Chapter 10: Hero of Justice, Verdandi Astraea (3)

When Verdandi first saw Bing Yeon, the translucent window that appeared before her eyes clearly showed:

[The person before you is an 'Extreme Villain'.]

Not just evil, but an Extreme Villain. Verdandi's mind raced at this unprecedented type.

For someone to be labeled a murderous criminal, there were many strange points. A man and woman in unusual attire not seen in this village, and a woman who appeared to be a mage.

They were clearly outsiders.

Therefore, she thought they must be either criminals who committed murders elsewhere or traitors to humanity who sided with the Demon King.

Or perhaps someone who had sold out their country, or someone who exploited people as slaves.

She believed the designation shown by 'Eyes That See Truth' was absolute regardless of who appeared. There must be a reason it showed 'Extreme Villain.'

'...This feels dangerous! They must be extremely powerful villains!'

She just needed to deal with these people and then kill all the villagers.

She had already immobilized her mother, Eila, whom she had judged as evil.

When she thought her mother would soon die, her breathing trembled and an uneasy sensation rose in her chest.

"......"

Was she really evil?

Even though she had tried to strangle her as a child and lied about loving her, she was still the mother who had raised her.

'Don't get distracted, Verdandi. Didn't Lord Solareon, the Main God, acknowledge you?'

Verdandi shook her head while watching Eila grow cold. She couldn't consider the possibility that her ability had been wrong from the start.

'I will punish the evil in this world!'

Crack! Verdandi tightly gripped the kitchen knife and took a fighting stance. Her mind was filled with the thought that it didn't matter who the man before her was.

[The person before you is a 'good person'.]

Because she was the Hero of Justice.

No matter what anyone said, she was perfectly good.

A fairy tale hero who executes justice and punishes evil.

Verdandi smiled inwardly while looking at her reflection in the knife.

"You said you came to make me your disciple? You must be insane!"

"Yes, I came to guide you on the right path. If you come with me, there will be no more suffering. You could live a normal life without being buried by the role of hero..."

[The words of the person before you are 'truth'.]

Verdandi couldn't hide her shock at seeing the text reflected in her cornea.

'...Truth? Really?'

This Extreme Villain's words were true. Right in front of her was someone saying she could live a normal life without being obsessed with being a hero.

The hope that she could live as a normal child, not hated by people and loved by her parents.

But,

"Ha, hahaha! You're far too late!"

Verdandi thought everything was already ruined. After all, she had just stabbed her mother with a kitchen knife, making her bleed.

"Even beasts cherish their young, but I nearly got murdered by my mother when I was just a baby!"

To be honest, she felt wronged.

Why couldn't she have been born normal?

Why did she have these abilities that made her unable to trust people?

"I would rather die than take such an Extreme Villain as my master!"

Verdandi shouted while facing off against Bi Wol who was trying to get close to her. She thought it was too late to turn back now.

Even if her mother Eila was healed now, she would surely hate and despise her daughter who had tried to kill her.

Verdandi hated those cold stares. She was terrified of those piercing eyes that seemed to bore into her heart.

"Where do you think you're going? I'm your opponent."

At that moment, one of Bing Yeon's eyes gleamed golden. It showed firm determination without any hatred or disgust.

KWAKAGAGAGAK─! With a thunderous sound, an ice wall formed between her and Eila.

"...An ice wall? Are you mages?"

Verdandi was dumbfounded. If they had this much power, couldn't they just kill her and save her mother? Wouldn't that be simpler?

"Master, the injured person's safety has been secured."

The black-haired girl moving at incredible speed and the blonde mage instantly healing severe injuries.

"Go outside with the Gold Tower Master and stop the bleeding from her neck wound. I'll handle things here."

Among them, the most threatening figure was the white-haired man who claimed he had come to save her.

"But Master...! Your body is unwell! The opponent is strong enough to react to even my techniques!"

He was bleeding from his eyes, nose, mouth, and even ears while watching her movements cautiously.

'One small mistake and I'll die.'

From the cold sensation throughout her body, Verdandi realized something was wrong.

Why wouldn't this man kill her immediately when he could? Why did he say he wanted to save her?

"Isn't it known throughout the world that a master is stronger than their disciple?"

[The words of the person before you are 'truth'.]

The translucent window before her eyes kept showing her truth and lies. Results that had never once shown as lies.

"As you said, I might not be Number One in the Evil Path. Of course, not Number One of All Time. Much less Number One Under Heaven."

It couldn't be. It shouldn't be.

"However, I am a master with many disciples. I'm an ordinary person loved by many rather than a strong person in name only."

Verdandi shook her head at the windows appearing before her. She couldn't help but think this person couldn't possibly be an Extreme Villain.

"Therefore, I must do things that make my disciples proud. So that you can surpass your master's shadow and achieve greatness someday."

[The words of the person before you are 'truth'.]

What if this white-haired man really had come to save her, and that's why he healed her mother?

What if he really was a good person who could understand her?

Then,

Everything she had done until now, everything she had believed...

What would that mean?

"You're all talk! Even so, it doesn't change the fact that you're an Extreme Villain!"

Verdandi shouted at Bing Yeon. The thought that everything had been a misunderstanding, that her mother had actually loved her, was slowly creeping up on her.

"Why do you think I'm an Extreme Villain in the first place?"

"Of course, because I'm a hero..."

"...What if you weren't a hero? Have you ever considered the possibility that you're just an ordinary person?"

After all, Eila, Verdandi's mother, had only repeated "Mommy is sorry" even as she was dying from her daughter's knife.

"What are you trying to say?!"

"You have two abilities: 'Eyes That See Truth' and 'Scales of Justice.' Each has two flaws."

Having completely subdued Verdandi, Bing Yeon was looking directly into her eyes.

"The flaw in 'Eyes That See Truth' is that if the speaker doesn't know they're lying, it shows as truth."

"......?!"

His gaze was gentle and warm, the kind she imagined a father would have.

"The flaw in 'Scales of Justice' is that if there's an event where the difference between good and evil deeds is enormous, the result can change at any time."

Verdandi hated that gaze. She hated feeling pitied, as if it negated the difficult life she had lived.

So she tried to escape, but...

"Look carefully again with those eyes, am I truly an Extreme Villain before you?"

With one stomp of Bing Yeon's foot, her lower body and legs froze, making movement impossible.

['Scales of Justice' is recalculating due to changes in the target's karma value.]

"...This is impossible."

[The person before you is a 'good person'.]

Verdandi couldn't believe her own eyes. Hadn't this person just shown up as an Extreme Villain, the worst of the evil?

"Yes, now will you stop trusting your ability and trust this master instead?"

"......"

Could her ability really have been wrong? Could there really be flaws in her ability, making her judge everything by her own arbitrary standards?

"I came here after receiving orders to save you. From a being like a god to me."

Despite blood trickling from his mouth, Bing Yeon smiled at her. Because of that kind smile, her heart felt like it was malfunctioning.

[The words of the person before you are 'truth'.]

"It's true.... How can this be...."

Thump to bump, bump to bang.

Feeling her heartbeat growing faster, Verdandi began to recognize some strange emotion.

"From me, you will learn the emotion of love-hate, and understand contradictory feelings where sadness and joy coexist. Just as your mother did."

"My mother... you say?"

Could this be the emotion called love-hate? Verdandi nodded at Bing Yeon's words as if understanding.

"Yes, your mother had an unwanted pregnancy from a bandit who attacked her home. Trying to strangle you was absolutely unforgivable."

"......"

This was something she hadn't known. Because of her ability, truth and lies had become mixed up with all sorts of information, obscuring the real truth.

"But her love for her child was stronger. She felt so ashamed and humiliated saying it that your ability registered it as a lie."

[The words of the person before you are 'truth'.]

Verdandi finally realized that everything Bing Yeon said was right. If he had wanted to kill her, he would have done so already, and he wouldn't have tried to save her mother.

After all, the two women who seemed to be his companions had fled from her.

"Are you... an apostle of the Main God...?"

Verdandi spoke tearfully to Bing Yeon, feeling as if her inner thoughts had been completely exposed. Given how he knew all these facts, he might as well be an apostle of the Main God.

"No, I'm an ordinary human. Like you, I'm just a common person who fears dozens of times a day that people won't understand my true feelings."

This was something Verdandi had always felt. No matter how hard she tried, the villagers had always looked at her with contempt.

"Don't worry about how the villagers treated you. They're people intertwined in evil deeds, like snakes coiled together."

Bing Yeon seemed to be saying on her behalf, 'It's not your fault. Those people are the ones who are wrong.'

"Is that... true? You're saying... I am a good child?"

Verdandi couldn't help but open her heart to him.

"Yes, you're a good child. Though I failed to find you earlier and made mistakes being clumsy and inexperienced, we can still set things right."

Whoosh! Though his embrace was incredibly cold, she strangely found it warm.

"Huu, huuuung..."

A hot sensation rose in her eyes. She hated how tears kept flowing even though she didn't want to cry.

"I was so lonely. Mother showed up as evil, and even her words of love showed as lies..."

She didn't understand why she was confiding these worries to someone she had just met.

Perhaps because she had believed the Main God's oracle without doubt, Verdandi felt something familiar about Bing Yeon.

"Yes, yes."

"Knowing she tried to strangle me as a baby, I was scared even to sleep near her... Every day felt like I was suffocating to death."

She just wanted someone, anyone, to comfort her.

"It must have been hard."

She just wanted someone, anyone, to listen to her voice.

"The villagers hated me, secretly put bugs in my food, and spread rumors saying I enjoyed a promiscuous life like my mother..."

She just wanted someone to tell her she wasn't bad.

"My disciples and I will solve everything. So don't worry too much. No one under this heaven will dare insult you anymore."

Thus Verdandi cried in Bing Yeon's arms for a long time, only managing to stop after nearly an hour had passed.

* * *

"...I have a bad feeling."

At that time, Bi Wol muttered to herself while looking at the house she had fled from.

"Huh? But this person's treatment is all finished! They'll regain consciousness soon!"

Wolfram tilted her head, looking at her with strange eyes, not understanding what could be wrong.

Though stabbed by a knife and slightly injured in the internal organs, all treatment was complete. At this rate, they should be able to live without even a scar remaining.

"What exactly gives you such a bad feeling?"

Wolfram couldn't understand why Bi Wol was saying such things.

"A jackal seems to be acting coquettishly toward Master. Taking advantage while I'm not there..."

Bi Wol spoke softly while biting her lower lip, picturing Verdandi's face in her mind.

"Master is supposed to be mine alone."

Blood flowed from her lip where she had bitten down hard,

- Don't you agree? I told you that once you get a sister, you'll eventually become unnecessary.

A voice like a snake's tongue was pounding at her heart.