Chapter 102

Chapter 1: Do You Admit Your Guilt? I Admit You’re a Fool!

Leopard discovered a telegram waiting for him upon returning to his temporary residence.

Before long, someone knocked loudly at the door.

When he opened it, a government messenger stood there.

“What’s the matter?”

“There is an emergency meeting scheduled in the National Assembly at 19:00 today. We would like to invite you, the Hero, as an expert to answer some questions. We would be very grateful if you could attend.”

“······.”

It was a simple request.

Leopard showed his willingness to accept immediately and sent the messenger away.

He hadn’t heard any detailed background, but he had an idea of what it might be.

The emergency meeting was likely to uncover the cause of the explosion over Putorana Forest.

And the reason for inviting the Hero to that meeting was obvious.

They were clearly giving him the opportunity to confess, having already suspected him of being the perpetrator.

No one other than the Hero could operate such a strategic magical weapon on their own······.

“I have no regrets.”

He had no intention of doing anything as foolish as regretting.

His goals had been achieved.

The carriage had stopped exactly where it was supposed to, and the Duke’s flight path was as predicted.

The strategic weapon had indeed exploded right in front of the Duke.

He had witnessed the wings melting away and the bones shattering as they fell beyond the horizon through the institution’s observation technique.

“Revenge has already been fulfilled.”

The Duke was surely dead on the spot, or, even if not, he had sustained injuries that were absolutely fatal.

He probably didn’t last a full day before breathing his last.

Even if a miracle-working clergyman happened to be at the crash site, it would have been impossible to treat the injuries.

No, even if hundreds of clergymen joined in, it would be insufficient.

It wouldn’t have been strange to consider death as confirmed.

“Unauthorized use of a strategic magical weapon and the murder of Duke Schwarz Dragania······. The charges are severe.”

If he confessed to all the crimes, Leopard would be stripped of his title as Hero.

And if it got serious, he would face life imprisonment, or if he was lucky, house arrest, limiting his external activities until he died.

However, he could accept that level of punishment.

He had succeeded in punishing the vile dragon that had tarnished the Holy Maiden.

It seemed he could finally stretch out his legs and sleep comfortably.

“It’s almost time.”

The 19:00 mentioned by the messenger was approaching.

Leopard hurriedly got dressed and left his quarters.

As soon as he stepped outside, the mana sensor started ringing busily.

He didn’t even need to check the magical power response around him.

‘Someone is tailing me.’

He was being followed.

And not just one person, but dozens were naturally trailing him from all directions.

Though they were dressed in civilian clothes, he quickly recognized some of their faces.

They were police officers.

They didn’t even seem to be trying to hide their tailing, subtly pressuring him to not cause trouble and head straight to the National Assembly.

He had no intention of attempting to escape, anyway.

Leopard scoffed as he headed toward the assembly.

“Reports of a massive explosion in the sky have come in simultaneously. According to analyses from the Defense Command, the scale of the explosion far exceeded tactical levels, and it is highly likely that it was caused by a strategic weapon rather than simple explosives or explosive magic.”

“Be clear. What does ‘highly likely’ mean?”

“It means that we are 99 percent sure that a strategic weapon was used.”

“Is there a possibility that it was a military strategic weapon?”

“None. The stock of strategic weapons remains the same and there is no record of any launch.”

By the time he arrived, the meeting was already in full swing.

Leopard felt slightly tense and swallowed hard.

This was the right path.

Over the past 50 years, he had shown many disgraceful acts while holding the title of Hero.

It was time to step down a bit.

In this era of peace, symbols like Heroes belonged in the annals of history.

“Oh. The Hero has arrived.”

“Please come up. We would like to hear your insights as someone who has encountered strategic weapons.”

“······.”

Leopard ascended to the meeting room as guided.

The gazes of the members and officials were all focused on him.

From now on, they would begin to lay out the reasons why the trigger for the strategic weapon must be the Hero.

Denying it would only disgrace him further.

The fact that they had placed Leopard in this position already indicated they had surely gathered solid evidence.

“Before I answer any questions, I will make a statement. I······.”

Leopard began to confess without a moment’s hesitation.

He intended to come clean before he was played with by professionals who could turn one person into a fool.

But then the heavy sound of shoes interrupted his words.

“Sorry, I’m late.”

“Duke Dragania? What brings you here?”

“What······?”

Leopard turned around, his expression turning blank as if he’d seen a ghost.

The Duke of Dragania, who should have been dead, was walking into the meeting room dressed in formal attire.

He smiled at Leopard as he passed by and stood in front of the large round table.

“I owe an explanation. That explosion was caused by me.”

“Excuse me?”

“There was an accident during the magical experiment, you see. Ha ha.”

“······.”

Leopard was at a loss for words.

As soon as the Duke arrived, the situation was swiftly handled.

It was concluded that the explosion had resulted from an unexpected magical reaction during the Duke’s experiment.

Considering that there were no casualties, they decided to merely advise the Duke to report future experiments in advance, without pressing charges.

Not only had the Duke of Dragania, whom they thought dead, returned alive, but he also covered for Leopard’s crime.

Leopard was utterly confused, unable to comprehend what was happening.

“Leopard. It’s been a while.”

“Ugh······.”

After the meeting concluded, in the back of the National Assembly.

Leopard froze in place, feeling pressured by the deep voice.

He sensed a killing intent.

This wasn’t the kind of intimidation that beasts emit to terrify their opponents in desperation.

It was the scent of death that only one who had trained sufficiently could perceive.

“I want to thank you.”

“······.”

Leopard clenched his trembling hands into fists.

The Duke indeed knew who had attacked him.

It was stranger that he didn’t.

There was only one person on the continent who knew the Duke’s movements precisely and possessed the resourcefulness to acquire and operate strategic weapons.

He had no idea how he came back to life, but it was obvious that retaliation would be forthcoming.

“You helped me find the person I’ve been desperately searching for, so how could I not be grateful? They were much closer than I thought, yet I didn’t realize it.”

“······What?”

“I’m serious when I say thank you. So let’s consider your cute little rebellion as something that didn’t happen.”

“······.”

Tap tap.

The Duke lightly patted Leopard on the shoulder before leaving.

His steps were light, and he appeared to be in a good mood.

It seemed he wasn’t just being polite or sarcastic; he genuinely felt this way.

“Hah······.”

As the Duke’s figure disappeared, Leopard slumped down onto the ground, his strength leaving his legs.

Even with a desperate strike, he couldn’t kill the Duke.

But more painful than that failure was the Duke’s condescending mercy.

Leopard had risked his life and honor, and yet the Duke appeared unscathed just a few hours later, as if he didn’t care at all.

It had gone beyond simply hurting his pride; it was purely hollow.

“Wait a minute. He said he found the person he was desperately searching for······?”

At that moment, Leopard gathered his thoughts and reflected on the Duke’s earlier words.

When he thought about it, it seemed profound and was somehow unsettling.

“Uh······?”

And at last, Leopard reached a certain hypothesis.

A hypothesis that annoyingly fit everything perfectly.

*

“Mom, did anything happen today?”

“Huh? Why all of a sudden?”

“Your expression seemed dark.”

“No, nothing happened. Just hurry and sleep. You’ll have a hard time waking up in the morning.”

“I can only sleep if you give me a kiss······.”

“Oh come on, you’re not a child anymore.”

“Meh heh.”

He planted a gentle kiss on Tia and covered her with a blanket.

But then he realized that Tia really was a child.

She just happened to be larger than a typical one-year-old······.

“Huuh.”

He stroked Tia’s head, who was softly sleeping, and started to prepare for bed himself.

However, even as he lay down and closed his eyes, sleep wouldn’t come at all.

It was maddening.

He kept thinking about what had happened today, unable to calm down.

Just thinking about that black dragon hatchling made his blood pressure rise and filled him with irritation, making it impossible to sleep.

“He had a shocked expression······.”

Right after he used a miracle to fix him.

As soon as he opened his eyes and saw my face, he was startled and ran away.

There were so many things he wanted to ask.

There were so many things he wanted to say.

He was even really mad.

Yet the little guy fled without giving him a chance to speak, almost resembling the Duke in his flee.

-That guy should be killed.

Ah, not again.

That eerie voice in my head started to whisper once more.

I clamped my hands over my ears and buried myself deeper into the blankets.

-How about using Tia? That child could easily kill a dragon or two.

“Shut up······.”

I didn’t want to hear it.

I knew that by controlling the flow of divine power, I wouldn’t hear this evil voice, as Alexander had said.

I desperately tried to calm my breathing and handle my divine power, but the chilling voice didn’t go away and continued to linger in my head.

I was going crazy.

It was bad enough at any other time, but hearing this voice in the pitch dark night was genuinely terrifying.

“Please, just stop······.”

“Mmm. Mom, are you having a nightmare?”

Flump.

Something warm softly settled on the blanket.

A lovely touch surrounded me.

Suddenly, astonishingly, the whispers that had tormented me disappeared entirely.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Tia is here. I’m not scared at all.”

“Ugh······.”

For a moment, the guilt of waking Tia faded.

I intertwined my fingers with Tia’s and gently closed my eyes.

I had never fallen asleep as peacefully as I did today.

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