Chapter 118

Only Casilla knows where Ian’s Legacy is.

And the fake Ian is stuck right by Casilla’s side.

He’s probably watching constantly, waiting for me to show up. Waiting.

He’s trying to test my patience.

As if to say, “What can you do when I’m right here next to Casilla?”

“Can you reveal your identity?”

I’ll admit it.

I can’t. If I fight him here, I’ll end up with nothing.

So I changed my strategy.

I’m going to make Casilla come find me herself.

To do that, I’ll have to make a huge scene.

More and more people gathered.

To see the filthy traitors who had ruined the sector.

I’d been waiting for this very moment.

I gave Peter a look that no one else saw.

“The very people who would have starved to death without me are calling me what? A traitor? A bad guy?”

Peter, his whole body in Restraint, spat as he yelled.

“You there, Bishop Joden. You received a Buff Stone from me, didn’t you.”

“I did? Are you mad?”

“You did! Why are you playing dumb? Should I show the ledger? Hey, Holy Knights! There’s a ledger under my house detailing the bribes I gave to the bishops, so go check it.”

Peter thrashed about like a fish in water.

“And what about you, Archbishop Baron? How many Potions was it that I brought you?”

“Peter! You’ve gone completely mad!”

“While you’re searching my house, search the Archbishop’s house too! You’ll find all sorts of interesting things.”

The Holy Knights exchanged glances. Their gazes naturally turned to Casilla.

As if asking what to do.

“Saintess. You’re not going to listen to the words of a traitor like him, are you?”

“It’s slander!”

The two who had been called out made excuses, their faces flushed red.

“Even if a Potion is found in my home, it is a scheme of that wicked man.”

“Please believe us.”

The sector residents gathered in the square began to murmur.

The Saintess let out a deep sigh in their midst.

Then she gestured to the Holy Knights with her chin and said.

“Go and investigate.”

The faces of the men Peter had pointed out turned white as a sheet.

Peter, even more excited, blurted out a few more names.

One after another, the names of renowned priests popped up.

It was a moment that plunged the people into shock.

These guys. Just how corrupt are they?

They murmured amongst themselves with such expressions.

This should be enough to grease the wheels.

It was around then.

I gave the guy another look.

This timing is crucial.

This moment, when Peter’s words have gained some credibility.

Peter naturally changed the subject.

“Now, shall we start the story you’re all really curious about? The Reincarnator, I mean.”

This guy. He’s a better speaker than I thought; it seems his life as a Quartermaster wasn’t for nothing.

The murmuring crowd clamped their mouths shut and focused on Peter.

“Does that person over there really look like the Reincarnator to you?”

“Oh, my. Then what did I see? Hey. You’ve all heard the rumors, right? About the person who went around the sector handing out Potions and Buff Stones.”

The people in the crowd nodded their heads frantically.

Of course they’d heard.

The rumor about the one who killed the corrupt sector chief and distributed Buff Stones and Potions.

“It’s just as the prophecy says. When the Reincarnator appears, he will save the oppressed. Ah, yes. The oppressed one in the prophecy is me. So what about the Reincarnator? That guy? That guy is the real Reincarnator? Are there really idiots here who believe that?”

“That’s right. I’m saying there’s another, real Reincarnator. You all haven’t seen his face, but right here, somewhere, is the Reincarnator. Who could it be.”

The people swallowed hard, waiting for the words that would follow.

“As for who that is…”‘

After building the tension to its peak.

“It’s a secret.”

He pops the bubble.

A collective sigh escaped from the crowd.

Ignoring them, Peter grinned.

In that time, I quickly observed Casilla.

This moment is important.

Because if Casilla truly and firmly believes in the fake, this strategy must be abandoned immediately.

But.

The way Casilla’s eyes kept glancing at the fake Ian.

That’s unmistakable.

It’s a look I saw often in my past life.

It’s the same look she’d give me whenever I came up with a plan.

That expression, a mixture of doubt and anxiety.

I cheered inwardly.

It means there’s still a chance.

I’m almost there.

Yes. Just one more spoonful.

That should be enough.

And the fake Ian…

The guy smirked.

“How amusing.”

He scoffed as if it wasn’t even worth listening to.

He must be burning up inside.

He must be desperately trying to find where I’m hiding.

Search for the rest of your life.

You couldn’t even recognize me when we shook hands, so by what means could you possibly find me.

The guy looked back at the Saintess.

“What should we do, Saintess.”

“……”

Silence followed, without an answer.

Her reaction is strange. Words like, “Cut off his head,” or “Nail him to a cross,” should have come out immediately.

But there was nothing.

Even then, the fake Ian maintained his composure.

“Take them and lock them up.”

The Saintess said.

The meaning of those words is clear.

It means Peter’s words need to be reconsidered.

Sighs and cheers were heard from here and there.

I have planted the seed of doubt.

Now, all that’s left is to wait.

It was the Saintess’s quarters.

The fake Ian sipped his tea.

Casilla watched him with a sidelong glance.

Until this morning, he was, without a doubt, the reincarnation of Ian.

Not only had he passed all the tests the Saintess had given him, but he had also correctly answered all her questions.

They were questions that no one but Ian could have answered.

But now, the situation had become a little strange.

“Saintess.”

“Speak.”

“You have your doubts about me.”

Casilla was startled.

She hadn’t expected him to be so direct.

“I was also surprised by what happened today.”

She had only intended to execute a single traitor.

“The Knight Commander told me. That a miracle began in Sector 18. In terms of timing, it was right when you came to find me.”

“I see.”

“I checked the fingerprints from there, and they didn’t belong to anyone from the church. The Mana pattern was also said to be identical to… his.”

“Is that so?”

Ian nodded, as if it were no big deal.

“How surprising.”

“…Is that so? Is that all?”

“Yes. That is all.”

Ian said, like a man of great character.

“Ah, one of the two might be the Demon King.”

Then he shrugged.

“Even if I were the Saintess, I would be suspicious. Doubt me as much as you like. Question me to your heart’s content. Until you feel at ease, Saintess.”

His words telling her not to doubt him were, paradoxically, more trustworthy.

That nonchalant expression, that gesture.

Yes. This person is Ian. Ian was this kind of person.

I must have been momentarily mad. Deceived by a traitor’s words, I must have heard things.

Casilla felt needlessly sorry for Ian.

That was why.

“I believe it’s about time I gave it to you.”

“Gave me what?”

“The contingency you left behind.”

“Ah. I see.”

She was about to give him the contingency Ian had left.

Ian nodded as if it were nothing special.

That gesture earned him a little more of her trust.

The real Ian would have reacted this way.

Because of that.

She failed to see the greed that flashed in the fake Ian’s eyes for a split second.

“Please wait here for a moment. I will bring the contingency.”

“Very well.”

And because of that greed, there was something Ian, too, had not considered.

That Casilla would go to kill the traitor herself.

So he decided to wait for Casilla, who had been following him around all this time.

It was a big mistake.

“Did you know? They say Bishop Joden has been sentenced to be hanged.”

Peter, his limbs bound beside me, cackled.

“Archbishop Baron, too. A very good thing. The amount of money I shoved at those bastards, and they tried to run away like a lizard cutting off its tail.”

He looked quite pleased to have company on his way to the afterlife.

The more I look at this guy, the more I wonder how he ever became a Priest.

A vicious loan shark would suit him better.

Then the guy changed the subject.

“What kind of hell will I go to when I die?”

“Why are you asking me that?”

“A Reincarnator doesn’t even know that?”

“You said I wasn’t a Reincarnator.”

“That’s right. You are not the Reincarnator. I must have been crazy for a moment.”

Peter turned his head and clicked his tongue.

“Did you know? When I’m next to you, sometimes I feel like you really are the Reincarnator. The magic you show, the swordsmanship. Where on earth did you come from?”

The guy snapped his fingers.

“In my opinion, you are a Dragon.”

“That was a plausible deduction. Now shut your mouth.”

It was no use.

A man who had already resolved to die had nothing to fear.

“What is the reason for doing all this? After you die, you will be thrown into the deepest hell. For the crime of daring to impersonate the Reincarnator.”

“And you, who are helping with it?”

“What’s there to say. I’ll be right next to you. Considering all the sins I’ve committed.”

The guy briefly wore a regretful expression, then shook his head.

“Is there any chance I might live after this game is over?”

“No.”

“Why. I’m dedicating all this loyalty to you. If this operation succeeds, won’t it be thanks to me?”

“Regardless of that, you will die.”

His sins are too great to be spared.

The pain he inflicted on people cannot be washed away by something like this.

Peter scoffed.

“I didn’t expect anything. Just give me a painless death.”

It was then.

I heard the sound of someone coming down.

The footsteps are familiar.

I smiled without realizing it.

Casilla came down to the prison.

Clomp, clomp.

Casilla stood before the two of us.

Her eyes are intense.

She looks like she could kill me right now.

“I greet the Saintess.”

Peter said.

“No need for pleasantries. You’re going to die here.”

She seems to have made up her mind.

“Without even hearing my story?”

“The words of a wicked Devil, what good would listening to them do.”

“Still, you should give it a listen.”

Ignoring Peter’s words, Casilla drew upon her Divinity.

Her Level is over 430.

If that is unleashed as it is, I will die on the spot.

Peter glanced at me.

As if telling me to handle this.

I was planning to, anyway.

That’s when I stepped forward.

“Have you been well, Saintess?”

Casilla looked at me.

As she did, I released my Polymorph.

Crack- C-crack-

My real face was revealed.

Whether it was or not, Casilla wasn’t interested.

“It’s been a long time.”

“A long time? Have we met before?”

“We have. About a hundred years ago.”

As I said that, I also unfurled my Mana.

An Aura formed on my palm.

A Mana pattern, perfectly identical to the Ian of my past life, unfolded at this very moment.

There’s no way she wouldn’t recognize this.

Sure enough, Casilla’s eyebrows twitched.

Her pupils dilated.

The murderous intent that had been directed at me just moments ago completely vanished.

No. Don’t be fooled. This wicked man is trying to deceive me.

That’s exactly the look on her face.

I hurriedly added.

“Why don’t you listen to what I have to say. Think of it as my last words.”

Casilla scoffed.

“He doesn’t speak like this.”

“Of course. I’m not Ian, but his reincarnation. I can be a little different.”

“……”

She looks dumbfounded.

Is she trying to say I’m shameless?

But what can I do, it’s the truth.

I’m not a magical genius like Ian, nor am I a man of great character.

To the wavering her, I threw my finishing move.

“Give me one minute.”

“?”

“I can convince you in one minute. That I am the Reincarnator.”

It took the guy up there a whole month to prove he was Ian.

But I’m saying I only need one minute.

Could she really refuse this?

“…Go ahead.”

Success.

There’s only one chance.

Short and fast. I threw out the words I had prepared in advance.

“There was a time when the Saintess became a Demon.”

“?”

“Do you remember what you said to me then?”

“What is this.”

Casilla suddenly looked at me with anxious eyes.

It was a look of “no way.”

Yes, that’s the one.

“I’ll spread my legs for you. If you take my yin energy, it will help you ascend to the state you desire, you know?”

“W-Wait.”

“Please be gentle, Ian…”

“Stop. I get it, so stop!”

Casilla shrieked.

I bowed my head and greeted Casilla.

“It’s been a long time, Saintess.”