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

Tea and pastry shop.

This place sat deep in the commercial district, where foot traffic was sparse; from far off one could smell the mingled scent of cream and cake, making one’s mouth water.

“Mom... this is delicious, try it!”

With tasty food present, Jasmine’s attention immediately shifted; she tossed aside whatever had happened earlier at the market and began to fully enjoy the flavors.

Vieya also ate a small piece — it was indeed good; otherwise a place like this would not have stayed open.

The shop’s decor was exquisite, almost entirely made of light-brown, expensive golden peachwood; the lighting was bright and pleasant. Simply sitting here made a person unconsciously relax.

At that moment, the shop door opened.

A figure in a black coat with a hood that hid the face hurried in, sat down loudly opposite Vieya, and shouted toward the counter as they did so:

“Boss, give me a large cocoa-mud black cake, sour lemon tea, less ice, seventy percent sugar!”

“Got it!” the owner replied.

The hooded person said, “Boss, I’ll pay!”

“......”

Vieya hesitated for a moment, looked across, and asked, “Ma’am... haven’t we met somewhere before?”

“Hm... you are? cough—pfft!”

The woman in the black coat suddenly jumped up and sprayed the water she had just put into her mouth. Like she had seen a ghost, she cried,

“Damn, how did I run into you here, you plague god?!”

“......”

Vieya fell silent for a while, and the person opposite had already turned to flee this little shop — not even bothering to take the cake they had ordered!

That person ran while saying,

“Plague god, bye-bye, see you never!”

Vieya: ...

Silence.

A long silence.

Jasmine carefully studied her mother’s expression; as expected, it was the prelude to anger.

Last time Cat Sister gnawed up Mother’s towel, Mother had that same storm-is-coming look before she got mad.

Then poor Cat Sister had been locked in a cage and starved for twelve hours before being let out.

Vieya had a headache. She had finally taken her daughter out to eat, and now someone called her a plague god to her face.

Her whole day’s good mood evaporated in an instant.

But the other person’s voice was indeed very familiar; Vieya should have had dealings with her not long ago.

However the other had covered herself so thoroughly that, aside from approximate height and being a woman, nothing could be made out.

“Mom... that strange person’s back!” Jasmine said alertly.

Bang!

The black-coated hooded woman rushed back in from the doorway, returned to sit opposite Vieya, and lowered her head in silence as if she had just encountered a terrifying enemy outside.

Vieya looked through the glass at the street. In the distance, a squad of Demon-Hunting knights rode red steeds at an unhurried pace around the corner onto the main road; an invisible murderous aura cloaked those riders, almost taking on substance.

This was the killing intent only experienced, battle-hardened people who had slain many monsters could possess.

Could this person be a monster?

Vieya sized the other up and, finding no such humanoid monster in her memory, quietly asked,

“Are you a monster? Earlier, were you hiding from that squad of riders outside?”

“......” The hooded woman kept her head down and did not answer.

At that moment the waiter carried over the fragrant, soft black cake and sour lemon tea.

The hooded woman had left and returned so quickly that no one besides the two of them had noticed.

After placing the cake down, the waiter said “Enjoy your meal,” and turned to leave.

When the waiter left, Vieya said lightly, “Take off the hood, or I will expose you right now.”

“...I—”

“I’ll count down dozens of times; otherwise accept the consequences.”

“Ten, nine, three—”

“Hey, no! Can you count...?”

“Two—”

“Alright, alright, I’m frightened of you already!” the hooded woman sighed, removed the hood, and revealed her face: golden hair, blue eyes, an aristocratic line to her brows.

Vieya snorted, “So should I call you the deserter Hero, or the useless worshiper of an evil god, or simply the name Anna Elvis?”

“Whatever you like...” Anna put her hood back on, hid her face again, and took up her fork and knife to eat her small cake in the corner.

“Anyway, as long as you don’t expose me, or strike me, I’m fine.”

“Don’t say things that might make others think I’m a violent maniac with ambiguous implications!” Vieya emphasized unhappily. Really — say such things in front of my daughter?

“Eh?” Anna glanced at her like a thief, then noticed the little girl beside Vieya at once.

Could it be... this plague god cares a lot about her image in front of this little girl?

“I advise you not to touch her,” Vieya said, picking up a sesame-sprinkled cake and placing it on the white porcelain saucer in front of Jasmine. Her gaze softened as she looked at Jasmine and she said lightly,

“She is my daughter. If you previously had any objections or thoughts about me, I hope we can resolve them privately and peacefully.”

She is the Demon King’s daughter in the cult leader’s mouth? The next leader of the demon race?

Anna froze, and in a lapse of attention brought the black cake up to her nose.

“Eh... ahem ahem!” She coughed and hurriedly searched for a napkin to wipe her mouth.

Done for — embarrassed again.

And why has this daughter of the Demon King appeared on human soil?

And this white-haired plague god’s true identity...

Recalling how the evil-god master had been evasive back then, a chill ran through Anna’s heart.

She regretted it.

Perhaps even being discovered by those knights and dragged to the dungeon would have been better than getting involved with the white-haired plague god before her.

Heh, maybe it was precisely because that plague god was here that she was so unlucky!

She had just smuggled herself over, only to be picked out by the dockmaster, barely slipped away from under their noses, and then blundered into an advanced adventuring party handing off commissions.

That adventuring party had eyes like hawks; in one glance they had identified her as worth 900,000 — yes, her bounty was as high as 900,000 gold.

Just like that.

Scared stiff, Anna had darted into the sewers, relied on her knowledge of them, and finally lost that money-eyed party. She climbed out and found a large courtyard, stole a few pieces of clothing they had hung out to dry, and changed into them.

Not bad — with a casual theft she’d come across a set of night clothes, with a few silver coins still in the pockets!

Thinking her luck had finally turned, Anna decided to find a pastry shop nearby and enjoy a proper meal to make up for the hunger and cold of her smuggling trip and all the crises she’d faced.

But then.

She had not even finished finding a seat when she’d seen one of the people she least wanted to meet in her life.

“What are you doing here? Are you planning to preach?” Vieya asked.

“What preaching...” Anna drooped, “Since the last time I met you, I left the Church of the Resurrecting Lord.”

Vieya raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that a good thing? Leave the cult and you can surrender, plead for leniency, and be out of prison sooner.”

“Good for you... it’s all your fault, you damn plague god,” Anna cursed inwardly.

If she had the chance she’d cut that stinking white hair off and feed it to the fish.

Anna sighed helplessly. “A traitor like me is a stain on the entire heroic history of mankind and the shame of my family; not dying wouldn’t placate the people’s rage...”

“You made your own bed,” Vieya said with a smirk. “So you’re saying you came here to run to the demon side for a living? Or do you plan to keep hiding and wandering about forever?”

“......”

Anna propped her hand on the table, straightened, and her blue eyes suddenly grew still, like a deep pool.

“I will continue my goal even if they do not recognize me... I will completely smash those damned human institutions!”

“Why do those hogs with no real skill get to command me to do things... I cannot refuse... Ha, are they worthy?”

Her voice rose with anger. “One day, I’ll plant those swine in the rotten mud and let them rot!”

“......”

Vieya was speechless — the typical heretic’s mindset.

“Ah, open wide, dear daughter, Mother will feed you...” Vieya forked a slice of mousse cake and offered it to Jasmine’s bulging mouth, then playfully nudged Jasmine’s lips with the cake.

“Mom... you feed too much, it’s stuffed full, slow down, umm...”

“......”

That damn white-haired little brat — even when her body has puffed up bigger she’s still annoying!

Gurgle~

Anna’s face stiffened; her stomach betrayed her and growled.

Her face flushed red then white in rapid succession; she was so embarrassed that steam seemed about to come out of her head!

“Heh heh...” Vieya smiled with meaning, lips parting slightly; she took a small bite of the mousse cake that Jasmine could not finish, then licked the cream from her lips.

How about it — you want some too?

Anna could not bear the humiliation.

Bang!

She slammed the table in anger, her face as red as blood, trying to hide her current awkwardness with the grand ambitions she had just discussed.

“Were you even listening to what I said just now?!”