Chapter 237
Chapter 237: Safe on Base…Kind Of? (2)
The weather had turned autumnal, with the sea breeze bringing a slight chill in the evenings.
With the alchemical salt factory shut down at this hour, the city’s lingering haze had lessened quite a bit, lifting people’s spirits.
Rin stopped in front of the inn for a while.
It was deep into the night, with few people on the street. After standing for a long time, he finally saw a few drunks coming out of the tavern.
Rin just came out to relax, stood at the door for a while, and then aimlessly wandered around.
Bicester City is similar to a rural-urban fringe, with many gangs and a mixed population. For safety reasons, most of the shops are closed at night.
Even though some taverns stay open all night, it’s because they are backed by gangs.
To avoid trouble, Rin didn’t walk along the street but went on foot with his luggage.
The further he walked, the quieter it became. After almost half an hour, the road became narrow, changing from a cobblestone path to a gravel path.
The low houses were close together, and there were many alleys. This area seemed to be a residential area.
Rin stopped, looked around, and felt that there were many small forks in the road here. It might not be easy to go back if he continued on, so he didn’t move forward.
Instead of going straight, they walked around a row of coconut trees.
When they reached the end of the coconut grove, Rin was about to turn back when suddenly he heard a noise coming from a distance.
It sounded like more than one person. Even though the voices were far away, they could be heard clearly because the surroundings were very quiet.
"Little girl, it’s late. Aren’t you afraid of running into bad people outside?"
"Let big brother take you home."
"Hey, if you’re bored on the way, we can play games with you, little sister."
The voices of three different men sounded creepy and lewd.
There was no sound of a girl’s voice.
Rin felt helpless and covered his head upon hearing this.
I was just going for a walk when I unexpectedly encountered some troublemakers bothering a girl on the street.
I’m not the main character, so why should I be the hero to save the day? It’s better to just go back and get some sleep…
After a second thought, I realized I wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway, so I might as well… Ahem, I might as well go check it out.
Hmm, I’m just bored and curious to see what’s happening, I’m not that kind-hearted.
Muttering to himself, Rin turned towards where the sound was coming from.
"Don’t leave, we’re just trying to help you get home, can’t you at least acknowledge that?"
"Exactly, do you think you’re better than us or something?"
"Kru, can you please be less aggressive in your words? My little sister might just be scared of strangers, right?"
Rin had just crossed two alleys when the teasing sounds became more intense, but the source was very close now.
Rin casually took out the Magic Book and approached the group quickly.
At that moment, the girl who had been silent finally spoke up.
"Hey, you three look like mice just crawled out of the sewer, why are you so eager to die?"
The voice sounded familiar, Rin was surprised and paused for a few seconds.
"Little girl, why are you so rude? Do you want big brother to teach you to speak nicely?"
"Hope you have a better way of speaking with another mouth."
"Enough, hurry up and do it, I can’t wait any longer. A girl wandering outside late at night, there might not be many interesting things, maybe she came out of the vulture, I heard there were batches of chrysanthemums inside."
"Haha, that’s true… uhh."
The man’s triumphant voice seemed to be stuck in his throat at the end.
A light purple demonic energy spread through the alley, reaching Rin’s feet. Rin quickly stepped back, avoiding the solidified demonic energy.
Demonic energy is mostly black, purple, red, or blue-purple in color, giving off a somewhat oppressive feeling when condensed.
Judging demonic energy is not based on color, but on the subconscious resistance present in the demon race’s magic.
Betty is definitely not a human!
The powerful momentum rising in that instant is definitely not lower in level than Sha Ye’s.
Slip away quickly, hurry and slip away.
Through the voice, it was already determined that the strange little girl Betty was the other party. Rin was only stunned for three seconds, immediately turned around to run away.
The demon race that Sha Ye doesn’t even know must not be related to Suyu’s line. If she is a high-ranking general of the current Demon King, would Rin be killed to keep her identity secret.
Rin running away could only sigh in misfortune, wishing he had not come.
Indeed, a sense of justice simply doesn’t suit a villainous little boss like me.
Just as he started running, several streams of dark energy slithered along the ground like hungry snakes and caught up to Rin at an incredible speed that was hard to see with the naked eye.
The dark energy swiftly attached itself to Rin’s body, binding him tightly and rendering him unable to move.
This method of binding felt strangely familiar.
Rin glanced at the magical chains made of dark energy that had formed on his body, along with the familiar posture, the atmosphere suddenly filled with fear, and a few crosses appeared on his head.
Are these demons crazy? Why do they always like to use magical chains to bind people?
Do you demons think you’re so great with your magical chains?
And what’s with this inexplicable binding technique? Is it related to the Black Fox clan?
I hope I don’t have to unlock that achievement again.
"Ding, the Villainous Achievement system is updating to version 2.0, and can only provide essential services at the moment."
It wasn’t the familiar voice of the little girl, but a mechanical sound heard once before, indicating that the AI was not present.
To be precise, she hadn’t appeared for a few days.
"Why are you here, you worthless piece of junk, I didn’t call for you to show up!"
Silently cursing, his body lifted off the ground and instantly appeared next to Betty.
Betty, still wearing simple clothes and mismatched boots, with a somewhat unattractive face, wore a half-smile.
Beneath her feet, several strands of demonic energy waved randomly like tails.
Three young rogues nearby, with their chests exposed and necks restrained by magical chains, struggled with rolled-back eyes.
Betty reached for the pendant around her neck and greeted Rin, "Good evening, sneaky little brother, it seems we have quite the fate together."
"It’s basic manners to put people down before greeting them!"
Rin frowned and looked unhappy.
Betty smiled and said, "Since we seem to have a strong connection, I’ll call you Rin brother, it will be more intimate."
"Rin brother, you saw something you shouldn’t have. According to the rules of travel, shouldn’t you deal with it?"
"What travel rules … don’t tie me up while calling me so intimately."
Feeling demonic energy approaching his face, Rin decisively chose to act from his heart, cursing silently.
"Let’s talk properly, cough, I don’t have to mention what happened tonight, I always keep my word."
"Oh, it’s hard to let go…"
Betty bowed politely to Rin, seeming truly apologetic, but her aura became even stronger.
The rising power and killing intent caused her ordinary face to suddenly distort and shimmer, even her hair color gradually turning red.
The magical chains intertwined with demonic energy, crawling on her body, coiling around her neck, gradually tightening, bringing a strong sense of oppression and suffocation.
But after a quick tightness, it was soon released.
"Forget it, I won’t scare Rin brother anymore, he’s someone who rarely makes me happy, I cherish him a lot."
The magic restraining Rin immediately loosened, but the chains still bound him securely.
Betty’s power did not retract, instead she looked at the three ruffians on the ground, her eyes shifting to a dark purple color, full of indifference.
"I never expected such ignorant scum among humans, daring to come looking for me, since you like to seek me out so much, I’ll let you all rest here forever."
As the dense oppressive demonic energy fell, a peculiar scent also spread out.
The three who smelled the scent had their eyes turning pink and their bodies visibly changing.
Wrapped in magic pressure, a strange scent entered Rin’s nose, causing his heart to beat violently.
The once silent curse suddenly became restless.
Betty’s appearance had completely changed, bearing no resemblance to her previous self in both expression and looks.
Her pinkish-red hair cascaded down, enhancing her previously unremarkable cheeks into a stunning sight.
Despite her youthful appearance of around eleven or twelve, her doll-like delicate features were captivating.
Not to mention her slender heart-shaped tail and tiny bat wings…
Surprisingly, there was a hint of similarity between her appearance and the transformed Sha Ye.
Yet, the current Betty exuded an icy coldness in both expression and gaze.
Rin’s mind was in turmoil, vaguely recalling a sentence mentioned by Sha Ye before, yet unable to think further due to the curse resurging.
Betty looked disgustedly at the three people turning blue, grabbed Rin, spread her wings, turned into a black shadow, and quickly flew away from the crime scene.
Within a few seconds, they were far away, Betty looked at Rin, who didn’t look too well.
"Rin, are you surprised?"
Rin gritted his teeth, looked up at Betty’s eyes which had red and white hearts in them, about to say he couldn’t hold on any longer due to the curse when a sharp pain hit his heart, making him bow his head.
Betty saw him glancing at her eyes and lowering his head, her face getting colder, she covered her eyes with her small hands.
"As expected, I knew it wouldn’t look good… Hmm?"
At this moment, she finally noticed the patterns spreading on Rin’s neck, she shook and nearly dropped him accidentally.
Quickly landing on the ground, Betty extended her icy hand, poking at the red patterns, her cold expression unchanged.
"Why, Rin, do you have the ancient charm markings?"
"God… What’s going on?"
Rin felt hot all over, struggling to control his aggression, his mind becoming cloudy.
The magic chains binding him had fallen off by now, Rin couldn’t help but take a step back, biting his tongue to stay alert.
Damn, if it were the silly elks in front of him, it would be fine.
But instead, it was the not-so-familiar and quite difficult to deal with succubus Betty in front of him. If he dared to fight her, he might be in big trouble.
No, with a defense mechanism, he wouldn’t die.
But who knows if this curse isn’t suppressed, what it might turn into in the end.
"Wait… Do you know it?"
With a boiling head, he reacted temporarily, asking like grasping at a straw for help.
"This is something from our family, how could we not recognize it."
"You mean the charm…so…do you have a way to undo it, I…can’t hold on much longer."
"I can’t undo it."
Betty said firmly, then hesitated for a moment.
"And, Rin brother you are a bit unlucky, my bloodline will intensify your pattern even more."
Rin suddenly blacked out, unable to support himself anymore, his eyes completely turned red.
Betty quickly tied him up again, tilted her head in thought, grabbed him and sniffed the scent on his body, then flew to the hotel where he was located following the smell.
Even if she is quite special, the result of sacrificing to help Rin suppress it would definitely be the opposite.
Besides, she would never engage in such intimate behavior.
Betty is a pure-blooded succubus, but she really dislikes sexual activities because she saw something upsetting when she was young.
With her unique abilities, Betty can absorb energy directly without needing sexual acts, making her a very rare type of demon.
Because she is so uncommon, Betty stays indoors all the time and as the next succubus heir, it really worries her family members.
Later on, her mother and other elders decided to send her out to meet Sha Ye and experience the human world.
Succubi have a high need for human "food" but a low resistance to it, so the elders are afraid that Betty might not be able to control herself after interacting with humans.
Being a succubus, especially a very rare pure-blooded one, staying at home all day without talking to anyone makes her as cold as ice.
Being a succubus, shouldn’t she live up to that title somehow?
This behavior is a shame for a succubus and even more embarrassing than her half-blooded sister’s actions.
In any case, sexual activities are not allowed, but just some kissing might be tolerable to watch.
But she couldn’t stand it, whether it was kissing someone herself or seeing others being more intimate.
This is a deeply rooted mental illness.
Of course, she never told anyone about her own mental illness, including her mother.
Even though she looked cold, she did not want to appear sensual like other succubus, which made her uncomfortable.
Quickly seizing Rin, she went to the hotel where he lived and followed his scent to his room.
Betty rushed in through the window, dodging a sword that came at her, and threw Rin onto the bed, looking at Emilia who was swinging the sword again.
"His curse is acting up, big sister, can you help him… Well, it’s quite serious this time, might need that."
Emilia hesitated, looking skeptically at Rin on the bed.
"Need what?"
As a hero who started studying magic devices and practicing speaking without fully understanding physiology and not even knowing how to walk yet.
She is still a bit confused.
Betty covered her forehead and opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
After a brief silence, she squeezed her small fists.