Volume 4, Epilogue – The assassin sees his friend off
Translator: VALIANT
I was face to face with Naoise.
Now that we had defeated the demon, there was no one to get in our way.
Tarte and Dia were worriedly watching us from a distance.
Even though the battle was over, Naoise was still dripping with miasma.
As if he had to face the fact that he had changed.
[I never thought you would end up that way, Naoise.] (Lugh)
After hearing my words, Naoise chuckled and looked at me with some irritation.
[Why do I feel like you’re pitying me?] (Naoise)
[I do pity you. How do you expect to live among humans with a body like that? …There are people who will notice it. The miasma surrounding you, that is.] (Lugh)
Just as there were some people who could sense mana, there were those who could sense miasma.
The closer you were to the center of the country, the more vigilant people were against miasma.
The least that could be said was that Naoise couldn’t live as an aristocrat anymore.
Even if he were dealing with regular humans, the miasma would give them an instinctive feeling of repulsion. At this rate, he would be kicked out of human society.
[It doesn’t matter. That’s insignificant in the face of this power. You saw it for yourself, didn’t you? I’m stronger than any of you.] (Naoise)
[That you are. But that doesn’t mean much.] (Lugh)
With that sword, Naoise’s prowess was probably greater than mine.
But so what?
I would probably be at a disadvantage if we fought head-on, but if I attacked him while he hadn’t equipped his sword, I could overwhelm him.
Even if he had that sword on him, I would be able to one-sidedly kill him if there was a certain distance between us, and even if he closed that gap, I could at least escape.
I had the possibility to hide after running from him, then catch him by surprise and kill him.
Power wasn’t absolute. From my point of view, it wasn’t worth discarding one’s humanity for.
[You’re just jealous of me. Deep down, you’ve always been looking down on me, am I right? Back at the academy, you were hiding your real power and mocking me for being full of myself! No doubt I must’ve seemed like a clown to you, right? And now that this clown has surpassed you, you’ve decided to throw false accusations at me!] (Naoise)
[I’ve never looked down on you. …And it’s the way you are now that looks ridiculous to me. Namely how you wield power that you borrowed, and how you pretend to be someone you’re not.] (Lugh)
[Lugh!] (Naoise)
Naoise put his hand on his sword.
This behavior translated as a warning that if I kept running my mouth, he would cut me down.
[That’s exactly what I meant by “ridiculous”. Like this cheap threat. You may have become stronger, but you’ve lost something more important. Open your eyes. What do you want to do with all that strength?] (Lugh)
[…Shut up.] (Naoise)
[You told me once, didn’t you? You said you were gonna change this rotten country, and that you would need my help to achieve that. Can you really change this country by becoming like that? A country isn’t such a simple thing that it can be changed by an individual who has nothing but his strength going for him. And you can’t do it if you don’t understand that, can you? You used to believe that power was just a means to an end among many others, and you gathered comrades who could do what you couldn’t. You had a charisma that drew people to you, and that’s how you gathered the best and the brightest. That seemed much more precious than that borrowed power of yours.] (Lugh)
[I’m telling you to shut up!] (Naoise)
He drew his sword and slashed at me.
Tarte and Dia rushed over to me.
As for me, I simply stared at Naoise.
[How did you know I would stop my sword?] (Naoise)
[Because I didn’t feel any murderous intent from you.] (Lugh)
He stopped right before his sword hit my forehead.
[I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do this…] (Naoise)
Naoise sheathed his sword and covered his face with his hand.
He was becoming more impulsive as a result of having miasma in his body.
Otherwise, there was no way Naoise, who was normally full of composure and grace, would react like that.
I turned to him and extended my hand.
[Come with me. I can’t make you human again. But I can at least teach you how to hide your miasma.] (Lugh)
The miasma that Naoise was producing was distorted and unstable, and it was obvious that he had no control over it.
However, I was convinced that it could be controlled.
I got a rough idea of the nature of miasma during my research on【Demonkiller】.
Not only that, but by observing the snake demon Meena, I managed to see how she was hiding her miasma.
I could give him advice on how to handle it, and I could also make tools to help him with that.
I may not be able to make him human again, but I can help him blend in among humans.
[…I won’t ask you how you would know that. Hahaha… That’s no good. I wanted to get stronger and prove myself superior to you, but the more I talk to you, the more miserable I feel. I’m off now. I have things to do.] (Naoise)
[Where are you going?] (Lugh)
[I have no obligation to tell you. I will appear before you again. …Oh brother, my eyes are now open because of you. And here I was feeling good about myself without thinking of anything else. Now I’m forced to confront reality. But still, thanks.] (Naoise)
Naoise turned away.
As I was about to call out to him, Nevan beat me to it from behind me.
[When did you become such a dull man? You’ve always been weak and dumb, but never that foolish.] (Nevan)
Naoise turned around and looked as if he was about to cry.
Her words seemed to have resonated much more than mine.
[Is that what you thought of me, Nevan? What I’ve always wanted from you was… No, never mind.] (Naoise)
[It’s not too late for you. Listen to what Lugh-sama has to say to you. If you shake off his hand, you won’t have anywhere to go anymore.] (Nevan)
[…That’s the one thing I didn’t want to hear.] (Naoise)
After saying that, he left for real this time.
Even if we tried to go after him, there was no contest in terms of raw speed.
At the moment, Naoise possessed the same level of physical prowess as the Hero.
Once he was out of sight, Nevan slowly opened her mouth.
[My idiot childhood friend has become an utter fool. He could’ve at least shown his gratitude before disappearing.] (Nevan)
[I’m sure we’ll see him again. He seemed to have a lot on his mind himself.] (Lugh)
I was confident he would show up the next time we would fight the demons.
Besides, I could probably get good intel from Meena.
[Yes, I’m sure of it.] (Nevan)
[But I have to say, I’m surprised. Looks like Naoise is in love with you.] (Lugh)
[I’m aware. He’s been chasing me for years, after all.] (Nevan)
Nevan said it like it was nothing.
[Aren’t you going to respond to his feelings?] (Lugh)
[I am a Romanlung. Besides, that boy is like a younger brother to me. He’s a handful and I can’t take my eyes off him. It’s such a hassle.] (Nevan)
[That’s a relief. Seems like you do like him.] (Lugh)
[Please don’t misunderstand me. I only like him as a brother.] (Nevan)
She smiled bitterly.
Nevan was genuinely worried about Naoise, and she did like him, even if it was a different kind of love. That much was plain to see in her behavior so far.
[Now, it’s time to head back. We’ll have to make a report on the completion of the demon subjugation. That was the third demon to be defeated. At this pace, we will easily annihilate the entire demon race.] (Nevan)
[That may be so. …I just hope the rest of them aren’t freaks like Riogel.] (Lugh)
Riogel was too powerful.
I never want to fight someone like him again.
[Tarte, Dia, let’s go home. I’m starting to miss Tuatha Dé.] (Lugh)
I decided to leave the cleanup of the city of Johnbull to Nevan’s subordinates.
I knew they’d be great at it based on the way they had been working for the past few days. Just give them some general instructions, and they’ll handle everything just fine.
Since we had such excellent human resources at our disposition, I had to make good use of them.
Anyhow, I was going to be summoned to the royal capital again to make my report. Once it came to this, I wouldn’t have any time to relax.
I’m sure it won’t hurt if we take a breather in my hometown for a bit.
[Yes! I will cook your favorite Tuatha Dé dishes when we get back, Lugh-sama!] (Tarte)
[Ohh! That’d be nice. The food here was great, but I was starting to get tired of it.] (Dia)
[I shall come along as well. It’s about time I greet your parents.] (Nevan)
They all deliberately behaved cheerful.
It was to cheer me up since parting with my friend was leaving me depressed.
They truly were nice girls.
Which is why I wanted to take good care of them.
[How should we go back home? It’s a long way to the city, and given its current state, we can’t even get a carriage there… Maybe we should just fly home. It’s not like I have to hide it anymore. If we take to the skies, we’ll be back in Tuatha Dé in less than half a day.] (Lugh)
When I said that, the girls sent eye signals to each other, nodded, and answered at once.
[[[Approved!]]] (Dia, Tarte, and Nevan)
At that moment, we decided to go home by air travel.
Since this was going to be a long flight, I decided to use a formula that produced a hang glider.
Guess I’ll have to make one last effort before we get home.
It’s a beautiful day.