Sister, I Hit You Because There Was a Ghost Behind You - Chapter 8

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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 8. Your Majesty, I’d Prefer My Reward in Cash
Demian spoke urgently.
“Miss Violetta? Step back, please!”
“Wait a moment, partner. We should resolve this through dialogue.”
I ignored the spear points of the guards and walked steadily toward the throne. The guards shouted.
“Stop! Come any closer and we’ll cut you down!”
I didn’t blink once, staring directly at the Archbishop as I spoke.
“Archbishop Cassius, you say I’m possessed by a demon?”
“Indeed! I sense an evil aura emanating from your eyes!”
“Hmm, is that so? From where I stand, Your Grace’s shoulders look far heavier burdened.”
I smiled wickedly and pointed a finger at the Emperor’s neck.
“And Your Majesty. Haven’t you been experiencing considerable stiffness in your neck and shoulders lately? Sleep paralysis every night, and constantly hearing whispers in your ears, yes?”
The Emperor’s eyes widened. The centipede writhed as if in panic.
“How… how could you possibly know that…?”
“Naturally. Because there’s a rather disgusting worm attached to Your Majesty’s neck.”
“What, what did you say? A worm?!”
Archbishop Cassius cried out in alarm.
“You insolent wretch! How dare you speak nonsense about His Majesty’s condition! Kill her! Execute this mad woman at once!”
The guards rushed forward.
Just as Demian shouted “No!” and threw himself toward me, I lifted my skirts and drew a three-section staff from my thigh, snapping it open with a sharp crack.
“Decorum? Does that put food on the table?”
I struck away the spear shaft of the charging guard and launched myself upward. My target wasn’t the guards. It was Archbishop Cassius standing beside the throne, and the centipede connected to the Emperor’s neck.
“Demian! Cover my back!”
I left my rear to Demian and leaped onto the throne. He stood there stunned for a moment before cursing “Damn it!” and blocking the guards with his bare fists.
“What, what are you doing, guards!”
Archbishop Cassius retreated. I closed in on the Emperor’s face. Terror-stricken, the Emperor pressed himself into his chair.
“Your Majesty, this will sting for a moment. It’s part of the treatment.”
I raised my three-section staff high. Not to crack the Emperor’s skull. I was aiming for the centipede’s head clinging to the back of his neck.
“Begone, you parasite!”
Crack—!
My staff grazed dangerously close to the Emperor’s ear, striking the purple centipede’s head with full force.
[Kieeeeeek!]
The centipede shrieked as if its eardrums would burst, tearing away from the Emperor’s neck. Simultaneously, the Emperor gasped and lurched forward.
“Your Majesty!”
Everything froze.
Just as everyone believed I had assaulted the Emperor, black smoke poured from his mouth in choking gasps. Then, from the floor behind the throne, a shadow shaped like a centipede with a shattered head began to writhe and crawl forth.
“What, what is that?!”
“The shadow… it’s moving?”
The centipede was invisible to ordinary eyes, but the black malevolent energy I’d struck into materialization was visible to me. The centipede writhed in agony, attempting to flee back to its true form—Archbishop Cassius.
“Not so fast!”
I kicked off the armrest of the jade throne and soared upward, stomping down on the fleeing centipede. Then I turned my gaze toward Archbishop Cassius.
“Well then, shall we deal with the main body?”
“You… you wretched woman… what exactly are you?!”
Archbishop Cassius’s face contorted. Behind him, a colossal demonic form gaped its maw in threat. Yet I tapped the three-section staff against my palm and laughed with ease.
“I told you.”
I glanced down at Demian, who was subduing the guards with his bare hands and gasping for breath. His silver hair was disheveled, and his blue eyes shone with concern for me—and resignation at the thought of “what am I going to do with this troublemaker?”
“I’m just a cleaner.”
I seized Archbishop Cassius by the collar.
“Your Grace, if you’re truly a servant of God, you shouldn’t be raising demons. Isn’t that a violation of doctrine?”
“R-release me! I am a holy archbishop!”
“Holy? That’s rich.”
I pulled out the salt I’d brought with me to the Imperial Palace and hurled it at his face.
“Eat salt, you charlatan.”
“Aaaahhhhh!”
Reacting to my spiritual energy mixed with the salt and a touch of divine power, Archbishop Cassius’s skin seared and smoldered, releasing smoke.
The situation had completely reversed.
The Emperor had regained consciousness and was breathing heavily, his eyes now clear as he gazed upon me. The great Archbishop, meanwhile, was seized by the collar in my grip, screaming.
And Demian… was pressing his forehead and releasing a deep sigh.
He muttered with resignation.
“…It seems the cleanup will be my responsibility.”
A rampage in the heart of the Audience Chamber of the Imperial Palace.
But this was no mere rampage. It was the moment I had spectacularly pierced through the great heart of darkness that had been consuming the Empire.
“Ahem, mm….”
Emperor Ludwig III gripped the armrest of the jade throne and slowly rose to his feet.
Life had returned to his eyes, which until moments ago had been unfocused and hazy. Color had also returned to his complexion, which had been ashen.
Like someone who had finally passed a decade-old blockage, or rather—as was only natural, given that a massive parasite clinging to his neck had fallen away thanks to my physical therapy.
The Chief Attendant cried out in alarm.
“Y-Your Majesty! Are you unharmed?”
“That mad woman attacked Your Majesty! She must be executed at once…!”
The foolish Chief Attendant, still unable to grasp the situation, pointed at me.
The guards gripped their spears again and tightened their encirclement. Demian stepped in front of me, biting his lip.
Then a low but authoritative voice echoed through the Audience Chamber.
“Stop.”
It was the Emperor.
“Do your eyes perceive that young lady as attacking me?”
The Emperor caressed his own neck and gazed down at the Chief Attendant with a chilling expression.
“In my eyes, that young lady has shattered the terrible nightmare that has been strangling me for these past years.”
“Pardon? But, Your Majesty….”
“Withdraw. And guards—seize that criminal at once.”
The Emperor’s finger pointed toward Archbishop Cassius, sprawled on the floor and groaning. Half his face was charred and twisted grotesquely from the salt and divine power.
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty! I am innocent! That witch used dark magic—!”
“Silence, Archbishop Cassius.”
Sparks of fury ignited in the Emperor’s eyes.
“Now I remember what that holy water you handed me every night truly was, and what curse you whispered in my ear… How dare you make an Emperor your puppet?”
At the Emperor’s command, the imperial guards shifted their stance and descended upon Archbishop Cassius. He was dragged away, screaming in desperation.
“Don’t think this is the end! The Master will come! When the rift in the Northern Region opens, you will all—! Mmph! Mmmph!”
A guard gagged him, silencing his words.
The Northern Region? A rift?
My ears perked up.
So the Archbishop was merely a mid-tier boss, and the true mastermind lurked elsewhere.
Once the commotion settled, the Emperor descended from his throne and walked toward me.
Demian Lyart hastily moved to bow, but the Emperor raised his hand to stop him. His gaze then turned to me with intrigue—or rather, to the three-section staff I held in my hand.
“You are the young lady of the Eberhardt Family, correct?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I am Violetta.”
I quickly hid the three-section staff behind my back and performed a respectful bow. The Emperor burst into hearty laughter.
“Remarkable. A young lady who subdues an Archbishop with a club and swings an iron rod at the Emperor’s head—surely unprecedented in Imperial history.”
“My apologies. The situation appeared so urgent that treatment seemed necessary.”
“Treatment, you say… Yes, it was indeed most refreshing treatment.”
The Emperor nodded, his expression turning grave as he spoke.
“You have saved me, and I wish to bestow a great reward. Is there anything you desire? Jewels? Lands? Or shall I elevate the Eberhardt Family’s title?”
My eyes gleamed.
At last.
Reward time.
I deliberately paused, glancing sideways at Demian Lyart. His eyes conveyed a silent plea: ‘Please, don’t ask for anything strange.’
But I pressed forward undeterred.
“Your Majesty, I desire three things.”
“Three? My, you are ambitious. Speak.”
I extended my fingers one by one as I spoke.
“First, freedom over my own person. Grant me complete independence and severance from Count Eberhardt’s household.”
I had no intention of returning to that household—to a father who sold me and a sister possessed by demons.
“Granted. That much is hardly difficult. What next?”
“Second, appoint me as a Special Inspector directly under the Imperial Court.”
The attendants around us murmured among themselves. An Inspector wielded tremendous authority to investigate the misconduct of high-ranking nobles and officials.
“An Inspector? You?”
“Yes. However, I require full authority to conduct investigations according to my own methods.”
I retrieved the three-section staff I had hidden behind my back and displayed it once more.
“The authority to discipline any who appear evil in my eyes with this club, regardless of rank. In other words, I require immunity from prosecution.”
The Emperor fell silent for a moment, then erupted into uproarious laughter.
“Hahahaha! Disciplining evil with a club! I find this most agreeable. My heart is utterly satisfied. Very well! From this day forth, I appoint you as the Imperial Court’s Special Inspector of Great Evil.”
The Emperor immediately unsheathed the dagger at his waist and handed it to me—a symbol of authority bearing the Emperor’s seal, one that no noble could defy.
“Whoever wields this blade stands against me, and thus against the Emperor himself. Use it as you see fit.”
“Your Majesty’s generosity knows no bounds.”
I accepted the dagger with both hands.
I had just acquired a legitimate license for violence.
“Then what is this third and final request?”
I cleared my throat, preparing to voice the most crucial—and most practical—of my demands.
“Cash, Your Majesty.”
“…Pardon?”
“I request my reward be paid in gold coins, all at once. A very substantial amount.”
Silence descended upon the Audience Chamber once more.
Emperor Ludwig III and his courtiers, who had expected me to demand honor or authority, were visibly flustered by my mercenary request. I caught sight of Demian Lyart standing nearby, pressing his forehead and turning away with a grimace.
But what could I do?
Justice is noble, but financial recovery comes first—only then does motivation flourish.
“…Ahem. Your honesty is refreshing.”
Emperor Ludwig III smiled wryly and nodded.
“Since it is the price of my life, I shall not be stingy. I grant you one hundred thousand gold coins from the Imperial Treasury.”
One hundred thousand coins!
Enough to live in leisure for a lifetime.
I barely managed to suppress my grin as I bowed my head.

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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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