I Stayed Loyal When My Teacher Was Betrayed

42 – For Revenge 2

Archmage Judith.

She was experiencing keenly how miserable a person could be.

She, who had once risen to the peak of magic as an Archmage.

Her life had been full of happiness and glory, and she had believed it would last forever.

However,

Since the ill-fated expedition she had always feared.

And the disastrous failure that followed.

Her life was in endless freefall.

She thought there could be no lower bottom than being captured as a prisoner and planning to destroy the Tower for the Mazoku.

She had to destroy everything she had built herself.

Making the achievements she had achieved during the night into ashes.

Forcing the people she trusted and followed into death.

And burning down her beloved home with her own hands was an unspeakable act.

No matter how much she begged for her life,

She was convinced that nothing could be more miserable and unspeakable than this.

But…

Beneath what Judith thought was the bottom there lay an even deeper abyss.

The skin is peeled alive, salt is sprinkled on top.

Nails are pulled out,

The joints are broken brutally.

The eyes are punctured with a needle.

Physical pain that makes any mental anguish seem insignificant.

The only thing she could do in there was to scream with all her might.

“Aaaaaaah!!!!!!!”

She couldn’t think of anything else.

Her brain could only handle the screams echoing through her body, and nothing else was imaginable.

She cries out and collapses.

She began shouting with all her might.

Please, kill me.

Please, release me from this terrible pain.

But no matter how loudly she screamed, her pleas never reached her.

She even wished to be abandoned altogether, but that too was impossible.

Her mind and body, both.

Everything remained perfectly controlled under the protection of restorative magic, never deteriorating beyond a certain level.

Regret engulfed her.

Regret for the foolish choices she had made.

It was not about desires or ambitions.

Whether it was immense wealth, the position of the great sorcerer she had always wanted, or becoming the owner of the tower.

None of it was meant for her.

From the beginning, she should have never reached for those things.

The consequences of aspiring for what was beyond her reach…

The heinous crime of betraying her master…

It pushed her life into the worst hell where nothing but suffering remained.

*

Demon King Torucan.

He was well aware of his own lack of intelligence.

Using his brain was not his forte.

He knew very well that his strength lay in wielding power freely within prepared plans.

However, even Torucan found himself questioning and wracking his brain in this current situation.

“…”

“Hmph~ Hmhm~”

She hummed a tune happily.

Torucan’s older sister, the Demon Queen Rorkine.

Looking at her, Torucan couldn’t help but wonder why she was acting like that.

Their recent failure in conquering the tower ended embarrassingly.

Although that girl, Yudia, came up with a decent plan, they ultimately suffered defeat due to unexpected resistance from the tower’s side.

Regardless of being a result influenced by adventurers as variables, defeat was defeat anyway.

She put Judia in the depths of that hell, making her scream along with her comrades, and as a result of the losses in military forces this time, they decided to temporarily suspend their active offensive.

However…

Despite creating such bad results full of negativity.

Since that day, there seemed to be an incredibly joyful smile on Loki’s face for some reason.

Even when Torukan asked why, Lady did not give him a clear answer.

Even after thinking about the cause countless times, I couldn’t come up with an answer.

Unable to find a solution, they even mobilized subordinate demons to uncover the cause, but they too were in a state where they couldn’t provide an answer.

And so, watching Lady, who hummed a tune with apparent happiness, flipping through documents and coming and going in front of his eyes…

Torukan asked impatiently, frustration evident in his voice.

“Seriously, Lady! Please tell me!”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“Well, what is it then? I want to know what could possibly make you this happy! Aren’t you injured as well due to the failed operation? Did someone bring you a reward if they lost?”

“Oh…that…”

Lady laughed faintly at Torukan’s words.

Then, she blushed her cheeks unexpectedly and spoke with a voice filled with embarrassment.

“It’s…a secret.”

“Ugh!…”

Loki’s appearance made Torukan feel nauseous for a moment.

In a way, her strange behavior was even more infuriating for Torukan than himself.

“What… You ask me something so earnestly, and now you’re acting all coy?”

“Am I not allowed to? At least go and look at yourself in the mirror if you can’t do anything better. It gives me goosebumps to see a woman like you behaving like that!”

“Think as you please, foolish little brother. There are many people in this world who don’t see it that way, unlike you.”

After saying those words, Loki hung her robe on the hanger and prepared to leave.

Her usual disguise as a human began to transform her appearance.

Well, even if only the horns were removed and her height and chest size were slightly reduced, the difference in her attire and physique, with her wearing the robe inside out, was difficult to distinguish unless someone knew.

After completing her transformation and taking off her Robe, the figure of the Demon Queen Loki…

No, the appearance of adventurer Bernard at the Master level disappeared from there.

To the place where the man who would bring a smile to her lips was…

*

“You mean Queen Mikella?”

“Sure, it seems that we have been officially commissioned this time. Well, to be precise, it’s like inserting small requests as we did in the previous Marutap.”

Rosemary Master handed over the request document.

Bernie, who received it, spoke with an unenthusiastic tone.

“You’re doing something secretive.”

“Naturally, it’s a scheme to create a connection with us, considering the current situation. Besides, our shares have already risen significantly since the last battle.”

“What do you intend to do? Should we refuse?”

Carefully questioning, Bernie,

Regarding this matter, Rosemary Master thought for a moment…

Then, she smiled meaningfully and said.

“No, we will accept.”

“What? But…”

“With such circumstances, the other party is King Juga, who governs humans. Moreover, this place where we are is definitely part of the kingdom’s territory. Refusing this would be impolite.”

“I agree. Moreover, even though Queen Mikella is not that unreasonable, there’s no need to discomfort her by rejecting the request for no reason.”

“Well… That’s true too.”

From the beginning, it was the king of a country…

Moreover, it was the ruler of the country we live in who made the request, so we had no choice.

However… aside from that fact.

I knew very well why my master accepted the request.

“It must mean that you want to handle the clean-up… Clearly…”

I had already been thinking about going there.

But if such a convenient excuse appeared, it was only natural to take advantage of it.

However, regarding this matter, there was one thing we had to do beforehand.

Even though I didn’t know about other things, this issue had to be dealt with solely by us.

Neither I nor my master wanted unrelated people to get involved.

And as a result…

“So, while we’re away, I hope you can tidy up these things with the Valkyries.”

“What?”

The magic books that we obtained with difficulty this time at Marutap.

Bernie, who took in at least ten volumes of their contents, looked perplexed.

“I apologize, Bernie, but it seems unavoidable due to the lending period. We will also return as soon as possible. Please take care of it.”

“Uh-hmm… I understand. If you ask me to such a degree…”

Bernie was more accepting than he had thought.

Confused Valkyrie members due to their colleague’s desertion and Bernie left in the Adventure Guild. We started preparing to head to the royal road.

Clothes and magical tools.

And with my teacher, filling our bags with books.

It was a journey for just the two of us after a long time, but at this moment, we were not just pure expectation.

We were contemplating, along with tension and cold anger.

“What will you do when you meet him?”

My question followed in a calm voice.

About this.

My teacher answered calmly but with a firm voice.

“Well, obviously … We have to show hell with all our power. And, we must definitely kill him.”

“I understand. Teacher.”