The Hero Who Became a Monster Girl Will Never Fall to Evil

“At a time like this, you still want to drink wine!”

Helcat suddenly felt that the white-haired loli before her might actually be the manifestation of some alcohol-worm monster in human shape!

What human, when sick, would choose wine instead of seeing a doctor?

Did she think she had not courted death quickly enough, so she wanted to die even faster?

“A mere human—don’t even think about ordering me around!”

At first somewhat panicked, Helcat now, driven by instinct, grew cold and merciless:

“Obediently come with me to the convent. Of course, a mortal clinic or a priest’s church will also do.” 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

“Mm...”

Seeing the little catgirl truly unmoved, Vieya could only murmur in silence:

“...you could also go buy some wine first, then come back. Otherwise tonight will have been a wasted trip. I went through so much effort after that accident, only to end up not even seeing her... heh... I really am useless.”

“Leave me here. Let this useless trash rot away on her own. Maybe later some kind-hearted citizen will pick me up.”

Vieya chose to give up, wavering between going to a medical institution to wait for clerics to examine her body, or letting her body begin its slight liquefaction from rejection response.

There was no helping it.

Her body’s self-protection mechanism was too strong. Once she used that extreme Hero’s power, the protection would trigger automatically.

It was just like a human body’s defensive reflexes.

Vieya’s body was constantly trying to assimilate the golden Hero’s Seal on her chest.

But in doing so, the one to suffer was herself.

“Ah... damn it!”

Helcat scooped the girl up from the corner wall, finding her body alternately hot and cold, and softer than any human body should feel.

After finally meeting a decent human, was she going to lose her again?

Holding Vieya, the catgirl’s sorrow surged, and she choked out:

“When you die, can I bury you in my palace? Don’t worry, I’ll give you the best coffin!”

“This is just the aftereffect of using power! I won’t die!”

Vieya wanted to punch the cat, but did not even have the strength to lift her arm.

“Really?” the cat still pressed.

“...”

Drowsy, Vieya refused to speak.

“Then I’ll take you to find a doctor!”

Helcat hugged the soft little girl tightly, trying to keep her steps steady, not jostling her.

“No...”

Vieya forced herself awake, resisting the sudden urge to revert into her slime-girl form, all sticky and gelatinous.

That half-liquid appearance was simply too unsightly.

With her little streak of perfectionism and mild obsessive compulsion, Vieya absolutely refused to become like that.

“Give me, wine.”

“Fine, fine, I’ll take you back to drink. But you’d better not die—if you do, I’ll feed your corpse to my big dog.”

And just moments ago you said you would bury me under your palace...

Vieya wanted to retort, but instead drifted off to heavy sleep on the catgirl’s back.

Not long after they left, another group arrived at the scene.

Had Vieya still been awake, she would have recognized them instantly—they were the same Demon-Hunting Order knights who had inspected her room earlier.

“Captain, with a monster this powerful, we should wait for the Heroes from the Royal Capital. I fear...” The young knight’s face showed worry.

The captain shook his head, scanning the surroundings:

“That powerful monster is already gone. The destruction here is too severe; it’s hard to find any useful clues.”

He turned toward the knight crouching on the ground inspecting the soil, and asked:

“Old Luo, have you found anything?”

“Nothing crucial,” the knight called Old Luo rubbed some dirt between his fingers, frowning.

“But I did notice—there are no tracks of that powerful monster’s arrival, only its departure.”

“A trap to lure in pursuers?”

Another knight, brown-haired and clearly seasoned in hunting demons, spoke grimly:

“The stronger the monster, the higher its intelligence. The higher its intelligence, the more cunning it becomes.”

His expression grew heavy. “And the stench of blood here is overwhelming. Many must have died. Captain!”

Suddenly the brown-haired knight cried out in surprise, pointing to a collapsed house: “Look! There’s a tunnel!”

The knight captain raised a hand, calming the rest before they surged. His gaze turned dark.

He knew this territory belonged to the Night Watchers.

The Night Watchers and their Demon-Hunting Order were different factions. The Order enforced the creed of “kill monsters without mercy.”

The Night Watchers, on the other hand, secretly captured smuggled monsters, attempting to tame and breed them for their own use.

In the captain’s memory, there had been reports of monster rampages on Night Watcher turf in other towns, even making the front page of the Rodel Morning Post!

A group lost in their lust for power.

Thinking of this, the captain’s lips curled in disdain.

Monsters were nothing but disorganized beasts driven by instinct, extreme in their hostility to humans. Even the rare, intelligent individuals were exceptions—exceptions did not matter.

So-called taming was nothing but delusional self-indulgence.

Many nobles had a fetish for playing with monsters.

Especially humanoid ones, or those with weaker aggression—those were most popular among the aristocracy.

Every time he thought of this, the captain felt ashamed to share the same human race with those nobles!

“Captain, shall we go inside?”

The brown-haired knight asked.

“Go in, of course we’ll go in.” The captain’s face darkened. “So what if this is Night Watcher territory? Are we supposed to fear them?!”

At his command, the Demon-Hunting knights split into squads: an elite team descended into the tunnel, while others kept watch nearby, scouting or setting up a temporary camp.

As for the tracks of that supposed powerful monster leaving—they deemed it a trap, and ignored it.

They would decide later, once other forces arrived.

In {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} the dense, suffocating night, Helcat carried the human girl on her back as she ran.

Her innate keen senses allowed her to easily avoid the human factions rushing toward the scene.

Her creamy white, well-shaped legs were not only beautiful, but strong and even, letting her bound effortlessly over high walls and absorb the shock from her sprinting leaps.

“If I don’t wake up after you find the wine, just soak my hand in it...”

Recalling the girl’s instruction, Helcat truly did not understand. Was Vieya really some kind of alcohol-worm monster?

No—that could not be. Alcohol-worms, born of human desires, were colorless, tasteless, and formless. They bred rapidly, living as parasites in humans.

The more alcohol their hosts drank, the fatter they grew. When they reached their limit, host and worm exploded together, leaving nothing behind.

Vieya clearly did not fit that.

And her body was too thin compared to a human girl of thirteen or fourteen. She did not look like someone parasitized by alcohol-worms.

“Whew... from now on, I’ll have to make her eat properly. Humans who are too skinny get sick too easily. Chubby and plump is best... meow.”

Helcat thought with an easy smile.

Suddenly, her pupils shrank mid-stride. She stopped short with an impossible skid, spinning aside in a flash!

Crack!

A massive cutting gash split the ground before her, as though slashed by an invisible giant scythe.

A violet-haired, violet-eyed Hero hovered in the sky, gripping her great scythe, cloak snapping in the wind.

Helcat slowly raised her head, her gold-and-red eyes meeting the Hero’s. In their depths brewed unfathomable violence.

“Heh. I guessed long ago you weren’t an ordinary cat-tribe beastkin. Tonight’s disturbance—was it your doing?”

Rania’s beautiful violet eyes were full of ice as she spoke:

“Put her down. I can make an exception and let you leave.”