Chapter 232
Iris had been secretly following Namuchi, who was moving further and further outside the village, hoping to catch up after being told to stick close.
At that moment, Iris heard a voice in her ear like an echo.
[Iris.]
Hearing Nahun’s voice through the magical device attached to her clothes, Iris trembled slightly, curling her head in dread.
“Eek! I’m sorry…! Please forgive me for not wanting to be used as a plaything!!”
Of course, despite her fear, nonsense was mixed in, making Nahun feel absurd as he responded.
[Stop the nonsense and listen. Bring that guy you’re following back alive.]
“Ah.”
[Do you understand?]
“Yes, yes…!”
[Hah.]
With a sigh in Nahun’s voice, Iris felt relieved and stood up, watching Namuchi flee in the distance.
“Leave him alive… I don’t know how much a demon can endure.”
Muttering in a blunt manner, Iris revealed herself. Although Namuchi was surprised to see Iris suddenly appear behind him, he didn’t seem too flustered.
“So it’s you, that unpleasant brat who’s been hiding around.”
“I wasn’t chasing you out of enjoyment, you know!”
Namuchi narrowed his eyes.
He had already noticed that Iris was following him, but since getting out of the village was a priority, he had let it go… he hadn’t expected her to show up first. And the faint killing intent coming off her indicated that this girl was willing to fight him.
“Hey, could you just let yourself get caught calmly? I don’t know how much force to use…”
“Force? Don’t make me laugh.”
Namuchi replied.
“Killing you here would be a piece of cake. Did you think I was ignoring you because I was afraid?”
“…You have quite the confidence. Your spirit isn’t bad.”
Iris unsheathed her pure white sword.
“Of course, no one who said that turned out to be an actual person.”
“Just a useless girl talking big…!”
Namuchi, as a member of the Asura tribe, was quite strong. He bared his fangs and took out a thin, curved blade.
At that moment, Iris’s slightly flustered expression and gaze disappeared. The person standing here wasn’t someone who trembled in fear.
Namuchi confidently kicked the ground and aimed his curved blade at Iris’s neck. As an Asura warrior, his movement was quite agile.
“…If you cut me, I’ll die, right?”
Just as Namuchi’s blade was about to reach the nape of her neck, Iris’s hand, which had been holding her sword still, moved. At the same time, her pure white sword moved with astonishing speed.
Slashing!!! Thud!
“…What, what the hell.”
Namuchi’s curved blade snapped in half and the blade fell powerless to the ground. He was caught off guard and instinctively stepped back.
“My blade… broke?!”
Like most Asura warriors, Namuchi’s curved blade was a weapon he had wielded since childhood. Despite using it for years, it had never broken. However, it shattered so easily before the woman right in front of him, and he couldn’t help but be panicked.
Despite being one-armed, the level of skill with the sword he displayed was immensely high. Namuchi looked at Iris with a hint of fear in his eyes.
“If you come with me quietly, I’ll take care of you safe and sound.”
Namuchi didn’t know who this woman standing before him was. He had no idea where such a monster had come from.
“Are you going to follow me?”
Little did he imagine that she was one of humanity’s greatest warriors, chosen by the celestial beings to slay the Demon King.
#
Iris returned with Namuchi without a scratch on him. Nahun glanced at her.
“Gah…, did I do something wrong…? Please forgive me for any punishment…”
“I haven’t said anything yet… Good job.”
“Pardon? Ah, yes…”
Due to having forcefully pulled an arm off, Iris was extremely scared of Nahun. Nahun didn’t mind her fear. After all, the driving force behind Iris following Nahun was fear.
Of course, aside from Nahun’s thoughts…
“…What exactly did you do to that woman?”
“…I didn’t do anything.”
The gaze of others wasn’t kind. Nahun explained that he hadn’t done anything, but the Asura warriors, including Aruna, seemed to think differently.
“Anyway, you brought Namuchi, so show us proof of that.”
“Yes, of course.”
Nahun approached Namuchi. Namuchi flinched and stepped back. Being an Asura warrior, he felt a sense of foreboding about what Nahun was about to do.
“It would be best if you stay still.”
At Nahun’s short warning, Namuchi could no longer move. Although it wasn’t said in a harsh tone, the magic that flowed out at the same time bound him.
“Ugh, what are you doing…?”
“From now on, I will make it so that he can only speak the ‘truth’.”
“!?”
“Is there such a method?”
At Aruna’s question, Nahun nodded. Then he reached out to Namuchi, whose expression was turning pale, and tapped his finger to Namuchi’s forehead.
“Eye of Truth.”
『 ócŭlus veritatis 』
The magic that had flowed out coalesced into a mark on Namuchi’s forehead like an eye.
“…What kind of magic is that?”
As Aruna watched with curiosity, Nahun explained briefly.
“It’s an ancient magic.”
“Ancient magic?”
Aruna looked at him as if questioning how he knew about it, but Nahun didn’t bother to explain and instead spoke about the magic’s effect.
“Now, if you lie, the mark won’t shine. Only when you tell the truth will it shine.”
“Isn’t that just an appraising magic? How can that be evidence…”
“When the mark doesn’t shine, an immense pain will engulf him.”
“…Ah.”
Nahun turned his gaze from Aruna to Baruna.
“Deputy Chief, you may ask your questions now.”
“Yes.”
Baruna faced Namuchi. Seeing the unkind gaze akin to encountering an enemy, Nahun thought it was a fascinating sight.
‘It’s the first time I’ve seen Baruna display such emotion.’
There was a reason for that. If Baruna’s claim is true, then that Namuchi was the one who killed his mother.
“Namuchi. You poisoned my mother, Aditi. Am I wrong?”
“When did I ever do such a thing! I would never… Gah!!!”
An immense pain coursed through Namuchi’s entire body. Aruna’s expression contorted in an instant, and the expressions of the Asura villagers watching grew grim. As the atmosphere grew dangerous, Namuchi shouted.
“No! I didn’t kill her! It was that bastard Baruna who ended her life!”
As soon as he spoke, the mark shined, and the pain disappeared. Because it was the truth. Following his mother’s plea while suffering from the poison, Baruna had put her to rest.
However, that was something Baruna had already revealed, so no one was surprised. Instead, the atmosphere grew even more sinister.
Baruna clenched his lips and spoke.
“I know that you dared to admire my mother. You approached her while my father and I were away, but when she rejected you, you did this out of resentment when things didn’t go your way and poisoned her.”
“Me? Would I do such a despicable thing… Aaargh!!!”
With a body-wrecking pain, Namuchi fell to the ground. Roars erupted from all around.
“You garbage bag of a man…!”
“You killed Aditi, didn’t you?!”
“Because of you, Baruna has suffered unjustly! How dare you live on after committing such an act?!”
Just then, someone, shoving Baruna aside, lunged forward.
“Gah… uh…”
Crash!!!
Before anyone could intervene, a blunt sword struck Namuchi’s head. And it didn’t happen just once.
Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash!
Baruna firmly grabbed the hand that had struck down at least ten times.
“…It’s over.”
“…”
Aruna’s expression twisted in a way that one could hardly put into words, a reflection of unimaginable rage. The veins on the hand gripping the sword popped out frighteningly.
“…I have avenged you. But the chief’s revenge is not yet complete.”
Aruna handed his sword to Baruna.
“Let your revenge be fulfilled.”
Unable to find the true culprit and wrongly expelling his son from the tribe, the debt of suffering Baruna had undergone—even Aruna couldn’t claim to understand it, nor could he express it.
That’s why he believed the only way to repay this sin was through death. However, when Baruna received the sword…
Thud!
He simply thrust it into the ground.
“Don’t think of repayment through death. If you truly feel guilty towards me… then move for me in the future.”
Baruna said.
“That would be enough, Father.”
Aruna briefly looked down. He saw his own sword that Baruna had thrown into the ground. He smiled weakly, saying to Baruna.
“The chief is more of an adult than I am.”
#
With the resentment between Baruna and the Asura tribe properly resolved, Baruna succeeded in becoming the chief and decided to relocate them to the Devata faction.
“Is that alright?”
Nahun approached Baruna and asked.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m asking whether it’s alright to forgive like that. Is it because he’s your father?”
“I have no feelings left regarding the existence of a father. To begin with, he never believed in me, and it’s been a long time since I was cast out… it just feels like he was someone who was just called ‘father.’”
“Then you should have acted as your heart desired. It’s a shame to lose such a talent as Aruna, but if you wanted, it would have been okay to do without one.”
“It’s fine. Perhaps if it had been the time it happened, I might have felt differently, but it’s been such a long time that I don’t have much resentment left. If anything, thanks to being expelled, I met much better people.”
Nahun looked at Baruna. He was clearly satisfied. He’d caught a glimpse of what kind of being and place Baruna envisioned as Devata.
“…Is that so? I’ve meddled for no reason.”
Baruna smiled. Then, as usual, he spoke with a somewhat expressionless yet slightly smiling face.
“Let’s go back. The king will likely miss you since you haven’t seen him for a few days.”
“Haha, that’s true.”
