Chapter 25: 25

“Spare her? It’s not as if I was trying to kill her or anything . I just slapped her around a bit and pushed down on her head . ”

I rubbed my forehead upon hearing this .

Arghhhh, goddammit . I made the wrong choice, didn’t I? Why did I have to go and choose this clique out of all the others?

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I stood up from my spot to leave . It seemed like Heis didn’t seem to care about someone like me from the get-go, judging from how he continued to spin his yarn . “I was so damn aroused by her futile resistance, you know? So, like, I tore up her skirt like this~! But then, f*ck, those stupid student council idiots had to show up and ruin that wonderful opportunity… Eh-whew, what a sad fate my life is . Those assholes, acting as if a girl doing lowly chores around the Academy was someone important and then handing me this punishment and all… Mm, by the way…”

Heis shifted his gaze in a certain direction – at a girl working diligently with a group of villagers at the distance . Specifically, at a girl with silver hair and red eyes – yup, it was none other than Charlotte .

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She might’ve been only 16 years old, but her calm demeanor made her seem much more mature than her age .

Heis stared at her in an entranced daze .

Before long, he snickered and called out to her . “Heeey, girlie over there? Why don’t you give me one too?”

He spoke in an arrogant tone and beckoned her with his finger .

Charlotte must’ve heard his voice because she made her way to him . She presented him with a still-warm sweet potato and bowed her head as a greeting . However, Heis didn’t seem to care about things like some sweet potatoes, and simply stared at her intently before stuttering a bit . “Mm, ah, well… Uh, Young m-miss, how old?”

…What the hell? You ain’t even a drunken boomer, you know? I didn’t expect to hear such a lame pick-up line by someone so young and eager .

Charlotte didn’t answer and simply stood there in silence .

Heis seemed to be mindful of the surrounding gazes as he urgently spoke up again, “Hiya~, you’re really pretty, aren’t you? It’s almost to the point where it’s a shame to let you stay as a lowly commoner . ”

“…”

“How about we talk some more after you finish work? I’ll treat you to a warm cup of tea…”

“Please work hard, sirs . ”

Even before Heis could say anything else, she lightly bowed her head and turned around to leave . The Priests began chuckling after he got so wonderfully shot down .

Maybe he got ticked off by their mocking laughter, because he suddenly reached out and grabbed Charlotte’s hand with a heavy scowl on his face . She wordlessly stared at Heis’s hand, and then glanced at me .

Her eyes were actually trembling . Although there weren’t any changes in her expression, I could kind of tell that she felt rather perplexed by this development .

What’s this? You want me to help you?

I scratched my head while thinking .

Oh well… although I wasn’t really a fan of getting involved in headache-inducing matters, she’s from the same monastery as me so I should probably help her out . Also, that Mister Termin*tor Paladin wouldn’t mi…

Even before I could step up, though, Heis’s hand was crushed .

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“…Eh?”

I ended up muttering out a stupid-sounding gasp after witnessing that sight .

“It hurrrrrrts!!”

A small and frail-looking hand was gradually and oh-so slowly crushing a much larger and thicker hand .

“It hurts! It f*cking hurts!! Arrrrgh!!”

Heis went down on his knees . The surrounding Priests couldn’t understand what was going on and tilted their heads . Obviously, none of them were thinking that such a slender girl was really crushing a much larger hand than hers .

Charlotte let go of Heis and then, rubbed her hand against her clothes – as if she touched something unclean just now .

“Please excuse me . ”

She bowed her head again and tried to distance herself . However, Heis quickly held his crushed hand and roared out at her, “Stop right there, you commoner!”

Charlotte’s steps came to a stop .

“Sh*t! How dare you, you lowly commoner… How dare you ignore me? You monster-like b*tch!!”

She glanced at him . Her cold, crimson eyes landed on Heis, and he froze up instantly .

“T-that, uh… what was it again . Y-you aren’t even a man in a drag, so how come… W-well, aren’t you a rather strong girl! Hah, how absurd! Are all lowborns strong like you? I, the eldest son of a Count, Sir Heis deigned to show you a passing interest, so you should’ve taken it as an honour! How dare you insult me this way?! Goddammit!”

…You ain’t even a little kid, so what gives? I’m aware that you’re a boy going through puberty, but that way of talking isn’t cool even if you’re scared, dude .

The other Priests also slowly shook their heads on the side . A series of laughter soon followed after, and Heis’s complexion reddened even further .

I saw how he chose not to blindly rush forward and guessed that he was indeed scared by Charlotte and her strength that easily crushed his hand . With this, I didn’t have to step forward anymore .

If Mister Eldest Son of a Count decided to get smart at a later date, I should just call up that uptight Paladin and say a few things to him . I mean, the Holy Emperor’s grandson was lending his support to someone, so which son of a count would dare to raise his fist at the person in question?

Charlotte must’ve known this too, and that was probably why she didn’t bother to confront Heis here . If she did, then the matter would have blown out of proportions later .

Yup, I should get back to work now .

I raised my shovel after thinking of this . Meanwhile, Charlotte ignored Heis and began walking away once more .

The latter anxiously bit his lower lip and shouted out again, “Hey, you! Both your mother and father are lowborns, aren’t they?”

It was then that her steps came to a sudden halt, her fists tightly clenched . Her glare had gotten so much sharper now .

I ignored what was happening between those two and scanned my surroundings .

I really needed to get back to work, but somehow couldn’t see a nice enough spot to dig .

“Ahaha! That’s right! You’re just a lowborn, and that’s why you will never amount to anything! Hah! I guess that’s why you lowborns stick around this accursed Land of the Dead Spirits . ”

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Charlotte quietly squeezed her eyes shut . She seemed to have calmed herself down because she ignored Heis again .

That was a wise decision on her part . You avoided sh*t not because you were scared of it, but because it was dirty .

But this action of hers only served to trigger Heis even further . “I can already tell, they won’t live for long before getting killed off by the undead! Ahaha! I hear that half of those who die in the Land of the Dead Spirits turn into zombies . With just one word from me, and the gravekeeper of your village, plus the resident Priests, will all shut their mouths up . And you’ll become an orphan, all alone in this cold and harsh land!”

…Wowsers, he sure has a grating voice, doesn’t he?

Something he said also reminded me of the memories from my past life too . I slung the shovel on my shoulder and rubbed my neck .

“Why don’t you come here and flirt with me instead? I’ll hire you as my personal maidservant . With how your lowly life is right now, I can certainly improve it, at least by…”

Heis reached out and grabbed her arm again .

With her physical strength, he wouldn’t be able to stop her no matter how hard he tried . She knew that very well . Charlotte could have simply ignored him and walked away but this time, she chose to look back at Heis and say something .

“I’m already an orphan . ”

Charlotte’s curt and cold reply caused his expression to harden .

Besides all that, I really gotta start digging out a burial pit for my job, but, mm… Ah, that’s a pretty good spot . Over there should do, right?

I slammed down on Heis’s foot with my shovel . His leather boot got crushed .

“…!”

Both Charlotte and Heis froze where they stood . The latter dazedly looked down at his toes before raising his head back up again to look straight in my face . He seemed rather dumbfounded at the moment .

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What’s this? It didn’t hurt?

I hit you at that spot so that you’d feel some pain, but I guess it wasn’t as effective as I hoped .

But that won’t do! I mean, I stomped on you to hurt you…

I raised my shovel again and slammed it back down .

Heis’s complexion was increasingly getting paler by the second . As a matter of fact, cold sweat began trickling down his face now .

Ohh! Finally, some reaction!

Time to say something appropriate then .

“Oopsie . My mistake . ”

I covered the mouth portion of the beak mask with one hand, and with the other, ruthlessly cranked the handle of the shovel currently crushing the sucker’s toes .

Eventually…

“Uwaaaaaahk!!”

Just as he screamed loudly and reflexively stood upright, I swung my shovel and smacked him dead in the face . Mister Priest staggered unsteadily on his feet before falling rather lamely into the pit next to him .

“Oops, my hands seemed to have slipped a bit . Are you alright there, buddy?”

“Uwaaahk?! W-what is the meaning of…!”

“Don’t get in the way of my work and just quietly lie down there, will ya . If you’re going to act like a corpse, why don’t you do a proper job?”

I fixed my mask back in place and began shoveling dirt on top of Heis or whatever his name was .

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