Dame spoke.
“…Fine. If you believe in him that much, I’ll believe in him too.”
He rolled up his pant leg.
Adwin instinctively covered his mouth.
“That’s… severe.”
A dark, oozing liquid was steadily dripping from his leg.
It wasn’t just a matter of being sick — the transformation of part of his body into something inhuman was a more fitting description.
Xenia’s eyes were glistening with tears before anyone noticed.
“No wonder you seemed to be limping earlier.”
“I’m not surprised you noticed, Xenia. You must’ve closely observed my movements back when you were a trainee knight.”“…”
“But I was sitting still when you came. How did you notice?”
I answered casually.
“Heroes are naturally observant.”
“You really don’t miss a chance to push that title.”
“Well, I figured you hold Kaeld in high regard, so I’ve got to keep up. Being the underdog doesn’t leave room to slack.”
“…”
“If you return the Erenica relic stored beneath the Imperial Palace, we can cure that corrupted leg.”
Dame swallowed hard.
“We’ve only found a lead, not solved anything. Until then, I still have a duty as your party member.”
I felt a sting in my nose.
Dame sighed deeply.
“That’s… a little disheartening.”
“Ah—Father, I didn’t mean—”
“It’s fine. I should be grateful you’ll still spend a day with your old man before you leave.”
“Ugh…”
“Mide Mohan.”
He looked at me directly.
“Take good care of my daughter.”
“You have my word.”
We stood and turned to leave.
Just before we fully exited the sitting room, Neril spoke up.
“Dame. We’ve been at odds for a long time. You probably don’t like that I’m in the hero’s party. You might even be confused by it.”
“…”
“But I hope you’ll believe me. I’ll never cause another tragedy. I’ll put everything I have into defeating the Demon King.”
“And why are you telling me this?”
She smiled wryly.
“Because I don’t want you to carry any prejudice toward our party just because of me.”
“…”
“We’re the real thing. Not Kaeld’s bunch.”
Clack.
With that, we left Dame’s estate.
“…”
Honestly, I was pretty moved by what Neril said.
Those words were a pure, 100% defense spoken solely on my behalf.
Today, for some reason, she looked beautiful.
I’ll have to keep that as a secret until I die.
Trail spoke.
[Too late. I already found out.]
Somewhere in the night sky.
A purple curtain fluttered.
It was someone’s hair.
The woman brushed her hair back and looked up at the sky.
The moon was reflected in her empty golden eyes.
“Seeing it in person… that Mide Mohan is truly something.”
Where had someone like him come from?
No — to be honest, he wasn’t a complete unknown.
The Demon King of Lies and Deception, Idria.
She had wandered the continent for ages, searching for vessels. Naturally, she knew all the major figures by heart.
Of course she knew the Swordmaster of No Killing.
‘By my standards, he didn’t make the cut.’
When she chose vessels, her criteria weren’t skill or accomplishments.
—How far could lies spread through this vessel?
Sadly, the Swordmaster of No Killing had scored poorly in that regard.
But he was racking up points in an unexpected area.
‘A man competing with Kaeld for the title of hero.’
That one had broken through the illusions of both Terce and Mariana.
Idria’s lips twisted.
It had been a while since something truly irritated her.
She turned her gaze toward the inn where Mide’s group was staying.
She wanted to deal with them right away, but that was impossible.
…
No. Maybe it was possible?
It was quite a distance away.
At this range, maybe…
With a sliver of hope, she slowly raised her hand.
Then she pointed toward the inn.
Now, with just a single word—‘Vanish’—that shabby place would disappear without a trace.
Including the guests inside.
But—
“Kh.”
Suddenly, Idria felt a pain like her flesh was being torn apart.
And it wasn’t a metaphor. Something was literally tearing her flesh.
She hadn’t done anything extreme—she’d merely pointed at the inn.
Drip. Drip.
Idria wiped the black blood dripping from her fingers and arm.
‘So it’s no good. Even at this distance.’
She stepped back and flopped onto the ground, lying flat and looking up at the sky.
Then she murmured quietly,
“Were you really that resentful? Is that why you couldn’t pass on to the afterlife and remained?”
As expected, that bastard didn’t know how to give up.
After being struck down by Kaeld, and losing the chance to kill her directly, he must have found someone else to do it in his place.
“If you really did latch onto Mide, then I can’t touch him myself. It’s far too risky.”
She paused, as if waiting for a response.
But of course, there was no answer.
With a faint smile, Idria spoke again.
“I’ll need to adjust the plan. I’m curious how the agent you chose will handle it.”
She had planned to head to the capital even if it hadn’t been for Mide.
Her original plan was to forcibly drive the Gem of Corruption into a rampage, causing Kaeld to drop that Black Sun in response..
But now she had changed her mind.
So instead, she’d given Kaeld a new quest—to heal Lord Dronoar.
The reason was simple.
‘Because Kaeld won’t be able to do it.’
So then…
Will Mide Mohan be able to?
It would make for a fine stage.
She murmured softly,
“Let’s watch together, Bion Kunze.”
I was dreaming.
Was it because Adwin mentioned my parents?
In the dream, our family was happy.
The dream-me said,
“Dad, when are you going to teach me how to use a bow?”
“You rascal.”
My father ruffled my hair with his large hands.
“Say that again after you can chop some firewood. Last time, you nearly hit your own foot.”
“I just slipped a little.”
“Your bow could slip too. And next time, you might hit someone else, not your foot.”
I clicked my tongue and kicked a pebble by my foot.
My father picked me up.
Then hoisted me onto his shoulders and said,
“Well then, I guess we’ll head out to the hunting grounds together starting tomorrow.”
“Huh? Even though I haven’t learned to shoot yet?”
“Of course I won’t expect you to hit anything right away. If you can just walk the mountain trails properly, that’s already a success.”
“I’m not a kid anymore.”
“Haha. True, you’ve gotten a lot heavier.”
He carried me on his shoulders and walked once around the house.
I’d been a little sulky, but that feeling of flying through the sky made me giggle.
And then—
“Honey, Mide. Dinner time.”
It was my mother.
And just then, I heard a voice calling me—not from the dream, but from reality.
[Wake up.]
It was Trail.
I shot up and looked around, still sleepy.
[Didn’t mean to wake you that roughly. Was it a nightmare?]
‘No, it was actually a really happy dream.’
[Hmm. Then sorry for waking you.]
‘Nah, you woke me at the right time. It was just about to turn into a nightmare.’
[No idea what you mean.]
‘Never mind that. Why’d you wake me?’
Trail’s voice dropped low.
[Idria is watching.]
‘I’m the one who just woke up. Why are you talking in your sleep?’
[I’m serious right now.]
That tone—completely devoid of his usual joking manner—snapped me fully awake.
Clack.
I quickly grabbed my sword and got into stance.
But Trail let out a dry chuckle and said,
[Do you really think you could stop Idria’s attack with that?]
‘…’
[Relax. She left already.]
‘Left?’
[Yeah. I think she originally meant to blow up the whole inn. But seems like she changed her mind.]
I exhaled slowly.
Ever since learning that Idria had descended and was plotting something across the continent, I had always considered the possibility—
That one day, I’d have to face her.
But now that possibility had become reality, and a chill ran down my spine.
‘Why didn’t she do it? Why let us go?’
[Probably because of me.]
‘Huh?’
[Just a hunch.]
‘What hunch? Come on, we’re in this together. Spill it.’
[…]
‘If you don’t want to say it, should I take a guess?’
Honestly, I’d suspected it for a while.
Trail wants to kill Idria.
That’s his sole goal, and he’s working with me to achieve it.
‘Every person on the continent wanted the Demon King dead. But not one of them could turn back time or use weird powers like the Eye of Omniscience.’
Idria is on a completely different level from the Demon Kings before her.
So the hero who defeats her would have to be different too.
Someone who can manipulate time, or wield something like the Eye of Omniscience.
‘And among non-human entities who’d stand in direct opposition to the Demon King, only one comes to mind—Bion Kunze.’
[Shut up, man.]
I smirked.
‘Right. You said your name was “Invisible.”’
[It’s Trail.]
‘Fine, fine. Anyway, this means Idria realizes I’m about to destroy her plans.’
So now what?
I’d thought it would be enough to just extract the gem and beat Patrick senseless.
But suddenly, things were getting complicated.
If I were Idria, what would I do?
That Demon King loves nothing more than deception—from beginning to end, lies and more lies.
And here I am, trying to extract the gem without any issues and destroy all her lies.
In that case—
I better be ready.
I turned to Trail and spoke.
‘Trail.’
[What is it.]
‘I don’t know if this’ll work or not… but we should try anyway.’
[Why the long pause? What are you about to say?]
I grinned.
‘Let’s create a new technique together.’
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