Chapter 178 178: A well-laid trap
The queen took Amane toward the backroom of her residence. This place looked mostly the same as any other place in the house. But there was one single point of difference.
"This is…"
Amane started but the queen took over the conversation.
"Something my saviour gave me a long time ago. You know, when I was younger, I was thrown out of the village for something I did not do."
"At that time, I was too young to do anything and there were a lot of people who wanted me dead. But my saviour brought me back to this settlement and I am forever grateful for them."
Amane had figured that this kid was the same Isabel she had saved a long time ago. And it seemed like the kid had not forgotten her either.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om
"So, she was a caregiver for you?"
Amane asked this in a rather carefree manner, only to be laughed out loud at by the heretic queen.
"Oh, that's a good question. Hmm, let me think this over. To me, my saviour was like a light that came out of nowhere. But she was not a caregiver to me or a mother figure. For me, she was special."
"But it has already been so long since that happened and my saviour died a long time ago. You just reminded me of her so I decided to tell you, my story."
The queen assured Amane of this as she looked at the ribbon wistfully.
Amane could have opened her mouth and told the heretic queen of her true self. But she decided not to open the wounds that have already closed. There was no point in living in the past now.
"I am sure that wherever that saviour of yours is, she is happy and content with her life. As for you, you should live for yourself as well. You are their queen and you need to hold firm."
The queen nodded and agreed with Amane. After all, she was over that time in her life. Now she had a more pressing mattress to attend to.
..........
'What the hell. How could the queen do this to me? How dare she take the foreigner in her arms and disappear like this? We are the ones who care for her more? So why is it that foreigner she disappeared with?'
The priest wallowed in self-pity as she was left in the clearing. The woman she was pounding into yelled in pleasure as she finally came.
The pressure around the priest's cock made her come as well. But the pleasure did nothing to dull the feeling of irritation bubbling inside the priest's heart.
She was now surer than ever that she needed to hurry up and make her plan come true. She could not afford to hold back anymore.
'Hmm, everyone else is busy. I can start my plan now.'
The priest quickly left the gathering and unleashed her magic. She changed her smell and her looks to match Yoko Tsurugi. She was sure that this would work as she intended it to.
Beasts had a keen sense of smell and sight. They would remember the ones who killed off their young ones.
She quickly ventured into the forest and came across more foreigners. They had set up a camp near the beast settlement and they were asking to be killed.
The priest scoffed as soon as they saw the meagre guns they brought along. As if these toys were going to hurt any beast.
The priest decided to take care of these outsiders before they became a problem for her. So, she appeared in front of these people and showed her face.
She had forgotten that she still had Yoko Tsurugi's face and one of the outsiders turned toward her with a loud yell of surprise.
"Y-You, stay away. I have a gun and I am not afraid to use it."
The outsider threatened the priest but she kept on walking.
"Calm down. I am not here to hurt you but to warn you. You need to get out of this forest before you all become beast food."
The priest issued this warning even though she did not want to. In her opinion, people like these poachers did not deserve rights.
"Y-You are Yoko Tsurugi. What are you doing all the way here? And hey, you and your family work in the beast-taming business. Do you even have the right to tell us what we can and cannot do with the beasts?"
The poacher yelled at the priest and that finally gave the priest a pause. She could not help but feel as if she had hit a jackpot by finding these people.
They seemed to know Yoko Tsurugi and they even mentioned her harming the beasts.
"Anyway, we need to kill these beasts to make a solid profit. You must understand since you are in a business family as well. Profit is everything."
The priest wished she had Yoko Tsurugi with her right now. And suddenly, the priest felt as if she needed to keep these people alive.
They would be good fodder to send Yoko Tsurugi's way in the future and making her confront them would be good for her.
'Well, I was going to kill the beasts anyway so it won't hurt to use these people to my advantage. And if the queen takes Yoko Tsurugi's side, then it is better for me as well. That way, I will be able to convenience everyone that she is a witch trying to brainwash our queen.'
Things were going a little too perfectly. But it did not make the priest worried about what was going to happen.
After all, she had planned things out in her head. Now she just needed to improvise on it a little.
"Hey wait! I will come with you as well. I cannot allow you people to have all the profit after killing these beasts."
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"As you said, I am in this business as well and I need to make a profit as well. So, I will come with you as well."
The poachers were surprised to hear Yoko Tsurugi say this to them. They had heard how much Yoko Tsurugi hated poachers and tried to get rid of them. But it seemed like rumours were just rumours.
'Yes, these rumours must be false and spread by her PR team to get people's trust. There is no way a business-minded person like Yoko Tsurugi is not interested in the profit these beasts bring.'
"Fine, you can join us then. We will be killing all the younger beasts. We need you to take care of the older beasts for us. You can tame them, right?"
The priest seated bullets at this and knew she would be caught if she did not do anything now.
"Have you ever seen me use my ability in public before?"
The poacher faltered a little bit. He had never seen Yoko Tsurugi using her abilities publicly but he had heard about it.
'Don't tell me that it was also a publicity stunt by Tsurugi's PR team. Then, is the divine guild mixed in this as well? This is such a big scam that I cannot even believe it.
"I…well, not really. But the whole world knows you have the power to tame beasts. Are you saying that all of it is a lie?"
The priest smiled and she suddenly felt glad she had decided to talk to these people. She had suddenly gotten a good idea of how to use these people.
"Hmm, I am still going to join you. Believe me what I say that you will need my help if you want to deal with these beasts."
The priest walked in front of the poachers and lead them toward the beast clearing. She watched as the poachers tried to kill the beasts but they failed.
So, she decided to help them out a little. She imbued their guns with magic so that their bullets became magical. That would not help against the bigger opponents but it would help penetrate the skin of those smaller beasts.
Many of the younger ones died instantly and the bigger ones caused a rampage. The priest helped the poachers as much as she could. But that did not amount to much and one of them ended up dying anyway.
"Tsk, this is bad news. But oh well, this is the most we have ever killed. Thank you for all your help but we should get going now."
The poacher smiled at the priest before he picked up his loot. Only one of the three poachers had died and that was a good thing in the poacher's mind.
The priest left these people alone and watched them go away. Then, she lowered her illusion and looked at the poachers again.
Then she went after them to catch these poachers again. She needed to bring them back so that she could record their reactions.
"You all, freeze. How dare you all try and kill our beasts. I will not allow you to leave this place alive now."
The poachers froze as soon as they noticed the heretic closing after them. They looked startled before one of them stepped ahead courageously.
"W-We can explain this all to you. It was not us who did this but someone else. W-We will tell you all about it if you take us in alive."
The priest smiled as soon as she heard those words. Finally, things were going her way and she could not be happier.
"Fine. You all get one chance to tell your story."