Chapter 96

Whether she hadn’t noticed I was being grabbed by the collar yet, or she had noticed and just didn’t think it was a big deal… It was only after hearing my greeting-cum-plea that the Elf girl nodded with an “Ah.”

“You’re right. I should probably straighten things out first.”

However, for some reason, instead of stopping the beefy guy, she ignored him entirely and shouted at the others who were watching our scuffle.

“We’re closing up for the day! I’m shutting down the shop!”

Eh?

She pointed a finger straight at me.

“As for this gentleman here… back in the day when I lived in my hometown, he was a cousin I was very fond of. I haven’t seen his face in about fifty years since I left home, but here he is, visiting me after all this time. So, I think I’ll have to go home today, grab a beer, and catch up on old times. That’s all for today! Thank you~!”

Silence descended upon the noisy general store. Naturally, I was part of that silence.

Um… for me to be your cousin, wouldn’t I need to race-change into an Elf first? If you’re going to lie, at least make it plausible.

Look. Everyone is just blinking their eyes in disbelief.

And you—weren’t you an hourly part-timer? Is this shop a place where a part-timer can just decide to close whenever they feel like it?

Right on cue, the Big Guy holding my collar voiced the objection for everyone.

“W-wait… no matter how you look at it, this guy is a human, isn’t he? How can he be Miss Kelly’s cousin?”

Oh. ‘Kelly.’ So that was the part-timer’s name. Though if it were me, I’d smack the face of any stalker I had zero feelings for who dared call me by name without permission.

Anyway, you meathead. How long are you going to keep holding my collar? Should I just beat the dust out of you like it’s a rainy day and pay the settlement money?

As I shook off his hand with just enough force—counting to three like a civilized person—the guy glared at me as if he wanted to eat me alive, but he didn’t lay another hand on me, seemingly conscious of the Elf girl’s gaze.

“Just look at his ears! They’re round, nothing like Miss Kelly’s long, beautiful ones!”

“Ah, my cousin originally doesn’t like standing out in public much. He must have hidden them with magic.”

“Ma… magic? But even his hair color is black, which is very different from an Elf’s…”

“It’s magic.”

“B-but even male Elves are mostly slender, and this guy is…”

“Magic.”

“Then…”

“I don’t know what you’re going to say, but that’s magic too. From now on, whatever you say or whatever you doubt, it’s all magic. So just shut your mouth.”

I let out a silent chuckle.

Indeed, if a mage says it’s magic, what can a Muggle do to refute it? If you’re so bothered by it, you should have become a mage too.

Even so, if you treat people like idiots that blatantly, even someone with a low IQ would realize it’s a lie. If you can’t figure that out, you should quit being human and become an amoeba.

“Now~ I’ll say it again, everyone! The shop is closed for today. Everyone out! Ah, you can just take what you’re holding. I’ll settle the bill myself. So everyone! See you tomorrow!”

Sure enough, the guy’s face, which seemed to be regaining its normal color, flushed bright red again as he let out a roar.

“…I’ve been holding back because this bitch has a pretty face, but she’s really lost her mind!”

And then—

WHACK!!!

That became the guy’s final testament (?). It was because the part-timer had swung her hand and slapped his cheek with a grumbled, “I can’t do this anymore…”

And it wasn’t a sharp ‘slap!’; it was a ‘WHACK!!!’—the heavy, cracking sound of bamboo splitting.

I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a boxer collapse after taking a clean hit to the face. Not a tumble or a flop, but literally sliding down like a sandcastle being washed away by a wave.

Slide.

Thud.

Yeah. Just like that.

Then came her voice, freezing cold.

“Fuck. I told you to shut up, so shut up.”

Silence descended upon the general store once more.

However, if the silence from earlier when she said the shop was closing could be described as a ‘murmur,’ this silence was more like the terrified hush you’d feel when someone presses a gun to your forehead.

As if claiming the profanity she just uttered was a mere illusion, she smiled brightly—stretching her lips wide—and shouted once more.

“Now~ since I’ve made up my mind, let me tell you. To be honest, you guys have been incredibly annoying up until now. But out of respect for the time we’ve spent facing each other, I’ll give you one last ‘warning’.”

““……””

“As of today—no, from this moment on—this general store is out of business. So, before something big happens—more accurately, before I make something big happen—everyone get the hell out.”

““……””

“You need to move while I’m still smiling. Ah, is that too abstract a standard? I’ll just count to three. That’s better, right?”

““……””

“Three.”

“Two.”

Despite her warning (?), no one moved.

It wasn’t because they didn’t understand her words. They simply couldn’t accept them.

The event that just unfolded before their eyes. The fact that such violent words were coming from the mouth of the girl who always smiled like the pretty girl next door.

Well, it was a natural reaction. Even I, who had only seen her a few times, was struggling to keep up with the situation. From the perspective of the men who had been obsessing over her day in and day out, this was a shock on par with the sky collapsing.

“One.”

At last, the smile vanished from her lips.

And then, she exploded.

“I told you to get out! You damn swine in heat!! Is the best you can do in front of a woman you like paying with silver for a few thousand mil just to get change? If you’re going to act like a man, at least have the balls to say ‘keep the change’ when you hand over a silver coin! You fucking pathetic losers! Do you have any idea how many times I’ve decapitated you losers in my head while working this counter? Huh?! You human trash! Are you leaving or not!!? Since I’m closing the shop anyway, how about I open a butcher shop today using your guts and greasy fat? Get out this instant!!”

Rip!!

As if unable to contain her boiling rage, she tore at the collar of her store uniform. From the gap of her pale, ample cleavage, a black pendant shaped like an eight-pointed compass rose spilled out.

Simultaneously, her blue hair began to glow faintly and flutter in the air, despite there being no wind.

The men had been standing there dazed, having undergone a long journey of evolution from “pigs” to “losers” to “pathetic shut-ins” to “butcher meat” before finally returning to “human trash.” Then, one of them recognized the pendant around her neck and let out a blood-curdling shriek.

“Th-the Divine Mark of Merina?! A fanatic?! It’s the Slaughter Elf of Merina!!! Why is a human butcher who belongs on the front lines doing here!?”

“M-Merina Elf! A holder of a license to kill!!”

“Hieeeek! It’s real!! Save me!!!”

“Miss Kelly! That kind Miss Kelly is a Merina Mad Elf!?”

“It’s the real Merina mark! I-I’m going to die!! Run!!!”

“Hehe… hehehe…”

The men’s death-defying screams seemed to please her, as a smile once again spread across her otherwise expressionless face.

However, it was worlds apart from her previous customer-service smile. It was a mad grin dripping with the sadistic joy of a predator.

“Now that you know, get lost! You pigs!!”

BOOM!! CRASH!!!

With that maddened cry, a burst of mana light exploded from her body.

It was a raw, unrefined discharge of pure mana. It instantly became a mana storm, shattering every piece of glass in the vicinity. It sent the people outside tumbling like kicked tin cans and turned the interior of the general store into a total wasteland.

It honestly felt like looking at the scene of a gas explosion.

“……”

Finally, she picked up the bloody meathead who was unconscious at her feet and tossed him outside like a bag of trash. Dusting off her hands, she gave a refreshed—truly refreshed—laugh.

“Ahahahaha! Ah~ that feels so much better. I can’t believe I worked as a part-timer at this goddamn store for a whole year. I’m impressed with myself.”

“…….”

“Ah, right! Oppa. You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”

Um… where did that kind and pretty part-timer go? And who is this crazy bitch?

“Wow. Is it really you, Oppa?”

That’s the question I want to ask. Are you really that Elf from before?

“You’ve become so handsome. Your atmosphere completely changed—maybe it’s the clothes. I have a bit of an eye for these things, so I can usually estimate how someone would look if they cleaned up, no matter how messy they are, but this time… wow, I’m genuinely surprised.”

Listen. No matter how surprised you are, do you think you’re as shocked as I am? Huh?

I dusted off my suit and straightened my clothes while organizing my thoughts. I surreptitiously gripped the Recall Dagger at my waist. Just in case she got pissed off again, I was ready to crack her skull open.

“Um, Miss Kelly? Shall we move somewhere else first? I don’t think continuing our conversation in this mess is a good idea. The police will be here soon, too.”

“Huh? Ah, the police. The police, right. I guess so. Unlike those pigs from earlier, they make a lot of noise when you hit them. Yes, let’s go, Oppa. I know a quiet cafe nearby with no people.”

They make a lot of noise when you hit them… well, it doesn’t feel like she’s just strong enough to beat up cops; it feels more like the confidence of someone who knows that the “underlings” can’t touch the “boss.”

Is she one of those cases like Sodin, where it turns out she’s a princess from somewhere?

While I was wondering, she grabbed my arm tightly and pulled me toward her.

“Let’s go, Oppa. This way.”

As she said, it was a cafe that was strangely empty for being in the city center.

The cafe occupied an entire small three-story building. Sitting on the third floor with only a few other customers in the background, we faced each other.

I took a sip of my second coffee of the day and asked her cautiously.

“Um… by any chance, do you have a split personality?”

“Pardon? What do you mean by that?”

“I mean, the first impression I had of you and the Miss Kelly I see today… the images are just too different.”

“Hm? Ahhh? That? I thought it was something serious.”

She looked at me as if to say, is that really your first question?

This was a reaction that could only come from someone who truly didn’t care about the carnage she had just caused.

Hey, you Elf. Is there anything more important than that right now?

She began to unbutton the front of the white blouse she had changed into (replacing her torn uniform) and pulled out that ‘Divine Mark of Merina’ pendant from her cleavage.

Hmm. She’s not quite at Yuribel’s level, but she’s substantial. As far as I knew, Illeia was second after Yuribel… but this girl is a step above Illeia. An H-cup? Or is it an I?

“What’s so strange about a believer of Merina, the goddess of destruction and madness, smashing things up according to their nature? It’s nothing new.”

For context, Merina is the name of the second moon and the name of the younger sister of Lumina, the moon goddess.

“I’ve never heard of a cult that worships Merina. Is it an order that only exists on the Western Continent?”

“Oh? Are you from another continent? Ah, now that I look at you, your hair is black. The Eastern Continent? Did you arrive recently?”

“Yes. Well, something like that.”

“Aha… then it makes sense you wouldn’t know. It’s a story that isn’t well-known outside the Western Continent.”

She stared at me intently with a smile on her face.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I don’t know, it’s just been a while since I’ve seen someone like you, Oppa. Usually, everyone is busy avoiding and running away from the Merina Tribe.”

“Is that so? Why does everyone react that way to the Merina Tribe? If it’s not rude, I’d like to hear it…”

“Wow, you really don’t know.”

She took a sip of the black tea she had ordered for herself and continued.

“First, the Elves of Kion can be broadly divided into two groups. One is the Noina Elves, created by the Elf god, Noina.”

“And the other is the Merina Elves, created by the goddess of ‘Moon and Madness,’ Merina.”

For the record, Lumina is the goddess of ‘Moon and Purity.’

“And people from other continents generally don’t know about the existence of the latter.”