Chapter 26 – Episode 25 – Intentions Don’T Matter (2)

Episode 25 – Intentions Don’t Matter (2)

“Go back. I will discuss with the councilors and give you an answer by tomorrow.”

Looking at Grunhild’s crazed eyes, it’s clear she’s not someone you can reason with.
Well, what can you do? Sir Jacob isn’t the type to act recklessly, so I have to step in. This kind of role isn’t my cup of tea, but I don’t want to drag things out either.

It’s already evening, so I need to quickly resolve this and put our Diana and Karsilla to bed. My girls are beauties and sleepyheads!

“Grunhild. Do you see this?”

I shook the glass bottle I took out of my pocket, and Grunhild’s eyes flashed.
It seems the grotesque sight of an eyeball, with all its nerve endings, inside a glass bottle was quite something, so I covered it with my hand as much as possible while shaking it. The others just tilted their heads, probably not seeing what was inside properly.

“…I don’t know what that is, but my words won’t change. Respect the city’s laws, priest.”
“Then I guess there’s no choice. I can break this, right?”
“No!!”

I pretended to throw it to the floor, and she screamed in terror. Grunhild’s hysterical behavior drew everyone’s attention, and Grunhild, who had been sweating with one hand outstretched, asked in a low voice.

“Give it to me. Please.”
“Not opening the door? Should I throw it?”
“Do you even know what that is!”
“Yeah, it’s your wife’s eyeball. Open the door before I throw it and step on it.”

She flinched.
…Why are you flinching too? I nudged Irian, who had somehow come next to me, and she whispered.

“I brought Karsilla out.”
“Good. Let’s go wild.”

Sir Jacob is staying quiet, so I guess that’s implicit permission.
Ahem. I cleared my throat and shouted loudly.

“Grunhild. Your sins have already been revealed. Committing such demonic acts to revive your dead wife. Aren’t you ashamed before the heavens! Obey the order of the Order!”

A quiet ripple spread.
From Grunhild’s guards to the city’s influential figures. The wall of people surrounding him began to crumble.

“That’s a lie! It’s slander! I, I! I have never truly made a contract with a demon!”

Of course, he wouldn’t have made a contract. He only ‘used’ a demon.
But what does it matter? I suppressed Grunhild’s frantic cries with authority.

“The divine representative and the empire’s governor are here. Grunhild! Do you deny the justice of the Order and the Empire!”

Justice is a fickle thing, always siding with the strong. And honestly, this time, we’re clearly in the right, aren’t we? Putting aside strength, if you compare Grunhild, who is plunging the city into fear, with our pitiful saintess, even a blind person would know who the villain is.
With the saintess and the governor backing me, I shouted boldly, and the pitiful Grunhild, crushed by my majestic charisma, trembled and finally made his last choice.

“The free city has its own laws, how can the Order and the Empire oppress us! This violates the treaty, I cannot accept it! Guards!”

The guards, looking reluctant, hesitantly stood in front of us. Not a chance. Right now, I’m filled with the confidence to defeat even the Demon King.
Just then, the wind blew, and my priest’s robe fluttered, this is the stage setting for the protagonist.
With many people watching, I walked towards the guards, my priest’s robe fluttering. Seeing the tips of their spears wavering, it’s clear they’re overwhelmed by my charisma.

“Please step aside. He is the cause of this situation, your spears should be pointed at him, not here.”

The guards, impressed by my polite character, lowered their spears and opened the way.
Heh.
I walked confidently, my priest’s robe fluttering, and stood before Grunhild. Looking down at the small, pathetic old man, I delivered my prepared line.

“Kneel! This is the difference in our eye level… Keck!”

That son of a bitch.
To tackle me while I was delivering my line! I only expected a punch, so I couldn’t dodge in time and ended up rolling on the floor with him.
Because of that, the glass bottle that fell to the floor rolled away, and people’s attention was focused on the glass bottle emitting a purple light.

“Eek!”
“W-what is that! Isn’t that a human eyeball!?”
“An ominous light from a human eyeball… it’s definitely the work of a demon.”

Murmuring sounds… more like I was so embarrassed that I quickly got up, and then Grunhild snatched the glass bottle and ran away.

“Pfft. What are you doing?”
“……”

I couldn’t bring myself to look at Cha Hyewon’s face as she spoke next to me. This is so embarrassing. I’ll never forgive this.

“Shouldn’t we chase after him?”
“It doesn’t matter. Whether we catch Grunhild or not, he’s just a small fry.”
“Your group doesn’t seem to think so?”
“……”

They all left me behind and chased after him. It’s a relief that at least Diana and Irian are still here.

“Yurian, are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“Tsk tsk.”

It seems Diana is the only one who cares about me.

“I’m fine. It’s all part of the plan.”
“Plan?”
“Of course. I let him get me on purpose. That way, he’ll guide us himself.”

It’s all according to plan. I smirked like a god of the new world, and Irian chuckled.

“That ‘Keck~’ scream sounded real though?”
“…It wasn’t that bad.”
“Keck~”

That’s real. I glared at her with a ‘just you wait’ look, and she stuck her tongue out.

“Let’s stop playing around and start chasing. We’re falling behind.”

At Cha Hyewon’s words, I decided to save my anger towards Irian for later. Once this is over, I’ll have to give Irian a good scolding.
Grunhild showed quick movements. He must have been a great war hero in his youth, as he swiftly entered the mansion on the outskirts of the city.
He ran here as expected.

“What is this place?”
“It’s the mayor’s… no, Grunhild’s personal space.”

Sir Jacob, who had asked the captain of the guard about other routes, headed towards the main gate, the only entrance to the mansion, and ordered the paladins to surround the mansion.
Cha Hyewon’s subordinates also whispered among themselves and divided into those who would participate in surrounding the mansion and those who would follow Cha Hyewon.

“We’re going in.”

Sir Jacob broke down the door at the front and entered the mansion, and the dark interior was quickly illuminated by numerous holy magic spells.

“Any traces?”
“This way… the basement.”

No one was afraid of the gloomy passage leading to the basement. With the holy magic spells emitting white flames leading the way, we quickly went down the stairs and arrived at a large space.

“Oh my, are we having guests?”

A voice came from a place with a table and chairs in the underground space, brightly lit by holy magic. It was a one-eyed woman sitting neatly. Grunhild, standing next to her, was pulling her with anxious eyes.

“W-wife. Hurry. We have to run!”
“Oh my, we have guests, why are you talking about running? Calm down, dear. Why are you acting like this today?”

Some people were horrified by the relaxed tone of the woman, contrasting with Grunhild, who was sweating nervously.

“M-Mrs. Grunhild?”
“That can’t be! She’s been dead for over 10 years!?”

That’s not the important thing right now.
I moved the holy magic to illuminate the still dark space. Then a gruesome sight was revealed.

“W-what are those corpses?”
“Grunhild! What on earth have you done!”

People came down one by one, and it seemed quite a few city people were already there.
Hundreds of corpses were piled up in a corner. What shocked people even more was the bubbling cauldron on one side and the fragmented body parts nearby.

The one who seemed to be ‘Mrs. Grunhild’ still had a polite attitude and put down the fork she was holding. There was a steaming piece of meat on the plate, and it wasn’t hard to guess what kind of meat it was.

“Ugh!”
“Human meat… what on earth is going on?”
“Grunhild! You filthy spawn of evil! What is the mayor doing!?”

The city people’s outcry echoed through the basement. I understand why they’re desperately throwing accusations. They don’t want to be associated with Grunhild. I understand their loud accusations, but… it’s too noisy.

“Quiet.”

The people’s mouths closed at my voice filled with divine power.
In the quiet basement, the sound of sweat dripping from Grunhild’s face as he fidgeted and pulled his wife was almost audible.

“Over there. I feel the aura of a demon from behind there.”

After spreading lumps of divine power emitting bright light in all directions, I lifted them to the ceiling.
Since it wasn’t originally intended to be used as a fluorescent light, the consumption of divine power was enormous, but for me, with my saintly traits, this level of consumption is nothing.

As the lumps of divine power sent in all directions emitted light and illuminated the basement, the demon hidden behind Grunhild and his wife revealed itself.

A withered old man sitting on a throne made of bones.
Sir Jacob let out a cry of anguish as he saw the old man with a crown of thorns on his head and a strange form with purple light seeping through his closed eyelids.

“That form is… the Undying Archduke!”

Horror swept through the crowd.
The Undying Archduke.
Among demons, one of the beings that no one can oppose except for the Demon King is the Archduke. Among them, the Undying Archduke is the ‘King of the Dead’ represented by the undead… but.

What good is being such a great being?
He’s sealed and can’t move. The great Archduke is currently in dreamland. He’ll wake up soon though.

“…B-but why isn’t he moving?”
“He’s just a sealed fragment. It seems that this is the cause of the ‘Demon Sickness’.”
“Yurian, what exactly do you mean? The cause? Is that fragment of the Undying Archduke the cause?”

The Undying Archduke in front of us looked quite pitiful for such a great being. He was sitting on the throne, bleeding from his wounded body. He was bleeding so much that black blood was pooling under the throne.

“I think the Undying Archduke’s blood seeped into the ground and contaminated the groundwater.”

‘Mrs. Grunhild’ needs to periodically consume the blood of the Undying Archduke fragment to maintain her life. So, he must have been making wounds on the sealed Undying Archduke fragment to draw blood. The problem is that it seeped underground and contaminated the groundwater. The groundwater that is directly connected to the ‘Quarantine Zone’.

“W-we didn’t do anything wrong. I just… I just wanted to save my wife! As you can see, the demon is asleep! I never spread the Demon Sickness.”

Grunhild began to sob. This is the cause of the ‘Demon Sickness’, and ironically, everything Grunhild said is true.
He never intentionally spread the Demon Sickness, and even when it spread, he did his best to calm the city’s chaos. He really didn’t intend the ‘Demon Sickness’ and didn’t know the cause. Even calling the Order was Grunhild’s own doing.
He really just wanted to revive his wife.

“Grunhild. Don’t you understand yet? Your intentions don’t matter. The injustice of the countless city residents who were sacrificed and the resentment of those left behind are not so meticulous.”
“…I know. Take my life. Will that be enough? But please, save my wife… please save my wife. I beg you.”
“You’re a fool. Do you still see that as your wife? How long are you going to pretend not to know that that woman is the one who created and spread the Demon Sickness?”

The miracle of a dead person coming back to life is extremely rare even in this game world.
And someone who died over 10 years ago comes back to life? As far as I know, there’s no such unbalanced skill in the game. It’s impossible even if you reach the final tech tree of the priest class.
Of course, the woman sitting next to Grunhild, calmly watching the situation, can’t possibly be his real wife.

“That can’t be, that can’t be! Marie isn’t that kind of person! Please, I’ll even kneel. Please save my wife. My wife… my wife has a child in her belly. Please….”

A low groan escaped from the city people’s mouths at the sight of Grunhild kneeling and burying his head on the floor.
The tragic end of a man who was revered as a hero of Grampo City and appointed as mayor for life. The city people must be feeling a mix of emotions.

“Sir Jacob. I beg you.”
“Hmm.”

But that’s the city people’s problem, and to us outsiders, it’s just disgusting.
As if his life is so valuable. Countless city residents have died. Even more city residents are filled with grief and anger. And yet, he’s still talking about his wife, he’s gone mad.

Screech, a chilling sound rang out. Grunhild, who still had his head buried on the floor, didn’t move, and the one-eyed ‘Mrs. Grunhild’ sitting next to him just smiled.

“I’m sorry, but that is not your wife.”
“…Ha, haha. In the end… even my wife’s life?”
“There will be no pain.”
“Oh my. But I am ‘Mrs. Grunhild’.”

It was then that ‘Mrs. Grunhild’, who had been sitting quietly, opened her mouth.