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n

n‘Ah, **! I really have to quit this sadistic hobby.’

nZich felt conflicted inside. This was the first real ‘event’ he experienced since he regressed, so some of his ‘Demon Lord’ persona seeped out for a few moments.

n‘People who live kindly do not have this kind of hobby.’

nEven with his lack of common sense, Zich was aware of this. However, the thrill he felt from tormenting Sude was more than what he had expected. Both Sude and Lubella looked shocked by Zich’s words, and Sude began to appear doubtful after shouting confidently just a moment ago.

n“I-I’m not going to be tricked by such a bluff…!”

n“First.”

nZich put one finger forward in front of Sude.

n“Followers of Bellid are way too cautious to reveal their entire plan to their collaborators. No, anyone with common sense won’t do that to someone who they are planning to use and throw away. There’s no way those bastards told a low life like you, the statues’ locations. In that way, I guess they are like everyone else but strange in other ways.”

nAnd Zich’s sadistic tendencies made him also ‘strange in other ways.’

n“Second, even without you, I can find the other statues by myself. To be exact, those guys will tell me where they are.”

n“That doesn’t even make sense—”

n“Ah, I’m not gonna tell you more than that.”

nZich began to swing his dagger in circles. Sude’s eyes circled around and around with the dagger’s movement.

n“Because it’s going to be useless information for you anyways.”

nHalt!

nZich stopped swinging his dagger and held it properly.

n“W-what are you doing! Then, why did you ask me that question…!”

n“Oh, that? I mean, it’s kind of embarrassing to say, but that’s just my hobby.”

n“H-hobby?”

n“Yeah! My personality is really rotten. But you probably knew that, right? That was one of my evil and trashy hobbies.”

n“…I don’t think you should bring yourself down like that,” Lubella replied as if she was dumbfounded. However, Zich replied back without a shred of embarrassment, “But it’s the truth.”

n“…”

nLubella did not reply. No, she could not reply because she was speechless. Regardless of what Lubella felt, Zich continued, “Even though I say it is a hobby of mine, it’s really nothing. I just like to give hope to people who are about to die soon. The type of hope I give is different depending on the situation. One example of giving false hope would be something like, ‘I won’t be able to harm you because I need to know where Bellu’s statue is.’”

nZich held back his laughter.

n“It was really hilarious to see that. As soon as you thought you had the advantage, your attitude changed right away. I guess that type of reaction is typical for guys like you.”

n“Ah, that, what…!”

nSude opened his mouth to talk, closed it, and then opened it again. It seemed as if he wanted to say something, but all that came out of his mouth were meaningless gasps.

n“Before I end your life, you had a sweet dream, right? Then it’s time for you to really leave this world.”

nSude felt as if a cold light was surrounding the dagger again.

n“W-wait a moment! I really know the locations of the other statues!”

n“Oh, really? That’s amazing. Those Bellid bastards don’t teach anyone that unless they have a very deep connection with them. Isn’t that more of a reason to kill you?”

n“N-no! I’m not…!”

n“Why don’t you calm down for a bit? Shouldn’t you have expected this when you decided to vigorously insult an important figure like Lady Lubella, and most of all, me? You should face the consequences of your actions.”

n“Lady L-Lubella!”

nWith the mention of Lubella’s name from Zich, Sude changed the subject of his pleas to Lubella. As if he hadn’t poured out sharp and vicious words just a moment ago, Sude showed a sad smile and began begging Lubella.

n“Please stop this person! I-I’m a victim! I’m the type of person who the people of Karuwiman must protect! I was just so taken back by his question. My words came out a bit carelessly! I swear that I have no connections to the followers of Bellid!”

nSude quickly began to deny all his previous statements. Of course, no matter how naïve Lubella was, there was no way she believed Sude’s words. But as a follower of Karuwiman who had to uphold the value of everyone’s lives, she could not help but hesitate.

n“Do you really have to kill this person?”

nSude’s expression brightened.

nZich lowered his dagger. Then he folded his arms and leaned on Bellu’s statue to see what Lubella would do next.

n“I guess so. Do we really have to kill him?”

n“…I didn’t think you would reply back with a question.”

nZich swiped the dagger with one of his hands and continued, “Then why don’t you rethink whether we really have to kill this person or not? Or what should we do next?”

nLubella looked down at Sude. His eyes were now looking at her as if she was an angel from Heaven; his sudden change in attitude was disgusting. However, as a follower of Karuwiman, she could not mix her personal feelings with proper judgment.

n“…This person’s actions can’t be forgiven. Even if we don’t kill him right now, he is going to be executed by the country, and if Karuwiman’s General Assembly takes him, he probably won’t survive.”

nSude’s complexion turned green.

n“I also agree that even the worst criminals have the right to be judged under the law, but if we let him live now, won’t he obviously escape?”

n“I-I will never escape! Plus, I told you, I have no relations with the people of Bellid!”

nSude was pathetically begging to them, but both Lubella and Zich paid no attention to his cries and focused on their conversation as if Sude was already a dead corpse.

n“There are a few reasons to let him live but many reasons to kill him.”

n“Yes, that is true. So what do you think is the best decision?”

nIt was better to kill Sude. However, Lubella had a hard time saying it out loud. No matter how evil he was, it was still a matter of ending a person’s life. For different reasons, Zich and Sude waited for Lubella’s following words.

nSuddenly, Lubella remembered something that Weig said to her before: ‘I’m repeating this, Lady Lubella, but it’s not enough to be just patient and nice. As followers of Karuwiman, not only do we comfort people, but we also protect them. We must have strong hearts.’

nDetermination filled Lubella’s eyes.

n“…Let’s kill him.”

nThud!

nSude felt as if his heart was physically plummeting down to the ground. However, there was no one here who cared about how he felt.

nSplash! Splash!

nWhile stepping on the puddle, Zich headed towards Sude.

n“W-wait a moment! I really did nothing wrong! You guys are making a big mistake! You are trying to kill an innocent person!”

nSude’s desperate and miserable cries could not stop Zich or move Lubella.

n“Fuck! You think I will die like this! I’m gonna live a good, long life! I’m going to live a luxurious life like one of those rich bastards! My destiny is to not slowly rot away in an old store and kick the bucket! Shit! Lubella, you **ing evil witch! I’m a **ing victim! If you are a follower of Karuwiman, protect me now—!”

nPush!

nAn eerie sound of piercing flesh immediately ended Sude’s ringing cries.

nSplash!

nFreshly cut meat dropped into the pool. As if the loud cries a moment ago had all been an illusion, the basement filled with complete silence.

n* * *

nLubella sat blankly in an abandoned house; they used this house as a place of refuge for a short time. To hide the fact that they were hiding there, the door and windows were tightly shut, but they could not stop the light from seeping into the room. Seeing that the light was slowly turning orange, Lubella thought that it must be time for the sun to set.

nCreak!

nThe door slowly opened, and Zich appeared from his trip outside.

n“Was everything alright?”

n“Nothing much happened.”

nZich closed the door. Then he carefully walked towards Lubella and sat in front of her.

n“Are you alright?”

nLubella was about to say she was ‘alright,’ but the word did not leave her mouth.

n“Well, you saw someone die in front of you, so I understand.”

nMoreover, even though she didn’t directly kill him, she had played a huge part in a person’s death. It was understandable that she was in a state of shock.

n“…It’s not only that.”

nAbout to put a piece of bread into his mouth, Zich stopped at Lubella’s statement.

n“Is there a different reason?”

n“It’s because I think I have been making the wrong judgements the whole time.”

nZich put down his bread and properly faced Lubella to indicate that he was ready to listen to her. Lubella hesitated a bit before she continued, “From Sude and to Mr. Timmy, the Mayor and even to the Deputy Mayor—I’ve been judging people based on other people’s words and opinions. I’ve also framed a certain image on people by seeing them in one situation.”

n“You are telling me that you were prejudiced.”

n“Yes. It is one of the things God Karuna tells us not to do. I judged certain people as strong and others as weak, and I thought that the weak were always in the right and the strong were always in the wrong.”

nFor that reason, Lubella was hostile to the Mayor and Timmy, who she thought were the ‘strong’ people in society, and she favored Sude who she thought was weak. However, the reality was the complete opposite.

n“Because of my misjudgments, the people who protected me died, and my situation ended up like this.”

n“Yes, you are right.”

nLubella flinched at Zich’s honest reply.

n“Honestly, I also became a bit doubtful of your words. After I beat up Sude, you told me that I have to help the weak. I didn’t like that Sude guy in the first place.”

n“Why?”

n“He smelled fishy.”

nZich was saying that he used his instincts. Lubella was severely disappointed since she expected Zich to tell her a great way to tell evil people apart. But surprisingly, Zich’s instincts were usually right on the mark. The instincts he honed from his various experiences in his first life were quite dangerous.

n‘Well, I’m not always right, and I don’t feel those kinds of instincts from everyone but whatever.’

nWhat mattered was that he was right this time.

n“Isn’t judging people by instincts worse than prejudice?”

n“Is that so? Then I will stop judging people by how they smell from now on.”

nZich’s reply was so carefree that Lubella felt futile asking him a question in the first place. On the other hand, his nonchalant tone lessened the weight on her heart.

n“So from what I’m getting from this is that you feel guilty for going against Karuna’s teachings and making the situation worse?”

n“Yes.”

n“Hmmm, alright. I hope you work hard in thinking about this.”

nZich picked up the bread he put down and got up.

n“…Are you not going to give me any advice?”

n“Even if I give you advice, I can only give you obvious ones: ‘The people who died will not resent you.’ ‘Anyone could have made those mistakes.’ ‘You are going through this trip to gain experiences like this.’ Etcetera, etcetera. But will your heart feel at ease from these words?”

n“…No.”

n“Right? The advice I can give you are all words that you can easily think of as well. But people’s hearts can not be easily changed by will. If that was possible, I would not go through all this trouble to live a kind life.”

nZich humorously shook his head. This made Lubella smile a little bit.

n“So I hope you find a solution for yourself, whether you find an answer to it, get used to it, or let time heal your wounds.”

n“I will do that.”

n“Yes. But this worry won’t make you hesitate while we are fighting those Bellid bastards, right?”

n“Don’t worry. This and the situation with Bellid are completely different.”

nUnlike her usual, actual self, Lubella replied with firmness.

n‘Is she forming her tenacity?’

nLooking at her now, there was no trace of the Lubella who was shivering from head to toe in a closed alleyway. She was definitely growing up to become a stronger and more determined person.

n‘Is this alright?’

nSo far, Zich had been helping Lubella because he thought it was a kind act, and he didn’t want to see those Bellid bastards doing well; but at the same time, he had unintentionally helped Lubella progress.

n‘If I have to fight the Hero Party again and a stronger Lubella was part of the team…’

nZich’s body shivered on instinct.

n‘I-I’m going to live a kind life anyways. Will I ever have to go against her?’ Zich thought this in his mind, but he fiercely scratched the goosebumps that popped up all over his arms.

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