60
Chapter 60
The Black Fang fanatics appeared out of nowhere.
After somehow using my wits to evacuate them properly, I looked at the remaining people.
Since far more people than expected had turned into passionate Black Fang supporters, our numbers had drastically decreased compared to before.
Their faces were full of guilt.
Their apologies toward me were evident in their eyes.
I understood why they were acting like that.
They probably thought that although they had received help in the past, they turned a blind eye when it was their turn to help.
But I was genuinely fine with it.
Even setting aside the fact that most of them had their own valid reasons, like being too young, too old, or physically unfit.
'To begin with, this is actually more comfortable for me.'
They were easier to deal with than the passionate Black Fang supporters.
If I were the real Black Fang Leader, I might have felt a little hurt. But I'm not the Black Fang Leader, am I?
It was just that the passionate supporters misunderstood my words however they liked; I only told the truth.
I am not the Black Fang Leader.
Since none of you or I have anything to do with Black Fang, let's run away before getting swept up in it.
It was the unvarnished truth.
However, just like the Boy Who Cried Wolf, the truth was buried under my karma of impersonating Black Fang.
So in fact, those people were actually following my lead well.
Because of that, I explained the situation once again to the people who were still drowning in guilt.
"Please don't worry too much about it. Like I said earlier, I'm really not the Black Fang Leader."
How many times had I said this today alone?
I continued speaking while having such a ridiculous thought.
"Whether you help Black Fang or not has nothing to do with me. You don't need to feel guilty about it either."
However, what returned were only expressions filled with even more guilt.
Their reaction was as if they had just heard an outdated April Fool's joke.
Well, it wasn't an unexpected result, to be honest.
The chance to clear up the misunderstanding that I wasn't the Black Fang Leader had already passed.
-Now is the time to conserve our strength. For that day that will eventually come.
The moment I brought that up, I had essentially admitted to being the Black Fang Leader.
So it would actually be stranger if they believed my explanation.
I was experiencing the emotions of the Boy Who Cried Wolf in real-time.
Because I went around bragging that I was the Black Fang Leader since it was useful, no one believed me even when I told the truth now.
I sighed and looked once more at the people gathered in front of me. Countless eyes were staring at me.
'Actually, whether they're depressed about it or not, what I have to do doesn't change.'
Our location here had already been exposed to the Empire.
It seemed there was some misunderstanding, making them mistake me for a petty criminal impersonating Black Fang.
That wanted poster.
If that became a source of terror and the Empire started scouring the entire country...
their eyes might reach this place once again.
So I couldn't just leave these people here.
I needed to scatter them across the Empire so they could go into hiding.
Therefore, regardless of how they felt, I had to set that aside and focus on getting them to safety first.
Just as I was about to speak with that in mind,
'......?'
A strange, utterly bizarre instinct washed over me.
It felt like I shouldn't just let the conversation fizzle out like this. That I needed to do something more.
I was bewildered by what was happening, but then it hit me.
The Whispering Earrings.
An artifact that my close friend Asel had cheerfully gifted me, saying it suited me better.
It definitely had a function that boosted intuition.
......But how was this important in this current situation?
Would anything really change significantly just because I said something here?
I couldn't understand it at all.
But... now that I had this feeling, it would leave a bad taste in my mouth to just ignore it.
'Besides, I probably won't ever see these people again anyway.'
I had built at least a superficial bond with them while running the relief center. Parting on a sour note like this weighed on my mind.
That was why I opened my mouth again.
Well, I wasn't trying to do anything grand.
I was just going to add a few words to lessen their guilt.
******
The girl simply couldn't bring herself to meet the Leader's eyes.
The Leader had done so much for her.
He had saved her life and cured her mother, who had been dying of illness.
And yet. The girl couldn't step forward.
-Please, let me stay by your side!
When everyone else stepped up to help Black Fang, she kept her mouth shut.
And she rationalized it to herself.
That it was unavoidable.
That she had to nurse her mother, who hadn't fully recovered her strength yet,
That she wouldn't be of much help in a fight anyway, even if she stepped up.
She had been so happy when she received help, but now that it was her turn to help, she was turning a blind eye.
There were limits to being selfish.
"Everyone has different things they can do."
The Leader's voice rang out right at the moment when the girl was suffering from intense guilt.
"Just because you can't fight doesn't mean you should be ashamed of it."
How kind.
It was an incredibly kind thing to say.
The people gathered here had all been saved by the Leader. Yet, they had ungratefully refused to help him, citing their own circumstances.
Even so, the Leader was speaking.
Saying that he didn't blame them.
"I'll say it again, everyone has completely different things they can do."
Saying that he understood they had no choice.
However, that kindness only tormented the girl further. The guilt of betraying such a person washed over her bitterly.
And... the Leader's voice rang out once more.
"You don't necessarily have to repay me by fighting."
The girl looked at the Leader again.
The Leader continued in his usual friendly tone.
"If you truly want to repay me, then please help anyone you can as you live your life. That is more than enough."
As if he had read the girl's mind. As if he had read the guilt of everyone present.
"Even with just those small acts, the world will become a much better place."
That was the request the man had made.
As the price for saving their lives, he had asked for nothing more than that.
There was no one here foolish enough to not understand the meaning behind it.
That wasn't just a request; it was consideration.
Consideration meant to lighten their burden.
The girl looked at the Leader once again. She stared at the kind Leader.
And she thought.
That she couldn't let things end like this.
That she couldn't just keep receiving help without giving anything back.
If so, what should she do?
What could she, a coward, possibly do?
The answer to that... was already decided.
Hadn't the Leader said so from the beginning?
That everyone has different things they can do.
Taking up arms and fighting was impossible for her.
But... she could do other things.
Drawing strength from her core, the girl shouted at the top of her lungs.
"Understood, Leader!!"
The attention of everyone around shifted to the girl. However, she paid it no mind and continued speaking.
"I will help people just like you, Leader! I will save people in the name of Black Fang!"
Even if fighting with a weapon was impossible for her, she could still spread the name of Black Fang far and wide.
"I truly appreciate the sentiment. But you don't necessarily have to use the name of Black Fang...."
The Leader spoke with a troubled expression.
Given the current situation.
It was obvious what was happening.
That kind person was still worrying about them, afraid they might get unnecessarily caught by the Empire while spreading the name of Black Fang.
However.......
"Don't you worry about that, Leader! I might be missing a leg, but I'm not lacking in perception. You think a cripple like me survived here for nothing!"
"M-Me too! If doing so can be of help to you, Leader...."
This was the response of the people.
Their true feelings were that they wanted to somehow be of help to that kind person.
The girl smiled as she watched the scene.
It was exactly as the Leader had said.
With just one small act, the situation had changed so drastically.
Perhaps... the Leader had foreseen all of this from the start, the girl genuinely thought to herself.
*****
I blankly stared at the scene unfolding before my eyes.
I had merely spouted a few cliché lines like some public service announcement. So what in the world was this sudden disaster?
I had clearly just entrusted the Black Fang fanatics to Rien and sent them off.
Yet out of nowhere, perfectly normal people had turned into fanatics.
I pulled the culprit behind this entire fiasco off my ear and stared at it.
'Is this earring seriously broken or something?'
I thought it was supposed to enhance my intuition, so why did things only get more complicated when I followed it?
Did that bastard Asel give me a defective product?
How could he give a friend something like this as a gift?
A headache naturally washed over me.
I massaged my temples and let out a deep sigh.
'I'm seriously losing my mind.'
The world was seriously just out to get me.