Growth (2)

Claire didn’t seem to have any particular feelings toward Lilia.

Though Lilia was a half-demon like Burke, she was someone who had broken free from the half-demon command structure.

Despite surely having thoughts about comparing her to her brother who had no choice but to die…

“Hey.”

“Eek!”

When Claire called out to Lilia who was hastily grabbing and eating food.

Lilia jumped in surprise as if she had committed some crime, turning her head around.

Well, she actually did commit crimes.

Though she seems like a completely different person now to everyone who remembers her previous behavior, shrinking back like this…

This is probably closer to Lilia’s true nature.

How could someone who had spent so long cooped up inside with only Eremus for company find it easy to talk to others?

Now that puberty is over, all that’s left is to writhe in agony over those dark history moments.

“Um, yeah.”

“Hm?”

“Uh…?”

Claire’s brows furrow.

Lilia shrinks back even more, wondering if she did something wrong.

“Why do you say ‘yeah’ to me but ‘yes’ to everyone else?”

What’s with this kid? Trying to establish a hierarchy at a time like this?

Lilia seems to have felt a sense of familiarity with Claire who appeared around her age, but Claire who had received a high-class education from me clearly thought differently.

What remarkable confidence, when just one hit would decide victory or defeat.

“Because… you look similar to me…?”

“Wrong. Lilia. I’m your senior.”

The girl before us has lived for at least thousands of years.

“R-really?”

“I’m turning 15 this year. What about you, Lilia?”

“Huh? Probably four thous-”

“Tell me your exact age. Let’s count from one. How old are you?”

“Uhh… One, two, three… ten. Oh n-no, I ran out of fingers!”

“Then you’re ten years old.”

“Eh?”

Lilia, who had been counting on her fingers, suddenly became flustered when she realized she could only count up to ten even using both hands.

Claire pressed her argument as if she had expected this.

If she had planned this all out, it would be quite cunning indeed.

“Now, call me unnie.”

“Unnie? How can you be my unnie!”

“Now watch carefully. One, two, three… fifteen. I’m fifteen years old.”

“A-amazing! Unnie!”

“Good. That’s exactly right.”

Claire nods repeatedly as if she had heard exactly what she wanted to hear.

She looks truly triumphant.

“Finally, my tiresome life as the youngest is over.”

What life as the youngest?

Claire lived like a princess. She didn’t do any unpleasant work and spent most of her time lying down.

“Lost. Aren’t the two of them so cute? Fufu.”

Linea smiled softly watching the little ones act this way.

I’m not sure what the age difference is to make her react like that, but it is entertaining to watch. A little one establishing hierarchy over another little one.

It feels rather petty.

“Linea. Do you think Eremus… that is, the Corruptor, taught that kid basic education?”

“…I’m not sure, but probably not.”

“I see.”

The list of textbooks to prepare has grown.

Lilia will eventually come out into the world. She won’t want to live forever in a forest stained with corruption.

So she’ll need at least minimal education to prepare for that time.

“Well then, I’ll be heading out for a bit, so all of you get along well.”

“Leaving again already?”

Linea looks up at me as I stand, seemingly worried.

Yeah, she’s the only one who worries about me.

“The cleanup needs to be done for things to truly end. Don’t wait up since I might be late.”

Fortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any hostility toward Lilia among my companions, so there shouldn’t be any problems leaving her with them.

“And while I’m gone, try to make that one more presentable.”

“Ah… I will.”

Having lived so freely, her hair is disheveled and she smells strongly of rain overall.

This level is only acceptable because we’re in Rubia – if we were anywhere else, she wouldn’t even have been allowed to sit at the dining table.

“Ah, and…”

Suddenly I realized I hadn’t said the most important thing.

“That Spirin family medicine was a huge help. Thank you.”

Though it wasn’t actually that helpful against the phenomenon of corruption, the sentiment behind it doesn’t just disappear.

*     *     *

I came to find Kruud for our earlier promise. Though it’s already what you’d call nighttime, the situation warrants it.

Just looking at Kruud’s stiff expression tells me this is no ordinary matter.

“Look at this first.”

Kruud tapped his desk. On it was a letter that had already been opened, presumably after Kruud had read it.

“Hmm.”

There was something I could understand as soon as I read the letter. This is a will. Moreover, it’s Anne’s will, written before being killed by Kruud.

It seems she had anticipated even her own death.

She had even written that the death would come by Kruud’s hand.

Could this be some kind of reward for defeating her?

“Old Lady Anne wasn’t a half-demon.”

“…That is surprising.”

I already knew this from Claire.

Anne bled red blood. Far from regenerating, she was mortally wounded by just one shot from Claire.

Kruud could have won just by holding out.

Perhaps he ended it with his own hands out of a sense of responsibility that he had to do it himself.

“This should help.”

The will’s contents are simple.

It states that all of Anne’s assets will be transferred to Kruud.

Considering the scroll book Anne was said to have possessed, there probably isn’t much actual funding left.

Still, being a merchant guild master, the remaining funds must be considerable.

And those funds could be a weapon to instantly overturn the hunter discrimination phenomenon in Rubia.

“But where did this come from?”

If it didn’t come through proper channels, there would likely be controversy about whether the will might be fake from the start.

This world is full of people who lose their shame when faced with money.

The smarter people are, the more likely they are to have ulterior motives.

How much more so with merchants whose lives revolve around money?

“A young woman claiming to be Anne’s proxy delivered it.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, I thought the remains should go back to her family so I went to the merchant company. That’s when I received it.”

“What was this proxy like? Was she someone you knew from before?”

“No, first time meeting her.”

Is it just my imagination? This suddenly appearing proxy. She seems suspicious.

“There was nothing suspicious about it. This will is genuine and all the legal procedures were already completed. Above all, she seemed genuinely sad.”

Kruud’s judgment shouldn’t be poor. He is a guild master who has to manage numerous hunters after all.

If that’s how she appeared to his eyes, it must surely be true.

“Then everything seems good, so why do you look like that?”

Does he regret killing Anne? But his seriousness seems to point in a different direction.

His expression is like someone worried that some problem might arise.

“Hmm… I think it would be faster to show you directly. Let’s head to Anne’s merchant company first.”

Kruud seemed to ponder for a moment before ruffling his hair and standing up. Though I wondered if it was alright to visit at this hour of night, thinking about it, Kruud was now the owner of the company.

“I feel like we might be missing something. To confirm that, I think I need to hear whatever it is she’s hiding…”

Kruud’s decision was simple.

Whether to reveal that something or not would be entirely up to me.

He would just show me the materials to make that judgment.

*     *     *

The merchant building was dark. Natural, since its owner Anne had died.

Kruud opened the building’s door using the key he received from the proxy.

The interior was already cleared out.

All that remains now is the massive fortune heading to Kruud and the building itself.

Whether the goods had already been converted to money or not, there wasn’t much left.

“The work was done quickly. As if she knew she would die.”

Just this morning when we visited, there had been quite a lot of goods piled up.

It seems the cleanup started right after I left…

Strange. Looking at how cleanly this was handled, it’s as if she never intended to live from the start.

Then why? Why did she try to clear a path and get killed by Kruud?

“Half-demons can’t disobey orders from the demon who created them, right?”

“…”

Did Anne refuse Belial’s orders?

That could certainly happen. But that’s precisely why it doesn’t make sense.

“That bastard wouldn’t use a being who isn’t a half-demon as his means.”

“Who is this bastard?”

“The <One Who Is Everywhere>, Malice.”

Considering Belial’s meticulous nature, this was strange from the start.

Using someone who might betray him as a half-demon?

And for something this important?

No matter how you think about it, it’s not like him.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. When a Pantheon Temple priest comes all this way and goes to such lengths, even monsters from legends might actually exist.”

Kruud looked relieved.

He seems pleased that I briefly explained the background of my actions.

Malice is written to exist but is considered a trial that doesn’t actually exist.

At least that’s how it’s known to the public. Since Malice is a word meaning human malice itself.

The fact that it refers to an actually existing individual is, as Kruud said, something that only appears in legends.

That’s why it’s questionable.

“You don’t seem particularly surprised.”

“Is that so?”

Even though all this chaos was caused by something that seems like it belongs in a fairy tale, he seems too calm no matter how you look at it.

“Why do you think that?”

Kruud moved toward the back of the merchant building with a slight smile.

It seems what lies ahead includes the reason for that calmness as well.

“Now then, what do you think this is?”

The back of the merchant building. A place where dust had been swept away as if some large object had been moved.

In the place Kruud guided me to was a door leading underground that would have been hidden normally.

Nothing special about it. For someone of merchant guild master level, having a few back doors like this would be natural.

Of course, depending on their purpose, these doors are mostly…

“Not just a simple escape route, I take it.”

If that were the case, there would have been no reason for Kruud to guide me here. Kruud shrugged his shoulders and opened the door leading underground.

It wasn’t as wide as expected. But it was deep. As if dug deep to prevent sound from escaping.

When we reached the bottom underground after climbing down the ladder like that.

Clank clank.

The sound of chains dragging came from behind me. I slowly turned my body toward the source of that sound.

“Hey, heresy inquisitor. What does this look like to you?”

“This is insane…”

The moment I confirmed the form of the demon bound in chains, my mind went completely blank.

“How is this one here?”

I know this demon. It was infamous even before my regression.

Not only was its power extraordinary, but its cruelty was beyond words.

Why would someone who would cause all sorts of atrocities in the future be here?

“Don’t tell me…”

“At least it means Old Lady Anne wasn’t a demon’s half-demon.”

Belial doesn’t use non-demons for important matters like this.

That’s why it was questionable and why I couldn’t suspect Anne.

But that was natural.

Belial’s half-demon wasn’t Anne but the demon before our eyes.

This one was supposed to fight Kruud who was blocking the path.

“Then what was Old Lady Anne’s purpose?”

If so, then why Anne?

For what purpose?

Why was she acting in this demon’s place?

“I don’t know what’s what anymore.”

Kruud muttered as if drained. I feel the same way.

I don’t know what’s what.

The only thing I can understand is one thing.

That there might be a third force that even I don’t know about.

*     *     *

The one who took care of Anne’s remains was a woman with black hair in black clothing.

Anne’s proxy that Kruud mentioned was none other than Revenna.

“Thank you, Anne.”

Anne died for her sake.

To deceive Belial’s eyes.

From the start, Belial was a cunning demon who had lived for ages.

He wouldn’t have backed down just because Revenna bowed her head.

The reason he backed down was because he had another plan for Rubia from the start.

It was natural for him, who had once mocked Revenna’s wishes in the form of half-demons.

The confidence that things could be resolved even if he backed down.

Since Belial truly did back down, he hadn’t even deceived Revenna.

And the reason for that confidence was that large-scale battles were actually happening in places other than where Lost was.

There was a need to show that his half-demon was actually fighting.

Revenna drew attention so the true nature of that battle couldn’t be properly seen.

Fortunately, Belial withdrew without particular suspicion, believing only that his half-demon was fighting.

“You were… too much of a daughter to me.”

And so Anne was sacrificed.

Judging that she needed to be sincere and deceive even allies to fool a demon, she threw away her life.

Anne’s goal was never Lilia from the start. It was just misdirection to show that someone was fighting somewhere else.

The deception operation that she carried out betting even her life naturally brought excellent results. As a merchant pursuing the best results, it was the best outcome.

“But did it have to be done that way? Couldn’t it have worked with just acting after explaining beforehand?”

But that couldn’t be called the best result in every aspect.

Revenna mourned Anne’s death.

She grew depressed watching her daughter who had gone this far for her sake.

“You worked hard, Anne. Thanks to your sacrifice, the city you loved will be saved.”

But at the very least, she had to honor her efforts.

Revenna laid numerous flowers on the coffin containing Anne’s remains.

A child who used to gift her flowers. A child who was more brilliant than anyone.

A beloved daughter who would visit her at the frontier every year even after becoming a merchant and rising to a high position.

She remembers every moment.

That’s why nothing could be more grateful and sorrowful than this.

“May your soul find rest filled with warmth.”

As she prayed for her daughter, she looked almost like a Saintess.

Revenna shed endless tears before Anne’s remains like that.