“…What?”

“Huh.”

“……”

“Ha, hahaha.”

‘This, this works. This isn't information the demon told me, nor is it information that I came into contact with that bastard.’

‘It's possible because it's simply information I found out on my own.’

“Heh.”

It was so funny and delightful.

Deathbringer giggled, clearly feeling the location of his torn shadow. It was so much fun to be able to flip the bird right in the face of that smug demon bastard.

Although he needed their trust to do it, what was fun was still fun.

“As I just said, believing it is up to you.”

He couldn't pass on the information that it was the demon he contracted with. Saying that he knew because he attached his shadow probably wouldn't work either. Knowing the location through a shadow meant a meeting had preceded it.

The information that it was a Great Demon was also highly likely to be a contract violation. It was almost certain, considering blood had surged up the moment he first tried to say it was the location of a Great Demon.

It was fortunate he didn't die instantly, but it clearly meant it was something he couldn't speak about.

“It's a trap.”

“We don't know yet. Who is the demon?”

For that reason, he couldn't answer this either.

He kept his mouth shut tight. However, perhaps silence was also treated as its own kind of answer, as more blood came up.

His stomach was dizzy, and his vision turned red as if the blood vessels in his eyes had burst.

“You!”

“…Let's stop with the questions.”

‘Ah, I wanted to hold it in until the end if possible.’

He retched and vomited a lump of blood. "Hunter, are you okay?" The Berserker quickly ran over and worried about him.

“Are you seriously going to believe that?”

“I... want to believe.”

“It could be a demon's temptation!”

“Well. It doesn't seem like it to me.”

On the other hand, the Inquisitor and the Archmage were half in doubt but still tried to side with him. He was truly grateful, but at the same time, he couldn't help but think they were trusting him way too much.

The trust was so heavy that it was almost burdensome. What would they do if he had really fallen to a demon?

“Do not overdo it. You should rest more.”

“I-I am fine...”

If he had to be specific, having his entire body tied up was much more agonizing...

SLASH.

The ropes constricting his entire body were cut away all at once. Deathbringer's eyes widened at the resulting sense of liberation. Though it seemed like the Berserker had cut them, she showed no sign of grabbing the ropes.

“You...”

“Our discussion hasn't even finished yet!”

Then, the one who cut the ropes was.

“To act on your own...!”

That person.

“Uhaha, comrade, so you couldn't hold back either!”

“Demon Knight!”

Deathbringer looked past the Berserker's giggling laughter, the shocked Temple people, and the brightening faces of the Inquisitor and Archmage, turning his gaze beyond them.

There was someone leaving the scene even more silently than usual.

“But where are you going?”

“Let him go. You all shouldn't say too much either.”

It was the Demon Knight.

“... Boss.”

At that sight, the doubts Deathbringer had temporarily pushed aside came rushing back.

Was it really a coincidence that the Demon Knight had failed to react to his attack? Was the sight he saw before passing out truly just a hallucination?

Like a doll crafted by gathering all the sorrow, grief, and heartache in the world, then pouring wax over it to harden. Yet, like fragments melted, cracked, and crumbled by time.

Was that stale, ruined face contained only within the shadows truly yours?

THUD.

However, the door was already closed, and there was nowhere to seek an answer. Just like always.

“We will depart after your condition improves a bit.”

Taking into account his hemoptysis, Deathbringer underwent a physical examination under the Inquisitor's supervision. The final result was that he needed to recuperate for at least a day due to internal injuries.

“Divine power is... ah.”

“You slacker, receiving it now will actually be poison to you. Just take some medicine.”

He realized that being unable to be healed by divine power, and feeling like the Temple was some kind of maggot pit, was far more uncomfortable than he thought.

Well, the former was a point he could feel just by reflecting on the Demon Knight's state, but it hit him harder now that he was the target. As for the latter... it only made him wonder how the Demon Knight had endured it all this time.

“If we are delayed by a whole day... I feel like the Knight Boss will say something.”

“I wouldn't know. I haven't seen him since he left earlier. I haven't heard any talk of him returning to the Temple either.”

To think the Demon Knight still hadn't returned to the Temple.

It was a bit funny, and brought all sorts of thoughts to mind, that a man who would normally be crazy about demons and badgering them was now making himself scarce.

No, if he was going to get into that, he should first talk about how the man had left him alive.

CLINK.

He shifted his gaze along the shackles that were fastened only in name—and even then, only on one hand—and the chain connecting from them.

He could see the Inquisitor holding the chain like a leash for livestock. Her sullen expression looked as stupid as always.

“Hey, Softie.”

“What is it.”

Still, that Softie was the only person he could ask right now. He threw out a question as if in passing.

“Why... why did the Boss leave me alive?”

On the surface, it must look like he chose to become a demon contractor on his own. It wasn't as if he was born as one without any choice.

Which ultimately meant he was the type of person the Knight Boss could not tolerate.

“Why, why did he leave me...”

He recalled the expression the Demon Knight had made in that moment. He remembered the face that crumbled like ruins collapsing in an instant, without a single tear, without a hint of distortion.

“You ask the strangest things. Wouldn't it be because he also knows what kind of guy you are?”

Ah, actually, he might already know the answer. He just couldn't believe it.

“... Hah. What kind of guy am I?”

He asked back blankly.

If they knew what kind of things he had committed, they would never show this kind of attitude. The self-directed sneer was just a bonus.

“Just what kind of guy am I for him to—”

“You are a shameless, stupid, slacking, and rude guy who even has a lot of secrets.”

“Oh my, is that so. But surely that wouldn't be eno—”

“However, you are quick-witted and easily find out important information, you know much about the world and are bright in its ways, and you excel at analyzing people, catching many things that we miss. Those merits are not something to be overshadowed by those flaws.”

“eno—”

“Ah, and while it doesn't stand out, you are also excellent at setting up camp, hunting, cooking, and other such acts, providing the greatest help to our journey. If you had not been here, we would have had to wander this land suffering far more hardships. That, too, is a contribution that rightfully deserves recognition.”

“... Uh.”

“Now, how is that? I still fall short of you, but I have tried to emulate you. I will continue to try to catch up to you in the future... What is with that expression?”

Surely, that should be the case.

“What the.”

What in the world were the words he just heard? What was that damn Softie babbling about just now?

B-Bright in the ways of the world? Catching things they miss? A help?

Wh-Wh-What the.

“Do you have a fever? Your face is—”

“Wh-What the hell is your face made of for you to just blurt out things like that!!”

He hurriedly covered his face, which even he could feel had flushed with intense heat. That crazy Softie really had no sense of shame...!

“What are you saying! My face is normal! And if you have a fever, show me at once. Your internal injuries might have flared up!”

“G-Go away!!”

‘Crazy, truly crazy.’

If it were just empty flattery, he could have snorted and brushed it off. But there was no way that utterly inflexible person would say empty words.

In the end, those words had to stem from 100% pure sincerity. That made it even more embarrassing.

“I said show me your face! I have to see your condition to diagnose you!”

“I said go away!”

Deathbringer threw himself face-down on the bed to avoid the tactless person lunging at him even in this moment. The Softie tried to force him to show it again, but he had his pride as a person and couldn't lose.

“Can't you get a clue?!”

“I-I am trying! But why is that coming up now!”

Damn Softie. Did she not even remember that the two of them had fought? He had unilaterally hurled verbal abuse at her and even run away from the spot, so did she not even remember that?

“You really stupid Softie...!”

“Ugh! And here I answered with all my utmost sincerity!”

She had been too sincere, far too sincere. Deathbringer took a breath, burying his stubbornly flushed face into the pillow.

It was embarrassing, but even though it was embarrassing, he felt so good that he felt like he could fly, making his head spin.

“Forget it! Never mind all that!”

Meanwhile, the Inquisitor huffed and stood up from her seat.

“Take this, you degenerate!”

Then she threw something at his head. BONK. A pouch filled with small, hard granules bumped against his head. It hurt.

“Why did you hit—!”

RUSTLE. The opened pouch spilled its contents. Spilling out from inside were transparent marbles containing flower petals. Seeing as a sticky substance rubbed off when touched, it seemed to be candy.

His mind went blank at the sudden appearance of the unexpected items.

“This is...”

“It is a gift of apology! I may not be able to apologize for the discriminatory gaze I directed at you with anything, but since an apology is what I must rightfully do, I prepared it!”

However, the Softie's shouting continued even in the midst of that.

“I am sorry! For making you feel despised. For arbitrarily forcing you to confess your secrets while not even knowing your circumstances. For treating you like a criminal without knowing what kind of life you have lived! I am sorry for all of it! Do you understand?!”

As expected of someone who was a Hero, she was an incredibly, stupidly honest person.

“Then I will be going!”

She was also someone so upright and radiantly shining that it made even him, who hadn't even apologized yet, feel ashamed.

He felt he keenly understood the reason why God had chosen her.

CLACK!

Along with the sound of the door opening, Deathbringer buried his face in the candy pouch. And he mumbled in a voice as tiny as a grain of millet.

“What if I.”

“...?”

“What if I, truly was a criminal. What would you do then.”

Fortunately or unfortunately, the Softie, having heard that and stopped, fell deep into thought.

“Then...”

And then.

“I would help you. So that you could atone. So that you could become a better person.”

An answer returned with a markedly different nuance than before.

“... You wouldn't throw me in a prison cell?”

“What do you take me for! Maybe in the past, when I was still short-sighted, but not now! I have learned that there can truly be unavoidable circumstances in the world!”

Deathbringer raised his head. When he did, he saw the red-haired priest standing in front of the door.

“Furthermore, the guy I know has a tendency to slightly disregard laws and rules, and has a side that agrees with private sanctions. But you are not the type to commit a crime without reason. Therefore, there must be a reason why you had no choice but to do so. I have no intention of interrogating and punishing you for your sins!”

“Then...”

“Of course, that does not mean I forgive you! I, who am not even a victim, have no right to forgive. However, I will speak out on behalf of those who suffered and say that what is wrong is wrong, and that is why I will help your atonement. Because that is what I believe is the right thing to do!”

Her fresh green eyes sparkled vibrantly. The reason her words weren't unpleasant, even though they were of a similar vein to what the demon had whispered, was probably because of those eyes.

“... Even if hundreds of people died because of me? Would you still say you understand then?”

“Is it something you intended, participated in, or wished for?”

“That's, no, but...”

“Then what is the problem?”

“Because of me... If it happened because I was the cause...”

“Hah, do not say things that make no sense! Why would something you did not involve yourself in be your responsibility!”

The bitter words spoken by truly good people did not even evoke a sense of spitefulness.

Because one could fully tell that it was the path to becoming a better human being.

“Because they were people who wouldn't have died if I, if I just hadn't taken action...”

“Do not say such stupid things! By that logic, are those who rebelled against a Lord to save people suffering under evil laws also sinners?! The fight must have escalated greatly because of them!”

“... That's, a different story.”

“No, it will be similar. Because I believe that if you act on your own free will, it will always be to resist injustice!”

“...!”

“If there are victims caught up in the process of your extreme methods of resistance, apologize to those who were hurt. Regardless of good and evil, you are indeed the perpetrator to them. If you resisted using wrongful methods and disturbed the order, resulting in people who suffered, apologize to them as well. That, too, is your fault.”

However, that is why it became even more shameful.

“However, just one thing. In the face of one single fact, hold your head high with a clear conscience. Tell them that you did not stay silent in the face of injustice, and that even if your methods and ways might have been wrong, you raged against the absurdity.”

He hadn't stepped forward because he couldn't overlook injustice.

He had stepped forward purely out of a desire for revenge.