A Betrayed Master Will Not Return

26 – The Regret Given by the Teacher (3)

“Sob… sob…”

A world covered in darkness.

In that desolate place where not a trace of warmth could be felt.

The girl was crying alone.

There was nothing left around her.

Not her beloved family,

Not her close friends.

And,

Not even Kiyotin, the dog who had always been by her side…

In the thick and impenetrable darkness,

The girl, left alone, had nothing she could do.

All that was left for her was to wait for death, slowly approaching, with her hungry stomach clenched.

At that moment.

“Are you okay?”

“…!”

A voice that reached the girl’s ears.

She cautiously raised her head and looked at the person standing before her.

The person who reached out a hand while looking down at her.

A man with a compassionate yet strong appearance.

Geralt spoke in a cold voice.

-“I didn’t trust you.”-

“M-ma…master… I…”

The girl tried to squeeze out an apology in a trembling voice at her master’s words.

But.

Towards her.

The master spoke in a merciless voice.

-“From the beginning, I didn’t intend to keep someone like you.”-

“M-master?”

-“Filthy commoners like you… should be left to die on the streets.”-

“Ah… Ahh…”

The master’s words, like a blade, pierced her heart.

Feeling something inside her shattering into pieces…

Tears of despair began to flow from the girl’s eyes.

And.

-“Farewell. You treacherous wench.”-

“!!”

With those words, black hands covered the girl’s eyes.

And her body,

fell down below.

Into an endless abyss.

Cold

Hot

Filled with agony

Into the depths of hell.

But even within, the girl no longer resisted.

She couldn’t make any futile struggles or let out pitiful screams.

Because she already… felt a more horrifying pain than her body burning…

“Fiona? Ar… are you okay?”

“!!!”

Suddenly, her friend’s voice reached her.

Upon hearing it, the girl…

No,

Fiona,

Belatedly realized that she was lying on a bed.

She belatedly realized that everything was a dream.

However,

What she felt immediately after was not relief.

Despair.

She had killed her mentor with her own hands.

The despair of realizing that the contents of a dream are no different from reality.

“… Huk… Huk…”

And so, once again, she began to pour out tears filled with dreadful guilt.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry… Master…”

*

Regret.

No other word expressed the emotions they were feeling in this moment as well as this one.

“Huk… Huk… Huk…”

“..hahahaha… my goodness…”

“Hoe-e-e…”

The three of them, their bodies covered in wounds and injuries, were a mess.

Looking at them,

He, Gelard Mueller, their leader and master, who did not hold a weapon, extended his bare hands forward.

In a voice filled with utmost calmness, he spoke.

“It is not yet time to rest. Surely, you wouldn’t think of breaking down at this point, would you?”

“…Kuk…”

“Ha… Damn it… f*ck…”

“…Ugh…”

In response to his taunting words, the women forced themselves to stand up.

Immediately after, the three of them simultaneously unleashed their magic and rushed towards Geralt.

With an axe in hand, Nico’s appearance vanished in an instant.

She appeared right behind Geralt.

Holding her back in a perfect triangle formation,

Without a moment of hesitation, she decisively swung the axe.

She had already realized that she could do this against a human, not a demon, because her opponent had already surpassed that level.

And.

-Smack!

“!!!”

As if responding to her prediction(?),

Geralt reached out with bare hands and grabbed Nico’s wrist as she swung the axe.

And.

-Crack!

“hehehe!”

Geralt casually twisted her wrist and subdued her.

Nico’s mouth continued to emit screams full of pain.

At that moment.

“…”

“aaahh!!!”

Gabriel, digging into Geralt’s side.

Wielding a sword with blue flames wrapped around it, she aimed for Geralt’s flank.

Thanks to Nico throwing himself to create an opening, his side is currently empty.

No,

To be more precise, it seemed that way.

And.

“Smack!”

“Oof!…”

Geralt swiftly moved his body and kicked her abdomen.

This strike, filled with not just a simple kick but magical power,

Shattered Gabriel’s magical barrier and inflicted a solid pain upon her.

At that moment.

-Whoosh!

“…”

A sudden twist of magic is felt.

A eerie sensation that feels like something is distorting, engulfed Geralt’s body.

However.

“!! Hey! W-wait!”

In the next moment, Geralt threw Nico, who he was holding, and Gabriel, who was on his toes.

At the end was…

Janneu, who had to quickly cancel her magic as she saw her comrades flying towards her.

– Crash!

With a dull sound that could hardly be believed as people collided, the three of them fell to the ground, tangled up.

And as he saw them, perfectly arranged once again.

Geralt spoke calmly.

“This defeat has three reasons.

One is that the timing of the three of them attacking still does not match subtly.

Another is that they showed a gap by recklessly attacking under the influence of emotions at the last moment.

And the last one is that they did not predict how I would counterattack.”

“Ugh…”

“Uhuh…”

“Hoo-yeah…”

“While moving their bodies, they must constantly rotate their minds. Without mastering this process, they cannot reach the desired level.”

Geralt’s words contained advice.

In response, even in their dizzy state, the three of them engraved it in their hearts.

While it was helpful in many ways.

While receiving ‘training’ that accumulated mental and physical damage beyond that.

The three of them…

Gabriel, in particular, couldn’t help but feel regret for accepting this training with such a careless thought.

“At best, I thought I wouldn’t stray too far from what Leona had received as a child…”

Of course, there was an immense gap between her, who started from scratch,

and the experienced Devil Hunters.

Naturally, she expected there to be a difference in training intensity…

But she never imagined it would grasp hold of a person so tightly, like catching a mouse.

That was when Gabriel regretted her own naivety, hoping for a sweet and romantic time.

Meanwhile, another victim, Jeanne, looked at her mentor in front of her, stroking her sore back.

“Even if that’s the case… she really is too strong. How could she single-handedly overpower the three of us with bare hands for the past three days?”

Although it was practice, they were armed

and going all out with their attacking magic.

However, Gellert showed an unwavering figure like a sturdy pillar, as if he read all their movements,

admiring his endless strength.

Jeanne stood up and adjusted her sword.

On the other hand,

as he watched them once again preparing for an attack.

Gellert sighed quietly to himself.

“The more I see it, the more I feel… it was just too much. Can’t believe the creators reused the hopelessly defeated three sisters pattern from the first volume like this.”