Chapter 32: People can’t help, but I’m not human
“Mom, Penny! Where are you?!”
Ophelia flung open door after door, but there was no sign of them—they’d vanished from the mansion.
Thud, thud, thud!
Hurried footsteps chased from behind.
Ophelia spun around to see Charis, panting, looking like she’d sprinted to catch up.
“Your sister’s… outside!”
“What? Don’t joke at a time like this—I’m in a hurry.”
“Who’s got time to joke with you? It’s true—she and your mom left in a carriage!”
“How can you be sure you’re not wrong?”
“I… smelled them!”
Charis gave a plausible reason—her dragon senses at work.
“Smelled…?”
Ophelia frowned, skeptical, her eyes still scanning every corner of the mansion.
“Stop wasting time here!
Your dad was stalling you with the diary to keep you from seeing something painful.
We need to go now, or it’ll be too late!”
Charis didn’t care—she grabbed Ophelia’s hand, determined to drag her out.
“You…!”
Ophelia started to protest, but seeing Charis’s earnest blue eyes, she swallowed her rebuke.
“Fine! Lead the way!”
“That’s the spirit!”
Charis took the lead, Demon King Talos guiding her in her mind, using lingering demonic tracking skills despite being a soul.
‘Demon King, I’m counting on you!’
Charis pulled Ophelia out of the mansion, silently praying to Talos.
“Left out the gate—there’s a horse. Ride it. You can’t catch up on foot.”
Talos directed, a perfect navigator.
“Thank you, Demon King!”
Charis shouted her thanks mentally, turning to relay to Ophelia.
“They’ve been gone a while, probably far off. We need a fast horse!”
“Borrow one from the patrol guards!”
“This way—I saw one!”
Charis bolted out the gate, dragging Ophelia along.
They tumbled down the stairs, reaching a resting brown horse in a flash.
“Up!”
Ophelia mounted in one fluid motion, no hesitation.
“I can’t ride! Wait for—ahh!”
Before Charis finished, an ice pillar shot up, launching her onto the horse in front of Ophelia.
“Hold the saddle tight! Go! Keep sniffing!”
Ophelia grabbed the reins, the horse neighing as it galloped down a wheel-rutted road.
‘A bit rough, but let’s hope we make it!’
Charis strained to catch scents in the wind, detecting Penny’s faint trace from earlier.
Talos was reliable!
“They’re ahead! The scent’s weaker, but the direction’s right!”
“That way… damn it! It’s the execution grounds!”
Ophelia recognized the path, her face paling.
Her sister was being taken for execution—to end with the curse before becoming a monster!
Behind her, Charis felt Ophelia’s frantic heartbeat pounding against her back.
She patted the horse.
“Faster, please, or we won’t make it.”
At the mansion gate, the Rodley patriarch stepped out slowly, helplessly watching Ophelia and Charis gallop away.
He sat on the steps, fist pounding his chest in prayer.
“Gods… I couldn’t stop my youngest from facing death, nor my eldest from chasing her.
Please let them both return safely.
Take my life if you must.”
…
The execution grounds were a walled-off structure, its gates sealed, the stands pristine.
Penny, numbed by sedative potion, stared at the towering execution platform.
A crescent-shaped execution sword loomed above, flanked by two masked executioners—one with a sack, the other a magic staff.
Thanks to the potion’s haze, Penny’s mind briefly cleared from the Calamity curse.
She rubbed her pink eyes, turning to her mother beside her.
“Mom…?”
Hearing her daughter’s lucid voice, Lady Rodley covered her lips, bending to embrace Penny’s frail body.
“Penny… I’m here… Mom’s right here.”
“Hehe… Mom, I had a dream. I saw Sister come home.”
“She’s back, Penny.
Hold on a little longer, so she can see you, talk to you clearly.”
“No… Mom, if I don’t die now, I’ll become a monster.
I really, really… don’t regret it.
If Sister saw me as a monster, she’d be even sadder.”
Penny forced a smile, her gaunt face bare of makeup, the fragile expression heart-wrenching.
“Ugh… sob! Penny… I’ve failed you.”
Lady Rodley rubbed her eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks as she bowed her head, sobbing.
“Don’t cry, Mom… I don’t want to see you cry… I’m going.”
Penny lifted her sleeve, wiping her mother’s tears with what little strength she had, her effort earnest.
Lady Rodley couldn’t bear to look up, unable to watch her daughter—despite all their efforts—face death.
“Mom… I’m really going…
If Sister asks about me, tell her I went to play far away.
I’ll miss her so much.”
Penny’s words ended.
The sedative’s effect brought unprecedented calm, as if she could finally shed years of burdens.
She’d been forced to become someone no one liked, so she wouldn’t be missed, leaving no regrets.
“Sister became a sword saintess, with trusted friends. That’s so great.”
In a dreamy murmur, Penny vaguely saw something sharp rise.
Her body sank, as if it would never rise again.
Tap—tap—taptap!
Penny heard hoofbeats closing in.
Clang!
The execution sword was halted, followed by a gut-wrenching scream.
“Penny! We’re not done settling scores! You can’t die!”
“…Sister?”
Penny opened her eyes, but the sedative’s effect faded fast.
A blood-red haze clouded her vision, her consciousness dragged into a chaotic abyss.
On horseback, Charis watched as Ophelia leapt toward the execution platform.
Penny’s aura was wrong—red particles and steam radiated from her!
The blood mist rising behind her—was it magical essence? Or something else?
“It’s the Calamity’s final physical manifestation.
Sensing the Frost Body nearby, it’s eager to consume Ophelia and merge.”
Talos answered Charis’s question, tightening her chest.
“Can Ophelia win?”
“She could kill the Calamity, but that means killing her sister.
Given how she chased her here, think she can do it?”
“What if someone helps?”
“No number of people can help.
No matter how strong—demon or human—their greatest weakness… is emotion.”
Talos spoke from experience, and Charis caught the weight in her tone.
“There’s really no other way?
I’m not worried about her, just curious.”
“Humans can’t help. Remember that—humans can’t help.”
“Uh… so non-humans can?”
“Heh, catching on quick, aren’t you?
Charis, here’s a tip: a golden opportunity to grow stronger is right in front of you.”