Chapter 20: Hwanhee

“That madwoman, seriously…”

When Beatrice suddenly rushed back to the Ruins, just as expected, Human Devourers were prowling in a pack in front of the mansion door.

Normally, she would have snuck in by making a detour or entered quietly so as not to provoke them.

But for some reason, Beatrice seemed to be in such a rush that she charged straight toward the Human Devourers without a second thought.

The Human Devourers instantly recognized Beatrice and opened their mouths.

“Out of my way!”

Beatrice’s eyes were unmistakably different from before—completely turned over.

A part of her reason had already flown away.

What in the world had brought her to this state?

‘What is it? What’s wrong? Why do I feel so anxious?’

The problem was, even she herself didn’t know.

Beatrice dashed madly through the midst of the Human Devourers.

Yet, despite knowing Beatrice was their enemy, the Human Devourers didn’t move as decisively as usual.

Rather than attacking, they seemed to be quietly retreating.

Their faces and energy showed that they wanted to pounce and devour her at any moment, but whenever Beatrice tried to get closer, they would quickly back off, only letting out threatening roars.

Ignoring all the strangeness, Beatrice burst through the mansion doors to quell the intense anxiety ringing through her heart.

“I just saw something fascinating.”

No, she tried to go in.

If only the boy who blocked her path as the door opened hadn’t been there.

Owen, Special Task Force Captain of the Kingdom of Lumin.

His Holy Sword instantly sliced the gathered Human Devourers in half.

Elite monsters that normally needed a whole army to subdue were cut down before they could even resist.

At the same time, he embraced Beatrice and whispered in her ear.

“What’s got you so anxious?”

At my question, Beatrice answered between ragged breaths.

“Inside the mansion… There’s an answer in there that I want.”

“…Is that so?”

She knew exactly why she was anxious, and what she needed to aim for to find out the truth.

Had it been due to the mental corruption of the Demon Sword, she would only have been following her own feelings—but since that wasn’t the case, I could conclude it had nothing to do with mental corruption.

‘Beatrice was born from the Artificial Life Project.’

She is not an ordinary human by any means.

Therefore, the sensations she experiences cannot be judged by the standards of normal people.

I patted her shoulder and said,

“Jair Saint-Germain is dead.”

“I don’t care.”

I gazed into Beatrice’s emotionless eyes.

A woman who had moved all her life seeking love now cared nothing for the monster that had become a beast.

There was no need to bother telling her of his end, so I nodded.

“Alright. Then let’s dig into what’s really important.”

Why did Beatrice come back after I sent her away because things were getting dangerous?

And why is she so anxious now?

The Ruins aren’t that large, so I should be able to find the cause soon enough.

As soon as we entered the mansion and after a brief search, Beatrice found the reason for her anxiety.

It was none other than the corpses of the Shadow Spiders that I had slain.

Though they were called corpses, they were already reduced to ashes, practically just sand.

Beatrice crouched down and dug through the sand.

As she scattered the heap of sand, something emerged.

“…A ring?”

It was a silver ring.

At a glance, it had no unusual shape and no decorations engraved on it.

But Beatrice stared blankly at the ring and slid it onto her ring finger.

The moment she did, the ring throbbed with a heartbeat as if resonating with Beatrice.

A wave that warmly enveloped the body spread instantly throughout the Ruins.

I knew exactly what this wave was.

‘Golem’s Life Pulse.’

It was the pulse you hear from the power core in a Golem.

“…Ah.”

With the pulse, the ring on Beatrice’s finger melted into her flesh and disappeared.

The Golem’s Life Pulse surged violently inside Beatrice’s body.

“Ugh?!”

Beatrice doubled over, retching.

Her gasping breaths sounded as though she was desperately enduring forced pain.

I waited patiently with composure, and soon Beatrice’s breathing calmed and she opened her eyes wide as if regaining her senses.

“…Haa. Haa. Huu.”

“Are you alright?”

“…I’m fine.”

I realized the atmosphere around Beatrice was different from usual and asked,

“How do you feel right now?”

Beatrice frowned and answered,

“Like shit.”

“Why?”

“Because I couldn’t kill that bastard Jair Saint-Germain myself.”

From Beatrice, who had lost all interest in him, anger suddenly surged.

I immediately sensed that the silver ring Beatrice was wearing must be connected.

“Can you tell me?”

“Tell you what?”

“What you saw when you put on that silver ring.”

“…”

Beatrice frowned at me.

“You’re not going to kill me?”

“…”

The question was so out of nowhere that I was taken aback.

I held up the Holy Sword and said,

“Beatrice, do you know what this sword that pierced your heart is?”

“Isn’t it the Holy Sword?”

“That’s right. And it can’t kill people.”

“But last time, you stabbed me just fine.”

“‘Can’t kill’ means I can’t make someone die. When this sword pierced your heart, you lived instead.”

“…”

“You’re not a demon, or of the Demon Race. You’re not a traitor who joined the Demon Army either. You’re without a doubt a person, so I have no reason to kill you.”

Beatrice replied with an especially heavy look.

“I think I might be a Lich.”

I nodded and said,

“No, you’re not. Stop talking nonsense and just calmly tell me what you saw when you put on the silver ring.”

Lich, my foot.

If that were true, the moment I stabbed her heart with the Holy Sword, she would have turned to dust without a trace.

I’ve slaughtered plenty of Liches while facing the Demon Army—how could I not tell the difference?

Beatrice bit her lip lightly and spoke.

“…I saw how I was created.”

I waited patiently so she could continue calmly.

Perhaps because she’d shaken off some anxiety and unease, Beatrice’s eyes trembled but she spoke calmly.

“When I first opened my eyes, I was in a place like a pile of dirt. Not long after I woke up, he pulled me out.”

“Was it the Saint-Germain Baronette?”

“Yes. He smiled at me, looking absolutely delighted.”

Beatrice wore a hollow expression.

“But it wasn’t a smile because he was happy I was born. It was the beginning of him trying to implant emotions in me.”

The Saint-Germain Baronette had known from the start that Beatrice was a Failed Product.

That’s why he intended to use her as a Hound.

“I realized the moment I was born and saw the Baronette’s actions that it was a lie. I tried to run away.”

Beatrice frowned as if recalling that day.

At the same time, I realized that from the moment she was born, she already looked as she does now.

“I failed. Saint-Germain never let me escape outside.”

“Hmm.”

“After that, Saint-Germain showed his true colors. He restrained me so I couldn’t run, cut open my chest, and took out my heart. Then he hid it somewhere. He threatened me that if he destroyed my heart, I’d die, so I had to obey everything he said.”

“I see.”

So, even after her heart was taken, she didn’t die.

It’s a structure like a Golem, whose core is stored outside its body.

‘A Lich is similar if you think about it.’

They store their soul in a Life Vessel.

As long as that isn’t destroyed, a Lich is immortal and keeps reviving.

But Beatrice has a heart.

When injured, she bleeds like any human.

My Holy Sword cannot kill a human because it has the power to heal wounds.

So, what is the ‘heart’ she saw?

“My memories after that were controlled. Emotions were meticulously implanted, and to survive, I had to be his puppet.”

Beatrice’s empty eyes looked at me.

“This is the truth that surrounded my birth.”

“…Did you suddenly start doubting whether you’re a Lich because that ‘heart’ turned out to be that silver ring?”

“Exactly.”

Beatrice gave a self-mocking laugh.

“Isn’t it absurd that an ordinary person’s heart is a plain silver ring?”

“No. In fact, it makes perfect sense.”

Just earlier, the Human Devourers actually backed away from Beatrice.

Why are Human Devourers called that?

It’s simple.

They only eat humans.

That they backed away upon seeing Beatrice suggests her nature is far from human.

“You were born with a structure similar to a Lich’s.”

“…”

“But you’re human. That’s the one thing that’s undeniable.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“As I said, the Holy Sword can’t cut you.”

“…”

There’s no doubt the silver ring plays a huge role in letting Beatrice remain herself.

Just as a Lich stores its soul in a Life Vessel, her soul must be stored in the silver ring.

‘That’s probably why it’s called her heart.’

Does that mean, perhaps, that even if Beatrice dies, she could resurrect like a Lich?

I wondered, but pushed the thought aside.

Either way, the key difference is that she clearly bleeds, feels pain, and can learn emotions like any human.

Her way of life may not be ordinary, but you can’t deny her humanity.

Those who deny themselves always walk a path toward destruction.

“Beatrice, let me ask you just one more thing.”

“…What is it?”

“In your memories, did you see any Demon Race?”

Beatrice shook her head firmly.

“There weren’t any.”

“I see. Then it can’t be helped.”

With no clues, there’s nothing more to pursue.

But one thing is now certain.

Why the silver ring was inside the Shadow Spider’s corpse.

Why the Saint-Germain Baronette was devoured by a Shadow Spider.

And why Beatrice never saw any Demon Race who should have been with the Baronette.

‘How thorough. Truly.’

Behind Beatrice’s origin lay a Demon Race who contracted with the Saint-Germain Baronette.

Not just giving a little help, but almost certainly, their primary purpose was to create Beatrice.

‘But even though they’re about to lose Beatrice to me, they haven’t shown up at all.’

I curled my lips and stood up.

“Let’s go home.”

“…Home?”

“Yeah. I don’t want to stay in this unpleasant place any longer.”

I reached out my hand to Beatrice.

“Take it.”

“…You’re really not going to kill me?”

“That wasn’t part of our deal.”

The promise I made with Beatrice was that I would borrow her strength and teach her emotions in return.

“You found your important past and memories, and now your ‘real heart’ too. It’s time to go back.”

“…”

Beatrice stretched out her trembling hand.

“…What is this feeling?”

A single tear rolled down her cheek.

But the awkward smile that didn’t match made for a strange sight.

Seeing her bizarrely twisted expression, I let out a soft chuckle.

“That’s what we call happiness.”

After the Special Task Force of the Kingdom of Lumin departed.

A Demon Race with black skin and green hair, and a single horn on one side of his head, slunk over.

“Sheesh, I was going to present this to the Demon King, but ended up just helping the enemy instead.”

A red glint flashed in the smoke rising from the pipe he held between his lips.

[Heehee, heehee. Orders from the Demon King, what can you do?]

[Yeah, yeah. You know what happens if you disobey the Demon King. You couldn’t kill that monster. You should have just stayed out of it. Kekeke.]

The red eyes sneered at the green-haired Demon Race.

Unbothered, he said to the red eyes in a weary tone,

“Shut up and gather up the Demon Sword fragments. We have to at least make up for the loss with those.”

[Kyaahaha! Franken’s pissed! Franken’s pissed!]

[Are you mad? Angry? Then you should have gotten stronger~]

[Years of research gone in an instant? See, you should have handled it yourself from the start. Oh, right, you can’t because of the Demon King’s orders! Heeheehee!]

No matter how menacing his words, the eyes in the pipe ignored him and continued to mock as they vanished into the air.

Clap clap!

Regardless, the green-haired Demon Race just clapped his hands toward the corpses of the monsters nearby as if focusing only on his task.

The Human Devourers that had been cut in half opened their eyes and began crawling, searching for their bodies.

Once they put themselves back together, the Human Devourers gathered around the Demon Race.

“Clean up here and self-destruct. We must not leave a single trace of ourselves.”

With red eyes gleaming, the green-haired Demon Race began covering up the incident at the border of the Prasion Kingdom.

At the end of his gaze was the place where the Hero who had wrecked all this had left.

“Looks like I’ll… have to change the plan a lot.”