Ch.112Twelve Heavens (7)

# Twelve Heavens (7)

Garnet has trauma about betrayal. After all, wasn’t she someone who died because of it? It’s only natural that trauma would develop.

Yes, she’s a person who hates both being betrayed and betraying others.

Even when she infiltrated the Demon Lord’s army and reached right under the neck of the Demon Lord as a corps commander, she was preparing for a fair and square hierarchy battle rather than assassination.

So honestly, she was planning to refuse Lug’s proposal. Even if the Demon Lord’s army had forgotten her, she intended to maintain at least a minimum level of loyalty.

Initially, Lug said he wanted a conversation with the Demon Lord, but his actions could certainly be called betrayal.

It’s best not to reach out in such unclear situations.

Nevertheless, she listened to Lug’s words to decide what to do with him.

It was to determine whether to eliminate him or not.

In conclusion, Garnet decided to leave Lug alone without killing him.

“Hmph! I don’t even need to bother.”

It was a self-interested conclusion.

Anyway, in that situation, encountering Third resulted in overturning her decision. The Demon Lord’s army attacked her first.

Once betrayed first, there was no need to maintain loyalty, was there?

Of course, that was Third’s unilateral action.

It was truly a chance encounter in a chance location, and the Demon Lord’s army didn’t care about Garnet’s existence at all.

Of course, Third didn’t explain that, and even if it was Garnet’s presumption, being attacked was a fact.

So she was willing to cooperate with the hero’s party for revenge.

“I won’t let this go… I won’t let this go!”

Third literally played with Garnet.

Once caught up in Third’s attack, Garnet came to believe she couldn’t win against her.

Self-binding, like strangling her own neck, Garnet ended up making all of Third’s deceptions into truth.

With Garnet’s original power, she should have easily defeated someone like Third.

If she had just covered the entire area with flames, Third would have had to flee with her tail between her legs.

But Garnet thought Third would naturally block such widespread attacks, and that imagination became reality.

That’s how Garnet was thoroughly played by Third’s hand and collapsed.

When she opened her eyes afterward.

“……”

Garnet felt an indescribable humiliation.

She felt insulted by Third, who not only one-sidedly defeated her but didn’t even finish her off.

Of course, Third never intended to kill Garnet from the beginning, and just as Garnet thought she was being played with, Third was merely playing.

“Lug, your proposal…”

Bang!

Not knowing this, Garnet was about to accept Lug’s proposal out of humiliation.

But…

“…Gone?”

The problem was that Lug was nowhere to be seen when she returned to the hut.

For a moment, anxiety ran down her spine.

Fortunately, there were no signs of battle in the hut, so Garnet decided to explore the surroundings first.

And what she found was Lug with the hero Esmeralda.

“Well, as long as he’s safe… No, what am I saying? Why should I care what happens to him?”

Garnet pouted her lips but decided to quietly wait for Lug.

Approaching the hero’s party now didn’t seem like it would end well.

***

After waiting for Lug to separate from the group, Garnet was able to seize the opportunity several days after the journey began.

Honestly, she was suspicious.

It seemed as if they had forgotten about her existence and started the journey with the hero’s party.

However, since Esmeralda’s aura had been unsettling during that time, she decided to keep it as an assumption.

She was reluctant to approach because of the tense feeling in various ways.

And anyway, Garnet was eventually able to meet Lug.

Lug separated from the group alone, saying he was looking for a campsite, as if he had been waiting for her.

And he actually called her out as if he knew she was watching. The distrust that had been building in Garnet’s heart melted away like snow.

It was the moment Lug saved his life.

Right away, Lug, unaware of this, urged Garnet to join the party with a very natural attitude.

As if he had really been waiting for Garnet from the beginning.

“Then I’ll first try to explain to the hero.”

“No, it’s… fine.”

It might be better to watch from a distance rather than joining.

After all, she doesn’t have good memories with the members of the hero’s party.

“Wouldn’t it be better to be together? In case of any contingency, it would be better for us to be on the same side, wouldn’t it?”

“…Do you trust me?”

“Yes, I do.”

Garnet and the hero’s party have already fought to the death.

Now, would they believe her if she said she wanted to become a comrade?

That was the meaning behind her words, but Lug’s answer was without hesitation.

It was a confidence that left Garnet speechless.

“…Alright, I understand. Since you say you trust me, it would be courteous for me to trust you at least once.”

Honestly, it was hard to think that things would resolve smoothly with the hero’s party.

But she felt that Lug would somehow make it work.

Yes, Lug…

‘Since he gives off a similar feeling to the Demon Lord and that guy… he must have the appropriate abilities and confidence.’

The Demon Lord and First. He exuded an atmosphere similar to the two beings she had seen and considered extraordinary.

***

Esmeralda knows.

That she’s currently walking a dangerous tightrope.

Right now, she’s pressuring Eirene Saintess and Millia Asrin, but if she fails to maintain balance with either one, their respective groups will intervene.

Yes. If the balance tilts to one side, the group will immediately intervene to forcibly take Lug away.

And naturally, the other side will also use their group to maintain the current situation.

So the important thing is balance.

As much as she increased her contact rate with Lug, she needs to walk an even more precarious line.

Lug’s attempt to impress her parents made Esmeralda’s heart sink for a moment.

Of course, thanks to Esmeralda repeatedly emphasizing that she had not developed feelings for Lug, it didn’t escalate into a major issue.

But…

“Hmph, what are you looking at?”

The moment Lug brought in Corps Commander Five, now identifying herself as Garnet, Esmeralda sensed it.

[Note: She is feeling a slight attraction to Lug.]

That the balance she had been carefully maintaining…

“I-It’s not like I’m helping because my former subordinate asked me to, okay? I also have business with the Demon Lord… Yes, I decided to join because we’re heading in the same direction.”

Had been disrupted.

***

To be honest, Esmeralda wasn’t surprised that Lug brought a woman.

Looking at his usual behavior, wouldn’t he have been flirting here and there?

Right away, Esmeralda remembered Lug flirting with her too.

A man whose lower body is also connected to his brain. That was Esmeralda’s objective and definite assessment of Lug.

Of course, it was a bit surprising that Lug, who said he was looking for a campsite, came back with a woman.

And it was quite surprising that the woman was Corps Commander Five, whom they had fought to the death in the past.

Moreover, the fact that Five, with her cruel and ruthless demeanor, had now become Garnet, a girl who couldn’t even manage her expressions… honestly, this was very surprising.

But Esmeralda had no time to be surprised.

“…So you have no feelings for Lug?”

She wasn’t the only one who read the atmosphere.

Eirene Saintess, who noticed that Garnet felt a strange attraction to Lug, began to probe her with her usual gentle smile.

“Me? What feelings would I have for him? I don’t think anything special.”

This is bad.

Esmeralda was internally screaming as she watched the scene.

“W-Why would I like him? This pervert with no abilities? Ha! That’s not even funny.”

Those statements are not good.

It’s one thing for him to seduce and bring other women, but this…!

“I’m not interested in him. I just followed because I thought he might be helpful in defeating the Demon Lord.”

“Hmm…”

Awkwardly.

Garnet’s appearance was quite different from her first impression. That ice-cold ruthlessness was nowhere to be seen, and now she seemed to have melted into warm water.

And to make matters worse, she couldn’t even manage her expressions properly, revealing her true feelings to everyone.

“I see.”

Eirene Saintess nodded.

She probably knew too.

That Lug could continue to seduce women wherever he went.

Honestly, wouldn’t that probability be higher than not?

She’s quite realistic. No, not just her.

Everyone probably has a good grasp of Lug’s tendencies.

And of course, there’s a reason they haven’t dealt with this situation.

‘I can easily bury a woman who joined late anyway.’

‘I can just kill her and be done with it.’

Power, status, and appearance.

They were confident they wouldn’t lose in any of these aspects.

Even if a woman who passed all these criteria was seduced, they thought they could handle it before emotions deepened.

The same goes for Garnet.

She hasn’t even noticed the attraction sprouting in her heart yet.

At that level, they could easily guide her mind away from Lug.

“Despite what happened in the past, I can’t deny that she would be helpful.”

“…Can you use magic?”

That’s why Eirene Saintess and Millia Asrin didn’t see Garnet as a competitor.

To the extent that they even showed a semblance of intimacy. Of course, hidden within was a sticky and violent inner heart.

So what’s dangerous?

The reason Esmeralda considers this situation dangerous.

It’s because…

“But you know, there’s someone in our party who says the same thing.”

Garnet’s answer strangely resembled Esmeralda’s excuses.

Esmeralda felt her breath catch as attention focused on her.