Chapter 115: Hero Festival – After (1)

The day after winning the earnest duel with Mana, Therese and Marianne came to Sion’s room early in the morning.

Without giving her a chance to say anything, Therese quickly bowed her head.

“Hero, I’m sorry!!!!”

Then she grabbed Marianne, who was awkwardly lingering behind her, by the back of her head and pulled her down.

“Come on, apologize too, you brat!”

“I-I-I’m sorry…”

Marianne, who had been so assertive the previous day, now trembled pitifully, her voice shaking as she bowed her head.

Sion, who suddenly found herself on the receiving end of apologies from two people, tilted her head in confusion, unable to grasp the situation.

Still rubbing her sleepy eyes, she asked,

“What’s this all about? Apologizing out of nowhere, barging into my room so early in the morning…”

“I heard that yesterday Marianne was very rude to you and Exia in Hife, right? We’re here because of that.”

Oh, so it was about that incident—when Marianne had cunningly tried to gaslight Exia.

While neither Sion nor Exia were particularly offended due to knowing the truth of Sion’s resurrection, objectively, Marianne’s actions were indeed over the line.

She had dredged up memories of a deceased comrade and heartlessly torn them apart.

Sion had been able to see through her intent, which is why she countered her.

In that context, apologizing now was the proper course of action.

Fortunately, Therese, unlike her descendant, hadn’t completely discarded basic manners.

“As you’ve seen before, this one here is usually timid and shy, but whenever it’s a topic she’s passionate about, she gets carried away and loses control. It’s a terrible habit of hers.”

Therese sighed dramatically, crossing her arms as if genuinely worried.

“She’s the textbook example of a reclusive nerdy otaku. She’s pitiful, so I hope you can forgive her with your broad heart, Hero.”

“Th-that’s too harsh, sister… You cause trouble for others plenty of times too… mostly with your edgy teenager phase…”

“What did you say? At least I don’t act disrespectfully in front of Exia! If I know I’m in the wrong, I quietly bow my head and shut up.”

“Ugh!”

Having been hit squarely with the truth, Marianne lowered her head further, her words stuck in her throat.

She glanced nervously at Sion’s expression. Therese shrugged and continued,

“Anyway, while we came to apologize to you, Hero, could you also call for Exia? If possible, we’d like to apologize to him directly.”

“Well…”

Sion hesitated awkwardly.

She glanced over at Exia, who was sprawled asleep on the bed in her room.

This wasn’t the right time.

After transforming her into a human last night, Sion hadn’t yet reverted Exia to her sword form.

 It took about five minutes to perform the transformation spell, which wasn’t exactly inconspicuous, especially with its lengthy incantation.

Sion smiled awkwardly, conveying a polite refusal.

“I’m sorry, but Exia is currently fast asleep. Could you perhaps come back at another time? I’ll make sure to properly relay your apology to him.”

“Ah, that works too! Thanks a lot!”

Therese laughed cheerfully, then smacked Marianne on the back.

“Come on, Marianne, apologize properly again! Loud and clear!”

“Y-yes!”

Marianne, looking as though she might cry, kept bowing repeatedly to Sion, her voice trembling.

“I-I’m so sorry for my actions, Hero! I promise I won’t let myself get carried away by my desires like that again! I was wrong!”

“It’s okay, really. It happens to everyone.”

Sion responded with a gentle, forgiving smile that seemed saintly to anyone unaware of her true nature.

“Besides, in a way, thanks to you, a misunderstanding was cleared up, wasn’t it? There’s no need to apologize anymore.”

“A misunderstanding? What do you mean?”

Marianne tilted her head, puzzled. Sion smiled knowingly, as if to say, Don’t pretend you don’t know.

“Thanks to your truth-binding spell interrogation, Exia’s declaration that she doesn’t love Sien was proven to be completely true.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of people around us heard it too. So, in a sense, your actions helped clear Exia’s name. There’s no need to feel bad about it.”

Indeed, that was Sion’s greatest gain from their time in Hife—possibly even more significant than physically persuading Mana to strengthen the regulations.

If Exia had faltered in answering that final question, the repercussions would have been immense.

However, though she struggled, she managed to get her words out.

And once those words were spoken, it was a victory for this side.

The fact that “Exia does not love Sien” was affirmed as an undeniable truth through sacred law.

With this, it should be possible to completely eradicate the rampant [Hife] involving things like “Sien x Exia” or “Exia x Sien,” spreading like cockroaches.

At least, that’s how it should go.

“…..”

For some reason, Marianne remained silent instead of responding to Sion’s words.

No, not only did she stop there, but she also began to show a peculiar smile at the corner of her lips.

Sion furrowed her brow slightly at her expression, which seemed somehow provocative.

“What does that look mean? Are you implying that what I said was wrong?”

“Oh, no… there’s no way.”

Marianne dropped the corners of her raised lips and composed herself again.

She realized that laughing like this in a situation where she came to apologize was inappropriate.

Detecting her intent, Sion tilted her head and asked,

“Go ahead, I won’t get angry. Was there something odd about what I just said?”

“You’re really not going to get angry?”

“Yes. I stand by my words. Don’t worry.”

“Well then…”

Marianne glanced toward the interior of Sion’s room, hesitated for a moment, and then leaned closer to her, whispering softly,

“It’s probably a lie.”

“…What?”

What nonsense is this?

Sion stared at Marianne in disbelief, suspecting for a moment that she might be trying to deceive her again.

But her expression was 100%, no, 120% serious.

In other words, regardless of the truth, she genuinely believed what she was saying.

“What do you mean? She clearly declared under the influence of the sacred law, which compels only truth, that she ‘does not love’ Sien. How could that be a lie?”

“That’s because the effects of the Truth Zone spell are not perfect.”

“Not perfect?”

“Exactly.” Marianne nodded.

“As you know, the Truth Zone can be overcome with strong willpower through repeated self-suggestion, just like any other manipulation technique.

That’s also why testimony obtained under this sacred law isn’t automatically accepted as irrefutable fact in court.”

“I know that. But so what?”

“Oh, come on, you still don’t get it even after I’ve explained this much?”

Marianne chuckled, lowering her voice to a mischievous whisper.

“Miss, didn’t her voice tremble like crazy just before answering the last question? ‘I don’t love… Sien. I don’t… love him!!’

If that wasn’t her effort to lie while under the Truth Zone’s influence, then what else could it be?”

“?????”

Sion gaped in disbelief.

Wait, she’s interpreting it like that? Just how limitless is her imagination?

“Hold on. Isn’t it far more likely that she simply found it embarrassing to utter the word ‘love’ so directly in front of everyone? Isn’t that the much more common interpretation?”

“Who in this day and age gets embarrassed over saying the word ‘love’ twice? She’s not a child.”

“Exia is practically a child! Her mind is younger and purer than anyone else’s!”

“Pure? Hahaha!” Marianne burst into laughter, a laugh that was annoyingly provocative.

“Well, let’s say that’s one interpretation.”

“No, it’s not just one interpretation; it’s the correct—”

“What matters is,” Marianne cut her off decisively, “that Exia’s behavior in [Hife] has only served to strengthen the ‘Sien x Exia’ narrative, never to weaken it.

You could ask any fan of the pairing and they’d all say the same thing. I’d bet on it.”

“……..”

Crack.

A small vein bulged on Sion’s forehead.

Was she here to apologize or to rub salt into her wounds?

It hadn’t even been three minutes since she kept bowing and saying she was sorry, and now she was acting like this?

Even Therese, standing beside them, seemed to have a similar thought, letting out a sigh before delivering a sharp flick to her sister’s head.