Chapter 67: The Hero’s Miscalculation (2)

The enemy had foreseen our plans!! Everything will be ruined for sure!!

The Grand Lion continued to speak about his inspection…

「Sorry about this, but I’ll just examine you with two or three questions. If I determine that you’re the real Bunogeos, I’ll wrap everything up.」

The Grand Lion approached Seiya slowly and looked fixedly at him.

They stood very close to one another that even their breaths collided…They were both silent. Ten seconds of silence felt extremely long to me.

「The smell, aura, ability value…There is no mistake that you are Bunogeos. 」

「Of…Of course, I am. 」

The Grand Lion asked a question after Seiya-Bunogeos laughed amiably.

「What happened to the corpse of the hero you’ve defeated? 」

「I wanted to capture him alive. But, in the end, his body shattered into small pieces. 」

「He was formidable enemy, huh. It can’t be helped, then. But…Are you really telling me the truth? You didn’t eat him, did you?」

「No…No way. O…Oink… 」

「Okay. Next question. There was a certain conversation we’ve had on the crystal ball not too long ago…Do you remember that? I want to hear the answer to my question.」

「Eh, what? An answer, you say? 」

「I asked you before. The “exact number”, you know. You were supposed to answer me with the exact number, isn’t that right?」

The Grand Lion stared fiercely at Seiya with haunting eyes! Still, I felt slightly relieved! The number that the Grand Lion was asking for…Was the “total number of beast men killed by the hero”! I heard it when we were below Bunogeos’ mansion! We listened to his conversation for research purposes back then! So, that harsh mole life was useful after all! It was just for the sake of this moment! He has been thinking about becoming Bunogeos even before he defeated him…Just as expected of Seiya! He never misses anything!

「Hey. What’s wrong? You said that you’ll look into that later, didn’t you? 」

「Ye…Yeah… 」

「Tell me, Bunogeos. 」

The Grand Lion was looking at him with suspicious eyes. I became upset and impatience with the delay of his answer.

What…What’s wrong with you, Seiya!? Did you forget about the number because of this stressful situation!? You’ve exterminated 300 beast men!! The enemy’s suspicion will subdue if you said that exact number!!

「Why can’t you tell me? Hey! 」

「A…About that…Well… 」

Sweat dropped from Seiya-Bunogeos’ face! Under such circumstances, a violent aura started to overflow from the Grand Lion’s body!

「Just tell me…you bastard…if you can’t…I’ll kill you…! 」

Eh, eh, eh!? Wh…Why!? Why didn’t he answer him!?

My breathing rate became disturbed under the pressure of this panicking situation! However…

「…Okay. I dislike that forgetting habit of yours. 」

Just when he was about to jump with a murderous intent, the Grand Lion loosened his fierce face and became calmer again.

Eh…! Wha…What happened just now…?

「It seems it’s you, Bunogeos. 」

「I…I apologize… 」

I…I got it!! He knew Bunogeos’ true character!! Therefore, he didn’t answer that question and pretended not to know the exact number of kills!! Pe…Perfect!! This was too perfect!!

「Well…It seems there is no mistake that you’re the real you… 」

「Su…Surely. I’ve been myself since the beginning. 」

「Yeah. But, that was what the mottled hair implied to me. The crystal ball showed some noisy disturbance a couple of days ago. That could’ve been the hero’s doing.」

A couple of days ago…That was when Seiya became cautious once again! In other words, Seiya expected that the enemy would see him and, by using the camouflage skill, he disturbed the enemy’s crystal ball with noise? Even…Even so…!

「The noise hasn’t cleared away completely. Based on the mottled hair’s words, the hero is alive and continues to interfere with our lives…It seems there’s a possibility he’s deceiving us. So, there’s a valid reason why the evil god with mottled hair said that “the hero tracked and examined the enemy and successfully disguised as Bunogeos”.」

Then, the Grand Lion slammed his fist on the table. The table was destroyed without a trace in an instant due to his fearsome strength.

「That damned mottled hair! Making things harder for me! I’m mad now! I shall finish this immediately! There’s an easier way to know the truth! Yes! A simple way to distinguish between humans and demons!」

The Grand Lion pointed to the slave women that trembled in the corner of the room.

「Bunogeos. This is the last ordeal of this inspection. That woman…kill her! 」

The woman started to cry when she heard those terrifying words. Seiya-Bunogeos also made a shaky voice upon hearing that command.

「Is…Is it all right? Murder is forbidden on this town. 」

「Today’s an exception. Kill her. 」

I was sweating excessively from my body.

No…No…No way!!There was no way that he’ll kill a human being!! Seiya-Bunogeos brought those slaves for the sake of his disguise!! But, things escalated this quickly!! Those slaves looked absolutely frightened as they shook their heads continuously!!

「You can kill her. You’ll be able to do it without any problems because you’re not the hero.」

The Grand Lion put his hand on Seiya-Bunogeos’ shoulder. And then…

「Oh…Oh well. I…I have no choice then… 」

Seiya-Bunogeos pulled the axe from his back.

…That axe was not really an axe! It was the Platinum Sword affected by the art of change! There’s no way to avoid this now! He’ll probably make it look as if he were about to kill that slave, and then, attack the Grand Lion by surprise! And, afterwards, try to find a way to escape from this place somehow…

However! My speculation was totally different from reality! Seiya-Bunogeos came close to the slave woman, swung his axe and slammed it on the woman without saying a word! The attack was so strong that the floor broke alongside with the woman! It created a large crater on the ground!

I was completely petrified by the unbelievable scene that unfolded right in front of my eyes.

…Im…Impossible…!! Seiya…killed a slave…a human being…!?

Seiya-Bunogeos spoke tranquilly.

「I really wanted to eat that human. Oh my! Ah, sorry, don’t take my words seriously! I was, oink, only joking!」

「Okay. You’re finally in tune with yourself, Bunogeos. 」

The two of them spoke happily with each other. But, I couldn’t stop shaking.

The…There’s no way that Seiya became a murderer!! He probably didn’t kill that human!! It was probably a facade!! He probably prepared something for this ordeal in advance!! But…But…!!

The moment he attacked the slave woman, her flesh spilled on my eyes. I saw that woman’s limbs. They were destroyed in pieces and were on the verge of being swallowed by the moving sand of the crater…

Regardless of my duty, I slowly approached Seiya from behind.

「Se…Seiya… 」

As soon as I called his name, Seiya-Bunogeos looked back and held my arms tight. His eyes were widely open.

Seiya whispered to me with a scary face, 「Shup up! Be quiet! 」.

The Grand Lion looked at me with a suspicious expression.

「Hey. Who the hell is that fish? 」

「Ah…yeah. He’s an assistance of mine to look after my personal belongings. 」

「Did he say something to you just now? 」

The Grand Lion tried to approach me, but on the way, he frowned and shook his head.

「Gosh. What a horrible fishy smell. 」

I scratched my head and responded with fish-man words.

「Glu…glu, glu… 」

「What a bother. I don’t know why we have tribes of beast fish-men. I never understand what they say.」

The Grand Lion turned his gaze to Seiya-Bunogeos.

「Sorry to keep you like this when you’re badly injured. This is the end of my inspection. I’m going back to Tarmine.」

…After talking to Seiya-Bunogeos about two or three questions of his inspection, the Grand Lion returned back to his carriage. Seiya-Bunogeos bowed his head to give a respectful farewell. I also bowed to replicate his gesture.

Eventually, the door closed with a cracking sound. When I raised my head, the Beast Emperor the Grand Lion was no longer in the room.

—

I tried to speak with Seiya. But, he shook his head and closed his eyes. I became quiet when I noticed that it was not the right moment to talk yet. Seiya finally nodded. He probably used his Automatic Naga to see if the Grand Lion really left this place.

「Hey, listen, Seiya!! You…You really…killed that slave…? 」

I finally uttered the courage to ask him that question. On this moment, Seiya-Bunogeos grabbed my chest violently.

「Ugh!? 」

At the same, a shining light emitted from our bodies. Seiya and mine’s appearance changed and we returned to our original bodies. And, right now…the hero was staring at me with crazily sharp eyes just like a fearsome hawk.

「I told you to keep your mouth shut no matter what happened. 」

「But…But…! 」

「The Grand Lion didn’t suspect you because you were lucky. We could’ve suffered irreversible consequences if he decided to inspect you.」

And then, Seiya beat me wildly. I fell on the floor with my buttocks.

「Bu…But! Se…Seiya, you…and that slave…! 」

Seiya approached the slave man, who trembled in the corner of the room, and held his hand.

「Eh…! 」

After the light disappeared, the man turned into a doll made of soil.

「The slaves were a combination of Earth Magic and the art of change. I thought that the Grand Lion would suspect me. There was a possibility that he’ll ask me to kill human slaves. Therefore, I placed two dolls made of soil in the room as a precaution.」

「I…I never thought you could do things like that as well…! 」

「In addition to simple movements, I made those fake people speak a few words. Furthermore, I made sure to use the camouflage skill in order to reflect the general human status. Besides that, I activated the camouflage skill on both of us as well.」

「You thought about everything…! 」

「Of course. Yet, no matter how well prepared I am, you always have the nerve to ruin everything.」

「I…I’m sorry… 」

After I apologized, Seiya continued to speak.

「I expected that an enemy, whose ability value could be closer in power to that of the Demon King, existed. It was just an assumption. But, to be honest, I never expected that an enemy with a status that exceeded the Demon King’s would appear in the early stage of saving this world. We have to make major changes to our plans for the future…」

It was unusual for Seiya to say that he only had an “assumption”, and that he was mistaken in the end. His voice was also rough and serious.

But, Seiya’s frustration was undeniably accurate. In addition to the appearance of an enemy with an unexpected ability value, I was about to jeopardy everything that Seiya prepared so carefully. The Grand Lion could have killed us both if he discovered who I really was…

I felt an unbearable heavy atmosphere that surrounded our presence.

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I guess without Lista, Seiya would be too OP… For the sake of the story he needs the Lista shackles…

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