Chapter Fifty-Eight
The royal capital, enveloped in the darkness of night.
Needless to say, my vision was obscured, unable to see properly.
And then, amidst the lingering dust cloud from the previous blow, feeling a definite impact through my sword—
“—So what do you want me to do?”
…A voice reached me.
Of course, I hadn’t held back. Nevertheless, a familiar voice brushed past my ears.
I had a feeling I wouldn’t be able to finish him off even with a direct hit. That premonition I held somewhere in my heart proved to be correct. Through the clearing dust cloud, a single human silhouette stood firm. The face that eventually came into view had a trickle of fresh blood, but it was far from a fatal wound. I understood that it had been blocked.
“…Who knows? I did say I didn’t like it, but I never said I knew the answer to that question. Besides, even if I said something, it wouldn’t change your mind now, would it?”
…Even though it was a weaker version, ‘Shooting Star’ hadn’t worked.
Suppressing the unease that welled up in my chest, I replied.
“…”
A silent, hostile gaze was directed at me.
However, I understood his feelings all too well. I had screamed at will, completely denied his way of thinking, and thrust my own feelings onto him, yet I shamelessly claimed I didn’t know the right answer. I was aware that it was an act deserving of anger.
“Your words are just pretty ideals.”
“Probably.”
“…Knowing that, you’re forcing your idealistic thinking onto me?”
“No, actually, I’m surprised myself. I never thought I’d get so emotional. I didn’t intend to argue so passionately. But when I look at you, I just feel like screaming.”
Why was that? I pondered the question in my heart.
The answer was already decided.
“…You said you wouldn’t show mercy, but you never intended to kill me from the beginning, did you…?”
I felt a sense of discomfort the first time we met.
It turned into certainty just now.
“You have killing intent. You have hostility. But I don’t feel the emotion of wanting to kill me no matter what.”
It was something the Ogre and the Jabberwock, who had come to kill me, possessed, but the ‘Magician Hunter’ lacked.
I must have been irritated because I had sensed this somewhere in my heart.
At his mocking behavior.
That’s why I had probably provoked him by repeatedly listing beautiful ideals while denying his way of thinking. But the result was this mess.
“But that doesn’t mean you’re adhering to non-lethal methods.”
In fact, the ‘Magician Hunter’ should have killed several magicians.
…Yet, while saying he wouldn’t show mercy, he hadn’t dealt a decisive blow.
No, he might have been trying to kill me.
But I couldn’t feel the spirit of wanting to eliminate me as an obstacle, no matter what, even if it meant using everything he had.
In short, he was half-hearted.
The ‘Magician Hunter’ was probably trying to half-heartedly uphold his ideals.
That’s probably why he wasn’t actively trying to kill me.
Thinking about it that way made sense.
“So that means you’re trying not to kill anyone who isn’t involved in your revenge, right?”
Even someone as troublesome as me.
“But then I have another question. If that’s the case, why don’t you just kill the nobles who drove your brother to his death?”
However, that thought was clearly contradictory.
If he wasn’t killing unrelated people, there was no need to kill the members of the Knights Order.
That being said, that was assuming Zenoah’s story was true.
But I couldn’t believe she had lied back then.
“…You know a lot.”
“I heard from Zenoah. Your brother died after being caught up in a political struggle, right?”
“…Yes, that’s what I heard too. But the truth is slightly different. My brother risked his life to save a noble’s daughter who was being held captive. And even though he barely escaped with his life, the Knights pinned all the responsibility on him and drove him to his death. That’s the undeniable truth.”
He spoke as if he had been there.
There was no hesitation in his words.
At the same time, I understood. I couldn’t help but understand.
There was a fatal discrepancy between him and Zenoah.
If I believed Zenoah’s words, the ‘Magician Hunter’ before me was believing a conveniently altered version of the truth by the upper echelons of the country.
“Even so, I’m sure my brother wouldn’t want me to kill anyone. He was a pacifist through and through. But I won’t forgive them. Even if it means disregarding the feelings of the dead, I won’t forgive them. They kept saying that everyone in the Knights Order was like family, yet in the end, they protected themselves by sacrificing one person. You expect me to forgive that? …Don’t make me laugh.”
However, I wondered. Even though he was the younger brother of the person involved, was there really never a single opportunity for the Knights to tell him the truth, even after five years?
If so, had Zenoah lied to me? Or had he truly never had the chance to hear it? The more I heard, the more confused I became.
At that moment.
“—That’s wrong!!!”
A powerful, emotional voice boomed from behind.
It was the voice of the magician who had been targeted by the ‘Magician Hunter.’
“It’s true that we couldn’t save Bermuda. I’m not going to try to sugarcoat that now. But we swear we weren’t trying to protect ourselves…!! Sacrificing one person? There wasn’t a single bastard like that in the Knights back then!!! Don’t tell me you believed the words of those damn nobles.”
The man screamed, giving in to his raging emotions. …There was no way he looked like he was lying.
“I could understand if you resented us for not saving Bermuda. I have no idea why you’re doing this after five years, but if it makes you feel better, I was willing to accept it… But protecting ourselves by sacrificing one person? Do you really think we sacrificed Bermuda?”
There was definite anger in his eyes. As if to say, how dare you say that? The magician was angry.
“…I heard from Zenoah that the upper echelons of the country spread that story.”
So wouldn’t it be natural for the ‘Magician Hunter’ to think that way? I asked.
However, a denial came back immediately.
“…Young Zenoah, who was a rookie back then, wouldn’t know, but I was relatively close to Bermuda. So I know that he used to send letters to his brother regularly, filled with complaints. That’s why I can’t believe it. Bermuda’s brother, whose catchphrase was that there’s nothing less trustworthy than nobles, is actually believing the words of those damn nobles. I can’t believe it. Hey, who put that idea in your head…?”
“…You’re still going to play dumb?”
The ‘Magician Hunter’s’ face—a vein throbbed in his temple.
“Hey!! Answer me!! Who said that!? Who told you that was the truth!? How can you believe that so stubbornly!?”
Judging from the ‘Magician Hunter’s’ words, he seemed to believe without a doubt that what he had just said was true.
However, even I, who was completely out of the loop, wondered.
How could he believe it so much? His attitude made it seem like he was ruling out any other possibility.
“How can I believe it? …That’s obvious, isn’t it…?!! It’s—”
Just as the ‘Magician Hunter’ was about to say something, with a look that suggested he was about to attack—
Clang. An unidentified dropping sound suddenly echoed through the area.
I looked around—and confirmed.
The source of the sound was right next to the ‘Magician Hunter.’ The weapon he held had left his hand, and for some reason, he began to repeat the same words, “It’s, it’s…,” unnaturally.
He somehow looked troubled.
“—It’s…?”
Tilting his head slightly, the ‘Magician Hunter’ eventually reached for his head.
He began to hold his head as if fighting a headache.
…I couldn’t understand what was going on.
“Wrong, wrong. Wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong!!! They’re the bad ones. All of them. Everything. That’s why I’m doing this for my brother. For my brother? N-No, originally I, I? He said it was right, that it was true, but in my brother’s letters… Eh, ah, uh, ah, ah, gi, I, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts…!”
He screamed, clutching his head.
Frantically, the ‘Magician Hunter’ began to utter words like a curse, looking distraught.
“Tch—…So that’s it. Hey, kid!”
The magician clicked his tongue in disgust and called out to me, “Kid.”
“Don’t even think about doing anything stupid!! He’s being mentally manipulated by someone right now. This is the same symptom that people whose memories have been tampered with by mental magic show. If you stimulate him carelessly, who knows what he’ll do.”
Perhaps I had unconsciously put more force into my grip on the sword than usual.
He warned me in advance.
“…Just give up quietly. You don’t stand a chance against him, even when he’s holding back in his normal state.”
—It was a bit creepy, but still.
I was about to continue, but he interrupted me before I could.
“If we let him rampage in this state where we don’t even know if he’s rational, people will definitely die. I’m a Knight, even if I’m a former one. I can’t overlook that. So—please.”
Whether I could win or not.
That aside, if this continued, people would die. It was a fact I had vaguely realized, but being told that to my face, I couldn’t help but back down.
My desire to become stronger was real.
Even so, I believed I still had enough sanity to judge that I shouldn’t do it at the expense of unrelated people.
…However, wouldn’t it be a problem to leave such a dangerous person alone?
To that question that I couldn’t help but ask,
“It’s not a problem. This state is just a clouding of his memories. He should calm down in about ten minutes. It’s much more dangerous to stimulate him while his tampered memories and original memories are mixed up.”
The words came to me, so accurate it was as if he had read my mind.
[Translator – Vine]
[Proofreader – Lust]
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