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Sure! Here’s the translation in a comedic anime style:

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It’s sudden, but I was pretty strong. If I had to pick a definitive reason for my strength, it’d be the countless worlds I’d experienced and the skills I’d acquired from them.

Even though I had lost the incredibly powerful body I once had when I became a woman, it didn’t pose much of a problem.

Compared to my original body, I was in an infinitely weakened state, yet among all the humans in this world, hardly anyone could beat me. If I had to name a few, it would be the top four among the Ten Strong, including my master.

Of course, Nova had shown noticeable growth, but he still didn’t match my level. I admit it.

To be honest, after living for so long, everyone seemed weaker than me; I kind of looked down on them a bit.

“Well… I was honestly surprised.”

In front of me, the Masked Man, bleeding, was pointing a great sword at me. His clothes were tattered and dusty from my attack.

From the size of his build and his youthful voice, he seemed like a boy who hadn’t even undergone adulthood rites.

“Gah… such a monster….”

“You’re really strong, huh? I take back what I said earlier.”

With this level of skill, he was at least close to Nova, just below the Ten Strong.

“It’s amazing that there are still such strong humans…”

“Easy for you to say… cough cough… battling an assassin in the Dark Forest…”

“At the very least, you’re much better than those who just flaunt their status for getting into the Academy.”

Going all out as an assassin doesn’t mean clashing swords violently like a swordsman or casting flashy spells like a mage.

It’s about being as cowardly as possible. And being sure to lead your opponent into a false sense of security to snatch their life away.

A gun? That’s so trivial! It can kill much faster and more reliably than magic.

Poison? There’s nothing better than that for an effortless kill.

“Use everything you can and come at me, that’s your job, right?”

Normally, when someone says this, people would be scared, but this man was different.

With the cowardly instinct to prioritize his own life, the assassin’s eyes were filled with conviction.

“Absolutely… you cannot pass through here…! I will protect this place… until he arrives!”

I had somewhat anticipated this before coming here, but those words confirmed it.

Relinquishing my forceful stance, I attempted to speak to him in a relaxed manner.

“By the way, you know Nova, don’t you?”

“Come at me you gorilla-like woman! I will take you down!”

Crack…

As I tried to smile gracefully, a tiny vein began popping up on my forehead.

Hmm… this is why young folks are the worst. There’s a reason every dojo teaches manners before techniques…

I wonder why? Despite approaching with a harmless expression while smiling, the man’s face turned pale.

Thud. Thud.

“Uh, um… I was wrong…”

“Shut it.”

I interrupted his words and slowly approached with a smile while loosening my fists.

The stillness of the Silent Forest was broken by the echoes of the man’s screams.

*

After sending Stella home, I stepped into a remote alleyway.

As fitting the grim atmosphere, a man was shaking down someone for money in the alley.

“Hand over all your money, or wish you were dead!”

“P-please spare me! I don’t have anything!”

A group of tough-looking thugs surrounded a skinny orange-freckled man.

“What’s that brat doing…?”

After letting out a sigh and walking into the alley, one of the thugs made eye contact with me.

“Eh? Who the hell are you…?! No way?!”

“What? What’s wrong with you? You know me?”

Most of the thugs looked as if they recognized me, showing surprise.

A few of them shot me furious glares filled with animosity.

Well… there are plenty of people in this village who harbor grudges against me.

Especially those who, after I beat them up during their shakedowns, ended up getting shaken down in turn.

Though it seems I’ve accumulated a little too many grudges considering how many of them there are…

“You… stopped us from shaking down people back then! I’ve been waiting to get my revenge…”

“Wait, bro! You can’t touch that guy!”

One guy who attempted to charge at me was desperately stopped by one of his underlings.

If I was lucky, I thought of plucking out his eyes, but ignoring the thugs, I spoke to the orange-haired man in the back.

“Knock it off and come over here quickly.”

“? More like, save me, you jerk!”

“I don’t want to get my hands dirty when I was in the middle of a date with Stella.”

“You bastard! And still, you call yourself my partner?!”

“What the hell are you doing, Leonard, against these losers?”

The man’s name was Leonard. Despite his pathetic appearance, he was surprisingly an information specialist of the highest caliber in the underworld.

He looked unimpressive and weak, but he was actually quite helpful.

Starting from weapons, he gathered essential information about the original content, which was lacking…

“Please! Just once, let me go! My family is starving at home!”

“What a joke! Did you marry with that face?!”

“Your words are too harsh, my lord!”

The problem was he extremely hated fighting and would tremble like that.

How he belonged to that organization was beyond me. It’s one thing to joke around, but Stella is waiting; I can’t stall any longer.

“Hey, bro! This guy has something in his pocket!”

“What? Take it out… huh? What’s this strange object…?”

“Hey! Wait, that’s—!”

The instant Leonard’s eyes widened at whatever had come from my pocket.

Hmm… that’s a item we were supposed to trade today. A good idea just popped into my head.

“If that object has even a tiny scratch, you get no payment for it….”

Bang! Bang!

“What the… cough!!”

“Gah…”

Before I could finish my sentence, all five thugs collapsed against the wall, as if something slammed into them hard.

They seemed to have hit the surface with such force they were knocked out cold.

I didn’t have time to care about those guys; the man in front of me was exuding a considerable amount of pressure.

“Hey… that’s not okay…”

Holding my shoulder, Leonard opened his mouth with a heavy vibe.

His expression sent a chill down my spine.

But I knew it well. I shouldn’t give this guy any openings.

“How do you think I got this… you want to die…”

“Haven’t you realized, if there’s a defect in this product, you should be prepared to get no payment for it, right? You claim to be a top-tier information broker?”

He seemed lost in thought for a moment but then chuckled and released the tension.

“…Hah, can’t argue with that. Hey, it’s a joke! Just a joke! Relax!

How long have we known each other? You think I’d actually fight you?”

“Yeah, right. I’d have killed you on the spot if you had taken even one more step closer.”

“Damn… how cruel! Who do you think made that gun?”

“Who’s firing off their killing intent like that?”

As an information broker, Leonard never fought. However, he was the best broker in the underworld without a doubt.

He had the power to punish anyone who broke or tricked him through a deal.

It was hard to believe that this guy didn’t even appear in the original story. I began thinking he might be a mid-boss in Stella’s route or something.

“Oh dear… my lord…!! I’m sorry! Please sell it to me!”

“…”

“My kids are starving at home! Please buy this for me!”

“Which is it, you don’t even have a girlfriend.”

“Damn you… don’t say that and buy it, please~”

Watching him cling to my legs and plead pitifully, I couldn’t think of anything.

“…So, was there anything wrong with the item?”

“Uh, uh! Yes! Just wait a minute!”

Leonard checked the item with an anxious expression and sighed in relief.

“Phew… I risked my life to get this… thankfully, no problems…

By the way, you’re quite the crazy one… you plan to use this for your girlfriend?”

“…Maybe I should check it out myself.”

The item I got from him was a pendant in the shape of a necklace. No doubt about it; that was the item from the original story. Inside the pendant was a special magic pattern engraved.

This object was called Mind Sneer, a special necklace created to respond to Lilith’s salacious rhetoric.

“Don’t stare at it for too long; you might fall under its hypnotic effect.”

“So with this, I can control a certain person at will?”

“Yeah, with this you can give a strong suggestion to someone just once.”

That imprisonment was something no archmage could block, even if they were among the Ten Strong.

“So if I use this…”

“Hey.”

“Yeah?”

“What the hell made you want me to get this for you?”

“…You don’t need to worry about that; I’ll pay you fairly since you did a great job.”

As I tried to hand over the money, Leonard slapped my hand away and grabbed my collar.

“Don’t try to play it off, you bastard! Talk right now!”

“…”

In response to my silence, Leonard let out a stream of curses before sighing and speaking up.

“Fine… you bastard, you’ve always tried to solve everything on your own…”

“Sorry, man. And I honestly appreciate everything you do for me.”

“Shut it, you only call me ‘bro’ when it’s like this… yeah, you’ll handle that item well.

I know you’re not the kind to misuse it.

There’s gotta be a good reason you need to use it on your dear girl, am I right?”

…No, I couldn’t deny that.

Of course, I didn’t get this item for some pathetic reason.

The issue at hand was Stella and her memories, which were crucial.

In the last incident, I had no choice but to erase her memories to help solve the case.

But that’s the problem now. If we face off against another demon race and enemies in the future…

What would happen if Stella met an enemy stronger than herself?

She would sacrifice herself for sure. Bargaining memories to save others is something she would do.

She is that kind of person. Every time, she cares for others without sparing herself, a foolish idiot.

What if, in doing so, she loses vital memories?

Her precious memories, daily life, and even the ones concerning me?

Even thinking about it sends shivers down my spine; I must ensure such a situation never happens.

“So, this is something that must be done.”

I could command Stella not to erase her memories…

Or even erase her memories of the memory-transforming magic entirely.

Even if it’s an ethically wrong act to hypnotically control her…

“I must protect her…”

—

 

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