Dear, It's Time to Take Your Medicine!

Was he saying that Ekaterina, the Scarlet Valkyrie, had forced herself on him?

Heh heh heh, how was that possible? Absolutely impossible. No matter what, the Scarlet Valkyrie was a woman—she couldn't do something like that... Uh, though perhaps it wasn't entirely impossible.

After all, that was the Scarlet Valkyrie. That was Ekaterina. And she had been drunk. It seemed nothing happening would have been strange.

Augustus wore a thoroughly bizarre expression. These two were saying completely opposite things—so which one of them had used force?

Rosweisse was equally stunned. Today's events had truly taken one twist after another. She had never expected there to be another reversal even at this point.

As for Ekaterina, she was utterly dumbfounded. Then her body began to tremble violently. Overwhelming fury nearly drove Ekaterina mad.

"Y-you... what nonsense are you spouting?"

She had thought he was merely a shameless scoundrel who preyed on drunk people. Who could have imagined that he was also a coward who did not dare admit what he had done?

What angered Ekaterina even more was that this bastard was actually turning the tables on her, shoving all responsibility onto her and falsely accusing her of forcing him?

How could that be possible? Even she, Ekaterina, could not do something like that.

Qin Chu's image in Ekaterina's heart was worse than the maggots crawling over a rotting rat carcass in a sewer...

Yet Qin Chu did not care in the slightest. "I'm spouting nonsense?"

He did not care about such minor matters as saving face. As long as he did not have to carry that black pot, it was enough. Besides, Nicholas and the others had seen what happened last night, and they were all blabbermouths. Sooner or later, this would spread until the whole city knew.

"You said you were going to guide my training, yet before long, you said you had serious business to attend to."

"But the serious business you spoke of was actually going to a bar to drink. At night, I was the one who painstakingly carried you back from the bar. I wanted to put you in your own room, but you actually took over my bedroom..."

Uh...

Everyone's gazes fell upon Ekaterina, becoming slightly strange.

The anger and hatred on Ekaterina's face were somewhat replaced by embarrassment... While serving as the Hero's teacher and guiding the Hero's training, she had secretly slipped away to drink alone. There was truly no defending that.

She sensed that the atmosphere around her was somewhat off, but she still could not help saying, "That's right, I went drinking, but that still isn't a reason for you to take advantage of me while I was drunk..."

"You say I took advantage of you?" Qin Chu sneered. "Why don't you say that you were making a drunken scene?"

"Nicholas and the others are all here. Ask them what exactly happened last night."

Everyone's eyes turned toward the guards behind Qin Chu.

Watched by so many important figures, Nicholas seemed a little embarrassed. Even his rough face turned somewhat red. He cleared his throat and looked at Ekaterina. "Lady Goddess of War..."

"Have you really forgotten? Why don't you think carefully again..."

"Lord Hero personally carried you back from the bar..." Nicholas had not witnessed that part himself, but since Lord Hero said so, it had to be true.

"Then, you took over the Hero's bedroom. Lord Hero had been preparing to leave and rest in another room, but you suddenly rushed out from behind, grabbed the Hero, and dragged him inside. You haven't forgotten that scene, have you?"

"My brothers and I all saw it with our own eyes."

"Yes, yes, the captain's right. We all saw it ourselves."

"You were the one who dragged Lord Hero inside. Lord Hero struggled desperately at the time, but you..."

"Were too rough. We could hear Lord Hero's cries from outside..."

"The Hero suffered such cruel treatment. How pitiful. I think Lord Hero must have been traumatized."

"God, I can't even bear to remember it..."

The hundreds of guards behind Qin Chu all clamored at once, describing what they had seen and heard.

In reality, only Nicholas and five of his brothers—a total of six people—had actually witnessed it. But one passed it to ten, ten passed it to a hundred... And as it spread, people added embellishments bit by bit, making the scene more vivid and more exaggerated. Whenever anyone bragged about it to someone else, they all used the same line: Really, I saw it with my own eyes.

No one knew when the whole story had turned into this.

"I even heard the Hero crying for help..."

"You tortured Lord Hero in there for a full seven hours..."

"When the Hero escaped from the room, he was covered in blood. His back was full of wounds. He looked like a human stick, showing just how horribly he had been tortured..."

"Too brutal..."

Eh?

Even Qin Chu was a little bewildered. Had it really been like that? Stop, stop, he was starting to feel embarrassed.

Apart from the guards' voices, there was no other sound around them. The nuns, priests, and holy knights of the Divine Church, along with Augustus and Rosweisse, all looked suspiciously back and forth between Qin Chu and Ekaterina. Whose words were true?

Ekaterina's face had flushed red from fury. Just as she was about to argue, it felt as though a needle suddenly stabbed deep within her brain, bringing a sharp burst of pain.

The next instant, fragmented memories suddenly flooded into her mind.

She remembered...

She had been competing in drinking with a group of men at the bar, laughing at them for being utterly useless, getting drunk after only half a barrel.

She remembered Qin Chu appearing beside her. She had nearly smashed his head with a punch. This man had paid for her drinks and carried her home, while she had been drunkenly fooling around on his body, groping Qin Chu's chest with both hands, though she had no idea what she had been feeling for...

Hiss... Her head hurt so much.

Ekaterina's face clearly showed her discomfort as she forcefully rubbed her temples.

Something seemed to slosh twice inside her head, and then she remembered another thing...

At the time, she had been groggy. Qin Chu seemed unable to bear her weight any longer and had unceremoniously tossed her onto the bed.

Then... then... he seemed to have turned and headed straight outside.

Had he really just left?

The memories surfacing in her mind made Ekaterina inexplicably unhappy. She should have been fairly attractive, right? A beautiful woman was lying drunk on a bed in front of him, yet he felt nothing and simply turned around and left?

Was she really that lacking in charm?

It felt as though her pride as a woman had suffered a grievous blow.

No, no, this was not the time to think about that.

Since this Qin Chu had turned and left, had he really done nothing to her?

She shook her head hard again, and more chaotic memories emerged in her mind.

She had lain on the bed, watching Qin Chu's back. She seemed to see Jello, the man she had loved most. Then... watching that man get farther and farther away, she had felt an uncontrollable terror. Immediately after that, she had climbed out of bed as though possessed.

She had rushed directly behind Qin Chu, dragged him back into the room, and tightly shut the door.

And then...

Ekaterina remembered. Her cheeks became scorching hot, burning with pain.

God, what kind of mess was this?

Had she really forced herself on Qin Chu? Then she had thought Qin Chu had taken advantage of her drunkenness to do something indecent. In her memories, Qin Chu had ordered her to do this and that, humiliating her in every possible way. Could it be that she had subconsciously shoved all responsibility onto Qin Chu, that her brain's self-protection mechanism had kicked in and created hallucinations? Had the real scenes actually all been initiated by her?

She had even charged all the way to the Holy Church and exposed this matter before so many people?

Aaaahhh... Ekaterina covered her face with both hands and crouched down, letting out a nearly despairing wail.

At that moment, everyone understood. Lord Hero was not the kind of scum who preyed on the vulnerable. The one who had truly been forced was actually the Hero.

For a moment, every gaze directed at Ekaterina was filled with reproach.

This woman had gone too far.

She had caused such enormous trauma to the Hero's body and mind, yet she had the nerve to come here and demand the Hero's life?

Even worse, did she not know her own strength? Did she not know that the Hero had only arrived in this world a few days ago and was still very weak? Could he withstand being tossed around by a violent woman like her?

The fact that Lord Hero had managed to keep his life was simply a blessing amid misfortune.

This hateful woman had nearly wiped out the hope of the entire Skyvault Continent through one careless mistake.

Did such a woman deserve to be a member of the Hero's Party? Did she deserve to be the Hero's companion, or the Hero's teacher?

Qin Chu paced over to Ekaterina, who was crouching on the ground. This woman had completely lost her former pride and flamboyance.

"Ekaterina..." His face carried sorrow.

And earth-shattering grievance.

Spending the night with Ekaterina had truly been such a grievance.

"Because I was concerned for your reputation, I did not want to say this aloud. I considered you at every turn, yet I never expected you to push all the blame onto me... You have ruined my reputation!"

"I was defiled by you, and you even came to kill me..."

"Is there any justice left? Is there any law left?"

The more Qin Chu spoke, the more aggrieved he sounded. He was nearly believing it himself. But when acting, one had to immerse oneself in the role. That was called having a sense of immersion.

Ekaterina shuddered. She raised her head somewhat timidly, sneaked a glance at Qin Chu, then immediately withdrew her gaze.

The offense and defense had switched places!

How could Ekaterina still possess the bearing of a female panther now? She spoke in a trembling voice.

"Sorry... I'm sorry!"

Sorry?

One of the women he hated most was actually apologizing to him?

That feeling... was fucking amazing!

After all, setting aside her personality and the things Ekaterina would do in the future, she truly was a woman flawless from face to figure. Her athletic, sexy body stirred a stronger desire to conquer than those soft, delicate women.

Coupled with the intense hatred Qin Chu held for Ekaterina, he had truly enjoyed himself immensely last night.

The Starflame Battle Aura within his body had also broken through to the second level as a result, increasing his strength by another notch.

He had obtained every possible benefit.

And now, this woman was trembling as she apologized to him. The wheel of heaven turned well indeed—Ekaterina, you had a day like this too?

Qin Chu's heart was brimming with delight, though the pleasure in his eyes flashed by in an instant, unnoticed by anyone.

And after realizing that she had been the one to initiate everything, Ekaterina had completely lost her original sharpness. The hatred in her heart for Qin Chu dissipated by more than half. She no longer had any reason to hate Qin Chu. It was not Qin Chu who had taken her purity while she was drunk, but she who had forcibly offered her pure body to Qin Chu.

If this matter spread, Qin Chu would also be mocked.

"Y-you... why didn't you resist?" Ekaterina muttered softly.

"Bullshit. What level are you, and what level am I? What strength do you have, and what strength do I have? Could I even resist?" Qin Chu said irritably.

Ekaterina fell silent. That was indeed true. Demanding that Qin Chu resist in front of her was asking the impossible.

The needle-sharp gazes around her made Ekaterina feel uncomfortable all over.

"The Hero is truly pitiful..."

"To be treated by such a crude woman..."

"She got drunk and made a drunken scene. How could a woman like that be worthy of the Hero? She got the huge advantage..."

"It was obviously her own fault, yet she directly blamed the Hero and even wanted to kill Lord Hero. Lord Hero is the hope of our Skyvault Continent..."

"Is this woman really not some violent female ape?"

From the sharp, condemning gazes and whispered conversations around her, Ekaterina seemed to hear such voices.

She felt increasingly ashamed. With her head lowered, she bit her lower lip with pearly teeth and did not dare make a sound.

Augustus felt this farce should be over by now. If it continued, the impact would be far too terrible.

He coughed, suppressing the surrounding clamor, then stepped forward. "Ahem, you two, it seems this was merely a misunderstanding..."

"All right, everyone, disperse."

Augustus swept a warning gaze over the crowd. Everyone who met his eyes knowingly lowered their gaze. They all understood that Augustus was warning them not to speak carelessly.

The many nuns, priests, holy knights, and guards responsible for protecting Qin Chu all departed.

Only Augustus, Qin Chu, Ekaterina, Rosweisse, and Angelica remained at the scene.

"Miss Ekaterina, we'll let today's matter end here. You have no objections, do you?" Augustus stared coldly at Ekaterina. After all, his Holy Church had been attacked for no reason. Anyone would have been displeased.

"I can refrain from pursuing responsibility for your attack on the Holy Church..."

Ekaterina's expression brightened.

"But as a member of the Hero's Party and the Hero's teacher, you ran off to drink when you should have been guiding the Hero. After getting drunk, you made a drunken scene, damaged the Hero's dignity, and even nearly killed him..."

"I think you are unsuitable to remain a member of the Hero's Party, and equally unsuitable to continue serving as the Hero's teacher..."