The Villain Who Will Kill Me Is Too Handsome, It's Troublesome - Chapter 81

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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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Episode 81.
* * *
“Ugh, I’m exhausted.”
Before returning to Edelion, Artiela and Kirien had tracked down every troublesome customer in the Imperial Capital’s bustling district and driven them away.
They’d simply shown the Blue Cloak and Bardo of the Holy Knight Order, and still managed to secure apologies and assurances against recurrence—along with all the compensation owed.
“It hasn’t grown at all.”
Had the request been too easy? Was it because subduing rude customers wasn’t the same as saving lives?
Artiela’s Holy Power had shown almost no increase.
Even though it was a genuinely noble deed, protecting people’s livelihoods.
“I’m envious. So envious.”
She kept up a steady stream of complaints aimed at Kirien’s back as he climbed the Lodging stairs ahead of her.
“If my Holy Power were based on love too, how wonderful that would be.”
I’d have already surpassed the Saint’s abilities by now.
“Wait—why is it still only this much? You’re telling me you only love me that much?”
Kirien’s Holy Power had grown to the point where he now ranked within the top ten of the Holy Knight Order.
“It should be vast enough to cover the entire world.”
“It doesn’t seem to be reflected in real time,” Kirien replied quietly, turning to glance back at her.
His response to her playful accusation came soft and measured.
“Then what about the growth after we kissed?”
“That, that was…….”
Kirien covered his face. At the memory, every inch of exposed skin flushed a deep, mottled crimson.
Where had the man gone who’d so boldly tried to seduce his lover?
“But thanks to that, the bud did grow, didn’t it?”
“But apparently even that isn’t enough.”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
Artiela had stopped in front of the room with the best view in the Lodging—the chamber the knights had unanimously voted to assign to the Holy Knight Commander.
And directly across from it was Kirien’s room.
Artiela spoke while her hand rested on the doorknob.
“If my Holy Power grew in leaps and bounds every time we kissed, we’d create miracles in no time, wouldn’t we?”
“That…….”
Could a person’s face actually burst from all that blood rushing to it?
He was so flushed it was genuinely worrying. But still, she needed to fill up the Goddess Tear Purification Ability as soon as possible, so…
It was worth experimenting, wasn’t it?
Artiela released the doorknob she’d been holding and placed her hand against Kirien’s heated cheek.
Genuinely scorching. How hard was his heart pounding? The quickened pulse in the carotid artery along his elegant neck was so pronounced she could feel it through his skin.
‘He really does love me so much.’
His feelings came through completely intact.
Of course—he was a man who’d been suppressing such passionate affection out of fear it might taint him with impure intent. But they’d confirmed today that kissing wasn’t an action that would aid the Evil Source, hadn’t they?
Nothing terrible had happened in that land. No other ill tidings yet.
So it should be fine to express affection openly now, shouldn’t it?
“Hey? Kirien, will you kiss me…….”
“Stop right there.”
“U-Usiel.”
When on earth had she been following them?
Artiela caught sight of the glimmering silver hair ascending slowly up the staircase and froze. The two of them hastily separated and stood at attention before the door.
“Saint? What brings you to these humble knight quarters?”
Artiela asked, her lips curved in a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
Her hand gripped the doorknob, ready to bolt at any moment.
“Word has spread through the Holy Temple about you two.”
“…….”
“…….”
Artiela swallowed hard.
“W-what rumors are you talking about!”
The bolder the lie, the better.
“Impropriety.”
“K-kissing is—! Look, the streets of the Imperial Capital on festival day are positively littered with couples kissing!”
Artiela’s voice rose in defense.
“Do you have any idea how much trouble you’ve caused the priests?”
“Oh!”
This was bad. The priests had really seen something scandalous and were apparently making a fuss. And the librarian priest had already been giving her the eye…….
I should have kissed him in the privacy of a room.
Instead of rushing outside back then, I should have drawn Kirien in. Maybe that would have triggered an event where his Holy Power grew even more explosively.
“I-I’m sorry!”
“Ha! If you’re sorry, then you handle all the paperwork!”
“I’ll convince the priests too. Or should we just move out?”
She didn’t mention being careful at all.
Usiel shot Artiela a pointed look.
“Is that what you came to tell me?”
“No, I came to ask if you’d join me. We’re going to torment the Black Mage we just captured.”
Right, that’s why she came.
“It seems that Black Mage actually met the Evil Source directly.”
“Really?”
Usiel smiled coldly.
Not even winter frost would be colder than that.
“But will he talk?”
“If he won’t, we’ll make him.”
“How?”
Look at that murderous smile.
If that Black Mage wanted to live, he’d better repent and confess gracefully.
* * *
Unfortunately, the Black Mage didn’t yet understand how terrifying a saint could be.
“Just kill me! I’d rather die than bow my head to you and live in shame!”
He was laden with so many Binding Restraints that he couldn’t even use Black Magic.
Yet he stubbornly bit his tongue, determined to die. With his mouth being the only part of his body he could still move freely.
The Black Mage, who had struggled against Usiel, made the same futile effort this time.
“No matter how much you keep talking, you won’t die.”
Usiel, whose gaze met the Black Mage’s, gestured to the waiting priest.
Holy Power then poured onto the Black Mage’s tongue. The wound immediately sprouted new flesh, and the flowing blood was sucked back into the veins without remainder.
“Edelion does not kill people without reason.”
There was no physical torture whatsoever. Neither was he being driven into mental submission.
Yet the Black Mage trembled in agony.
“Why is he like this?”
Kirien asked from beyond the barrier-walled glass, prepared for any emergency.
“Black Mages accept and constantly produce Dark Energy instead of mana. Dark Energy and Holy Power are fundamentally opposed.”
Kirien quickly grasped the Black Mage’s condition.
Opposing forces clashed endlessly within him—it must feel like death. This was different from simple shock being transmitted. It was a kind of Withdrawal Phenomenon brought about by the purification of Dark Energy.
“Since they cannot maintain their power with mana alone, they cling even more desperately to Dark Energy.”
So when a Black Mage is captured, they spend a long time in this sacred place purifying the Dark Energy. That process is often called torture.
Then Usiel asked the Black Mage.
“Have you ever seen the face of the one you call your god?”
……
“Ah, you haven’t. Of course—why would the very source bent on destroying the world bother with a small fry like you, who barely has any Dark Energy?”
Her gentle, measured tone struck the target perfectly.
“Ha! You think I’m just some small fry?”
From experience, villains in ambiguous positions were most easily provoked by such insults.
“I thought you held some grand position, since you held out until the very end at the start.”
They were also quick to fall for flattery.
“That’s right—I’m the commander of the Black Mages.”
Artiela bit her lip, watching him boast.
He only survived until the end because he was behind the others. They had been dealt with from the front, in order.
“Yet you haven’t even met the Evil Source.”
“I have! I witnessed his descent within the shadows of the Abyss!”
“So you still couldn’t see his face.”
As Usiel continued to gently prod, the Black Mage began to spill the necessary information more readily.
“He is the strongest, the most beautiful god in this world. Unlike that ugly goddess you serve!”
Brave, even now.
The priests all intensified their prayers in unison. As if declaring they would never forgive him.
Thanks to this, they obtained quite useful information.
The first item.
“Among the women and children they trafficked, the ones deemed useful are being cultivated as Black Mages.”
The true purpose behind the incident for which Kirien had been blamed.
Second.
“We were the ones who planted the Ritual Curse of Black Magic into the heart of the temporary sacrifice he’d marked.”
The fact that there were more Black Mages walking around pretending to be perfectly ordinary humans than expected.
Third.
“The person he’s looking for was with you not long ago, he said.”
A trace of Bertia.
And finally.
“No, it’s not taking. It’s reclaiming. You’re not the true owner of that body.”
The malice of the Black Mage who’d discovered Kirien came flooding out.
In the voice of the Evil Source itself.
“You know it too, but you’re pretending not to. Isn’t that right, Kirien?”
Damn. This Black Mage’s possession harbored a Ritual Curse that drew in the Evil Source as well.

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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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