Chapter 4: Jima Who Never Sells Out Her Friends
More than a week later.
The army led by George had eliminated a group of beastmen, and the soldiers were piling the bodies together to set them on fire.
George stood on the hillside, his attendant—a child with horns on his head—was wiping the blood off his armor with a cloth. When he had nothing to do, he liked to gaze eastward.
The wind blowing from the east fluttered the paper strip printed with sacred proverbs on his chest plate. A light, fragrant breeze carried by the wind filled the space inside his bucket helmet through small gaps.
George said, “Frostleaf?”
“Who are you waiting for?”
“Jima.”
“I thought you prioritized the mission.”
“If the Mother of Beasts can wait, I would rather stand on my head every day for her.”
The Mother of Beasts. Now, the small expeditionary force from the temple had confirmed that the dark elves fleeing from the temple had formed an alliance with a group of beastmen dwelling in the forest after being heavily defeated. It was said that the one leading them was called the Mother of Beasts, a name given by humans, as many beastmen referred to her as ‘mother.’
“You actually have a sense of humor.”
“I memorized the entirety of the ‘Compendium of Humor’ from the temple library when I was eleven, and I still remember it.”
“Boring. Is your understanding of humor just rote memorization?” Eve Frostleaf raised her hand to smooth down the disheveled silver hair blown by the wind. “The situation in Casson Province is dire. It’s hard to imagine that human kingdoms can be so dangerous, with beastmen capable of destroying an entire kingdom lurking in the forest.”
“Human homes have always been unsafe.” George’s gaze passed through the dense forest and landed on the gray mountains far away. “There are beastmen in the forest, green-skinned creatures on the mountains, and vampire lords as well.”
“You should really visit my hometown,” Eve Frostleaf said. “In the forest there, there wouldn’t be a bunch of howling beastmen, nor any Mother of Beasts. There’s a clear little stream with plenty of fish and shrimp under the water.”
“One generation tackles one task; in this generation, I deal with the Mother of Beasts, and the next generation just needs to handle the leaderless beastmen. One day, human forests will be as safe as your hometown, without worrying about being torn apart for picking mushrooms.”
The child with horns, who was wiping George’s left iron boot, felt a pang in his heart and said nothing, scrubbing hard at the bloodstains on his greaves.
“Hmph.” Eve Frostleaf huffed, “I hope humans have that capability.”
Then she suddenly asked, “What kind of person is that girl?”
“Which one?”
“The black-haired girl beside you on the ship, she has pitch-black horns and dark hair.”
“Oh, Jima.” George said, “She’s very lively, full of energy, but sometimes she tends to be a bit too mischievous. She’s a demon, her evil nature has always influenced her. She loves secretly plotting annoying yet laughable schemes, but she is always struggling against her own evil and still remains a trustworthy companion.”
“A companion?” Eve Frostleaf’s brows raised slightly in displeasure, her face seemed colder.
“That’s right. She’s composed and calm, always able to maximize her extraordinary abilities. On the battlefield, you can always trust her.” George said, “Although she’s on the evil side, if you become friends, you can trust her.”
“A demon who won’t sell out her friends?”
“Exactly, I believe she won’t.”
…
“Damn! Jima, you traitorous bitch who was almost killed by the Holy Sword!” Shadow King Arcanis shouted with his head thrown back, “You sold me out just like that!”
In the Adolf Palace, two fully armed Rick Guards held Shadow King Arcanis firmly, one on each side. Above, a sphere of light dispersed all nearby shadows, and the blue light of the “Honesty Domain” hovered above Shadow King Arcanis’s head.
Shadow King Arcanis had nowhere to escape, with no shadows nearby. Standing beside him was Saintess Jenna, and in front stood an imperial general with his sword drawn, while the emperor sat on the throne wielding a runic sword, with a red-robed bishop standing beside him.
Just a moment ago, Shadow King Arcanis was still happily thinking about claiming a reward. However, Saintess Jenna threw a sphere of light that dispelled shadows, and the red-robed bishop before her activated the honesty domain, directly asking him if he was an imposter.
The Rick Guards shouted, “Kneel before the emperor! You impostor!”
Arcanis allowed himself to be kicked and beaten, not bending his knees at all: “You and your whole family can kneel!”
The imperial emperor stood up from his throne and said, “Let him go.”
The Rick Guards released the lean half-elf, and Arcanis bent down to pick up the fallen leather top hat, patting it as he said, “I really like this hat.”
After saying that, he put the hat on his head, only for it to tilt awkwardly to one side as his head was a bit too small.
The imperial emperor, with a square face and a sturdy build, had a chin that resembled a bottom, and he asked with some amusement, “Aren’t you afraid of the death penalty? You killed a witch-hunter, who was a noble, and you impersonated him, committing fraud.”
Arcanis looked at the imperial emperor with his green eyes peeking from beneath the hat brim: “Butt-chin, don’t think I don’t know what tricks you’re playing. You have your subordinates act as the bad guys while you play the good guy. Just kill me; I’m just a worthless life, I should’ve died long ago.”
A roar erupted: “How dare you address the emperor like that?!”
“Shout louder! Haven’t you eaten today, Iron Man?”
The imperial general drew his sword and held it to Arcanis’s neck, saying, “You little brat, I’ve been displeased with you for a long time.”
The imperial emperor raised his hand and said, “Stop!”
“Oh wow, that almost scared me to death.” Arcanis patted his chest and said, “Come on, butt-chin, it’s time to show your benevolence.”
“Swish.”
The imperial emperor drew his runic sword named “Longfang” and slashed toward Arcanis’s neck, which frightened the relaxed Arcanis into stepping back just in time to avoid it. He touched his neck, his hand covered in blood.
Shadow King Arcanis took a deep breath and said, “I mean, isn’t a grand imperial palace supposed to act with a bit more decorum rather than engaging in mindless violence like a gang? The cleaners have a hard time washing the carpets, you know.”
“Before your execution.” The butt-chin emperor said, “I might as well hear your confession as to why you killed a witch-hunter.”
“He was very arrogant, and witch-hunters are usually arrogant, but he ran into me.” Shadow King Arcanis said, “Once, at a tavern, he was drinking for free and threatened the tavern owner with a fire punishment, claiming to have a demon amulet at home, extorting some money.”
Saintess Jenna asked, “So you just couldn’t stand him and acted?”
Shadow King Arcanis said, “Miss Big Cow, that’s not it. It’s because he spilled his drink on my shoes.”
“So you got into an argument? In a fit of anger, you killed him?”
“Not really.” Shadow King Arcanis said, “It’s because he seemed so powerful, I wanted to experience what it was like to intimidate people as a witch-hunter, so I assassinated him and took his identity.”
Saintess Jenna frowned and asked, “So you enjoy living a life of extortion?”
“Not that either. I didn’t expect him to be so poor, he didn’t have much money on him. From his notes, it turned out the empire was stingy and didn’t pay the witch-hunters, so they had to fund their own hunting of demons. I also experienced the life of self-funding as a witch-hunter for a while, and it wasn’t bad, quite thrilling.”
“You also despise evil beings?”
“No, it’s actually quite fun.”
Saintess Jenna felt increasingly perplexed by Shadow King Arcanis; he seemed to have no concept of good and evil at all.
“Then why are you so obsessed with Jima in Marin City? Why must you kill her?”
“Wow, they say women with big breasts are usually not too bright, turns out it’s true.” Shadow King Arcanis said, “She’s a very interesting succubus; how could I bear to kill her? I was just acting.”
“I heard her say that you didn’t really let her off the hook and were aiming for her life.”
“You’re talking about that time I was chasing her, right?” Arcanis said, “If I didn’t pressure her and keep her on her toes, how would she have made up her mind to create chaos in Marin City? If Marin City is in turmoil, the fun multiplies, and I have a chance to get to Ishtar.”
The imperial general shook his head and stepped away from Arcanis: “Disgusting. Truly disgusting.”
Saintess Jenna said, “I knew it; Jima wouldn’t do something like that unless absolutely necessary.”
“Sounds like you think she’s some pure-hearted girl.” Arcanis laughed. “She and I are both rotten to the core.”
Saintess Jenna shook her head: “You don’t understand.”
“Brainless big cow.”
The imperial emperor curiously asked, “Does the succubus Jima know your identity?”
“Of course she does.”
“Since you know she’s as bad as you, why would you still come to claim a reward? Aren’t you worried she’ll report you?”
“Worried.” Shadow King Arcanis said, “But what’s more fun than disguising as a witch-hunter while collecting a reward from the imperial emperor?”
The imperial emperor laughed heartily and said, “Now I give you a choice: serve in the army in the name of Van Helsing, or face execution.”
Shadow King Arcanis steadied himself and said, “No freedom is worse than death.”
“Good.” The imperial emperor turned around, and the great cloak behind him also swirled around, displaying a black iron cross and two skulls adorned with olive leaves.
The Rick Guards closed in, weapons in hand.
“Wait!” Shadow King Arcanis raised his hand, “I take it back; I suddenly think being a platinum-level expert serving the empire is quite fun.”
“Let him sign a contract.”
Throughout the ordeal, Shadow King Arcanis spoke the truth, without causing the honesty domain to change color.
…
On the other side, the conversation between Eve Frostleaf and George was also reaching its conclusion.
Eve Frostleaf’s face was very cold. An elven maid ran over, trying to find a reason to interrupt their conversation.
She made a harsh gesture to the elven maid, signaling, “Go away.”
Seeing Eve Frostleaf’s icy demeanor, the elven maid realized that this conversation had displeased her greatly.
It seemed that even without her intervention, they would fall out; indeed, Lady Frostleaf could not tolerate a hairless monkey.
The elven maid thought happily as she left.
“Alright, I need to go.” Eve Frostleaf interrupted George’s words, saying, “This place stinks too much.”
Not far off, the bodies of the beastmen were being burned, but the wind was blowing to the west, far from the top of the slope.
George suddenly said, “Jima?”
Eve Frostleaf, who had initially wanted to leave, suddenly froze and looked into the distance.
A black-haired girl riding a chestnut mare spurred the horse with several sharp slaps to its rear, and the horse neighed and galloped, the wind blowing her dark hair in the breeze. She sat steadily on the undulating back of the horse, stepping on the stirrups, and stood up to wave at George, shouting, “George!~~”
