Chapter 27
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: 8. The Understander
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I arrived at a remote village in the northern mountains.
No one lives here. Every single building has collapsed.
I found the most intact structure remaining.
An old warehouse on the edge of the village looked the least damaged.
As I stepped into the warehouse, a familiar voice greeted me.
"Who goes there?"
"Long time no see."
"...You look a bit different from back then. What happened?"
"This is my precious body. I even wear clothes sparingly."
Ludwig was sitting in the middle of the warehouse.
He looked far more haggard than the last time I'd seen him.
Deep shadows of fatigue lingered under his eyes, and his left arm was wrapped in bandages, making his movements look sluggish.
"I've heard the news. You're waging a guerrilla war after joining hands with demons, right? Looks like you've been through hell."
I glanced around. There were more people than I'd expected.
Faces absent from Blue Moon last time dotted the group. All of them were skilled superhumans.
"Lots of new faces."
Among them, I spotted a familiar one. Bellada.
"We haven't exactly been sitting on our hands."
"So, you've finally got some conviction?"
Ludwig stared at me observantly for a long while.
"Yeah. More precisely, I figured it might finally arise."
Ludwig slowly rose to his feet. He pulled something from his pocket.
A transparent orb with faint light swirling inside.
Fist-sized, its surface etched with fine patterns.
"An artifact infused with a demon's power."
Ludwig placed the orb on the table.
The moment it touched down, an eerie mana enveloped the entire warehouse.
"Within its range, it discerns the truth of every spoken word. Lies make it glow red."
"Oh."
"To confirm whether you truly intend to help us... or if you have other motives."
Ludwig's gaze sharpened. The Blue Moon members naturally shifted into combat stances around us.
Even a lie would have them lunging to skewer me in an instant.
'No, they'd definitely do it.'
Just having me here was a risk for Blue Moon.
I sat down across from the table. As our eyes met, the questions began immediately.
"Your name?"
"Alessandro Wayne."
The orb glowed red. The signal for a lie.
The warehouse atmosphere turned icy in an instant. Blue Moon members glared at me like they wanted to kill me.
'It's the truth, but it registered as a lie... Ah, that's why.'
It's been so long I'd forgotten how it worked.
'The demon of truth's power discerns truth from lies.'
But "discerning" here means it judges based on what the speaker believes to be true.
If you believe a falsehood is true, it registers as truth.
'Looks like I don't think of myself as Alessandro Wayne.'
A newly discovered fact.
"...is the name of the body I'm currently using."
The orb returned to its original color.
"Your real name?"
"You wouldn't know it even if I told you. I barely remember it myself."
The orb held its color. For some reason, the killing intent thickened even more.
"Crazy bastard. Forgetting your own name like it's a fart?"
"That mouth of his... Captain. You really planning to take this guy in? No telling what a lunatic like him might do."
Ludwig's expression grew increasingly grave. I didn't mind much.
"Quiet down, all of you. Say we accept you forgot your real name. Then what's your purpose right now?"
"Helping Blue Moon."
Not sufficient explanation, apparently. Ludwig stared at me silently.
"Helping Blue Moon avoid capture by the Empire and succeed in the revolution."
Ludwig fixed his gaze on the orb, staring intently to see if the color changed.
It didn't. Ludwig nodded reluctantly.
"...You're sincere. Then what's your goal?"
"Fun."
"...What?"
The orb held its color.
'Answering that I harbor resentment toward the Empire would be boring. Let's stir up some confusion.'
I continued with a smile.
"Seeing you all break down."
"Seeing you die miserably."
"Seeing the Empire crumble."
"Seeing the Emperor crucified."
All true.
With each statement, Blue Moon members began to panic.
Seeing the Empire crumble and the Emperor crucified as a goal.
But conversely, seeing Blue Moon ruined and dying pathetically was also a goal.
Contradictory positions, all true.
'I didn't say it, but seeing Ludwig flustered is one of them too.'
"...Is that how you get your kicks?"
I pushed away the blade pressed to my throat with my index finger.
The moment I spoke, someone had lunged to kill me.
"You're not right in the head."
Ludwig's assessment. The other members chimed in.
"Psycho. What kind of tastes does this freak have? Can't stomach it."
A sickle scraped my Adam's apple. A thin trickle of blood flowed.
"Agreed. This guy's indifferent whether we die or the Empire does. Long as it's entertaining, he'll betray either side."
I continued calmly.
After sowing some chaos, it was time to instill certainty again.
"I have no intention of betraying Blue Moon until you self-destruct. On the contrary, I'll help Blue Moon and watch just how far you can go."
"Five days ago, in Eisenheim, I took out Leonidas to help Blue Moon."
All true, once more.
"What?!"
"No way...!"
The members were stunned.
They had a hunch from hearing I'd dealt with Leonidas.
Ludwig was the same; he quickly masked his flustered expression with his hand.
"...Now it makes sense. If that Leonidas is dead... it explains why the Empire pulled back their forces."
Ludwig, who'd been mulling it over, looked at me.
I could read multiple emotions in his eyes.
The crisis of Blue Moon's total annihilation. And greed toward the powerhouse who'd eliminated Leonidas.
"Fine. We know you're not lying about helping us. But... it's hard to trust you beyond that."
"Why?"
"Hard to see the man who killed a general and the former Sword Saint just for fun as sane."
Ludwig stared at me as he continued.
"Even if you're telling the truth now, who knows how your whims might change by tomorrow. If you do anything for fun, you could flip truth and lies like the back of your hand."
"You're that kind of guy. Right?"
The corner of my mouth curled up.
"Exactly."
The orb held its color.
A madman who might do anything. Spot-on evaluation.
But continuing this Q&A was proof that it wasn't the decisive factor for recruiting me.
From the moment they knew I was a madman with betrayal potential, they should've tried to kill me.
'But they didn't.'
The reason was simple.
"You talk about killing me, but you need me. That's why you're dragging out this flawed interrogation."
Ludwig said nothing.
"So, hurry up and show me your real card."
Blue Moon was currently under siege.
If I hadn't drawn the Empire's attention as the cult leader, they'd have been wiped out long ago.
That's why they'd allied with the demon race too.
'If they borrowed power from demons, they wouldn't come just with this truth orb. They need something more ironclad.'
And that's the real reason they'd come here.
"A monster who's lived so long he's forgotten his own name. Tough opponent."
Ludwig said that as he produced a single sheet of paper.
A contract and a quill pen.
Like the orb, an artifact crafted by borrowing demonic power.
I read the contract. Various conditions and clauses were listed in contract form.
'The signee must speak only truth to Ludwig and cannot cause direct or indirect harm.'
There were other clauses besides that.
All designed to prevent harm to Blue Moon and Ludwig himself.
Violating the contract results in the signee's death.
"If you truly want to help us, sign it. It won't harm you."
As he said, the contract consisted solely of conditions to prevent betrayal and deception.
Plus one exceptional clause.
'Unless there is just cause and reason, Ludwig cannot cause direct or indirect harm to the signee.'
"Aha. So you anticipated this far."
If someone does anything for fun, even self-harm.
From bringing the contract, he'd judged me capable of that.
"So, what's your answer?"
"Sure."
I signed the contract.
The signature doesn't need my real name.
Regardless of the name, it binds to the signer.
I felt something unknown lock into my heart and Ludwig's.
'Breaching makes the heart explode, huh.'
Doesn't matter.
'As long as I help, I won't die? Pretty lenient.'
I come back to life anyway.