Besta Confesses

"Kaijin and the others are to be exiled from the Dwarf Kingdom. They are forbidden from setting foot in the Dwarf Kingdom again. From this day onward, Kaijin and his companions are no longer citizens of the Dwarf Kingdom."

After saying that, the Hero King rose to his feet and prepared to leave, his back radiating loneliness.

Everyone present was stunned speechless by the Hero King's declaration.

What was going on?

How had mining suddenly turned into exile?

The judge who had announced the previous verdict was especially dumbfounded.

Wasn't exile more severe than mining? What was the king thinking?

Was the king favoring Besta, or did he have some other plan?

The judge's little mind buzzed as though it were about to explode, but he had no idea why.

"Forget it. The king must have some deeper meaning behind this. That's right, it has to be."

Even Besta was stunned.

"No, why was he exiled? I didn't even blink. How did perfectly good mining suddenly become exile? Did Kaijin offend the king? Why was the king's punishment harsher than the judge's? Could it be because I've been tripping Kaijin up all these years?"

The more Besta thought about it, the guiltier he felt.

To be honest, he regretted it a little now.

Kaijin was actually quite a good person. When they had worked together, Kaijin had looked after him too.

But what had he done?

He had tripped Kaijin up and made things difficult for him time and time again.

Kaijin had no idea why things had turned out this way.

His feelings were incredibly complicated. For a moment, he didn't know whether he should be happy or sad.

On one hand, his companions and benefactor would not be punished. On the other, because of him, his own companions were being exiled. Kaijin knew the king was favoring him, because he knew that if he had to mine for twenty years, he would most likely die in the mines. The king had exiled him so he could live more easily, because as long as he remained in the Dwarf Kingdom, his enemies would never let him go.

"Ari, what's going on? Why did the Hero King exile Kaijin?"

Rimuru was confused as well and turned to Mo Li.

"I don't know either. Let's keep watching."

Mo Li's words carried a deeper meaning.

"If I remember correctly, Besta should confess next. Then the Hero King will sentence Besta to Rimuru. With that, Tempest's first batch of technical personnel will be in place."

After standing there in a daze for a while, Kaijin was about to turn and leave.

"Your Majesty, please wait. I have something to say."

Besta suddenly spoke up.

His voice was filled with relief.

"Your Majesty, please punish me. Kaijin was not at fault. Everything was my fault. That explosion during the magic equipment experiment years ago was not Kaijin's fault. He even warned me, but I stubbornly went ahead with the experiment. In the end, an operational error caused the explosion.

"But because I was afraid of being punished, and because I was jealous that Kaijin had earned your esteem, I framed him and made him bear the consequences for me.

"And in the legion, I made many mistakes as well, but I pushed them all onto Kaijin and made him take the blame.

"Some time ago, I also used the convenience of my position to assign Kaijin many impossible tasks. I did all of it.

"And this incident was also because I deliberately provoked him, which caused Kaijin to hit me. My injuries are not that serious either. My thighs and arms were never injured; I only suffered minor injuries to my face and body. I even bribed Kaijin's defender, all so that Kaijin would confess.

"It was all my fault. It has nothing to do with Kaijin. Your Majesty, if you wish to punish someone, then punish me."

As Besta spoke, he removed the bandages from his arms and the casts from his legs.

When he reached the final sentence, Besta dropped to his knees.

After revealing so many things at once, Besta immediately felt much better.

Over the years, Besta had repented too, but jealousy had blinded him, and he could no longer turn back.

Seeing Besta's repentant appearance, Kaijin's feelings grew complicated.

Kaijin actually knew that Besta was not an especially bad person. He merely wanted to gain the king's recognition.

Although everything he had done had ultimately failed, there was no denying that he had done it all for the prosperity of the Dwarf Kingdom.

He resented Kaijin only because he was jealous that the king valued Kaijin more than him.

Rimuru was also dumbfounded when he saw this.

"Ari, what's wrong with Besta? How could he...?"

Seeing Rimuru's expression, Mo Li found it rather amusing.

"You'll understand if you keep watching."

The Hero King, who had been walking ahead, stopped as well.

Upon hearing Besta's words, a trace of satisfaction flashed through his eyes.

"Good. Very good."

He clapped his hands, his tone brimming with delight.

"Besta, do you know? I had actually been waiting for you to speak up."

"As far back as a very, very long time ago, I already knew about the things you had done."

"Whether it was the monster gear incident or the matter of the army, I knew all about them. I even knew about those unreasonable missions you assigned to Kaijin. I had been giving you chances all along, but you kept disappointing me. Do you know that? If you hadn't admitted it just now, I would not have spared you either. The only punishment left for you would have been death."

The Hero King's words were filled with mercilessness.

Upon hearing the Hero King's words, Besta's fear instantly reached its peak.

"So the King had known all along that I was behind those things. And if I hadn't admitted it just now, I would have died."

"Yes, why had I been foolish enough to think the King wouldn't know about what I'd done? I should have understood the King's abilities. The King had merely been giving me chance after chance. Just now had been my final chance."

The more Besta thought about it, the more terrified he became.

"Besta, do you know? In my heart, you were never inferior to Kaijin. I valued Kaijin because he was steadier than you, that was all. The reason I placed you under Kaijin's command back then was simply because I wanted you to learn from his composure. What I never expected was for things to end up like this. In the end, it was because your jealousy was too strong."

"Do you know? When I judged Kaijin, I did not only feel regret for him—I felt regret for you as well. I regretted losing two outstanding subjects at once. This outcome pained me deeply. I had actually acknowledged you long ago, Besta. It was just... alas."

By the end, the Hero King let out a sigh.

As Besta listened to the Hero King's words, his eyes filled with tears.

"Your Majesty, I'm sorry. I failed to live up to your expectations of me."