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Chapter 22 - Swelling Hatred
I achieved my objective of eliminating the traitor without the leader realizing their identity. But I didn't feel satisfied at all, nor did I feel a sense of accomplishment. All I had was anger and emptiness swirling around in my chest.
(He is ultimately a victim too. A victim whose life was ruined by Brutogyu. He’s just like me and the leader.)
I absolutely had to kill Brutogyu with my own hands. My hatred for him continued to swell.
(...I can't leave him like this, can I?)
If I leave him be, the body would be ravaged by monsters and animals.
As I was about to pull the body out from under the tree to bury it somewhere, I heard approaching footsteps—soft, steady footsteps. I thought it might be an enemy and became tensed, but as soon as I recognized who it was, my tenseness turned into something else.
"Leader..."
"Hey, quite a feat. Defeating my master."
"Did you see it?"
This place was deep in the forest, far from the hideout. It's impossible to hear the sounds of battle or notice anything abnormal from there. The leader must have suspected Cain-san from the beginning.
"Yeah, just at the end though."
With just that, the leader murmured and squatted down in front of Cain-san's body.
"What about his wife and daughter...? I arrived at around that point. I saw it."
"...Sorry, Leader."
"I should be the one apologizing. I should have settled it myself, but I passed it on to you. Sorry for unnecessarily burdening you."
"When did you realize about Cain-san?"
"Only recently. Your words from yesterday bothered me, so I kept an eye on Cain-san. Something seemed off, and when I saw you tailing him, I was convinced. I spoke with Raid as well. I hesitated, and he scolded me, telling me to quickly finish it and go. I came prepared, but it was already over."
The leader's voice trembled, and I was at a loss for words.
"It's pathetic, really. Laughable that someone like me is the leader..."
"...I'll go back first."
"...Sorry."
Right now, the leader's mind must be in disarray. I wanted to leave his alone. Besides, it was I who killed Cain-san. In many ways, I couldn't stay in this place.
Wearing the hat with a hole in it that I dropped during the fight, I walked towards the capital. My battered body hurts as it brushed against the trees and grass, but the faintly audible cries of the leader were much, much more painful in my heart. My body and heart were in too much pain, and I didn't even notice the rustling of the bushes.
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"I'm back."
"Welcome back—wait, what happened? You're all bloody!"
I returned to the shop, and Strah was surprised when she saw me. Well, it went without saying. After all, I was indeed covered in blood and tattered.
"...!!"
Beato came running at full speed and gave me a worried look.
"I'm fine, it's not a serious injury."
"...!"
She didn't care about that and forcefully pulled my arm. Hey, that actually hurt.
"Just stay put quietly in the back!"
Smack!
Strah smacked me on the head with a bundle of rolled sheepskin parchment. Hey, I'm injured, you know?
"If you stand all bloodied at the entrance, you're disrupting business! Customers are also surprised. Go get yourself treated quickly!"
...She's right. Right now, everyone in the shop was looking at me. Half of it was probably because of Strah's shouting, but I couldn't say that, huh? Nevertheless, what Strah said was true.
"Sorry, I'll go."
"Beato, please heal her. I'll manage the shop in the meantime."
"...!"
Beato nodded vigorously, all fired up. I was pushed forward, and together with her, I retreated to the back of the shop, the living space. Obviously, I couldn't open the door to the basement in front of customers.
"..."
I was made to sit in the living room chair, and the healing began. Beato was quite skilled in healing, I thought. It's warm and felt good, and the wounds closed up quickly, leaving no scars. She healed each and every wound individually, and wiped away the blood with a wet towel once the wound closed. This method required a lot of both magical power and patience.
"Hey, if you use a powerful spell on my whole body, wouldn't it be done in one go? Doing them one by one is tiring and consumes a lot of magical power, right?"
"..."
Beato shook her head vigorously and started writing on paper.
"If I do that, it will leave scars on the skin."
"It's fine even if there are scars."
"No, I’ll prioritize your well being over my exhaustion."
"Yes..."
Even Beato scolded me. I should just quietly receive her careful treatment. ...Huh? Was I worried about Beato?
(...Well, whatever.)
My body felt warm, and I was getting sleepy. It felt like when Beato held me in her arms. My head felt fuzzy, and my eyelids droop...
When I opened my eyes, it was already evening. The treatment had long been finished, and Beato was leaning on the chair next to me, her breathing even.
"You fell asleep... Beato, wake up."
When I lightly poked her cheek, she woke up. She stared at my face, smiles softly.
"You did well. Thanks to you, I'm fully recovered."
"..."
She smiled so happily just from receiving a little gratitude, that it threw me off balance.
"...Hey, don't you want to know what happened?"
Beato thought for a moment and then smoothly wrote with her pen.
"I thought it would be better not to ask. Was I mistaken?"
"...I guess I don't want to be asked."
"Understood, I won't ask."
Ah, this was bad. I was relying too much on her kindness. This wouldn't do, I swore not to make anything special. If this continued, she'd become special to me too someday.
"...Hey, Beato. Starting today, I'll sleep alone. Is that okay?"
"...!?"
Don't make such a sad, anxious face. I didn't hate you, I just didn't want to like you.
"Please. It's not that I hate you, Beato. So please."
"............"
Unsatisfied with my answer, she tightly embraced me.
...Give me a break. I couldn't say anything harsher than this anymore.
"...Forget what I just said."
My willpower was weak. To think I could be so easily swayed.
I didn't want her to enter my heart any further.
When I went to the shop, they're already in the middle of cleaning up after closing. Strah was glaring at us while sweeping the merchandise with a broom. She's still scary.
"You two took your time... Aniki hasn't returned either. Do you have any idea how busy I was all by myself during that time?!"
Oh no, she's really angry. Also, there's something that bothered me a lot.
"Oh? Hasn't the leader returned yet?"
It's still too late if he was just burying Cain-san. He's not doing anything reckless, right...?
"Rather than that, help me first—"
The door to the shop opened, and the leader entered. Thank goodness, it seemed like I worried unnecessarily. And Joanna was with him too.
"You all, let's go to the basement. It's time for the briefing of the next operation."
The leader's expression was sharper than usual, and there was a heavy atmosphere around him. Everyone went down to the basement and into the conference room. The leader spread out a map of the continent and pointed to the western edge of the kingdom's territory.
"The city of Frejenta. The First Prince Tario Tartarot Deltirad is here. As the supreme commander of an expeditionary force of 15,000, he is stationed in this frontline city with his twelve wives."
The leader looked at me intently and said, "Kyrie-chan, go to this place with Joanna. Can I count on you to do this?"
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