Ch.185Side Story 2. The Story After, Garnet (1)

# Aftermath, Garnet (1)

What the hell?

Mom, fuck, what’s going on here.

That was Garnet’s final conclusion as she surveyed the current situation.

What exactly was she looking at?

No matter how much she tried to deny it, this was the scene after a night of lovemaking.

Should she call it a celebration?

In normal circumstances, it would certainly be something to celebrate.

But not this time.

After all, everything in life should follow a proper order.

The first one should have been someone from the hero’s party. That first person would likely be killed by the others.

It might sound like a joke, but for the hero’s party, this was an absolutely correct perspective.

One of them would die.

Knowing this, weren’t they all checking each other, dreaming of perfect crimes, and working Lug to the bone?

“N-no… I didn’t see anything… I didn’t see anything and I don’t know what happened. That’s my story.”

Garnet decided to cut ties with Lilith.

Compared to the hero’s party, Lilith was far too gentle and kind.

She would make good prey… no, just someone who needed to be dealt with.

And Garnet didn’t want to get involved in such a tragedy.

That’s why she deliberately chose to pretend she hadn’t seen what was right in front of her.

But could she really guarantee that suspicion wouldn’t fall on her if she pretended not to see?

Garnet thought it would be difficult.

‘Yes, rather…’

Rather, what if she sold these two out and gained immunity?

Wouldn’t that be less troublesome?

Lug was shameless enough to handle it, but Lilith was different.

She wouldn’t be able to control her expressions in front of the hero’s party.

And for Lilith, whose romantic experience ended with a kiss at her wedding, her relationship with Lug would visibly change from now on.

The hero’s party wouldn’t miss that.

The problem was that Garnet’s inner thoughts were completely revealed through her expressions.

Compared to Lilith, she was much more honest with her emotions.

That’s why Lug could tell.

He knew that Garnet was planning to hand him and Lilith over to the hero’s party to gain immunity.

“Garnet, please hear me out.”

“Why should I?”

“If you just listen…”

Swish.

In his urgency, Lug rose from the bed to stop Garnet, causing the blanket covering his body to slide off.

Lug revealed himself as if he had not a shred of shame in the world.

“…”

“…”

And once again, Lug’s vicious demon sword appeared to the world.

The powerful weapon Lug had been hiding behind the mask of a divine messenger.

Having never before witnessed the sword’s ferocity, Garnet finally faced it and screamed.

“You crazy bastard! What are you showing me?!”

The demon sword that hated mornings was pointing its tip toward the sky as if it wanted to tear apart the sunlit heavens.

Despite her seductive charm, Garnet was seeing this for the first time.

She was overwhelmed, terrified, and trembling.

And people faced with unbearable fear typically make one of three choices.

Either flee from the fear, submit to it.

Or…

Whoosh!

Or desperately try to eliminate the source of that fear.

Garnet chose the third option.

Blazing flames. The sacred fire of the Fire Spirit Sect, with its faith in purifying all the world’s filth through fire.

Those flames flew toward the owner of the vicious demon sword.

“Ah!”

However, despite her hot-tempered personality, Garnet never killed without reason.

Her violence always had a purpose.

Although the problem was that her reasons were often arbitrary…

The point is, she didn’t kill without reason.

And the firepower she just unleashed would be equivalent to throwing a punch in the demon realm.

Yes, in the demon realm.

In other words, it could be a fatal attack for Lug, who had lost all his powers and become an ordinary human.

“Aaaaargh?!”

Feeling the threat to his survival, Lug threw his body sideways.

The unfortunate thing was that immediately after shooting fire at Lug, Garnet realized he had become an ordinary person and tried to redirect the flames by twisting her body.

“Eh.”

Lug was speechless as the flames followed him as if guided.

“Kuk!”

And Garnet, who was closer to superhuman compared to the now-ordinary Lug, had to deal with the situation.

She tried her best to suppress the flames she had unleashed.

And as a result…

“Arrrgh!”

Thanks to Garnet’s perfect fire control, Lug was merely singed.

And likewise for Garnet’s arm, which had to suddenly suppress a force that could have reduced a person to ashes without issue.

Both sides were left with only injuries.

“…With these injuries, everyone will undoubtedly suspect Garnet.”

“Are you threatening me…!”

“Whew, I almost died.”

“…”

Garnet had nothing to say.

Wasn’t it true that she had almost killed Lug? Although she had tried to save him by physically restraining her own hand, the whole incident happened because of her in the first place.

She could only keep her mouth shut.

“Burns like these will leave marks for a while, even if I pour potions on them. And when it comes to burns, it’s obvious who they’ll think of first.”

“…”

A clear threat.

But also the truth.

If the hero’s party returned and saw Lug’s condition, they would have no choice but to look at Garnet first.

When thinking of someone who handles fire, they would immediately think of Garnet with her Fire Spirit powers.

And if they noticed the changed relationship between Lilith and Lug at that time?

Lug would be fine.

He was shameless to begin with, so he would lie without batting an eye.

On the other hand, Lilith, for whom this was essentially a first love, would definitely be caught.

In that situation—one person lying perfectly and the other caught—wouldn’t they think Garnet was lying too?

“…”

Garnet’s way to survive was to hand Lug over herself.

She needed to gain immunity that way, but in the current situation, that would be difficult.

Because she had injured Lug.

So even if there had been nothing suspicious between her and Lug, she would still be guilty.

‘…Even if I convince the others, the Saintess will surely cause problems.’

An opportunist and demon-hater.

Saintess Eirene would use this incident as an excuse to bash her head in.

Can a dog change its habits?

“I think it will take about three days for the potion to work and the wounds to become less noticeable.”

“What do you want?”

“Your cooperation?”

“Cooperation?”

“Yes, at least three days. Until then, help me escape.”

“…And after that, we pretend not to know each other?”

“Exactly.”

Garnet thought about it.

Lug’s proposal was the best possible option right now.

It would benefit both Garnet and Lug.

To be precise, Garnet would gain time to hide the fact that she had injured Lug, and Lug would have Garnet as a reliable ally for at least three days during his escape.

Of course, there was a fundamental question.

“You’re not planning to run away forever, are you?”

Was it really necessary to go to such lengths to escape?

That thought made Garnet feel uncomfortable.

After all, she was bound to Lug by marriage. It wasn’t pleasant to think that her husband had run away.

“I just need to get some fresh air. Honestly, I haven’t had a single day of rest in the past five months.”

He had repeated a cycle of working from the moment he opened his eyes until he passed out, without even having a honeymoon.

He needed rest. Yes, Lug needed time alone right now.

“…After three days, I’ll return to the Demon Lord’s castle.”

“Let’s do that.”

Lug extended his hand, expecting the contract to be sealed.

But quickly realizing that Garnet’s hands were covered with burns, he opted for a hug instead of a handshake.

Of course…

“Eek! S-stay away!”

Lug was still naked, and his embrace was nothing but burdensome.

***

Lug quickly prepared and left the Demon Lord’s castle with Garnet.

Naturally, Lilith, who had worked hard to relieve Lug’s stress the previous night, couldn’t join them.

She planned to stay in bed for a while because her waist hurt.

“…I should probably take a rest too. Since Lug is gone, there’s nothing I can do anyway.”

Administration was already paralyzed.

The Demon Lord had fled, and the hero’s party members who handled most of the administration had all gone out to find Lug.

Even if she tried to do something alone, there was nothing she could do.

“Hmm…”

Lying in bed hugging a pillow, Lilith recalled what had happened the night before.

Just thinking about it made her head hot, but she didn’t want to forget a single moment, so she kept recalling every detail over and over again.

Then suddenly.

“…Why did Garnet come here?”

She remembered.

The subsequent events had been so shocking and confusing that she had forgotten, but come to think of it, hadn’t Garnet come looking for her with something to discuss?

Someone had definitely been looking for her. It meant there was an urgent matter.

If it was important enough to wake her up, what could it be?

“Ah…”

Lilith realized.

“Was today the day they were coming back?”

It was time for the two who had gone on their honeymoon to return.

***

On his way back from his honeymoon with Lacrima, Robeno could see it.

“…I’m not sure if I’m understanding this correctly.”

The Demon Lord covered in burns from head to toe, and Garnet carrying him over her shoulder as if he were a nuisance.

“What are you doing, Five?”

No matter how you looked at it, this was a kidnapping in progress.