WOSE Chapter 31

"Darun."

Darun stood behind her, holding his usual axe.

"I apologize. I was too worried, so I had no choice but to follow you."

"About me? Or about this darkness?"

"...Pardon?"

"You followed because you don't want the darkness to disappear. You."

Iyu looked up at him evenly.

While listening to the bereaved families' testimonies in End Village, she had become certain of one thing.

This disappearance wasn't simply an 'accident.'

Then who was the culprit?

Narrowing down the culprit hadn't been difficult.

In her previous life, when she'd said it wasn't an accident, that something was strange, Kelgrida had brushed it aside lightly. Which meant she clearly knew this disappearance wasn't simply an accident. Yet she'd had to cover up the truth for someone's sake.

And the bloodstains found on the weapons displayed in Kelgrida's house.

The social status and position advancement the victims had all mentioned. Someone in a position to grant such things.

Finally, the only dwarf who insisted the darkness didn't need to be eliminated.

'Because the only one who wants the darkness to remain is the culprit using it to hide their crimes.'

More than anything, if it were Kelgrida—who had deceived and used her for her own race's prosperity—she wouldn't have harmed her own people with her own hands. And she wouldn't have summoned her here in the first place, wouldn't have asked her to eliminate the darkness.

So only one candidate remained.

Though she'd deduced the culprit, the important thing was that she had no solid evidence.

So Iyu had set a trap to lure him out.

Last night, she'd handed several notes to Tamia.

"Can you secretly deliver these to the bereaved families in End Village?"

The child had readily nodded at the sudden mission. She'd even clenched her fist tightly as if to show she could do it well.

She'd sent the child before daybreak, so she must have reached End Village long ago.

Then she'd acted convincingly like she'd lost the child, pretended to reluctantly agree with opinions, and made a very obvious show of going outside.

As a result, he'd personally followed her and taken the bait.

In a way, it was natural.

If the savior was making a fuss about eliminating the darkness, it would become harder to commit crimes, so naturally he would grow anxious.

So she'd expected he would either follow her or try to stop her. And he'd moved exactly as she'd predicted.

"I, I don't know what you're talking about. I was simply worried about the Savior..."

"Do you still not realize that your very presence here is something I orchestrated?"

"Savior, if this isn't some cruel prank, I think you're seriously misunderstanding. Please don't do this and let's first have a calm conversation..."

"I found something interesting at the base of that mountain. A blood-stained hair ribbon. It was identical to the one Belga wore when serving. Too strange for a runaway, isn't it?"

"That's surprising. Maybe it wasn't running away or an accident, but something worse happened to her."

"Are you going to keep up this pathetic act? That rainy day. You called her out. Then you must have thrown her in here."

"..."

"You know what? When you erase the darkness, sometimes the beings consumed by it pop back out. Since Belga hasn't been gone long, the chances are even higher. Should I try eliminating the darkness now? Is that what you want?"

It was all bluffing and lies. But unless you were a savior or a leader, it was difficult to prove it false.

He stared at her unwavering form for a long moment, then finally smiled crookedly.

"That would be troublesome. I took this difficult mountain walk in the dead of night just to protect that pit."

Darun frowned slightly but didn't waver much. He must have already known she suspected the 'accident' was an 'incident.'

That too had been her intention.

"If it's not a simple accident like you suspect..."

Her reckless speculation in End Village had been for that reason. If the savior suspected the disappearance, it would provoke even more anxiety. Enough to directly try to harm the savior like this.

Of course, at the time she'd hoped Darun would relay her suspicions to Kelgrida, not that she'd been targeting Darun himself.

Iyu calmly observed the man who had always spoken gentle words, whom she'd thought good-natured and pure.

When she'd realized this man was the source of all these events, she hadn't trembled with betrayal. Her heart had simply pounded.

Because the truth she'd obtained this time seemed capable of destroying Kelgrida.

And she'd grown curious. The reason why a being who lacked nothing would commit such acts.

"What's your reason?"

"I wanted everyone to be at peace."

The man who had stabbed his axe into the ground spoke with a terrifyingly calm face.

"My mother always told me. That I had to work so dwarves could be at peace. I agree with mother's opinion. The dwarf race is far smaller in number compared to humans or beastfolk, and we must live trapped in harsh environments. So when darkness appeared in this village, I thought it was divine revelation to realize my dream."

"..."

"Since the world will end soon anyway, I simply gave peace first to those whose lives seemed difficult."

"I didn't want to hear insane rambling."

"You don't understand? It's natural for living things to have an end. I simply moved that end up a bit. Well, as a bonus, I could also test the performance of the weapons I made."

"With that logic, why not die first instead of spending time killing others?"

"I can't irresponsibly go first when there are beings who refuse to accept the end and desperately struggle on."

'Was Darun also Ragnarok?'

She clicked her tongue inwardly. Demanding logic from an insane group was nonsense itself.

"I didn't expect to be exposed to you of all people, but this actually works out better. I don't know what confidence made you crawl here alone, but if I dispose of you here, I won't have to stop my mission, and you won't be able to commit the heinous act of eliminating the darkness."

"..."

"Honestly, I found your very existence uncomfortable from the start. A savior—you're defying divine will. A mere human, at that."

The man who had recited this coldly pulled out his axe. He hummed a strange tune as he closed the distance. Then he pressed the sharply honed blade against her nape.

"Ah, if I throw the savior's corpse in, will the darkness disappear? That would be troublesome."

As the cold blade touched her nape, physiological goosebumps rose along her spine.

Just before the sharp blade could dig into her throat. Iyu, who had been staring somewhere behind him, answered flatly.

"Right. That really would be troublesome."

"...What?"

Thunk! A rock struck his skull hard.

He blinked dazedly, clutching his head at the sudden impact.

"Actually, I didn't crawl in alone. I'm a weak human, so I invited some spectators."

Darun spun around. At the mine entrance, familiar faces including Triel had gathered like ghosts. All with shocked expressions.

"...It wasn't an accident?"

"That's a lie. Why would Lord Darun, how could..."

"Lord Darun—no, that bastard just confessed. That he killed my child, that he pushed them into the darkness with those hands."

Brynja's gloomy voice echoed hollowly through the mine.

And another stone flew toward him.

Thunk!

That was the opening shot. People threw stones and raised clubs while tears streamed down their faces, while they screamed, while they cursed.

Cornered unexpectedly, the man gritted his teeth. The entrance was packed with people.

Eventually, the man headed in Iyu's direction. Whether he meant to take a hostage or needed a meat shield, he'd gotten close to her but couldn't reach her and collapsed.

"Ahhh!"

The trap laid on the ground snapped shut with force enough to sever the man's ankle.

The man who had collapsed on the ground thrashed about, veins bulging in his neck.

"Damn it! I'm the next leader! This was all for your sake!"

Iyu looked down coldly at the man whose mask had only been stripped before death.

When he'd acted as the kind and perfect next leader, when he'd embraced the crying Eila, when he'd whispered to the child that he would save her sister—what had he been thinking?

No matter how much she pondered and speculated, she would never know that answer. The only person who could answer would unfortunately be disappearing soon.

"Actually, you're somewhat right. Having an end is natural. So as the savior, I'm going to move your end up a bit too."

"What? What do you..."

"For the last disappearance to be the next leader... How unfortunate."

As the enraged people raised their weapons and surrounded them, Iyu slowly exited the mine.