Yuri Hero and Loli Demon King - Chapter 16

This is a vast and beautiful world, but for the one who has been trapped since its fledgling days, this world is terrifying and dangerous.

How to find food? How to settle down? Which direction? Where is this place? What is harmful to me? What is beneficial to me?

— It knows nothing about this world.

♀ ♀ ♀

“What are you thinking about, Rei?”

Seemingly not hearing Haitang’s question, Rei continued to stare out the window in a daze.

Haitang first felt puzzled, then quietly approached her from behind and suddenly wrapped her arms around her.

“Waahhh—!?”

“Waahhh—!?”

The first scream came from Rei, who was suddenly embraced, while the second was from Haitang, startled by Rei’s scream.

“What… what are you doing, you fool!” Rei scolded, though not out of anger; she was just trying to hide her panic.

Haitang felt wronged being called a fool. Pouting her lips, she reluctantly defended herself: “Who told me to keep calling Rei? Rei doesn’t pay any attention to me.”

“I was thinking about something important!” Rei protested.

“Something important? Is dessert for dinner?” Haitang thought, unable to resist drooling at the thought.“Who would consider dessert a proper meal! And it’s still not lunchtime, and you’re already thinking about dinner?”

“Eh~? So is there anyone who would have dessert for lunch?”

“No!” Rei replied, “I made today’s lunch, so we’re having curry, the super spicy kind!”

“Eh eh eh eh eh?” Haitang wiped the drool from her mouth and pouted again, “Why are we having curry? Spicy food isn’t even tasty.”

“Listen up, if you can’t handle spicy food, you can’t become an adult!”

“I heard that people who like spicy food are all masochists,” Haitang whispered.

“I heard that!”

Rei, hands on her hips, muttered under her breath, “Honestly, kids these days are so hard to please; you complain about every little thing when I’m just trying to cook… (300 words omitted)”

Although Haitang wanted to retort, she realized she was actually a few hundred years older than Rei, making Rei the little child here!

However, thinking about how Rei could very well scold her for a couple thousand more words, for the sake of her own ears and Rei’s throat, it was better to just listen obediently and avoid answering back.

Finally, after Rei finished her rant, Haitang raised her hand to ask, “What did you mean earlier by ‘important matter’?”

“Children don’t understand, don’t ask.”

“…I’m already a mature adult!”

“If you can’t handle spicy food, you’re still a child.”

“!”

She’s actually pulling this trick? Boohoo, Rei is going too far.

But she was also really curious about what Rei was thinking, to the point of spacing out, not even hearing my voice.

“Fine, fine, I’ll eat… I’ll eat curry! So… so Haitang has grown up, you have to tell me!”

“Eh?”

Haitang’s response seemed to catch Rei off guard; originally, Rei just didn’t want to tell Haitang, so how did that turn into eating curry?

“Uh? Why did it turn out this way?” Rei couldn’t help but feel it was strange, “If I tell you, you still won’t understand!”

“If you don’t say, how will you know if I understand?”

“I just know you wouldn’t!”

“……”

Haitang suddenly felt that women’s hearts are truly difficult to understand. It’s a good thing she is just a girl.

I swear I will never grow up to be such a twisted woman—she silently vowed.

“Fine! Let’s say I don’t understand, so Rei, tell me! I really want to know.”

“I really can’t argue with you…”Crumbled walls and remnants of ruins failed to reflect their former glory; the once magnificent architecture now lay in countless fragments. This was once the headquarters of the third organization among the “Six Great Organizations of Humanity”—the Great Cathedral of Saint Yeloin.

The sacred Pope Gregory IX stood alone in the center of the ruins, staring unwillingly at everything before him.

The splendid church lay in ruins, and more than half of the well-trained soldiers had perished. More importantly, the power that took decades to establish had also crumbled by more than half.

“If only I had been able to eliminate the King of the Blood Clan; if it weren’t for that damned Blood Fox interfering… Damn it!”

His thin, twig-like hands trembled with anger as he clenched his fists, resolute. “Very well, King of the Blood Clan; very well, Blood Fox! I will make you pay, and you will kneel before me, licking my toes and begging for mercy! Just you wait!”

“Oh? Same old story, old man.”

Upon hearing that voice, Gregory IX did not put on his usual facade of holiness and nobility but instead maintained his true nature.

Before the Pope stood his son, who was also the leader of the fourth organization—Season of the Moon.

“It’s Lost, isn’t it? You still don’t call me father?”

Hearing this, the tall, burly youth scoffed mockingly. “Father? Ah, is that so? Then do you even remember who my mother is? What’s wrong, can’t answer?”

“My wives and children number like the stars; how could I possibly remember each one? You are the child of one of my wives; what’s wrong with calling me father?”

“I don’t need a father like you! Especially not with an old man who has nothing left—who would recognize him as a father?”

“Then you must have some other purpose for coming here. Speak! What brings you here?”

“Fairy Buttocks,” Lost said. “I heard that the Dragon from Ape Wing Mountain was defeated, and the ones who defeated him were a young fairy and a shrine maiden, right?”

“So what?”

“I used my connections and sent countless tasks to that guild; by now, that guild should already be singing the blues. However, ‘Season of the Moon’ hasn’t been able to destroy the barrier of that guild.”

“Lost, are you implying that you want to borrow people from me?” the Pope inferred.”I never expected your old and decrepit brain to still be sharp! That’s right, I want to borrow a few people for my use. This will also benefit you, right? You were planning to find an opportunity to eliminate their guild, weren’t you?”

“Yes, I do want to eliminate them, but that doesn’t mean I can agree to you unconditionally.”

The Pope cleared his throat and spoke about the terms: “I will lend you those skilled at breaking barriers, and in return, after the deed is done, you must send people to assist me in attacking the Blood Clan territory, and the King of the Blood Clan will be taken prisoner by me.”

“Alright, let’s do it that way.”

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For lunch, they had the all-time favorite of pure M—super spicy curry rice.

Just like pulling out a lion’s mane can cure baldness, and removing King Arthur’s ridiculous hair can darken her, Haitang wasn’t sure if this was fact or mere rumor. However, she heard that spiciness wasn’t a taste; instead, capsaicin, gingerol, and zingerone stimulate the cells, creating a mild burning sensation that isn’t perceived as a taste by the taste buds but rather as a pain sensation.

Those who love spicy food are M—Haitang firmly believed that, even though she wasn’t quite sure what M meant.

As she pondered this, Rei cleared her throat a couple of times and began speaking about the so-called “important matter.”

Isn’t talking while eating a childish behavior? Rei was the real child; after all, I’m the mature adult here, focused on experiencing the torture of the spiciness, sob sob…

“Once upon a time, there was a bird…”

“Is it the Archaeopteryx?”

(Note: In our world, Archaeopteryx is a creature that lived during the early Late Jurassic period, around 155 million years ago.)

“That’s way too long ago, isn’t it? And you shouldn’t interrupt while adults are talking!”

A long time ago, there was a bird, which was captured by humans shortly after hatching and imprisoned in a cage.

At first, it desperately wanted to escape and tried to call out to its parents for help, but those actions were noticed, and humans captured the bird’s parents and burned them alive.

The bird was heartbroken; it gave up on escaping and decided to stay close to the humans, waiting for the chance to retaliate once it grew up.

Humans were cruel, plucking its feathers day after day and beating it with branches.

It endured all of this, not crying or screaming, just waiting for the moment to take revenge, as that was its only hope for survival.

Yes, the human it hated had become its reason for living. If not for him, perhaps at the moment of its parents’ death, the fledgling would have chosen to end its own life, right?

—That person brought it both despair and hope.

As Rei recounted this story, she cried as if she had experienced it herself, weeping bitterly.

“Please don’t continue.”

Haitang left her position and walked over to comfort her gently, “I don’t want to hear Rei tell this story anymore. Stop thinking about it, forget it, forget the story of the bird.”

“But, but…”In the end, the bird did not take revenge.

It realized it had no power to resist; no matter how much it grew, it could not fight back.

It should have resented everything, but when did it gradually start accepting all of this?

No, it wasn’t acceptance.

It was simply an inability to resist—whether then or now, it could only swallow its anger. That person possessed power and influence, and viewed himself as “justice.” To others, he was indeed the embodiment of justice.

How could an insignificant bird ever oppose a justice recognized by the masses?

“…!” Rei’s voice trembled to the point of being inarticulate.

“Please stop. I beg you, don’t say any more… Rei, don’t be like this. I don’t want to see you like this. I don’t want to see you cry!”

Haitang stepped forward and embraced her tightly.

No more words.

No more stories that bring tears—especially stories that would make Rei cry. Haitang absolutely did not want to hear that!

However, Rei did not stop, already trapped in the abyss called memory: “That bird, the name of that bird is…”

—It must not be spoken.

The urge to stay silent overcame the abyss-like sadness, forcing Rei to halt her words.

Upon speaking that name, the seals and bindings on her would be lifted, and she would regain her freedom. At the same time, her level would no longer be just Lv. 23; she would become truly the strongest Mage among humans.

It might seem desirable; indeed, it should be said that breaking the seal is the norm.

—But Rei was afraid of the self that would emerge after breaking the seal.

At the time, the bird had fled from its cage, suppressing its name, wings, and memories to the very limit.Abandoning her original name, relinquishing the surname of the spellcaster, she became “Rei,” an ordinary girl without a surname.

Levels and memories were also forfeited along with the name—names are inscribed deep within the soul by parents at birth, representing the supreme symbol of “self.” Abandoning a “name” is almost equivalent to forsaking “self,” including the proof of past existence, which means that “level” and “memory” would also be discarded.

How ironic! To escape the prison imposed by humans and impose a new cage upon herself? The ropes and seals binding her were precisely the proof of her inability to break free, continually constraining herself, unable to step beyond these shackles.

“…Fool.”

Whether it was directed at Haitang or herself, even Rei couldn’t tell.

No, she should be clearer than anyone else; she was a bigger fool than Haitang.

She wiped away her tears and attempted to speak with a teasing smile, “I’m just crying from the spiciness; it’s hard to talk.”

“Eh?”

“It’s not that I feel sorrow about this story; rather, it’s a story that only children like you would feel sad about due to sympathy. Listen closely, reality is a hundred times harsher than this story. If you can’t even face a story without feeling sad, how will you face reality in the future?”

Although Haitang seemed to believe this statement on the surface, even if she hoped it was merely a simple story, her intuition still told her—what Rei spoke was not just a story.

Should she believe Rei, or trust her intuition?

“Wow, Rei is bullying me! Saying such a story deceives my emotions!”

Then, let both sides believe.

Just as Rei said, it is a simple story, merely… a story of a girl trapped (Haitang).