Four days after Asura killed the Hero General Matias, Moon Blossom was summoned to the audience chamber in Arnia Castle.
"Thanks to your efforts, the Therbaen army has retreated," King Arnia said. "Moreover, a Therbaen messenger arrived yesterday and we were able to sign a two-year armistice."
"That's fantastic news. I suppose that concludes our business here," Asura replied with a casual shrug.
As per usual, she refused to kneel. If Asura didn't kneel, then neither did Jyrki and Iina. Reko and Salume were standing straight as well. Only Lumia and Marx were on one knee, their eyes lowered to the ground in respect.
"The death of the hero was truly shocking..." King Arnia sighed. "As a result of that, my general, my soldiers, my parliament, and I had to deal with the heroes' interrogation. It was hardly an issue, of course, since none of us were involved in the incident." His face looked slightly weary after he said that.
"It looks like they didn't show much mercy. Well, just thank the stars they didn't torture you. All of the evidence was circumstantial and nothing was conclusive, so that's hardly a surprise. Unlike us, the heroes can't just enact violence whenever they wish," Asura chuckled.
"That's not entirely true, little missy," a man said as he emerged from the shadow of a pillar. He had a physique best described as "ripped," and had even bigger muscles than Marx.
"My apologies, Asura," King Arnia said with genuine regret in his voice. "He insisted on interrogating you and the rest of Moon Blossom."
"Right here?" asked Asura.
"Yeah, right here, little missy. I want eeeeveryone here to hear you bastards' confession, you see." The man looked to be around sixty years old. His white hair was cut short and neat, and he exuded an incredibly aggressive fighting spirit. Both Lumia and Marx immediately raised their heads. Salume's body twitched backwards.
"'Confession'? What would you want us to confess, Mister Hero?" Asura asked, smiling at him. Fighting spirit, no matter how aggressive, was hardly something to fear.
"Right. I ain't a hero," the man said, stalking up to stand in front of Asura. "I'm the Great Hero, Axel Ehrnrooth, little missy."
"I apologize for my lack of manners. I never thought that a group of ruffians such as ourselves would ever get the chance to be interrogated personally by a Great Hero."
Each region—East Felsen, Central Felsen, and West Felsen—only had two Great Heroes. In other words, Axel was the sixth-strongest person, at the very least, in all of the countries on the map (disregarding uncharted territory) and out of all of the people in the world.
"A Great Hero... Is it really true?" Lumia gasped, a terribly surprised look on her face as she stood up.
"I dunno how much truer it can get, ma'am," Axel laughed. "Now then, little missy." At this, Axel turned his attention down to Asura. "I hear you're the leader?"
"That's right. I am Asura Lyona, the leader of Moon Blossom. There's no need for you to remember my name. We're nothing more than insignificant little insects for people like you, aren't we?"
"Yeah. But it's a whole other story if said 'insignificant little insects' killed a hero. I'm going to cut right to the chase: did you kill Matias?"
"We did not."
As soon as the words left Asura's mouth, Axel punched her in the face. She'd been completely taken off guard. The impact tossed her back several meters, and she rolled along the ground before slamming into a pillar.
"Sir Axel! What are you doing?!" King Arnia demanded as he stood up from his throne.
"It's fine. Don't worry about it, boy king," Asura coughed. Using the pillar as a support, she slowly stumbled to her feet and waved her hand at him. The members of Moon Blossom watched on silently.
"Listen here, little missy," Axel said as he slowly approached Asura. "Considering the situation, it's painfully obvious that Arnia killed Matias, ain't it?"
"How naive." Asura tried to laugh, but before she could do so, Axel's fist drove into her stomach. "Gah!" The pain was so immense that she fell to the ground, curling up into a ball and pressing her hands to her torso.
"But you know what, little missy? No matter who I talked to, nobody knew anything. 'We didn't do it,' was all they said. But it's a given. We're not idiots. We know that no one on Arnia's side could've killed Matias." He kicked Asura's prone body and sent it flying into the air. "And you know what?" As she started falling to the ground, he reached out and grabbed a fistful of her hair. "Everyone kept saying the same thing: 'If there's anyone who could do it, it'd be that group of mercenaries, Moon Blossom.'"
"What? Are you accusing us of being the culprits based solely on rumors?"
"Yeah. And guess what? I asked Punti about it too, and he told me that there was a high chance you were behind it. Said your group specialized in underhanded tactics. I heard that when Matias died, you and a black-haired girl weren't with the rest of your mercenaries."
"And that's just circumstantial evidence, isn't it? I didn't do it."
Asura had barely finished talking before Axel punched her five times. With her hair still in his grip, there was no means for her to escape. All she could do was moan in pain at each strike. However, she remained conscious. Axel was making sure that he held back with his hits.
"No, you did do it. Or perhaps you acted on your own? I've no idea. But if you take the situation and the testimonies into account, then Moon Blossom are the only ones who could've killed him. I'm willing to bet someone from Arnia hired you, didn't they? I'm not that far off from the truth, am I? So spill. Who's your client, and how did you go about killing him?"
"Like I said...how naive."
Axel slammed Asura down onto the ground so hard that she bounced off the floor.
"That's enough, Sir Axel! Asura already said she isn't responsible! You're going to kill her!"
"Shut up, Your Majesty. We're seriously pissed off. Can you blame us though? A hero was killed. That's never happened before. They weren't even killed by another hero. He was killed by some nobody whose name we don't even know!"
"Ha ha... I hear that Matias died from an arrow?" Asura asked as she slowly pushed herself to her feet.
"Huh?"
"Where did...the arrow come from? Who...shot it? Were there...any witnesses?" Asura continued.
"It's 'cause we don't know that I'm here to make you talk!" Axel yelled. He slammed his fist into Asura's stomach and, no longer able to hold it back, she threw up onto the ground.
"Ha... Is your hobby...making pretty girls like me puke?"
"You brat. Do you think I enjoy beating up a little kid like you?! Huh?! I'm obviously only doing this because you're the culprit!"
"But you're not killing me... That's because you don't have solid proof... So it would go against a hero's duty to never kill someone out of a personal grudge...right? In particular, you're a Great Hero... You have to act as an example for all the others..." With that, Asura stood up. She was used to being tortured and had trained for it. This body could withstand the pain.
"That's not it! Didn't I say that this has never happened before?! I still can't accept that Matias was killed! Unless you reveal how you did it, then the other heroes won't accept it either!" Axel's fist smashed into Asura's cheek. Though she stumbled, she didn't fall down this time. "Do you get it?! Do you get what you did?! None of us expect to be killed by a group of random thugs! You've completely flipped what was normal to us on its head, so now we have to find a way to deal with it!"
"That's not my problem."
"You little—! Why should we...why should heroes like us have to be wary of possible assassinations?! We're humanity's measures against the Demon Lord! We fight for humanity! So why should we have to be killed by the very people we're sworn to protect?!"
"But you all have your own lives, on top of your own work, don't you?"
"Huh? What does that have to do with anything? What are you trying to say?"
"You're human before you're a hero, so it stands to reason that people would bear a grudge or two against you. All of you are famous, and yet none of you thought to have measures in place in case someone tried to kill you? That was the foolish part. Are you sure you haven't become too arrogant in your own strength?"
"Why, you—!" Axel snarled. He punched Asura again, but this time, she sidestepped the fist. Axel was furious, but he wasn't putting his entire strength behind each hit. He was holding himself back so that he didn't accidentally kill her. "Stop dodging!"
"Er...I'm about to die, you know? I dodged that for your sake."
Axel's punches were powerful enough to destroy boulders. Even if he was going easy on her, the damage was nothing to laugh at. If Asura ate two or three more hits, then she would no longer be able to get up. So this was the limit. She would no longer allow him to freely whale on her anymore past this point.
"You... You killed a hero! Do you know what that means?! You betrayed humankind! All of you are humanity's enemies! If you got that through your thick skulls, then tell me what you did! I'll give you a normal execution if you do. No torture! I'll simply kill you! That's not so bad, is it?!"
"Of course it's bad, dummy," Asura said.
"You're the dummy here! Who do you ruffians think you have to thank for being able to enjoy your little war games?! Huh?! It's us heroes! It's 'cause we're risking our lives to eliminate threats against humankind!"
"Humph. It's astounding how mistaken you can be."
"What?!" Axel pulled his fist back to deal yet another blow to Asura's face, but he froze when he felt a killing intent.
"That's truly enough, Sir Axel," Lumia said in a frigid voice. "If you insist on continuing to punch my Asura...no, our leader, then I will kill you." She was already holding her daggers in her hands.
"Huh?! Didn't I already tell you idiots who I am?!"
"What does that matter, gramps?" Jyrki snorted, wielding his own daggers at the ready. "You goin' senile already? You seriously think we'll let you go home alive after you punched the livin' lights outta our leader?"
"Kill the Great Hero..." Iina said calmly as she readied her bow. "I'll return Boss's pain to you...by a hundred times...and then kill you..."
"Our leader already said we didn't do it. It's true that we have nothing to do with Matias's assassination, yet you went and practically killed her. If you thought you could get away with that, then you're severely underestimating us." Even Marx held up his dagger, ready to fight whenever he was given the ready.
"Boss didn't do it..." Salume said. "You punched her so many times and she kept saying she didn't do it. So I think she's innocent."
"Even if Boss did do it, she's saying she didn't, so she's obviously innocent," Reko said. "Why don't you go back to your casket, your deranged old fool?"
"Are you all for real?" Axel growled. "You're all serious about fighting me?"
"That's right," Asura sighed. "You should've gone home before happy hour ended."
"Huh? 'Happy hour'?"
"I've been letting you get the better of me this whole time, haven't I? But that's over now. You've reached the limits of our patience. So don't move, Axel. If you do, I'll kill you."
***
These guys are serious—totally, completely, deadly serious—about duking it out here. That was the impression Axel got from the killing intent emanating from Moon Blossom. That was why he chose to remain still. He wouldn't lose in a battle against them. Not only that, but he'd be able to kill them as well. He'd be able to claim self-defense, after all.
However, Axel himself wouldn't emerge completely unscathed. He'd heard rumors about Moon Blossom. They were each powerful fighters in their own right, and were able to coordinate attack patterns together. On top of that, he had very little experience in antimagic combat. In other words, it would be difficult to defeat Moon Blossom without killing them. If he killed them, then the truth of what happened would never come to light.
"Salume, come here a second," Asura said. Salume jogged over to Asura, who continued, "I'm a little tired, so act as my chair."
"Huh? Your...chair? You want me to be your chair?"
"That's what I said. Get on all fours over there."
"Ah, all right." Salume obediently followed Asura's orders and lowered herself to the ground like a dog. Asura put her whole weight on Salume's back and crossed her legs. "U-Um...how does it feel?" she asked timidly.
"Hmm." Asura slapped Salume's butt a few times. "It's not bad."
"Why didn't you pick me?" Reko complained. "I'd love to be your chair, Boss."
"Do you want me to...make you my chair?"
"I don't want you, Iina. I want Boss."
"You piss me off... I'll shoot you...before I shoot the Great Hero..."
Despite radiating enough killing intent to plunge the entire room into silence, Moon Blossom continued casually chattering among themselves.
"Won't your death threats to me count as evidence that you killed Matias?" Axel asked.
"No, they won't," Asura replied. "We didn't kill Matias and we'll prove it to you. Let's see..." She looked around the room until her eyes landed on a member of King Arnia's personal guard. "Reko, go borrow that man's spear. I'll kill him if he doesn't hand it over to you, so don't worry about him being a selfish boy."
"Yes, Boss."
Reko ran over to the personal guard, took the spear, and then ran back to Asura.
"Hold the spear so that the point is in the air, Reko."
"Yes, Boss." With that, Reko obediently did what Asura asked.
"Take a close look, Axel," Asura said as she pointed to the tip of the weapon. "After we kill you, we'll stick your head on the spear and parade through the city while advertising ourselves as the mercenary group with enough skills to murder a Great Hero." After she said that much, Asura paused and hummed as if she'd just noticed something. "Ha ha, I guess you'd be dead, so we wouldn't be able to prove anything to you. But, news of it would spread to the other heroes, wouldn't it? If we were the ones who killed Matias, then we would've already been bragging about it."
The grin on Asura's face was an ugly and broken one, and seeing it made a chill run down Axel's spine. She was serious. This crazy little girl meant every word that came out of her mouth.
For the first time in his life, the Great Hero Axel was afraid of another human. He boasted himself to be the strongest man in East Felsen, and yet he feared a little thirteen-year-old girl. It reminded him of when he first stood up against the supernatural disaster Demon Lord, back when he was still a fresh-faced novice. In a fight between Axel and Asura, Axel would win. Or he should be able to, since he was much more powerful than she was. If that was the case though, why couldn't he stop imagining his bloody head upon that spear?
"Are you human?" he asked.
Even that was doubtful. He went so far as to wonder whether she was a peak-tier monster in disguise. Creatures capable of such things were rare, but it wasn't as if they didn't exist.
"Do I look like I'm not? Of course I'm a human. For some reason, lots of people fear me when they see me, but I'm nothing more than your run-of-the-mill human. Well, I do admit that I'm not right in the head. Everyone says that about me, so I suppose it's true," Asura chuckled.
Ahh, Axel realized. It's because of this laugh. I recognize what this is.
"In any case," Asura continued, "I can understand why you suspect us. Circumstantial evidence aside, we honestly don't give a damn about killing a hero. So of course, we wouldn't feel the need to hide our accomplishment. Listen, none of us fear whatever payback you heroes can dish out. In fact, I look forward to waging war against all of you."
The Demon Lord—the enemy of humankind that takes pleasure in death and destruction—laughed in the exact same way that she does.
"Do you understand? Are you comprehending the words that are coming out of my mouth? If we'd killed Matias, then we would have dragged him through the streets as our trophy."
That maliciously delighted smile that sends shivers down my spine...
"Axel, I commend your judgment to stay still. You cannot win against us, and the reason is simple: it's because we're soldier-mages. I'm sure you've never had experience fighting against one. Of course, in a one-on-one fight, none of us would be a match for you. Not even Lumia, the strongest member of my group, would be sure to defeat you. But, here, let's take this flower petal for example. Why don't you pick it up and give it a closer look?"
When Asura raised her right pointer finger, a single petal started to drift down from the sky.
"What's this gotta do with anything, huh?" Axel snarled as he snatched it out of the air. In the next instant, his left hand exploded, splattering gore around the room. "GAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" He fell to the ground, writhing and screaming.
"Ha ha ha ha ha! Are you an idiot? Are you an utter fool? I'm so, so sorry! It must have just looked like a flower petal, didn't it? So I'm not surprised you touched it! This is what a soldier-mage does, Axel!!! It's because musclebrained idiots like you keep falling for these traps that I'm having the time of my life right now!!!"
Axel thrashed on the ground and the members of Moon Blossom surrounded him. Their daggers were unsheathed, ready to kill Axel at any moment.
(3k word count)