Chapter 144

Even at her peak, Timani was not necessarily a match for the Demon Clan Princess, not to mention that her current state was rather weak, unable to exert her full strength. She could only learn to restrain herself a little.

"Ah... truly troublesome."

Sheffy picked up the plate and licked clean the fish meat inside, making sure not to waste a single morsel of food. After that, her two short little legs swayed as she hopped down from the chair.

She pointed at herself, signaling for Timani to pay close attention.

"Watch closely. Once you understand, stop making a fuss here. Saving you wasn’t so you could burn down houses!"

In Timani’s astonished gaze...

The silver hair gradually took on the color of the night.

Her pale violet eyes transformed into a sky-blue shade, closer to that of the Human race.

Miss Shaya, limited-time return!

55. Not Necessarily So (4K)

Transforming into Shaya right in front of you—this is clear and obvious enough, isn’t it?!

Timani stared blankly at this unexpected scene.

Immediately, it overturned her previous judgment.

"I get it...! You, the one called Shaya—just now you were pretending to be the Demon Clan Princess, playing tricks! Speak! What are you really plotting...?! Huh?!"

"The Demon Clan Princess and Shaya were the same person from the very beginning, you stupid lizard!"

Bang!

A slow-to-react and dull head needed a good hammering. Without a heavy blow, it would never get any smarter.

Struck on the forehead by Sheffy’s punch, Timani’s head buzzed, but at least she managed to understand the entire sequence of events because of it.

Now, even her eyes looked clearer and brighter!

..............................

"I told you, Xiarette, when someone’s dumb, you’ve got to hammer them. Look at her now—isn’t she much smarter?"

"I don’t think she’s gotten any smarter... And Sheffy, stop waving your fist in front of me. I may not be that clever, but at least I’m not being stupid right now."

"True, then I’ll save the hammering for when it’s needed. Still, I’ve found this method to be quite effective."

Miss Shaya lowered her little fist and, together with Xiarette, turned her gaze toward Timani, who suddenly bowed her head in thought across from them.

Indeed, Timani now understood that Shaya and the Demon Clan Princess were the same person.

But knowing just this fact did not mean she could comprehend the entire situation.

Her crimson vertical pupils reflected Shaya’s indifferent face. Timani’s vigilance rose to the highest point; she did not relax for even a moment.

"Why are you telling me this...? At the end of the day... why are you helping me? Telling me all this brings you no benefit, does it? You’re clearly the Demon Clan Princess, yet you disguise yourself as a little Human girl living in the Kingdom of Aurus. The fact that you can remain so calm proves this is an unannounced secret, isn’t it...?"

"Heh, looks like that punch really did its job—you’re finally thinking clearly."

"I just fainted from hunger earlier...! Ahem, if you’ve got something to say, then say it quickly. If not, I’ll be on my way. I’m grateful for your help, but I’m sorry—I never asked you to save me. So, you shouldn’t expect to gain anything from me in return."

Uwah... what a truly ill-tempered fire lizard.

Like most of the higher races, their innate power gave them that natural arrogance. They had always been unbound by worldly conventions, their temperament swift and decisive.

But they were not like Timani, filled with vigilance and unease toward the world.

After all, it was the world that had first abandoned her.

And only afterward did she respond with cold indifference toward others.

Seeing Timani quietly scoop up the fish scraps left on the plate and quickly eat them before straightening her face and preparing to leave...

Xiarette stood up first, raising her palm slightly to signal Timani to wait.

"Miss Timani, please don’t be so resistant. We never intended to gain any benefit from you. Helping you was just going with the flow. Think about it—if it were you, and you saw someone you’d met a few times collapse to the ground from magic depletion, wouldn’t you lend whatever help you could? I think that’s a very natural thing to do."

"Heh... As expected of the Hero. I admire your sense of justice and ideals, but this has nothing to do with me. Just because you would save someone doesn’t mean I would. You are the Hero, so you think saving people is only natural. But many times, even if you save someone... once they wake, they may repay kindness with hostility. Just like me... Didn’t I just now attack you, my so-called ‘saviors,’ with magic?"

Timani let out a cold laugh, her fiery-red dress flowing like flames.

Her sharp gaze then turned toward Shaya, who rested her cheek on her hand, her face filled with pure innocence.

"For example, this wicked witch who commits all manner of evils—she would never choose to save people. Humans differ from one another..."

"But the one who saved you wasn’t me. It was precisely the so-called ‘wicked witch’ Sheffy," Xiarette added.

"Wha...!"

Timani shot to her feet, trying to use disbelief to shatter what she assumed was their "lie."

But this was destined to be futile.

Because both the Hero and the witch wore such calm, indifferent expressions—as though what they said was nothing but the truth.

No... not "as though."

Timani had a premonition: what they said was the truth.

Her increasingly tangled thoughts, combined with the crushing defeat she suffered tonight in the arena, only made her all the more agitated.

She sat back down heavily, slowly yet burdened, her hand impatiently gripping her crimson hair. She pulled at it hard, her expression twisted with turmoil.

"Witch... what exactly do you want? I remember telling you... in just a few days I’ll be leaving the Kingdom of Aurus. I won’t cause you trouble."

"You’ve already caused trouble. The house just now was burned down by you."

"I didn’t mean to...! I’m sorry..."

"See, isn’t that a proper apology? Mm, very good, very good."

"......"

Sheffy noticed a small detail.

She had only praised her a little, yet Timani’s expression instantly lit up like a child’s, thrilled with happiness. But that look lasted barely a fraction of a second before returning to her trademark cold, stern face.

With such an overreaction... could it be that no one had ever praised you before?

Thanks to this, at least, she had finally quieted down for the time being, no longer overthinking.

After all, deep in Timani’s subconscious...

She had a feeling that the Demon Clan Princess might not be as bad as the rumors claimed.

Back in the tavern, even when she got drunk, she hadn’t instinctively caused destruction. Instead, she had used magic to restore the tavern as if nothing had happened.

When she saw Timani hungry, she had shared her duck leg and fish meat.

When she saw Timani had no money, she had quietly slipped silver coins into her pocket.

Such judgments were admittedly a bit hasty.

But Timani lacked more information. If she set aside the interference of outside rumors, when it came to Shaya, this little girl, she really didn’t think of her as a bad person.

Because of this, Timani weakly drooped her head, no longer so resistant.

"Sigh... so then... whatever you want to say, just say it... Don’t bother thinking about using me for anything... I really don’t have any value to use anyway."

"Don’t think of things so badly. Not all fish are those stubborn ones that never bite the hook."

Sheffy turned her head and exchanged a glance with Xiarette. Both of them agreed—now should be the time to begin speaking with her.

But from Xiarette’s blank look, it was clear—she had no idea what exactly to say.

Alright.

Looks like it’s up to me again.

"I used 【Advanced Teleportation】 to move you here. Just as Xiarette said, I didn’t harbor any malice. You collapsed in the arena—if no one had cared about you, as one of the higher races your reputation would have been utterly ruined. As a member of the Fire Dragon Clan, to collapse unconscious on the Humans’ stage... you understand what that would mean, don’t you?"

"I... of course I understand... At least... on this point... I express my thanks."

That, of course, she knew very well.

Timani’s situation was already difficult enough. If, on top of that, what Sheffya described had happened, it would no doubt have dragged the reputation of the higher races through the mud and incited her kin to fury...

By then, Timani might not only have been exiled—she might even have been hunted down by her own people.

Seeing Timani’s expression grow more guilt-ridden and pained, Sheffy did not pause, but pressed the topic forward.

"Also, I didn’t save you purely out of some heroic sense of justice. Whether you lay unconscious on the ground with no one to care for you had nothing to do with me. The reason I brought you here was mainly because I wanted an answer to a question from you."

"Is that so... I understand."

"Now you don’t think I’m trying to use you anymore?"

"I told you, I don’t have any value to use."

After listening to the witch’s words, Timani instead felt more at ease in her heart.

—Not simply because she had been helped out of passing compassion, but because Sheffy also wanted something from her.

In these years, Timani had observed much of good and evil, and she became increasingly convinced: those who carried both good and evil were the most genuine.

The Demon Clan Princess hadn’t tried to hide anything. If she had claimed she sought nothing at all, that would have been what unsettled Timani most.

"So... what do you want to know?"

"Well... let’s not say what I want to ask for now. The main thing is—would you answer me?"

"As much as I can. If it’s something I can say, and something I know, then of course I’ll answer. Even though I never asked you to save me, the fact remains that I’m safe here now, and I do owe you a debt. The Fire Dragon Clan does not repay kindness with enmity. So if it’s something I can say, I will definitely say it."

"Very good, very good. Be more honest like that—yes, that’s the way."

Heh, see? Sure enough, the moment I praise her, little stars light up in her eyes.

Xiarette, too, was gazing steadily at Sheffy’s profile.

On one hand, it was because Sheffy was so cute that she found herself dazed just looking. On the other, she was curious about what Sheffy wanted to know from Timani.

With both pairs of eyes on her, Sheffy snapped her fingers.

Her form shifted from Miss Shaya back to Sheffya, silver hair dazzling, as she spoke her question.

"It’s nothing too important. I just wanted to ask... among your Fire Dragon Clan, is there any mention of the term ‘Dragon God’? Or, to put it another way... in your people’s faith, is there a ‘Dragon God’?"

"You mean... Dragon God Sanolade?"

"Uh... yes, I think that was the name? Is he still alive?! Has your Fire Dragon Clan seen him in recent years?! Uh... what’s with that look, how rude."

"No, it’s just... I thought you seemed rather clever a moment ago. How are you suddenly asking such a stupid question?"

"So even idiots nowadays know how to mock others, huh."

It was because Timani really thought the question was bizarre!

Dragon God Sanolade—that was a figure recorded in the mythic epics revered by the Fire Dragon Clan. Legend said he was the progenitor of all dragonkind, the source of the dragons’ proud and mighty strength, the reason the Dragon Clan stood arrogantly at the pinnacle of the world.

As grand as that sounded...

It was still only words written on faded parchment scrolls!

Yet the Demon Clan Princess was asking whether he was still alive, and whether the Fire Dragon Clan had seen him...

No matter how she thought about it, the questions were far too strange!

Seeing even this idiot was about to mock her, Sheffy frowned and pressed the inquiry.

"What’s so funny? Forget it if not. But aside from that so-called Sano-whatever, regarding the term ‘Dragon God,’ you don’t have any other interpretations?"

"Are you trying to pry into the Fire Dragon Clan’s secrets...?"

"If you think it can be said, then say it. If not, then don’t."

"It’s not that it can’t be said... This isn’t some big secret. ‘Dragon God’... yes, I do know of it. We still use that term even now."

"Oh? Tell me in detail."

At this point in the conversation, Xiarette finally understood Sheffy’s intention.

She was keeping in mind what that Lady Aimeris, who had called herself the 【Human God】, had said earlier this night.

Aimeris had claimed that the gods had fallen and all gone missing, yet even now posed a catastrophic threat to this world.

Outwardly, Sheffy had acted indifferent. But in truth, she had been pondering it all along, trying to investigate some clues—at the very least, to confirm whether Aimeris’s words were true.

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