episode_0022

Milaea glared at me with cold eyes.

Her longsword seemed to almost touch my nose.

“Answer me. It’s better not to think about running away.”

“That’s…”

My mind went blank.

It seemed like I had made an absurd misunderstanding with her.

I had set traps to protect the village because I had no chance of winning alone, but I never expected it to come back like this.

“What’s your identity? Are you a demon?”

“No, that’s not…”

“Did you raise the undead in the tomb? Is it a play to hide in the guild as an adventurer?”

“No, that’s a bit…”

“Reveal your origin. Where are you from?”

Oh no.

She seemed to think of me as some kind of demon raising monster.

Could there be such a terrible misunderstanding?

But the bigger problem was that I couldn’t think of a way to explain it right now.

“There are other suspicious points. Do you think a novice adventurer who hasn’t even received a bronze rank can defeat a group of undead?

Even if you reduced the numbers by setting traps, it’s still impossible.”

“Um…”

“Come on, speak up. Where are you from?”

My origin is Seoul.

If I say that, I feel like a sense of impending doom will come from my throat.

Origin? Origin… I have no choice but to say it’s either Bynar or Kubele.

Oh, I know one more thing.

Helvetika Island where Meruru came from.

But I’m not a merfolk, am I?

There was no credibility.

“You can’t answer, can you?”

Milaea’s sword slowly descended from my nose to my chin, aiming at my throat.

Wait, this is really dangerous.

Her expression was as cold as ice.

But come to think of it, I’m a little angry.

Even though my origin is uncertain because I’m from another world.

As a novice adventurer, I suddenly fought alone against a group of undead to protect the village.

Even though I anticipated the appearance of the undead and used traps.

…

…

Even I find it suspicious.

If you look at it without thinking, it feels like I just worked hard to protect the village.

But when you break it down as Milaea said, this human seems to be up to something.

Wait a minute.

Just as I don’t have a clear way to explain this problem, isn’t there no clear evidence that she is also suspicious of me?

The biggest reason she suspects me is because I knew the monsters were going to attack.

So, if I can come up with a valid reason why I knew the undead would rise from the graveyard, that should be enough.

“As expected, you…”

“He…hehe…ahaha!”

“What’s going on? Are you crazy?”

“Do Gold adventurers really capture innocent people like this?”

I stared straight at Milaea, starting to counterattack with a firm expression.

If there is no evidence, she is in the same boat.

If it’s just a suspicion, there was no need to show a confused look.

“Indeed, it’s true that I registered as an adventurer in the guild a while ago.

I was born and raised in an unknown alley, so I’ve long forgotten about my origin.

But because I wanted to become an adventurer, I did all sorts of dirty work, from cleaning to hard labor, until I finally bought a sword.

I wanted to become an adventurer. That’s why I registered as an adventurer in the guild and they gave me a novice rank.”

I focused on Milaea’s face without looking at the sword pressed against my neck, and I embellished my story with the experiences I had gone through.

When someone suspects me without evidence, it’s a story that I can dispel suspicion even without evidence.

To do that, I needed to consider various factors and build up the story while pretending to slowly tell my story and diverting the topic.

“What did you say? You’re not from a famous family, you have no experience, and you haven’t learned swordsmanship anywhere, so I can’t give you a bronze grade. It’s better to start from the novice grade, build up your experience, and then get promoted. That was the reason, right?”

“….”

“Still, I was happy. Because I could become an adventurer.

Even though I didn’t have a place in this expedition, I tried my best to find things I could do.

Who do you think moved most of the supplies to the supply wagon? It was me.

Even when the expedition left and I was alone, I kept looking for things I could do.”

Before she could speak again, I continued without a break.

“During that time, I saw a tomb being dug up in a corner of the graveyard.

I thought there might be grave robbers, so I looked around, but there weren’t any. An undead creature had awakened from that tomb.

Luckily, there was only one, so I managed to deal with it somehow. But what do you think?

Wouldn’t it be natural to think that creatures could awaken from other tombs in the graveyard?”

This situation could be turned around with just one setting.

In reality, there was already an undead creature awakened in a corner of the graveyard.

Of course, it was a lie, but there was no way to confirm that it was a lie.

If no one knew it was a lie, then it wasn’t a lie, it became a fact.

“But what can we do now? The damn expedition has already left the village. We can’t ask for help.

If undead creatures awaken from other tombs, wouldn’t that be a big problem?

So, I set up traps and decided to monitor the graveyard alone until the expedition returns.

If nothing happens, it will end with me making a fuss alone, but if the undead creatures really awaken, I planned to use the traps to deal with them.”

Done.

I managed to make it fit somehow.

But with this hastily made up fact, there was a possibility of being refuted in unexpected ways if the other party had time to think deeply.

To prevent that, I had to attack instead.

After all, they say the best defense is offense.

It was an effective method even in a debate.

“Then let me ask you the opposite. Milaia, I heard that you are a great and very famous adventurer.

But why didn’t you leave at least the minimum number of people to guard the village?

What if I hadn’t discovered the undead creature awakening early in the graveyard?

If the village had been attacked by the undead without any countermeasures, what do you think would have happened?”

As I questioned her, Milaia, who had shown no change in expression until now, hesitated slightly in her eyes.

By redirecting the focused topic to her, criticizing her incompetence, she was at a disadvantage.

There were many things I wanted to criticize her for.

“I did my best to achieve the goal of the expedition.”

Milaia replied.

No, that’s not a proper answer.

“So, is that why there were deaths and injuries?”

“In battles against monsters, there is always a risk…”

“It’s your job to minimize that risk, isn’t it?”

I know.

The strategy she used to defeat monsters was absurdly ignorant.

Dividing the expedition into strong and weak groups and charging head-on was not a strategy.

Certainly, Milaia might be a gold rank, and her strength might be unmatched.

But I could confidently say that her way of leading the expedition was worse than bronze.

I could sense the atmosphere shifting.

Now she was no longer in a situation where she could doubt or question my actions.

It’s difficult for people to have two conflicting thoughts at the same time.

“There was an adventurer named Oren in the expedition.”

I brought up the story, thinking of Oren who hadn’t returned.

“Even though he was just a Bronze Adventurer, he was a good person who taught me many things in various ways. But he never came back.”

“……”

“It’s because of you.”

“That’s……”

“Because you were blinded by the target of subjugation and didn’t care about the village’s defense, it didn’t matter to you what happened to the other adventurers of the subjugation team, right?”

After saying that, I discreetly checked Milaia’s condition.

After a moment, Milaia lowered the sword she had pointed at me and put it back in its sheath.

I worried that I might have crossed the line by attacking too aggressively, but judging by her reaction, she seemed fine.

And even though she said it to protect me from her suspicions, it was truly shocking that Oren didn’t come back.

If this woman had approached the subjugation operation a little more properly, Oren might have survived.

Milaia’s strategic incompetence and negligence were nothing short of what killed Oren.

I was really angry about that part.

“I have nothing more to say. Can I go now?”

“……”

With no response, I turned around and left her behind, walking down the hill.

Milaia didn’t try to stop me from behind.

* * *

Returning to the village, I quickly entered an alley to avoid people’s eyes.

“Hoo…… Hoo……”

And I took deep breaths while clutching my chest with my hand.

When she pointed the sword at me and started interrogating me, I really thought I was going to die.

The tension I had been holding back was released all at once, and my legs were shaking.

It had faded over time, but the sense of danger I felt when she pointed the sword at me was real.

I can’t believe I spoke so harshly to such a terrifying woman.

“Yunoa, in order to dispel the suspicions towards herself, belittled Milaia with all sorts of lies and boasting.

Using even a friend’s death as material to escape danger, he was truly an outrageous human being.”

The narration, which had been quiet while I was facing off against Milaia, suddenly poured out criticism.

I could accept any other criticism, but I couldn’t accept the accusation of using a friend’s death as material.

“On the other hand, Milaia, who was criticized by a mere novice adventurer, was still lost in thought on the hill above the graveyard.

In Milaia’s cold expression, no emotions were visible.

But in her mind, Yunoa’s words kept swirling around.”

* * *