CH 17

Chapter 17 : Night in the Abandoned City [After].

"I have one question for Zenos-shi."

Night in the abandoned city. Krishna, sitting on the other side of the room, said abruptly.

Lili's sleepy breathing echoed from her bedroom.

"What is it?"

"You must be a master of protective magic."

"Not really."

"Don't be modest. Although I should have reduced my killing power a bit, not getting hurt by my magic weapon is definitely a god-class user."

"No,...... well,...... it's a pain in the ass, so I don't mind what you think."

Krishna cleared his throat.

"If they master...... healing magic, will they be able to grow an arm, for example?"

"Eh?"

"No, I know it's a ridiculous question, but..."

"No. It's not like--"

You don't need to be a master to do it. After all, even me, a third-rate healer, can do it.

I was about to say that, but then I stopped.

Perhaps it is best not to say anything that makes she uncomfortable before I know what she are thinking.

Krishna sighed, weakly.

"Oh, sorry. What am I saying, it would be impossible if you weren't a saint."

"...... By the way, what about it?"

"I once met the bandit gang leader, Zofia the Gale, while I was guarding the special district for nobles. Back then, I gave them quite a bad wound on her arm, but I felt her arms were completely intact when I saw her in the favela..."

Somehow, I have a bad feeling about this.

"I've been thinking about the character of the Mediator. I was wondering who would make that Zofia listen. Then I thought. If there was someone who could heal such severe wounds, wouldn't that make sense?"

"...."

Krishna, Deputy Commander of the Royal Guard Division.

She seems pushy and just a rude woman, but she turns out to be very perceptive.

As it turned out, that title was not a mere symbol of honor.

"No....... But how could that be possible? And I'm probably wrong about the arm thing, too."

Krishna shrugged his shoulders, sipped his tea and moaned, "afu ~ua~tsu.".

That one is still considered hot. That's a lot of cat tongue.

"Well, I'll start my investigation tomorrow. I will make sure that I catch the Mediator, the instigator of the poor and the true mediator of evil."

"True mediator of ev...."

At first, I was a pawn of evil, but my title is being upgraded to a worse and worse one.

"By the way, why are you so against the poor?"

When I asked her about it, Krishna was silent for a while, and then said in a small voice.

"It's not a very interesting story. My mother's life was taken by the poor."

"..."

"My mother is a very loving person. She used to go to the soup kitchen every day to feed the poor and hungry. Then, one day, she came back as a corpse. I heard the crime was committed to steal the wedding ring my mother was wearing."

The light from the lamp vibrated, casting a shadow on Krishna's face.

"Thanks to my mother, many poor people were saved from hunger. But no one saved my mother. So I decided, you know. I decided that I would be the perfect hero and crack down on the criminals in the favelas so no one else would suffering like my mother. With relentless crackdown, I accomplished many things and became the youngest deputy division commander of the Royal Guard Division."

Krishna's face was expressionless as we spoke.

"I have been called the 'Lady of Stone' because I carry out my work with a will as hard as a rock. I am also called the head of stone because of my inflexibility. But I also know that it has another meaning."

Her face would be like a stone mask, Krishna said.

"I've never been able to smile well since that day, you know."

+++

"Well, I'll be back in the evening. Thanks for your help, Zenos-shi."

The next morning, Krishna said so and went out to investigate.

Even though I was finally free, I was still feeling a bit uncomfortable, probably because of what I heard yesterday.

Carmilla, crossing her legs on the edge of the bed, and said.

"Don't worry about it too much, Zenos. It's no use for you to worry about it."

"Well, I know."

"It's nothing unusual. If you live for three hundred years, you'll see all kinds of human activity, even if you don't like it."

No, You are dead you know.

Did Carmilla heard what she said yesterday?

"You came all the way out here to tell me that. Thank you, Carmilla."

"Well... I just don't like it when people get all spiteful."

Carmilla turned and disappeared upstairs.

What kind of ghost doesn't like to be spiteful?

Nodding her head, Lily said as if she suddenly remembered.

"Right. Zenos, what about the flag?"

"Yeah, let's just take it off for now."

Since Krishna's arrival, she has left a yellow flag to signal the demi-humans to stay away from the clinic, so some of them may be waiting for treatment.

Sure enough, as soon as the flag was get off, Zofia, the lizardman, arrived.

"Don't be too reckless, okay. We can't treat you if you're dead."

"Sorry, I'll try not to worry sensei. I was more worried about you. The flag was up the whole time, and I thought something might have happened to sensei."

"Well, a lot has happened, but we're safe for now."

"That's fine then."

Zofia let out a sigh of relief, then looked up and said as if she remembered something

"Yes. I have some important information for Sensei."

"What is it?"

"I heard from my men. It seems that the Lady of Stone From Royal Guard Division that I mentioned earlier is sniffing around for an Mediator."

"He~~"

"Heh, such a long shot. That's a pretty badass woman."

"I guess so."

"Sensei, you've got to be more critical. If this place is discovered, we could be in big trouble."

I was about to say, "No, they already know..." when the door slowly opened.

Standing there was a blond-haired, blue-eyed female Royal Guard.

"Zenos-shi, I'm sorry. I got lost and had to come back. Can you tell me how to get to the favela? My lack of direction is my only weakness....... What?"

"Eh?"

Krishna and Zofia looked at each other.

"Zofia the Gale, why are you here!" "Lady of Stone! Why are you here?"

"No, that's not like that."

Carmilla's words fell softly from upstairs.

"Zenos, that sentence makes you sound like a husband who was caught cheating on his wife."