Her wrath

"What is it?"

Melinda asked coldly, going straight to the point.

"I mean… I'm still inexperienced, so my diagnosis could be incorrect… actually, I believe that I am wrong right now…"

Richard gulped down his saliva and said, getting more and more troubled and self-deprecating as he spoke, which only darkened Melinda's expression.

"Rich. I trust you. In your opinion, what troubles her?"

Despite her words of encouragement, Melinda's tone made her sound as if she was threatening the young medic.

"I mean… that doesn't make any sense, and like I said, I must be wrong about it…"

"Rich."

The red-haired boy mumbled, glancing apologetically at the deeply ashamed, ashen-haired girl, who seemed to at least expect what the diagnosis would be. But the gold-haired girl had none of it and insisted.

"...w-well. it… from my spell, it shows up as… Syphilis…"

"..."

Finally, Richard revealed, causing Melinda's expression to turn blank.

"But it doesn't make sense, right? I mean, Miss Olina's isn't working that kind of job...! Syphilis is a disease that's…"

"I know what it is."

The young medic straightened his back and pointed out, but Melinda cut him off in a flat voice.

"Olina. Back then, why did those thugs try to kidnap you?"

"..."

Melinda faced the ashen-haired girl and asked but got no answer as the other girl averted her gaze in shame.

"..."

Melinda didn't take that kindly.

Despite her expression remaining the same, her aura became oppressive, making it physically hard for everyone around her to breathe.

Then she raised her hand before pushing her open palm to the side and…

*BOOOOOOOOOOOM*

"!!!"

…creating a directed shockwave that pulverized the ruined stable, erasing it from existence with a thunder-like sound that caused everyone to jump in fear.

Especially Leona who ended up hugging the youngest girl, and Richard, who stepped up to shield both of them with his body.

"I asked you a question. Answer it."

Melinda declared without taking her eyes off Olina, unbothered by the reaction she caused.

"...they… they warned Mister Jude to stop trying to enter their market… but when he ignored them, they decided that taking away his merchandise would be the best course of action…"

"..."

The ashen-haired girl bit her lips so hard she drew blood and finally revealed, making Melinda let out a long breath and look straight up, staring into the sky.

"I wanted to leave... but I couldn't...! Mister Jude... he... he said that if I leave, he will start selling them instead of me...!"

Oliana trembled, slumping to the ground as if her legs gave out, and confessed, bursting into tears while the other girls cried with her.

"What was that noise!? What happened?! What…? AH…!"

Unaware of what had occurred, Mister Jude rushed out of the house before stopping in place, staring between the group by the chicken coop and the empty plot of land where the ruin of the stable stood firmly until a few minutes ago.

"...ah...!"

Until he saw the broken mess that Oliana had become, and he let out a short gasp of realization.

"..."

At the sound of his voice, Melinda tilted her head in silence.

The thing was, she did that to such a degree that it looked as if she broke her neck.

Then, she turned towards Jude, glaring at him with such intensity that the feeble man could feel the sharpness of her eyes slicing him apart.

"!!!"

Then Jude's self-preservation instinct kicked in, and he turned around, throwing himself into a full-on sprint, desperately trying to run away as far as possible.

"..."

But Melinda did not allow that.

*THWACK*

She merely reached out one hand, extending her index finger, which, despite the illusion of moving slowly, produced the sound of the whip's snap and...

*SQUELCH*

"!?!?"

The next moment, Jude's left leg got blown apart, sending him backflipping through the air unable to comprehend what was happening to him.

"..."

And Melinda who appeared perfectly calm on the surface, waved her hand three more times, each time producing the sound-barrier-breaking sonic boom, blowing apart Jude's other leg and both arms before he even hit the ground.

"URGH...!"

Even as what was left of the brutalized man hit the ground, he was not fully aware of what exactly happened, and he could not understand why his nonexistent limbs didn't break his fall.

"What the fuck did I end up participating in…?"

Melinda gritted her teeth and let out a furious growl that sent chills down the spines of everyone present at the scene.

"Hey… all of you. Look away."

"!!!"

The gold-haired girl added in a voice that could turn the warmest of days into the center of a snowstorm, and others obeyed her without a moment of hesitation.

But Melinda didn't even attempt to make sure that they listened.

She was already approaching the brutalized man while she was putting on a ring that turned her eyes and hair black.

"Wh-what happened…?! Wh-why…?"

Jude trembled and asked, wiggling the tiny stumps that splashed blood all around…

"Aaagh… AAAAAARGHHH-FGH?!"

With the realization came the pain, and Jude began to scream in agony - but not for long.

Before he could howl his part, Melinda casually grabbed and crushed his lower jaw and tongue into a pulp without the slightest bit of effort, cutting off any screams and replacing them with Jude gurgling bloody bubbles as even more blood began to pour into his lungs.

"Don't even think that you're getting off that easy. Blessed heal."

Melinda scoffed, using a healing spell that could close the wounds and stop the bleeding but did not restore bones or regrow the missing tissue.

"There is someone I want you to meet. You don't mind, do you?"

"!!!"

The disguised girl asked with the most disturbing smile a human could make, casuing what was left of Jude to wiggle in pure terror.

Alas. What could he do in his state?

Melinda casually grabbed his clothes and lifted him up like some gruesome suitcase before walking off without looking back at the traumatized group left behind.

Still, it wasn't like those present around the orphanage were the only ones traumatized.

Melinda walked through the city carrying the brutalized Jude without the slightest care, parading him for all to see.

An attempt to stop her happened only once - when someone recognized Jude and foolishly called him a victim, encouraging others to get the guards and stop Melinda.

Needless to say, with the flick of a finger, that person was pulverized into the finest red mist, which stained the pavement and the front of the nearest building.

To make things interesting, the guards did show up, but after taking a single look at the situation, they disappeared without a trace many times faster than it took them to arrive at the scene.

What was Melinda's destination?

It ended up being the hideout of the crimelord she visited just the previous day.

She entered the inconspicuous building without any trouble. The thugs guarding it didn't even dare to meet her glare, shaking in their boots as she passed them.

In a display of great self-control, Melinda didn't erase the whole building; she didn't even rip off the door to Victor's office.

"!!!"

She ever so gently opened the door and entered the room, causing the black-haired man, the light-brown-haired young woman, and the newly hired bald bodyguard to flinch and freeze up in terror.

"Would it fucking hurt you to inform me back then what this fucker was up to?"

"Ffgfhghghhh…!"

Melinda asked, reaching out her hand with Jude and unceremoniously dropping him to the floor, where he let out an unrecognizable mumble while drooling all over the floor from whatever was left of his mouth.

"..."

Victor hesitated for a moment, glancing at what remained of the man known as Jude.

"It wouldn't. The thing is, yesterday, you weren't here to learn. You were here with a demand that I fulfilled to the best of my ability."

"V-Victor…!"

The black-haired man closed his eyes for a moment before declaring, causing the light-brown-haired woman to let out a horrified gasp, expecting a swift and brutal reaction from the disguised girl.

"...that's a fair point…"

"...!?"

But to her surprise, the girl ended up lowering her head and nodding with a pained sigh.

"You clearly found out the truth on your own and already dealt with the situation… What can I help you with now?"

Realizing that nothing was lost, Victor decided to go even further and inquired.

"Make him suffer. This is the limit of what I can do without killing him, but it's not enough. Some people must become a lesson for others. This piece of filth is one of those."

Melinda declared in a shockingly calm voice, not knowing how similar she was to her older brother at that moment.

"Miss, that will be a pleasure."

There was no reason for hesitation anymore, and Victor ended up declaring before bowing his head to the disguised girl.