Chapter 203: 188

「Now, I don't like long, boring preambles, so I'll ask you plainly and simply」

We had relocated to an even more secluded spot along the outer walls.

It was late at night, and the moons were floating bewitchingly in the sky. The twinkling stars looked ominous to me.

「The person who hunted down the representative hero of the Second Pope, Varner Kalbezzo, was it you?」

「You must be joking」

There's no proof. So long as that baldy doesn't sell me out, the truth will never be exposed.

Even if he does, I've taken a few precautions. At worst, I'll take the baldy down with me.

「In that case, does this look familiar to you?」

「――――――!!」

Suddenly,

The hair all over my body stood on end.

As if I had been tossed into extremely frigid temperatures without any protection from the cold, as if my skin had been frozen and my flesh had been split, as if a blade had been stabbed into my heart, a tremendous sense of peril overcame me.

My survival instincts made my body move on its own.

A flash of silver in the dark night.

An iai-draw of the cane-sword.

A slash with such godly speed that it surpassed even my own senses.

It's the culmination of the ultimate techniques I've acquired in this world.

If it were unleashed against an ordinary opponent, they would likely die without even realizing that they had been slashed.

It should be enough to kill him.

If it couldn’t, then it would mean that I was facing an opponent I had no chance against.

My cane-sword was blocked by a hair-covered hand.

Rather than flesh, it gave off the sensation of thick rubber. I could feel the blade bite into it ever so slightly, but even a hundred more slashes would not be enough for my blade to reach bone.

「Instead of being frightened or cowering back, you unleashed your blade, huh? As I suspected, you've fought "beasts" before, haven't you?」

Half of Khius' face and one arm had turned beast-like.

His fur was gray and his fingernails had turned claw-like. He had a round, black nose and round ears.

No matter how I looked at it, he was a bear.

And one deserving of the adjective "ferocious" at that.

「Your appearance is not that of a hero. Nor of a beast, and certainly not of a man」

「Be at ease. How can I claim to be a hero if I cannot tame my own darkness? I have the beast inside me restrained」

The bear-like hand let go of the blade and I put some distance between us.

I tossed away my cane and placed my hand on my main weapon at my hip.

「Stay your blade. I have no intention of fighting this night」

「You expect me to trust you?」

「Then do as you please. Your reaction is proof enough. But what I don't understand is your level of skill. Your swordsmanship can be said to be impressive. It's more than enough to kill people. But it's not enough to slay beasts」

Now you’ve gone and said it.

Don't you realize that you're trampling on my pride with those words?

「Then, shall we see if you're right?」

「No. I've already said that I have no intention of fighting this night. A hero never goes back on his word」

「What proof is there that you're not two-faced?」

「My reputation and heroism are proof」

「Such things don't matter to me」

「That enmity you have………do you have a grudge against Elysium? What's the reason behind it?」

「Oh, come on, why would I tell you anything?」

Only a fool would tell his enemy about himself.

「If there's a good reason behind the killing of a hero, I would very much be interested in hearing it」

「I didn't kill any hero」

What a transparent lie, if I do say so myself. Even so, there's no way I can admit to it.

「I see, then let's talk under the assumption that you weren't the one who killed him」

「Come again?」

What the heck is this guy saying?

「The reason why Varner was killed. Was it a grudge? An act of folly?」

What should I do here?

There's no benefit to be gained by brushing him off with silence.

Rather than killing him using Wild Hunt, there's more to be gained by talking to him.

「Under the assumption that this is all conjecture on my part, I'll answer」

「That’s fine with me」

What a difficult opponent to deal with. He crushes underfoot all of my logical arguments with just his intuition. It's like I'm dealing with His Majesty.

No, it's not the same. This guy is an enemy.

「He self-destructed because of his own grudges, his own foolishness, and his own scheming. You call that guy a hero? Don't make me laugh. He betrayed his comrades like a rat, snapped at others like a stray dog, and in the end, he turned into a beast after throwing a hissy fit about all he resented. He was no better than a street thug. Dead drunks that you can find anywhere are a hundred times better than him」

「Then, Varner and………………sorry, I'm drawing a blank. The abandoned son of Gasim, his name――――」

「It's Irvin! Irvin, the dragon scale!」

Is this guy trying to provoke me?!

「Right, it's Irvin Foz Gasim. The monster that the two of them are said to have given their lives to defeat, that's Varner after he turned into a beast, am I right?」

「That’s right!」

「Did you help?」

「I didn't. Irvin did it all. By himself! Putting his own life on the line!」

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「I see」

Khius' beast-like features subsided and he reverted to human form.

He wasn't kidding. Amazingly, he really has full control over it.

「The next thing I want to ask you about is the matter of Sanperie Godoru. I can imagine what happened to some extent, but did he lose his life because he got caught up in Varner's scheme?」

「No idea. But I'm pretty sure you're right」

「How did he die?」

「He turned into a half-beast much like you, and was defeated by the father of adventurers」

「Half-beast, huh………………」

Khius put his hand to his chin and appeared to be pondering something.

「Considering the conflict between the Godoru family and the Second Pope, that makes sense. But that's exactly why I can't accept it」

「Huh?」

「How was Luxgaru involved in all this? What connection is there between this and his violent actions?」

「No idea」

I don't know anything about the state of affairs between the Popes.

And I know even less about the state of affairs among the knights.

「I don't get it. It's all the more puzzling because you're not lying. Luxgaru is a knight who made his way up on merit. He should have been able to anticipate Varner's antics. If so, there's only one explanation. ………………Was it Luxgaru who set Sanperie up?」

「No, like I told you, I have no idea」

After all this time, why do you care about a guy who got himself decapitated?

「Don't just say that you have no idea. Think it over. The misdeeds of a clever man are parts of a larger scheme. The important question is, who is this scheme meant to ensnare? Listen to me, Souya. Luxgaru was assigned to Varner on my orders. That's because Varner's childish madness brings disgrace to Elysium. I've never been wrong about a man in my life. I entrusted Luxgaru with this task because I believed he could handle it without issue. And yet―――――」

「I guess your instincts about him were simply wrong」

「………………」

Don't go quiet all of a sudden. It's scary.

Or rather, where does your confidence come from? You had better not be blinded by your ego.

「I was wrong, huh………it's possible. Heroes are people too, and I'm just a person. We all make mistakes in judgment at least once in our lives. If I had simply misjudged him, then it's fine. But what if I had not been wrong about him?」

「No, like I told you………」

I have――――

「Luxgaru had a grand ambition. I can see him disregarding my orders if he found something related to that」

「What's this ambition of his?」

The word "ambition" makes me just a little bit more intrigued about this knight called Luxgaru. He's the guy who turned his blade on me and died laughing. Come to think of it, was it right after that incident that Lys showed up?

「It's to bring salvation to our blood. Luxgaru had a dream of saving the very foundations of Elysium」

That guy,

That knight-companion that went insane had said this before he died.

『My god, oh Lyridias! I’ve finally found it! I tricked my friend and conspired against my teacher! I sacrificed even the hero that I served! Finally! Finally! I’ve found the linchpin to Elysium’s salvation! Our curse! This crafty hero is the very one who will! Please, my god! To that body of his―――――』

What did he want with me? What was he going to say there at the end?

「Something comes to mind, doesn't it?」

「No」

I'll deny it for now.

Even if I've discovered the truth, there's no reason for me to tell it to him.

「Hmm, I see. I see, I understand now」

「I still have no idea what's going on though」

The hero-sama accepted it all by himself.

「I'm saying that you're a man who can be trusted」

「Huhhh?」

There's got to be a limit to how misguided you can be. I'm a suspect in Varner's murder, you know?

This hero, is he a few cards short of a full deck?

「Everything starts with trust. That's how human relationships(kankei) work」

「It’d be nice if no one fell for schemes(kankei) though」[1]

「Hmm?」

It seems that sarcasm involving homonyms is lost on the people of the alternate world.

「Now that I know you can be trusted, I have a favor to ask of you, Souya」

「I refuse. That said, I get the feeling that you're going to force me to do it anyway. I refuse, but I'll at least listen to what you have to say」

This hero is just a pain in the ass all around.

And as I thought, he's really similar to His Majesty. I have trouble with him. He's the type of person I hate the most to have as an enemy.

「In two days, a magistrate of the St. Lyridias Order will arrive in this city of Lemuria for a visit」

「………A magistrate」

I've heard many bad rumors about them.

Like how they abuse their authority to conduct something similar to witch hunts in various regions.

「Would you do me the favor of assassinating that magistrate?」

「………………Huh?」

No, wait.

Huh?

[1] I must say, this is very well-crafted. Too bad it doesn’t translate so well. Anyway…

Relationship(関係) and scheme(奸計) can be pronounced the exact same way in Japanese. In other words, Khius could very well be saying, “Everything starts with trust. That's how human schemes work”, which would still be 100% true. Souya is pointing that out by making a sarcastic comment about falling for schemes.

That ending lol. It’s really one of the few times Souya is completely flummoxed. Like he said, evil and greedy guys are easy for him, but it’s these kinds of people he has trouble with. But I don’t think I can blame him for being confused there. Why is an upstanding hero of Elysium asking someone to assassinate a magistrate of St. Lyridias??!! We’ve heard about the internal conflict within Elysium several times now, but it’s this bad? And is Khius the good guy here or…? So many questions! And if you’ve noticed, there’s one important fact that the author highlighted there. Something about the timing in which a certain person appeared… Well, stay tuned!

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