["There's one more. One more..."]

Hearing his parents' dying cries, the boy on the verge of adulthood trembled violently, his body hidden between tree roots and bushes. The voices he heard were steadily drawing closer.

["... You damn brat!"]

Then, for a moment, the voice filled with rage.

["Are you still struggling...!"]

There was only one voice echoing in the surroundings, and the presence of living people could no longer be felt. Yet, it was furious at something.

["Do you think I'll lose?"]

Then, the voice changed.

["Hah, then a brat like you dares to beat me..."]

No. It was the same voice.

["Not... anymore."]

It was a different person.

["Anymore..."]

A different person...

["I can't... kill any more people..."]

A different person...?

["You can."]

At that moment, the tree the boy was hiding behind shattered, and fire ignited everywhere. Black... very black flames.

So black that it felt like the night.

* * *

"For demons, killing them is the only answer."

The moment Deathbringer heard those words, he realized.

This bastard, fucking hell, was not someone he could reason with. He was the type of guy who would still harbor doubts even if you shoved the truth right into his eyeballs.

"This is driving me crazy, seriously."

Not that he couldn't understand the sentiment. If someone's parents had died like that—though he didn't have parents, so he had to substitute Emmit in his imagination—who wouldn't develop such paranoia?

But just because he had those circumstances didn't mean he had the right to condemn the Demon Knight.

Deathbringer only felt a surge of pointless annoyance at this tense situation where neither side could easily back down.

"You are not wrong."

"...!"

"... Proxy."

"Because it's true that demons are impossible to reform, and it's true that they are more wicked than one can imagine."

At that moment, the Inquisitor appeared. She was a helper who had come from the outside.

"Isn't this a world where there are demons that masquerade as the weak, like children or the elderly, to trap people, and demons that appear in the form of lovers or family to bewitch them? Though they are rare and their combat power itself is weak, so they are not usually treated as high-ranking demons."

He didn't know how she found out and came here. But her timing was good. Deathbringer concealed his surprise and yielded the floor to her.

"But brother, the Demon Knight is not a demon. Therefore, he does not fit any of the examples you mentioned."

"Proxy, that belief is..."

"Brother."

The person with the lantern hanging at her waist softly lowered her eyes.

"If he were truly a demon, I wouldn't be standing here right now. Because he is stronger than I am."

It was a somewhat bitter admission.

"Proxy, why would you say such a thing...!"

"So he is not a demon. It's paradoxical, but that is the truth."

"... How do you know he isn't targeting the Hero!"

At the Heresy Inquisitor's shout, the Inquisitor blinked. "You're joking, right?" Deathbringer also asked without realizing it. It was a rather reflexive question.

"Brother, I am still an ignorant person, but... from my perspective, I do not think a demon stronger than me would endure such displeasure just to travel with me."

"That's!"

"He even coughed up blood several times due to my divine power, had to stay only in the Temple whenever we arrived in a city, and there was also the seal..."

Anyway, instead of being sarcastic like him, the Inquisitor counted off on her fingers, providing valid reasons. If the Demon Knight were truly a demon, he wouldn't need to endure these things at all.

"But..."

"Brother."

Even so, a counterargument came back. It felt a bit wrong to say this, but he was exactly like the Demon Knight. He too had a tendency to deny truths he didn't want to accept.

"You already know the truth, don't you? That excluding the demonic energy... his actions have been flawless."

"..."

But, yeah. Was this how everyone who lost a piece of their life acted?

Deathbringer grumbled inwardly, not thinking about how he himself used to be. Of course, since it could easily turn into badmouthing the Demon Knight as well, he didn't dwell on it for long.

"Please look at the inside, not the exterior. If you do, you will come to realize just how worthy of respect he is."

"I, I... don't know."

"I was like that at first too. But after discarding my stubbornness and prejudice, I could see a wider picture. I'm sure you will be able to do the same, brother."

"But, but if he isn't a demon, then why did he mess with my family?"

"... Pardon?"

Ah. That.

"Did the Demon Knight cause harm to your family?"

"... Not harm. But out of all these people, he supposedly went to my family of all people and spent time with them. Even though they have no special connection and must have been strangers! Are you telling me that truly holds no meaning?"

That... That was definitely hard to see as a coincidence. Even Deathbringer, who knew the Demon Knight, had felt a momentary spark of doubt.

"Tell me, Proxy. Is that really a coincidence...!"

Even so, the Demon Knight wouldn't have intended to harm the Heresy Inquisitor's family.

The Demon Knight was someone who had sworn revenge out of the sense of loss from losing his own family, of all things. There was no way such a person would target someone else's family.

So that much was certain. Probably.

"Wait a minute..."

Just then, the Inquisitor, with a flustered face, stuck close to him.

"What do you think? I can't think of anything to say...!"

It was a plea for help from the stupid softie.

"Of course, the Demon Knight wouldn't have met them for that reason, but...!"

"... I don't know either."

The problem was that he didn't know either. If he did, he would have already retorted.

"T-Then what do we do? It can't really be a coincidence, right!"

"Well. Honestly, I think there's a higher chance that it's a one-in-a-billion coincidence."

It made sense; what could the Demon Knight have known to go looking for them? It was a crazy thing to say, but even if the demon inside the Demon Knight had acted, it would still be the same.

Unless he could just look at someone's face and go, "You're the blood relative of so-and-so!", it was far-fetched for either a demon or the Demon Knight to single out the Heresy Inquisitor's family out of nowhere.

"Or... maybe the kid approached him first."

This was actually far more likely.

Though he was more often mistaken for an adventurer because he lacked armor, weren't there quite a few people who mistook the Demon Knight for a real knight?

On top of that, the Boss was extremely gentle with kids, even if he wasn't with adults... If a child mistook him for a knight and approached him wanting to see his sword, he might have shown it to them. It wasn't entirely impossible.

"Kid? What kid?"

"It's nothing."

However, Deathbringer chose to remain silent instead of explaining all this.

Because if they asked how he knew information that hadn't come up in the conversation just now, it would put him in a tight spot. He might even get smacked in the head with a shield while being told, "Respect my privacy!"

It was definitely better to keep his mouth shut.

"Proxy?"

"Ah, well!"

Setting that aside, the Heresy Inquisitor's patience was reaching its limit. The Inquisitor rolled her eyes around before suddenly shouting.

"Then let's go ask him! If we ask whether it's a coincidence or not, wouldn't we get a clear answer!"

It was an unexpectedly wise answer. Except for the fact that they had to find the inn the Demon Knight was staying at and interrupt his sleep.

"... Isn't it obvious he'll deny it."

"Even so, there's a difference between not asking and trying to hear an answer, even a false one. Isn't there?"

The softie seemed quite pleased with the improvised answer she came up with. She pushed right ahead.

Well, it wasn't bad. Even to Deathbringer, there was no better solution than this.

"Then let's go!"

"... Do you know where he is?"

"Don't you know, Sir Inquisitor?"

"... I don't know."

Especially since, if things went poorly, they might not find him all night.

"This isn't a parade of idiots... There are only a few inns that can stable a horse. We just have to look based on that."

"Oh!"

"I see... He did have a horse with him."

However, if they did that, he would be deprived of sleep.

With a sigh, Deathbringer cooperated. Was it because of the Inquisitor's presence? The Heresy Inquisitor having calmed down was a bonus.

It just showed how high the Hero's authority was... but it was somewhat infuriating. He hadn't listened to a single word Deathbringer said, after all.

"Why is your expression like that?"

"Should it be good then? Seriously, how annoying..."

"Hmm..."

"More importantly, softie, how did you know to come?"

"Ah. That was thanks to the Berserker advising me. She said she saw you tailing Inquisitor Daniel on her way back from training."

"Oh..."

"Wait, you were tailing me?"

"Right! That's it! Why were you tailing our brother?!"

"... No, the thing is."

However, Deathbringer's anger cooled quickly. It was no longer the time for him to be mad.

* * *

I organized my inventory with the commotion of the tavern as background noise.

I put things I didn't need to take out often or that were hard to reach from my waist into the bracelet-shaped inventory, and small items or things I needed frequently into the leg-bag inventory.

"The lunch boxes will be ready tomorrow. Drinking water, Frederick's snacks, salt, willow leaves, and also..."

Moreover, I had to play a bit of Tetris with the leg-bag inventory so it would be pleasing to the eye and easy to find things.

Sitting on the floor of the inn, I repeatedly stacked up the newly restocked items and stored them away.

"Ah, the heated stones."

In the midst of it, I remembered one thing I had left out. It wasn't urgent. As long as I didn't forget tomorrow, there was plenty of time to make them.

"Tsk. Things like this always come to mind only after I've already hit the road."

Other than that, nothing else came to mind. I gently lowered my brow at the subtle sensation I always felt whenever I packed my bags.

There was no particular solution.

"Phew."

Still, based on what I felt coming to this city, I didn't think I'd need anything more than this. I put all my belongings away and dusted off my clothes.

The clothes I was wearing now didn't have an auto-wash ability, so if they got dusty, I had to dust them off without fail.

FLOP.

Then, after lying on the bed, I carefully untied my shoelaces, only to tie them back up again.

"Are you sure he's staying here?"

"The owner said he's here."

Visitors had arrived.

"But is it really okay to just show up like..."

CREAK!

"Uh."

As for how these guys found me, well. Seeing Deathbringer accompanying them, I didn't want to think about it anymore. Given his experience in the Information Guild, there was no way he couldn't find someone as conspicuous as me.

"Demon Knight! I apologize for the late hour! I came to see you because something urgent came up!"

But I was curious as to why they came. Scowling fiercely, I looked at the faces of my visitors.

The Inquisitor and Deathbringer, plus one face I had never seen before... No, wait. He looked somewhat familiar... Ah. Was he that Heresy Inquisitor I fought earlier today?

"Your business."

"You're being too brus—"

"Hold it."

I was a bit puzzled as to why that last person was here, but I didn't particularly want to ask.

So I stared at the one who had spoken first. Her expression wasn't bad for someone who said it was urgent, making me even more curious about the situation.

"Um, Demon Knight."

The thought suddenly occurred to me that it had been a long time since I conversed with them, but it quickly faded. It wasn't a very important thought.

"Did you... visit a civilian home today?"

If anything was important, it would be the question of how they knew that.

"For the record, we won't accept you saying there's no reason to tell us! We're asking for a different reason, setting aside our party issues!"

In the meantime, before I could even open my mouth to say anything, Deathbringer preempted me. Thanks to that, the furrow between my brow deepened even further.

"I did."

But why was this important? I quickly racked my brain.

Did something happen to that house, perhaps...?

"Do you know them?"

I weighed my words, torn between my concern for the family and whether I really had to report every little thing like this.

Had it not been for the Inquisitor quickly adding, "Please. It is an important matter," I probably would have snapped in irritation.

My generous persona would only tolerate this one last time.

"... I don't know them. Satisfied?"

"A coincidence makes no—"

"Hey now. You agreed to wait until we heard everything."

"Is that true? Are you truly strangers?"

However, I wouldn't hold back a third time.

It wasn't like I had committed a crime, and there was no reason for me to be interrogated without even an explanation of the situation.

"Barging in out of nowhere, giving no explanation, glossing over it by claiming it's important, and then pressing for an answer—how very polite of you."

"Ah, that's... I apologize! My habits from interrogations...!"

"I won't listen to excuses. If you have no intention of providing a proper reason, piss off. Just the fact that you snooped into my schedule on your own is thoroughly unpleasant."

Pulling my body back slightly, I applied force to my hand to close the opened door.

BAM!

What blocked it was the hand of the gray-haired Heresy Inquisitor. His burning eyes finally broke past Deathbringer's restraint and reached me.

"No, you'll have to explain. The reason you met my family!"

It was a rather out-of-the-blue statement.

When did I ever meet your family?

"Crazy, you're just freakishly strong...!"

"Brother, you are agitated! Demon Knight, please do not misunderstand. This is not out of hostility...!"

"Tell me right now! What were you planning to do by meeting my family—"

"What worthless drivel..."

But wait a moment. A single thought flashed through my mind.

... Didn't that kid I met earlier say his older cousin was a Heresy Inquisitor?

"As I thought, you are a demon—!"

This connects like this?

"Brother!"

"Hey!"

I was at a loss for words at this unimaginable, truly crazy coincidence. This... this turned out like this...?

"Demon Knight, is it true that you really do not know Inquisitor Daniel's family? If there is a reason you met them despite being strangers, could you please tell us? It is to clear up a misunderstanding. I am begging you."

Y-Yeah. I should tell them this. If there was a misunderstanding like this, it was right to tell them... Even I would freak out if the guy I had a damn fight with earlier in the day went to visit my family, so I was going to tell them, but...

How was I supposed to say it? That I had been crying on the street, that a little kid had approached me while I was crying, and that the little kid just happened to be the Heresy Inquisitor's cousin... how could I possibly say that...

"Demon Knight, is it... truly a coincidence?"

I recalled the thought I had at the kid's house. I traced back the sentence, 'Sure, even if word reached the Heresy Inquisitor a bit, would it really reach the Hero's party?'

"Demon Knight?"

"... It's a coincidence."

To think that was a flag. Damn it!