The Villain Dreams Of World Peace

Episode 50: Escape (3)

 

“Your Highness! Kaiton must not be caught yet. Please clear the path to the east. Help me and Kaiton. He’s not the Demon King. I can make it so. Please get rid of the knights in the east.”

 

Muriel seemed to be shouting into the air. However, she was actually pleading to the real Sharan, who was now trapped in an underground prison, to see her through Sharon’s eyes.

 

If he could just drive the knights in the opposite direction of Kaiton, he would be able to evade pursuit safely.

 

Sharan could also ignore Muriel’s plea and concentrate the knights to the east, but she had no choice but to take the risk. Otherwise, it was only a matter of time before Kaiton was caught.

 

Snowflakes fluttered around Muriel, who had to perform any magic to insert pacio into the fragment. The surroundings were still lush with green, so the sight of snowflakes swirling only around the pale woman was truly strange.

 

Muriel ran without stopping.

 

The snowflakes that hit her body tangled in her hair, and lightly brushed against her cheek, as if laughing.

 

Since the snowflakes did not fall where Muriel’s magic did not reach, white particles flowing only around her. With her blue hair fluttering, Muriel, adorned with swirling snowflakes around her, looked as if she had stepped out of a fairy tale or myth. It was dreamy and mysterious.

 

However, Muriel’s expression, with sweat dripping down her temples and cheeks flushed red, was grim and determined.

 

Muriel, who usually appeared apathetic and emotionless like a lifeless doll, had an urgent expression that was rarely seen.

 

While Muriel desperately pleaded with Sharan’s eyes, who watched her from deep underground, gasping for breath and relentlessly moving her mouth, the sound of the knights’ hooves became terrifyingly close.

 

Muriel, running frantically and gasping for breath, eventually tripped over a rock. When she looked up, Sharan’s knights were looking down at her with cold faces.

 

They wore pure white armor that seemed blinding. Moreover, as if they were worried someone might not recognize them, on their wide chest protectors was a gigantic sun emblem engraved in gold.

 

“Sigh….”

 

Muriel breathed low, quietly examining their complexions. Between them, Jaron, who was clutching his heart roughly as he followed him, was also there. At first glance, he kept his lips tight as if he were firm, but his eyes looking at Muriel were tender and worried.

 

Muriel gave Jaron a half-baked smile as if she were consoling him, and relaxed her body, which had been hardened by tension. What was so amusing that she was giggling?

 

The knights maintained stern expressions, but when the saint’s star sprawled on the floor giggled, they stiffened. They were perplexed by the incomprehensible situation.

 

They couldn’t understand why they were dispatched to chase the demon king, why the saint’s star was present there, or why there were snowflakes fluttering around her that didn’t match the season. However, the most confusing thing was the young lady’s words.

 

“Thank you.”

 

It was an ambiguous statement, unclear to whom it was directed. Even if she was born with the star of the saint, it would be difficult to dispel suspicions about her being a follower of Ur once arrested. Yet, she said thank you. The knights remembered that she had been imprisoned for burning Sharan’s mountain, and they couldn’t help but think that this saint star was completely insane.

 

“Wait.”

 

Just before entering the portal, Jaron stopped Muriel. They were standing in front of a portal connected to Sharan’s palace. The knights wanted to quickly present Muriel before Sharan, but since Jaron insisted, they only gave him a look as if to say, “Hurry up and finish,” without stopping him.

 

As expected of a man with good tactics, Jaron seemed to have a strong reputation within the knights. Without considering the situation that would soon befall her, Muriel quietly admired Jaron’s influence. Jaron handed something to Muriel, who was lost in thought.

 

It was the narcotic painkiller disguised as a cigarette from the black market.

 

“Because there is no mercy in Sharan’s torture.”

 

When Muriel, unable to take the drug with her hands bound in restraints, looked at it, Jaron lit his own cigarette.

 

To think he would take care of Muriel amidst the confusion of discovering the true identity of the demon king, it was a delicate touch. She thought he wouldn’t look back because he felt betrayed. Jaron was unexpectedly affectionate.

 

Muriel evaded Jaron’s touch, which sought to ignite her own cigarette too.

 

“It would be better to be addicted than to go insane.”

 

Jaron said bluntly and abruptly. Muriel wanted to say that she wasn’t worried about addiction, but in order to do so, she would have to reject his kindness, so she just shook her head hesitantly and looked at him.

 

“Aren’t you going to take it?”

 

Nodding.

 

“Then spit it out.”

 

Hesitant.

 

“What are you going to do?!”

 

Jaron, getting impatient, took what had been in Muriel’s mouth. Finally able to speak, Muriel, hastily shouted before Jaron, with little patience, could throw the drug on the ground.

 

“I won’t smoke it, but I’ll take it with me.”

“If you won’t go under its influence, then why bother?”

“Just because. To commemorate.”

“…Is this all a joke to you?”

 

Jaron, as if angry, took a deep breath and growled, turning his head to prevent the smoke from reaching Muriel.

 

He was still sweet, as expected.

Muriel lowered her head.

 

“I can’t feel pain.”

 

In truth, she didn’t want to reveal it. When Kaiton realized she couldn’t feel pain, his reaction as not treating her like a human was hurtful. But she didn’t want to be disliked by the friendly Jaron, who was affectionate until the very end. She hoped he wouldn’t misunderstand and think she was ignoring, mocking his kindness.

 

“Even if I were tortured, it wouldn’t be much different from just tickling.”

 

“…You don’t have any sense?”

 

“No, I have a sense of touch… It’s just that when the pain reaches a certain level, my sensory organs shut down.”

 

“That’s… convenient.”

 

“Isn’t it weird?”

 

“What is?”

 

Jaron took another deep drag of smoke, briefly stomping on the remaining ashes with his foot as he asked. His tone conveyed that he couldn’t understand what was strange about it.

 

“Just that… not being able to feel pain… it’s a bit weird, isn’t it?”

 

“Well, I’m trying to understand someone who’s going to their death with their own two feet. Other strange things weigh less.”

 

“…Sharan won’t kill me. The Demon King… he escaped with one piece, and only I can find the final piece. Sharan won’t give up the chance to gather all the pieces.”

 

“You mean the piece that Kai Crawford took?”

 

Jaron, who knew very well the true identity of the Demon King that Muriel was talking about, mentioned Kaiton’s alias with a sneer.

 

“Jaron…”

Muriel opened her mouth again, hoping to ask Jaron to tell him that he didn’t recognize Kaiton’s face, but Jaron quickly shook his head as if he didn’t want to hear anymore.

 

“If it’s about that, I’m already racking my brain over it, so don’t say anything more.”

 

“…Will you help me?”

 

“…I can’t believe you’re talking crazy things about changing the Demon King. You’re really weird, Muriel. You’re very, very strange, enough to ignore that you can’t feel pain.”

 

⚜ ⚜ ⚜

 

“Ah! It hurts… It hurts…!”

 

Muriel’s screams echoed through the underground prison.

 

Surprisingly, Sharan personally interrogated Muriel himself. Naturally, she’d thought he wouldn’t lift a hand and just call in a torture expert to do the job for him, but the only ones in the underground prison were Sharan and Muriel. There were no guardians, no knights protecting him.

 

“Ah, it hurts. I’m dying…!”

 

It was a fortunate turn of events for Muriel.

She could react appropriately to Sharan’s torture while he was demanding her to tell him the Demon King’s identity.

If August or Jaron were there, pretending to be in pain would have been quite embarrassing.

 

Muriel sometimes screamed loudly when it felt as if Sharan was  pinching her, and at other times, she groaned, saying “Ah, Ah!” at the right timing.

 

The problem was that she had no idea how much she need to fake her death convincingly.

Muriel, like a talentless actor awkwardly reading a script, screamed in a strange manner, and glimpsed from time to time to see if Sharan would notice her acting.

 

“Ahh!!”

 

When the scorching hot branding iron touched her thigh, Muriel let out a scream.

It was fortunate that tears welled up from her intense acting. It was the most convincing groan she had produced so far.

 

It’s hard to pretend to be in pain, she thought at that moment and sighed.

 

Sharan lowered the branding iron with a wicked smile. It seemed he interpreted Muriel’s sigh as a sign of surrender.

 

Unlike his pretty appearance, Sharan was cruel and ruthless. His golden eyes were as good as actual gold in the underground prison. Although Sharan was compared to a golden lion, he was more like a vile and persistent hyena. He enjoyed torturing, and could not hide his satisfied smile whenever Muriel’s screams rose.

 

“You must be ready now. Answer me. Who is the Demon King?”

“Didn’t I already answer? He was a handsome man, so good-looking that it made my eyes hurt.”

 

Jaron did not turn on her.

 

Jaron had testified that the Demon King, who had tried to steal the pacio from the two of them, had a face he had never seen before. He described him as a man with black hair and black eyes. He even mentioned that he tried to kill Muriel. That’s how Jaron tried to protect Muriel

 

However, Sharan persistently interrogated her about the identity and whereabouts of the Demon King.

 

His logic was that she was trying to gather the fragments of Ur to become a follower of the Demon King. It was a bit forced, but a good hunch.

 

She didn’t mean to become Kaiton’s follower or subordinate at all, but it was true that it was because of him she collected the fragments. To help him.

 

Muriel repeated the same words like a parrot. The Demon King was a man she had never seen before, he was handsome, he took one piece of Ur, and only she could retrieve it, so he had to keep her alive.

 

“Why did the Demon King suddenly reveal himself?”

“You saw everything, so you know, right? It’s because Jaron and I pushed the Demon King to his limits.”

 

“So, you’re telling me that you, who borrowed the power of the Demon King, and a knight whose throat was ripped off, managed to overpower the Demon King? How ridiculous.”

 

“…Jaron is an excellent knight, that’s why.”

 

“Didn’t the king see everything? You lie to the end.”

 

“Ha!”

 

Muriel snorted at Sharan’s shameless lies.

 

The only reason why Sharan could call himself king and receive the surname Sharan, who had been revered like a God since the creation of the kingdom of Bulrion, was because he stole everything from his brother. Pretending to be omnipotent while being a thief. Muriel sneered at Sharan with disdain.

 

Just like when she first saw him, an unbearable nausea and contempt shook her.

 

“We’ll find out later who’s the one lying.”

 

When Muriel didn’t hide her mockery, Sharan’s face turned cold. For a moment, a surge of dark magic flickered in his hand and disappeared.

 

You want to kill me, right?

 

Witnessing Sharan’s impulse, Muriel’s sneer only grew longer.