Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 332: KILL ME!

Secrets unveiled, the two women adventurers stood before Raven in the morning. Gathered in a council room of sorts, Raven sat on the cushioned head chair while the two revealed everything they knew about the mansion. Maria's past was no longer a secret either, as she expected execution and didn't want her spirit to linger because of a damned secret she couldn't get out while alive.

Once the duo were finally done talking, a blanket of silence befell that hall. Nobody knew what to say, what to think or even whether they should complain or get mad at either of the girls, especially Maria.

However, as everything began to settle in Raven's head, he turned to Tan–the racoon boy instead of the girls.

"Did you know about the people in the walls?" He asked, and the boy nodded as if there was nothing wrong with the question he was asked.

'The servants here, their perception of normal has altered too much.' Raven deduced, not holding anything against the boy or the rest of the servants working on the mansion. Instead, shifting his attention to another topic, he decided to conclude something first before moving on to Maria's punishment.

"How long will it take to demolish this mansion and rebuild it?" Raven asked Tan.

The boy rolled his eyes up and his tail began to wave as he thought the implications over. After just a few seconds, he looked back down, but instead of an answer, he had a suggestion of his own.

"Taking down the mansion will take too much time and tax money, and since master is currently sharing the tax collection with other dukes and duchess, we might run out of available funds," pressing a finger against his chin, he mused for a moment more before lifting a finger in the air and adding. "If we really wanna do this, why don't we replace one wall at a time?

It would be far more feasible and potentially cheaper too if the construction is spread over time!"

The idea was as perfect as it could've been, Raven was amused by the boy's ability to come up with it so quickly. But he had no time for so, instead nodding back he sent Tan away to start making the preparations. Finally turning back to the others, he heaved a sigh wondering what to do with them.

Liliyana wasn't going to catch much blame as she hadn't done much wrong, but Maria, on the other hand, had a lot of blame to be placed on her shoulders.

"I don't even know what to do with you, it's like you're a magnet for trouble…" Raven told Maria, unsure what to make of her anymore.

"Just get this over with please…" She whispered, her eyes downcast as she folded her hands together.

Squeezing herself on herself, she wanted things to end as quickly as possible. She had no interest in redemption nor trying to make any excuses any longer. Thus leaving her no choice but to accept what was about to happen.

"I doubt Milo and Tia know about this past of yours?" Even though he knew the answer, Raven wanted to make sure that he was right.

"As if I can tell them. I gave birth to them, yes, but not through my body–for all, I know they'll hate me even more than they already do, stop listening to what I tell them, they already have but…" Cutting short her own train of thought, Maria realized that nobody in her life cared for her anymore.

Not her children, not even the people who'd taken her in, and the only reason she was alive was because Milo wanted to at least stay alive even if they never met again. Continue your journey on m|v-l'e -NovelBin.net

"I lost influence and power and the very next moment everything crumbled…ahaha," awkwardly laughing at herself, looking around the hall trying to find something in particular.

In the meantime, watching her closely it didn't take Raven and the others too long to realize that the woman standing in front of them wanted to die and it won't be much of a punishment to grant her that wish.

'Milo wants her to stay alive, that was the deal so it's not like I can kill her.' Raven reminded himself, even though he wasn't exactly planning to kill just yet.

"Maria…" Calling out her name, he got her attention to turn in his direction. Then looking deep into her eyes he whispered. "Another lie, another secret, anything that compromises our journey or paints you in a not-so-fond light, that will be the last straw and don't bet on your son to save your life if that happens."

"What?" She uttered in confusion.

Staring at him wide-eyed, she couldn't believe she was being let off the hook.

"NO!" Moving forward with a commanding stop, she squeezed her fists in anger by her chest. "I don't want pity! KILL ME!

Moving closer and closer, she tried to snatch Raven's hand and pull him up from his seat, but easily evading her grasp, the mage pushed her a few steps away from him. Even so, that didn't stop the crazed woman's ranting.

"I SOLD MYSELF TO A DEVIL, YOU THINK I CAN STILL CHANGE? THAT I EVEN WANNA CHANGE?! NO! I DON'T! I'M AN IRREDEEMABLE EVIL WHAT DON'T YOU GET THAT?!" Her words were a pleading, a pleading to end the suffering of life. She had no intentions to change, especially since her life had been upturned after losing influence just as she'd expected, but at the same time, she wanted it to end.

The misery caused by her repeated actions, and that too not for the other but for herself.

"Asmodia!" Tired of her yelling at him, Raven called out to Maria's trainer. Like a shadow the devil leaned out of Erika's body from the side, smiling and waving at Raven. "Just take her to the garden and make her useful with some training."

But before the devil could even slip completely out of Erika, the ex-queen grabbed hold of a candelabra from the walls. Stabbing herself with the pikes that stuck into the candle's bottom, she punctured her throats in multiple regions and the flood of blood gushing out soaked her clothes red.

"This idiot!" Getting out of his seat, Raven grabbed Maria's falling body from behind. Quickly securing her, he turned his gaze to Erika and commanded. "Quickly! Heal her!"

And although the priestess tried and tried, somehow the wounds on Maria's refused to heal up with holy magic. Her deal with the devil had cut that bridge for her, and the only one who could help her was Liliyana's peculiar mana that easily managed to close her wounds.

'We need to keep an eye on her.' With how quickly things had escalated, Raven knew that leaving Maria alone any more might as well be her death sentence.