Pretending to Be Human Is Exhausting Again Today - Chapter 47

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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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Pretending to Be Human: Episode 047

“Ah, ugh….”

The sudden agony clouded Ruslara’s judgment.

Before questions about who this woman was or why she spoke to me like a soldier, a powerful instinct to flee this place seized control of my body first.

The Violet Demon with purple hair watched Ruslara’s desperate thrashing as I crawled across the ground in an attempt to escape.

“Oh my, trying to run away?”

When she snapped her fingers once more, tree roots erupted from the ground, piercing through Ruslara’s thigh just as the previous attack had. The thought that another hit might mean death made Ruslara squeeze my eyes shut.

“…Hmm, no. If I kill her like this, the clues will disappear again.”

But she suddenly changed her mind and ceased the attack.

Then she strode toward Ruslara, who lay collapsed on the ground.

Only then could Ruslara properly see the face of the woman with violet hair.

‘She’s just a child?’

She had a youthful face, barely into adulthood at most. Hastily tied purple hair, eyes of the same violet hue, sharp feline-like gaze, and a small mouth.

If not for the vicious aura emanating from her, one might believe she had stepped straight out of a fairy tale.

Contrary to Ruslara’s impression, the woman interrogated me with a voice dripping with bloodlust.

“Now that you’ve tasted pain, are you ready to answer? I’ll ask again—you’re Baban Si, aren’t you?”

Certainty burned in the woman’s eyes. Ruslara gripped my bleeding leg and answered.

“Ugh… yes.”

“Why were you trying to run? Do you have something to hide?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. You attacked first.”

“Heh, you?”

The woman’s lips curled upward in a twisted smile.

“Insubordination of this caliber is truly an art form. Let me just knock out a tooth or two so you can speak properly… Wait?”

In that instant, the woman who had been glaring at Ruslara’s eyes widened in surprise.

“What is this magical power? You’re not a soldier?”

“A soldier?”

“It means your magical aura isn’t that of a trained warrior, you fool.”

The woman furrowed her brow, as if this made no sense.

Ruslara, unaware that trained soldiers could recognize each other’s magical signatures, could not comprehend what she was saying.

“Isn’t everyone in Baobhan sith supposed to be a soldier? Then why is this magical power unidentifiable….”

As she muttered to herself, she suddenly snapped her fingers as if struck by realization.

“Ah! Are you a descendant born after migrating to the Human Realm? That would explain why I don’t recognize it.”

“…!”

It was a precise deduction. Cold sweat trickled down Ruslara’s forehead.

“So you don’t know my identity either… Hey, do you know my name? It’s Asmo-rina.”

‘Asmo?’

It resembled the name Asmodina. But Ruslara could not pretend to know this mysterious figure, so she shook her head.

“I don’t know. I’ve never heard of it.”

Mihilda had shared many tales of valor with Ruslara, but none of them had included the name Asmo-rina.

“Ah, whether you believe it or not. I thought everyone in Baobhan sith would know me….”

She frowned, troubled by the situation. I wondered if she felt guilty about wounding someone she’d never met before, but her next words proved the opposite entirely.

“What choice do I have? Who told her to run away like a worthless coward?”

“What…”

In that instant, Asmo-rina seized Ruslara by the throat. The demonic power concentrated in her grip was so overwhelming that Ruslara found herself utterly powerless to resist.

“Gack…!”

As Ruslara thrashed, Asmo-rina spoke with chilling composure.

“I’m not fond of tedious interrogations. So it would be wise for you to conduct yourself accordingly.”

Then she continued lightly, as though explaining the rules of a game.

“I’ll keep applying pressure like this. Answer my questions before you die, and I’ll release you. If you don’t know or refuse to answer, well, that’s unfortunate. If you want to speak, just nod your head.”

Before Ruslara could even comprehend her words and respond, Asmo-rina casually began tightening her grip, murmuring, “Then let’s begin—”

‘She really means to kill me!’

Her gaze was utterly devoid of emotion, as though she were regarding an insect. There was not the slightest hesitation in her willingness to end the life of a stranger whose name she didn’t even know.

Ruslara felt as though she were facing a being from an entirely different dimension.

“Do you know who Asmodina is—that Demon? Where is she?”

“…!”

The first question itself was shocking.

The similar names had made me wonder, but it seemed she did indeed know Asmodina.

And I could discern one crucial fact.

‘This woman knows nothing of Princess Deina’s existence!’

Ruslara forced her trembling lips open and began to answer.

“Who… is that?”

“I told you I hate being questioned. And if you don’t know, just die.”

Though I’d asked the question to gather clues, Asmo-rina showed no inclination to compromise—instead, she tightened her grip further. The pressure intensified steadily until even drawing a shallow breath became a struggle.

Simultaneously, a torrent of questions flooded my mind.

‘I know Asmodina is in the Human Realm, so why doesn’t the Princess? And why does she think Baobhan sith would know her whereabouts?’

I lacked sufficient clues to resolve these mysteries.

“I can see every idle thought crossing your mind. Do you want to die?”

“Ugh…!”

The pressure intensified—as if demanding I choose between death and answering.

When we first met, she’d spoken of military discipline, which led me to believe she was a soldier. Now I was certain I’d been mistaken.

Even if she were a soldier, she was nothing like the honorable, composed warriors my grandmother had described.

Rather, this Demon before me embodied the very identity demons were known for in the world.

A malevolent creature that regarded life as worthless and sought to resolve everything through violence.

Her reasons for seeking Deina were certainly not virtuous.

‘Then all the more…!’

I could not reveal Deina’s whereabouts.

Judging by the demonic power radiating through her touch, Asmo-rina was a formidable Demon rivaling Deina herself. I could not allow such a dangerous being to reach her.

Even if it meant I would die here.

Seeing the steely resolve crystallize in my eyes, Asmo-rina let out an approving whistle.

“Ha! Now you’re not thinking idle thoughts anymore. …I suppose there’s no helping it.”

“…!”

Asmo-rina sensed my resolve to face death and tightened her grip with even greater force.

In that moment, Ruslara felt death’s arrival with absolute certainty.

“Frustrating as it is, you’ve got style. If you’re reborn, I’d make you my subordinate—anywhere but this godforsaken world….”

She was offering that mockery-tinged compliment when it happened.

“My instincts never fail me, I’ll have you know.”

“…!”

A thick darkness cleaved between Asmo-rina and Ruslara.

Asmo-rina’s shock was brief. She attempted to disperse the darkness using her demonic power.

But it was useless. The darkness only grew stronger, saturating everything around her, and from within it, a pale hand emerged, pulling Ruslara backward.

“This is… a spirit of darkness.”

A spirit of darkness, skilled in deception and concealment.

Asmo-rina concentrated her demonic power into her eyes. The figure of the intruder hidden within the darkness became faintly visible.

It was Grid, Deina’s merchant.

“You could say I have keen insight, though I never expected such a dangerous welcoming committee.”

Asmo-rina paid no mind to Grid’s muttering and asked instead.

“Who are you? A demon?”

“No. Just a passerby.”

“You’re spouting nonsense.”

She swung her hand with force. A powerful gust of demonic energy swept forward, shaking the darkness. Grid, experiencing such overwhelming power for the first time, muttered under his breath as cold sweat beaded on his skin.

“At this rate, I’m really going to die.”

“Spirit Summoner. Put that woman down. Or I’ll kill you too.”

“That’s a lie. You’re planning to kill us both anyway, aren’t you?”

“I hate being talked back to!”

With Asmo-rina’s cry, dozens of tree roots erupted from the ground. Grid, still carrying Ruslara on his shoulder, kicked off into the empty air.

Darkness became his foothold, propelling him skyward.

Grid’s escape prowess, honed over decades, was something even the formidable Asmo-rina could not overcome.

“Don’t you dare leave!”

“Ha, you think I’d stop just because you’re mad?”

Though my body trembled beneath her overwhelming magical power, I offered a mischievous farewell.

Ruslara, whose consciousness had grown hazy from blood loss in her thigh and lack of oxygen, forced her head up to look at Asmo-rina.

In her fading vision, she saw Asmo-rina standing motionless, having apparently abandoned her pursuit, glaring after them.

Beneath the moonlight, the Violet Demon was beautiful, even in this cruel moment.

The instant their eyes met, Asmo-rina murmured something.

Ruslara struggled to read the words from her lips.

“If you are a traitor, be prepared.”

‘A traitor? Who?’

But the distance between them had grown too great to ask that question.

Ruslara closed her eyes on Grid’s shoulder. Feeling her body temperature drop alarmingly, Grid cried out in desperation.

“Wait, just wait! You can’t die here! Stay with me!”

‘Who on earth is this man?’

Everyone I encounter today seems to be peculiar in some way.

With that hollow assessment lingering in her mind, she closed her eyes.

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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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