The cold expression on the demon man's face did not waver in the slightest, all of his emotions perfectly concealed.
However, the expressions of the surrounding residents and warriors changed rapidly.
Following the initial shock and fear came another, more turbulent emotion.
The anger of being deceived.
“L-Liar!”
Someone in the crowd was the first to shout.
“All that sob story just now... was it all made up?!”
“To sneak in by gaining our sympathy!”
“A descendant of a Demon King... Oh my God, we almost believed her!”
The murmurs grew louder, and their gazes shifted from fear to naked disgust and accusation.
It was as if Theia's heartfelt story from just moments ago had turned into a carefully crafted lie.
Theia stared at the faces that had suddenly become strange and hostile.
Even though most of them were just powerless commoners.
The rejection and malice in their eyes were sharper than any blade.
It sent a cold, almost suffocating wave of panic through her.
She instinctively took a step back, her blood-red eyes filled with confusion and hurt.
Just then.
A hand reached out from the side, firmly grabbing her wrist and pulling her back.
A dark figure wearing an old gray robe stepped forward, firmly blocking her from view.
He shielded her from all the hostile gazes directed at her.
Lin Gui raised his head, raising an eyebrow, without a trace of a smile on his face.
His gaze swept over the crowd, and though his voice wasn't loud, it clearly cut through the noise:
“What liar?!”
“Are your ears just for decoration?!”
He pointed at Theia behind him.
“When did she ever say she wasn't a descendant of a Demon King?!”
“From beginning to end, she said she was a half-demon elf, and she spoke of her experience of being banished!”
“Which part of that was a lie?!”
The crowd fell silent, stunned by his sudden, sharp interrogation.
Before they could react, Lin Gui suddenly pointed toward the center of the city.
At the massive Demon King Pillar that faintly glowed, supporting the barrier.
“And even if she is a descendant of a Demon King, so what?!”
His voice suddenly rose, laced with sharp irony.
“Ask yourselves, search your consciences.”
“How is it that you can stand here so peacefully right now?!”
“How is it that you can sleep, grow vegetables, and live your lives in the middle of a swarm of demons here in the Wailing Corridor?!”
“Who do you have to thank for that?!”
His finger pointed rigidly at the Demon King Pillar.
“Is it because of yourselves?!”
“Bullshit!”
“It's because of that pillar!”
“It's because of the one who grants power to that pillar—”
“A Demon King!”
“The absolute evil villain in all your storybooks!”
“The demon in human skin known to everyone on the outside!”
In the crowd, someone's face flushed red immediately, and they couldn't help but crane their neck to argue back:
“That's different!!”
“Lord Gusion... he's a good Demon King!”
“He protects us! He gave us Avalon!”
These words seemed to ignite a certain emotion.
The surrounding residents grew excited, chiming in one after another:
“Yes! Lord Gusion is different!”
“He has never harmed anyone!”
“He is our guardian!”
Their eyes held an unfeigned love and defense for Demon King Gusion.
It was as if he were the cornerstone of their beliefs, unquestionable.
Lin Gui was waiting for exactly these words.
Instead of being backed down by this torrent of defense, he took a step forward.
His gray eyes swept sharply over every excited face, and his voice suddenly rose, drowning out the clamor:
“Oh?”
“Gusion is a 'good Demon King'?”
“So among Demon Kings, there can be 'good' ones, right?”
He spun around and pointed again at the pale Theia, whom he was shielding behind him.
“Then her—”
“Why can't she be a 'good' descendant of a Demon King?!”
His question was like a cold chisel, driving hard into their logic.
“Just because you know Gusion and you don't know her?”
“Just because her bloodline comes from another Demon King you don't know?”
“So her pain is fake, her experiences are made up, and she deserves to be stared at by you like she's some kind of monster?!”
Lin Gui's voice wasn't loud, but every word was crystal clear, laced with cold mockery.
“You all...”
“Are no different from those on the outside who banished her and spat on her.”
“You are exactly the same.”
“This so-called Avalon of equality and non-discrimination!”
“This Eden described by Uncle Roger!”
“Is nothing but a joke!”
Lin Gui's voice was like a blade dipped in ice.
Word by word, it scraped harshly against the silent street.
These words left everyone speechless.
Many residents looked ashamed, their eyes dodging his gaze, and their grips on their weapons loosened.
Avalon was a land of freedom, with no discrimination or classes, which had always been their pride.
Yet now, it was being painted so terribly by an outsider.
Most importantly, they actually had no idea how to refute it for a moment.
Meanwhile, the demon man's blood-red eyes narrowed slightly as he stared intently at Lin Gui.
“You...”
The coldness in his voice receded slightly, replaced by a trace of scrutiny.
“You know Roger?”
Lin Gui smiled inwardly.
He bit the hook.
Did he really expect his fierce questioning to arouse the shame of these residents and make them accept Theia?
How could that be?
From the very beginning, his target had been this demon man who clearly held authority.
Lin Gui's face remained expressionless, his tone as flat as if he were discussing the weather:
“Yes.”
“He is my uncle.”
He paused, then added.
“By blood.”
“To be precise, he is the eldest son of my father Erwin's younger brother. My blood relative.”
“Our family has been looking for him for many years.”
“This time, I came out for training and followed the clues he left behind all those years ago...”
“And finally found my way here, to Avalon.”
The demon man opposite him frowned even deeper, obviously not so easily convinced.
Several old residents nearby who knew Roger also showed looks of doubt.
“The proof?”
The demon man said coldly.
“Roger never mentioned having any nephew on the outside.”
Lin Gui seemed to have expected this. Unhurriedly, he began to reel off a bunch of facts about Roger.
“Ten years ago, before Uncle Roger went missing.”
“He was the Vice Commander of the Seventh Knights of the Carter Royal Capital.”
“He was skilled in the sword technique 'Light of Dawn'.”
“He has an old scar on the web of his left hand, left behind by a mistake when practicing swordsmanship in his youth.”
“He has a habit of sleeping on his right side, and he has to hug something to sleep soundly.”
“His favorite food is the honey nut bread from the 'Wheat Fragrance' bakery in the old alley of the royal capital's commoner district.”
“But he was the face of the family, and the family would never allow him to set foot in the commoner district.”
“So, he would often secretly ask me to buy the honey nut bread for him.”
“And in the end, at family banquets, he would swap out those overly elaborate so-called aristocratic breads.”
“He would look for the mark I made to get that bread.”
“This was also our little secret.”
Lin Gui spoke at a steady pace, going through them one by one.
Most of this information came from what Fal had told him.
Lin Gui practically adopted Fal's perspective, telling the story behind a glamorous genius.
With each detail he spoke, the demon man's expression shifted slightly.
The suspicion on the faces of the old residents who were very familiar with Roger was gradually replaced by astonishment.
Because these details, especially those private habits and trivial matters...
Were things an outsider could absolutely never know so clearly.
Lin Gui finally stopped and looked at the demon man.
“Do you need me to keep going?”
The demon man remained silent for a long time.
His blood-red eyes swept back and forth across Lin Gui's face, as if judging the truth of his words.
Finally, he spoke slowly, his tone complex:
“You...”
“What is your name?”
Lin Gui answered in all seriousness:
“Fal Erwin.”
Theia's eyes widened, a trace of astonishment flashing in her blood-red eyes, and then the corner of her mouth twitched involuntarily.
Eve, on the other hand, turned her head slightly, lightly covering her lips with her sleeve.
Her shoulders trembled almost imperceptibly, as if she were doing her utmost to suppress something.
Lest her reaction bring even the slightest flaw to Lin Gui's flawless performance.
Rate on N.U.
