Serein was downing drinks at a tavern.

Gulp, gulp.

“Ahh, now that’s the stuff. Seriously, it was killing me holding back.”

She tore into a chicken leg and shouted,

“One more bottle here!”

“Make that two.”

“Oh, it’s Offense. Okay, change it to two bottles.”

“…”

“What the hell?!”

Serein shot to her feet.

Then she noticed the lines of empty bottles and side dishes filling her table.

“Uh, yeah… This wasn’t all me.”

“It’s fine. Why do you live so uptight?”

Clink.

Soon, a server came by and left two bottles on the table.

Offense fiddled oddly with the corner of the table. Then, picking up a bottle, he drank straight from it and said,

“You will never live long like this. The stress will kill you.”

“…”

“I figured out your fake modesty a long time ago. Let’s just have a drink.”

“Hmph.”

She sat back down and crossed her legs.

“You met Lisel, didn’t you?”

“How did you know?” Thɪs chapter is updated by novel-fire.net

“She tried to get me to join you guys. I didn’t go for it, so I figured she would send someone else, but you?”

“…”

“Go back. I’m not joining Mide’s party.”

She waved her hand dismissively.

Offense narrowed his eyes and asked,

“Why not?”

“Why should I?”

“Kaeld’s clearly being outmatched by Mide.”

“Well, true. But Mide seems too nice.”

“…?”

“Nice people can’t grant my wish.”

At that, Offense burst into loud laughter—so loud she could practically see his tonsils.

“Pwahaha!”

“Wow. I think this is the first time I’ve seen you laugh like that.”

“Well, it’s hilarious. Mide’s nice? Yeah, you got that part right.”

“…”

“But being kind and being naive are totally different things. He’s a good guy, sure, but when it comes to scheming, he’s sharp as a knife.”

Serein nodded in agreement.

After all, it was Mide’s cleverness that had led to Kaeld’s party collapsing in the Tetra territory.

Still, she shook her head.

“Why do you think Mide wants to be a hero?”

“What kind of question is that? Obviously, to defeat the Demon King.”

“Exactly why he shouldn’t be one.”

“Huh?”

“Kaeld is thinking beyond defeating the Demon King. That’s just a stepping stone for him.”

Offense didn’t immediately grasp what she meant.

So Serein continued.

“He’s got a pitch-black core. He’ll probably use the fame and popularity he gets from slaying the Demon King to try to dominate the continent and the Empire.”

“…Hmm. I never thought about it that way, but now that you mention it… maybe.”

“Yeah. Not that things will go his way. The emperor and the lords would never let a rampaging Kaeld do as he pleases.”

“…”

“But unless someone has that kind of ambition, they’ll never be able to grant my wish. So what’s Mide planning after slaying the Demon King?”

Offense pondered silently.

He recalled things Mide had said while traveling together—how he had this vivid plan in mind for a peaceful retirement after defeating the Demon King.

Mide had even gotten strangely passionate about it, spitting a little as he rambled on.

Honestly, it sounded pretty decent and well thought-out. Offense remembered thinking it didn’t sound like a bad idea at all…

‘But it’s probably not the kind of plan that will win Serein over.’

Scratching his head, Offense asked,

“So, you’re really not coming?”

“Yeah. Though honestly, it does feel like Kaeld’s gone off the rails already. I figured I’d drink myself full tonight while thinking it over.”

“…”

“You should drink too. I’ll treat—out of old times’ sake.”

Instead of replying, Offense picked up a candlestick from the table.

Then raised it over his head.

“…? What are you doing?”

“Hold on. The angle’s a little off.”

“This old man’s drunk.”

“I still don’t get why everyone calls me ‘old man.’ I’m actually a year younger than Mide.”

“How old is Mide?”

“Twenty-eight now, I think. And don’t tell me you didn’t know my age either? I’m sure I mentioned it.”

“I gave it as much attention as the dirt under my fingernails. I’ll forget it by tomorrow.”

“That so? Ah—there we go.”

As the light dimmed, Serein’s shadow lengthened.

It lay directly beneath her feet.

Raising her glass, she said,

“Still, Mide’s older than he looks. Such a baby face for—wha—!”

Shwoop.

Serein was sucked into the shadow.

Offense fiddled with the corner of the table again.

He had cast an illusion to erase their presence from the awareness of those nearby when the server delivered the drinks.

With two final taps to dispel the spell, he too slipped into the shadow.

“Just hear him out. You’ll come to recognize Mide too…”

…I did, after all.

Offense returned with Serein in just half a day.

Now, she stood in front of me, grumbling with her head lowered.

“Offense, you bastard. May you eat your own shit. And may that shit come out as even shittier shit.”

“Calm down.”

“Let me curse him a bit more. My head feels like it’s splitting, you know? He knocked me out every time he pulled me in and out of that damn shadow.”

“He can only move through shadows within his line of sight. So I guess you struggled every time he tried to bring you back out.”

“Wouldn’t anyone struggle if they were being kidnapped?!”

For the record, she wasn’t bound or restrained in any way now.

Neril had offered to cast a restraint spell, but I stopped her.

In fact, I had cleared everyone else out of the room entirely.

This was my father’s room.

Now so worn and dusty, there was barely a trace of him left—but standing here stirred strange emotions.

“Hey. You abduct me and then just stand there looking around?”

“I figured you’d need more time to cool down, so I was sightseeing.”

“In this empty dump? There’s nothing to sightsee.”

“This used to be my father’s room.”

Her expression shifted at that.

Trail commented,

[Damn. You really are something. You picked this room on purpose and said that on purpose too, didn’t you?]

‘Of course. The Eye of Omniscience showed that Serein probably had some kind of history with her parents. The best way to start a conversation is to find common ground.’

What happened between Serein and her parents wasn’t visible through the Eye of Omniscience.

I had never heard their names before my regression.

Considering the Emperor stripped her of her title, they must’ve been nobles—but then again, there are plenty of nobles in the Empire.

Still, I had already confirmed the secret behind Serein’s blood script earlier.

Surprisingly, they weren’t anything too serious.

Petty theft, swindling for money, that kind of thing.

She had accumulated a good amount of stolen wealth, enough to rival even my own past as a top-tier mercenary.

‘It’s surprising… but somehow, it suits her.’

Serein finally spoke.

“This was your father’s room? Wait—this was your house?”

“Yeah. This territory is my hometown.”

“You must’ve been poor.”

“I’m rich now. Like you.”

Serein froze.

She forced a half-smile and spoke.

“Oh, come on. I barely scraped by on the temple’s meager donations.”

“The high priest at the temple you stayed in turned out to be pretty corrupt, didn’t he?”

“……!”

“Evan Norin. He sold low-quality healing potions to the locals, claiming they were divine gifts from the Celestial God.”

“H-How do you know that…?”

“And the money he collected conveniently vanished. You reported it as a robbery. But the thief… was you.”

“What the hell are you?! How do you even know that?! Why is everyone so obsessed with digging into my past?!”

Serein shot to her feet.

I, on the other hand, leaned back comfortably and said,

“Judging by your reaction, I guess Kaeld dug up your past too?”

“…The things he mentioned were stuff that could’ve been found out with some effort. It was a fairly well-known incident among certain circles.”

“…”

“But what you just said—no one ever found out about that.”

I let out a soft chuckle and shifted the topic.

“Still, you really are something. Instead of pocketing all of it, you could’ve given some back to the victims.”

“Hah. I knew it. You’re just here to lecture me.”

“……”

“They’re the idiots who fell for some story about the potion being heaven-sent. They would’ve been better off just boiling some herbs from the local apothecary.”

“Hmm.”

“They handed over their money willingly, happily. Once it’s given like that, it’s not theirs anymore—”

She hesitated, then added awkwardly,

“—sir.”

“Too late. You can speak comfortably.”

“No thanks. I’d prefer we stay as awkward as possible.”

“Why? We’re going to be in the same party soon.”

“The hell we are. I’m not joining.”

“What’s your wish?”

Naturally, Serein didn’t answer right away.

Let’s press her a bit more.

“You reached out to the Emperor first, didn’t you? To make your wish come true. I’m guessing he ordered you to assassinate Kaeld.”

“……!”

“But then you decided Kaeld was the better option, so you switched sides.”

“……”

“If you’ve changed sides once, what’s stopping you from doing it again? This time, join me.”

Serein took a deep breath and asked,

“Not sure if you know this part, but I want to abolish the clergy profession across the continent.”

“Now that’s a bold goal.”

“Can you grant that wish?”

“Nope. Not even close.”

My immediate answer left her stunned.

I casually scratched my ear and said,

“It’s a hassle.”

“Ugh. I figured you’d say that, but couldn’t you at least pretend to think about it?”

“I won’t grant your wish, but I still want you to side with me.”

“Kaeld promised he would. You flat-out said no. And now you want me to join your party?”

I let out a dry chuckle.

“Kaeld won’t grant your wish either.”

Serein’s expression shifted.

I kept going.

“That guy doesn’t really care about killing the Demon King. What he wants is to rule the continent as its hero after the Demon King is gone. Which is basically what the Demon King does anyway.”

“So you knew.”

“Sounds like you suspected it too. But if you’re sharp enough to see that far ahead, why didn’t you realize he’d break his promise to you?”

I asked in a calm, probing tone.

“Is it because he’s the only one who seemed even remotely capable of making it happen?”

“Exactly. If someone has that level of ambition, they’re at least close to being able to grant my wish. What are you going to do after you kill the Demon King?”

“Retire.”

“Ha. Knew it.”

I shook my head.

“I’ll let the jab slide about my retirement plans.”

“Sigh.”

“Anyway, I’m not going to abolish the clergy profession. But I’m thinking of helping in another way.”

“…?”

“Abolishing the clergy profession is just a means to an end for you, right? What you really want is something else entirely.”

Serein’s lips trembled slightly.

I recalled the subtle look she’d shown before, the way she acted back then, and everything I’d observed before regression.

Why had she been so prickly toward Kaeld? What part of him rubbed her the wrong way?

If I considered what she cared about, what made her eyes light up, only one hypothesis came to mind.

So I leaned in and whispered quietly into her ear.

In the next instant, Serein’s mouth dropped open in shock.

I pulled back and asked,

“Well? Tempted yet?”

“……”

“Now choose.”

Serein slowly bowed her head.

After a long pause, she finally spoke.

“Off-topic question, but…Mr. Mide?”

“Yeah?”

“You said this is your hometown, right? Do you have family here?”

For a brief moment, my mother’s face flashed through my mind.

Yeah. She’s probably still somewhere in this estate.

In prison.

“Probably.”

“That’s a weird answer.”

“There’s… a lot of history between me and my family. Why?”

“I heard Kaeld is planning to break the seal on the Gem of Destruction. If it’s him, I figured he’d use your hometown as leverage to threaten you.”

She already figured that out without me even explaining anything.

Impressive.

I nodded.

Serein said,

“I’ll help. No matter what, I can’t forgive someone for taking your family and hometown hostage.”

“Oh? So you’ve already decided to join me but wanted a good excuse to save face, huh?”

“Don’t say it out loud!”

“……”

“N-No, that’s not what I meant. I’m offering out of genuine concern!”

“Either way, thanks. I was going to ask you for help anyway.”

I smiled and stood from my seat.

“Let’s go. Time to meet your new party members.”

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep