41
Chapter 41
I had no choice but to retract the assessment I had made of Miss Rubia earlier.
A cold Entrepreneur, my ass. She was definitely just an immature, frivolous Noonim.
'She seems like someone who would have really succeeded if she ran a patriotic YouTube channel in the modern era. She was totally born in the wrong time.'
It was only natural for me to think that way.
All I told her to do was reveal our identity to the kids and check if they wanted to participate.
That nervous expression.
The way she was even breaking out in a cold sweat.
With a face that looked like it had the words "Here it comes" written all over it, she loudly gulped.
Her reactions are truly something else.
Even during that fake fang incident back then, she was so scared she fainted, and on the train, she made a huge fuss over absolutely nothing.
Even now, she had the expression of someone who had taken on a world-saving mission.
"When you say confirm their resolve......."
"That would be checking if they can join us."
Why on earth is she asking something so obvious?
I just couldn't understand her way of thinking.
Since we were taking the kids in to train them.
It's not like I'm a psychopath; obviously, we need to get their consent.
We had to explain what kind of training they would be doing in the future and how they would be living. It was necessary to tell them all that and confirm if they were truly resolved.
"We need to explain what we'll be doing from now on and check if the kids can keep up with it."
I explained it to Miss Rubia once again.
Even though Miss Rubia was making such a fuss, it wasn't actually that big of a deal.
When we rescued the kids from the Black Market, we had already asked them once beforehand.
This was just a reconfirmation.
"If.... the kids aren't ready...... w-will you kill them?"
......For a moment, my mind went blank.
It was a good thing I hadn't drunk my black tea.
If I had, I definitely would have spit a massive mouthful of tea all over Miss Rubia.
"What kind of nonsense are you spouting?"
I knew she was weird, but this was crossing the line. Seriously, why would I kill someone just because they didn't sign a consent form?
If they don't want to do it, they don't want to do it.
It's not like I'm some crazy psychopath.
Kidnapping kids and forcing them to fight would just make me a crazy piece of trash.
Things like this must always be done with their consent.
I won't make the kids do anything unreasonable, and I'll guarantee them a life that's as safe as possible.
Even so, isn't their own will the most important thing here?
"We just have them take a Mana Oath not to blab about us, and then let them go."
Miss Rubia makes a flustered expression at my words.
As if she thought I was going to kill that child.
......Just what kind of person did she see me as?
It felt a bit weird, but I couldn't exactly call her out on it since I had some guilty conscience about it.
I had been acting a bit reckless lately.
Impersonating the Empire's most vicious Terrorist organization.
Killing the Black Market operator and robbing the place.
Spamming anti-Empire propaganda videos. (I'm still diligently uploading these every day like they're daily quests.)
If someone doing all this didn't look like a lunatic, that would be even stranger.
For me, I did it thinking there was no need to be picky when the world was on the verge of destruction at the slightest misstep.
But Miss Rubia wouldn't know those circumstances.
Well, in the end, it was my own karma.
I eventually opened my mouth again to give a detailed explanation.
"We're just confirming their resolve, whether they can keep up with us. Even if someone isn't ready, we'd support them, not kill them."
First of all, they were all young kids.
If we cast them out and they got captured as Slaves again, I'd definitely have nightmares.
As for food expenses, well, just using the gold coins Asel provided would be enough for 30 years.
Even if there are defectors, we just need to take care of them.
"I, I see!"
Miss Rubia replied with lively energy.
She seemed to be in a really good mood.
It seemed like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
'So the reason her reactions were so strange until now was because of this.'
She had definitely misunderstood something about me.
I still question why she didn't believe me when I offered to give them a Mana Oath. Well, it's a relief she cleared up the misunderstanding now.
"I completely understand! You definitely... need to check if they're resolved. If only for the children's safety."
Miss Rubia said her piece and left the room.
I wondered why.
Her words that she completely understood bothered me so subtly.
It was something I just couldn't figure out.
*****
Rubia felt like she could fly away at any moment.
She hadn't been able to sleep properly lately because of her worries.
She had finally lifted her biggest concern.
'The Leader is definitely a bit scary, but.......'
She was certain he wasn't a bad person.
Wasn't that fact clear just from his reaction earlier?
Killing an Archmage so casually, ignoring a Mana Oath,
He certainly possessed strength that was hardly human, though.
But his heart seemed to be much warmer than she had expected.
'In the first place, Black Fang itself is quite a pacifistic organization.'
Pursuing a peaceful revolution by joining hands with Nobles instead of wiping them out.
Not laying a finger on Civilians.
For a revolutionary group, they were on the gentle side.
'He might have been angry last time for that exact reason.'
The Black Market incident.
That matter where he instantly wiped the fake Black Fang and the Archmage running the Black Market from the face of the earth.
Since she was only human, she couldn't help but tremble in fear at the sight of the Leader committing such acts so casually.
But thinking about it again, as terrifying as it was, it was undoubtedly the right thing to do.
After all, he had severely punished the Empire's Knight who massacred people and killed the Black Mage who ran the Black Market.
The reason he delivered such harsh punishment back then was clearly born from that warm heart of his.
He had been furious simply because he couldn't stand by and watch such atrocities.
'There were quite a few other things that were a bit creepy, though.'
Still, wouldn't it be stranger if the senses of a being far beyond a normal human were the same as everyone else's?
Looking at it that way, a lot of things started to make sense.
Like his complete lack of financial sense.
And how he could easily ignore a Mana Oath, yet made the strange joke about being able to give her one.
If she considered that he was a transcendent being who could act like that, it was understandable to some extent.
Suddenly, she felt as if all the heavy burdens on her mind had completely vanished.
Come to think of it, this was by no means a bad situation for her.
Inhuman strength.
A majestic presence that seemed impossible for anyone to oppose.
And the person who possessed all of that was treating her more favorably than she had expected.
It also seemed like his personality was much better than she had initially thought.
Rubia smiled blissfully at her thoughts... before quickly snapping back to her senses.
It was only natural.
She hadn't become a successful Entrepreneur for nothing.
There was no poison more deadly than arrogance and overconfidence.
Even if a being close to an Outer God showed her goodwill, trusting in it blindly was strictly off-limits.
'He is definitely kind to his own people, but.'
Put differently, that meant he could be incredibly cruel to his enemies.
Moreover, strictly speaking, she was someone who had been an enemy of that Leader.
The Mana Poisoning Cure.
After all, she was the one who had tried to supply it to the Empire.
The Leader had spared her life as a final act of mercy.
Without letting her guard down, she had to prove her worth.
That was the best choice she could make right now.
She had to mobilize every ounce of her ability to help Black Fang.
'It just so happens I have an idea in mind.'
Lately, the number of Nobles trying to establish contact with Black Fang had been increasing.
Considering the intent behind those videos, it was obvious the Leader wanted new talent.
If that was the case, she would take the initiative to rigorously select and bring in reliable, capable individuals from among them.
That would certainly be enough to earn some merits.
'I need to finish the task the Leader gave me first, though.'
She had to tell the children about Black Fang's true, long-cherished wish—its noble goal.
And see if they truly had the resolve to dedicate their lives to it.
She perfectly understood the Leader's instructions.
This was also what Rubia wanted.
Even though she now knew the Leader was a kinder person than she had thought, her discomfort hadn't completely disappeared.
How could she not be on edge, living with someone so powerful that they could probably destroy an entire country with a single gesture?
But...... what was even more unsettling than him was his subordinate.
Especially that little girl named Ciel.
The Leader's Fanatic.
Every time she had a conversation with Ian, the look in that child's eyes was incredibly fierce.
As an Entrepreneur skilled at reading people's emotions, she could tell.
The twisted possessiveness dwelling within those eyes.
What made it worse was that the girl herself wasn't even aware of it.
If it was this intense while she was still oblivious, she didn't even want to imagine what would happen if that obsession truly awakened.
She had to prevent thirty more Fanatics like her from being created.
So, she would explain the true meaning of joining a revolutionary group.
She would stress the dangers to the kids once more, and if they got scared and gave up.
That would actually be a pretty good outcome for Rubia.
'They're just kids. If I scare them a little, won't they give up right away?'
With that in mind, Rubia entered the room where the children were.
Why was it, then?
She had a bad premonition about this, but...
It was surely just her imagination.
No matter how monstrous the Leader's abilities were.
Surely he hadn't captivated the children's hearts and turned them into his Believers in such a short amount of time?