Hillier couldn't understand the logic of the magic research team, and there was no way he ever would.
After all, he never could have imagined that the moment someone else questioned them, their very first instinct would be to doubt themselves instead of the accuser!
But even now, he refused to just give up and be captured. Gritting his teeth fiercely, his face contorted in anger:
“Fine! Since none of you believe me, I'll go myself! I'll petition the Imperial Ministry of Magic—”
“You won't get that chance.”
Leon didn't give Hillier another chance to speak.
His slow voice had barely reached Hillier's ears when his figure suddenly flashed.
As if teleporting through space, he vanished from everyone's sight, reappearing behind Hillier in the very next instant.
A priest's scepter pressed against Hillier's back as mental power surged out like a tide, forming a pure white cage that imprisoned him.
“Grating Binding.”
Countless dense, pure beams of light formed bars, locking Hillier tightly inside. The grating bound his entire body, preventing him from even taking a deep breath.
“So fast?!”
The members of the magic research team only felt their vision blur. One moment Leon was standing right in front of them, and the next, he had abruptly appeared beside Hillier and bound him.
This speed was simply absurd!
“The fluctuation of the Divine Art is minimal. Even if I teleport using Light Dust Flicker, it's hard for anyone to notice.”
Leon had simply used Hillier to test the effect of the 【Shatter Space】 trait, and he was quite satisfied with the results.
He turned his gaze to Hillier and played a chant on his priest's scepter:
“Come, let me see what's in your heart.”
As the chant echoed, Hillier's struggling expression quickly faded, replaced by a vacant daze.
Under Leon's questioning, Hillier quickly spilled the entire story without any resistance, keeping not a single detail hidden.
Hillier's reason for colluding with the Black and White Hand and betraying the Heron Empire was very straightforward:
He completely rejected the teachings of the Church of Sacred Light.
Because he lived within the borders of the Heron Empire, where the Church of Sacred Light was the state religion, and because he had seen too much of people's devotion to the Sacred Light.
Thus, Hillier felt that this faith was not an expression of free will. He refused to believe in the Sacred Light and decided to seek out other religions instead.
By chance, he established contact with the Black and White Hand and ultimately chose to join them.
“Is... is there something wrong with his head?”
“No wonder Hillier always looked so displeased whenever the Church of Sacred Light was mentioned...”
“But... no one was forcing him to believe in the Sacred Light!”
Hearing Hillier's reason for joining the Black and White Hand, let alone Leon, even the members of the magic research team couldn't keep a straight face, finding it utterly ridiculous.
Just because he disliked the Church of Sacred Light, he joined the Black and White Hand—an organization that used humans as fuel and committed all kinds of atrocities?
Is he out of his mind?
Besides, no one was holding him down and forcing him to believe in the Church of Sacred Light!
Furthermore, under the constraints of the Church's doctrines, even those spoiled young masters and ladies who joined the Church just to polish their resumes wouldn't dare order believers around, let alone use their status as priests to commit evil deeds.
Under such circumstances, where on earth did Hillier's malice toward the Church of Sacred Light come from?
Just because the Church of Sacred Light was the state religion of the Heron Empire, he had to be displeased with it?
“There's no need to try and understand their thinking,”
Seeing the confusion and surprise on Tobias and his team's faces, Leon said:
“Everyone is different. Some are clever, some are foolish. And some are just born contrarians, believing that everyone has ulterior motives and that anything officially endorsed must be wrong, so they insist on being different from everyone else.”
Leon raised his priest's scepter, and a brilliant, glowing ring manifested beside him.
A gentle breeze passed through the ring and was instantly accelerated to supersonic speeds, transforming into an air cannon that blasted straight through Hillier's head.
Bang!
Blood splattered as Hillier's headless corpse collapsed to the ground.
“We cannot change these people.” Leon lowered his priest's scepter. “We can only send them to their graves.”
He turned his gaze to Tobias and said:
“Captain Tobias, I'll leave the task of disposing of this body to you.”
“I understand, Young Master Leon.” Tobias took a deep breath and said:
“Thank you, Young Master Leon, for helping us root out this traitor. Otherwise... keeping him in the team would have been a massive threat to us.”
Leon nodded. With a light tap of his toes, he soared into the air and returned to the manor.
“Good job, Alicia.”
Alicia jumped back out from his shadow. Leon rubbed her head and praised her.
As expected of the Alicia-brand sensor—her perception of all emotions and killing intent was incredibly sharp...
“The next time I have an audience with that old geezer, the Sage King, I must bring Alicia along!”
Leon's own ability to 'read faces' was modeled after the Sage King, but his skill was far inferior.
However, if Alicia was by his side, Leon believed that their combination could go head-to-head with the Sage King!
“Hehe, hehe~”
Hearing Leon's praise, Alicia narrowed her eyes and showed a big “(＾ω＾)” smile.
She looked just like a hamster that had secretly stuffed its cheeks with lollipops.
Speaking of lollipops, Leon suddenly remembered something.
Before leaving Stormveil City, he had taken Alicia to the Coo Coo Merchant Association.
Seeing Leon's grand arrival, the local chairman of the Coo Coo Merchant Association hurriedly came out to welcome him.
Entering the VIP lounge of the Coo Coo Merchant Association, Leon's very first words were, “Where's my endorsement fee!”
A moment later, under the apologetic, smiling gaze of the Coo Coo Merchant Association's chairman, Leon and Alicia walked out.
In Alicia's arms was a giant candy gift bag that was even taller than she was.
It was packed with all kinds of candies. Clutching it in her arms, Alicia tilted her head left and right, swaying with sheer joy.
From the moment they left Stormveil City until they returned to Eldenborg, the grin on Alicia's face never faded.
“She's so easy to please...”
Leon rubbed Alicia's head, marveling that an incredibly powerful Silver-rank rogue could be completely satisfied with just a big bag of candy. She really was too easy to please.
If only there were a few more Alicias!
He could definitely afford to raise them!
By the time they returned to Eldenborg, it was already getting dark. Leon was in no hurry to head to Jellyfish Town, so he decided to stay in the castle for the night.
“What is this?”
Upon returning to his room, he noticed a token that had suddenly appeared on his desk.
The token was very heavy, about two knuckles thick.
It had a brilliant golden hue, with the deep blue character for 'Thunder' engraved on both sides.
Within the character, violent lightning power seemed to be slithering around.
With just a single glance, Leon felt his hair stand on end, as if he would be struck by a terrifying bolt of lightning in the next second.
Holding the token in his hand, its purpose and usage flowed into Leon's mind like a stream of light.
“Its effect... is that it can unleash a full-power strike from a Legend-rank expert???”
Rate on N.U.
