Chapter 73
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: Home - 1
We left the capital in our carriage.
Trail spoke up.
[Did you really have to pick a fight with the emperor?]
‘Huh?’
[The emperor plotting to assassinate Kaild isn’t exactly bad news for you.]
‘What if that plot bounces back to me?’
Kaild fell silent for a moment before responding.
[He’d have to be insane to try that. The Eye of Omniscience showed that was before the ‘Black Sun.’]
‘......’
[Things have changed a lot now. Even if it’s before the oracle, there’s no way they won’t acknowledge you as the hero after you dropped the sun.]
It made sense logically, but I saw things differently.
‘That guy didn’t commission the assassination from Serein because he thought me or Kaild were frauds.’
[What?]
‘That was just a throwaway line to please Serein. Do you think a man who calmly poisoned his own father and fooled everyone would really commission a hit for the empire’s sake?’
[Then what?]
‘The emperor wants something else entirely. I have a hunch, but... nah, forget it.’
It wasn’t anything important anyway.
[There’s nothing more evil than starting to say something and cutting off.]
‘It’s not that big a deal.’
[If the next demon king descends, it’ll definitely be the Demon King of Severance because of guys like you.]
I ignored him.
That was when Ophense spoke up, his face brimming with curiosity.
He’d been waiting in the carriage due to his position, so he was clearly dying to know what we’d talked about.
“So? What’d you guys chat about?”
“What we had for breakfast this morning, stuff like that.”
“Seems like every metaphor from the pheasant girl ties back to food.”
“That’s how mundane the conversation was. And get that guy’s pheasant out of here. Someone might think my epithet is Proxy of the Pheasant.”
Ophense snickered and turned to me.
“I never expected you to let a face-to-face with the emperor fizzle out so blandly.”
“The deeper the conversation with the emperor gets, the worse it is for us.”
“Huh?”
“That guy’s a real vicious bastard.”
Everyone tilted their heads.
Adwin asked,
“He didn’t seem like that. Looked like a nice uncle to me. Right, Neril sis?”
“Well, he seemed worth a bit of respect. But if Maide says so...”
Her expression turned grave.
“Then it must be true without a doubt.”
“No need to go that far. Anyway, listen up.”
I started by revealing that the current emperor was the one who poisoned the previous one.
I recounted every detail from the Eye of Omniscience, so the vividness would be no joke.
Even without hard evidence, everyone’s faces went pale.
“......”
After a moment, Neril spoke up.
Her tone was utterly displeased.
“I haven’t lived a long life, but I’ve always trusted my judgment of people. What an ant with incredible acting skills.”
“What was that first part?”
“I haven’t lived a long life.”
“Uh, um... huh? Adwin, what’s up with you now?”
Adwin was hugging his knees, laughing gloomily.
“Heh heh. To think someone in this world could fool even me.”
“......”
“Ahh. Mother. You placed the wrong man on the throne.”
I calmed them down.
Truth be told, without Blood Letters or the Eye of Omniscience, even I might’ve thought, ‘He really is a sage ruler.’
“Well, you need that level of cunning to be called the empire’s master.”
“The founding emperor Grade would flip out hearing that.”
“Anyway, the previous emperor thing happened thirteen years ago and has nothing to do with us, so let’s drop it. The important part starts now.”
I swallowed hard.
Then slowly continued.
“We need to go meet Serein.”
Patrick Benjamin was rotting in the capital’s prison.
He was technically awaiting trial, but the emperor had already branded him a criminal by throwing him in with the regular inmates.
His empty right eye socket throbbed incessantly.
He ground his teeth and muttered,
“Urgh. Just you wait. This isn’t how I go down.”
It was just a soliloquy, so there shouldn’t have been a response.
But someone kindly replied.
“You’re right.”
“......?”
“You won’t end up as dew on the execution ground. You’ll die right here.”
Swoosh. Riiip.
A straight line sliced through the air like a knife cutting fabric.
The line parted, and someone appeared.
Idria.
The Demon King of Lies and Deceit floated cross-legged in midair.
“W-What? Who are you!”
“Don’t remember me, huh.”
“You’re... no way?”
“That’s right. I’m the one who shoved something expensive into that eye socket of yours. Though you lost it because of your sloppy management.”
Idria giggled and continued.
“How can you be so stupid? Compared to Bion Kunze, I really have no eye for people.”
“L-Look here!”
Patrick flung himself flat on the floor.
Thud.
He slammed his forehead against the ground and pleaded,
“Give me one more chance. I can’t end like this!”
“No. I’m telling you, it won’t end like that? You don’t listen to others, do you.”
“I was one of the empire’s two blades just days ago, captain of Alcahad. Help me one more time, and I swear...”
“Swear what?”
“I-I’ll create all the lies you desire.”
“Hee hee.”
Idria laughed coldly.
Swoosh.
She lightly drew her finger down through the air.
Another line appeared, just like before.
Idria slipped her hand through the line.
What she pulled out was a small dagger.
Clang.
She tossed it in front of Patrick.
His face lit up.
“Ooh. What ability does this dagger have? Is it another demon king’s core?”
“It’s just a dagger.”
“......?”
“We can’t have it look like some unknown intruder killed you in the capital prison. You’re going to commit suicide.”
“......!”
“Now. Follow my lead.”
Idria mimed picking up the dagger.
“Huh?”
Patrick’s body moved on its own.
He picked up the dagger without any resistance.
Idria brought the dagger to her throat.
Patrick did the same.
Idria mimed slitting her throat.
Patrick actually slit his.
“Gahk. Cough.”
“Why would I give a dimwit like you a second chance.”
“S-Spare...”
“Still alive? I didn’t cut deep enough.”
Swoosh. Swoosh. Swoosh.
Idria slashed her own throat three more times with the dagger.
Patrick followed her like a puppet, slashing his throat four times total.
Finally, he severed his artery completely, and blood sprayed like a fountain.
“Gurk.”
And so he died.
Idria lost all interest in Patrick and waved her hand dismissively.
Swoosh.
Space opened once more.
She pulled out a sheet of paper.
Precisely, an official document.
Idria took a pen and stared at it.
‘Let’s see. Kaild just finished treating the Drono territory lord, right?’
It was right on time for completing the last quest she’d given.
Now for the next directive.
Perhaps.
This might be a crucial turning point.
If Kaild fell further behind Maide, he’d become utterly useless.
But Idria herself couldn’t roll up her sleeves and intervene directly.
Not while Bion Kunze watched with eyes wide open—she couldn’t kill Maide personally.
Idria sighed.
“Ahh. Bion Kunze. You lucky bastard. How’d you snag such a perfect vessel?”
What’s done is done.
No point envying others.
‘In that case.’
Now it was truly time to kill Maide.
She smirked cruelly.
“You mustn’t become the hero. Maide Mohan.”
Time to exit stage left.
She wrote on the document.
[Essential Quest. Kill Maide Mohan. Without fail.]
I informed my companions that Serein had received an assassination commission from the emperor.
Everyone looked pretty shocked.
Jenia said,
“That guy? He didn’t seem like the type to stoop to something as low as assassination. Sorry, Ophense.”
“Assassination is low, yeah. Not like I take particular pride in my profession.”
“Did you notice anything like that back when you were in Kaild’s party?”
“Hmm. There was some invisible distance between Serein and Kaild.”
Ophense crossed his arms and continued.
“But she didn’t seem like she’d actually harm him.”
“Serein couldn’t take Kaild down with her skills anyway. And attempting an assassination right next to a legendary assassin? Insane.”
“That’s true, but if someone’s truly set on killing, there’s an aura about them. And I’m the best at reading those auras.”
“......”
“But I had no clue, so Serein must’ve hidden her intentions masterfully. Honestly, if you hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t have believed it.”
Serein was definitely two-faced.
Her innocent face was so lovable, no one would hesitate to call it that.
All while hiding pitch-black depths behind it.
‘But...’
Was that really all?
No matter how cunning Serein was, could she fool not just Ophense, but pre-regression me too?
She must’ve gotten the same commission from the emperor back then.
Yet she never laid a hand on Kaild right up to the final battle with the demon king.
Sure, lack of ability played a part... but maybe.
[Maybe?]
‘You saw it with the Eye of Omniscience. Serein accepted the commission because she wanted something from the emperor.’
[......]
‘Maybe in the previous timeline, she changed her mind because she thought Kaild was more likely to fulfill her wish than the emperor?’
Or perhaps Kaild figured out her wish first through that ‘Path to Hero’ nonsense.
Like how he recruited Risel by promising to ‘make her human,’ maybe he promised Serein the same for hers.
Of course, looking back at Kaild’s promises, they were all empty checks he couldn’t cash.
Trail said,
[That does seem more plausible.]
‘Yeah. So the secret we need isn’t between Serein and the emperor. It’s between Serein and Kaild. Let’s find out what she really wants.’
[Got it.]
The screen appeared.
[Used Eye of Omniscience.]
[Current Eye of Omniscience level is 3. Viewable secret rank is B-rank.]
[Selection condition: ‘Secret between Kaild Wake and Serein Magnus.’]
[Secret rank is C-rank. Proceed?]
I watched the screen for a bit.
Kaild was meeting Serein alone.
Serein spoke first.
“Did I do something wrong?”
“Not yet.”
“......Then why the ominous vibe? You even sent out Risel and Ophense.”
“Serein Magnus. You got a commission from the emperor to assassinate me, right?”
Serein’s face paled in shock.
I clicked my tongue anew.
‘My hunch was spot on. That Path to Hero is seriously omniscient.’
[Hmph. Big deal.]
‘Don’t get competitive over weird stuff.’
Serein flapped her mouth for a while.
But she didn’t argue or get mad.
She could tell from Kaild’s expression that he wasn’t just fishing.
“Uh, well, it just kinda happened.”
“You think that’ll fly?”
“Can’t you just let it slide once? I’ll quietly leave the party.”
“No. You need to stick with me.”
Serein grimaced.
But her eyes went wide at Kaild’s next words.
“In exchange, I’ll grant your wish.”
“......?”
“How about it? Want to tell me your wish directly? Or should I guess?”
“......Guess.”
Kaild smiled faintly and slowly spoke.
“You want to wipe out all the ‘priests’ from this continent, right?”
“......!”
“It’s not like you dream of being a mass murderer. More precisely, it’s not about killing all priests...”
“......”
“You want to abolish the priest profession itself. By law, or imperial decree.”
I couldn’t believe my ears.
‘What nonsense.’
[Serein’s a priest herself? And she wants to erase her own job from the world?]
That was when Serein shot to her feet.
“Crazy. How did you know... that?!”
“I looked into your past.”
“My past?”
“You’ve got a lot of grudges against priests. It probably started with anger at a few specific ones, but it spread to others.”
“......”
“Eventually cursing every priest on the continent. Am I wrong?”
That instant.
Serein’s expression shifted subtly.
I caught the change perfectly.
‘Huh?’
But it quickly turned to outright shock.
Serein yelled as if genuinely stunned.
“Why are you digging into people’s backgrounds!”
“I’ll make that wish come true.”
“......”
“It’s impossible by law... or even imperial decree. The heavenly gods are the root of every imperial citizen. The emperor never truly intended to listen to you.”
“Hmph. I didn’t fully trust that sly fox either. But.”
“He was the most likely candidate. No one short of the emperor could even attempt it.”
Snap.
Kaild pointed to himself.
“But a hero can.”
“......”
“After slaying the demon king, I’ll proclaim it across the continent with my heroic authority. I’ll abolish the priest profession.”
Serein’s eyes wavered.
Drip.
And the screen cut off.
Trail said gravely,
[Hey. Could you even grant that wish?]
‘No way. The entire continent’s populace would rise up like a swarm of bees. I plan to retire to a quiet village after killing the demon king—no interest in that headache.’
[Then recruiting Serein’s impossible.]
‘Who knows.’
Was abolishing priests really Serein’s wish?
Well, it probably was, in a sense.
But that couldn’t be the whole story.
Kaild said she wanted it because she hated and cursed every priest on the continent.
Really?
Recall that subtle expression shift from the screen moments ago.
Her face had said it all.
-You’re barking up the wrong tree all of a sudden. You were on a roll.