I Thought Your Friend's Sibling Wasn't a Girl? - Chapter 31

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 31
I knew something was off, sure. But I never imagined things would come to this…….
Skin drained of all color, pale as snow. Eyes abnormally large. Horns sprouting from its head.
Root-like appendages clung to its body everywhere, and its movements were sluggish. The enormous Robe it wore dragged slowly across the ground, leaving its mark in the earth.
“This can’t be…….”
“D-Demonic Energy. Cough, cough!”
Bennett tried to say something, then spat blood violently. Olivia could only stare at it in shock, eyes wide.
Behind the monster, black energy billowed like a veil. There was no other way to describe it but as Demonic Energy. And worse still…….
‘It’s generating Demonic Energy?’
Only Demonic Beasts and the Demon Race could produce Demonic Energy. Ordinary monsters were merely creatures affected by it; they couldn’t actually generate it themselves.
Yet this thing seemed to be generating and emanating it on its own. As if to prove the point, the concentration of black energy deepened the closer it approached the monster.
In the wake of its passage lay withered grass and dead trees, drained of all vitality.
‘I’m certain Demonic Beasts were completely exterminated.’
Then what in the world is that? Olivia blinked, her eyes growing unfocused as she tried to think.
The party’s condition was a wreck. Bennett was barely standing, propped up by his sword and swaying, while the others were near death from pushing their mana to the breaking point.
There was no one left to fight. Despair kindled in Olivia’s eyes.
“Why. Why now, of all times.”
Why couldn’t it have appeared just a little later? After they’d regrouped with the other members.
Or even a little earlier would have been better than this.
With a heavy thud, Bennett collapsed beside her. Olivia didn’t even look his way—she simply stepped forward, positioning herself ahead of his fallen form.
‘Hold on, Olivia.’
The Defensor in her grip thrummed ominously.
“Please, work with me.”
Let me protect just a little longer.
Despite her desperate plea, her vision blurred. Her hand holding the Defensor felt strangely light, as if it might slip away.
This is my limit. A slow realization dawned—when humans reach their breaking point, they forget both pain and the sense of reality itself.
Shrieeek!
But with that sharp sound, she felt something vast bearing down on her. Olivia swung her sword to meet it.
‘Just a little more, please…….’
Olivia moved on pure instinct, unaware of what she was doing. She felt the vague sensation of cutting through something, and what might have been an ungodly shriek.
But that too vanished quickly. Nothing felt like anything anymore.
In her drowning consciousness, Olivia thought quietly.
‘Aiden Oblivion, you bastard.’
You said you’d come.
‘I did my best…….’
Is this really the end then? That thought followed close behind.
And in that moment.
Crash!
“I’m going to kill you.”
Was she hearing things, desperate as she’d become?
But there was no way to tell if it was a hallucination. Olivia’s consciousness, already hazy, finally gave way.
* * *
She dreamed.
Nothing remarkable about it. Just an absurd fever dream of becoming the king of monsters.
Dream-Olivia wore a form-fitting black dress and lounged across a Bearwolf that had grown roughly ten times its normal size, using it as a couch. Absurdly, the backdrop was the Kishier mansion’s drawing room.
Rafflesia, dressed in formal attire, trudged over and draped her with the Robe the last Demonic Beast had worn—and inexplicably, the Robe smelled of flowers.
It was utterly ridiculous. That’s how Olivia knew at once that this was a dream.
“What kind of stupid dream is this?”
“It’s because of you!”
“Now what?”
The voice came from inside the Robe that Rafflesia had delivered. Olivia languidly moved and pulled back the thick blanket-like Robe.
“A girl?”
Inside was a young girl with crimson eyes. She glared at Olivia with tears brimming in her eyes and cried out sharply.
“Take responsibility! You have to take responsibility!”
“But I still don’t know what you want me to-”
“Seriously, Olivia. Are you cheating on me? You promised to take responsibility for me!”
“Aiden?”
Wait, what do you mean I……?
“Take responsibility!”
“Yeah, take responsibility!”
Olivia thought: this is definitely a stupid dream.
The girl clung to Olivia’s right arm and wailed, while Aiden grabbed her other hand, his eyes narrowed to slits. It was chaos.
The two of them pressed themselves against her as if they’d coordinated, then opened their mouths in unison and shouted.
“Take responsibility!”
The sound was deafening, as though amplified through a megaphone. Covering her ears had no effect whatsoever.
Both her arms felt impossibly heavy, as if boulders had been fastened to them. Olivia finally couldn’t hold back.
“I’ll take responsibility! I’m taking responsibility!”
The moment she spoke, everything fell silent. Those who had been clinging to her vanished without trace, leaving her adrift alone in a dark void.
A small voice whispered through the darkness.
-Really?
And with that, Olivia woke.
* * *
Blink. Blink.
It took a moment to fully regain her sense of reality after waking. Olivia rolled her eyes around, struggling to refocus her pupils as she tried to grasp her situation.
Given the scent of medicinal herbs…….
‘A clinic?’
Perhaps because of the strange dream, her head still throbbed and her mind felt clouded. Just as Olivia began to shift in bed to sit up.
Creak.
“Goodness, Olivia!”
“……Panya?”
“Teacher! Olivia’s awake! Hurry!”
Bang.
Panya shouted about how Olivia had finally woken, rushing out in a frenzy.
From that much, one thing was clear: this was a clinic, and she had survived the practical field.
The hazy memories of that day flooded back like a dam bursting, sharp and immediate.
“Ugh.”
“Miss Olivia Kishier. Are you all right?”
“I’m… fine.”
A wave of pain crashed through her, stealing her breath. Thanks to that, though, her consciousness and focus snapped back into place.
Meanwhile, the doctors Panya had summoned moved quickly to assess Olivia’s condition. The quiet ward suddenly filled with bustling activity.
“The wounds are healing well. If we’d been even slightly later, it would have been catastrophic.”
“……But I don’t think my wounds were that severe.”
“This is what knights are like! Even minor injuries add up to something critical, but you had severe wounds all over your body. If you’d lost even a little more blood, you’d be dead.”
“I’m s-sorry.”
“Never mind. I’ve seen plenty of patients who don’t value their own lives.”
The Doctor was gruff even as he worked swiftly. His hands moved with practiced certainty as he disinfected and examined the wounds.
Thinking of all this as the sensation of being alive, she found even the pain from her wounds almost welcome—just barely, just a little.
Being alive is truly wonderful. Olivia drew fresh air deep into her lungs and marveled at this second life she’d been granted.
I need to discharge soon and savor the outside air. I’m not setting foot in any forest for a good while.
“You’ll need to remain hospitalized for at least four more days.”
The Doctor’s words shattered that resolve completely.
“……Four days?”
“Bennett was the same, but Healing Magic just wasn’t taking well for some reason. Though now that you’ve passed the critical stage, it’s better to let your natural recovery do the work.”
“That’s too long. Could it be shorter—”
“Absolutely not.”
Bang!
The Doctor declared firmly and swept out the door. The rest of the medical staff followed in his wake.
In moments, only Olivia and Panya remained in the room.
“What can you do? You’ll just have to bear it.”
“Was it really that bad? I thought Bennett got hurt worse than me.”
“…….”
“Panya?”
She’d only asked casually, but an ominous silence fell. Olivia tilted her head, turning to look at Panya.
“Wait, just a moment.”
“You—are you seriously saying that?”
“No, listen to me. Of course it was serious, but what I’m trying to say—”
“You almost died. Do you understand? Bennett got the worst injury and he was back on his feet in four days, but you—!”
Four days? That meant several days had passed since the practical field? Olivia’s eyes widened.
“Your heart stopped once…….”
Panya couldn’t hold back anymore and burst into tears.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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