“Because I am afraid. I am afraid that once you learn this, you will see me as a dangerous alien, a ticking time bomb that could detonate at any moment.”
The words spoken by the silver-haired girl with lowered eyes still echoed softly in Amir’s ears.
Heh, how pathetic I am.
I heard a couple of words and somehow, I actually believed someone with horns on her head.
Amir leaned against the wooden sign outside the tent, flicking the pitch-black dragon scale into the air with her fingertips, over and over again.
…It is time to pull things together.
Everything concerning the girl named Histori.
Silver hair, red eyes, a pair of pitch-black horns on her head, and a heart-shaped tail behind her.
Typical characteristics of the Demon Race.
She lived on the top floor of the Demon King’s Castle.
When I first met her, she was sitting on that magnificent open-air terrace, freely enjoying her afternoon tea.
Facing my blade, she chose not to fight, but instead used all kinds of strange methods to stall for time until the Demon King descended.
After I killed the Demon King with a single strike, she concocted a pathetic lie about being human and transformed into a member of the Demon Race, all to escape my blade.
Then, she began traveling with me.
During our short journey, she crawled onto me late last night, attempting to drain my blood.
Before arriving at this Shadowdeep Town, she lured me onto that drawbridge and personally severed the ropes.
Looking at it this way, Histori is indeed a Demon through and through.
She is despicable, cunning, and will stop at nothing to achieve her goals.
I should have realized this much sooner.
“…”
Amir took the cold dragon scale back into her palm, staring at her own reflection on its surface.
…However, things are indeed not that simple.
Up until now, there is one thing I have not been able to figure out, and that is Histori’s true objective.
If her goal was simply to “survive,” then that night, I actually gave her a way out.
I spared her life.
Yet, she returned, and she made clear attempts to attack me twice.
…For revenge?
No, Histori does not look like that type of person.
Survival and revenge are, in most cases, two completely opposite choices.
In my opinion, Histori is undoubtedly the type to choose survival.
As for her reasons for attacking me…
Could it be that my very existence poses some kind of obstacle to her survival?
That explanation is also a bit far-fetched.
If I really cannot figure it out, let me examine Histori’s own words.
She claims to have been human, kidnapped by the Demon King as a child, and afflicted with a curse of berserk rage, causing her to do things she does not want to do.
She blames both the night attack and the severing of the drawbridge on this.
To be honest, these are barely plausible excuses, but they remain nothing more than Histori’s one-sided account.
The truth behind her words is truly questionable.
However, just a moment ago, this sharp-witted, silver-haired girl finally showed her biggest flaw.
…Called “Lady Histori” by Naqiqi?
No, that is the most insignificant point of all.
It is just a title.
Even those who used to look at me with contempt now have to change their tune and call me “Hero.”
The real problem is that when facing that Face-Changer, Histori unconsciously exuded an attitude of superiority.
That was definitely not something a poor girl who had been oppressed since childhood should show.
That was the arrogance of someone in a position of power.
“…”
Whenever I think about the few moments I actually felt sympathy for this lying Demon, and the illusion that we were the same kind, the resentment in Amir’s heart becomes harder to suppress.
In her short life, the thing she has hated most is concealment and deception from others.
So, how should I deal with her next?
I remember hearing in the dark alleys that as punishment for deception and betrayal, gangs would cut off a liar’s glib tongue, heal them before they bled out, and then force them to swallow their own tongue, piece by piece.
Additionally, they would use a red-hot iron to brand an unshieldable scar onto the liar’s face, a mark of shame they could never erase for the rest of their lives.
Just as the gloom in Amir’s eyes deepened, the curtain of the tent was lifted by a pair of slender fingers.
“Um, Hero… I have finished.”
Histori fidgeted unnaturally with her now pale-gold hair, and her original scarlet eyes had turned into a clear, light blue.
She walked obediently in front of Amir, then looked up and said in a soft, gentle voice—
“Also, that Face-Changer from just now…”
“Lady Histori.”
A gentle smile appeared on Amir’s face.
She crouched down and gently ruffled the top of Histori’s head—
“Could you please, open your lips for a moment?”
“…My, my lips?”
Perhaps sensing the suppressed rage buried deep within me, Histori did not ask for a reason. She obediently parted her soft lips, revealing her small tongue and white teeth inside—
“Hero, do you mean like this?”
“Yes.”
Amir nodded, her tone remaining gentle—
“Next, could you please stick your tongue out for me?”
Of course, as a pampered young lady of the Demon Race, Histori naturally had never heard those underground rumors.
She simply tilted her head in confusion and, just as Amir said, exposed the tip of her soft tongue to the air.
“…”
Amir reached out her finger, gently touching the warm skin beside Histori’s ear, then traced the contour of her cheek.
Finally, using her index finger and thumb, she lightly pinched Histori’s unsuspecting tongue.
“…Ngh!?”
Histori’s body trembled violently, but she did not pull away, only asking in a bewildered tone—
“Um, what are you… doing?”
Amir did not answer at first.
She simply remained silent, feeling the soft and moist sensation against her fingertips, sensing the tongue that had woven countless lies trembling under her control.
Looking at Histori’s light-blue eyes, which were brimming with watery mist due to nervousness, Amir finally curled the corner of her lips slightly and released her fingers—
“It is nothing. I was just admiring how you look after your transformation. The Face-Changer’s work is quite good. Lady Histori, your face is as beautiful and enchanting as ever.”
“…Is, is that so?”
“Yes. Now that it is like this, it should be foolproof. Even if you walked straight down the streets of the Unified Kingdom, you would only be mistaken for a noble’s daughter, right?”
Amir praised Histori with a smile and then took hold of her hand.
…It would be a waste. Both cutting off her tongue and leaving scars on that flawless face.
Besides, I have never liked those cruel and bloody methods.
So, I will just change the approach a little.
I hope this lying young lady of the Demon Race will like the journey I have prepared for her next.