Yuna desperately strained her ears, listening to the conversation between the man and the woman.
She regretted letting curiosity get the better of her while she was doing her daily practice of intensifying the heat of her fire. She could not feign ignorance even if she wanted to now.
Because they lived near the forest, and because her hearing had become much sharper—sharp enough to hear things from miles away as if they were right next to her—she heard a faint murmuring near the forest. She wondered what kind of people would hang out inside the forest at night and decided to sneak a listen to their conversation.
It was really not because she wanted to hear the sound of a man and woman doing something inexplicable. Really!
It had been four days since the Moonlit Orchid expedition started, and Yuna thought that some people had started to come back. Really!
She was quite concerned about Austin and… her master.
Austin had deviated from the plot because of her, and Yuna was somewhat afraid that something more dangerous would happen to him. Who knew whether a butterfly effect would bring forth a positive or negative change, right?
Well, she did not think of that at first, but as the conversation between the man and woman went on, Yuna's uneasiness started to rise.
Still, even if things went out of proportion and Austin faced more difficult things than originally intended, Yuna would not blame herself. Just because she helped him and let him have a much easier life, and then fate decided to joke on him, Yuna would only blame and curse fate—not herself.
It was not her who made things difficult for Austin; even she had that much awareness.
As a normal human being and as a reader, she could not stay silent about the misery of a main character when she could do things to alleviate his hardship.
"When Master Louis comes back after the Moonlit Orchid expedition, the people of Huin Town can be used as living sacrifices."
It was the woman's voice.
Yuna's heart accelerated as she listened to the conversation.
"Although the town's living stock barely exceeds a thousand, it will have to make do for the time being."
It was the male voice.
'This sounds so much like those minor villain fodder conversations…'
Yuna wanted to cry.
If she thought about it, Yuna could come to the conclusion that the reason the apothecary went away without any prior notice could only mean that she had sustained heavy injuries. Then what about the male protagonist Austin, who had now deviated from the novel?
Yuna could only pray for her master to be magnanimous and shelter Austin under her wings.
Although that would not be a long-term solution, considering the fact that the apothecary was sustaining heavy injuries alone and now adding one more person to protect…
Yuna bit her lips, vexed.
It was also at a time like this that the novel's plotline decided to trigger her memory.
The actual reason for the death of Austin's mother.
Her condition did worsen, but it was not to the point where she would die within a month. The worsening of her condition actually started even before the apothecary's disappearance.
• A sudden energy outburst occurred in and around the vicinity of Huin Town, affecting the lives of more than half of the town's people.
That was what the novel said.
Seriously, it was both great and the worst timing, man!
'Novella… why now? QAQ'
There was no further explanation on why the energy outburst occurred, and Yuna simply thought that it was a mystery point that would be addressed in later chapters. Too bad Yuna did not read far ahead to unveil the mystery.
What she did know was that the energy outburst had caused various sicknesses among children, the elderly, and pregnant women.
It was like a radioactive wave from a nuclear bomb, causing harmful sickness to those in the vicinity.
Also, aside from Austin's mother, who was affected immediately, the aftereffects of the energy outburst showed symptoms in others only at the end of the year. By the time they realized it, it was already too late!
'Grandpa…'
Her grandfather might also be one of those victims afflicted by the energy outburst. Not only that—even she herself could get affected. Her body was still that of a child.
"What to do… what to do…"
Yuna felt like cursing.
She could not sit still after hearing such things.
She was not dumb. She was smart, but not smart enough to set up plans or traps to catch the minor villains off guard, or think of any solution to disrupt their plans.
The current predicament felt surreal to Yuna, as if everything were covered in fog.
Yuna even suspected whether she was hallucinating and whether everything was just a product of her own imagination. She had never encountered such a blood-boiling crisis!
As an ordinary person, everything felt fake.
"Guard the teleportation array. I will go around the town to check up on the blood runes."
It was the female voice.
'Blood runes! Fuck! That sounds so ominous!' Yuna cursed.
"Let's go check it out first…"
Even if she thought there was nothing she could do, Yuna decided to see the matter firsthand.
"If I get caught and die… FUCK… so be it…"
Tears started streaming down Yuna's face as she wrapped herself in tight clothes, covering her face and body. She had clearly considered all the bad scenarios that could happen to her, but she was just not smart enough to think of any other way to subvert anything except to go and see for herself.
She used to scold those white people in horror movies who stupidly sought their own deaths, and now Yuna could not muster any contempt, as she herself was stupidly seeking her own death.
'Please! Let it not be the case of *No Zou No Die.'
(A/N: *It is a Chinese slang which means "If you do not seek death, you will not die.")
Her grandfather's snoring and peaceful breathing made Yuna choke up even more as she sobbed.
"…I haven't lived enough of the new world… This is un… fair."
Yuna was scared. She was, after all, quite a coward. But if she did not do anything—just anything—Yuna felt that even if she were to die, she did not want to go down without dragging anyone down with her.
'Ugh… this is so depressing.'
It was fine if she were to die an unworthy death at the hands of a zombie, but it was not okay to die an unworthy death when someone plotted her death and she was aware of it. And by the way, she retracted that thought. Her stupid brain had come up with a way to be zombified painlessly—she could just drink their blood or something. Disgusting, but painless.
The sound was about twenty meters away, and Yuna quickly caught sight of a man in a green cloak, his face covered by a mask.
Beside the man, a glowing stone was placed on the ground, and glowing lines formed a pattern.
'That must be the teleportation array.'
Yuna narrowed her eyes and checked out the man in the green cloak.
'I have to distract him away from the teleportation array… ugh… this is such hot-headed behavior,' Yuna lamented her impulsive action, which had no formal plan whatsoever.
Impulsive as it was, what could she do? She could not think of anything better!
Because there was only one man, Yuna—though not very bright—could at least handle him.
She produced her named butterfly and let it fly toward the man.
"An elemental?"
The man coldly spat, turning his eyes sharply around. He did not take heed of the little fire butterfly, as such a small flame would not even be enough to burn his clothes.
Yuna's eyes brightened at the man's lack of vigilance. The heat of the fire butterfly was tightly contained, such that it could not be felt without physical contact.
As soon as the man's sharp eyes landed on Yuna, goosebumps popped up and her heart trembled in fear.
There was only one thought that rang loudly inside Yuna's head.
'He is going to kill me!'
Alarm bells rang incessantly, and Yuna stood rooted to the spot, too scared to even move. The man's sharp gaze pinned her in place. Luckily, before the man moved, the Nami butterfly landed on his shoulder.
The man took a step toward Yuna, but soon rolled on the ground as intense heat exploded from his shoulder. A piercing scream did not even last a few seconds before his vocal cords melted away.
"…Although my fire's heat is not enough to melt metal, it can at least melt skin. That's for taking Nami lightly," Yuna scolded shakily as she walked forward, summoning enough courage.
The man tried to dispel the fire with mana, but the butterfly kept multiplying until his entire body was surrounded by fire butterflies.
It was not long before the man's breathing ceased to exist.
It did not even take a minute for his skin to completely melt along with his organs.
As Yuna reached beside the man, she sucked in a cold breath as she collapsed onto the ground.
"Fuck… FUCK… fu—ck… urgh…"
Yuna groaned as tears once again smeared her face beneath the tightly wrapped cloth. She felt nauseous and had the urge to vomit.
"I killed… killed someone…" Yuna breathed shakily, her whole body uncomfortable.
"He… would have killed me… so I had no choice…" Yuna started to justify her actions. Her body trembled as her pupils dilated.
She was no more than an ordinary person, and the current situation and the whole evil plot she had firsthand experienced were all too much for her to take in. She had even taken a life—a living, breathing person!
Yuna felt as if her psyche was about to crumble.
"I already came this far… let's see it till the end…"
Yuna forcefully suppressed her inner turmoil and trembling as she took a step toward the teleportation array.
'I cannot be weak-willed at a time like this,' Yuna encouraged herself.
She had to warn her master. She knew her master was strong. As for the guards of Huin Town? Forget it—they were not even as good as her grandfather, that old handsome man.
There was only one person on the other end. The teleportation point there would not be surrounded by many enemies, so Yuna boldly jumped into the array.
Light burst out, and when Yuna finally adjusted her eyesight, the scene before her nearly made her breath stop.