Ch.197197. Save you? Why bother? What a hassle?

Scritch. Scritch. Scritch.

Clara stared blankly.

It felt like a dream.

With each movement of Jawil Wilson’s blade, the heads of Brond’s companions were being sliced off one by one.

A naive but kind boy.

A timid child who somehow found courage in the strangest places.

That was the Jawil Wilson that Clara had liked.

But now.

There was no trace of that naivety, and whatever had happened since he left his hometown had imbued his movements with a cruelty that sent chills down her spine.

Clara squeezed her eyes shut and opened her mouth.

“J-Jawil Wilson…”

At Clara’s voice, Selden Alphonse, wearing Jawil Wilson’s transformation skin, turned his head with cold, sunken eyes.

“Don’t tell me you’re about to spout some nonsense about showing mercy to people who were trying to kill us?”

Clara flinched and clamped her mouth shut.

Jawil Wilson turned back and continued slicing off the heads of Brond’s companions.

The most bewildered by this situation was, of course, Brond himself.

The Jawil Wilson who couldn’t even fight back when they were children was now committing murder right before his eyes without hesitation.

But were his followers weak?

No, Brond knew better.

He had been in and out of Pandera territory on errands for his father, Chief Loris.

Naturally, he had seen knights and even mages during those trips.

And the first thought that came to mind when he encountered them was:

‘They’re weaker than I expected.’

That’s why.

Even when he learned that Jawil Wilson was a knight from a noble family, he didn’t bat an eye.

Besides, no one from Alphonse territory would come investigating just because one Jawil Wilson died.

And even if they did, he was confident he could handle it.

Scritch. Scritch.

But now.

Brond could only stand frozen in place.

Even he, who prided himself as the strongest in Pandera territory, couldn’t follow Jawil Wilson’s movements at all.

“Now it’s just you left.”

“…Are you really Jawil Wilson?”

“Why does that matter? You’re going to die here today anyway.”

“H-how could you kill Cerberus with a single strike?”

“It was weaker than the Black Hound, just as I’d heard. So there’s no way I could lose.”

Jawil Wilson spoke of the Black Hound as casually as if referring to a neighborhood mutt.

Brond realized that if he tried to fight back, his head would fly off just like his companions’.

He needed to think fast to survive.

“If you kill me here, my father won’t let this slide.”

“Why should a dead man worry about that? Hmm? I’ll think hard about it after I kill you.”

“I-if you spare me, I’ll keep everything that happened here a secret.”

“Spare you? Why? That’s too much trouble.”

Jawil Wilson tilted his head at an odd angle.

This definitely wasn’t the snot-nosed Jawil Wilson he knew.

Brond leaned backward, desperate to survive.

“What about money? Money you could never earn otherwise!”

“Money?”

“Yes! Everyone likes money, right? Who cares about being a knight of some noble family? You don’t have to do that! Besides, with your skills now, you and I could for the futu—”

Scritch.

Before Brond could finish, his head fell to the ground with a thud.

The hand holding the sword was still trembling, as if the anger hadn’t subsided.

As soon as he arrived in Pandera territory, he had faced not just disrespect but contempt.

Truthfully, Selden Alphonse had bullied Jawil Wilson.

After all, their first meeting hadn’t been pleasant.

But just as with siblings, one tends to get upset when outsiders badmouth someone close to them.

And given how bright that boy had always been, it seemed to pain him even more.

Selden Alphonse looked at Brond and muttered quietly.

“Even so, you weren’t worthy of looking down on Jawil Wilson.”

*

“Hah!”

Wortman, Berik, and Clara once again wore expressions of shock.

Jawil Wilson suddenly opened his palm toward the corpses of Brond, his companions, and the now-dead Cerberus.

“Flame Explosion!”

The bodies instantly burst into flames.

He was incinerating them to leave no evidence.

A knight who could also use magic?

But the astonished group was in for another surprise.

“Ch-Chief! It’s all my fault.”

After finishing the incineration, he suddenly inflicted wounds on himself.

Then he reassured Wortman, Berik, and Clara to trust him, and gave them similar scratches.

Next, he went straight to Chief Loris and put on a masterful performance.

And he did it without batting an eye.

Chief Loris’s eyebrows twitched slightly.

“So you’re saying Cerberus ate my son and his friends!?”

“I-I’m not sure about that. But I clearly saw with my own eyes Cerberus’s three heads each carrying two or three people, dragging them deep into the Silver Forest.”

“…Then how did you all avoid being taken?”

“As I said earlier, I arrived too late. I was afraid that if I provoked it, I might put Brond and the others in even more danger.”

Chief Loris’s eyes wavered greatly.

“They might still be alive?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Clara wore an incredulous expression.

How could he lie so effortlessly without changing his expression?

She wondered if this was really the naive but pure Jawil Wilson she had liked since childhood.

‘Is this what happens to everyone who leaves for the continent?’

Meanwhile, Chief Loris tried to maintain his composure with bloodshot eyes.

Surely, he had tamed Cerberus with the necklace, so had it gone berserk?

He had warned them never to take it out, just in case…

Chief Loris examined Jawil Wilson’s body.

Though small, the scratches were sharp, as if made by Cerberus’s keen claws.

Wortman, Berik, and Clara had similar wounds.

‘Could they have done something to my son?’

That couldn’t be.

The missing individuals, including his son, were among the strongest in Pandera territory.

No matter how magically talented Berik and Clara might be, they couldn’t have handled those numbers.

Besides.

If they had sustained serious injuries, it would be different, but such small scratches made him even more certain.

Chief Loris turned around.

There stood knights and mages who had gathered after hunting monsters in the Silver Forest.

About fifty people.

But they were skilled enough to capture Cerberus.

“Everyone except the injured, follow me.”

Despite the unreasonable order, they all nodded and followed Chief Loris deep into the Silver Forest.

Seeing this, Clara tugged at Jawil Wilson’s collar.

“Um…”

“Hmm?”

“If they go deep into the forest, everyone will be in danger…”

“What’s that got to do with me?”

Clara was once again rendered speechless by Jawil Wilson’s cold expression.

But what could she do?

If she didn’t stop them, all the knights and mages of Pandera territory might be annihilated.

“I’ll go at least.”

“…I’ll go too.”

Berik and Clara wore determined expressions.

Wortman also sighed deeply and spoke.

“Jawil Wilson, that way leads to the central Silver Forest. You’ll find the magic grass you want there.”

“…I even gave you wounds for show, but you’re still going to follow Chief Loris?”

When Jawil Wilson had unhesitatingly swung his sword at Brond and his companions, Wortman had understood.

He had to do it or risk his life.

And Wortman could roughly guess about Chief Loris’s corruption.

But.

Regardless of that, the people who followed Chief Loris deep into the Silver Forest were innocent.

So out of camaraderie, he had to follow.

“I must.”

Selden Alphonse, wearing Jawil Wilson’s transformation skin, sighed deeply.

Normally, he would prioritize his own gain regardless of what happened to others, but Berik, Wortman, and Clara were different.

If something went wrong because he ignored them, he wouldn’t be able to face Jawil Wilson when he returned to Lake territory.

“I’ll go alone and come back, so you all gather some magic grass without being noticed.”

“Y-you’re going alone?”

“You saw earlier, right? I have a better chance of saving them than if the three of you went.”

“That’s true, but…”

“I’ll be back soon, so let’s meet at Wortman’s house.”

Wortman asked with a questioning look.

“You’re not planning to kill them all, are you?”

“Come on, I’m not some murderer. What’s the point in killing innocent people?”

Jawil Wilson shrugged his shoulders at them.

Berik and Clara also showed anxiety in their eyes, but the depths of the Silver Forest were truly dangerous.

So they needed his strength to ensure everyone escaped safely.

“I’m counting on you.”

“See you at my house later.”

“…Come back safely.”

Jawil Wilson, or rather Selden Alphonse, bid farewell to Berik, Wortman, and Clara with a reassuring look.

Then he turned in the opposite direction and began walking fiercely, following Chief Loris’s footsteps.