Chapter 23: Chapter 22 – Practicing Betrayal
After Jima made her decision, she took her leave from the Saintess Jenna, asking her to convey a message:
“I can swallow my grievances, but I haven’t heard of any new heroes. I only trust George. If it’s someone else calling the shots, I’ll turn right around and leave.”
There was not a hint of a broader perspective.
Having said that, Jima returned to her Dream Palace with her personal maid Liansi, completely ignoring the helpless look on the Saintess’s face and the uproar in the church.
When the demon Jima’s demands reached the ears of the higher-ups in the church through the Saintess Jenna, the sound of a table being slapped echoed.
“Anything that comes out of that demon’s mouth is never good; she’s deliberately sowing discord!”
“George, can’t you think about the bigger picture? Are you really determined not to be swayed by a demon and to destroy the Demon King’s crown fragment? How can you prove that? She is your biggest weakness.”
“Your Grace, I don’t believe that Beowulf is any stronger than I am in this regard. I don’t trust his commanding skills.”
“At least he isn’t infatuated with women and fantasizing about marrying a demon!”
“…..”
“You should persuade your demon to lead better.”
“That’s not going to happen.” George said: “For the greater good, I request the church’s full support. This concerns the wellbeing of everyone in the mortal world.”
George’s attitude was too firm, and someone commented: “He’s got a temper that’s about the same as a dwarf in the mountains.”
The church’s higher-ups went to ask Beowulf to make concessions. How could Beowulf accept such treatment? According to protocol, he was the main decision-maker. After working diligently for so many years, he had finally defeated George once.
His exact words were:
“From a public standpoint, George certainly can’t keep his spiteful demon lover in check! I can’t risk it. From a selfish perspective, after all the hard work and being on the brink of life and death so many times, I will not become a servant for an arrogant, vain, blond kid!”
Beowulf’s thoughts aligned with those of the church’s higher-ups. They did not trust George.
But the church itself had no real solution.
Although George was a subordinate, it didn’t mean he had to obey the church’s orders. His relationship with the church was not that of an employee to an employer, nor a slave to a master. Using a modern corporate analogy, he could be considered a shareholder, and a significant one at that.
In other words, strictly speaking, George was also part of the church’s higher-ups.
Naturally, the same applied to Beowulf.
While everyone argued heatedly, Jima had already made up her mind and was practicing betrayal.
Jima knew very well that betrayal wasn’t an easy task. So she strapped on a thirty-kilogram pack, suddenly grabbed a small stone from the ground, and dashed away, flying over a hundred meters in an instant to hit a timer.
After repeating this eight or nine times, Jima was out of breath, drenched in sweat. She looked at the timer:
“Six seconds thirty-two?”
Although this was considered a world record compared to ordinary people, it was not enough to match George’s burst and sword strike.
“No, I’m still too slow.”
In Jima’s plan, once she got her hands on the Demon King’s crown fragment, she would immediately turn and run away with it.
“I should use potions and my extraordinary abilities to enhance myself for greater speed,” Jima pondered, rubbing her chin. “But not right now; I need to study how to improve my movements first.”
“Also, I must consider my pregnancy; I am carrying an egg, like a watermelon belly.”
It must be due to becoming more sentimental after becoming a woman.
A vision flashed in Jima’s mind. The heroic George slaying the demon who betrayed him with a sword, pulling a blood-stained egg from her corpse’s belly, tears streaming down the face of this champion of justice who can kill his own mother.
“Really, what a crazy thought,” Jima complained. “If only he could be a bit selfish, morals and justice are just cries from the masses, deluded into thinking they can command others to sacrifice themselves for them, and even more foolishly, they actually managed to do it.”
After her complaint, Jima continued to practice how to don her dark gear as quickly as possible, simulating the conditions of having a watermelon belly. Using her Dream Palace and her ability to make dreams come true, she securely tied a water balloon around her belly.
After diligently training for over three hours, Jima successfully reduced six seconds thirty-two to four seconds thirty, moving much faster than the world record for a hundred meters on Earth.
She was truly a strong contender for the title of “Fastest in Dark Gear.”
After exhausting herself for three to four hours, Jima, although her stamina far exceeded that of ordinary people, finally couldn’t bear it anymore and took a shower, lying down on her bed and closing her eyes.
But her mind was racing with thoughts. She couldn’t help but imagine various scenarios that might arise during her betrayal and how she would respond.
Unable to sleep, she opened her personal system. She wrote down various excuses and finally concluded that if she were unfortunately caught, it would be best to immediately slide down to beg for mercy, crying out:
“I’m carrying your child!”
Given George’s nature, he likely wouldn’t have the heart to be excessively ruthless.
Jima reminded herself that if she was going to beg for mercy, she needed to do it properly. Even if George broke an arm or got seriously hurt, she couldn’t keep repeating it, lest he explode in fury and take her life instead.
Thinking this way, the act of sliding down while crying was a crucial life-saving move that required practice.
Though it was very shameful and undignified, Jima clearly understood that compared to a chosen one like George, she was merely a mediocre person struck by a cheat code—a weakling.
Mediocre individuals must have the awareness of mediocrity. She was not strong, not smarter than George, and her talents were lacking. Compared to George, her only advantage was her cunning nature and her willingness to accept humiliation.
Now, she would have to push that sole advantage to its limits to have any hope of defeating George.
Thinking this, Jima felt a surge of excitement, jumping up from her bed. Unable to resist, she started running and sliding on her knees in the spacious bedroom, her legs in stockings rubbing against the wooden floor as she hugged a pillar, crying in an instant:
“I’m carrying your child! I was wrong! I’m so sorry!”
She wiped her face with a flick, brushed away her tears, and murmured to herself, “Should I add a three-part bow?”
Thus, the bedroom was filled with the sound of “thud thud thud.”
Outside, at the end of the hallway, Liansi, who had gone out for a midnight snack, peeked in, looking at the bedroom from which the cries and thuds were coming, her face full of sympathy and concern.
“Master’s post-traumatic stress syndrome is acting up again.”
Jima had previously fooled Liansi, even explaining to her about post-traumatic stress syndrome, claiming that she suffered from severe symptoms.
This made Liansi feel even more pity for her master.
The next day.
After a comfortable sleep until noon, Jima went to meet George and received some good news.
The good news was:
The church finally gave up trying to reconcile the two sides, and both parties reached a compromise. Beowulf would lead one team, and George would lead another, but the church mainly supported Beowulf, and Jima had to share the latest location of the Demon King’s crown fragment.
Given that George had little support, the only people who could participate in this expedition and who he could call upon were Jima, Saintess Jenna, and Eve Frostleaf, making for a perfectly suitable adventuring party.
“So, you’re bringing your harem?” Jima said with envy. “That’s fantastic.”
“I don’t like the term harem.”
For Jima, the bad news was that if she wanted to participate in this expedition, she would have to be interrogated.
George asked her directly:
“Jima, do you wish to keep the Demon King’s crown fragment for yourself during this expedition?”
