“……”
Listening to Bicuisi’s hoarse, impassioned accusations, Amir’s face showed not a trace of panic or distress.
She merely furrowed her brows slightly, revealing a hint of displeasure at having her mood disrupted.
Then, without uttering a single unnecessary word, Amir raised her hand towards Bicuisi’s figure and threw the heavy jet-black greatsword straight at her.
“BOOM—!!!”
With an ear-splitting tearing sound, the massive blade shot forward like a bolt of lightning, striking Bicuisi’s afterimage with pinpoint accuracy.
Without even a sound of protest, the purple magical light points shattered like broken glass in the night sky, rapidly dimming, dispersing, and melting into the air.
The forest returned once more to that suffocating, deathly silence.
“Gulp.”
Histori swallowed hard, feeling as if her back was completely drenched in cold sweat.
Amir walked with elegant steps to the heavy sword, pulled it from the soil, and then shook off the dirt clinging to the blade.
“…What a pity. I thought I could keep those past events hidden a bit longer during this journey.”
Amir sighed softly towards the blade, then turned to look into Histori’s eyes.
Those black pupils reflected the cold moonlight—
“I didn’t expect the Demon Race to have some useful intelligence personnel after all.”
“Th-that… Hero-sama…”
Histori tremblingly clasped her hands together, trying to force a flattering smile onto her face—
“Actually, no matter what others say, I think you’re a good person! Really! Those rumors must be completely fabricated just to attack your character! I haven’t believed a single punctuation mark of it!”
This truly wasn’t Histori mindlessly flattering.
Although Bicuisi described Amir as a cold-blooded, merciless killing machine, from their interactions over these past two days, as long as one didn’t provoke Amir, she actually seemed like a gentle, good person, right?
…At least, at this critical moment, she had to show her one hundred percent trust!
However, faced with Histori’s solemn declaration, Amir only gave a faint, cold laugh.
“Put away that clumsy acting, Histori. This is the third time I’m asking you.”
She carried the sword, leisurely circling around to stand behind Histori—
“Do you have anything you want to confess to me now?”
“…”
Confess?
How was she supposed to confess?!
Should she say Bicuisi got the wrong person, that she actually didn’t know that crazy woman at all?
Better to keep playing dumb for now.
Amir had ignored the flaws in her story for so long already; hopefully, she could hold out a little longer, at least until she figured out how to break the Blood Contract…
“That, Amir-sama…”
Histori nervously twisted her hands together, her voice as faint as a mosquito’s hum—
“What… what confession do you want to hear?”
“The confession about everything.”
Even without eyes in the back of her head, by the rustling sound of shoes on fallen leaves behind her, Histori knew Amir was slowly approaching her—
“Histori, what is your true identity? What role do you play in the Demon King’s Castle?”
Amir’s footsteps stopped to Histori’s left.
She tilted her head slightly, her icy breath washing over Histori’s ear—
“Also, what was your purpose in pretending to be cursed by the Demon King and deliberately approaching me? Even when you had the chance to escape with that Nightmare, you still wanted to stay by my side. What exactly is your reason?”
“Th-that’s because…”
Histori silently opened her mouth, countless thoughts flashing through her mind.
Say she was actually a peace-loving, kind-hearted Demon?
Say she fell in love with the Hero at first sight, which is why she wanted to shamelessly stick with her?
“That, Hero-sama, I actually…”
Just as Histori was desperately trying to piece together words, attempting to secure a slim chance of survival, Amir suddenly sighed and waved a dismissive hand at Histori—
“Ah, forget it. I’ve changed my mind.”
“…Huh?”
“Hearing you spin meaningless, nonsensical lies here is both a waste of time and utterly boring.”
She carried the sword, walking until she stood directly in front of Histori.
Then, under Histori’s terrified gaze, the black-haired girl slowly extended her hand, using her cold index finger and thumb to firmly grasp Histori’s chin.
Amir applied slight pressure, forcing Histori to look up, making her eyes meet Amir’s deep gaze directly—
“Now, I only need to know one answer.”
“…”
“Histori, what that Nightmare said earlier was correct.”
Amir looked frankly at Histori, who didn’t dare to even breathe heavily, a chilling smile curling at the corner of her mouth—
“Before receiving the so-called ‘Hero’s Divine Blessing,’ I was indeed a hired killer. The number of human lives on my hands might even exceed the number of monsters I’ve killed.”
“And you, after hearing this information, didn’t seem to show any doubt. You already figured it out, didn’t you? That I’m no merciful saint.”
“Hero-sama…”
“—So, here’s the question.”
Amir’s face slowly drew closer to Histori’s cheek, their noses almost touching—
“Since you clearly know I’m a dangerous villain, and that I have no intention of acting to ‘help you become human,’ why do you still stubbornly insist on staying by my side, wanting to go to the United Kingdom with me?”
“…Because…”
Histori bit her lip, trying to avert her gaze from Amir’s intensely oppressive pupils—
“Because I…”
“CLANG—!”
The moment Histori averted her eyes, a clear metallic scraping sound rang out, and a bone-chilling cold pressed against the side of her neck.
Amir had placed the broad blade flatly against Histori’s shoulder, the edge having already severed a few strands of her newly-dyed blonde hair.
“Three, two…”
“…Because, because there’s something I must accomplish, and only by following you do I have a chance to do it!!!”
Histori closed her eyes, using all her strength to scream hoarsely at the black-haired girl before her.
“…”
The sharp blade stopped just a few centimeters from Histori’s neck.
Amir narrowed her eyes slightly.
She didn’t immediately withdraw the sword resting against Histori’s neck.
Instead, she used her free hand to casually cover her mouth, letting out a small yawn—
“Sounds somewhat interesting. Elaborate.”