Change

Three days after that, we reached the Asura Kingdom.

We had clearly arrived at our destination, yet the feeling of unfamiliarity only grew stronger.

"Brother..."

"Yeah, I see it."

Aisha pointed at the refugee camp, her expression somewhat gloomy.

Beside her, Eris stared at the refugee camp with a determined look in her eyes. I had no idea what she was thinking.

This was an extremely desolate place.

In terms of scale, it was about the size of a village.

In other words, by the standards of the Demon Continent, it was probably nearly the size of a city.

But there was no vitality.

A quiet atmosphere hung over the entire place.

Compared to its scale, there were very few people.

There did seem to be people living in the hastily built wooden houses.

Though there were quite a few people staying here, I couldn't sense any energy from them.

It was lifeless.

In the center of such a refugee camp, we came to a place that resembled the Adventurer Guild.

At the entrance was written: Refugee Camp Headquarters.

When we went inside, there were some people there, but sure enough, the place was still terribly gloomy.

I had only a bad feeling about this.

"Rudeus, look over there..."

Where Eris pointed, there were sheets of paper listing the names of people who had gone missing because of this incident.

The names were packed densely together in tiny writing.

They were divided by village or town and arranged in alphabetical order.

At the very top was the lord of Fittoa.

Under the name James Boreas Greyrat, it said, [Seeking information on missing and deceased persons.]

"Let's look at it later."

Paul had definitely seen it already. There probably hadn't been any clues.

"Yeah."

An enormous number of dead.

And the lord's name wasn't Saul.

It wasn't Saul...

While feeling those two sources of unease, we entered the building's interior—

After we gave Eris's name to the front desk, the middle-aged woman at reception immediately led us inside.

After bringing us to where a man and woman with an imposing presence were, she left.

They were a familiar pair.

One of them was a mature man with a grizzled beard, wearing the expression of a butler and ordinary clothes of the sort a slightly well-off townsman might wear.

Alphonse.

The other was a woman with chocolate-colored skin, dressed like a swordsman.

"Ghislaine!"

Eris broke into a beaming smile and ran toward her.

She was so happy it was as if her tail had shot up.

We hadn't had any information on Ghislaine, but she seemed to be doing well too.

Maybe the reason Paul hadn't had any information on her was that they had just missed each other over the past year.

Ghislaine likewise broke into a smile when she saw Eris's face.

"Eris, no, Lady Eris, you're finally safe..."

"...Honestly, just call me Eris."

Ghislaine kept that joyful expression for a moment, but soon a shadow fell over it.

Alphonse also looked at Eris with apologetic eyes.

That look... I felt like I had seen it somewhere before...

"Eris... Let's talk inside."

Ghislaine's voice was stiff.

Her tail was sticking straight up, too.

That was what she looked like when she was nervous.

It was not simply an expression of joy at Eris's survival.

"I understand."

Eris seemed to sense something when she saw that expression.

She followed Ghislaine into the building.

"Eris, Aisha and I will wait outside. No matter what news you hear, remember we're here."

Holding Aisha's hand, I said that to Eris.

Eris nodded and went inside.

After a long while, I heard the sound of arguing.

I did not listen closely, but I could still make a few guesses.

This was a matter between nobles. Judging from what had just happened, Saul was probably dead, and Eris's parents were missing...

All sorts of things were starting to grate on me, even though I had already sensed it ahead of time.

"Brother..."

Aisha gripped my hand tightly.

"It's okay."

A few more minutes passed, and then that butler invited me inside.

"Aisha, wait for me a bit."

"Okay!"

When I went inside, I saw Ghislaine's furious expression and Eris standing beside her with a very calm look.

That was rare. I had thought it would be the other way around.

Ghislaine gave me a rough explanation of the situation, and after I finished listening, Eris spoke.

"...Then what should we do?"

"Lord Pylemon Notos Greyrat wishes to take Lady Eris as his concubine."

The one who spoke was that butler. Reflexively, I launched magic straight at him.

"Rudeus!"

Ghislaine was the first to react, cutting apart the icicle magic I had fired.

As expected of a Sword King, I supposed.

As for the butler, he was so frightened he collapsed onto the floor, gasping for breath.

I sighed.

"Sorry. I know this is selfish, but Eris is my family. What happens to the refugees in this territory has nothing to do with me. If you use those innocent refugees to threaten Eris again, I'll kill the refugees first, then go kill that noble too."

"Rudeus! Calm down!"

The one who spoke was Ghislaine, but the more I looked at her right now, the more she pissed me off.

"Ghislaine, shut up! Back then, I told you to protect Saul. Is this how you protected the man who saved your life? And now you're helping this man speak when he's preparing to sell off your savior's granddaughter?"

After hearing that, Ghislaine fell silent.

"Rudeus... stop... Alphonse only wants the territory to survive..."

Eris lowered her head and said that to me in a pleading tone.

So I sat down.

Then Eris asked the butler again.

"Is there no other way?"

"N-No... There is nothing left in the territory that would interest Lord Pylemon Notos Greyrat..."

Eris was silent for a while, then stood up.

"Let me think alone for a while."

After returning to headquarters, I took Aisha to look at the list of the dead and missing.

The section for Buena Village.

The names I knew were lined up on the list of missing people.

But more than half of them had been crossed out.

What made me happy was that Sylphiette's name was not on the list of the dead.

But there were no clues about her either. She had disappeared completely.

Of Paul's family, only the name Zenith Greyrat still remained on it.

So they still hadn't found her after all.

Just as I was about to leave the headquarters, the butler stopped me, and once again I had Aisha wait at the entrance.

I was led into an office in the refugee camp headquarters and sat down.

Alphonse stood before me, while Ghislaine stood to my right.

Were the two of them standing because they were afraid I would get upset and suddenly attack?

Unlike me, the two of them were very clear about hierarchy.

"Now then, Lord Rudeus, please give us a concise and clear report."

"You're pretty impressive. Half an hour ago, you nearly died like that, and now you can still speak to me so calmly?"

"To be honest, Lord Rudeus, I am frightened even now."

"You don't look it."

"Although I am frightened, I also know that you were angry because of Lady Eris. You would not kill me without reason."

"I wouldn't be so sure. I killed quite a few innocent people on my way here."

"That is not a very funny joke..."

And so I told the butler about my experiences over the past three years. Of course, I did not mention things like killing innocent witnesses, or killing certain members of the Demon Race simply because I disliked the look of them.

After that, the butler told me about many people and events.

They were all upper-class nobles, all beasts who deserved to die.

Once we finished talking, we began discussing Eris's future.

Ghislaine and the butler also got into an argument.

"Let's see what Eris decides. The two of you can argue all day and it won't lead anywhere."

The butler and Ghislaine both fell silent.

They seemed to have truly forgotten Eris's own wishes.

"Butler, step out for now. I have something to say to Ghislaine."

"Yes."

After the butler withdrew, I stood up.

"Ghislaine, why didn't you protect Saul? I told you clearly and unmistakably to serve as his personal guard, didn't I?"

"I was held up."

"What?"

"On that day, I was held up by an assassin sent by Darius. Before the Displacement Incident occurred, while I was being held up by the assassin, that pillar of light appeared, and then I was displaced... I hurried back here as fast as I could, but it was already too late... Lord Saul was not displaced. He was framed by Darius and executed."

Darius? Oh... that pervert who liked little girls.

"Why would he do that?"

"Because Lord Saul was always obstructing him. And Darius liked Miss Eris."

"So? A Sword King was held up by a few third-rate assassins? You think I'm going to believe that bullshit!?"

If only there were lie-detecting magic. That was the most direct thought in my mind at that moment.

Though Ghislaine did not seem like the type to lie.

"It was not an ordinary assassin. And there was only one. I do not know where he came from either."

"Even you found him difficult?"

"He was stronger than me."

"Then how are you so sure he was an assassin sent by Darius?"

"He said so himself."

I froze for a moment.

That assassin probably... was not sent by Darius.

No matter how you looked at it, what assassin would announce who sent him?

"Rudeus, I am sorry. You had noticed it, and yet..."

As Ghislaine spoke, her tail drooped completely.

I scratched my head. Ghislaine's personality was still just like a dog's.

"Forget it. He's already dead. There's no use pursuing it any further. I should also apologize to you for what I said in the heat of the moment. I'm sorry."

"No, Rudeus, what you said wasn't wrong. And I'm going to pursue it. I want to kill Darius."

"I do too, but the time hasn't come yet. And if that assassin you just mentioned really was one of his people, then he should have other strong fighters around him. You absolutely can't do it right now. Besides, Darius might not be the real culprit."

"Even if the real culprit isn't him, he's definitely an accomplice. So I need your help, Rudeus. You're the strongest magician I've ever met. If I had your help..."

"I refuse."

"Why?"

"If I choose to help you now, then what about Eris? What about Aisha? What about my mother? I don't have time to get involved in these nobles' grudges and love-hate affairs right now. Once I've found my mother and reunited my family, I'll consider helping you."

"All right. Thank you, Rudeus."

"I'm still your teacher, more or less."