I Got Possessed, But the Monster Beast Is Adorable - Chapter 78
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#78
“Waaaaah-! Please save me-!”
Zoe hurriedly moved her steps to save the boy.
However, it was impossible to catch up with the man’s abnormally fast movements.
“You monster bastard! Come, huff, here!”
[【System】 Warning! Player’s stamina is rapidly decreasing. Please rest immediately!]
As the system warning window appeared, Zoe’s steps began to grow heavier.
Her stamina, already exhausted from the long journey and dealing with the villagers, was reaching its limit.
At this rate, it was clear that the child would be devoured by the monster before she could reach him.
Zoe hurriedly turned her head to look at Leon and Ruby, seeking help.
“Kyuu-! What are all these things, kyu!”
Don’t cling to me, tch. It’s disgusting.”
However, Leon and Ruby were also unable to move, surrounded by the mind-controlled villagers.
It was truly the worst situation.
Without any time to do something, the man had already reached the child.
“Waaaaah! I’m scared, mommy-!”
“Nutrients… absorption.”
At that critical moment when the man possessed by Pelloura opened his huge mouth wide to consume nutrients.
Someone appeared in front of the child.
“…No, Noel?”
The one who blocked the man was the ordinary mage, Noel.
She glanced at the man charging threateningly and then slowly raised her hand.
“Purifying Touch (ᛈᚢᚱᛁᚠᛇᛁᚾᚷ ᛏᛟᚢᚲᚺ).”
With that cry, brilliant rays of light spread from her fingertips.
It was a radiance so bright it could blind someone in an instant.
‘What… is this light?’
A light that somehow made her heart feel warm and fuzzy.
That dazzling light spread in all directions and enveloped Zoe’s body.
Paaaaaah-
At the fleeting moment when that warm light seeped into her body, the tips of Zoe’s luscious pink hair instantly transformed into brilliant silver.
But it was so brief that everyone around, including Zoe, failed to notice her change.
Except for Noel, who looked at Zoe with a confident expression.
Noel smiled with satisfaction and spread her palm toward the villagers.
Then the light that spread like waves began to envelop the man and the mind-controlled villagers.
“Kh, khaaaak-! Hot, it’s hot-!”
The man touched by the light writhed and convulsed as if in agony.
Soon, the people swallowed by the purifying light collapsed one by one.
The situation was over.
Zoe blinked her eyes at this amazing timeline that had passed in an instant and looked at Noel.
“No, Noel…”
“Well, this is quite a windfall.”
Then, as if nothing had happened, she casually rummaged through the collapsed man’s mouth with her fingers.
A mysterious seed emerged from inside the man’s mouth.
Noel immediately put that seed into a transparent glass bottle and said to Zoe.
“Zoe, could you help me? Just take out seeds that look like this from the mouths of the collapsed villagers.”
“What… what is that?”
“It’s a Pelloura seed. A seed from a parasitic monster flower that lives off humans.”
“What? A monster flower?! Wait, is it safe to touch something like that…?”
“Of course! It’s fine to touch. But don’t eat it. If you do, you’ll turn into something like that man from before, you know?”
Why would anyone eat that…
After finishing her brief explanation, Noel began collecting seeds around the village with a cheerful expression.
“Pelloura flowers… That woman has some strange hobbies.”
Leon clicked his tongue while watching Noel diligently collecting seeds.
* * *
“Phew… Thanks for helping. There were more infected villagers than I thought.”
After finishing the collection, Noel washed her hands three times at the village well.
She seemed quite disgusted from rummaging through so many people’s mouths.
I also followed her lead, washing my hands and finishing by applying the floral-scented hand cream that Noel had developed. Apparently, this makes your hands incredibly soft.
Oh, they really did get softer…?
I buried my nose in my palm that was wafting with lilac fragrance.
But still… you really can’t judge people by their appearance.
I looked at Noel, who was smiling with satisfaction at the now-full glass bottle.
“Um… what are you going to use those seeds for?”
“Well, Pelloura seeds are quite rare, so they have research value.”
Noel, being a mage, had a hobby of collecting all kinds of unusual plants that inhabit Berheim.
When I looked at her with curious eyes, Noel proudly showed me the list of what she had collected so far.
Man-eating carnivorous plants and poisonous plants were just the basics.
Plants whose leaves constantly emit human screams, or weeping moss – truly extraordinary plants filled her collection list.
The Pelloura seeds, which parasitize humans and drain their life force, were also among Noel’s collection targets.
To think that the incredibly elegant Noel was a collector of bizarre plants…
I closed the suitcase filled with all sorts of strangely shaped seeds and handed it to Noel.
“Noel, here you go… Um, so are the villagers okay now?”
The villagers who had been infected with Pelloura were gathered in one place and laid down.
Although we had removed seeds from every single one of them, I was worried because people’s consciousness hadn’t returned.
“Ah, they should be fine. Though the man who became the first host is beyond hope since his body was completely taken over.”
Noel pointed to the man we had seen in the restaurant and spoke regretfully.
“…He’s turned into a mummy.”
“Since we removed the seed that was the driving force moving his body, it can’t be helped… Poor thing.”
Unlike the villagers whose spores hadn’t germinated in their bodies, the man we saw in the restaurant was already dead.
In other words, Pelloura had been using his empty shell of a body as a tool to spread spores.
I prayed for the repose of the man who had dried up and shriveled like freeze-dried food.
“But hey. Are you really a mage?”
Leon, who had covered the man’s body with cloth, looked at Noel and asked.
“Of course. I’m an ordinary mage.”
“Come on, an ordinary mage my foot… Where would you find a mage who uses such strange powers.”
His tone suggested something didn’t add up.
I looked at Leon, who was sending suspicious glances toward Noel.
Come to think of it, I was curious too.
Perfect etiquette and elegant dignity for someone claiming to be a commoner.
Noel’s expression that showed no panic or loss of composure even in the crisis of nearly becoming the man’s prey.
The overwhelming ability to resolve the situation instantly with a single spell.
And that brilliant light that bloomed from her fingertips…
Even someone like me who doesn’t know the first thing about magic could tell that wasn’t ordinary power.
Indeed, Noel is clearly not ordinary by anyone’s standards.
Could it be… that Noel’s true identity is that of an archmage?
Maybe she’s hiding her identity to conceal her secret hobby?
I equipped the soul of a master detective once again.
But since I’d botched my deductions before, I couldn’t let my guard down.
I decided to test her, hoping to make up for my painful mistake from last time.
Come on, Noel. To the Room of Truth.
“That ability Noel used that emitted that brilliant light… Can just anyone use that?”
“Oh no, of course not. That’s not an ordinary ability.”
“I know everything, so don’t try to fool… huh?”
It was an answer that made my possession as a violent crimes detective seem meaningless.
I stared at Noel with a dumbfounded expression.
Then Noel looked at me like that, grinned, and walked toward me with big strides.
And then she whispered quietly in my ear.
“…That’s ancient divine magic that no one can use anymore.”
Noel brought her index finger to her lips and smiled slyly as if it were a secret.
Ancient divine magic that no one can use anymore…?
Then how can you use that magic, Noel?!
There was a contradiction in her words.
While I was pondering her dubious answer.
Noel picked up the suitcase she had set down on the floor and began to move somewhere.
“N-Noel. Where are you going?”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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