Adventurer's Guild Café: I Was Wrongfully Exiled by the Saint, So I Will Enjoy My Second Life with My Fluffy Friends - V 2.2 Chapter 7.6

“Kuna!”

Gier rushed to my side and pulled me close, shielding me from Agnès.

“…Enough already. Your story is far too absurd.”

“Hah?”

“I’m saying no one can believe you. If Kuna truly stole the divine beast, then why is it so attached to her? Why did it bite you? And as for this so-called Holy Maiden you speak of—when she cannot even drive back the miasma and has let it spread into Grantania—she’s hardly worthy of anyone’s trust.”

Agnès’s eyes darted over Gier, up and down, again and again, as he held me in his arms.

“Wh-why would someone like you… be with Onee-sama…?”

Her gaze toward Gier was tinged with envy. She was probably wondering how someone as handsome and noble as Gier could be protecting me. In Agnès’s eyes, I was worthless—so it was something she couldn’t comprehend.

“…I don’t know what you mean by that. But Kuna is… my precious person.”

“!?”

Eh!? Wh-what’s that supposed to mean…!?

Even in a situation like this, my face went beet-red. Simon and the others also exchanged a look, as if thinking, oh? Wh-what did Gier mean by saying something like that? As I fumbled for words, Agnès—who had been staring in shock—let out a strangled, trembling voice.

“…Always. Always like this.”

“…Huh?”

Her eyes fixed on me, burning with hatred. A chill ran down my back. Something about Agnès felt… wrong.

“Onee-sama always takes away what’s precious to me.”

“I’ve never taken anything from you, not even once!”

I blurted it out in shock, but Agnès only clenched her teeth with a sharp grit.

“Father never looked at me—always Elena, Elena, nothing but Elena. And now he’s even come all this way just to seek out a Onee-sama who looks exactly like her! And Mother… she only ever hated Elena and Onee-sama, never once truly facing me from the heart!”

“!”

“The same goes for Roy-sama, the man I loved! I was the one who loved him first, but Onee-sama, you stole him from me! And now—now you have another wonderful man at your side! You always toy with people too much!”

Agnès cried out in anguish.

“The only one who ever truly saw me was Mel-sama! That’s why—I will never acknowledge you, Onee-sama!”

In that instant, a tear slid down Agnès’s cheek. But it was no clear, glistening tear. Thick, dark red-black liquid oozed out instead—something far removed from tears.

Before I realized it, the whites of Agnès’s eyes had turned black, and her irises blazed a blood-red hue.

“! Kuna, get back!”

Gier noticed the change immediately and moved in front to shield me. The very air seemed to crush against my body from the sheer, overwhelming surge of magic. Agnès’s shrill scream pierced my ears, her crimson eyes glowing amidst the storm of mana. She thrust her hand toward us—and an even stronger shockwave slammed against us.

—She’s been possessed by miasma…!

The realization struck me in a flash. The miasma that had soaked into her back in Aluda was now consuming her body.

“Simon! What’s going on!? Where are the adventurers I had standing guard outside?”

Simon, still unruffled, had conjured a transparent dome of magic around Agnès, sealing her in. He was also spreading the same protective barrier around Leah and the others.

“About that—ever since this girl walked in, for some reason, none of the doors will open anymore.”

“You idiot! That’s the first thing you should’ve said!”

Gier snapped in alarm at Simon’s infuriatingly nonchalant reply. But it was clear both of them understood: Agnès had fallen under the sway of the miasma. And all the while, she continued to shriek in hatred.

“Beastkin trash! Empty, weak, pathetic—useless coward!”

Even as I looked upon Agnès, shrouded in black miasma, my heart remained calm. Something hot was welling up from deep within me. I knew what I had to do with that miasma.

Just then, Lulu trotted up to my side and gave a cry.

“Ruu.”

“Lulu?”

I thought I saw Lulu give a little nod. She was telling me—yes, go ahead.

“…Lulu, will you help me?”

“Ruu!”

She nodded again, then leapt onto my shoulder. Just like back during the Mokomott explosion incident. If I could tear away those murky, cursed nails back then, I could do the same now—erase this black haze clinging to Agnès.

“Cuuna?”

Gier’s voice called out, startled, as he saw me step forward with steady eyes fixed on Agnès.

“Gier, Simon. Thank you—for helping me this far.”

I looked to them both and nodded firmly.

“From here on… I want to try with my own strength. Is that alright?”

I wouldn’t recklessly charge ahead again. But this time, I wanted to protect everyone… with my own power.

Gier started to say something, but Simon stopped him. With a sharp snap of his fingers, shining silver chains burst from the floor, coiling around Agnès and binding her tight. She thrashed violently, struggling to tear them apart.

“So… you have some kind of plan.”

When I answered with a firm nod, Simon beckoned the Mokomott’s.

“Come, everyone. Sing, and ease that child’s pain.”

The Mokomott’s chirped as if saying leave it to us! and rose into the air, weaving together a beautiful harmony.

Agnès, who had been thrashing wildly just moments before, grew a little calmer under their song. Step by step, I walked closer to her. Standing before her at last, I gently cupped her cheeks in both my hands.