Ch.372EP.77 – After He Left (7)

Simon continued speaking, unaware of the two people’s admiring gazes as they watched his extraordinary intellect at work—a mind so remarkable it required no tricks.

“Both humans were found dead while heavily intoxicated. But they didn’t die from alcohol. There was poison on their wine glasses, it seems. They must have been celebrating something… but it ended up being their farewell drink. Well, quite luxurious, I’d say. Dying while guzzling expensive wine. A fitting end for them, really.”

…At first glance, it sounds like he’s speaking ill of the dead, but that must be my imagination, right?

Unfortunately, neither of them could see through Simon’s poker face, and they could only shake their heads.

Then suddenly.

“Why did this happen?” Levi asked instead of responding to his joking remarks.

She wasn’t particularly sympathetic toward the dead council members.

Why would she feel sympathy for people she’d never even seen?

The reason Levi asked was…

“What benefit is there in killing them…?”

She was asking for purely practical reasons.

While Levi didn’t view the Blood Crusaders positively, she did acknowledge certain facts.

‘They’re a powerful organization. Perhaps equal to or even greater than the great noble houses.’

Though uncomfortable to admit, they had “power.”

Even with Edmund’s patronage, they had demonstrated the capacity to potentially surpass a great noble house in just 30 years.

And if they were that large, there must be valid reasons for how they operated their forces, so why would they resort to assassination…

“Oh my, Chairwoman Levi. You shouldn’t view those people so normally.”

“What?”

“The very fact that you’re thinking that way proves you’re still viewing them through a lens of common sense. You shouldn’t do that.”

“?”

Simon waved his hand with a tone closer to advice than criticism.

“Those people are insane. Or rather, they’re a group filled with madness, composed entirely of ‘Radical Faction idealists.’ So their behavioral principles aren’t that complicated. They simply eliminate those who deviate from their ‘standards.'”

“Standards? Idealists?”

Was there such a thing?

“You can tell by looking at their actions. How full of madness they are, and what kind of ideals they hold… Though this is just my personal opinion, of course.”

“W-what is it?”

If these so-called predictions now sound like truth, does that make them the strange ones?

Sure enough.

“-It’s judgment.”

Thud!

For a moment, the back of their heads ached.

It felt as if something had struck their minds with perfect clarity.

Having observed the principles behind all their actions and having gathered information about them like puzzle pieces, Simon’s explanation provided the crucial hint that completed the fragmented puzzle.

“Judgment of evil. It could be seen as judging what they define as ‘evil’ by their own standards.”

“…You mean them?”

“As if to prove my words aren’t false, most of those they’ve eliminated were criminals, or worse than criminals.”

Most of the sacrifices offered when summoning the Demon King were criminals.

They reached into the Pit, the kingdom’s largest criminal detention facility, to manufacture half-humans and Mother Worms.

Even when punishing the temple, they selectively burned only the deeply sinful priests.

And beyond that…

“At the center of every incident was an ‘evil person.'”

Yes, the targets they eliminated were, knowingly or unknowingly, often “evil people” who had committed wicked acts.

It could be dismissed as coincidence, but if this pattern repeated more than dozens of times, it could no longer be considered mere chance.

“B-but how do you explain buying slaves for human experimentation or researching mystical races?”

“That’s also simple. For them, those actions fall under the category of [noble sacrifice].”

“…?”

“I mentioned it, didn’t I? Radical Faction idealists. They’ve determined that appropriate sacrifices are necessary to achieve their goals and cause. That’s why they gather powerless orphans and slaves, and research mystical races. All for the sake of their cause.”

“T-that’s too strange…”

“Yes, it is strange. But Chairwoman Levi, didn’t I tell you? Don’t try to understand them through common sense.”

“……”

“I’ll say it again—they’re thoroughly insane. They emphasize discipline in bizarre areas and judge evil by their own standards. You might find it incomprehensible and wonder how such an absurd organization could exist… But we already know of one such organization. Though it’s gone now.”

“…The Inquisitor.”

“Correct. It’s truly pleasant conversing with people of such good understanding. It saves me from a sore mouth, haha.”

“……”

Roen and Levi didn’t feel pleased by the compliment.

They were simply dazed by the behavioral principles of these people.

“T-then, this noble council assassination case too…”

“It’s judgment. They’re killing criminals who committed evil acts according to their standards, one by one. It’s the natural progression. After all, the greatest villains in the current kingdom are indeed the noble council.”

“…That’s absurd.”

“Again, don’t try to understand them. It’s easier to think simply. ‘Ah, those people are insane, their actions cannot be understood by the standards of reasonable people’… like that.”

That would be better for your mental health—

It was Simon’s warning-like advice, and they nodded heavily.

After all, nothing is more foolish than trying to calculate human madness.

* * *

“……”

…Levi remained silent for a long time.

She seemed deep in thought, and both Simon and Roen waited patiently without rushing her.

‘It must be complicated.’

‘This might be too much for her to handle right now.’

No matter how brilliant she is, she’s still just a 19-year-old girl.

Facing such human madness so directly, and thinking that such madness might oppose them in the future, it’s natural for her mind to be troubled…

“-Simon, Guild Master. Would you consider taking a position as an advisor to the Federation?”

“…?”

“I know it’s an unreasonable request. I know it might be disrespectful to ask someone who leads an organization. But even considering that, I think we’ll need your help to overcome future hardships.”

“S-so what you’ve been contemplating all this time was…”

“Yes, I was hesitating. I was wondering what merit we could offer to make you join us. And after consideration, I think we can provide something worthwhile.”

“……”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, nothing at all.”

Now it seems she wasn’t troubled but was coldly assessing the situation with remarkable composure.

So composed that she’s trying to recruit him right away.

‘Well, well.’

Simon, as if testing her, asked a question.

“Then, if I become an advisor, what compensation can you offer?”

Let’s see what she proposes.

*swish*

“I can offer two things.”

“Two things?”

“Yes, one is magicians. Specifically, I’ll give you the authority to use the magic department magicians still remaining at the academy.”

“…Pardon?”

“You may not know, but around this time last year, there was a war game between the swordsmanship department and the magic department. We won, and as a prize for victory, we gained the right to ‘use’ Professor Odwal as we please.”

“……”

“It’s essentially the right to use Professor Odwal, and fortunately, I inherited that authority from my master. Well, Odwal is quite rebellious, but magicians cannot easily break promises. So even if he’s uncooperative, he’ll have no choice but to comply.”

“…Ah.”

“I believe you understand how beneficial it is to command a magician of Odwal’s caliber. Especially since I heard from my master that your combat method requires many flame scrolls. I think this would be a great advantage for someone who needs military power like you. And finally, what else I can offer is—”

BANG!

“Bear friend! Kunta got answer! Kunta’s tribe warriors coming to help Kunta! Kunta happy-!!”

“…As you can see, I think we can lend you military power.”

The excited foreign student had broken the door as he entered, but no one scolded him for it.

It was too surprising, no, astonishingly amazing news.

Among mystical races, they were known as the strongest in combat power.

The terror of magicians, the nightmare of temples, the nemesis of knights, the guardians of the forest.

-[Barbarians.]

The news of their joining couldn’t help but be shocking.

“Opportunities to hire Champion-level warriors as mercenaries don’t come often. So, are you interested?”

“…Huh.”

Simon was dumbfounded.

What the—

‘I thought it would take at least a year to become a decent force… but this is different?’

A force that can command magicians and cooperate with Barbarians!

This could immediately contest the kingdom’s hegemony…

[Woong-!]

“-However, there’s one thing I must make clear.”

“……”

“We will only use all this military power and strength for ‘mediation.’ We have no interest in hegemony or anything like that. So I don’t want to give you false expectations.”

“……”

“But…”

Woooong-

Simon blankly looked at the girl… no, at her “eyes.”

Though they glowed only faintly, they were eyes one could never forget once seen.

And Simon remembered seeing something similar to those eyes last winter.

“I promise to protect your pride.”

“……”

“…?”

“…Huh.”

“G-Guild Master?”

Thud…

“???”

“I will follow your will, Chairwoman, no…”

-Holy Maiden.

Simon could not dare to look directly at the shining “light source,” and thus knelt down.

—Because a holy spirit containing the great Light of Radiance had descended here, borrowing a human body.

…How could a mere human look directly at her?

And so, the girl had gained the loyalty of the genius everyone wanted, and at that moment when a new page of the sacred legend was being written.

“…W-what?”

Levi was simply puzzled by this human’s sudden behavior, and she looked around for help, but.

“……”

“……”

…Everyone was looking at her with similar gazes.

Since Levi still didn’t know what had appeared in her eyes.

So in this sudden situation, she could only think.

‘Master… people are acting strange.’

Levi found herself desperately missing her beloved master.

…Achingly so.

*

*

*

Thud-!

“?”

He slowly tilted his head.

“It feels like someone called me… Was it an auditory hallucination?”

Who would call him in these deep mountains?

It must be his imagination.

“Am I getting weak?”

[Grrrr….]

“What? There was still one left.”

[!!]

Something with a huge body flinched in surprise.

A giant about 5 meters and 70 centimeters tall with a matching build.

However, its stone skin with embedded blue stones and two heads proved it wasn’t human—a monster called a mountain lord or ogre by other names. The giant trembled and lowered its eyes.

As if begging for its life.

Twin-headed Ogre.

This elite high-level monster was humiliatingly bowing its head to a human.

However…

“Why not charge at me like you did when we first met? You were so confident then.”

[……]

“Show me some dignity as a mountain lord. You can do it!”

But the man shouted enthusiastically as if cheering on the ogre, even adding fighting spirit.

It was nothing short of provocation, and for an ogre famous for its anger management issues, the correct instinct would be to charge immediately.

*swish*…

The Twin-headed Ogre’s gaze fell upon the fate of its “kin” who had charged at him, and its eyes welled up with tears.

Crack!

Crunch.

…A total of 5,000 ogres lay fallen in grotesque states.

Their bones and flesh were twisted, unable even to scream, and the Twin-headed Ogre didn’t want to end up like its kin.

“You, you’re just too scared.”

[Guuuh….]

“Hmm. You are pitiful.”

[Gulp…!]

“…Alright. I’ll give you a chance.”

[!!]

The Twin-headed Ogre shed tears of gratitude at the opponent’s mercy.

It vowed never to attack humans again—.

“Let’s wrestle. If you win, I’ll let you go.”

[……]

“Arm wrestling is fine too.”

[…Guuuh.]

“Look at the size difference. You can definitely win!”

[D-die…]

“You agree? Great, I knew—”

[P-please… die….]

“??”

…The knight who tilted his head in confusion, not understanding why the ogre wouldn’t take the chance he offered, or rather—.

It was the unemployed Ihan Turtle.