Chapter 58
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: The Sin of Giving a Wrong Answer to the Divine Bow
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The sin of telling a wrong answer to the Divine Bow.
That punishment was clear and immediate.
Crack.
Ruyan, who had closed the distance in strides before anyone noticed, snapped one of Viscount Piron's fingers.
“Aaaagh!”
Viscount Piron's piercing scream reverberated through the bedroom.
But no one rushed in to save him.
His knights had already all been turned to ash by Julr's chimeras.
“What promise did you make with that woman?”
Ruyan asked calmly once more, ignoring the scream.
“N-no, nothing! I didn't do anything!”
“Wrong again.”
This time, Ruyan bent all four remaining fingers backward.
Crack.
“Urk!”
Viscount Piron convulsed violently, letting out strangled gasps as if he might expire on the spot.
“Next, that hand will be useless too. What promise did you make?”
Viscount Piron desperately wanted to pass out, but the intensifying pain only sharpened his mind.
“I-I'll tell you! Please...”
Ruyan's brutish method of jumping straight into torture without so much as a word of conversation utterly demolished even the noble's authority.
Viscount Piron couldn't even meet Ruyan's eyes, keeping his head bowed low as he confessed the truth.
“I-I had no choice. That snake of a woman threatened me! She said she'd expose everything if I didn't obey!”
Having spilled every detail, Viscount Piron trembled pitifully and tacked on excuses.
As if he, too, were a victim.
But that only made things worse.
“Expose? What else are you hiding?”
“N-no, that's...”
Viscount Piron hesitated once again at the Divine Bow's question.
Crack.
Ruyan gave him no further chances.
He snapped the remaining five fingers all at once.
“Gaaargh.”
Viscount Piron rolled his eyes back completely as pain drilled into his miraculously clear mind.
“Warning you—next is the neck.”
Ruyan's low voice sent chills racing up Viscount Piron's spine.
'I-I'm really going to die!'
To treat the lord of Tvente and a great northern noble so mercilessly.
It was something he had never even imagined, but it was already reality.
“What did you hide?”
A question that might be his last.
The grim tone stabbed straight into Viscount Piron.
'I want to live! I want to live!'
Viscount Piron absolutely did not want to die in such a wretched manner.
But if the source of the plague were exposed?
He wouldn't be living even if he survived.
A fate worse than death might await.
That was why he had hesitated, unable to answer easily.
Ruyan saw Viscount Piron rolling his eyes and shook his head.
“Never mind.”
He had no real interest in whatever the lord was so desperate to hide.
It wasn't his concern.
But because of it, tragedy had unfolded. And crucially, his people had been hurt.
“I won't say I forgive you. Go on ahead and wait for me.”
Ruyan seized Viscount Piron's head and drew up his mana.
“Ignite.”
Whoosh.
Immense heat surged from Ruyan's hand, slowly melting Viscount Piron.
“S-save me! Aaaah!”
Viscount Piron screamed and begged, but the flames did not abate.
“You raised monsters, so you're no different from them.”
Ruyan claimed Viscount Piron's life in the exact same manner he had dispatched the monsters.
And so, all the events that had transpired in Tvente burned away to nothing.
Along with the final monster.
As Ruyan stepped out of the lord's castle, dawn was breaking through the gates.
'Perfect timing.'
There was no more business for him in Tvente Village.
It was truly time to depart.
'Farewells... probably not necessary.'
Had he grown attached in the meantime?
Honestly, even Ruyan felt a slight unease in his heart.
So he had decided to slip away without a word. It would be the better choice for everyone.
But when Ruyan returned to the inn, an unexpected sight awaited him.
“Alize.”
Alize was sitting on Ruyan's bed, giving Theo a lap pillow.
“You're back now?”
“Were you waiting for me?”
“Yeah. I figured it wouldn't take you long.”
Alize said that, then turned her head to gaze out the window toward the distant lord's castle.
Her demeanor made it clear she knew exactly where he had been.
“Did you meet the lord?”
Ruyan said nothing. That silence was answer enough.
“I see. So you did.”
“Alize, I'm leaving now.”
He had planned to depart without a word, but running into her left him no choice.
For some reason, Ruyan couldn't quite meet Alize's eyes directly.
“Yeah. I know.”
Alize smiled brightly and nodded to him.
“I'll take Theo with me. Hand him over?”
At those words, Alize's hand, which had been stroking Theo's head, froze in place.
After a moment's hesitation, she strapped Theo resolutely to her back.
“Ruyan, I've made up my mind for sure.”
“About what?”
“Sticking with you. I've caused every kind of mess in this village, so I can't stay here either.”
“Alize...”
It was quite bewildering.
That the ever-proud Alize would say with her own mouth that she would 'stick to him.'
“Our paths are different.”
“I know. That's why I'll follow yours. Truth is, I don't even know what I should be doing right now.”
These weren't empty words just to cling to him.
Alize was utterly sincere.
After Cage's death, she had struggled to reset her goals.
'Catching Rodolph right away is impossible.'
She knew that better than anyone.
Cage had been powerful, but Rodolph was on an entirely different level.
To bring him down, Alize would need to grow far stronger than she was now.
But she had no idea where to even begin.
That was when she truly witnessed Ruyan's capabilities.
A man who bulldozed through anything in his path, who walked his own road without tolerating challenges.
'With Ruyan... maybe I'll find my way too.'
It might seem reckless, but this request was the result of long deliberation.
“If you're worried, I'll clear it up right now. Your business comes first. I won't forget that.”
Alize spoke boldly, but there was a faint tremor in her voice.
'She's embarrassed.'
Ruyan gazed at her silently, his lips twitching.
In the past, he would have rejected her outright.
Not even worth considering.
But this thing called 'heart' suddenly snagged his ankle.
An emotion unknown to the lofty god of the central plains.
The final shred of lingering attachment that had even blocked his ascension was clearly taking root in Ruyan now.
“Alize, I might undertake far more dangerous things than you imagine.”
“When have you not? Come on, Illut Village is a long way off.”
Alize winked slyly and slipped out of the room first.
Ruyan let out a wry chuckle as he watched her go, then tilted his head.
“How did you know?”
Ruyan had never told anyone his destination.
He had planned and decided it all on his own.
So how had Alize figured out he was headed to Illut Village?
“I thought about what your travels are for.”
“And?”
“Money? Fame? Power? No matter how I looked at it, none of that suits you.”
She was right.
If Ruyan had wanted such simple things, he could have obtained them with his power long ago.
“My conclusion is this: You have something to prove through your journey. In a way other than raw strength.”
Spot on again.
Ruyan couldn't help but be genuinely impressed by Alize's insight.
“Want more? For someone of your caliber to be bound by something as trivial as an ID means it's official business.”
Ruyan could no longer stay silent and unwittingly nodded.
Alize had pierced right through him, impossible to deny.
“Impressive analysis.”
“Your archery skills are already beyond needing proof, so it has to be magic.”
This time, Alize seemed less than fully certain, glancing sideways at him subtly.
But she was right once more.
“I won't deny it. But how did you know about Illut Village?”
“With the ID issue settled, it's obvious you'd go for imperial certification as a mage.”
Alize's words struck right at the core.
'Hah! She read all this just from knowing I lacked an ID.'
She was no ordinary woman.
Her accomplishments far beyond her years no longer surprised him.
Sharp eyes, keen insight, sound judgment.
Alize lacked nothing; she was a complete warrior, fully qualified to lead.
'A capable leader...'
Perhaps she was exactly the person Ruyan needed most.
Her talents from leading a mercenary band would surely shine in managing an academy.
'If this is fate.'
Ruyan decided to accept it gladly.
At this point, he was the one who ought to be asking her.
“Alize.”
“Y-yeah? I talked too much, huh?”
“Do you have a sleeping bag?”
Pass.
No one had forced it, but Alize had triumphed in the unspoken test she had set for herself.
Finally relaxing, she swallowed a quiet sigh of relief and shook her head cheerfully.
“Can't we just share yours?”
“Never mind. Give me Theo.”
“I have one! I do! It was a joke!”
Perhaps it was a day no different from any other. Even the jokes.
It was a fine beginning for the two stepping toward a new life.
“Ruyan, aren't you curious about the others?”
“Should I be?”
“Of course. Don't you wonder where they all went?”
“If you want, I'll ask.”
“I disbanded the Alize Mercenary Corps. Told everyone to find their own paths.”
“I see.”
Ruyan's reply was short and to the point.
As if he held not the slightest interest.
Alize, feeling oddly deflated, pouted and mumbled something under her breath.
Then, just as the two passed through Tvente's outer walls, the mercenary crew suddenly sprang out.
“Ta-da! Surprised? Your righteous bro was waiting for you!”
“Think disbanding means we'd leave? Big mistake!”
The twins shouted boisterously as they rushed toward Ruyan with open arms.
“If you insist, I'll act surprised.”
But Ruyan smoothly sidestepped their embrace and merely shrugged.
“Alize, this isn't the reaction we wanted.”
“You're supposed to be totally touched right here! Wait, you didn't tell them we disbanded?”
The flustered twins stared blankly at each other before turning accusatory glares on Alize.
“Sigh, that's why I said from the start not to pull this stunt!”
They didn't know.
That Ruyan's senses were far too keen for such a boyish dramatic reveal.
He could already hear a rabbit hopping a kilometer away.
'This isn't so bad.'
Even Ruyan was starting to grow accustomed to the mercenary band's rowdy antics.