Unemployed Bum CocoNenne
I had expected CocoNenne to be around here somewhere.
The last time I saw her, she was badly hurt because of me.
It probably would've been difficult for her to run away in that state.
Even so—
‘I didn’t expect her to be in this kind of state.’
It was a far cry from how she usually looked.
She was collapsed on the ground, wounded by the goblins.
It seemed like she had used up all of her mana.
Even though she had tried to kill me just a moment ago, seeing her like this made me feel a little sorry for her.
But I had to get ahold of myself.
If I just let her go here, she could come back with more corpses and attack again.
As I was thinking that—
“...Can’t you just let me live?”
CocoNenne spat out.
Normally, people would say something like, ‘Keuk, just kill me.’
‘Can’t you just let me live?’ she said.
It seemed like she really wanted to live.
But—
‘Letting her live is a bit…’
I thought about what CocoNenne had done so far.
It was a bit much to let her live out of goodwill.
I needed to get all the information I could from her and make sure she couldn’t work as a necromancer ever again.
First things first, getting information was the priority.
“So, is there a place where other necromancers meet?”
I asked after stopping her bleeding with a simple healing spell.
If I left her like this, she would probably die before I could even heal her.
“Over... near Lukphelton, there's a very well-hidden place...”
CocoNenne was spilling information as if her life depended on it.
So, I didn't need to do anything like torture.
I didn't want to do anything inhumane like that.
With that in mind, I asked the next question.
“You attacked Koruntum last time, right? I'd like to hear why you did that.”
“Ah… that.”
CocoNenne seemed to think for a moment before speaking.
“There was a demon heart there.”
It seemed like the healing I had given her worked well as she didn't show any signs of pain.
However, it seemed like she was still unable to get up.
Anyway, a demon heart?
“...A demon heart?”
“Yeah, a demon heart. You can do a lot with that.”
“What kind of demon heart is just lying around in Koruntum?”
A demon heart wouldn't be hidden so carelessly.
To a demon, the heart was more important than anything else.
It would make sense if the demon had it.
But for a demon heart to be in Koruntum…
I needed a detailed explanation.
As I stared at CocoNenne with that thought—
“Ronove.”
Ronove.
He was a pretty high-ranking Legion Commander.
Why would the heart of a Legion Commander of that level be in Koruntum?
I decided to listen to CocoNenne's story for a while.
“I don't know the details… but a long time ago, Ronove appeared near Koruntum, and someone killed him, extracted his heart, and offered it to the lord.”
Definitely.
These people would have lived here long before we arrived.
Of course, Ronove would have appeared here in the past.
If they extracted his heart back then and the lord kept it… that would make sense.
By the way.
“Is that why you launched a corpse attack?”
The corpse attack that happened in Koruntum last time.
I wanted to ask about the reason behind it.
I could already guess the reason, but it was best to hear it directly from the person involved.
“There’s a meeting of necromancers, and the goal was to attack Koruntum and seize Ronove’s heart. That’s why we invaded. I took the heart without the other geezers knowing.”
Listening to CocoNenne, I became curious about something.
If they were going to invade, there was no reason to post about it on the forum.
But to ask this, I had to reveal that I was a traveler.
I could say that I heard itI could say that I heard it from somewhere else… but I wasn’t very good at acting.
She could probably see through me.
‘…Well, it’s not like I’m going to see her again.’
We had already come too far to become comrades.
We had both done too much.
So, it seemed okay to just be upfront and ask.
With that in mind, I opened my mouth.
“I’m curious why you posted about it on the forum.”
As I said that—
“...What, you’re a traveler too?”
CocoNenne asked me.
Very few people knew that I was a traveler.
Maybe only a handful.
So, I nodded slightly and continued.
“Just answer the question.”
Hearing that, CocoNenne let out a hollow laugh before speaking.
“I may be a necromancer… but that doesn’t mean I’m completely heartless. I just wanted to avoid people from my hometown who use the forum…”
As she spoke, CocoNenne avoided my gaze.
It seemed like she was embarrassed to say this.
‘Then…’
Was there anything else I wanted to ask?
I thought about it for a moment.
I thought of one more question.
“Going back to before, I understand you stole Ronove’s heart, but I’m curious why you woke up the Legion Commander… Please tell me.”
Once I heard this, I would be able to decide what to do with CocoNenne.
When I asked, CocoNenne seemed to organize her thoughts for a moment before speaking.
“I ran into that dark magician while carrying it, and we fought a bit. We couldn’t settle things, so I decided to use it first. It was mine to begin with, so it’s only right that I use it. Anyway, I experimented with it a bit… and Ronove woke up, so I had no choice but to lure him somewhere else and kill him.”
“Ah.”
The story was quite different from what I had heard from Ferus.
Ferus thought that the two of them had deliberately woken up the Legion Commander, but CocoNenne, who was right in front of me, was saying that wasn’t the case.
Anyway.
“So, you’re in cahoots with that dark magician, right?”
As I said those words, CocoNenne’s expression suddenly crumpled up.
“What bullshit are you spouting? Why would I be in cahoots with her?”
“It seemed like you two were together a lot.”
“That bitch was following me. She was trying to steal what I got.”
“Ah…”
Hearing those words, I remembered the corpse of Andromalius that the dark magician had stolen from me.
Thinking about it again made me angry.
I worked hard to catch it, and she just ran off with it.
As I was thinking that, I asked my last question.
“Tell me the location of your hideout.”
For now, I had to get everything I could out of CocoNenne.
She had no right to refuse.
“...Ha, fine.”
*
Before heading to CocoNenne’s hideout, I went back to the cave.
There, I saw Cthulhu sitting on the ground, resting.
‘…What’s going on?’
I was sure he was fighting the dark magician until just now.
Where did the dark magician go?
“Where did the person you were fighting go?”
When I asked, Cthulhu glanced at me and said,
“I lost her. It’s like she didn’t have just one body. Those dark magic bastards have been shady since the beginning of time.”
Cthulhu said that and got up, approaching me.
“Anyway, thanks for saving me. If I had just stayed there, that bastard would have probably dissected me.”
As Cthulhu said that, CocoNenne, who was floating in the air because of my magic, said,
“I don’t turn people into undead. You should know that from last time. It’s only monsters.”
Thinking back, it seemed like there were only monsters.
Maybe because CocoNenne was annoyed, Cthulhu gathered strength in his hand and flicked his fingers hard.
Flick-!
The flick landed squarely on CocoNenne's forehead—
Cough-!
CocoNenne coughed up blood and collapsed, unconscious.
What was that?
Did I see that right just now?
He didn’t even seem to imbue his hand with mana, but a single flick of his finger made her collapse like that?
After flicking her, Cthulhu left the cave, saying to me,
“Well, I’m going to get going, so take care of this. It’s annoying.”
As soon as Cthulhu left the cave—
I had a realization.
He had tacitly handed over the ownership of the Legion Commander in subspace to me.
‘…Right?’
Considering Cthulhu’s intelligence, it might not be the case.
But I decided to think of it that way for now.
Now, my destination was set.
CocoNenne’s hideout.
It seemed important to go there and get as many good things as possible.
With that in mind, I used [Heal] to wake up the unconscious CocoNenne.
“...That crazy little Geodude bastard.”
CocoNenne cursed as soon as she woke up.
It seemed like her spirit hadn’t died yet.
I had taken measures to prevent her from using mana at all, and yet she was like this.
I laughed to myself and asked for her guidance.
“Lead the way.”
As I said that, I posted something on the forum.
[What’s a good job for a woman who’s about to become unemployed and unskilled? Please recommend some lol]
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