"Uh," Jean Stardust paused for a moment, then quickly recalled the direction of the Imperial Capital from the map and told the young man.
Then, the scene fell into a mysterious silence once again.
After a while, the young man spoke up again: "Th-thank you. You, you don't have to... Never mind."
Then he ran away without looking back.
'Ah, could he be nervous too? And what was that unfinished sentence from just now?'
Because his first impression was overly fierce, and coupled with the claim from the 'Hooligan' that everyone in this faction was a 'lunatic', Jean Stardust had actually thought he was the type of perverted serial killer.
In fact, his behavior in the waiting area seemed to verify this, but after this interaction, he actually seemed more like someone with social anxiety.
As for the real reason, Jean Stardust had no way to investigate further; since he was going to the Imperial Capital, let him go. Jean Stardust had no intention of heading to that den of demons.
Focusing energy back on the current mission, smoke rising from not far away could already be seen.
---
Jean Stardust's travel speed was quite fast, but unfortunately, it was a long way, and by the time they arrived, it was already evening.
First, she wandered around the edge of the village for a while, using wind to search for any hidden beings, and then used Appraisal on the villagers.
Because she had used Appraisal on Akame and the others before, and 'Teigu User' was a separate category, Jean Stardust was not worried about any human Teigu User hiding among them.
After the verification was finished, Jean Stardust walked openly into the village.
Although it was a mountain village, judging by the roads, it seemed to be the type frequented by travelers, so there were inns or small hostels in the village.
She ordered some food to fill her stomach; the shop was run by a young couple, and their cooking was not bad.
Just like that, the sun gradually set, and the village grew dark. Just as Jean Stardust was about to set off, the landlady stopped her.
"Miss, it is already dark now, and it is truly too dangerous outside at night. If you don't mind, there is a guest room here where you can stay overnight."
Looking at the landlady's sincere yet worried eyes, Jean Stardust smiled, "It's okay..."
Before she could finish her sentence, a huge explosion suddenly came from outside, followed by people's screams.
---
Grabbing her nichirin blade, Jean Stardust rushed out of the house and saw that the east end of the village had already turned into a sea of flames.
Rushing toward the center of the sea of flames, she saw a bloated, repulsive-looking clown, holding a Little Girl by the body, staring at her greedily.
Seeing this, Jean Stardust immediately used a throwing knife to fly toward the clown's arm, while simultaneously checking him with Appraisal.
[Character Assessment: Name: Unknown Identity: Demon, Teigu User Strength: Lower Moon Demon]
The surprise throwing knife easily hit the demon's arm, and Jean Stardust lunged forward, attacking the clown's neck with a slash.
The Lower Moon clown was not that simple; he decisively let go of the Little Girl in his hand, protected his neck with one hand, and attacked Jean Stardust with the other.
However, Jean Stardust had already reacted; by the time the clown defended, she had already dodged, picked up the Little Girl, and put some distance between them. The initial sneak attack to kill the clown was just a test; the main priority was saving the person.
But the clown suddenly became furious, "You filthy creature, you actually defiled my angel! Unforgivable, unforgivable!"
She told the Little Girl to run into the village to find adults, while Jean Stardust raised her blade to block the clown, simultaneously staying vigilant of the several spheres hanging on his body.
The system didn't know his name, but Jean Stardust knew very well that this clown was that serial killer who specialized in targeting children, Schop, who later joined the 'Wild Hunt' organization.
A perverted serial killer who possessed the Teigu: Fast Throwing Chaos "The Great Pitcher".
Now that he had turned into a demon, who knew how many children had met a tragic end at his hands.
Seeing the Little Girl run away, Schop was no longer anxious and said to Jean Stardust: "Are you that swordsman who goes around hunting demons? You've already grown into such a filthy adult, go to hell!"
Then, he took a sphere from his belt and threw it at Jean Stardust. Its speed was astonishing, though she managed to dodge the throw with a tiny movement, relying on highly concentrated focus.
However, the sound only reached her ears after she had already dodged, so the ball's speed must have exceeded the speed of sound.
Although Jean Stardust had dodged the attack, she did not slack off. She knew very well that this ball not only carried attributes but could also automatically return to his hand.
Sure enough, after leaving a large crater of fire on the ground behind her, the ball returned to Schop's hand via another route.
Originally quite a strong Teigu, with the added power of a demon, its destructive power had increased exponentially.
She had originally intended to lure the demon here into the forest to fight using newly developed techniques, but Jean Stardust vaguely remembered that this ball had a ricochet ability; going into the forest would likely be a dead end.
Helpless, Jean Stardust could only fight the opponent here, while also starting to use her full strength. She understood the principle that long-term defense leads to failure; the first dodge had already been so difficult, and if she didn't regain the rhythm, she would definitely be crushed to death by the ball.
Several other throwing knives rose with the wind, and at the same time, wind elements began to condense on the blades, launching a wind blade at Schop.
Seeing the wind blade coming, Schop was unhurried, pulling out another sphere and throwing it at the oncoming wind blade.
Accompanied by the flames burning on the ball, it was like a fire meteor, about to disperse the wind blade and then strike directly at Jean Stardust's head.
Jean Stardust also saw Schop's purpose and immediately wanted to dodge to the side, but the expected scenario did not happen.
Although the wind blade was indeed shattered and scattered at the first moment, the flames on the sphere also spread along with these scattered wind elements, even taking advantage of the aftermath to attack Schop instead.
The flames clung to Schop's body like glue, burning fiercely.
Seeing this, Jean Stardust did not miss this golden opportunity, using wind as propulsion, she moved forward quickly and slashed at Schop's head.
Just at the moment before impact, she suddenly seemed to see something, and an ominous premonition filled her heart.
Decisively, she suddenly blasted wind elements in reverse in front of her, instantly decelerating. The massive G-force made Jean Stardust's internal organs ache unbearably, but she had no time to care about that.
Through the time difference brought by the deceleration, Jean Stardust finally saw the source of the sense of crisis: it was a third arm extending from the side of his body, and the Teigu held in that hand.
At this moment, because she had just forcibly decelerated, Jean Stardust had almost no initial velocity to adjust her position, and could only watch as this Teigu flew toward her, carrying icy blue frost.
—— The 'Young Man' Passing By Theater ——
Waiting Area: Just after killing the big man.
Young man: "Honestly, don't go around saying things you can't do." —— It made me so scared, I accidentally killed him. Will I be retaliated against? Forget it, if I kick the head away, maybe others won't recognize it.
Forest Path: At a corner after separating from Jean Stardust.
Young man: (Leaning on a tree by the side of the road.) Phew, that scared me to death. I actually ran into that terrifying woman.
Young man: (Casually swatting a Danger Beast that attacked him to death.) As a retainer of that 'D', she actually disguised herself as so weak; she must be waiting for me to relax so she can kill me.
Young man: (Rubbing the blood on his hands on a stone by the roadside.) And that smile that was fake to the bone; she must be thinking in her heart about torturing me first, then killing me. Women are truly terrifying, come save me, Nagisa-kun...
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