Power of Death, controlling a soul to such an extent was impossible, hence his question.
Jenny glanced at Vera with a frightened look on her face, then cast her eyes down to the floor and answered.
“…S-Salt.”
“What?”
“I added salt into the slime… Slimes don’t like salt… so it’s easier to control…”
Piecing together her stutters, that was what she essentially said.
She had exploited the properties of the slime to disrupt Annalise and easily gain control.
It was a rather clever plan.
At that, Annalise let out a flood of curses again and Vera made a shocked expression.
As for Renee… she had a sullen look on her face, and turned her head towards Jenny.
Despite the situation, she was about to ask, ‘Is the source of that salt perhaps the candy I gave you?’ It was a question at the tip of her tongue.
Thankfully, she didn’t let that thought escape her lips.
The grown-up Renee had become a person who could distinguish between what should and should not be said depending on the situation.
***
Once the storm passed, the first thing Vera and Renee did after regaining their composure was to call Miller to this place.
After all, necromancy was a form of sorcery, so they needed to make sure that the summoned Annalise wouldn’t cause havoc.
It wasn’t just about preventing chaos.
Is there a way to interrogate her? I have to check for that as well.
‘Annalise knows what will happen in the future.’
There was no doubt about it, considering her rambles during the fight in the collapsing Aurillac and Alaysia’s serum that she had used.
Back then, the chaotic situation prevented him from interrogating her, but now, in this situation where he had her bound, it was only natural to continue the interrogation leisurely.
Taking advantage of the unexpected opportunity, Vera’s gaze never strayed from Miller, who was searching Annalise all over.
“Wow~ You’ve cast this very well, huh? That little kid did this?”
Jenny’s cheeks blushed slightly at the words complimenting her. At that reaction, Miller continued talking with a hearty laugh and…
“I’m not kidding, if she wasn’t an Apostle, I’d have her as an assistant in my lab…”
“Don’t cross the line.”
“…but she does seem too young.”
…was cut off by Vera.
After a while, Miller managed to successfully assess the situation and then nonchalantly tossed the doll on the floor before reassuring the group.
“Yep, there’s no chance this old hag will cause trouble. The handling of sorcery is thorough and, above all, sealed with the Apostle’s power, so she can’t absolutely can’t rebel in her spirit body. Suicide or any other self-destructive act is impossible.”
[This fucker…!]
“Oh my, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize. Should I have addressed you as ‘Grandma’?
When Annalise, who had kept her mouth shut the entire time finally opened it, Miller chuckled.
“This is exactly why I say these wizard shitters are no good. Look at this. Unable to use mana, she’s become completely useless. If she had learned sorcery instead, she could have found a way out of this situation.”
Once again, his unexplainable disdain for wizards was rearing its head once more.
As if to prove that his disdain for wizard’s study of magic wasn’t a lie, Miller seemed to relish in this situation where he could look down on Annalise.
However, Annalise wasn’t one to sit quietly under such provocation.
Why should she be? She was a unique person with a vicious temper and toxic personality that even when her plans were crumbling, even when her neck was severed and rolling around, never gave up her pride.
[A damned sorcerer shitter is talking about something beyond his depth, huh?]
Even in an immobilized state, her verbal abuse never ceased.
Annalise, the Empire’s Greatest Wizard, and Miller, revered as the continent’s Greatest Sorcerer, were engaged in a suffocating war of attrition.
“At least I, unlike ‘Grandma’, do not drool over children. But thinking about it again, it’s hilarious. Grandma, do you have a conscience?”
[Did you think a damned insignificant pest like you could understand my intentions? This is why those who can’t think…]
“I don’t want to think about you sleeping with children anyways… Well, hang in there.”
With that, Miller creeped up and hid behind Vera.
“Alright, Sir Vera! Time for the interrogation!”
He skillfully executed one of his techniques to enrage the other party, the ‘say my piece and run away’.
[Fuck…!]
As expected, Annalise continued her torrent of angry curses and Vera sighed deeply, stepping forward towards her.
For a moment, Vera pondered over the thought, ‘How can I get a plausible answer from a person with such a shitty and terrible personality?’
It was because he knew that she wasn’t the type to open her mouth.
In the middle of that, Annalise spoke up.
[Don’t even hope to hear anything useful from me. I have no intention of telling you anything.]
She said, provoking him.
[Right, maybe this isn’t so bad. Watching pathetic creatures struggling before they die wouldn’t be such bad entertainment.]
Vera’s expression contorted.
Her condescending words were so annoying that he unconsciously crafted a response of equal measure.
”…Let’s be honest. You can admit it if you have dementia and can’t remember. I understand that you’re an old hag who’s lived for over a century. Oh, my bad. Do you need your dentures to respond?”
It was only after saying it that he realized what he did, when an ‘oh no’ emerged in his head.
Renee was here. The thought that he shouldn’t have shown this side of himself in front of Renee was in the back of his head.
His eyes quickly darted to Renee, who was standing there with her mouth wide open.
Vera’s body jerked slightly.
Annalise felt a sense of absurdity as she saw that sight.
[What…]
“Saint, that…”
“Yes? Ah, keep going!”
Renee shook her head and gestured for him to continue. Vera groaned and glared at Anilis.
It was all because that old hag had provoked him.
It was an instinctive reaction to the thought that emerged.
[You’re doing all sorts of silly things. I thought you were a hunting dog, but you’re just a pet. Do you need a tail? So you can whine and wag your tail in front of that bitch.]
“…Shut up.”
[Oh, how pitiful. Unable to speak freely in front of your master. I can’t even imagine living like a dog. How about it, why don’t you come to me? Maybe I could give you a warm hug instead?]
Vera’s fist clenched tightly, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.
In the back of his mind, he realized that he should probably send Renee out of the room, but Renee took a step forward.
“Vera, could you step away for a moment?”
“…Yes?”
“Let me talk to her.”
Renee gently tapped Vera’s shoulder and waited until the sound of his footsteps were cut off by the door before she approached Annalise.
There was a smile on her face, the complete opposite of her emotions that were rising alongside her anger.
‘Even Vera should let off some steam by cursing every now and then.’
She wondered how he could live so rigidly. He seemed devoid of flexibility… If someone overheard her, they might become stressed out, so she leaned in closer.
And she whispered.
“Grandma, I think you’ve lost your head because you’re so bad at fucking.”
[…]
“And please, act your age. Who in the world would want to be held by you? You’re old, and your breasts must be all saggy by now… You seem to be lacking some self-awareness. Ah, that reminds me, your body must be buried by now. I’m sorry. I misspoke…”
Her grin was mischievous, and all her words were meant to slander Annalise.
Annalise felt as though her soul was being sucked out of the doll, even though she hadn’t done anything.
She had only met Renee briefly at the Empire’s Imperial Palace, so she was unfamiliar with Renee’s personality.
‘This… is the damned Saint?’
As that thought was running through her mind…
“Ugh, the smell of an old hag. If even the doll smells like this, it means that even your soul is truly old. Time is truly cruel, isn’t it?”
Renee twisted the knife further.
Annalise felt as if everything she had known was falling apart.
‘This… is the fucking Apostle of Fate?’
This shit is the meditator?
Annalise thought that if she still had a physical body, she would have grabbed the back of her own neck in frustration.
‘What in the world…’
A feeling of emptiness began to fill Annalise.
Another thought emerged.
It occurred to her that even if she had survived that day at the Empire, even if everything had gone according to plan, if the Saint was this kind of person, she would have failed in the end.
Her life would have started and ended in vain.
“It seems that staying here any longer will only show more of this ugly sight. Wouldn’t it be better for both of us if we finish our business and part ways quickly? Yes? Don’t make a fuss and just spill everything you know.”
The Saint, with those kinds of ridiculous thoughts, would never be a good fit for her cause.
[Fuck…]
Whether I have lingering attachments or not, wouldn’t it be better to just die right now?
Annalise thought that for a moment.
Meanwhile, some distance away.
Vera, standing at the door with Miller and Jenny, learned a side of Renee that he didn’t want to hear or know about, thanks to his keen hearing that kept picking up her words.
He involuntarily shut his eyes.
‘Who in the world…!’
Taught Renee how to speak like that?
Vera felt a deep sorrow at the shameless thought of refusing to accept the possibility that Renee became this way because of him.
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