episode_0011

“Excuse me? What did you just say?”

“Ah, it’s nothing!”

Cali’s face turned red with embarrassment, and she shook her head left and right.

Did he happen to hear what she just muttered?

-Swoosh

She subtly raised her head, but.

“Kyaak!”

At the sight of Owen leaning in until his face was within breathing distance, Cali let out a girlish scream.

She had swung only swords her whole life.

She had only encountered men when sparring, and seeing one this close was almost the first time.

She was too straightforward and conventional.

Although she spoke like an old soul, she still had a young mind.

“Get that face away…!”

“Why? Could it be because I’m handsome?”

“Kyaaak!!”

He heard everything.

Come to think of it, there was no way he couldn’t hear what she said in this quiet room.

As she squirmed in shame, Owen smiled and widened the distance.

“Haha, it’s a joke. A joke.”

Cali trembled at his playful attitude.

The situation itself was serious, but the playful atmosphere he created was making the sense of crisis fade.

Feeling like she would continue to be swayed by him like this, Cali hardened her expression and opened her mouth.

“…Are you the philanthropist who’s been running around lately?”

“Hmm, is that what I’m being called? Haha, it’s an honor for the Commander of the White Wing Knights to know that name, isn’t it?”

“Cut the pleasantries… What exactly are you plotting?”

“I’m not really plotting anything? If I had to point something out, perhaps it’s creating an environment for the emotional development of children?”

“Don’t lie…!”

Cali was enraged at his nonchalant demeanor, mentioning children so casually.

His actions were only about killing people, and then killing them again, so creating an environment for emotional development?

She was about to call it bullshit-

“That statement is incorrect.”

Owen interrupted her.

“Incorrect?

“Yes, incorrect. Did I perhaps commit some evil deed?”

Cali could fully answer that question.

That man who had been killing members of the Jackal and other organizations lately.

Within Cali’s common sense, killing people is an evil deed.

Perhaps because of that, she gritted her teeth and glared at Owen.

“You killed people in Dorn’s workshop.”

“Yes, that’s right. But should that be definitively called an evil deed?”

“…Stop playing with words-”

“Children were brought there.”

At those words, Cali flinched for a moment.

The stuffed children in Dorn’s workshop.

Owen, who had interrupted Cali and seized control of the conversation, continued speaking.

“Killing one of the Jackal members? That’s right. But-”

The sound of fingers tapping on the desk is constant.

Amidst the steady continuation of the sound, Owen questioned Cali.

“What would have happened if I hadn’t killed him and left him alone?”

“…….”

“I don’t consider this an evil deed. I just think it was the best choice I could make in that situation.”

Owen pulled a chair that was placed against the wall, set it in front of Cali, and sat down directly.

Resting his elbows on his knees and propping his chin, Owen conveyed his thoughts to Cali.

“I don’t know how to reform scum. I only know how to kill them. If you had been there, that gang member wouldn’t have died, right?”

That was true.

Even looking at Dorn’s case, although she was filled with murderous intent up to her head.

In the end, she didn’t kill him herself but had him escorted away to receive rightful punishment.

However, at Owen’s subsequent words, Cali fell silent once again.

“But. At the very least, if you’re going to preach about evil deeds or whatever, shouldn’t you have been there at the place where the children were sold?”

“…….”

“You can’t answer, can you? I fully understand that feeling. Haha.”

Water droplets falling added background sound to Owen’s voice.

Aside from the rope, there were no physical restraints, but Cali’s chest felt increasingly constricted.

As the conversation continued, her breath grew increasingly shallow.

Owen waited for Cali to catch her breath for a moment and then-

“The girl you were trying to take away. Do you know who that child was?”

He brought up a different topic.

At those words, Cali shook her head and replied.

“…I don’t know.”

“You arrived late, so it’s understandable that you wouldn’t know.”

“……Who was that girl?”

“She is a child who was sold to a wax doll collector and almost became his toy.”

She didn’t know that.

Because when she arrived, only the tied-up Dorn and the dead Jackal member were visible.

Not missing Cali’s confused state, Owen continued speaking.

“Isn’t it a truly contradictory situation that someone who so loudly advocates for justice would oppress that girl?”

“That was because I felt demonic energy-”

“Did you feel it from her?”

Cali couldn’t answer even that question.

She certainly had much to say, but she couldn’t offer any rebuttal to the words he uttered.

The speech pattern of that squinting man, who spoke as if he was right and she was wrong.

From a certain point, she was gradually starting to agree.

“……I didn’t feel demonic energy from that girl. But in the room-”

“No. There’s no need to add any more.”

Every time Cali tried to speak, he interrupted her.

As if trying to block the source of her thoughts.

Although it was packaged under the name of conversation, it was closer to a one-sided notification.

“Were there any traces of summoning a demon?”

“…No.”

“Then did you feel demonic energy from that girl?”

“……I didn’t feel demonic energy.”

“Then weren’t you oppressing an innocent citizen?”

-Clank!

Owen’s words properly touched Cali’s raw nerve.

For that was the complete opposite of the meaning behind her drawing her sword.

“Shut your mouth!!”

“What was the purpose of knocking out and trying to drag away a defenseless girl?”

“That was for investigation-”

“It would be torture.”

Owen let out a deep sigh and looked coldly at Cali.

Since his eyes were always squinted, there wasn’t much change in his expression, but facing that face, she couldn’t say anything righteously.

“Surely, someone who is the Commander of the Knights wouldn’t not know what happens during an investigation process, would they?”

“…If there were no wrongdoing, she would have been released.”

“Can you be sure? Putting your hand on your conscience, do you really think so?”

“…….”

“There is nothing in this world that can be definitively concluded. Things change this way and that depending on the situation and variables.”

Owen, who had been cornering Cali, relaxed his expression and spoke gently.

“I fully understand your position. Just now, I made a definitive conclusion about your situation, but there must be various circumstances within it.”

“……That’s right.”

“I am in such a situation as well. Just as you have your position, I have my own position.”

“…….”

Cali wanted to intervene here, but she couldn’t act rashly until the Emperor’s command came.

She hadn’t told anyone about that hardship, but that man. Owen was speaking as if he understood everything.

A strange emotion swirled within Cali’s chest.

-Swoosh

Before long, Owen stood up from his seat and approached Cali’s side.

Although they were standing in the same position as before, the feeling was different from the first time.

Owen bent his waist to meet Cali’s gaze.

“Do you still see me as an evil person who has committed evil deeds that you cannot understand?”

“…….”

“I wasn’t expecting an answer. For now, let me untie that rope.”

Owen, having finished speaking, gripped the rope.

-Shhh

The rope that had bound Cali came undone with frustrating ease.

Having gained freedom of her body, she opened and closed her hands, restoring her senses.

But a question arose.

“…Why did he untie it?”

If he untied her, she could attack immediately.

He wouldn’t not know that, so does he have no sense of crisis at all?

But Owen’s reply was beyond Cali’s assumption.

“The reason I tied you up in the first place was because I wanted to talk, you see? Since we’ve finished talking, of course I should untie you.”

“If I attack you, what were you going to do then, letting me go?”

“Haha-”

She had a question, but his answer was clear.

“Because there’s absolutely no problem even if I untie you.”

“Does that mean you can defeat me?”

“It depends on how you interpret it.”

Having finished speaking, Owen stepped towards the exit.

But Cali just stood there blankly without saying anything.

“Aren’t you leaving?”

“…I have something to think about.”

“Well, in that case. The door is always open, so you can leave whenever you feel like it.”

“…….”

***

Waiting for the unconscious Cali to wake up and then talking with her, before she knew it, another day had passed and night had arrived.

As she came out of the basement and the dusky street came into view, a sigh that she had been holding back escaped.

“Whew.”

It’s a relief he didn’t probe further.

By continuously asking questions and creating confusion, she succeeded in glossing over the story about demonic energy.

Regardless of other things, when it came to demonic energy, no matter what she said, persuasion or understanding was impossible.

In blocking the mana explosion caused by Edith, she had just used up all the subtle remnants of demonic energy.

In the worst case, she was planning to call Flamberge, but it’s a relief the situation didn’t escalate like that.

Because if he intervened, who knows what kind of variable might arise.

Anyway, they reached a point of agreement through a constructive conversation.

Just as she was basking in a small sense of satisfaction-

-Tap -Tap -Tap

“Owen!”

I heard someone calling my name and running towards me.

I turned my head and saw Mirnan running with an urgent, panting breath and a dark expression.

What happened now?

-Grab

Soon, having reached right in front of me, she grabbed my shoulder and gasped for breath.

Judging by her expression, whatever it was, it was definitely serious.

After calming Mirnan down for a moment, I carefully asked.

“What’s wrong?”

“Haa… Ha…! The Jackal…!”

“Take a breath and tell me slowly.”

“The Jackal… attacked the bank!”

…….

…Huh?