No to Being the Suffering Heroine!

A magic tool that materializes the stored blood into a spear form, the magic spear Cabellach.

As the name suggests, the only weapon that forms when I properly draw out the power of the ring is the spear itself…

“Up until just before the spear is complete, I can move that blood freely for a very brief moment. It’s really just a split second, though.”

Less than a second. During that fleeting moment, this ring granted me a power similar to that of high-ranking vampires, allowing me to manipulate blood flow.

Since it’s such a short time that it’s hard to use effectively, I simply utilized that ability to compress and blast the blood forward, rampaging in all directions like an area-of-effect attack.

It’s like swinging a pressure cutter around my three-meter radius.

When I devised this method, I thought it would feel similar to a shockwave, but once I tried it out, instead of just hitting all around, it simply sliced everything.

Maybe it’s because the blood spreads at lightning speed, or perhaps it’s due to using Valkyrie blood, which is imbued with a chill.

I don’t know the exact reason, but anyway, thanks to that, I gained a magical power that can shred my three-meter radius in an instant.

– Kwad-deudeuk!

“Huh, this is stronger than I expected…?”

…This was my first time trying this in practice, so I made a small mistake.

◆◆

Kwa-ga-ga-gak!

The blood-red whirlpool that exploded out devoured everything around me, slicing through walls, floors, and even flesh and bone. All of it.

“Khuh-ack!”

“Ku-ck…!”

“Geeeeek…!”

With grotesque screams, the bloodstorm surged up.

While my blood’s blades didn’t have the cutting power to shred through steel armor, they could certainly rip through chainmail without leaving a gap.

Limbs were scattered everywhere, and the heads of the officials hit by the splatter of blood popped open like watermelons under their chain hoods.

“Khuh….”

The only one who didn’t get caught by the blood blades was the bald guy who instinctively raised his shield to protect himself.

Unlike the other officials who were sprawled out, their limbs and faces mangled, this one was thudded against the wall with his shield but was still alive.

Kaboom!

“Kuh-ck…!”

Ah, Daniel was still alive, too.

“What’s this… blood…? Using blood for magic…?”

Having landed roughly, likely because his legs were blown off, he was sprawled on the ground, coughing up blood and trembling.

“Why are you like that? It’s just that your legs got blown off, right?”

“Uh-uuh…! What kind of crazy monster is this…!”

I tried to talk to Daniel, but the bald guy responded instead. Not an answer, just a curse.

“How rude. Who are you calling a monster?”

I tossed the completed blood spear at the swaying bald guy who was trying to stand up straight.

I didn’t cast ‘Spear of Slicing Wind,’ but I infused enough strength to pierce through shields and chain armor.
He didn’t even react properly.

Puch!

The bald guy was pinned to the wall like an insect specimen, twitching before his head drooped.

Is he dead? I mean, he did get pierced through the heart, so he should be.

I retrieved the spear from his corpse and turned to look at Daniel again.

“Ugh…!”

The green-haired man with a bent nose was writhing on the ground, unable to get up. His flashy outfit was soaked in mud and blood, looking like a rag.

“Get a grip! There’s still a lot to cut down, so you can’t just give up now.”

I slowly walked toward him.

All six officials were dead, and the dagger containing the binding magic lay discarded on the ground. Nothing was stopping my steps now.

“Kuh-ck…!”

…Oh, I guess there was something to stop me.

As if triggered by sudden death throes, Daniel, with eyes wide open, spat up a bowlful of blood, then the next moment, he slumped weakly.

“Huh? Hey, you’re not….”

I reflexively shouted in surprise.

“Khuh….”

He let out a sounding gasp as his dilated pupils fell limp, breathing stopped entirely. His chest didn’t even twitch; anyone could see he was just a corpse.

‘…So this is death.’

I stopped in my tracks, unable to believe it.

He lost his legs and crashed headfirst from several meters up, yet he died from that shock?

I never imagined he would leave so abruptly, and it caught me off guard.

Sure, Abandon is a bunch of lowly thugs dismissed by other organizations, but still… Is the boss really so weak that he just dies like that?

Daniel was weaker than I expected. Thanks to that, my plan got completely messed up.

‘Seriously, who’s going to give me the membership card now?’

Daniel, who should have died after passing on the card and information, just crossed the river he shouldn’t have.

To get the membership and information from him now, I’d need to bring in a necromancer or something.

‘…Everything is totally messed up.’

In the end, I was just left with pointless bloodshed without any gain.

Despite having endured the stench and curses to go on a rampage, the final blow was so over the top that the compensation just flew away in front of my eyes.

Even if taking down a crime organization like Abandon is quite a feat, that doesn’t mean much to me.

My aim wasn’t to collapse the organization; it was to steal that membership card, so this has to be seen as a failure.

“Haa….”

Given this, should I look for another way?

As I wiped the blood off my head with my ragged cloak, feeling hollow and vexed, I sighed deeply.

That was when it happened.

“Ev-everyone, look over there!”

The once-quiet back alley of the slums suddenly erupted into chaos.

“Furb’s dead! That snake of a bastard!”

“Oh my goddess, good heavens…!”

In the corners of the alley, behind collapsing old houses, a half-buried pillar, various hiding places, all kinds of impoverished people peered over, whispering.

“All the officials are dead too! Finally! We don’t have to pay tribute anymore!”

“No more debt for drugs! We’re free!”

Suddenly realizing the situation, they began to cheer in overwhelming joy.

“……”

What’s with these people? Have they crawled out because it got noisy when the alley went rumble rumble and then quiet again?

Since they didn’t scream and run away, they must have mistaken my bloodstorm for just another ordinary magic due to the distance.

Had they seen it properly, they would’ve freaked out, shouting that a monster appeared instead of having such a joyful cheer.

“Long live the knight!”

“She’s a saint!”

“The birth of the protector of the slums!”

What protector? I let out a snort at the ridiculous title.

A saint who returned the freedom of drug addicts and riffraff? Is this really something to praise?

‘…Wait a moment.’

Then suddenly it hit me.

‘Wait, wait a moment. It’s not like there’s no way to salvage this…?’

Watching the impoverished who couldn’t even approach me showering me with praises, a new idea struck me about securing the membership card.

‘Daniel got access to the trading post not because he was strong or competent but due to the symbolism of ruling a region. Then….’

If I ascend to the position of power over this slum, I would likewise gain access to the central trading post, just like that Daniel guy, right?

‘Yeah, that’s it!’

I realized I didn’t even need to threaten or plead with Daniel to get the membership card in the first place.

There was no need for it.

I just had to become the ruler of this slum.

– Kwa-gak!

“You all saw it! The leader of Abandon, Daniel Furb, is dead by my hand! The shadow of the eagle, I, Krimhilde!”

I slammed Edelmut into the ground and declared loudly.

The joyous crowd turned their gazes toward me all at once.

“Thus—”

Drug addicts. Beggars. Thugs. Robbers. Pickpockets. Grave robbers. And all the impoverished criminals plus the poor people they bled dry.

“This place, this slum is now our territory!”

I will become the ruler of this slum. So don’t dream of freedom, you pathetic human remnants.

That declaration would likely sound that way to them.

It was indeed half-true.

“If you have complaints, come at me! I’ll take you on anytime!”

With a shout so wild it bordered on brutal, I powered my punch, infused with my spell, toward the last form of decent rock wall.

BAM!

With a thunderous roar shaking the heavens, the pile of rock exploded. It looked like a cannon had blasted through a castle wall.

“Hi-yiik!”

“Waaah!”

As the wall crumbled to dust in a single hit, the impoverished folk watching all trembled and fell to the ground in fear, their legs giving way.

“She’s a saint…!”

“A protector, my ass….”

No one had the courage to resist.

Well, if there had been someone with such backbone in a place like this slum, they would have revolted against Daniel long ago.

Even those Abandon members who were about to step forward froze like statues in terror, cold sweat running down their faces.

I declared once more to them all.

“Tell everyone you know. This place is now ruled by me, Krimhilde!”

The birth of a new ruler.

◆◆

And so, I became the ruler of the slums.

It was an accomplishment achieved in just one hour after leaving the inn.

‘Did it go well? I mean, it should have gone well, right?’

…Whether this can be called an achievement is still up in the air.

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