Chapter 190: Reason Behind the Hostility
Link: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n7583de/
Author: Hirukuma
Translated by Zzonkedd
Edited by Gumihou
“Now that the all-important child is with me, there is no need to go through the trouble to find a way to break the Negative Gift… the curse has been nullified by yours truly.”
Sulrim appeared to be in high spirits as she continued to elaborate on things we hadn’t even asked her about. Was this the reason for that smug look on her face?
“But, how did you lift the curse? Does it have anything to do with you being a Snow Spirit?”
“That’s right. If a Snow Spirit has their head cut off as soon as they are of age, their bodies will turn into statues that lift curses. What do you think happens when a Snow Spirit manages to grow up safely to adulthood?”
Kikoyu had not told us anything about this, but from her pointed question and rather smug expression, we could venture a guess. Considering how she was holding onto the child’s hand, and whether the body of a Snow Child retained its ability to nullify curses…
“Snow Spirits are born with the ability to nullify curses. Once they reach adulthood, this ability dramatically intensifies. However, this power has a limited range. Therefore, should you attempt to forcibly take this child away from me, it will only end up writhing in pain.”
“In short, you’re holding him hostage?” Hyurumi muttered in disgust.
Sulrim’s lips curled with wicked delight. Back when we fought against her with Kikoyu, this person appeared to have a strangely vindictive streak about her. Even now, she enjoyed seeing us squirm with the inability to do anything as she taunted us with the child’s well-being.
Had her past experience really warped her to that extent?
“He is no hostage. I am a benevolent being who helped these poor souls nullify the curse on this child. It just so happens that he cannot bear to be separated from me. [1] As for the Leaders, well, they are cooperating because they felt indebted to the aid that I have rendered.”
She said all of that with an evil grin, which did not lend credence to her great speech.
The child whose hand she was holding had a sorrowful expression on his face. After awakening from a long slumber only to find out that he had become a burden to his family, what could be going through his mind now?
Moreover, according to Leader Keryoil, this child was the kindest and most responsible ‘elder brother’ type among the triplets. It must be hard for him to reconcile himself to the current situation.
Even so, what could I, a mere vending machine, do to help?
“Well, that’s that. Now you understand why we must serve under the Ruler of the Netherworld and conquer the dungeon,” Leader Keryoil let out a deep sigh, a dagger in each hand. Although he was reluctant, there was no doubt that he would not hold back in fighting us.
Even though their goal to have their son’s curse nullified has not been fully achieved, what of it? It would still make sense to serve the one who had granted them at least this much relief.
Until now, I had been holding on to the faint hope that we could somehow persuade the Leader and his team back to our side…
“It’s thanks to Sulrim that we’re able to speak with our elder brother again. Therefore, we must repay this favour.”
“Even if Sulrim’s way goes against humanity, she still helped us in the end.”
The twins appeared to have made up their minds, too.
“We are grateful for the kindness we have received from everyone on Clearflow Lake Floor. However, now that we serve under the Ruler of the Netherworld, we will not hold back,” said Vice-Leader Felmina.
Has the situation completely fallen apart? If Kikoyu were here, we may have had some way to recruit them back to our side, but there was no point thinking about ifs and whatnot.
“Is that so? If you believe that you can no longer back out, we shall have to correct your wrongdoings by force.”
“Look, we feel sorry for your kid, but if you’ve truly become the pawn of the Demon King’s army, I won’t show mercy-su.”
“I understand… great love… but… not at… the expense of… others…”
The three former members of the Whimsical Fools party stepped forward.
Following their lead, Ramis and the rest also readied their weapons. Hyurumi had already retreated into the house.
If this were a straightforward case of good punishing evil, there would be no hesitation. However, even if the situation was not so straightforward, we would all do what needs to be done.
“I see that you do not have a Snow Spirit with you. Therefore, there is no one in your party who can stop me. I shall freeze you all to death. Move aside,” Sulrim ordered, her free hand pointing at us.
The Whimsical Fools party exchanged glances but did not move from their spot.
“What are you doing? Move.”
“Hold it, let us deal with these people.”
“Do not be foolish, you must realise that you are at a disadvantage both in numbers and power. Move, or I shall freeze you as well.”
Yet, not even Sulrim’s glare could move them. Suddenly, Sulrim’s eyes widened and she smirked.
“So, this is your way of rebelling, is it? In that case, you don’t care what happened to this child, hm?” Sulrim casually let go of the child’s hand and lightly pushed him away.
The child fell to the ground and started screaming, “AAAAAAHH, it hurts! Ahhhh!!!”
He writhed and screamed in pain, froth spewing from his mouth and his entire body convulsing violently.
“S-stop it! We won’t resist, so please!”
“Stop! Stop! Please stop!”
Leader and Vice-Leader screamed in panic as they quickly got out of her way.
“Excellent, so long as you understand.” Then, she got down on one knee and grabbed the child’s arm. The child stopped thrashing and screaming.
“Now, enough of this farce. Anyone who opposes me will die here.”
Just as our party spread out in hopes of disorienting her, a lone man stepped forward.
“Goodness, enough with the tricks. A fight should be a passionate exchange between two parties, yeah?”
The Director of the Scorching Sands slammed his fist into his palm as he glared at Sulrim.
“Fool, you dare attack a Snow Spirit without a plan? I detest hot-headed men like you most. It just brings to mind those vermin.”
Before any of us could do anything, Sulrim threw a blast of extreme cold at the Director. Unable to stop her, we could only watch helplessly as the blizzard engulfed him.
“How lukewarm!”
For some reason, just as the blizzard was about to touch him, the Scorching Sand Director kicked at the wind as though it was a naughty puppy and the wind just… scattered away.
Instead of freezing, he burned.
Like, literally.
The Scorching Sand Director was literally covered in flames.
“I say, Snow Spirits are such a pain! So gloomy too!” the Director roared, pointing his finger at Sulrim.
She was also pointing at him, her finger trembling as her expression twisted. “So, the extinct Fire Spirit race still exists!”
“Who are you calling extinct, Snow Spirit?”
The two figures clashed.
“The Director of Scorching Sand is not a human but a Fire Spirit? Do you know what’s a Fire Spirit, Hyurumi?”
As one, all of us turned to Hyurumi, [2] who poked her head out of the house, watching the fight with great interest.
“Ou, some. They are the polar opposite of Snow Spirits. As the name suggests, they are masters of fire and are incredibly bold and audacious. They have been at odds with Snow Spirits for as long as anyone could remember.”
Well, it’s not surprising for ice-based races to go against fire-controllers. At least I now understand why Director Bear sent the Scorching Sand Director with us. He was probably the only one who could fight against Sulrim on equal footing.
“Leave this cold-blooded woman to me! The rest of you do what you have to do! Now, shall we have a little fun there?”
With his entire body ablaze, he dashed towards the forest. Sulrim followed behind, still clutching the young boy’s hand.
“Director! You mustn’t hurt the child!” Ramis called after him.
“Will do my best!” he shouted back with a wave of his hand.
“M-my forest…!” Pitee wailed.
I felt sorry about the whole situation. Once Kikuyo returns with Mister Field, I shall ask him to return the forest as it was. Maybe even make it better. The fragment of Mister Field was already pretty powerful, so surely once he’s back in full power, he could come and recreate a better forest.
“Shall we begin?”
“Leader, things are not the same as before. I shall be going all out.”
“Oh? I heard that your incident with the shoe thing had been sorted out. Have you decided to stop pretending?”
Had Captain Keryoil seen through Hevoy’s hidden power all this while?
“This will be tricky. It’s great that Sulrim’s not here to complicate things. Red, White, go all out.”
“Alright!”
“If I must,”
Wait, are you saying that the Red and White twins had been holding themselves back all this time? How? I never did get the impression that they have a single deceptive bone in them…
If this were true, this family’s father and sons would be tough to deal with.
I had hoped that we could resolve the matter through words, but it looked like a fight would be inevitable.
[Gumihou: Goodness, just what would happen next?]
[1] Make Sulrim’s dialogue more obvious
[2] Author forgot he made Hyurumi enter the house. So, Gumi made her poke her head out to answer
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