Around a dozen crucifixion units lined up in the center of the execution site.
On the platform, Adofu’s relatives and that beastwoman are tied on the stand.
Their mouths are tied with cloth.

All of them look expressionless.
Since I stand next to the knights and we’re in between the execution site and the crowd, I can see their faces clearly.

What a nice view.
It was worth asking to be one of the security. It is the church’s privilege to stand in a nearby place.

It would be much more interesting if one of his relatives held immense anger like Adofu, but it seems the last few days have settled them down.
Now, I’m just shaking it off my head.

It is a pity that they can’t scream nor squeal since their mouths are blocked, but I guess that’s fine since I can’t have them say unnecessary things to me.
I’m sure no one would even believe them, but it’s also annoying to pretend that I’m hurt by their words even though I’m not.

In another country, there was a practice that involves covering the person’s head with a bag during execution.
If you ask me, I don’t like that practice because I won’t be able to see their last heartbreaking expression before their death.

The execution method here is that the executioner, chosen among one of the knights, slashes the crucified with his sword. That’s all, really.
If they’re gonna suffer anyways, then might as well let them die as an example. It might even serve as a deterrent.
Now, do you suppose it’s still pointless otherwise? I think not.
In fact, there was a stupid superstition that involved in cutting off the platform to cleanse evil spirits.

Well, will you look at that.
The sun is already that high up.
In the end, that evil dragon didn’t come.
I guess that’s that, then.

The high hopes I had for that dragon were for nothing.
That dragon never had plans of coming here just to die pointlessly saving one girl.
Just having Adolf killed had probably made it go nuts. I was under the impression that it went so well.
It can’t be helped, I guess. I’ll get another chance to bring that monster to Haranae.
I wonder what would happen if they found out that I summoned it here. That would be quite troublesome.

The executioner walks up the execution platform.
He faces the crowd and holds his sword skyward.

“These are the people who have brought great sins to Haranae! May their souls be purified from death!”

Because I was yawning, I covered my eyes and hid my face.
Ooh, that was close, my true nature almost came out.

And then, I heard the sound of someone kicking off the ground.
Puzzled voices started growing from the crowd.

I put my hands down and looked at the front.
I can’t see the person who made the sound.

From the side, I could hear the sound of a sword clanging.
I turned my face towards the execution site. There was a cloaked man wearing a robe who had his face hidden.
It’s a raid! A knight was already taken down and is crawling over the ground.

This isn’t just your usual enemy.
He was waiting for me to let my guard down.

“Why do you have the captain’s sword?! Who are you?!”

One of the knights said aloud while pointing his sword at the attacker.
The attacker had a sword that carried the emblem of the Order of the Knights.
The same thing Adofu had.
I wonder if he picked it up from his corpse in the desert.

The attacker turned towards me and threw his cloak at me.
I unsheathed my sword and cut through the cloak sideward.
The cloak was sliced into pieces and drifted in the air.

The attacker immediately closed the distance.
While hiding in the blind spot that the cloak made, he leapt towards me.
Quite a show you’ve put on, but you’re slow! You picked the wrong opponent.

I re-positioned myself.
With this distance, and our speed difference, I’ll take my time toying with you.
Or, maybe I should stab his shoulder and let a knight finish him off.

The torn cloak falls to the ground, and the attacker’s face became visible.
I flinched from what I saw.

“Adofu?! How are you still alive…?!”

Don’t tell me… he managed to recover from that state?!
When I stopped moving, Adofu changed the direction of his sword.
The tip of the blade reached my face.
I know it’s a minor injury, but I don’t like getting my face wrecked.

My sword won’t make it in time. He’s too close. But, if this really is Adofu, then the prisoner’s mark can stop him.
I jump back, and shouted.

“Crawl!”

Adofu’s speed dropped, and he lets go of his sword.
His body fell from the shoulder to the ground. The large sword fell after afterwards.

The knights rush over to the scene.

“Are you alright, Sir Irushia?”

“Hmm…… Yes, I’m fine. But, nevermind me…… Capture him……”

“Why did he fall just now? Did something……”

The acolytes approached from the execution site.
When I saw him, I finally realized.

The prisoner’s mark shouldn’t have been used at this place.

Among the acolytes, there is the one who applied the mark to Adolf.
He should’ve grieved so why has it become like this when I was sure he played his role right.
Since Adofu has returned, they probably took this chance to proclaim their innocence.

“…… As expected, it’s the mark, were you planning to make use of the church’s ineptitude ? That’s what you were probably thinking.”

Now restrained by the knights, Adofu has lost.
So, he planned on making me use his prisoner’s mark from the start?

My hand subconsciously builds up power to my sword.
Calm down now, I can’t afford to take him out here.
Regardless, Adofu will still be executed at a later date.

An acolyte looked at me suspiciously.
I ended up relying on the mark when Adofu suddenly attacked me even though I claimed that he was never given a mark.
I guess it’s natural for them to be suspicious.

One of the acolytes come closer to me.

“Sir Irushia, forgive me if this would come out as rude, but I want to ask you something……”

“…… Leave it for later. We need to put Adofu to his cell first and continue on with the execution.”

“But, still…… Since Adofu has returned, we would have to do another investigation, and then reconsider the punishment of his relatives. Aside from this unforeseen incident, he was already sent to the evil dragon quest as his punishment, though this sudden attack does make me feel worried, but if he has returned and there is room for negotiation……”

“But, there is none! We don’t need for such a thing! Get back to your station!”

Right now, I need to buy time.
If this takes too long, then doubt will surely grow, and I’ll be exposed if they slowly think this through.
If that happens, then my story of Adofu having a fake mark will be treated as a lie in my part.

I glanced at the priest.

“I’m not upset! I settled the uproar already, so let us resume the execution of the sinners! Send the attacker to the prison!”

Obeying the priest, the acolyte returns to his position.

The people and the acolytes look at me with suspicion.
It’s all because of that Adofu.
To think I failed to kill him back then.
I didn’t think not gaining the experience points from finishing Adofu off using the Curse Sword would turn out into a disaster.
What a persistent guy. He annoyed me to the very end.

Well, it matters not.
That’s all there is to it.
Though I was unable to showcase a conclusive evidence.
The only thing left to do is have the priests dispose of Adofu’s body.

“Sir Irushia, I want to confirm something from your own words.”

Pushing his way through the crowd of people, one man stepped up front.
A hint of protest slightly rises from behind.

“Ha-Hagen?! W-why are you still……”

“I heard you told everyone here that I died. I won’t accept postponing this. I’d like to hear from you what happened to my men since they were the ones who escaped first.”

I should’ve expected that something like this would happen.
It was a dragon that got along with a mere beastwoman after all.

Hagen would never have been killed by something like that at all.
The report from before was wrong from the start.

“What is the meaning of this, Sir Irushia!? I would like to hear an explanation from you!”

One of the knights stepped in between us.
The acolyte who went back to position also started approaching me.

“There will not be any misunderstanding if you explained everything here instead of postponing it later. Especially with these people’s eyes……”

How annoying. One problem after another……
This is the worse possible outcome.
I never thought that Adofu and Hagen would both still be alive.

Ignoring Adofu since he already has a crime record behind him, dealing with Hagen is very bad for me.
He probably came in contact with Adofu and they came here together.
If so, then he should know what happened between me and Adofu.

In any case, I need to separate Hagen from the people.
I have to throw him to a place with no people, and somehow come up with a viable reason.
Why are so many obstacles showing up now?

“Right now, continue the execution! Did you not hear what the priest said?! I will tell you everything that happened regarding to Hagen! I will do a thorough inspection of him later. I do not think that he has any chance to escape, but there is a possibility that he could be a monster in disguise. So, send him to the prison now!”

I’d be in trouble if Hagen keeps saying all those things.
Better capture him so he won’t get away. I can just let the priests come up with a reason for him to receive punishment.

If all goes well, they might be able to believe in a little lie that I can just make up.
The problem is properly explaining why I lied, but with enough time, I can probably take care of it by then. Trust for me will fall, but there’s no choice.

“…… Come on, hurry it up!”

Even when they heard my words, the knights did not move at all.
They look at each other with doubt.

“What’s wrong?! I’m telling you to do it now! It is your job as guards on duty! Restrain Hagen at once! Did you not hear what I just said?!”

I still have many other things to do.
Why won’t they move?!

I gave a signal to the priest with eye contact.
The priest looked back at me with a pale expression.

“As if I’ll just go along with you…… fool.”

The priest uttered in the form of a loud whisper.
The moment I heard what he said, my blood started to rise.

The knights won’t move.
The acolytes are also suspicious of me.
The priest, and the the rest of the church, remain in silence.

“Gu, gu, gu~uh……”

I turn around.
All eyes are on me.
Wherever I look, it’s the same everywhere.

My head starts burning. I can’t think straight.

That is it!
Before the suspicion becomes certain, I will retire, and leave Haranae.
I’ll never come back here again.

“M-Move it!”

I pushed the acolyte’s shoulder out of the way, and quickly walked with haste.

“I told you to move it! I do not feel good today! What’s with those eyes?!”

I push the knights away since they were blocking my path and continued walking.

“M-make a path! You’re in the way! Out of the way!” Hagen chased after me and grabbed my shoulder.

“H-hey! Don’t think you can run away……”

“Do not touch me with those filthy hands!”

I grab my sword and carelessly shake him off.

Hagen falls down. I turn my sword to Hagen’s back as he tried to crawl away from me.
The tip of my sword trembles with rage.
If it weren’t for him, this would never have happened.
It’s because of this idiot that I’m in this mess.

As long as Hagen is alive, there is no way for me to fix all of this.
I no longer know what to say to them anymore.

If I kill Hagen here and now, the problems will only increase, but whatever happens, if he’s left alive, I can’t see a way out of this.
At the very least, I’ll feel refreshed once he’s dead.

I’ve had enough of this. Everything’s completely spoiled. I feel sick.
Besides, if I seriously get enraged, no one here has the power to stop me.
I’ll just kill Adofu and Hagen, and then I’ll leave Haranae. That’s all I have to do.
It’s not like I have any attachments to this place anyway.
While I’m at it, I guess I can just take the head of that priest who called me a fool too.

When I started my first swing of anger, the people broke apart again and someone jumped out.
I thought it was another one who I thought I killed, but I didn’t recognize him at all.
A pale-skinned man with white hair…… no wait, this guy isn’t human.

“Gru~o~o~o~o~o~ooo!”

His body got bigger and bigger, then it changed into the shape of a dragon.

The evil dragon did not run away after all.
It transformed into a human, and hid himself into the crowd.

I thank you.
I feel like I can still get out of this dire situation. There is still hope.
If the evil dragon rampages here, everyone will focus on him instead.
I can kill Adofu and Hagen during the uproar.
If I can at least do that, then the rest will be easy.
Since the dragon is causing a ruckus, how everyone’s treating me right now is trivial.

The dragon’s large head approaches and bears its fangs at me.

It’d be quite troublesome if you died too soon.
It would be much better if you rampaged instead.
Would using a mere soldier sword instead of my Light Sword agitate you, I wonder?

I slashed the dragon’s mouth.
Its mouth closes and its fangs hold onto my sword.

It’s more powerful than I thought, and I can’t free my sword.
I noticed that the dragon that grabbed hold of my sword had a blue face.
Is this not the evil dragon?

“Grua~a~a~aaa!”

A second dragon head showed up from the roar and headbutted me.
I let go of the sword, but I won’t make it in time.

I kicked the head, jumped backwards, and distanced myself.

“Buh?!”

The moment I stretched out my legs, my vision got blurred, and my consciousness wavered.
I felt a big shock from behind. I then understood that I was too late, and I received the impact from hitting the ground.
The people’s screams grew louder around us.

“〖High Rest〗”

The light envelops my body and relieves the pain.
-When I faced front, I saw two dragons…… no, it was a two-headed dragon.

“Just what…… are you…”

The two heads roared together as their answer.