The Lazy Swordmaster

"Is that what you think of me?"

"You do? You don't, right?"

Riley, who reconfirmed that the content on the big screen had been manipulated by someone, clicked his tongue as if he didn't like it.

"…tch."

"Is there something wrong?"

"Now, you and Iril have become killers who like eating human flesh."

"What?"

When Sera's expression turned even more bizarre than before, Riley, who added that she didn't have to worry about it, reached out as if he had decided it was better to hide.

"Iril."

"Umm, euu…"

"Wake up."

Riley, who had said it was okay to fully enjoy her sleep for a little while, shook Iril to wake her up.

"Eu, what? It's still… midnight, isn't it?"

Iril narrowed her eyes and looked up at the night sky, and began to whine, saying, "Why did you wake me up already?"

A child is a child, huh?

Sera supported Iril, who was still tired, to get up from the bench. She then explained that it was no longer a situation where she could sleep peacefully.

"Anyway, we need to join Commander Nara at once."

"Nara?"

Iril, who was still half-asleep, looked around, asking where Nara was, and Sera, who squeezed her shoulders as if to wake her up, spoke.

"Commander is waiting somewhere, not here."

"Ah…"

Barely conscious from Sera's massage, Iril purrs like a wet puppy, wiping her face, and Clap! She slapped her own cheeks with her palms.

"Okay! I'm awake! Please say it again! What did you say?"

Riley, who pointed to the 'serial killer who likes human flesh,' being introduced on the big screen due to breaking news, shrugged as if he was too lazy to explain it again.

"Eh? What's that?"

Whether Andal's interpreting magic was effective or not, Iril, who could read the translated subtitles on the screen, frowned.

"Killer? Human flesh? What is that…"

"…for that reason."

Riley took the first step after confirming several things through Sera's sense to reduce the probability of missing each other with Nainiae.

"We must go back for now."

It was uncomfortable to go back like this because he couldn't find any parts to heal Mi-rae's parent, but he also couldn't stay like this because they were in a bad situation.

*****

Priesia was able to restore the man who had become a monster back to normal through her purification. Thanks to it, Nainiae succeeded in extracting some information from him.

The first was the fact that it was Helena who made the man into a monster. The second was that certain conditions had to be met to turn a human into a monster. And the third was that it wasn't just one or two people that Helena wanted to turn into a monster.

"…the situation is more serious than I thought."

Looking down at the man who had now passed out, Nainiae mumbled, organizing the facts she had just discovered in her head, while Ian and Priesia muttered as if they couldn't understand at all.

"Didn't Young Master and Abyss, whom she originally intended to rule out, meet their end together a year ago?"

"Nainiae said earlier that the saintess lives a comfortable life now, so what else is lacking? Why is she still doing such a terrible thing…"

No matter where she went, she was praised by people to the extent that no one would slander her… The three of them couldn't easily guess what on earth was lacking.

"I will go to the memorial for a while. Just before, I sensed the trap I had placed there had been triggered."

"Wait, what are we going to do with this man?"

When Nainiae was about to return to the memorial again by teleportation, Ian caught her.

"Even though Helena turned him into a monster, he had done something he shouldn't have done… shouldn't he be punished for it?"

As Ian swelled with a serious expression, Priesia, who was standing next to him, bit her lip as if to disagree with Ian's opinion and spoke out.

"But… it had nothing to do with his own will."

"No, in any way… he should be punished here."

"It was done by a wicked woman who was not worth the title of saintess named Helena! If someone has to be punished, she's the one who has to be punished, so why should an innocent person be punished?"

When Ian and Priesia confronted each other, saying that their opinions were right, Nainiae, who couldn't see it, intervened.

"It is not right for us to fight each other."

Nainiae looked down at the now-normally passed-out man who used to be a monster and replied that it would be better to decide by majority vote. Then she gave her opinion.

"I think Mr. Ian is right. After all, he was the one who made the mistake."

Even though Helena turned him into a monster… he was the one who killed people and bit the flesh of the dead, so he had to pay the price for his crimes.

"Bu…"

"Please understand, Ms. Priesia."

When Nainiae asked Priesia to understand, she nodded helplessly and closed her eyes, putting her hands together to pray.

"Of course, Helena, that woman has to pay for her crimes too."

Nainiae added to Priesia, who was praying, and looked at Ian.

"Then, I will go to the memorial. If I meet the other parts, I will join them and come back. Until then, about Ms. Priesia's escort… please do that."

"Don't worry."

"The man will wake up in an hour or so. It's evening now, so maybe you could sleep and wake up in the morning."

Nainiae continued as if she had finished preparing for teleportation.

"I will be right back."

When the light flashed because of teleportation, and Nainiae's vision returned to normal… She was standing near the memorial.

Let's see…

Since she had put the invisibility magic on in advance, there was no one around to recognize her, who suddenly appeared near the memorial.

What about the trap?

Nainiae walked in front of the memorial and checked the trap she had set up. After confirming that someone had used mana in this area, she looked around.

Where is it? Which side did it come from?

Looking alternately at the direction the trap was pointing, which was the large building near and on the opposite side of the memorial, Nainiae looked at the building carefully.

Is it over there?

Nainiae, who found traces of someone climbing up the wall using mana, stopped while trying to follow the trace.

…hmm?

It was because of what she heard in her ears.

[There have been a number of murders in the central region. Those in the guided area, please beware of the women wearing the above description clothing. Anyone who finds them should call the police or the capability office as soon as possible…]

Nainiae turned her head and looked at the big screen on a building, then frowned when she found Iril and Sera on it.

Iril and Ms. Sera?

The screen changed, and Nainiae, who witnessed the scene when Iril stood on the memorial and gave a lengthy speech, put on an even more incomprehensible expression.

What on earth… happened in this short moment…

Nainiae, who could clearly notice that the other parts had passed near the memorial, hurriedly followed the traces left by the trap.

This stride… this is Ms. Sera's stride.

Nainiae used floating magic to climb up the building, following the trail to the top of the building. Then she found traces of a fight on the rooftop here and there and sat down with one knee bent.

Bullets, black clothes, bloodstains…

Nainiae looked around the site that hadn't yet been cleared. Then she sensed a sign of someone approaching this way and turned her head.

Someone's coming?

After checking her invisibility magic, Nainiae hid her presence and moved to a blind spot on the rooftop, waiting for the main character to appear.

"Huu…"

Shortly thereafter, the closed rooftop door opened and a man in a suit appeared.

That man?

'Lee Han-seong', the man she met in front of the memorial in the afternoon and was said to be working at the capability office, appeared on the rooftop and was the main character whose presence she sensed.

"Why are the higher-ups making me do things when I don't even know what the situation is? Confidentiality b*llsh*t, becoming a team leader only increases my chores… sh*t!"

Lee Han-seong, who had roughly messed his hair, looked around, picking up the black clothes that had been left on the rooftop.

"Even in this murder case, yes. I mean, something smells fishy. We've narrowed down all the criminals all night and the only thing we've to do is to catch them… then what happened all of a sudden? They threw two papers at me and said these two are the criminals? Ha! Really like a sh*t…"

Nainiae, who had been listening, muttered to herself with a subtle look on her face.

Is it rigged?

"Anyway, these b*st*rds have something to hide."

Lee Han-seong, who grumbled while cleaning up the clothes, bloodstains, bullets, etc. left on the rooftop, finished roughly and checked the site for the last time… then he exited the rooftop through the door he had entered.

"…"

"Just you wait. I'll dig."

When the open rooftop door closed and silence came again, Nainiae, who had been hiding, came out.

"I guess there aren't only people who have a good impression on Helena… This might be good to check."

Judging that there would be people who could be turned into allies, Nainiae returned to the subject once again and began to think about Sera and Iril's whereabouts.

"Judging from what that person just said, Sera and Iril used force here, and the two people who were present at the scene were linked with the recent murders that have become a problem in this world… is it like that?"

It had now gone, but Nainiae, who was once again scrutinizing the places where the traces were left, looked out of the rooftop.

"Young Master now… how is he moving?"

In the evening, looking down at the night view and the people walking on the street, Nainiae murmured while fiddling with the ring she was wearing on her ring finger with her other hand.

"If it were Young Master…"

Nainiae muttered blankly, thinking that if it was Riley, he might have moved more efficiently.

*****

"…ah, you're here?"

"…?"

Returning to Mi-rae's home, Riley and the others found Nara sitting on the doorstep and furrowed their eyebrows as if wondering what happened.

"What is it? Why do you look like that?"

It's because Nara looked pretty messy to say that it happened because of playing with Mi-rae.

"Ugh, euu…"

When Nara, who was sitting on the doorstep, struggled to get up, using his spear as a cane, Iril approached the groaning man and asked.

"Oh my God, Commander? Why are you like this?"

Iril's twitching eyebrows were mixed with half the joy of reunion and half the reaction of being satisfied.

[Note: satisfied here refers to when seeing a person in trouble and you're happy seeing it.]

"You too, you must have been rolling around quite a bit, huh?"

Nara also smiled and showed the same reaction as Iril at her appearance as if she had come from somewhere just like him.

"What happened? Where's Mi-rae?"

When Riley asked Nara, who was in a mess, the closed front door opened slightly and Mi-rae cautiously poked her face out.

"…Mister?"

Fortunately, Mi-rae looked fine.

"Huu…"

Nara brushed off the dust on his clothes and said.

"There's someone who stopped by and went in."

Realizing that Nara looked like that because of protecting Mi-rae, Riley waited for Nara's next words.

"I couldn't understand what he said because I couldn't understand the language, but Mi-rae… it seemed like he was looking for her."

Nara, enraged at the fact that someone visited Mi-rae's house and targeted her, continued, pointing to his eyes with his hand.

"Above all, his eyes."

Looking up at Riley so that Mi-rae couldn't see it, Nara changed his eyes to 'those of a basilisk' and talked about the eye color of the person who had just visited Mi-rae's house.

"It was red. It's very vicious."

"Red? If it's red…"

"He's definitely a crazy guy. The one who's on the killing side."

"…"

Riley narrowed his eyes at Nara's words and recalled the dozens of police cars he ran into on his way back to the memorial this afternoon.

"So, I just decided that I shouldn't let him in."

Without knowing anything else and judging that if he gave Mi-rae to the guy, big trouble would come, Nara said that he aimed his spear at the guy and tried to chase him away.

"But his skills… seems like it wasn't normal?"

Nara explained that he had succeeded in somehow making him back off, but it was impossible to subdue him, then he sighed deeply.

"Even if he was cut or stabbed by the spear, he didn't get a scratch. It didn't look like he was using mana, but it also didn't seem like he was using his ability… should I say that there is something strange about his physical ability?"

"By any chance…"

Riley, who narrowed his eyes at Nara's explanation, asked quietly.

"Is there a horn on his forehead?"

"…?"

Nara, who blinked blankly at the question, answered a bit late.

"Yes, that's right. I was going to tell you that."

"…"

When Nara said yes, Riley's expression turned cold.