I’m Hunting My Enemy - Chapter 15

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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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15. Ghost of the Swamp (5)

“Are there more patients?”

“Ahem. Miss. Choose your words wisely.”

“I can show you if you wish.”

“Show me now!”

“If they wish it, that is.”

Ohen Priest emphasized the first part. Ryuie pursed her lips mysteriously. He was only pretending to be polite in attitude, but this priest was also arrogant.

Perhaps when you live facing either death or becoming a monster, you can act fearlessly even toward a duke?

‘I like it.’

Ryuie loved debauchery. Not the freedom the villagers had been shouting about earlier. That word had something noble about it. It was too much for Ryuie.

“How can the village survive when people keep turning into monsters? It seems like it should have collapsed long ago.”

“About three villages are affected by the oath, and one has already disappeared as you guessed.”

Ohen readily answered Bendam’s question.

“Since there are still people alive, the temple cannot leave first. We cannot turn away those who come seeking Rkultu.”

“Ah. Such an easy thing to do without any ulterior motives.”

Catsy spoke sarcastically. Ohen remained calm.

“We simply wish to quietly watch over the end.”

“That’s a lie.”

It was Glem who denied him. Glem glared at Ohen with a crooked posture. It was the greatest hostility he had shown so far.

“The patients who entered the temple have never once returned to the village.”

“That voice is Glem’s. I’m surprised you still haven’t left the swamp.”

Ohen’s voice grew slightly louder.

“I know you’ve been going around killing humans who became monsters as your last mercy. But we can’t send out the humans we’re protecting in the temple to be killed, can we.”

Ryuie looked at Glem. Glem’s eyes were blazing with fire. The anger he couldn’t suppress was so vivid it seemed tangible.

‘So that’s why he dealt with the human in the forest so quickly.’

Ryuie, who had been thinking quietly, savored Glem’s emotions a little more.

From her perspective, Glem’s choice was very reasonable. It was even more so after seeing Mos’s transformation process right before her eyes.

Fortunately, Mos had transformed into a monster that wasn’t very threatening, but if it had been a poisonous monster or one with high aggression like the person with organ mutation, it would have been too dangerous. It could have massacred an entire village.

The organ-mutated human she saw in the forest was probably what Glem had been continuously searching for. From their first meeting, he had been sleeping on the ground looking exhausted. Unlike Ryuie, Glem couldn’t use the method of deploying knights to search the entire forest, so it must have been difficult. It was resolved thanks to Ryuie’s arrival.

But rather than being proud of his rational judgment, Glem looked very angry.

“If it were proper patient treatment, I wouldn’t say anything. You should clearly reveal what you’re after too!”

“We only give patients what they want.”

Ohen Priest ended his conversation with Glem with that. Even though he couldn’t see ahead, he turned his head precisely toward where Ryuie and Glem were. He seemed to remember all the directions from which voices came.

“What does the Duke’s daughter intend to do? You also saw those monsters and ghosts in the swamp.”

“I.”

Ryuie paused briefly and played with the moment when everyone waited for her next words.

“I think you’re the culprits.”

Mos cried out in surprise more than the priests.

“That can’t be, Miss!”

“Really? Are you sure you’re not a village resident being pitifully deceived because the priests rescue you every time you become a monster?”

“What?!”

Ohen, who had been consistently stoic, smiled slightly then. Only then did he look human.

“No.”

“How can I believe that?”

“If you’re asking the person directly, you seem to believe it enough.”

Ryuie also smiled faintly and moved on casually. Making it impossible to distinguish whether her suspicion of the priests was a joke or not.

“Did you also try to stop the Crown Prince from going to the swamp?”

“I’ve never seen His Highness the Crown Prince, so I cannot answer.”

“Black hair, green eyes, devastatingly handsome. He might not have revealed his name, but he would have been hard to forget.”

“I don’t know.”

“You said you saw him in the swamp?”

“I saw a phantom.”

Ohen answered even though he couldn’t see directly. Ryuie was also recalling the same image. Joshua with a sad face surrounded by monsters in the swamp.

Though it was a brief moment, his profile remained as a strong impression.

“What was your impression after seeing it directly? Do you believe our words now?”

“Well.”

The emotion that briefly crossed Ryuie’s lips was so unfamiliar that Glem’s gaze followed and fixed on it. From their first meeting, her face had been a mix of arrogance, frivolity, and things that didn’t match.

The emotion showing now was singular.

“It was nice to see him.”

“….”

Glem somehow found it difficult to keep looking at Ryuie’s expression and turned his head away. He was only here as a mercenary, and it felt uncomfortable to learn about someone else’s private life.

Ryuie herself quickly shook it off and gave instructions briskly.

“I’ll stay at the temple for a while. My companions will arrange their own lodging, and I’ll use a room in the temple. Of course, I’ll choose it myself. Let Mos stay here for now. And tomorrow I’ll see the patients you mentioned. Ask them if they ‘want to’ beforehand.”

“Understood.”

Ohen nodded without a single protest. Ryuie likewise flicked her fingertips to dismiss the priests. It was a natural command even though the priests were clearly the owners of this temple.

Mos looked at Ryuie, who had taken control of the temple, with an admiring face. Ryuie waved her hand lightly in response.

“I guess I’m not attracted to fish.”

“What?”

“Are you talking about something else again?”

“Look.”

Ryuie spread her palm to show it better, displaying the sparkling scales.

She hadn’t sat close to Mos simply to create a romantic scene. While Ryuie was playing affectionately with Mos, she had thoroughly touched his tail.

Now the others who saw the scales also knew this fact.

“Do I have preferences I didn’t know about, or is it okay because half his body is fish?”

“Ah! Aah!”

“Come to think of it, Rkultu’s curse didn’t activate!”

Catsy and Bendam’s eyes widened.

Ryuie, who couldn’t touch anyone if she had even the slightest affection for them, had touched Mos’s tail. Moreover, Mos didn’t hide the fact that he had feelings for Ryuie at all. Yet contact was possible.

It was the first time the oath that had pressed down on Ryuie her entire life had broken free from its shackles.

Ryuie looked at the rainbow-colored sparkling scales with interest, turning them this way and that.

“Was there also a prayer among Rkultu’s that turns people into monsters?”

“I know it exists. But it hasn’t been actually realized in the past hundred years.”

“So it’s not impossible, but it could happen suddenly like just now.”

“That’s correct.”

At the priest’s answer, the others felt momentarily chilled.

‘This is why everyone avoids priests.’

Both the priest and Ryuie, who casually talked about turning humans into monsters, were equally disgusting. Mos was especially more terrified.

“What’s happening? Have I really become a monster?”

“There’s a very simple magic to check that, Mos.”

Ryuie smiled broadly and spread her arms. Mos, who had been dazedly grinning for a moment, properly realized what being embraced by Ryuie meant.

“Aaah!”

“Ow, that stings.”

Crackle!

Black lightning writhing like an eel sent both people flying apart. Glem, who had been watching just in case, snorted, and Bendam hurriedly pulled the priest to make him recite healing prayers.

“It doesn’t work.”

Ryuie clicked her tongue while healing her skin burned by the injury. Mos, whose aching body had to suffer twice as much, made a tearful face.

“That hurt, Miss. You could have at least warned me….”

“I did tell you. Besides, the pain is proof that you’re human. Congratulations.”

Seeing Ryuie even clap briefly for him, Mos became truly confused. Was this something to be happy about? That I’m not a monster yet. Though he wasn’t sure, Ryuie definitely looked disappointed.

“It’s disappointing that the oath remains the same. If I could have embraced Mos, I could have immediately become a monster myself and escaped from the engagement oath.”

“My goodness. What kind of monster are you planning to become?”

“If I could choose, naturally a harpy.”

“A harpy? That bird body with a mouth full of teeth?”

“Flying around would be the best.”

Ryuie sat down cheekily on the edge of Mos’s bed. And as if he were some cute puppy or kitten, she kept stroking his long fish tail. Even though his appearance was hideous, his nerves were definitely connected as Mos’s face turned red. It seemed he could feel the sensation.

Glem, who had been standing with his arms crossed in displeasure, asked.

“So what you really want is the Crown Prince, or is it breaking the engagement vow?”

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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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