Chapter 18: Beneath the Mask is an Ultra-Beautiful Girl

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Translator: Soafp

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“Hyahahahaha!! What's wrong!? Is that all you've got!? If you can't stand anymore, I'll heal you!! Extra Heal!! Come on, get up!! I'll keep healing you over and over until your heads start working again!!”

“Guh… ugh…”

I beat down every single one of the white-robed attackers who came at me.

I especially made sure to hit their heads.

Their attacks couldn't pierce my modified body, so I had no need to defend at all.

It was obvious who held the advantage here.

“As I thought, you really are…”

“Hyahahahaha!! Feeling a bit of regret now!?”

“Heh… fufufu, regret? If apologizing would lessen the curse carved into this body, I'd do it as many times as needed. But since it doesn't, we do what we do.”

The white-robe only gave me a fearless smile.

A curse again, huh. Even for a chuunibyou type, sticking to your lore after getting beaten this badly deserves some respect.

But still, that's that.

Any more blows might actually kill him…

I was thinking of finishing this when—

“I'd like you to stop there, No-Face-san.”

It was a pure-white girl.

Judging from her height, she looked about twelve or thirteen.

She wore a white robe, and a mirrored mask — a suspicious look, no matter how you saw it.

Pink-cherry hair peeked through the gaps of the robe, and blue eyes shone gently behind the mask, looking straight at me.

I was startled.

Since when had she been standing behind me? I hadn't noticed her at all.

“Nice to meet you, No-Face-san. I am Belchika, Cardinal of Wrath of the White Church. I am the mastermind of this incident. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

“Ah, uh… how polite of you.”

She bowed gracefully, and I reflexively greeted her back.

“Would you mind walking with me for a bit,  No-Face-san?”

“Hyahahahaha!! Let me correct one thing — I'm the mysterious Heal Man!!”

“Oh, that's fine. I can tell. The power that let you subdue my followers in an instant — you are No-Face-san, aren't you?”

“No, I'm not.”

“Fufu, then let's pretend that's the case.”

This kid really doesn't listen to people, huh…

“Please relax. You don't need to be on guard with me.”

“…Alright. Then I'll just talk normally.”

“Wah— you suddenly got way easier to talk to.”

The white-robes I beat up had all passed out, so after healing them, I walked around the academy with Belchika.

She was the first to speak.

“First, I must apologize. The Kingdom of Kishirika is normally handled by ‘Envy' and ‘Greed', and I myself avoid acting openly for various reasons. But after hearing about you from that follower, I really wanted to talk to you… so I resorted to a bit of rough behavior. My sincere apologies.”

“I mean, apologizing to me doesn't help much. The ones who suffered are the students here. Also… are you chuunibyou too?”

“Chuunibyou…?”

“Ah, don't worry about it.”

I'd heard chuunibyou people usually have no self-awareness.

And this girl had enough drive to lead subordinates and actually raid a magic academy — better not provoke her with unnecessary remarks.

“How much do you know about the ‘White God'?”

“It's the thing your white-robes kept talking about, right?”

“And about its true identity?”

“No idea. Don't really care either.”

“Ahaha, what a coincidence. I don't know either. In fact, not even the seven executives — including me — know who the White God actually is.”

…So you don't know either, huh.

“All we do know is that the White God grants the wishes of believers who offer a sacrifice.”

“Grants wishes?”

“Yes. It's practically like a real god. What would you wish for,  No-Face?”

Hmm.

She seemed dead serious. I figured answering honestly was better.

“Maybe something like… ‘Make it so all humans never get injured or sick.'”

“Wow, that's wonderful!!”

“You think so?”

“But incredibly arrogant!!”

“Ah, so you're the type who stabs people with a smile?”

“Yes!! I've already done it quite a lot!!”

“You've done it, huh…”

Yeah, she's scary.

“As I thought, you really do have the qualifications.”

“Qualifications for what?”

“To become a Cardinal of the White Church. How about it? Won't you join us?”

“I'll pass.”

“…May I ask why?”

I didn't want her thinking I was another chuunibyou type.

But saying that to someone who is chuunibyou felt pretty harsh, so I answered with something safer.

“I don't like the whole ‘offering sacrifices' part, I guess.”

“…Surprising. I thought you were the type who wouldn't hesitate about the means for your goals.”

“Not really.”

“Are you sure? Don't you think the people of this world are… utterly meaningless to you?”

“Not really.”

“No, you do think that. At least that's the impression I get from you.”

Wow, she's seriously presumptuous.

I was starting to get annoyed when she continued — and her next words made me stop walking.

“Isn't it because something unpleasant in your past makes you want people to stay healthy?”

Belchika's words hit me like a perfectly shaped key sliding into a lock.

Huh.

When she put it like that… I couldn't deny it.

“Yeah. Maybe so.”

“So,  No-Face-san… won't you become our ally?”

“…”

“If you join us, we could create a world where no one gets hurt, no one suffers illness, and no one ever dies. An eternal world.”

A world where no one dies, huh.

If such a world really existed… well, that would be…

“Kinda boring, don't you think?”

“…What?”

“Sorry for confusing you. It's not that I want people to stay healthy because I don't want them to die. This is just my view, so don't take it too seriously but…”

I looked at my own reflection in her mirrored mask as I answered.

“Dying is part of being human.”

“Dying is… part of it?”

“Yeah.”

You learn something after dying once.

Humans are creatures that, for as long as they live, think “I don't want to die.”

It's what life does.

That's why they struggle against death, and eliminate anything that threatens their lives.

“But no matter how much you resist, humans die eventually. No matter how healthy, no matter how modified your body is — in the end, everyone dies. That's how we're made.”

If death is inevitable someday, then you should live in a way that leaves as few regrets as possible.

If you can't resist death, then it's better to spend the time until it comes laughing and having fun.

“That's why I want people to stay healthy. So that even at any age, they can still try what they want to do. That's all.”

“…I see. You're far more thoughtful than I imagined.”

“Compliments won't get you anything. And just to stress it — that's just my personal philosophy. You really don't have to agree with it.”

“No, you've broadened my perspective. I feel like I've become a little wiser.”

Belchika removed her mask — revealing a face as stunning as Christina's or Victoria's.

“Thank you for today. It was a very meaningful time. Let's meet again.”

“Oh, you're leaving?”

“Yes. As I said, this isn't my domain, and if I stay too long, ‘Greed' and ‘Envy' will complain. Ah, but one warning.”

“What?”

“Because you released dozens of sacrifices, ‘Greed' and ‘Envy' are furious. Don't walk outside alone at night. Well then, goodbye.”

Belchika snapped her fingers, and her figure vanished instantly.

The white-robes apparently withdrew as well, because the knights stormed the academy and rescued the captured students.

Well… it seems some students had their arms cut off…

But Nee-san healed them, so there's no problem.

“Still… that Belchika girl… she's not treating me like a fellow chuunibyou patient, right?”

The way she stayed friendly the whole time bothered me.

I'd really better learn some mental magic and memory magic soon, so I can treat her properly.