Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 72: The Lament of Those Who Pity
Marianne pulled Emily by the arm from the VIP seats into the corridor.
People fleeing the spectator stands were too desperate to notice them. Their screams sounded distant and strangely unreal.
Still wearing an icy expression Emily had never seen, Marianne led her into an alcove and concealed her there.
“…Lady Marianne…?”
“Run away, right now.”
Emily’s eyes widened at the soft whisper she could just barely hear over the chaos.
“…Why, now…? You were trying to use me too, weren’t you…?”
“Yes. Dylan ordered me to keep you alive and under control. I knew all along that you couldn’t truly do anything.”
Her flat, emotionless voice was cold and provocative, at odds with her command to flee. Anger and suspicion rose within Emily, but she could do nothing in this chaos and hesitated over whether to obey.
“Do you understand what will happen if your other sin is exposed?”
“Another sin…? What’s that…?”
Marianne’s expression didn’t change.
“Only a handful of people embrace Dylan Agreas Ziemeld’s ideals. Most are consumed by fear and anger. Trapped in immortality, they’ll surely hate you forever—the impostor who brought about the downfall of the genuine article.”
“The re-al thing…?”
Emily understood half of what Marianne was saying. It was the same fear she had imagined moments ago.
—The real thing…?
Just as she was about to ask her question, she heard shouting coming from the distance.
“Hey! Look! It’s Lord Lionel…!”
The fleeing civilians had stopped and were staring in one direction. Through the corridor’s broad windows, armed figures could be seen charging through the Undead Slime in the stands.
They carried black-painted shields and faintly glowing swords. Not one sword, but many, shone with light.
“They’re already here—and in such numbers. Perhaps Dylan underestimated the genuine article.”
“…That real thing you’ve been talking about, what is it…?”
She asked, her eyes glued to that direction. She knew the answer before even asking.
Her chest felt uneasy, and chills ran down her spine again.
—I know that isn’t my power. If it were, Elliot and the others would never have…
As Emily bit her lip, Marianne’s expression finally changed. The pity in it only infuriated Emily further.
“…The guiding magic user. That’s the true identity of those whom legends, nations, and churches have long called saints.”
“If that’s the genuine article, then am I the one who caused her… downfall?”
She couldn’t finish. The floor suddenly began to shake violently.
The tremors became too strong for her to stand. Groans and crashes sounded from every direction, mingled with distant screams. Something collapsed beside her, and as she crouched and covered her head, someone shoved her to the floor.
When the noise finally subsided, she opened her eyes. The corridor wall had collapsed, and Marianne was gone from her side. Through the billowing dust, Emily found her half-buried beneath the rubble.
“Lady Marianne…!”
Marianne opened her eyes a fraction when Emily rushed over. Blood ran from her forehead, and Emily couldn’t move the debris pinning half her body.
Seeing the pool of blood spreading across the floor, she grimaced.
“Leave me. Go. Either the slime will swallow me, or this is where I die. It makes no difference.”
Marianne spoke faintly, almost dismissively, and Emily’s confusion sharpened into anger.
“Why!? Why are you saying that now!?”
“…Looking at you made me angry because it was like looking at myself. No—that isn’t all. I envied you. I wasn’t even a prop meant to decorate that man’s stage.”
Not understanding the meaning of those self-deprecating words, Emily became even more confused.
“I thought it would be enough to remain at his side as a useful pawn, a tool. What a fool I was. In the end, I never even entered his sight—not once, to the very end…”
She finally understood that “that person” was Agreas.
“You misjudged your worth and became intoxicated with the false image imposed on you. You’re foolish and shallow—so very much like me. Yet you were more useful to him than I was, and I could no longer bear it. This is nothing but a petty whim born of sympathy, jealousy, and self-loathing. Now run…”
For a moment Emily thought she should obey, stand, and flee. But her legs wouldn’t move. She was uninjured; Marianne had probably protected her during the collapse. Her thoughts couldn’t keep pace, yet she knew she couldn’t leave Marianne there.
She reached toward the rubble covering Marianne. It was too heavy to shift, but there were still things she needed to ask.
“You truly are a foolish, foolish girl.”
Marianne muttered, seemingly in disbelief.
“Hey… about what you said earlier, that I caused… the fall…”
Her voice trembled, and fear kept her from continuing. Marianne was barely conscious, yet answered the unfinished question with a faint smile.