Chapter 195: Wolf, Alexander, Mobius (1)

“Don’t talk bullshit!”

Just as I expected. She struggled, refusing to believe my words. Who would, anyway? The fact that demon bastards were friends with Fabian, the rogue from the hero’s party. That we had no intention of killing her and wanted to talk.

Taffy said,

“It’s the truth.”

As Taffy spoke, he touched his tongue to his forehead with his thumb and pinky finger. I made him lower his hand and asked,

“Hey, where’d you learn that?”

“The Truth Gesture.”

“That’s bad, don’t do it.”

For orphans, there was no gesture less trustworthy than this ‘Truth Gesture.’ From pickpockets to shoe shiners, every scammer in the neighborhood learned this gesture and used it to boast about their unfortunate childhoods, saying, ‘I can get away with this because I don’t have a mom.’

The elf, apparently unaware of this gesture passed down among humans, stared at us blankly before saying in a low voice,

“You must think I’m an idiot… I’m not stupid enough to fall for a lie like that. You’re trying to coax information about the other heroes out of me, aren’t you? Too bad for you. Wouldn’t it be easier just to kill me?”

Petunia Titi kept provoking me, urging me to kill her quickly. But provoking someone while tied up was meaningless. I calmly met her gaze, while Taffy pondered how to make Petunia Titi believe us.

“She seems desperate to die, why don’t you just kill her? You saw how strong she is. If you let her go this time, you might not be able to handle the aftermath.”

That was Milia’s opinion. Rat Trap in the corner nodded in agreement. Sophia also nodded and looked at me. Her hands were dirty from clearing away the broken debris.

Milia was using magic to repair the collapsed wall, while extending her other hand towards the table. Elena was carefully bandaging Milia’s arm. When Elena tightened the bandage slightly, Milia winced and said,

“Ouch.”

“Ah, does it hurt a lot?”

“Ah, it’s fine.”

Isabel had gone outside to explain the recent commotion to the residents. Curious about how she was explaining it, I listened closely.

“Oh my, surely Evan didn’t just throw things around and hit people again, did he?”

“Evan is faithful to his home as my husband. Please refrain from such misunderstandings. This explosion was a simple accident caused by our improper storage of a magical tool Alice sent us a while ago…”

It was quite a plausible explanation. I wanted to see the face of the person who had the strange misunderstanding that I hit Isabel, but I didn’t have the luxury right now. I couldn’t keep Petunia Titi suspended in mid-air forever.

If she wouldn’t listen, the only option was to kill her. Milia wanted me to kill Petunia Titi, and Taffy was lost in thought. I sat on the sofa, lost in thought, then my gaze fixed on a drawer in my room visible through the broken doorway.

“Ah. The letter.”

The letter. Come to think of it, there was a letter. Fabian’s last letter to us was in that drawer. As I jumped up, Petunia Titi trembled in surprise.

“Hk!”

As she flinched while dangling in the air, her body fluttered as if a spiderweb were swaying in the wind.

Watching the sight, Milia covered her mouth and laughed.

“Pfft.”

I could hear Petunia Titi cursing behind me. Her ignition point was lower than a candle wick’s, so she would burst into flames with even the smallest spark.

“Wh-what?! Don’t laugh! When I get untied, you insignificant little thing!”

“Ah, yes. Okay.”

Milia nodded casually, examining her bandaged hand. Her elegantly neat attire clashed strangely with the tightly wrapped bandages, creating a bizarre sight. Milia tried to wiggle her bandaged hand but winced again.

“It hurts.”

I took the letter out of the drawer. Seeing the letter, Taffy let out a small gasp as if remembering belatedly and nodded. Petunia Titi, observing our reactions, turned her head and asked me,

“What is it?”

“It’s a letter Fabian sent us before heading north. If you’re a comrade of the hero’s party, you should recognize the handwriting, right?”

Petunia Titi glared at the letter I handed over. The letter floated in mid-air via Taffy’s telekinesis, stopping at a position easy for her to read. As she read the contents, her expression wavered. Her contorted lips twitched, and her agitated breathing subsided, as if she were about to get angry any second.

The time it would take to read the letter had long passed, but Petunia Titi’s eyes repeatedly scanned the letter, searching for traces of Fabian.

“…..I’m done reading.”

After glancing at it about five more times, Petunia Titi said that. The rage that had made her seem like she’d kill us any second had subsided. I sighed with relief, thinking I could finally talk to her. She was the only one among the remaining members of the hero’s party living like a decent person.

She had strived to defeat the Demon King and had harmed no one. We had no reason for revenge, and she was a woman Fabian should respect as a friend.

“Do you believe us now?”

Petunia Titi looked up at the ceiling and spoke. It was a listless voice, more like a sigh than speech.

“Just once. Fabian mentioned his past. He once fell into an enemy trap in the Demon Realm. When we thought we might all die, Fabian said this: he had a very close friend during his slave days. Children who had no names and were called by numbers. A girl called No. 13…”

She glanced at me.

“No. 17.”

Petunia Titi nodded. She stared at the ceiling. The ceiling, having endured for ages, was stained black with the weight of time. She said,

“Life, huh? It’s strange.”

“I think so too,” I replied, nodding. Petunia Titi closed her eyes, thought for a moment, then looked back at me.

“…..What do you want?”

I leaned back against the sofa and said,

“Love and justice.”

Milia chuckled at my words. Sophia was pulling Kelly out from the pile of collapsed materials. Apparently hit by debris and knocked unconscious, she was limp and making strange noises. Petunia Titi snorted with laughter at the words “love and justice.”

“A demon?”

“In a world where even heroes talk about revenge, is there a law saying demons can’t cry out for love and justice?”

Mentioning Wolf’s revenge made Petunia Titi’s face contort again. With a grave expression, she scanned the floor, then avoided my gaze and said,

“Get to the point. Do you just want to badmouth Wolf?”

“Let me be clear. I don’t want to become the Demon King, nor do I want to destroy this world. I just want to restore the world that those heroes ruined.”

Disappointment flashed across Petunia Titi’s eyes. She frowned and said,

“So in the end, you’re asking me to betray my comrades. Even if you are Fabian’s friend, these are the people who defeated the Demon King with me. I can’t help you. That would be a betrayal of Fabian, too.”

“How much do you know?”

“About what?”

“About the atrocities of the hero’s party. How much do you know?”

Petunia Titi turned her head.

“…..I don’t know the details. I’ve been living cut off from the world for a while. Something… happened. Anyway, I know about their misfortunes. I know they aren’t people you, a mere demon, can dismiss as simple evil.”

She stammered. It seemed my question had hit a sore spot. Milia chuckled knowingly, and I tried to speak to her again.

“That’s……”

“Wait a moment, Evan. Will you leave the persuasion to me?”

Then Milia stood up. She looked at me, bowing slightly as if asking for permission. Glancing at her visible cleavage, I nodded. Milia drew a circle in the air. A portal shimmering with red energy appeared. Milia whispered a few words towards the other side of the portal, and a bundle of documents flew out accompanied by the sound of hurried footsteps.

Seeing the documents Milia produced, Petunia Titi asked with an anxious expression,

“Wh-what is this?”

“This is data showing that after Saint Alexander took the throne, the proportion of priests from the hero’s family and Wolf’s supporters suddenly increased.”

As Milia pushed the document forward, it floated up conveniently for the bound Petunia Titi to see. Petunia Titi blinked, looking bewildered.

“These are testimonies confessing that after Alexander took the throne, the number of people declared heretics and sentenced to property confiscation suddenly increased, and that most of those trials were rushed.”

Another document flew into the air.

“This is evidence that Mobius had slaves sign human experimentation contracts as collateral for their freedom, then abandoned the mentally broken slaves in the north.”

“This is evidence of Alexander receiving favors from nobles and exercising personnel authority over specific families.”

“This is evidence that all the women who were candidates for saintess ended up residing in Alexander’s mansion or living as concubines to the hero Wolf.”

“And this is evidence that among the female theology students at the academy, only those invited to Alexander’s room received extra points on their grades.”

Petunia Titi’s face grew increasingly grim. The misdeeds of her comrades, which she had ignored in favor of revenge and anger, were being laid bare before her eyes. Every word. The solid evidence she couldn’t ignore tormented her.

“Wh-what is this……”

“Succubi are incredibly adept at gathering information. This is information I gathered bit by bit while working at the academy. Because in the worst-case scenario, I might have to fight alone. From various places. You know? Some were brought by graduating students, and some information was obtained through connections the academy dean made.”

Milia’s hand lightly brushed my butt.

“Most men have loose lips, don’t they?”