Chapter 81

〈 Chapter 80 〉 Section 3. The Goblin's Path

* * *

Ermina Sternfort.

A-class latent ability user.

The ability to imbue her voice with mana to create sound waves.

"Wh...?"

When she opened her eyes, everything that defined her was gone.

The mana that had filled her body had completely evaporated, and a deep fatigue, which she had never felt since becoming a latent ability user, weighed heavily on her entire body.

As if a mass of water were pressing down on her.

Her vision was blurry, and all she could see was a garment that looked like a hospital gown, yet her body felt heavy despite nothing pressing down on her.

"I am...."

"Are you awake?"

She was lying in a place that resembled a hospital.

Not just lying, but restrained, with her hands and feet bound.

"What is this...."

"Where should I start?"

The man, who appeared to be a faculty member, took out a tablet with a stern voice.

"Please don't scream and listen carefully. There's a lot to discuss. I don't want you to interrupt me with exclamations like 'What are you talking about?!' or 'That's impossible!' because everything I'm about to say is the truth."

"......."

She couldn't understand what he was trying to say.

Ermina felt both annoyed and irritated by the contemptuous look this 'non-ability user' was giving her.

"One. During the outdoor training in March, you attacked your classmate, Ymir. You were trying to take the mana powder inside the erosion cave, and Ymir discovered it. You attacked Ymir to prevent her from speaking."

"That's absurd—"

"Don't deny it. The investigation team and forensic experts have already completed their work. We have all the evidence of your crime. Your Taeguk watch, Ymir's Taeguk watch, and the data inside them. We have it all."

"Ha...."

She wanted to deny it as a frame-up, but her Taeguk watch was no longer on her wrist.

"Who took my Taeguk watch...!"

"Two. Ermina Sternfort has been expelled. You committed two actions that are unacceptable for a student: you touched the mana powder and tried to kill a fellow student."

"So what if I'm E-class...!"

"Three."

The faculty member paused, taking a deep breath with a cold voice.

"Ermina Sternfort is no longer an A-class latent ability user. You have lost all your mana and can no longer use your latent abilities."

"What...?"

"Don't you feel it more than anyone else?"

"Aaah... Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!"

Ermina screamed.

Not out of pain, but because her voice was one of her latent abilities.

"...128 decibels. That's quite high. This is the maximum frequency you can produce now. It's clearly different from when you used to shout with mana."

"The, the machine is broken...."

"That's impossible. As a latent ability user, you should know better. You are now in a 'Zenros' state, which means you have lost all your mana and abilities."

"I, I'm in a Zenros state...?! That's impossible!"

"Don't say it's impossible so often. Even if you don't believe what I'm saying, it's all true. Your hair has turned white, and you've lost all your latent abilities. You are now in a Zenros state, which means 'latent ability loss.'"

"......."

Her latent abilities were gone.

The power she had been born with, the power she had always used since establishing her identity, was gone.

"Very rarely, but this phenomenon often occurs in places like Quebec, Canada, and New York, USA."

"But, but that's less than ten people... in this Sejong Island...!"

"You are the first case. It might be related to the goblin that attacked you."

"The one who attacked me wasn't a goblin—"

She couldn't speak.

It felt as if a rope had been tied around her throat, preventing her from speaking further.

"...If there's still something the investigators haven't clearly uncovered, it's the process of your attack by the goblin."

"I was... Gah?!"

"The goblin must have done something terrible. Did it place a seal on you? Did the goblin remove your latent abilities?"

"No, no...! The one who did this to me...!"

Despite the faculty member's repeated questions, Ermina couldn't speak.

Because of the curse.

"If that's the case, you are the first person to lose their latent abilities due to a goblin. You are living proof that goblins can remove the abilities of latent ability users."

"No, no...!"

"Was there someone else involved?"

"......!!"

"The seal seems to be activating. Every time you try to speak, a red line appears to flash. We've confirmed that goblins can use such abilities... or at least, it's a possibility...."

"Ugh, ugh...!"

Communication was impossible.

Ermina tried to get up to find someone who could understand her, but she couldn't escape the restraints that tightly bound her wrists and ankles.

"Untie me right now! What are you doing? I am... a Sternfort!"

"Yes. You are just a person from the Sternfort family, not an A-class latent ability user. The Academy has already sent all the investigation materials to the Sternfort Corporation, and this is their official stance."

The faculty member pulled out a video on the tablet, as if prepared.

"Grandfather...?"

In the video, a white-haired old man with a partially bald head was giving a press conference in a black suit.

[We apologize.]

With a serious face, he spoke in somewhat broken Korean and bowed 90 degrees to the side of the podium.

[It is my fault for raising my granddaughter poorly. I will take responsibility by stepping down as the chairman of the company, compensating financially for the damage caused by my granddaughter, and sincerely apologizing to those affected.]

"...Why?"

"Do you know what mana powder is? Regardless of why it was there, mana powder is...."

The faculty member shook his head seriously.

"Made from the bones of those under 25 years old."

"......."

"Ermina Sternfort."

The faculty member flipped to the last screen on the tablet.

"You have the right to remain silent...."

"Wait!! Why are you informing me of my Miranda rights...?! I am an 'ability user' unrelated to that!!"

"Whether you admit it or not, the world has already recognized you. You are a 'civilian'... a 'non-ability user' to whom Miranda rights apply."

"......."

"You have crossed the line. It's fortunate that you lost all your abilities; otherwise, you wouldn't be alive right now."

The faculty member stood up with the tablet.

"Goblins execute villains without mercy."

* * *

Why didn't they kill her for killing those kids?

"If I don't kill her, society will take care of it. There's no need for me to get my hands dirty."

I responded aloud to the curses against Ermina on the internet community without realizing it.

...The chairman of Sternfort apologized and resigned at a press conference, but the public's resentment against Sternfort shows no signs of decreasing. Protests, including burning and damaging Sternfort vehicles, are taking place in front of various Sternfort branches both domestically and internationally....

Most of the story had already been exposed in the news I had turned on to check how the general public was reacting.

No matter how bad the world has become, there is a minimum ethical line that should not be crossed.

Mana powder directly violates this ethics, which is why no one dares to touch it.

'In the original, the protagonist didn't like it, so it was cut off, which was fortunate.'

In the original, Ermina, after falling in love with the protagonist in the first volume, never mentioned taking mana powder.

But in this world, Ermina no longer had any reason to act affectionately towards the protagonist and would likely not be able to show her face in public anymore.

The original has changed.

Whether due to my influence or Ymir's, the major flow of the original has been reversed.

The protagonist was male.

So she tried to kill a male.

But the protagonist is female.

Does that mean she must be killed?

"......No."

I headed to the bathroom to shower.

After completely undressing, I enjoyed the water cascading down from the shower booth, running my fingers through my hair.

"......If the genre has changed, I need to adapt to the new genre."

The reason she tried to kill the protagonist was fundamentally to prevent the world's destruction.

To ensure that the world would be unified under a single ideology by the leader, I aimed to eliminate any threat to the world that the leader would rule.

To prevent the meteor ending, I tried to deal with the protagonist in the easiest way possible.

That was because he had lost his mind.

But if the protagonist is female, it's a different story.

Unlike a male, I can somehow take care of a female's mental state.

­Brother Jihwan, do you really want to see me go crazy?

Is it difficult to deal with a woman?

Isn't it easier to take care of a man?

­Brother Jihwan, do you really want to see me lose it?

...If that happens, I might find a way to drop the meteor.

"I am a man, and she is a woman, so it's inevitable."

I feel sorry for the original protagonist, but this is only natural.

"All of this is to protect the world the leader will rule."

Ymir is a woman.

"I will keep Ymir by my side and take care of her exclusively."

A woman.

The heroine.

'To protect this world, this Earth, I will become a complete scumbag.'

Even making her a mother would be a way to prevent the world's destruction.

Yes.

That is the path of the villain, the goblin.

* * *