No to Being the Suffering Heroine!

The war between Bagest and Abandon was nothing short of madness—no, it was pure chaos, a battlefield in itself.

Ashel heard a cacophony in her head, as if something was crashing down inside.

It was the sound of all her carefully laid plans and routes to secretly investigate and monitor the harpy Krimhilde falling apart in unison.

“Crazy beast bastards, what the heck are you doing…?!”

An ironic situation where Beastfolk insult one another as beasts.

But for Ashel, it was only natural. She had always contemptuously viewed Bagest’s Beastfolk as beastly creatures.

If it weren’t for that, she wouldn’t have lived among the members of Bagest in the first place. She wouldn’t be scraping by as a fixer.

“Die! Just die!! You crazy beast idiots!”

“Kuhahaha! Go ahead and try! No chance at all!”

The riffraff from the slums, armed only with poison, drugs, and venom, stood no chance against Bagest’s Beastfolk.

If they had been organized, maybe it would have been different, but the majority of the riffraff were scattered all over the slums, making any organized resistance impossible.

As a result, for every one Beastfolk, nearly six or seven were falling.

“Tell me! Where is that harpy bitch?”

“I-I don’t know! I swear I don’t!”

Moreover, the slaughter of the Beastfolk wasn’t even aimed solely at Abandon’s remnants.

“I don’t believe you. You really want to keep your mouth shut until the end? Then I’ll have to make you open it.”

“I swear I really don’t know! Wait, no, stop, please! GAAAAAAH!”

Riffraff, beggars, druggies, and simple slum dwellers all had their fangs directed at everyone in the slums.

“GUUUUAAAH…!”

“Kuhk, honestly, I wasn’t even curious. That harpy is none of my business.”

“Whyyy….”

“Why, you ask? Don’t you get it? I’ve hated your kind for a long time. You’re just too much… disgusting trash!”

The Beastfolk, high on the long-overdue taste of blood, had no intention of suppressing their feral natures.

None had yet crossed the line into ‘blood frenzy,’ but Ashel suspected it wouldn’t be long now.

In a state of heightened excitement, even if their lives were in danger, Beastfolk could instinctively enter a frenzy without knowing how or why.

“Lakan, that crazy bastard, what the hell is he thinking…!”

Letting loose that many Beastfolk to run rampant was madness beyond madness.

Even if just a quarter of them went into a frenzy, the situation would quickly escalate beyond the level of a mere rebellion in the slums, leading to uncontrollable disaster.

Without even needing to think that far, the current mess had already made her original objective of monitoring Krimhilde utterly impossible.

“No, that’s not the problem right now… if this keeps up, even the one who remained here…!”

Ashel’s face turned pale in an instant.

It wasn’t just about failing her mission. The Beastfolk were tearing apart every human they saw, regardless of age or gender.

For those who lacked the strength to protect themselves, this slum had already become hell.

Children not even fifteen years old. Especially for orphans without parents to protect them… there would likely be many in similar circumstances if one looked around, but Ashel only knew of one girl who fit that description.

Since the number of orphans Yuron could take in was limited, she had been personally looking after one particular little girl.

“Ena…!”

Ashel clenched her teeth and jumped over the walls, darting like a bridge from the roof to the walls.

Abandon didn’t want to disturb their fixer’s hideout, but the Beastfolk from Bagest were decidedly uninterested as they raided her shelter.

BOOM…!

In a hideout made from an underground warehouse in a half-collapsed building.

After a frantic run, Ashel arrived at the shelter, forced open the metal door in the ceiling, and called out the name of the orphan girl who should be hiding inside.

“Ena! Ena! Are you there?! Come out! We have to run!”

“A-Ashel Unnie…!”

A small, skinny girl with a tattered jacket and a bun of hair rushed out, her voice tinged with tears.

Ena—the orphan girl who had been the last to remain behind in the slums, still offering her place to the other children.

“Unnie…! Outside, it’s… it’s happening outside…!”

“Yeah, yeah. It was scary, right? Let’s get out of here. It’s dangerous if we stay here.”

Ashel comforted Ena, patting her back as she clung tightly and then carried her on her back, dashing out of the dilapidated building.

‘First, we have to get out of this street. I’ll leave it to Yuron. With the slums in this condition, there’s no way he’ll drive us away. After that…’

Ashel’s mind raced.

The surveillance mission was half-failed even before it began.

She was unsure how the promised reward from Yuron would play out, but at the very least, he wouldn’t ignore the orphan that would surely die if left behind.

If he were that coldhearted, he wouldn’t have become the guild leader in the first place.

‘What the hell, I’ll just insist on an advance and deal with a few more hardships later.’

As long as she could get out of the slums and meet Yuron, she felt she could manage the aftermath somehow, Ashel decided.

‘The problem is…’

Getting out of the slums wasn’t as simple as it sounded.

The residents of the slums, who would freak out when they saw any animal ears, were already a serious threat, not to mention the rampaging Beastfolk.

Ashel had once unwittingly stepped into Bagest, but once she realized their true nature, she hadn’t looked back as she fled.

Even during that time, her potential and talents had been acknowledged by Lakan, the boss, so there were still those in Bagest who both desired and despised her.

When she dashed towards the hideout, she managed to circumvent them by running on the rooftops amidst the chaos, but now, burdened with Ena, it was difficult to move like that.

Instead of hopping from roof to roof, she had to navigate the chaotic streets, making it highly likely she’d be spotted by others.

“Oh my, who do we have here? A stinking sewer rat right here?”

Like this.

“Rabika….”

Ashel gritted her teeth, glaring at the woman blocking her path with a smirk.

Rabika, the squirrel Beastfolk with reddish-brown hair and sharp claws, was an upper executive of Bagest who had always looked down on Ashel.

“What are you so busy with? I heard you’ve taken up babysitting… I guess that was true? Carrying around some poor beggar’s kid. You look ridiculous.”

“…If you came to find the harpy, why not search for her instead? Don’t bother me.”

Ashel spat back like a growl. Rabika chuckled, shrugging, as if she found it adorable.

It was that characteristic arrogance, viewing others as beneath them.

“Well, the boss seems interested in that woman… but honestly, a human about to die isn’t my concern. You look much more fun.”

Rabika flicked the blade of her claw, integrated into her black iron gauntlet, as a slight current crackled between the curved edges.

“Fun? Screw that.”

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Ashel’s cheek.

“Shit, I really have the worst luck… why did I have to run into this squirrel bitch?”

The opponent was an upper executive of Bagest. Even if she wasn’t accompanied by subordinates, she was no one who could be taken down like those earlier three spies.

At least she couldn’t win while carrying a helpless girl on her back.

“…Ena, get out of this alley and hide somewhere no one is around. Got it?”

Therefore, Ashel gritted her teeth and put Ena down on the ground, advising her to escape from this place.

Abandoning a child alone in this hell was incredibly dangerous, but Ashel had no other choice.

If they stayed here, they would surely be caught up in a fight between her and Rabika.

“Unnie, what about you…?!”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be there soon. Just need to give this lady a good beating first.”

“…Lady?”

Rabika’s smirk slightly twitched as if she found the situation amusing. The faint wrinkles at the corners of her eyes began to tremble lightly.

Of course, Ashel paid no mind to her reaction, too busy glancing worriedly at Ena, who was running away outside.

“I think I’ll have to cancel that babysitting comment. The moment you lose your composure, you discard the brat, fitting nicely into this dump, huh?”

In the meantime, Rabika changed her expression back, mocking Ashel with a sneer.

Living a ridiculous life caring for orphans only to abandon them the moment it got tough.

“You didn’t abandon her! You little brat of an aunt who can’t act her age!”

“…Well, how about a bet? I wonder how long that kid can hold out alone. I’m thinking under five minutes.”

“Then I win. I’ll end it in three minutes.”

Ashel pulled out six daggers in both hands and glared fiercely at Rabika.

“I’ll definitely finish it in three minutes. Just for you!”

Rabika lunged at her like a beast.

Rock walls crumbled, scattering debris, while lightning and steel clashed in a dizzying mix.

Shattered metal pieces and splattered blood.

The two Beastfolk roared and went wild like beasts.

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