The Heroines Who Framed Me Are Clinging to Me

[Translator - Peptobismol]

[Proofreader - Demon God]

Chapter 50 - Farming

Ortega rushed toward her, grinning.

Yulia had to decide.

Would she trust Lloyd?

Or would she give up everything and seal Ortega?

- "When I take the sedatives, Ortega’s reactions disappear."

Lloyd had said that once.

That when he took sedatives, Ortega’s responses were completely gone.

In other words, even though he hadn’t explicitly mentioned it, Lloyd had definitely considered the possibility that Ortega might resurface.

Only one condition of the shackles remained.

Ortega had to charge at her three times.

He had already approached twice, and now, as he sped toward her, this would be the final approach that fulfilled the condition.

The shackle on his ankle was proof of that.

Therefore...

"I’ll rip out those eyes, you wench!"

Just as Ortega’s figure shot toward her at high speed...

Yulia deactivated her Reverse Eyes.

"Are you giving up?"

Ortega’s lips twisted into a smirk.

Yulia responded calmly.

"I’m not giving up. I’m trusting him."

"Stop spouting nonsense."

Whoosh.

With a fluttering sound, darkness loomed before her eyes.

By the time she realized that the shadow belonged to Ortega’s hand, it was already about to strike her forehead.

For a brief moment, her whole body felt cold.

—Boom!

A loud noise reverberated around them.

Yulia’s eyebrows lowered slightly before lifting again.

Her unwavering gaze fixed on Ortega.

- "The odds of all three conditions happening in normal circumstances are less than 0.01%."

That’s what Lloyd had said.

- "In other words, once all the conditions are met, the shackles’ binding power will be tens of thousands of times stronger. Of course, because the effect is so strong, it won’t last long. Even artifacts have their limits."

Ortega was slammed into the ground.

"What the..."

Ortega muttered as he stared dumbfoundedly at his ankle.

A massive shackle, as big as a carriage, was wrapped around it. No matter how hard he tried, it wouldn’t come off.

"These pathetic toys!"

His brow furrowed.

Mana began to gather at his fingertips.

But it scattered uselessly.

The shackles’ effect prevented even the concentration of mana.

Ortega’s face twisted in fury.

Yulia knew she didn’t have time to relax.

The shackles were already cracking.

Even though the artifact had enough power to restrain a high-ranking demon for a few seconds, it had already reached its limit.

"Chief, the sedatives!"

The village chief, with his arm battered, reached for the sedatives rolling on the ground and tossed them to her.

—Thud!

Yulia caught them and shoved a handful of sedatives into Ortega’s mouth.

"You damned wench!!!"

Ortega’s blood-red eyes flared.

—Creak!

The shackles began to split.

The shackles, which could hold even a first-class demon, were breaking apart.

Yulia hastily activated her Reverse Eyes.

At the same time, she pressed down on Ortega—or rather, on Lloyd’s shoulder.

Lloyd’s eyes trembled violently.

His pupils flickered between red and black, and Yulia held Ortega’s—or Lloyd’s—hand tightly.

"Come back, Lloyd."

Yulia’s Reverse Eyes glowed a brilliant blue.

And soon, the boy’s mouth opened.

◆

His vision was blurry.

Blink.

He blinked once, and the hazy shapes around him slowly came into focus.

‘I’m back.’

With that thought, Lloyd let out a long sigh.

"Are you alright?"

Yulia rushed toward him, concern evident in her voice.

As he looked into her glowing blue eyes, his tense body gradually relaxed.

"Did you manage to deal with Ortega?"

"Look at your feet."

A huge shackle came into his view.

It seemed that the stricter the conditions, the better the results.

The shackles were something he’d prepared just in case Ortega emerged while they were dealing with Ilsal.

‘Having insurance is always a good idea.’

With a sigh of relief, Lloyd glanced around.

He noticed the chief, leaning against the wall, his body covered in blood.

"...You’re back? That thing you were hiding... it seemed terrifying."

The village chief smiled faintly despite the blood flowing from his wounds.

Lloyd pulled a potion out of a backpack that had fallen to the ground and handed it to him.

"It’s a potion made by the alchemist Mallio. You’ll recover from your wounds in no time."

"Thanks."

"I should be the one thanking you. You held off Ortega, didn’t you?"

"It was nothing for a comrade."

Lloyd smiled back at the grinning chief and stood up. At least his comrades were all still alive.

‘...That means.’

It was now time to start farming in earnest.

"Princess Yulia."

"Hm?"

"Let’s hurry up and grab everything we can. Look over there. Isn’t that gold? I think I can pay off half of my debt with that."

"...Haa."

Yulia sighed softly.

As if worrying about him had been a waste.

"Don’t touch anything too big."

"...Why not?"

"By imperial law, any belongings of a deceased person without an heir are confiscated by the state."

"...Thieving bastards."

Even as he grumbled, Lloyd started rummaging through the surroundings.

He had to gather whatever he could.

Someone like Ilsal was bound to have a few useful artifacts.

Since they had already used up the "conditional shackles," he needed to grab some decent items to replace them.

—Rattle.

As Lloyd opened a drawer, he frowned.

He could hear something rumbling beneath the floor.

When he infused a bit of mana into it, a lock clicked into place.

"If you touch it wrong, it’ll destroy whatever’s inside."

Yulia, who had approached quietly, said.

"Didn’t you just tell me not to steal?"

"This is something the deceased probably wanted to keep hidden, so there’s no need to consider it an heirloom."

With that, Yulia winked.

She really had a personality he liked.

Lloyd grinned and expanded his mana.

As Yulia had said, if he didn’t disarm the lock, the magic circle would destroy the contents inside.

"......"

Lloyd closed his eyes and carefully guided his mana into the lock.

‘It’s like solving a puzzle, huh?’

It was a rather intricate mana circuit.

But complexity wasn’t a problem.

After all, Lloyd’s brain functioned like a calculator.

—Click!

"...You actually unlocked it?"

Yulia gasped in amazement, but Lloyd was the one who was truly surprised.

"...The Holy Grail?"

Holy Constantine.

A sacred relic that should have belonged to the Saintess—the Holy Grail.

An artifact that would easily rank among the top 100 in the world was sitting right in front of him.

"This is..."

Lloyd quickly covered Yulia’s mouth.

And for good reason. This could be critical evidence.

Ilsal, clearly a member of the Blood Cult...

And now there was a connection between her and Holy Constantine.

In other words, this was proof that there might be a relationship between the heretical Blood Cult and the Church of Deus.

"This is getting complicated."

Muttering to himself, Lloyd pocketed the Holy Grail.

Inside the secret drawer were a few more useful scrolls and artifacts, along with some gold coins.

—Tap tap.

After thoroughly clearing out the drawer, he stood up.

"......"

Yulia was looking at him in disbelief.

Lloyd quickly raised his palm and nodded.

"Alright, alright. I’ll split it fifty-fifty with you."

"......."

"Come on, even if we’re in a contract relationship, we should still split this equally."

"...Forget it."

"Fine, I’ll throw in a share for the chief as well."

As they exchanged these pointless jokes for a moment—

—Clomp, clomp!

The sound of heavy boots echoed from outside.

"Don’t move!"

The next moment, soldiers appeared.

As Lloyd stared at them in disbelief, they introduced themselves.

"We are the guards of Count Eastan! We heard reports of a violent incident here, so drop your weapons and raise your hands!"

"Calm down. We’re the ones who got attacked."

"Enough! We can’t trust the words of those responsible for this massacre! Kneel!"

"You guys really don’t listen, huh? If I were the one who destroyed this place, do you think you could stop me?"

Lloyd’s head tilted slightly in annoyance.

Yulia quickly grabbed his shoulder.

She approached the soldier who seemed to be the captain.

"We are with the Imperial Research Institute. I am the director, and this boy is my servant."

"Ah, is that so?"

The captain tilted his head and asked one of his subordinates.

"Hey, was there such a thing as an Imperial Research Institute?"

"Uh... I think so? Royal-backed."

"Sounds important."

The guards’ stance softened a bit.

The captain spoke again.

"The Seven Kill Squad... while they’re officially a criminal group, with the scale of deaths here, I can’t just let you leave without questioning..."

The man stammered, nervous.

Yulia smiled sweetly.

Even that smile carried an air of dignity.

Perhaps it was this natural nobility that made the captain instinctively bow his head.

"I understand. If you wish to hear the full story, please escort us to Count Eastan. We’ll explain everything directly."

"To... to the Count? That’s a bit..."

"The Imperial Research Institute has the right to request an audience with the heads of any city."

Flap.

Yulia pulled out a document from her pocket.

Lloyd couldn’t help but be impressed.

'...She even carries around something like that?'

Yulia shot Lloyd a brief glance.

She really was something else.

Thanks to her, the captain of the guards reluctantly nodded.

"...Very well. Please follow me. I will guide you."

[Translator - Peptobismol]

[Proofreader - Demon God]