“Could this be the medicine bottle?”

Isis remembered seeing it mentioned in the journal—how they couldn’t maintain their sanity without taking the medicine. Just as he reached for the bottle, a voice suddenly spoke.

“Found the suppressant, have you?”

Startled by the unexpected sound, he turned his head. There stood someone with a grotesque appearance—a bizarre creature neither fully human nor monster. While her arms resembled those of a monster, her face was unmistakably human. She was staring directly at Isis.

“How things have come to this.”

With those words, she—Charlotte—swung her hand. The force sent Isis, still clutching the medicine bottle, flying backward. He slammed against the wall and coughed up blood from the impact.

Charlotte tilted her head as she observed him.

“I meant to take the medicine bottle first to end this quickly, but my hand moved on its own. Without taking the suppressant in time, you won’t be able to return to normal.”

Her words weren’t directed at Isis.

“Ah, I hate how consuming mana stones makes me feel so stupid. I suppose the ones who were here felt the same way?”

Charlotte approached Isis and snatched the medicine bottle from his hand. She grabbed his chin, examining his face from different angles while muttering to herself.

“You’re supposedly that important figure from the west, aren’t you? The people’s hope, they called you.”

“…”

“I’m sick of all this talk about hope.”

Charlotte laughed as she spoke, her appearance increasingly disturbing. “Don’t you agree? Erin Liserth, those knight fools, and you… hope, hope, hope—it’s all you ever talk about.”

“Who are you?”

“How pathetic you look, squirming like a worm while asking such questions.”

“What have you done here?”

At his words, Charlotte grabbed Isis by the throat and lifted him up. “You have no right to speak. Just listen quietly to what I have to say!”

“Ugh…”

“Come to think of it, you seemed quite friendly with Erin Liserth. How is that even possible?”

“What?”

Charlotte thought she was using minimal force, but Isis felt otherwise. He struggled desperately to break free from her grip.

“That stupid girl is famous for being a villainess, isn’t she? So why did you help Erin Liserth?”

“…”

“You noticed she’s not actually a villainess, didn’t you?”

“What… ack… are you talking about…”

Isis barely managed to speak through his grimace. He couldn’t comprehend what the monster before him was saying.

Charlotte leaned in and whispered to him. “It’s well-known at the academy that Erin Liserth killed someone. But she didn’t do it. I did.”

With those words, Charlotte completely released her grip on Isis’s throat. Collapsing to the floor, he gasped for breath, hardly believing what he’d just heard.

“Some presumptuous servant must have felt sorry seeing her punished. How pathetic, not knowing his place.”

Erin Liserth—extravagant, dissolute, a villainess. She had lived her entire life bearing those labels.

After realizing Erin might be “that person,” Isis had found it strange. The Erin he’d met was completely different from the rumors, and he couldn’t understand why she lived under such condemnation.

The truth he now learned was even more shocking than he’d imagined. Everything had been fabricated, and she had been blamed for someone else’s crimes.

“I was annoyed at first, but when that guy died, Erin Liserth’s eyes completely died too. Isn’t that interesting?”

“How could anyone…”

“Those eyes that were full of hope despite all the abuse and insults from others… when he died, they just died too.”

“…”

“I’m curious now. Have you become friends with Erin Liserth? Would she show the same reaction if I killed you?”

Isis remained speechless at these shocking revelations. But if what the monster before him said was true, it would explain everything—the Saint’s constant remarks and why Erin was so different from the rumors.

“Until Erin arrives, shall we have some fun, just the two of us?”

* * *

Hellix felt a sense of awe. Despite her exhausted state, Erin had managed to defeat all those monsters.

‘So this is what it means to be a Sword Master…’

A shiver ran through his body. More than anything, Hellix admired Erin’s resolve. It would have been easier to treat them as monsters and dispatch them quickly rather than fighting them with the formality of a proper duel.

Yet Erin had wielded her sword honorably, even at the cost of sustaining injuries herself.

Watching her, Hellix clenched his fist. Back at the academy, he couldn’t understand why Ferdin protected her. But the more time he spent with Erin, the more he understood why Ferdin and his knights-in-training admired her. It wasn’t just her strength—Erin Liserth herself made his heart race.

Hellix slowly approached her. Erin’s body was covered in wounds, which was understandable considering she had faced far more monsters than he had and occasionally protected him as well.

“Lady Erin, are you alright?”

Erin didn’t respond to Hellix’s question. Puzzled, he moved closer to her. Suddenly, her body swayed.

“Lady Erin?”

Hellix quickly caught her. Her body felt burning hot against his hands, which alarmed him greatly. Erin, who had seemed fine just moments ago, was now in a concerning state.

He carefully examined her body and noticed something odd.

‘Her body isn’t properly conditioned.’

But Erin was a Sword Master. How could a Sword Master have such a physically weak body? This defied everything Hellix knew. She seemed like someone who had only recently begun wielding a sword.

Hellix realized her bleeding was serious, which filled him with fear. Her pulse felt unusually weak.

‘Surely she’s not dying?’

His face turned pale at the thought.

‘I need to get her to Isis for healing.’

Hellix hoisted Erin onto his back. He intended to go straight to where Isis was waiting. He couldn’t let her die here—not after witnessing her brilliant will and noble spirit.

‘Even if it costs me my life, I must save her.’

With this determination, Hellix headed toward the basement.

* * *

“Isis?”

Hellix couldn’t comprehend the scene before him. Descending the stairs into the basement, he found Isis bleeding in the grasp of some monster. His condition appeared serious at a glance—his body covered in wounds, his eyes too swollen to open properly.

“Perfect timing.”

The monster grinned at him grotesquely.

“She’s in just the right condition. I suppose even with monstrous talent, one can’t remain unscathed after destroying that many monsters.”

“…”

“Especially using such a foolish method.”

“Foolish method?”

“Isn’t it pathetically absurd? Wasting so much time and energy on mere monsters?”

Hellix felt rage rising to his head, but he could do nothing. The monster still held Isis captive. If he charged at the monster in anger now, he couldn’t guarantee Isis’s survival. Moreover, Hellix could sense from the monster’s aura alone that she was stronger than him—an opponent beyond his ability to face.

The monster looked at him and said, “Hand her over.”

But as those words fell, Isis, still in the monster’s grip, spoke up.

“Hel… lix, abandon me and escape with Lady Erin.”

“What?”

“Erin… is that person.”

Hellix’s eyes widened. Isis had reached the same conclusion about Erin that he had earlier. Hellix had many more questions for him, but Isis couldn’t continue speaking. The monster holding him began to squeeze harder.

AAAAGH—!

Isis’s scream echoed through the basement.

“Stop talking nonsense.”

Under the monster Charlotte’s strength, Isis lost consciousness and went limp. Seeing this, Hellix could no longer think clearly. For some unknown reason, the monster was targeting Erin.

“Why do you insects insist on being so annoying? Who gave you permission to speak?”

Charlotte muttered as she threw the unconscious Isis to the floor. Meanwhile, Hellix had laid Erin down behind him. Seeing this, she sneered.

No matter how noble humans pretended to be, they all behaved the same when pushed to their limits.

“Yes, that’s smart thinking. Leave Erin Liserth there and go—I might let you live.”

Of course, she had no intention of keeping that promise. If he abandoned Erin and left, she planned to kill her, then follow and kill them all. But Hellix’s action completely defied Charlotte’s expectations.

He stood facing Charlotte, sword in hand.